The Tale of the Muspah

For the achievement, see The Tale of the Muspah (achievement).

The Old School RuneScape Wiki also has an article on: osrsw:Secrets of the North

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

The Tale of the Muspah (#152)
Release date	21 April 2009 (Update)
Members	Yes
Voice Over	No
Recommended	Yes
Official series	Mahjarrat Mysteries #3
Quest series	Mahjarrat Fremennik
Age	Fifth Age
Timeline	Adventurer
Start area	Fremennik Province
Combat	None
Advanced data
Quest ID	18
Quest create ID	150
Official difficulty	Novice
Links	Quests
Infobox • Talk page

The Tale of the Muspah is a novice quest that starts the Mysteries of the Mahjarrat quest series. It also sees the first appearance of Ali the Wise, the series' main protagonist. Additionally, players learn about the Mahjarrat Ritual of Rejuvenation for the first time in this quest.

Official description

Experienced adventurers will be familiar with the Fremennik rite of passage, and the difficulties it presents. It's little wonder, then, that Fremennik children are always on the lookout for an easier path to adulthood, and Erjolf is no exception.

Join him in his quest for a trophy, unravel the puzzling story of a curious corpse, and discover dark secrets of one of the most fearsome races to ever walk Gielinor.

Overview

Start point	Talk to Erjolf, who can be found north-east of Rellekka, at a cave entrance halfway up the snow-covered mountain path. Show on map	2009#4
Member requirement	Members only
Official length	Medium
Requirements	Quests: The Tale of the Muspah 6 Firemaking 10 Magic 8 Mining 10 Woodcutting
Items required	Items from the tool belt are not listed unless they do not work or are not automatically added. 4 cut sapphires (can be mined and cut during the quest if you have the recommended crafting level) 8 cosmic runes and 8 water runes (or a staff which provides water runes, such as a water staff) to cast Enchant Level 1 Jewellery 8 times (or 8 enchant sapphire tablets)
Recommended	20 Crafting to cut the mined sapphires Activated lodestone in the Fremennik Province A dramen or lunar staff and access to the fairy rings (Unless A Fairy Tale III - Battle at Ork's Rift is completed) A Pollnivneach Teleport scroll, a slayer ring to teleport to Pollnivneach, else a Broomstick to get close to Shantay Pass and then take a magic carpet. Desert clothing, waterskins, an enchanted water tiara or completion of Crocodile Tears Weight-reducing clothing, energy potions or a charged explorer's ring
Enemies to defeat	None

How to Become a Fremennik

To start, speak to the young Fremennik child named Erjolf, who can be found on the icy mountain north-east of Rellekka. Fairy ring code dks or the lodestone can be used for quicker access.

Erjolf is excited about a finding he has discovered in the nearby ice strykewyrm cave. After some beating around the bush, he agrees to lead you there, as long as you vow to never reveal what it is. Agree and follow him into the cave.

Click on the flat rock near Erjolf to cross the river and head deeper inside the cave. Talk to him again and he'll tell you that he thinks he might have spotted a probably-ancient armour, frozen in the ice at the centre of the pool, which he thinks he can use to complete his Fremennik Trials.

Sublimation

You may mine the four sapphire rocks found in the cave for uncut sapphires, albeit only once. You will need the uncut gems for later in the quest.

Ask him about his progress with the trials and he'll ask for your help to retrieve the armour from the ice. Offer to help him, and he'll tell you that you need to build fire rafts to melt the ice, derived from an old Fremennik tradition, using driftwood and basic tools.

Obtain some driftwood from the nearby pile, and create at least 14 fire rafts, one from each set of driftwood. You can walk around the cave by jumping on the flat rocks. You can dig on a mound of snow by each water exit to block or unblock the respective streams.

Side of ice to melt	Streams	Notes
East	Blocked: West and East Unblocked: South	You have to set 5 rafts alight quickly from the northern shore of the pool. Light them from a spot such that when they float south, they end up across the east side of the frozen armour and are blocked from leaving the cave by a rock.
North	Blocked: West and East Unblocked: South	You have to set 3 rafts alight from the northern shore of the pool. Light them on 3 spots that, when they float south, they end up on the north side of the frozen armour.
South	Blocked: East and South Unblocked: West	You have to set 4 rafts quickly alight from the south-east edge of the pool. Light them on a spot that, when they float west, they end up across the south side of the frozen armour.
West	Blocked: West and South Unblocked: East	You have to set 2 rafts alight from the western edges of the pool. Light them on 2 spots that, when they float east, they end up on the west side of the frozen armour.

