King of the Dwarves

King of the Dwarves is the fourth installment in the Rise of the Red Axe quest series. It is the second quest in the series developed by Mod John A, who has taken over from Forgiveness of a Chaos Dwarf. The Red Axe is still kidnapping citizens of East Keldagrim and now that Veldaban has resigned from the Dwarven Black Guard, he may investigate it, along with you.

Assault on the Lava-flow Mine
To start the quest, speak to Lava-flow miner Sven standing outside of the lava-flow mine in Keldagrim East. The lava flow mine can be found on the eastern wall of Keldagrim, to the east of the Blast Furnace. Tell him that you would like a tour of the mines, and the quest will be started. A cutscene will start, in which Foreman Jaak will show you around the Lava-flow mine and explain a little bit, until he spots an odd person who is not supposed to be there. This cloaked figure will then turn around, revealing himself as a chaos dwarf, and commit suicide, after which the boilers of the mine are seriously damaged and the ceiling collapses. Speak to Jaak, who is standing near the entrance, who will tell you to rescue the Lava-flow miners who have been hit by rocks. One free inventory space is required to pick up the miners, and each must be handed over to Jaak before rescuing another one.

Rescuing the miners
Items required: pickaxe (rune or higher recommended)

Note: If you log out during this part you will have to rescue the miners again.

In order to save the miners, you will need to mine the smaller, lighter-coloured piles of rubble to reach them. If a piece of rubble can't be mined, a message will appear saying so and you will have to try another. Upon reaching a miner, free the dwarf from the rubble and take him/her back to Foreman Jaak.

After two of the dwarves have been freed, a Black Guard squad will appear on the scene, but they will place the state of the damaged equipment at a higher priority than the injured miners at the order of the Consortium. Rescue the remaining four miners from the rubble and exit the mine. Two miners will have died, and two will be unconscious. Talk to Jaak after rescuing them all, who will thank you and send you outside.

Growing protest
Outside the mine there will be a crowd of protesters led by Veldaban demonstrating against the Consortium. After talking to Veldaban about what transpired inside the mine, a Black guard soldier will arrive and arrest Veldaban as the Consortium suspects that he was involved with the explosion. The guard will take him to the top floor of the palace. Head to the top floor of the palace in the middle of Keldagrim and talk to the directors to convince them that Veldaban was not involved with the incident.

First, speak to Veldaban and ask him why he is so angry. Tell him to calm down, or the directors will not release him.

Talk to the Blue Opal Director, and select "Tell me about the lava flow mine." Respond with, "So the chaos dwarf blew up the secondary boilers?"

Talk to the Green Gemstone Director, and select "I was there when the explosion happened." Then tell him, "I rescued some of the miners." Tell the Brown Engine Director, "What did you want to do about the miners?" Answer with, "It was a difficult decision. I understand."

Talk to the Yellow Fortune Director, and select "Why did you arrest Veldaban?" Then tell her, "Veldaban's popular. Arresting him makes you look worse."

Once you have finished talking to all of the directors and Veldaban, talk to the Consortium general secretary. Tell him that you've talked to everyone that you need to talk to, and a cut scene will commence. You cannot have a familiar or pet out during this vote! The directors will agree to free Veldaban into your care, but just as they do, another Black Guard will interrupt the meeting. He will tell you that protesters are gathering outside of the palace walls demanding a king be put into power, and also that Colonel Grenda and her First Division have been sent to the caves of Barendir to ward off an army of chaos dwarves.

The rightful heir
Note: 6 soft clay and 6 mithril bars are required for this part.

Now that Veldaban has been released into your care, he will follow you around the city. If you should somehow lose him, he will be waiting for you at the Laughing Miner pub located in East Keldagrim.

Take Veldaban with you to the crowd of protesters gathered on the east side of the palace, and talk to Hreidmar, who is leading the protest. Hreidmar will have the crowd eating out of his hand with all of the protesters energetically agreeing to everything he says. Veldaban will suggest that you find Meike, the leader of Monarchist Society. Talk to one of the protesters and ask them where Meike is, and they will respond saying that they don't know, but she's usually at the King's Axe Inn, just south of the bank in Keldagrim West.

