Transcript:The Curse of Zaros
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Below is the transcript of The Curse of Zaros miniquest.
Valdez
Player: Hello!
Mysterious Ghost: H-hello!
Player: So what’s up?
Mysterious Ghost: I cannot believe it! You can see me? You understand my words?
Player: Sure can. So why are you hanging out here?
Mysterious Ghost: My tale is one of woe… No doubt you will have little interest in hearing it… Though it has been so many moons since last I had company in this endless non-life…
Player: Well, actually I would like to know what happened to you to turn you into an invisible ghost. If only so I can make sure it doesn’t happen to me…
Mysterious Ghost: My name is Valdez. I served my Lord Saradomin faithfully for many years, as an explorer of this strange land we had been brought to. I remember the day this curse fell upon me clearly… I had just discovered a huge temple, hidden below the ground, of one of Saradomins patriots. I am unsure who built it, or why they had left it seemingly abandoned, but inside I located a great treasure… It was the godstaff of Armadyl. Oh, how I rue my choice that day!
Player: Choice?
Mysterious Ghost: Aye, stranger. I chose that day to take it so that my Lord Saradomin’s power and prestige could be increased by its possession. A god-weapon! Do you have any comprehension of the difficulty and rarity in obtaining such a thing? To find such an artefact of power just lying around, it is almost incomprehensible… So it was there in that deserted temple that I made my choice. I took the staff, and left that temple for Entrana immediately. This was the cause of my cursed state.
Player: What, you mean you gave it to Saradomin and in return he cursed you??? Seems kind of ungrateful if you ask me…
Mysterious Ghost: No stranger, you misunderstand completely… Firstly my gracious Lord would never treat anyone in such a manner; If he felt it was beyond my bounds as a mere mortal to hold such an artefact, he would simply have commanded me to return it to whence I had claimed it, and I being eternally loyal would have obeyed without question…
Player: And secondly?
Mysterious Ghost: And secondly; I never managed to pass the artefact on to my Lord… The vile thief Rennard accosted me as I made my way to Entrana, and after defeating me with a sneak attack, plundered the staff from my person, and left me for dead… I do not know what became of the staff, but I can feel in my very bones whatever its final fate was, it is somehow related to this curse upon me…
Player: Wow. Tough break!
Mysterious Ghost: I am sorry to bore you with my tale stranger, please allow me to compound my rudeness by asking you for one small favour, small to perform?
Player: Eh, I won’t make any promises, but if it’s nothing too annoying I guess I can help you out.
Mysterious Ghost: Many thanks stranger, this existence tortures me… I need to find Rennard and if he has the staff yet reclaim it, or find out what hideous deed he performed to curse me so! I have nothing I may offer you save my piece of clothing, please take it as payment…
Player: Where can I find Rennard then?
Mysterious Ghost: Ah, the infamous Rennard… [Valdez hints at one of three locations; the abandoned pirate ship in level 56 Wilderness, the Bandit Camp in the Wilderness, or the Bandit Camp in the Kharidian Desert.]
Player: Okay, well I’ll try and find him for you then.
Rennard
Player: Hello. You must be Rennard.
Mysterious Ghost: What be this? You both see me and hear me, and also know my name? Tell me what devilry brings you here, and speak quick about it afore I gut you like fish!
Player: Well apart from the fact I ain’t scared of no ghost, I am here because I have spoken to Valdez.
Mysterious Ghost: Valdez? Who be that? Some foul necromancer?
Player: No, he was a ghost I met near Glarial’s Tomb. He seems convinced that the artefact you stole from him is responsible for him becoming cursed to be an invisible ghost. Seems like he might be onto something too, given the state of you.
Mysterious Ghost: A curse ye say… Aye, that makes sense… And there was I thinking the fate be the fault of the thieving and murdering I spent me life a-doing… So it all began the day I stole that staff, ye say? Aye, that be a story I have never told another soul.
Player: Why don’t you tell me what happened? I might be able to help…
Mysterious Ghost: well, I was making me merry way along, having but pulled of a glorious jewellery heist from a bunch of stinking dwarves…
Player: Hey, that’s not the way to talk about dwarves! Some of my best friends are short!
Mysterious Ghost: Ah, yer misunderstand me lad/lass, I wasn’t generalising about the whole dwarf species, I had just stolen a bundle of jewels from a very specific group of dwarves who happened to have an odious stench about them!