Mythbusters

Once you have melted all the icicles, Erjolf will ask you to come and talk to him. A cutscene ensues, where you see a monster inside the block of ice. Erjolf instantly notices that the ice around the monster hasn't melted, even by the fire rafts, and deduces that help might be needed.

The monster in the ice.

He'll tell you to find a natural historian who is located on the iceberg in the Trollweiss Hunter area and ask him about the monster; you'll then be given the option to "Look-at" the monster to accurately describe it to the historian. Make sure you do, otherwise you won't be able to progress with the quest.

Exit the cave and go north to the hunting area, past the sabre-toothed kyatts. Take the steps leading onto the platform and walk north-east until you see the historian. After some conversing, he will ask you about the creature's features. The information needed is:

1. It's yellow.
2. It has four arms.
3. It has no legs, like a snail.
4. It has spikes, which run down its spine.
5. It has a spiky tail, with vicious spines.
6. It has pincers, like a crab.

Looking at this depiction, he becomes shocked, saying that this is a mythical creature and that a statue of a similar construct was found in the Kharidian desert, east of the Desert Mining Camp. The historian gives you a Lumbridge teleport tab for cutting down on travel time.

Terror of the Mind

The fastest way to get there is to use either the slayer ring or Pollnivneach teleport scroll to teleport to northern Pollnivneach and walk north, or take the magic carpet from Shantay Pass to Pollnivneach, and then run north. The statue is along the meandering river, and is covered under a sand pile.

• 

  A sand pile covering the statue.

• 

  The statue of the creature after being dug up.

Once the crumbling statue is revealed, Ali the Wise will appear and seems shocked at your discovery. When he is done, talk to him again and ask him about the creature, and he'll tell you that it is a fabled race, going by the name of muspah. Although they are generally always spoken of in folk tales, their creators were powerful mages, and Ali is suspicious of magical activity in the ice.

Fortunately, he knows of a special method to melt it - you will need 4 cut sapphires, 4 water runes and 4 cosmic runes. He instructs you to fix the gems into the ice and enchant each one of them, diverting the magic into the gems instead. If you ask him for help to go back to the cave, he will hand you a Camelot teleport tab.

The Mahjarrat

The ice around the Muspah is melting.

Head back to the Muspah cave and mine the sapphires near the entrance, if you haven't already. Cross the wooden raft bridge, insert the cut sapphires into the ice block, and enchant them (use the "bore-sapphires" and "enchant-sapphires" options to do them).

The Muspah transforms!

The ice will melt, revealing the muspah inside; Erjolf will run away as the muspah starts to move. Talk to the muspah to find out that he is actually Jhallan, one of the shape-shifting Mahjarrat.

Mahjarrat have the ability to transform into another shape of being, and Jhallan has accidentally morphed into a muspah while he dreamed of it in his nightmare, expending a lot of energy in the process and making him weak.

He explains that he was hibernating in ice for the Ritual of Rejuvenation, a ceremony where one of their kin is sacrificed to restore themselves to their former glory. Alas, Jhallan is still too weak to protect himself, and asks you to reverse the process, so he may return to slumber; only this time he wants to choose a safer place, while still being under the ritual site.

Back to the Future

The canoe ride route.

Make sure to pick the 4 cut sapphires you just used, or you'll have to mine new ones. Go and find Erjolf just outside the ice chamber. Ask him about reaching the ritual caves and he'll tell you that the only way to get to there is by water. He will tell you to meet him at the west coast of the Rellekka Hunter area. You will also need another 4 water runes and 4 cosmic runes.

Meet him at the rendezvous point and he'll point you to a log that you can carve a boat from. Craft a crude canoe and use it to travel to the Mahjarrat Ritual Site Cavern.

Jhallan's new resting spot, with sapphires bored in.

Go to the heart of the cave to find Jhallan. Already weakening, he will ask you to find him a dark corner, with no water flow, not too warm, and not in the middle of a tunnel. He will not follow you if you have a familiar summoned.

The only spot suitable is the south-westernmost end of the cave. To get there, head south-east to a 3-way junction, then west all the way to the end of the tunnel where you will reach a T-junction, and finally south to find the spot where Jhallan can hibernate.

Speak with Jhallan and bore the sapphires around him, then enchant the sapphires. Before Jhallan goes into hibernation, you will blackmail Jhallan into giving you a fake muspah tail, as a souvenir for Erjolf. Jhallan will then be finally entombed in the ice, going to rest for the ritual.

Take the canoe back to Erjolf and you give him the tail to complete the quest.

