Defender of Varrock

For the Dimension of Disaster subquest, see Defender of Varrock.

For the achievement, see Defender of Varrock (achievement).

This article has a quick guide. Quick guides provide a brief summary of the steps needed for completion.

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Defender of Varrock (#145)
Also called								DOV
Release date								29 September 2008 (Update)
Members								Yes
Voice Over								No
Official series								Mahjarrat Mysteries #12
Age								Fifth Age
Timeline								Heroic
Start area								Varrock Palace
Combat								NPC combat level 100–109
Advanced data
Quest ID								56
Quest create ID								144
Official difficulty								Experienced
Links								Quests

Defender of Varrock is a quest featuring the return of a Mahjarrat, Zemouregal, to invade Varrock with the help of an undead Arrav.

Official description

Troubling reports are arriving from scouts in the Wilderness: zombies are amassing and organising. Zombies alone are incapable of such intelligent behaviour, and each time it has happened in the past great tragedies have come to pass. Captain Rovin, suitably concerned, needs your help to go on a dangerous mission to verify the reports.

Are the Varrock Guard just being paranoid, or could this be a major threat to their city?

Reading the Legend of Arrav in the Lores and Histories section of the website will give you a better appreciation of the storyline of this quest.

Overview

Start point	Talk to Captain Rovin, in the north-west tower of Varrock Palace. Show on map (via a location)	2008#16
Member requirement	Members only
Official length	Medium to Long
Requirements	Quests: Defender of Varrock Shield of Arrav The Knight's Sword Demon Slayer Temple of Ikov Family Crest What Lies Below Garden of Tranquillity Creature of Fenkenstrain The Restless Ghost Priest in Peril Ability to enter Morytania Claim Kudos from Historian Minas in Varrock Museum for completing Shield of Arrav 51 Agility 51 Hunter 59 Mining 54 Smithing Claim Varrock Museum kudos from Historian Minas for completing Shield of Arrav
Items required	Items from the tool belt are not listed unless they do not work or are not automatically added. A light source Blurite ore (can be obtained during the quest from the ice cave near Thurgo) A spade (the one in your toolbelt will not work) Armour, weapons, and supplies to survive in the Wilderness
Recommended	Activated Edgeville, Falador, Port Sarim and Varrock lodestones Emergency teleport such as an ectophial, crystal teleport seed or a teleport tablet Salve amulet (e) A redberry pie, if you wish to gain an additional 1,000 experience
Enemies to defeat	6 Armoured zombies (level 86)

The warning beacons are in use during this quest, and thus you will be unable to play All Fired Up for a major portion of the quest.

During the quest you can sometimes get the message: "You're going the wrong way for the mission, so Hartwin has left. Speak to Rovin when you need Hartwin again. Your follower has left.". It is possible to continue with the quest, so you don't need to go back to Varrock Palace.

Organised zombies?

Head to Varrock Palace, and make your way to the 2^nd floor^[UK]3^rd floor^[US] of the northwest tower. Talk to Captain Rovin in his room. If he tells you to explore somewhere else, then it means you do not meet the requirements to start the quest. Ensure you have claimed kudos in Varrock Museum from Historian Minas.

He tells you that zombies have been seen organising in the Wilderness. He calls for his scout Hartwin, who reports a "shadowy figure" and an army of zombies in the Graveyard of Shadows. Rovin asks you and Hartwin to investigate further.

Before moving on, make sure that you don't have a familiar summoned, otherwise Hartwin will not follow you outside. Also, if you lose Hartwin for any reason, he can be found back at the Varrock Palace. If you log out whilst Hartwin is following you, when you log back in, you will be in Varrock Palace. Just talk to Hartwin again to be teleported back to the graveyard.

Tracking 'em

Items needed: Armour, weapons, and supplies to fight level 86 Armoured zombies and survive in the Wilderness (instanced)

The zombie footprints on the ground.

After speaking with Rovin and Hartwin, Hartwin teleports you both to the Graveyard of Shadows; for the duration of the quest, this area is not a part of the Wilderness and therefore you are safe from the threats present there. Enter the graveyard and talk to Hartwin. A cutscene ensues, showing a trail of zombie tracks leading away from the graveyard. After the cutscene, you and Hartwin are standing near some footprints.

