Merlin's Crystal

The Old School RuneScape Wiki also has an article on: osrsw:Merlin's CrystalThe RuneScape Classic Wiki also has an article on: classicrsw:Merlin's crystal

For the achievement, see Merlin's Crystal (achievement).

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

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Merlin's Crystal (#21)
Release date								27 February 2002 (Update)
Members								Yes
Voice Over								No
Official series								Camelot #1
Age								Fifth Age
Timeline								Champion
Start area								Seers' Village
Combat								NPC combat level 20–29
Advanced data
Quest ID								108
Quest create ID								72
Official difficulty								Intermediate
Links								Quests

Merlin's Crystal is the first quest in the Camelot quest series, involving the player rescuing the wizard Merlin from a crystal.

Official description

“

Merlin the Wizard has become carelessly imprisoned inside a giant crystal. Take up King Arthur's quest to free Merlin and become one of the Knights of the Round Table.

”

Overview

Start point	Talk to King Arthur in Camelot.	2002#4
Member requirement	Members only
Official length	Medium
Requirements	Quests: Merlin's Crystal None
Items required	Items from the tool belt are not listed unless they do not work or are not automatically added. All the following items can be acquired during the quest: Bread (Can be obtained during the quest with 24 coins) Bucket (Can be obtained during the quest) Insect repellent (Can be obtained during the quest) Can be used off of the toolbelt if already added Bat bones (Can be obtained during the quest)
Recommended	Activated Falador, Seers' Village and Varrock lodestone
Enemies to defeat	Sir Mordred (level 23) Thrantax the Mighty (level 70); only if the player gives an incorrect answer

Camelot

To begin the quest, talk to King Arthur in his castle of Camelot. Ask him if you can join the Knights of the Round Table, and he'll suggest you complete a quest first to prove yourself; the Knights love a quest. Unfortunately, their current quest is to free their court wizard, Merlin, who has been trapped in a magic crystal.

While they managed to find Merlin and bring him back to the castle, they haven't quite figured out how to free him. Arthur will tell you to ask the other knights if you need any help.

The impenetrable fortress

Keep La Faye

First, speak to Sir Gawain about how Merlin got trapped; he'll either be in the same room as King Arthur or outside in the courtyard. He'll tell you that Morgan Le Faye might know how to release Merlin, since she's the one who put him in the crystal. Unfortunately, her hideout – the Keep Le Faye – is practically impenetrable.

Next, find Sir Lancelot upstairs and ask him if he has any idea on how to get into the Keep. He'll tell you that the fortress is built in a strong defensive position, and that the heavy front doors are always guarded. He also informs you that the fortress has all its supplies delivered by boat.

Now that you've got a lead, head down south to Catherby. You'll find Arhein on the docks just south of the bank. Talk to him to find out that he sails to the Keep to deliver some resources; he's not about to let you hitch a ride, though.

Knight terror

The battle with Sir Mordred

At this point, it is advised to be equipped for combat. Walk directly west of Arhein toward the candle-maker and you'll find some crates, in front of the vegetable stalls. Click on the large one to slip inside and hide. There will be a bit of dialogue as workers come to pack you up and put you in the boat. After a while you'll be dropped off at Keep Le Faye, at which point you can climb out.

NOTE: Do not perform any action or the conversation will end and you will have to go through it all over again! If you do perform an action or disconnect, you may have to teleport to exit the crate and try again.

The Renegade Knights will only be hostile to low-level players. Enter the keep and climb the stairs to the top floor, where you'll find Sir Mordred. Dismiss familiars, if any, and talk to him to proceed into a fight. Mordred is fairly easy to kill, with a minimal requirement for food. Do not leave the castle or you'll have to go back to Catherby and do it again!

Just as you are about to defeat him, Morgan Le Faye will appear begging you not to kill her son. If you choose to kill Sir Mordred you will have to wait for him to respawn and fight him again.