Head to the pub in Keldagrim West and talk to Luitger, who is sitting in the pub by himself. He will say that he too doesn't know where Meike is either. Ask him why he didn't join the protest, and he will tell you that he got cold feet when the revolution actually started, especially since he heard that a protester was arrested. Veldaban will suggest that you check in the Black Guard headquarters to see if Meike was the one who was arrested.

Go to the Black Guard HQ, which is located north of the pub and west of the bank. However, Klaas was the dwarf that was arrested, not Meike. Talk to Klaas and ask him where Meike is, but he will refuse to reveal her location. Veldaban will step in and intimidate and threaten the dwarf into telling you where she's hiding. He will tell you that she's at the top of the tower where you killed Hilda in Forgiveness of a Chaos Dwarf, which is just south of the western palace and south-east of the Stonemason.

Meike will be standing alone at the top of the tower. Talk to her and ask her why she's not participating in the protests. She will reveal that she doesn't know what to do, because if the revolt succeeds, Hreidmar will become the new king as he claims to be the descendant of King Alvis. Suggest that you go to the records chamber first to find out if he truly is the successor, and Meike will offer to help. She will tell you that you need the keys to the chamber, which she might be able to make duplicates of from the library. Meike and Veldaban will then leave, telling you that they'll meet you when you're ready in the library, which is located north-east of the bank, near the river. If you do not already have 6 pieces of soft clay and 6 mithril bars with you, go and get them and meet them in the library (which is just west of the bridge connecting the two parts of the city).

Once you have the necessary supplies, proceed to the library and talk to Meike and Veldaban. Meike will tell you to talk to the librarian about unlocking the display case. She will say that he will most likely give you the key since she is there to supervise you and they are familiar with each other. Ask the librarian to open the case, and he will give you a Keldagrim library key to the case. Unlock the cabinet and try to take the keys back, but the librarian will stop you. Neither will he allow you to use soft clay on the keys. Meike will suggest that you give her the clay so she can make the moulds while you distract the librarian. Use the soft clay on her and then talk to the librarian. Ask the librarian about the keys, and he will explain how the keys are one of the most ancient and treasured artefacts of the library, dating back to the age of the kings. When you are finished talking to the librarian, return to Meike, who will have successfully made clay moulds of the six keys. She will give you the six moulds telling you to make mithril copies in a furnace. However, there aren't any suitable furnaces in Keldagrim, so an outside furnace will have to be used. A simple solution is to use the home teleport to Edgeville. This will allow for an easy return to Keldagrim via the Grand Exchange mine carts. However, this requires that you unlock the Edgeville Lodestone. Any furnace may be used to complete this part of the quest, but Superheat Item will not work. The closest furnace when walking is the one in Rellekka, requiring the completion of The Fremennik Trials. Use the mithril bars on the furnace and make the six keys. Once you have made copies of the keys, return to Keldagrim and meet Meike and Veldaban in the Records Chamber, the entrance to which is west of the Black Guard HQ. The fastest round trip is to lodestone teleport to Edgeville, use the furnace there, walk to the Grand Exchange and use the Keldagrim cart system to return to Keldagrim.

Go through the entrance and speak to Meike or Veldaban. Meike will tell you that the symbols on the keyholes have worn away over time, so you will have to figure out which key goes where by yourself. There are 6 keyholes to match the 6 keys that you have, with three keyholes on either side of the door. It is a process of trial and error. If you cannot figure it out, the correct combination to unlock the door is (from southern-most keyhole to northern-most keyhole): 5, 1, 4, 6, 3, 2. After all of the keys are in the correct keyhole, open the door. As the door opens and reveals the Records Chamber, Meike will exclaim that she never thought she'd live to see the chamber. During a short cutscene, it will be revealed that Hreidmar truly is the heir to the throne. Should the Consortium yield to the protesters and reinstate a king in charge of Keldagrim, Hreidmar and his chaos dwarf army would take over Keldagrim. Meike will offer to alter the records to make it look like Hreidmar is not the rightful heir, but Veldaban will refuse to let her, as he does not want to be king. After a short talk with Meike he will agree and Meike will then suggest that you first find a way to deal with the Chaos Dwarf army while she looks for a rule to potentially disqualify Hreidmar from the throne.