Player: Oh. Well I guess that’s okay then. Please continue.
Mysterious Ghost: Well, as I headed on me merry way, hoping the foul odours that lingered in me nostrils would soon pass, I see in front of me this explorer fella, all decked out in his fine clothing, and carrying some long package bundled in rags. So I says to myself, ‘Rennard’, I says, ‘Rennard, why would some fella all dressed in finery be carrying something wrapped in dirty rags?’ So I thinks to meself a little more, ‘Rennard’, I thinks, ‘Rennard, maybe that fella has something valuable in there, and covered it in dirty rags so it don’t look so valuable’. So I conked this fella round the back of his head with me bag of jewels, picked up the package and was on me merry way afore he comes to.
Player: So what happened then?
Mysterious Ghost: Well, I makes me way to the closest tavern I knew of that catered to my sort of people…
Player: You mean thieves?
Mysterious Ghost: Right ye are, so I makes me way to the nearest friendly tavern, and unwraps the bundle to see what it had inside.
Player: The Staff of Armadyl?
Mysterious Ghost: Was it? Ah, I never knew that… Anysways, I unwrapped this staff, and sees it be a god-weapon; I may be just a common thief, but I recognises a weapon not made by mortal hands when I sees one.
Player: So, what did you do then?
Mysterious Ghost: Well, I knew such a weapon would be of great value to… Now, that’s funny. Can’t remember his name, now. The powerful god, lived in the North-east. Took the Mahjarrat away from under Icthlarin’s control. Anyway, I hired me a messenger to go off and let him know I had something I was prepared to sell that I thought he’d be interested in… Now WHY can't I remember his name? Very odd that…
Player: So you sold the staff to this god you can’t remember?
Mysterious Ghost: Well, that's the other funny thing... He never showed up, he sent some General or other instead. Hmmm... You know... Thinking back on that, I'm getting the feeling that messenger did a little double-cross of his own, and took me message to the wrong fella.
Player: So what was this General's name?
Mysterious Ghost: His name was Zamorak. I remember thinking at the time it was odd, because the fella was a mighty powerful warrior, but he was never fully trusted by… WHY can't I remember his name???
Player: So you suspect the messenger might have taken the message to the wrong person? So you think it was an accident or deliberate?
Mysterious Ghost: Well that I can't tell ya, but if something happened to get me cursed, it’s likely the messenger would know more than me. His name was Kharrim, and if he caused me to be stuck like this, I’m gonna fillet him like a dog, ghost or no! I tell ye what, you’ve given me much of think about so I’d like to offer yer a gift; Here, take these, they were the gloves I stole me first cake with, they might bring yer some luck.
Player: Where can I find this Kharrim then?
Mysterious Ghost: Kharrim the messenger. [Rennard hints at one of three locations; the Graveyard of Shadows, the prayer altar in level 44 Wilderness, or at the end of the Lava Maze.]
Player: Okay, well I’ll try and find him for you then.
Kharrim
Player: Hello. So you must be Kharrim the messenger.
Mysterious Ghost: How do you know my name, stranger?
Player: Well now… I had an interesting chat with Rennard the thief. It seems you redirected his message regarding a certain god-weapon for your own ends.
Mysterious Ghost: So THAT is what this is about… I should have known the deal was too good to have no repercussions…
Player: It seems as though you might be responsible for this curse that has befallen you by not delivering Rennard’s message to the correct person.
Mysterious Ghost: Ha! That is not a truthful assessment of the story… You might think differently if you had heard my side of events.
Player: Please let me hear your side of the story then…
Mysterious Ghost: Well, if you have spoken to Rennard, then you will know that he had somehow managed to obtain a very valuable weapon, and was looking for buyers. What he probably didn’t tell you, was that he met me in a drunken stupor in some smoke filled tavern, and I offered to arrange a purchaser for this item, in exchange for a small finders fee.
Player: So you knew what the staff was?
Mysterious Ghost: The god-staff of Armadyl? Well, of course I did. Honestly, you would have to be pretty slow-witted to not recognise a legendary artefact such as that.
Player: Wait, I don’t understand, Rennard said that he had a buyer already in mind, and that you diverted his message to a General Zamorak instead?
Mysterious Ghost: Ha! Here is a word of advice for you adventurer; Never trust the words of a drunk. Whatever he might have thought he was doing with it, in the end all that happened was he left me to arrange a purchaser for the item.