Similar to how you track when hunting, use your Hunter skills to follow the zombie footsteps. Adjusting the display mode to "Safe Mode" will make the tracks significantly easier to see.

Approximate location of the grubby key.

51 Hunter is only required to uncover the first set of tracks. Inspect nearby bushes, trees, tree stumps, mushrooms, and bones to uncover the tracks. You may encounter several dead ends and places where the trail seem to go in circles. Mind the zombies who attack you near the graveyard.

Eventually, you uncover a grubby key along the tracks, in a thicket of trees. Continue tracking until the footprints end at the entrance to the Chaos Temple and you receive the message: "The trail seems to stop as it reaches rockier ground. Hopefully you can find out what happened to the zombies in this area.". Speak to Simon who's walking around nearby carrying a large sack on his back and ask about the army of zombies. He'll tell you they walked into the nearby altar and didn't come back out.

Zemouregal's ally

(This section of the quest is currently bugged - when going down the trap door after having spoken to Hartwin next to it, he will often leave back to Varrock, saying you have gone off path. Ignore this entirely. Follow on with the quest guide and you'll progress normally)

See the Temple dungeon page for a map and description of the dungeon.

Sharathteerk, Arrav and Zemouregal plotting.

Use the grubby key on the trapdoor just south of the altar in the Chaos Temple, and enter the tunnels under the temple. Armoured zombies attack as soon as you climb down the ladder. Run north to get out of range, and look for a balcony to the east that overlooks a chamber. Choose the "Look-over Balcony" option.

Killing the zombies to get red mist.

In a cutscene, Sharathteerk and Zemouregal talk about allying with Lucien. Zemouregal rejects the idea because he has "significantly powerful resources" of his own: an undead Arrav, who will take command of Zemouregal's zombie troops!

You now need bottles of red mist to pass through the next few doors, as they behave like keys. Only three are required; the contents of the extra bottles will leak out before you can use them.

Head west through the dungeon corridor, and pick up three bottles on the ground around the armoured zombies. Attack three armoured zombies, and when a zombie dies, store the red mist that appears by using a bottle on it. With the filled bottles, go through the first door to the west; you see another cutscene: Arrav is in the room and reveals that while his zombie body is under the control of Zemouregal, his mind is free. He starts to tell of how someone could be able to help him, when he is summoned away by his master.

All fired up

The zombie army, ready for battle.

Head north up the corridor, kill three zombies to refill your bottles with red mist, and then go east and open the second door. The bottles won't be required further and can be dropped. Follow the corridor east to another balcony to the south, and choose the "Look-over Balcony" option again to view another cutscene.

You see below that Zemouregal has raised an army of armoured zombies. Zemouregal says this may be his last real chance to attack Varrock and claim the Shield of Arrav before the time comes to head north. Realising the gravity of the situation, return to Captain Rovin and tell him what you and Hartwin learned about the zombie army. Note: Make sure to complete the cutscene before you leave the dungeon or you will have to return to re-view it.

Camdozaal

Unearthing the entrance to Camdozaal.

Rovin asks you to speak with Thurgo, one of the surviving Imcando dwarves, to learn how to use the Shield of Arrav to defend Varrock. Travel to Thurgo's Peninsula, north of Mudskipper Point, either by teleporting to Port Sarim using the Lodestone Network or by using the fairy ring code AIQ.

Talk to Thurgo about the Shield of Arrav and he'll suggest you find the great lost dwarven hall of Camdozaal, and The Sacred Forge within. He gives you a scrap of paper with the coordinates for Camdozaal on it.

If you do not have a blurite ore yet, head down into the Asgarnian Ice Dungeon under the hill east of Thurgo's hut and mine one blurite ore from the ice-covered rocks there.

The Sacred Forge

Items needed: A spade (tool belt does not work), light source, blurite ore and a redberry pie (optional for 1,000 experience if you give the pie to Ramarno)

The location of the coordinates on Ice Mountain.

Make your way to the Ice Mountain, north of Falador and west of the Edgeville Monastery. Once on the mountain, dig with your spade on the location (10 degrees, 31 minutes north; 17 degrees, 48 minutes east), just next to the material cache and north-east of the white tree.

If you dig in the correct location, you'll receive a message - "You dig a hole in the snow. Under the snow, you find there is a lot of rubble." Continue to dig using the spade until you get the message "You'll need something better than a spade to get through the rubble."