Routing the chaos dwarves
Note: Prepare for battle against Colonel Grimsson, who is level 84.

Defeating Colonel Grimsson
When you are ready and stocked up, talk to Veldaban and ask him to lead you to the Barendir caves. If you have a familiar out Veldaban will say you already have a follower, and you will have to meet him in the Laughing Miner pub in East Keldagrim. When there, enter the tunnel and talk to Colonel Grenda, who will describe the huge army. You must now proceed through the tunnel (at some point, there will be a side-tunnel to the east, ignore it for now). At the end of the tunnel, you will encounter Colonel Grimsson and some lackeys.

Talk to him. When you first meet him, Veldaban will try to make peace with him, but he will mock him with the loss of his girlfriend, Hilda, and from his dialogue Veldaban realises that Grimsson himself had been brainwashed by The Red Axe, with which he will start to tease him. This will make Grimsson very angry and he will attack the level 84 Veldaban, who attacks with an adamant warhammer.

Should Veldaban die, you will reappear outside Barendir and can immediately re-enter to reattempt the fight. This can be done as many times as you need. Note, if you have a multicannon setup when Veldaban dies, it will be lost and you will have to reclaim it from the dwarven engineer.

If you feel that you are not adequately prepared for the boss fight, head to a bank to stock up on supplies. Should you need to leave Keldagrim, Veldaban will leave, telling you that he will be waiting for you at the Laughing Miner pub (which is the pub east in the city) when you return.

Veldaban will be able to do a bit of damage to Colonel Grimsson (hits range from 0 to 60), but you must ensure that he does not die. When the Colonel is attacked by the player, he will start attacking you using Ranged and melee attacks. His attacks do not have very good accuracy, but when they do occasionally hit, they will usually deal around 150-200 damage. The Colonel is weak to stab attacks and can be poisoned, so players may wish to make use of that. He should not be a problem for most players, as he has a very low maximum hit and even then hits somewhat rarely.

After he has been defeated, he will retreat. Try to enter the tunnel through which he fled to see the colossal army, then talk to Veldaban on what to do next.

Note: If Veldaban disappears when teleporting the player to the caves, the only way to have Veldaban return is to log out and then log back in.

Recruiting the trolls
Speak to Veldaban and suggest that you get reinforcements. If you choose to pursue the Colonel, your character will be intimidated by the size of the chaos dwarf army. Tell Veldaban that perhaps the trolls should become involved in the fight. After a short discussion, you will go to the trolls for help without Veldaban.

Head back halfway through the caves until you come to an entrance on the east side. Go through the entrance to find yourself in a small troll settlement and speak to Pretty Flower in the middle, but he will ignore you saying that you are not worthy enough to talk to him. Ask him how you can prove your worth, and he will tell you that you must be strong enough to lift Big Rock. There is a big rock in the room, near the wall. Lift it. If you have 90 Strength or more, you will carry the rock away and keep it in your inventory (can be done any time after the quest as well). After you lift the rock, Pretty Flower will tell you that he wanted you to lift the troll named Big Rock. Pick the troll up, who is walking around the rock, and Big Rock will exclaim that he didn't think any human could possibly pick him up but that you were strong enough to do so. Pretty Flower will now agree to talk to you. You may now approach him about the problem with the chaos dwarves, although he will still refuse to take part in the fight no matter what option you pick. Talk to My Arm who is standing in a corner and ask him how you can get Pretty Flower to listen to you. After a slightly confusing conversation with My Arm concerning Pretty Flower and pretty flowers, ask him which pretty flower he's talking about. He will reveal that he was referring to a flower that he had, pretty flower. Ask him if you can have the pretty flower so that you can give it to Pretty Flower. He will agree and hand over the flower to you.