Player: So you thought you would offer it to General Zamorak?
Mysterious Ghost: Ah yes, Lord Zamorak. He was merely a mortal back then, you know? Yet I could see great things in store for him even then. He had a kind of brilliant ruthlessness… And the special kind of vicious streak you see so rarely… Well anyway, when given the task of selling a weapon forged by the very gods themselves, I naturally thought of Zamorak as a potential buyer. I was a messenger in his employ anyway, so it was a mere trifle to find him and deliver the news, and I knew of his particular interest in armour and weaponry of all kinds. Yes, he was always quite the connoisseur when it came to weaponry… But I digress. I let Lord Zamorak know that there was some drunken fool with an artefact of incredible power that could probably be bought off with a few jewels and trinkets, and he escorted me to the tavern and made the purchase there and then. It was a satisfactory deal all around, I got a share of the sale price from Rennard, and I greatly increased my prestige amongst Zamorak and his followers. But maybe… Perhaps the event that followed were responsible for my cursed state…
Player: Events that followed?
Mysterious Ghost: I can not tell you of them precisely, for I myself was not there to witness them. I am after all, simply a messenger. When…’it’ happened, I was busy elsewhere delivering a message from Zamorak to the rest of his Mahjarrat ilk.
Player: When ‘it’ happened? What was ‘it’?
Mysterious Ghost: As I have explained, I was not there, and I do not know what Zamorak did with the staff, but whatever it was resulted in his banishment by the other gods for so many years. The very strange thing was that Saradomin must have known about it, whatever it was, before it even happened…
Player: Really? Why do you say that?
Mysterious Ghost: Well, it was the contents of the message I was returning to Zamorak; Lucien seemed quite certain that there was a spy for Saradomin somewhere amongst his followers named Lennissa. If whatever happened to the staff caused this curse to befall me, then it is certain that she too would have been afflicted, because she would have been in the very heart of the action. Hmmm… You have given me much to think on adventurer. I would like to reward you with my sturdy messenger boots, may they aid you in your travels.
Player: But where can I find this Lennissa?
Mysterious Ghost: Ah yes, the whereabouts of the treacherous Lennissa... [Karrim will hint at one of five locations; In Port Sarim near the Lady Lumbridge, upstairs in the Falador Party Room, near the Gnomeball stadium, inside Entrana Church, or on the First Floor of the Wizards' Tower.]
Player: Okay, well I’ll try and find her for you then.
Lennissa
Player: Hello. You would be Lennissa, I take it?
Mysterious Ghost: Who are you? Where did you hear my name? How comes it that you can see and speak to me?
Player: Well, a ghost called Kharrim directed me towards you.
Mysterious Ghost: So that weasel Kharrim has been blighted by this curse too? Ha, a good thing too. If anybody deserved such a fate it would be one such as him.
Player: I guess you didn’t get along then?
Mysterious Ghost: No, evil scum such as he should never have been allowed to walk this world. What lies has he told you to come here? Have you come to try and kill me?
Player: Well, I’m not sure I could if I tried, but that is not why I have come to you.
Mysterious Ghost: Then speak, and speak well, for I may yet be dead, but am still a danger to those who cross me.
Player: Actually, I’m trying to work out why all of you invisible ghosts seem to have been cursed. I’m not sure how exactly, but the trail seems to have led me to you…
Mysterious Ghost: That makes no sense… I served Saradomin faithfully my entire life, then all of a sudden I find myself reduced to this state!
Player: Well, it seems as though that may have been the cause…
Mysterious Ghost: What? Explain yourself.
Player: As I understand it, it has something to do with the Staff of Armadyl, and your refusal to tell Saradomin it had been stolen…
Mysterious Ghost: What? But… But that is not how it happened at all!
Player: Then please, go ahead and tell me the events of that day in your own words…
Mysterious Ghost: Let me see… I had been working as a spy for my Lord Saradomin, amongst the forces of… the Empty Lord.
Player: ‘The Empty Lord’? who is that?
Mysterious Ghost: I will not give you his name, for to do so would give him power here. Let us just say that he was a fearsome deity, whose strength was greater than all the gods we knew of on this realm at the time. It is probably worth mentioning that at this time we had no knowledge of the mysterious nature god Guthix.
Player: So he was stronger than Saradomin?