Sorcery

In exchange for sparing her son's life, she agrees to show you how to release Merlin. You will need a number of things to free him from the crystal prison: a set of bat bones, a black candle, Excalibur, and some magic words.

Bat bones

There are giant bats right outside the keep, to the west. Just go out the other door on the ground floor^[UK]1^st floor^[US] to get outside, and kill one.

If you are doing the quest Rag and Bone Man, the bats may also drop some giant bat wings. These will not work for the quest.

Black candle

Head back to Catherby and speak to the candle maker, whose stall is just south of the bank. Talk to him and he'll tell you that black candles are traditionally very bad luck to make. Coax him into giving you one and eventually he'll agree — if you can bring him a bucket full of wax.

Head west to the fenced-in area containing bee hives and speak to the Beekeeper for some insect repellent. Alternatively, you can pick up insect repellent south of Hickton's Archery Emporium. If you don't have a bucket, there is one that spawns right next to the gate by the beehives.

Use the insect repellent on any hive (except for the one in the north-east corner) to temporarily drive the bees away, then use a bucket on it to obtain some wax. Take this back to the candle maker to trade for your black candle. You may talk to him again to get any number of black candles for a bucket of wax each. After completing the quest you will not be able to trade a bucket of wax for a candle, instead he will sell black candles for 3 coins each.

Excalibur

Items needed: Bread

To destroy the crystal, you'll need a sword known as Excalibur, currently in the possession of The Lady of the Lake. She's located on the peninsula south-east of Taverley, around the lake shore. Talk to her and she'll tell you that she has the sword, but that she first wants you to go to the jewellery shop in Port Sarim.

If you don't already have one, grab a loaf of bread from a food shop – the nearest one is Wydin's Food Store, in Port Sarim, just south of the lodestone – and head north to the jewellery shop. As you open the door, a beggar will approach you and ask you for some food to feed his starving family; give him the loaf of bread. When you do, the tramp will change into the Lady of the Lake, who was simply testing the purity of your spirit.

The beggar appears.

Now satisfied that you are worthy of the sword, she hands you Excalibur.

The magic words

The Chaos altar

Go to the Zamorakian temple in Varrock, located in the south-eastern part of the city, near Aubury's Rune Shop. Right click to check the altar. The inscription on it reads: "Snarthon Candtrick Termanto".

Freeing Merlin

Items needed: Bat bones, black candle and the Excalibur

Go back to Camelot and head to the north-east corner of the castle grounds – outside the castle, but inside the fence. You'll find a small stone gazebo with eight columns. Inside, on the ground, is a twelve pointed star.

Light your black candle within this structure and drop the bat bones here (do not bury the bones). A ghost named Thrantax the Mighty will appear and you will be prompted to say the magic words. The magic words are "Snarthon Candtrick Termanto".

Shattering the crystal prison

If you get it right, the ghost will agree to grant one of your wishes. If you fail, he will attack you and you'll have to try again. Be careful though, as he is level 70 and can hit in triple figures. If this happens, simply stand in the middle of the twelve pointed star again and drop the bat bones. Once the ghost is under your control, you can ask for it to free Merlin from the crystal.

Now go back inside Camelot Castle and from the south-east corner of the ground floor^[UK]1^st floor^[US], climb to the very top of the tower. There you will find Merlin imprisoned in a blue crystal. With Excalibur either equipped or in your inventory, smash the crystal to release him.

Head back downstairs and talk to King Arthur, who grants you honourary admittance into the Knights of the Round Table. Congratulations, quest complete!

Rewards

• 6 quest points
• Excalibur
• A replica of Excalibur will be placed in the Varrock Museum as a Varrock Museum display by talking to Historian Minas. This will give you 5 Kudos and a lamp for 1,000 XP (can be used on a skill at least level 20).
• 2 Treasure Hunter keys (Ironman accounts will not receive these)

Achievements

• Merlin's Crystal ( 0) – Complete this quest.