Next, mine out the churned-up snow; you get the message, "You swing your pick at the rubble. You clear the rubble, revealing a hole in the ground." With a light source in your inventory, enter the hole.

Ramarno chanting to the Sacred Forge.

Down in the ruins of Camdozaal, talk to the blind dwarf, Ramarno. He tells you more about himself and explains how to use The Sacred Forge.

Use the blurite ore on The Sacred Forge, and then talk again to Ramarno. You see a dreamlike cutscene: images of 4 random characters from previous quests appear and show you how to tap the power of the Shield of Arrav. The possible appearing characters include Traiborn, King Roald, Queen Ellamaria, Sir Prysin, Reldo, Lord Rologarth, and the Wise Old Man. Zemouregal then senses your presence and his image appears, taunting you that you are too late, as his army is already at the walls of Varrock.

• 

  The Sacred Forge takes the form of people from your adventures.

• 

  You are too late!

Defender of Varrock

The invasion of Varrock!

Quickly return to Varrock and head to the palace. Upon entering the palace grounds, you see yet another cutscene: armoured zombies are inside the palace and overrunning the guards. Avoid engaging the zombies, and run to the 2^nd floor^[UK]3^rd floor^[US] of the northwest tower, and talk to Captain Rovin. Tell Rovin what you learned at The Sacred Forge. He tells you to check the library records and gives you the Shield of Arrav.

Climb down the stairs, go into the library, and talk to Reldo. He tells you about the old census and an old document that a zombie knocked to the floor. Against the north wall of the library, look for an open book on a lectern: this is the Varrock Census from the Year 160, Fifth Age. Read the census to find the names and occupations of the citizens of Varrock for the year 160.

Search the scrolls on the floor near the tipped-over desk to obtain the list of elders. You must read the list of elders to continue past this point. Some names listed in the census match the seven names of the city's first elders written on the scrolls, thus making them the descendants of the first elders. You must now talk to these scions with the Shield of Arrav in your inventory. The descendants are:

1. King Roald, the King of Varrock
2. Aeonisig Raispher, the royal advisor to the King
3. Sir Prysin, one of King Roald's knights, from the old Demon Slayer quest
4. Curator Haig Halen, the curator of the Varrock museum
5. Horvik the smith, owner of Horvik's Armour Shop

King Roald

Aeonisig Raispher

Sir Prysin

Curator Haig Halen

Horvik

Each of them will wield the Shield of Arrav, but none will be able to activate its magical properties. One of them, however, will tell you that they are not a blood descendant, and is the progeny of the Fitzharmon kin that was adopted into the family; the person who reveals this is random for every player.

Dimintheis unleashing the power of the Shield of Arrav on the armoured zombies.

As soon as you learn about the Fitzharmon family, talk to Dimintheis Fitzharmon, who is in the northern-most house of the gated-off area south of Varrock's east bank, where Family Crest was started. Dimintheis wields the shield, and it responds to him.

He is revealed to be a descendant of the founder of Varrock. In the cutscene that follows, Dimintheis uses the shield to kill the zombies throughout Varrock Palace. With the invasion of Varrock gone wrong, Zemouregal flees the scene with Sharathteerk and Arrav. After the cutscene, you find yourself next to Captain Rovin; talk to Rovin to end the quest and receive your rewards.

• 

  The Monk of Zamorak is freed!

• 

  The zombies approach Queen Ellamaria, only to be zapped by the Shield of Arrav shortly afterwards.

• 

  Zemouregal heads north.

Rewards

• 2 quest points
• 15,000 experience lamp
• 10,000 experience lamp
• 10,000 experience lamp
• 10,000 experience lamp
• 2,000 experience lamp
• Access to Chaos Temple Dungeon, where you can kill armoured zombies.
• Access to four goldrune material caches
• 5 Kudos in Varrock Museum and a 1,000 experience antique lamp from Historian Minas on the 1^st floor^[UK]2^nd floor^[US] of the Museum.
• 2 Treasure Hunter keys (Ironman accounts will not receive these)
  

Music unlocked

• Dream Theatre (In the cutscene with The Sacred Forge)
• The Ruins of Camdozaal (Under the Ice Mountain, in Camdozaal)
• Undead Army (In the dungeon below the Chaos Temple)
• Zombie Invasion (Varrock Palace during the zombie invasion)

Achievements

• Defender of Varrock ( 0) – Complete this quest.
• Blinded by Ramarno's Teaching ( 10) – Claim Smithing XP from Ramarno after 'Defender of Varrock'.

