Quiet Before the Swarm
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This is the quick guide for Quiet Before the Swarm. For a more in-depth version, click here.
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| File:Quiet Before the Swarm.jpg | |
| Release date | 24 June 2010 (Update) |
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| Members only? | Yes |
| Quest series | Void Knights (#1) |
| Official difficulty | Intermediate |
| Official length | Short |
| Developer | Nancy J |
Quiet Before the Swarm is the first of the three Void Knight quests<ref name="bts">Mod Mark. "Behind the Scenes - June". 4 June 2010. RuneScape News. *</ref>.
Official description
| “ | The Void Knights fight tirelessly to contain the pest invasion and protect us all from a threat that could destroy all of RuneScape, but rumours of pest sightings on the mainland have reached the ears of the Temple Knights. Has a pest managed to slip past the Void Knights' defences? | ” |
Walkthrough
| Start point: |  Speak to Sir Tiffy in Falador Park
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| Members only: | Yes | ||
| Official difficulty: |  Intermediate
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| Description: | None | ||
| Length: | Medium (Requires a lot of reading if you're interested in the storyline, and time spent on the puzzles may vary from person to person.) | ||
| Requirements: |
Must have played in at least one game of Pest Control. | ||
| Items required: | None
Recommended items:
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| Enemies to defeat: |
Starting
Speak to Sir Tiffy Cashien to start the quest. He will tell you that a Pest has escaped the Void Knights' Outpost. His job for you is to interview the residents on the island to find out how it could have escaped. Go to the Void Knight Outpost and speak to Commodore Matthias. He can be found in the north-eastern part of the island. He will tell you to speak to Captain Tyr, just south of the house he resides.
After talking to Captain Tyr, he will ask you to talk to many of the residents on the island. There are 9 people you must speak to (not necessarily in order) which are:
To tell which of the people you have already spoken to, view your quest journal.
NOTE: You don't actually have to speak to any of the people in this list for more than one question. Simply talking to them in the beginning, or asking one question followed by "That's all, thanks." will add them to the crossed out list in your quest journal. -- Only do this in this manner if you're uninterested in the storyline, as a LOT of conversation will be skipped as a result.
The accused
After you have spoken to them, return to Captain Tyr. Captain Tyr will then ask you to single out a person who you think has committed a crime. The person that committed the crime is Jessika, the researcher, and the only one who does not interact with the locals. Talk to Jessika and talk to her about the crimes she has committed. She will act suspicious and attempts to deny that you have proof.
Go back to Captain Tyr and he will tell you to return to Commodore Matthias. After talking to Commodore Matthias, he will call in for Jessika and you will be given a potion which will allow you to go into Jessika's mind.
Inside Jessika's mind
In Jessika's mind, you will have to solve a relatively easy slider puzzle. The trick is to put it together from top to bottom. It is easy to see what piece goes where, since when it is completely put together, it forms a square around the picture of the pest. This is made rather simple by the fact that there is an outside border on each tile - the empty space should be in the middle at the end.
Note: If you need to restart, exit through the portal and repeat the cutscene of confronting Jessika
Possible solutions
The puzzle is a picture of a random monster, always a 3x3 puzzle.
Arresting Jessika
After completing the puzzle, you learn Jessika really did release the Pest, and you inform the Void Knights about it. Jessika is arrested, and the Commodore calls a meeting of the highest ranked Knights. You are told to return to Sir Tiffy in Falador,
Sir Tiffy then returns with you to the Docks on Port Sarim. You find Commander Korasi in a stupor, and Sir Tiffy sends Savant to get Lady Table. Tiffy brings you back to Falador, and tells you you must bank all your items (including familiars and auras) before entering the HQ to see Korasi; bank your items, and return to Sir Tiffy, who will teleport you to the HQ.
Bridge and the sword
- This puzzle relates to the bridge and torch problem.
Note: Logging out during the following portion of the quest will result in you returning to Falador Park, in front of Sir Tiffy.
You find yourself inside a small room with Sir Tiffy and Commander Korasi. Talk to Commander Korasi and you will now find yourself inside a blue plane. You will need to complete a puzzle before you can advance.
The objective of the puzzle is to get all three knights, as well as yourself, across the bridge. However, there are a few hitches. First of all, only two people can go across at a time. The second problem is that the person crossing must have the sword. The third problem is that each person weighs a different amount. The bridge can only handle the weight of 15. Your player weighs 1, Bernard weighs 2, Ami weighs 5, and Diana weighs 8. Lastly, only the heaviest weight is counted when you go across. So if Ami went with Diana, the total weight would only be 8. Here is a possible solution:
- You cross with Bernard
- You cross back
- Ami and Diana cross
- You let Bernard cross from the other side to you
- You cross with Bernard
Doing it this way makes the equation for weight 2+1+8+2+2=15.