Mysterious Ghost: As Saradomin was, yes. As Saradomin is now? Who can say?
Player: I see. Please continue.
Mysterious Ghost: As I say, I was working as a spy within the very camp of my Lord’s enemies. I knew that should I have been caught, I risked being killed upon the spot, but my combat skills were always formidable, and if truth be told, there was a fair amount of dissent amongst… ‘his’ followers anyway.
Player: How do you mean ‘dissent’?
Mysterious Ghost: Ah, to not understand this, you must have led a sheltered life… Let me tell you this: Evil will always breed more evil, and will never be satisfied with what it has. The Empty Lord chose to ally himself with the dark creatures of this world, fully aware that their own natures would cause them to rally against his rule, and take every opportunity they could to betray him. This has always been the nature of evil. Perhaps he thought his power could prevent such a treachery? This allowed me freedom amongst their camp, for it was always easy to point the finger of suspicion at some unsuspecting necromancer or foolish Mahjarrat if it seemed as though my activities had been discovered. Similarly, should I ever been caught in the act of my sabotage, it was all too easy to bribe whoever found me or persuade them into believing it was just some minor treachery of my own, rather than my work for my Lord Saradomin.
Player: Okay… Well, that makes sense, but I don’t understand what the Staff of Armadyl had to do with this…?
Mysterious Ghost: As I told you, the Empty Lord was extremely powerful, but not so powerful that he could rule over the other deities of this world. Should he have made a move against any other god, then he could still have been easily brought down by the combined efforts of the others. The theft of Armadyl’s staff changed this however. If he had taken possession of this god-weapon, then this power would have been so great that he could have overthrown all on this world, and made it into his own image! I could not allow such a thing to happen! I went immediately to my comrade Dhalak, the mage, and told him that a message had come to the lair offering this weapon for sale! I knew that as soon as my Lord Saradomin heard this, he would contact Armadyl to inform them of the theft, and the matter would have been resolved quickly and discreetly.
Player: So you passed this information to Dhalak instead of taking it to Saradomin yourself?
Mysterious Ghost: To my eternal shame, I indeed failed my Lord Saradomin… I could not risk taking the message directly, for I feared my disguise had been uncovered. Lucien particularly had been taking an unhealthy interest in my activities, and I had a gut feeling that to make any obvious moves against the Empty Lord would have been my undoing. But Dhalak was a noble man! I can not believe that he would not have taken my message immediately to Lord Saradomin!
Player: Well, it seems like he didn’t, but I don’t know why not…
Mysterious Ghost: Please adventurer, discover what foul fate must have befallen him for him to have neglected his duty! I have not much to offer as reward, but for these spare robes I wore while on assignment… Please find him and discover why I am cursed like this!
Player: Where would I be able to find this Dhalak then?
Mysterious Ghost: Dhalak? [Lenissa will hint at one of three places; upstairs in the Prayer Guild, Upstairs in the Party Room, or on the first floor of the Wizards' Tower] Player: Okay, well I’ll try and find him for you.
Dhalak
Player: Hello Dhalak.
Mysterious Ghost: You see my form, hear my words, and know my name, yet your face I recognise not… Be you some mighty sorcerer to bind me so?
Player: Um… Well, not really… But that is besides the point. It is not I who has trapped you here as a ghost.
Mysterious Ghost: Then how comes it to be that you know my name stranger?
Player: Lennissa told me about you, and where to find you?
Mysterious Ghost: Lennissa? Oh that poor sweet girl… Has my foolishness cursed her as well as myself???
Player: Your foolishness?
Mysterious Ghost: The story shames me stranger, I wouldst rather keep it unto myself.
Player: Look, I don’t want to force you into telling me, but perhaps sharing it with someone might relieve your guilt?
Mysterious Ghost: Aye… Perhaps it might at that. So what has Lennissa told you of the events of the day the curse befell me?
Player: Well, she told me that she was working as an undercover agent of Saradomin amongst the followers of some ‘Empty Lord’, and when news of the theft of a god-weapon reached her, she passed the message on to you instead of taking it to Saradomin because she was scared her cover might be blown.
Mysterious Ghost: Aye, that is a fair account of events…
Player: But I don’t understand why you didn’t take her message to Saradomin?
Mysterious Ghost: Stranger, my foolishness was a result of my respect for Saradomin, not as a result of any attempted treachery!