Required for completing

Defender of Varrock is directly required for the following quests/miniquests:

• Dimension of Disaster: Defender of Varrock
• River of Blood
• The Curse of Arrav
• While Guthix Sleeps

It is therefore an indirect requirement for the following quests and miniquests:

• Aftermath
• Alpha vs Omega
• Azzanadra's Quest
• Battle of the Monolith
• Children of Mah
• City of Senntisten
• Full comprehension of Curse of the Black Stone
• Desperate Creatures
• Desperate Measures
• Full comprehension of Desperate Times
• Dimension of Disaster: Curse of Arrav
• Dishonour among Thieves
• Full comprehension of Evil Dave's Big Day Out
• Extinction
• Eye of Het I
• Eye of Het II
• Fate of the Gods
• Full comprehension of Heart of Stone
• Full comprehension of Hero's Welcome
• Kindred Spirits
• Koschei's Troubles (miniquest)
• Mahjarrat Memories (miniquest)
• Full comprehension of Missing, Presumed Death
• Full comprehension of Nadir (saga)
• Nomad's Elegy
• Once Upon a Time in Gielinor: Finale
• Full comprehension of Once Upon a Time in Gielinor: Fortunes
• One of a Kind
• Rebuilding Edgeville (miniquest)
• Remains of the Necrolord
• Ritual of the Mahjarrat
• Sins of the Father
• Sliske's Endgame
• Tales of Nomad (miniquest)
• The Light Within
• The Mighty Fall
• The Temple at Senntisten
• Full comprehension of The World Wakes
• Full completion of The World Wakes
• Twilight of the Gods

Gallery

• 

  Danger is nigh!

• 

  The Hole in the wall that Zemouregal's army used to enter and assault the Varrock Palace.

• 

  The Varrock guard protecting the Queen Ellamaria.

• 

  Zombies causing loads of damage to the Varrock palace.

• 

  The Monk of Zamorak begs to be released by the Zombies.

• 

  Citizens hiding from the attack.

• 

  The last trainee in Varrock, oddly not seeing his city is under attack.

• 

  A warrior woman hides behind an overturned table. Not so heroic now, is she?

• 

  Zombies roam the halls of Varrock Palace!

• 

  Arrav is forced to oversee the attack, next to the destroyed church pews.

Transcript

This article on a quest has an associated dialogue page. Click here for a transcript of possible conversations and other messaging encountered throughout the quest. Click here for a transcript of the quest's journal entry.

Credits

Defender of Varrock
Developers
Developer			Paul Gower
Art & Graphics
Graphics			Mod Paul B, Mark C, Kavi M, Matthew S
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance			Mod Chris L, Dan O'R, Dan G, Ben L
Audio
Audio			Mod Bond, Chris Jolley
Other
Quest Help			Katie B

Update history

This information has been compiled as part of the update history project. Some updates may not be included—see here for how to help out!

• patch 12 October 2020 (Update):
  • Fixed an issue that prevented familiars from following players through one entrance into Varrock Palace during Defender of Varrock.

• patch 4 February 2019 (Update):
  • Logging out during certain points of Defender of Varrock will no longer cause Hartwin to get stuck following you until you reset him in the Wilderness.

• ninja 13 November 2017 (Update):
  • XP rewards from The Restless Ghost, What Lies Below, Defender of Varrock and The Fremennik Trials quests are now given in the form of lamps.

• patch 21 November 2016 (Update):
  • A sextant on the tool belt can now be used on Thurgo's paper scrap in the Defender of Varrock quest.

• patch 31 October 2016 (Update):
  • Simultaneously killing multiple armoured zombies during Defender of Varrock no longer prevents you from bottling their additional red mist.
  • The list of elders from Defender of Varrock no longer uses a clue scroll interface to display its text.

• patch 7 March 2016 (Update):
  • Arrav in the palace in the quest Defender of Varrock had lost his head. He has now reclaimed it.