Required for completing

Merlin's Crystal is directly required for the following quests/miniquests:

• Heroes' Quest
• Holy Grail
• Full comprehension of Once Upon a Time in Gielinor: Flashback

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

• Aftermath
• Alpha vs Omega
• Azzanadra's Quest
• Battle of the Monolith
• Blood Runs Deep
• Children of Mah
• City of Senntisten
• Full comprehension of Curse of the Black Stone
• Desperate Creatures
• Desperate Measures
• Full comprehension of Desperate Times
• 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
• Glorious Memories
• Full comprehension of Heart of Stone
• Full comprehension of Hero's Welcome
• In Memory of the Myreque (miniquest)
• Kindred Spirits
• King's Ransom
• Koschei's Troubles (miniquest)
• Legends' Quest
• Love Story
• Mahjarrat Memories (miniquest)
• Full comprehension of Missing, Presumed Death
• Full comprehension of Nadir (saga)
• Nomad's Elegy
• Nomad's Requiem
• Once Upon a Time in Gielinor: Finale
• Once Upon a Time in Gielinor: Fortunes
• One of a Kind
• Rebuilding Edgeville (miniquest)
• Recipe for Disaster
• Recipe for Disaster: Defeating the Culinaromancer
• Recipe for Disaster: Freeing Sir Amik Varze
• Remains of the Necrolord
• Ritual of the Mahjarrat
• River of Blood
• Royal Trouble
• Sins of the Father
• Sliske's Endgame
• Tales of Nomad (miniquest)
• The Branches of Darkmeyer
• The Light Within
• The Lord of Vampyrium
• The Lost Toys (miniquest)
• The Mighty Fall
• Full completion of The World Wakes
• Full comprehension of The World Wakes
• Throne of Miscellania
• Twilight of the Gods
• While Guthix Sleeps

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

Merlin's Crystal
Developers
Developer			Paul Gower, Mod James (conversion to RuneScape 2)
Audio
Audio			Mod Ian
Other
Quest Help			Dan L

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 4 November 2019 (Update):
  • A typo in the "Merlin's Crystal" quest required items section has been fixed.

• patch 1 December 2014 (Update):
  • Updated the Merlin's Crystal quest start journal to reflect recent changes to the combat level calculation.

• patch 19 September 2012 (Update):
  • The Lady of the Lake now has a right-click "Claim Excalibur" option after completing Merlin's Crystal.

• patch 10 January 2011 (Update):
  • Mordred no longer ignores the player at a certain point in this quest.

• patch 17 November 2009 (Update):
  • Removed a combat requirement from the Merlin's Crystal quest as it wasn't needed.

• patch 20 October 2009 (Update):
  • Prevented emotes while hiding in a crate.

• patch 7 October 2009 (Update):
  • Stopped most wielded items appearing outside the crate used in Merlin's Crystal.

• patch 25 February 2009 (Update):
  • The end of this quest has had its gameplay and graphics improved.

• update 14 March 2005 (Update):
  • Merlin's Crystal is only an intermediate quest, yet it sent you to a multi-way combat zone in the Wilderness. You now need to go to a different chaos altar.

• update 27 February 2002 (Update):
  • Added to game.

Trivia

• Upon talking to King Arthur for the first time, he says 'Back in England, Merlin got himself trapped...' This is the first time a quest incorporates a non-fictional country into the game.
• The quest was once a requirement to teleport to Camelot, but this was later changed.
• This quest, at one point, could not be completed by skillers due to an update that forced players to wield the sword to smash the crystal. The 'smash' option being later added, skillers are now able to complete the quest again.
• This quest awards more quest points on completion than any other standard quest, exceeded only by Recipe for Disaster and Dimension of Disaster when considering the total awarded by completing all of either one's subquests.
• If you talk to the Lady of the Lake on the 1^st floor^[UK]2^nd floor^[US] of the jewellery shop, you can get the same dialogue as she has at the lake, including telling you to go to where you already are.