Player: So why didn’t you pass on Lennissa’s message? As I understand if something happened with the staff that could have been avoided if you had passed her message on!
Mysterious Ghost: sigh I know not what occurred with that god-weapon, but I have my suspicions… Let me explain myself. I was Lennissa’s immediate superior, and I was often her contact for missions. Because of this role, I had access to a larger picture of what was happening than she herself did, and I was not only well aware that her presence amongst the enemy camp was detected, but I also was aware that there was a growing faction amongst them who were plotting against their master.
Player: Their master being...?
Mysterious Ghost: That I will not tell you. I will tempt the fates no more than I already have done. But anyway, it had become to my attention that the Mahjarrat who had been liberated from the control of Icthlarin did not much appreciate one form of slavery to another, and under the leadership of the mighty Zamorak were making plans to overthrow their master and take his power for themselves. Now, As powerful, long-lived and evil as they were, they were still just mortal, and I made the decision that it would be of benefit to my Lord Saradomin for his mightiest rival to be distracted by such internal conflicts.
Player: So that is why you decided not to pass the report from Lennissa on?
Mysterious Ghost: Yes, but my guilt is more than simply inaction… I knew that with such a weapon, Zamorak would be capable of launching an attack that could actually stand a chance of success, but I also knew that he would never be able to get a chance to use it in battle for being a god-weapon its presence would have sung out to their leader.
Player: I’m guessing you did something about that, then?
Mysterious Ghost: Indeed I did. To my eternal shame, I decided that I would assist Zamorak and his henchmen in their battle, by secretly casting a spell of concealment upon the staff so that they might use it secretly against their master.
Player: So Zamorak knew about this?
Mysterious Ghost: No, nobody except myself, and now you, knew that I cast such a spell… Had I known what a threat to my Lord Saradomin would later become, I wouldst have taken the message to Saradomin immediately! Alas, it is all too easy to see your mistakes after have made them…
Player: I’m confused. What exactly happened with the staff anyway? And why have all those various random people been cursed because of it?
Mysterious Ghost: I cannot answer your question with anything other than my own suppositions, but I do know of one who might be able to, and if any man deserved to be cursed for their actions that day, it was he!
Player: Who are you speaking of?
Mysterious Ghost: His name is Viggora. He was an evil man, brutal and vicious, and deadly with a blade. He was one of the few humans Zamorak allowed to rise to a position of power amongst his rebels, possibly because he imitated those same qualities of Zamorak. If anyone knows what Zamorak did with that god-weapon to have caused this curse to have befallen us, it would have been he, for he would have been fighting on Zamorak’s very right hand side in their rebellion. Please, if this curse can be lifted, find Viggora and find out what he wrought upon us! I have no wealth nor magic to aid you, but take my hood as reward; It has served me well these centuries past, and may bring you luck.
Player: Where would you suggest I look for Viggora?
Mysterious Ghost: Ah, the evil swordsman Viggora... [Dhalak will hint at one of three locations; Edgeville Dungeon (near the Earth Warriors), the second floor of the Rogues' Castle, or the Second Floor of the Canifis Slayer Tower, near the Infernal Mages.]
Player: Okay, well I’ll try and find him for you then.
Viggora
Player: So... You must be the infamous Viggora.
Mysterious Ghost: Hold thy tongue varlet! Speak fast, how come you find me here, and how doth you understand mine speech?
Player: You want me to hold my tongue and tell you how I found you?
Mysterious Ghost: Cease thy chatter and respond to my demand!
Player: Cease my chatter AND respond to your demand?
Mysterious Ghost: I warn thee knave, this curse upon me hath not improved my temper, these centuries past…
Player: Well, it’s actually about the curse that I have come to speak you.
Mysterious Ghost: Oh, be that so? Then forgive my swift anger, and speak to me how you plan to break this curse.
Player: Erm… I didn’t actually mention anything about breaking the curse…
Mysterious Ghost: Then what lets you dare speak to me?
Player: Well, I heard of your name from a mage called Dhalak, and I’m trying to find out what exactly caused the curse to befall him, and you as well apparently.
Mysterious Ghost: Ha! So the weak-willed mage was cursed along with me? Well now, that is an interesting turn of events… Then am I to assume that Valdez, Rennard, Kharrim and Lennissa were also cursed along with me?
Player: …How did you know that?