• patch 6 July 2015 (Update):
  • Arrav - in the Dominion Tower, Defender of Varrock, The Curse of Arrav, and Ritual of the Mahjarrat - has been graphically updated.
  • Zemouregal (rejuvenated and skeletal) - in the Dominion Tower, the Nadir saga, Defender of Varrock, Ritual of the Mahjarrat , The World Wakes, and Missing, Presumed Death - has been graphically updated.
  • Armoured zombies in the Dominion Tower, Defender of Varrock, Curse of Arrav, Ritual of the Mahjarrat, The World Wakes and Missing, Presumed Death have been graphically updated.
  • The armoured zombies in Dimintheis' chain lightning cutscene at the end of Defender of Varrock have been updated.
  • The first balcony cutscene in Zemouregal's Wilderness base in Defender of Varrock has been reworked.
  • The Sacred Forge cutscene in Defender of Varrock has been reworked.
  • The aim of an armoured zombie that breaks the fourth wall (with a throwing axe) in a Defender of Varrock cutscene has been improved.
  • Armoured zombies in Varrock during Defender of Varrock are more responsive when hunting Varrock guards.

• patch 5 January 2015 (Update):
  • Hartwin will now continue following when entering the trapdoor at the Chaos Temple.

• patch 8 October 2013 (Update):
  • Hartwin will now appear in the Wilderness more reliably in the Defender of Varrock quest.

• patch 25 September 2013 (Update):
  • A punctuation error in the dialogue for Ramarno in the Defender of Varrock quest has been fixed.

• patch 10 September 2013 (Update):
  • Hartwin should no longer get lost if abandoned during Defender of Varrock.

• patch 28 January 2013 (Update):
  • A minor grammatical error in the Defender of Varrock quest journal has been corrected.

• patch 3 July 2012 (Update):
  • In the Defender of Varrock quest, modern-day Varrock appears at all times.

• patch 12 October 2011 (Update):
  • A trapdoor in the Wilderness no longer advises players to find Hartwin if they haven’t started Defender of Varrock.

• patch 3 March 2009 (Update):
  • Fixed a typo in the Defender of Varrock quest.

• update 29 September 2008 (Update):
  • Added to game.

Trivia

• On the day the quest was released, the spoilers read: "The spoilers are currently hidden away for safe-keeping; tomorrow the zombie threat should have diminished enough to release them."
• If you search the book on the floor when you are looking for the scrap in Reldo's library, you will get a message in the chat screen, "These aren't the documents you're looking for." This is a reference to the Jedi mind tricks in the Star Wars franchise.
• If you speak to the undead Arrav during the invasion, you can say "Talk to me, Arrav!" and "Don't ignore your mate, Arrav!". After he fails to respond, you will state "That normally gets people's attention." This is a reference to the Drunken Dwarf random event.
• During the quest, Sharathteerk says "Your cousin Lucien is close to finding it." This is a reference to the Stone of Jas and one of the many teasers for While Guthix Sleeps, released in November.
• The chant Bron uffon afgi bami reads "I'm a big fan of FunOrb" backwards.
• While the Wilderness sections are instanced as of the return of Wilderness player killing, they still count as PvP areas and disallow cosmetic overrides. Using the map also refers the player's position based on the real location regardless of the fact it is a separate area.
• If you had already completed the All Fired Up quest and tested the beacon network, at the end of the quest Rovin mentions that it helped save many lives.
• Draul Leptoc, Romeo, and Juliet were originally also possible candidates to wield the Shield of Arrav before being removed.
• When Zemouregal was graphically updated following Ritual of the Mahjarrat, he disappeared from The Sacred Forge cutscene, showing only empty fire. When he was updated again after Dimension of Disaster's release, the entire cutscene was remade with updated fire graphics and Zemouregal's new model. Additionally, some of the other people, such as Lord Rologarth, were replaced, such as by Sir Prysin.
• When attempting to give Ramarno an additional redberry pie for the "Blinded by Ramarno's Teaching" achievement, your character will say: "I've given that dwarf quite enough pie."
• In the census, the "Cart Expert" is named Jeremy Clerksin. This is a reference to Jeremy Clarkson, the ex-host of the car review show Top Gear.
• The "List of elders" scroll on the floor in the Varrock library may be a reference to The Elder Scrolls video game series.