Ship positions
After completing the bridge puzzle, you will find yourself with the 5 knights who were on the ship: Commodore Matthias, Korasi, Diana, Bernard and Ami. Each of them holds a hint to where the other knights were, what they saw, and what they were thinking about. To complete this puzzle you must correctly match up each person with the hints given by the other knights.
You will know when you have completed the task, as when you fully complete the last NPC, the task will end.
The best way to solve such a riddle is to make a table, such as the example below. The answers may vary per player, and will be reset if you log out. Starting with exhaustively finding the positions of each, then what each saw and then what they were thinking about is the fastest.
| Name | Positions | Thinking About... | Saw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commodore | At the helm | Jessika | Clouds |
| Korasi | In the hold | Promotion | The pest |
| Diana | Main Deck | Fighting | A seagull |
| Bernard | In the crow's nest | Lunch | Seaweed |
| Ami | In the rigging | Sister | Shark |
The Pests' attack
After finishing the second puzzle, you go into a cut-scene. You are Korasi, in the hold of the ship. Upon seeing a Torcher, attack it and kill it. After you finish killing it, proceed up the ladder onto the main deck. There you see the other three knights and a squire fighting pests, who are unfortunately killed by them.
A Shifter stops you in the path, forcing you to kill it in order to continue. After killing it, your character automatically goes up the ladder to find Commodore Matthias fighting a Mysterious Figure. Using the last of his energy, he teleports Korasi to Port Sarim which is where you find her. Once the cut-scene is over, talk to Sir Tiffy Cashien. He will tell you to talk to Captain Tyr (Now Commodore Tyr) at the Void Outpost. Travel back to the Void Outpost and speak to him.
Congratulations! Quest complete!
Rewards
- 1 Quest point
- 4,000
Experience - 4,900
Experience - Void seal
- 2 extra spins on the Squeal of Fortune
Music unlocked
- Mindful - inside Jessika's mind
- Void Knights' Theme - at the Temple Knights' HQ
- Lortnoc Tsep - during Korasi's memory
Required for completing
Completion of Quiet Before the Swarm is required for the following:
Trivia
- On the day of release, the spoiler read: We're currently delving into the developer's mind to help her remember what the rewards are. Back in a jiffy, what? 'Her' is supposedly a pun on the mind-delving of Korasi, but the developer Mod Moltare is male.
- The unlock hint of Lortnoc Tsep and Mindful used to say Calm Before The Swarm instead of Quiet Before the Swarm.
- When Korasi escorts Jessika out of the room during the cutscene, you can still see Korasi's robe at the top of the screen.
- It is easy to tell that Jessika is the culprit, because the new option after speaking to everyone once is "Confront about misdeeds" for the other eight NPCs but "Confront about a crime" for only Jessika.
- After completing this quest, your Adventurer's Log will read: Overcoming many challenges, I unlocked Korasi's memory and learned of the pest attack on the Void Knight ship.
- After solving the puzzle and returning to Void knight headquarters, Jessika will say, "I taught it, him, to remove himself from the hive mind." This is a reference to Star Trek: the Next Generation, and a Borg named Hugh.
- The music during the ending cutscene of Korasi's memory is not an unlockable piece of music.
- While in Jessika's mind, if one is holding a Faithful shield, the glowing particle effects will appear severely detached.
- While fighting on the ship in Korasi's memory, looking at the attack style menu her weapon will be listed as an adamant scimitar.
- Also, during Korasi's memory, you can go to the worn screen, where you will find she is wearing full adamant armour. Removing the armour and the scimitar has no visual effect, however, if the weapon is removed, Korasi will attack as though she is unarmed despite the visual appearance of her sword.
- Around 21 March 2012 The Adventurer's Log, when this quest was completed, showed that the quest Cabin Fever was completed, with the description of Quiet Before the Swarm. The same problem occurred with part 2 in this series A Void Dance. this bug has not yet been fixed as of 21 March 2012
- Quiet Before the Swarm is a reference to the idiom "Calm Before the Storm". This means that you know something bad is about to happen but it hasn't just yet, as is the case with the quest series.
- During the battle on the main deck of the ship, Bernard says "Never give up, never surrender" which is a reference to the movie Galaxy Quest.
- When in Korasi's mind, the Void Knight Spirit manning the Toll Booth still has the old black, diamond eyes, whereas the other Spirits have the new eyes.
See also
- Commander Korasi
- Commodore Matthias
- Captain Tyr
- Void Knights' Outpost
- Pest Control
- Void seal
- Korasi's sword
- A Void Dance
- The Void Stares Back