Mysterious Ghost: Ha ha ha! Oh, the curse cut deeper than I had previously thought! Stranger, this news has brought me a ray of sunshine in an otherwise dreary millennia! Please, ask any question you wish!
Player: Erm… Thanks, I think. So what happened on that day you were all cursed? I know that Valdez discovered the Staff of Armadyl, was robbed by Rennard, who then sent Kharrim to tell Zamorak of it. Meanwhile Lennissa heard of the sale, and informed Dhalak who placed an enchantment upon it so that its power would be hidden. I still don’t know what happened with the staff to cause this curse, or what you had to do with it though…
Mysterious Ghost: Well stranger, rest yourself awhile, and I will recount a tale of the events of that day, for I was one of the few actually there when it happened…
Player: When what happened?
Mysterious Ghost: When my Lord Zamorak got his first taste of godhood!
Player: Wow. Sounds like quite the dinner party anecdote.
Mysterious Ghost: You can take the snide venom out of your voice whelp, you came to me; ‘twas not the other way round.
Player: Okay, okay. Please continue.
Mysterious Ghost: Well now, let us see… As you may have heard tell, my affiliation lay with General Zamorak, a mighty warrior of the Mahjarrat tribe, and my skill on the battlefield had quickly brought me to his attention. So pleased was he with my bloodthirst that he promoted me on the battlefield once to serve in his honour guard, and let me tell you, this was a rare honour indeed, for I was the only human chosen to take such a position.
Player: Really?
Mysterious Ghost: Oh yes, the dragon riders, Mahjarrat, demons and vampire warriors made up the bulk of the force, but I wager I was equal in all ways of combat. Ha, when I think of someone like Lucien struggling to lift a blade, in some ways I was even their better!
Player: Please continue.
Mysterious Ghost: Well, anyway… Myself and the rest of Zamoraks honour guard were formulating stratagems in our battle-tent, when that sneaky messenger Kharrim came in offering to sell us the god-staff of Armadyl! Naturally, we suspected that this was some trick by our Lord to test our loyalty…
Player: Yes, who was your lord? Everyone has been evasive about that…
Mysterious Ghost: Quiet fool, all things in their course; You are disrupting my train of thought!
Player: Sorry…
Mysterious Ghost: Well, anyway, we thought it was too good to be true, yet when we visited this scummy tavern we were amazed to discover there was no trick, no test of loyalty, no hidden trap: somehow this fool had actually managed to obtain the god-staff of Armadyl! Its power was incredible, you could almost feel the energies crackling around it in the air!
Player: So what happened then?
Mysterious Ghost: Well, with such a weapon, the plans we had been developing for a rebellion against out lord could finally be put into action, but we knew that we would have to act swiftly, before he heard that we had a weapon capable of defeating him, and we would have to act decisively, for even amongst our group there were still those loyal to the lord - such as that pathetic fool Azzanadra.
Player: So JUST WHO WAS this lord you speak of?
Mysterious Ghost: And I tell thee again, I will say when it is appropriate, now do not disrupt my tale!
Player: Okay, carry on then…
Mysterious Ghost: So anyway, Lord Zamorak and his trusted compatriots, namely myself, Hazeel, Drakan, Thammaron and Zemouregal made plans to overthrow our lord using the god-weapon, and by pledging allegiance to Zamorak as our master, were each to be given a large piece of land as our own in return. We decided to move immediately, before anyone got cold feet, or any other parties could interfere in our works, and made haste towards the castle where our Lord lived. If Lucien had not been otherwise occupied, he would have probably accompanied us with his magicks, but it turned out the foolish Dhalak had made his involvement unnecessary with some spells of his own allowing us to get close to the castle with the staff without the Empty Lord being able to sense its presence.
Player: So your lord was the one who cursed you?
Mysterious Ghost: I am coming to that... So anyway, we made our way to the castle, under the pretence that we had war plans against Saradomin and the other deities to discuss. As usual, our lord was guarded well, but this was why Zamorak had brought his most trusted fighters with him. While we distracted the Empty Lord with our feints and attacks, and kept his bodyguards busy, Lord Zamorak outflanked him, unsheathed the staff and plunged it into his back! Ah, it was a glorious sight… At that moment I was reminded for whom I fought, and why General Zamorak had earned his nickname ‘the scourge’ upon the battlefield…
Player: And the next thing you know you were cursed?