Rewards

• 1 quest point
• 1,000 experience
• 800 experience
• 800 experience
• 500 experience
• 200 experience antique lamp from the natural historian for any skill at or over level 10, which is required for the master quest cape
• New slayer cave full of jellies
• Access to ice strykewyrm cave and ice strykewyrms
• Unlocked dialogue with Ali the Wise about the Mahjarrat
• 2 Treasure Hunter keys (Ironman accounts will not receive these)
  

Music unlocked

• The Muspah's Tomb (After entering the tomb)
• Rest for the Weary (After sailing the canoe)

Achievements

• The Tale of the Muspah ( 0) – Complete this quest.
• Naturally Muspah ( 10) – Claim the reward lamp from the natural historian after 'The Tale of the Muspah'.

Required for completing

The Tale of the Muspah is directly required for the following quests/miniquests:

• The Curse of Arrav

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

• Aftermath (miniquest)
• Full comprehension of Azzanadra's Quest
• Full comprehension of Battle of the Monolith (miniquest)
• Children of Mah
• City of Senntisten
• Full comprehension of Curse of the Black Stone
• 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 (miniquest)
• Eye of Het II (miniquest)
• 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)
• Ritual of the Mahjarrat
• Sins of the Father (miniquest)
• Sliske's Endgame
• Tales of Nomad (miniquest)
• The Light Within
• The Mighty Fall
• The Temple at Senntisten
• Full completion of The World Wakes
• Full comprehension of The World Wakes
• Twilight of the Gods

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.

Gallery

• 

  The muspah changes into Jhallan.

• 

  Jhallan entombed within the ice.

• 

  Giving Erjolf the muspah tail.

• 

  Blocking the water makes fish appear.

Credits

The Tale of the Muspah
Developers
Developer	Mod Roderick
Art & Graphics
Graphics	Mod Alec, Mod Alex, Chris W, Mod GiuG, Jeff K, Mod Brass, Matt S, Nick F
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance	Dan O'R, Dan G, Mod James H
Audio
Audio	Chris Jolley
Other
Quest Help	Ian D
Databox • Talk page

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 21 March 2022 (Update):
  • Modified the required items description in The Tale of Muspah quest overview to correctly show that Lvl-1 Enchant must be cast eight times, not four.

• patch 30 November 2020 (Update):
  • The yellow stripes on the Muspah imprisoned in a block of ice in The Tale of the Muspah will now appear correctly.

• patch 9 December 2019 (Update):
  • The Tale of the Muspah now has its item requirements correctly recorded.

• patch 19 August 2019 (Update):
  • Fixed a typo when talking to Jhallan in The Tale of The Muspah quest.

• patch 12 August 2019 (Update):
  • Fixed an issue where players could not search the Muspah statue in Tale of the Muspah.

• patch 16 November 2015 (Update):
  • A spelling error affecting Erjolf during “The Tales of the Muspah” has been fixed.

• patch 16 March 2015 (Update):
  • A typo in the dialogue with Ali the Wise during Tale of the Muspah has been fixed.

• patch 10 November 2014 (Update):
  • Several jellies in the Tale of the Muspah quest area have been updated, to match those recently reworked.

• patch 19 December 2012 (Update):
  • Corrected a typo in Tales of the Muspah.

• patch 20 November 2012 (Update):
  • Players can now progress through Tales of the Muspah if they left the frozen cave at a certain point.

• patch 8 February 2010 (Update):
  • Fixed a problem with the height mapping in Tale of the Muspah.

• patch 2 September 2009 (Update):
  • Adjusted some text in Tale of the Muspah quest.

• update 21 April 2009 (Update):
  • Added to game.

Trivia

• While talking about his search for Yetis, the Natural Historian says that he's "starting to wonder if people are just imagining them," poking fun at real life people who say they have seen a yeti, sasquatch or other large humanoids.
• The title of the quest is a play on the word 'tale' as you learn about the history of the Muspah, while you also give Erjolf an actual tail of the Muspah.
• On the day of release, if a player was about to unlock the spoilers, they would get a message saying: The rewards have been frozen in an ancient block of ice, which can only be melted tomorrow.
• Near the release date, if you used Quick Chat, and said "I am doing quest.." You could say "I am doing quest Mysteries of the Mahjarrat" - this was the quest's working title. This quest and multiple others in the series were originally intended (as can be read in a development diary) to be a multi-part quest like Recipe for Disaster, but this was changed because the parts were too different.
• The enchant sapphires action can be performed even if you do not have that spell in your spellbook (e.g. Lunar Spellbook).
• Ali the Wise is hinted as being a Mahjarrat when Jhallan says that the player "learns quickly for a human." Ali the Wise similarly complements the player when the player remarks that the magic surrounding the encased Muspah can only be dispelled with further magic.