Mysterious Ghost: No, it was not quite that simple… The Empty Lord turned away from our battle, eyes burning with hatred, and towards Zamorak instead. Seeing this, we all fought with extra vigour, so that General Zamorak would not face our lord alone, but we were outnumbered by many hundreds of warriors and demons, and could not reach him to assist him.
Player: So what then?
Mysterious Ghost: Why, the Empty Lord versus Zamorak, in single combat! And the sight of the battle will be with me forever more… The Empty Lord was a powerful god, stronger than any of the others awake at the time, possibly even as strong as Guthix is, and Zamorak was but a mortal: a Mahjarrat warrior all the same, with all of the strength and power that that entails, but mortal nonetheless, but to see him fight, you would not think of him as a ‘mere’ anything… He was war itself! Flurry after flurry of blows he rained upon the Empty Lord, and the very castle walls shook and quivered with their power, but the Empty Lord would not fall! Even with the weapon of a god embedded in his back, he fought on, and with each blow our victory seemed less and less certain…
Player: So what then?
Mysterious Ghost: Well, then a miracle happened. Or luck. Or natural justice. You can call it what you want, but the Empty Lords hand wrapped tightly around Zamoraks throat, Lord Zamorak, kicking and screaming defiantly and radiant in his anger until the very last, plunged towards the Empty Lord, who seemed to lose his footing slightly, and fell in such a way so that the staff plunged deeper into his body, but also impaled Lord Zamorak with it at the same time… And then…
Player: And then what?
Mysterious Ghost: And then nothing. There was a sudden flash of bright light, and then a sudden blink of cold darkness, and it was over. Zamorak stood over the Empty Lord who was slowly… Fading from existence… And as he faded, it seemed though… It almost seemed as though Zamorak became more real, more solid than he had been before… And as the Empty Lord faded from this world completely, I heard a voice, almost a whisper upon the wind, cursing all who had helped Zamorak in his victory, which as you now tell me seems to have been all who were responsible for the staff ending up in Zamorak’s hands at the castle. As I heard it, I saw that I too was fading, just as the Empty Lord had, and I called my brethren for their assistance, but they could no longer hear my words, nor see my form. It was then that the other gods appeared and banished Zamorak from the world completely for daring to kill one of their kind, although as it turned out it didn’t quite work out that way for them, when he returned stronger than ever, a god himself. But the God Wars were another story entirely…
Player: But… I don’t understand… If it was Zamorak who used the weapon, then why was it only you who were cursed? And the other people who were cursed, why them? Why not the other Mahjarrat for example? And just who was this ‘Empty Lord’ you keep speaking of?
Mysterious Ghost: Well, in my life I was nothing but a warrior. I had no hidden knowledge, I didn’t especially care about the gods or their magics, and I certainly didn’t respect them. Now in my… I suppose this is my death. I am but a shade on the wind, unnoticed by all who pass me, until today anyway, and the only answer I can give you is that the others who were with me, the Mahjarrats and the Vampire, they were beings of magic. It runs through their very veins, and ebbs through their bones. Who knows why the curse fell as it did? Perhaps a mere human I was more susceptible to it, when they were not. Perhaps they too are cursed, but their life spans are so long that it will be millennia before they feel it upon them. Perhaps because it did not affect them, it extended backwards through time, to the moment the staff was taken from its rightful place, and all who had known of its theft were cursed too. Perhaps there are others also cursed, who played no part in this tale, and were merely unlucky enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time… I don’t know. Things do not always happen for a reason, just as tales do not always end with all of the loose ends neatly tied up and all answers supplied. I have simply told you the events I was witness to, for I can do no more. You have cheered me no end to let me know that this curse that has afflicted me has not left me alone here, in this void between worlds. Perhaps I will hunt down these others who have also been cursed as I was, but I feel I must reward you for your efforts; Here, take my cloak, it is drenched in the blood of a thousand foes, and may bring you luck in battle.
Player: So how can I break this curse?
Mysterious Ghost: Who knows? If it was the death curse of the Empty Lord, there may be no way to break it. If it was not his death curse, and he is still alive but not on this world, then the only way to break it may be to bring him back here; But I would rather stay here cursed than suffer under his rule again…
Player: But WHO was this ‘Empty Lord’? WHAT was his NAME?
Mysterious Ghost: You do not know? You have not guessed yet? He was Zaros.