Take the pretty flower that My Arm gave you to Pretty Flower and show it to him. Tell him that it's a gift from Colonel Grimsson, and Pretty Flower will become enraged that Grimsson makes fun of his name, now wanting to crush him like Tiny Insect. He will agree to help you defeat the chaos dwarves. As Pretty Flower starts rousing his army, leave the caves and head back to the palace.

Only a king
After leaving the Barendir caves, speak to Veldaban, who is hiding next to Meike within the crowd of protesters east of the palace, to start the final cutscene. Veldaban will appear to be highly uneasy, and he will reveal that Meike altered the records so that Hreidmar wouldn't be king. The directors will then address the protesters from the balcony, revealing that for the last several hundred years, the Consortium was able to justly rule over Keldagrim but recent events have changed that, and they have opened up the Records Chamber in order to crown a new king for Keldagrim. Hreidmar excitedly awaits for his name to be called, but instead, as Meike had altered the records to make Veldaban the heir to the throne, Veldaban will be crowned as king. Meike will claim that it was the easiest thing to do as it only required a few strokes to change. Hreidmar refuses to accept that Veldaban is the rightful heir and, maddened, threatens to take over the city with his army of chaos dwarves. Just as he does so, a Black Guard soldier comes bearing news that the trolls have defeated the chaos dwarf army. Veldaban orders the Black Guard to seize Hreidmar, but he manages to slip away through the crowd and disappears.

The scene will change to the top floor of the palace where Meike apologises and hands the crown to Veldaban, who grudgingly takes it, becoming the King of the Dwarves.

Congratulations, quest complete!

Rewards

 * 2 Quest Points
 * 45,000 Mining experience
 * 50,000 Smithing experience
 * 55,000 Strength experience
 * A new gravestone option (Royal dwarven gravestone)
 * Access to the Lava Flow Mine
 * Ability to lift big rock (with 90 in the strength skill, you can carry it away)

Music unlocked

 * Rocky Rescue - After the suicide in the mine.
 * Corporate Callousness - After leaving the mine.
 * Only a King - After having spoken to Meike on top of the tower.
 * The Records Chamber - In the Records Chamber.
 * Colonel Grimsson - In the Barendir tunnels.
 * Go with the Flow - During the announcement of the new king and his coronation.

Required for completing
Completion of King of the Dwarves is required for the following:
 * Birthright of the Dwarves

Trivia

 * On the day of release, the spoilers read: The Consortium directors are currently deliberating on what the contents of this spoiler box should be. They should be taking a vote soon, then it's only a matter of time until they publish the results.
 * Upon the completion of this quest, one's Adventurer's Log will read: "I helped to save Keldagrim from a Red Axe attack, and discovered the identity of the King of the Dwarves."
 * Strangely, you cannot carry more than one Dwarf at a time (because they are 'heavy') despite them weighing nothing in your inventory.
 * Trolls received a graphical update in the quest, but not anywhere else in the game. All trolls received this graphical update on 15 March 2011.
 * Whenever Veldaban lands a hit on Grimsson, the player will receive experience for it, which would be doubled if they were wearing Hati paws before the tenth of May.
 * The child of Pretty Flower the warlord troll is unnamed at the start of the quest but gets the name "Sparkly Crystal" after the quest is finished.
 * When speaking to the protestors outside the palace, the player can try to convince them that Hreidmar bribed the boatman to destroy the statue of King Alvis, even though Grunsh made them forget that during Forgettable Tale of a Drunken Dwarf.
 * Shortly after you defeat Colonel Grimsson, when you and Veldaban are discussing what to do, one of the options is to "gather a band of heroes". This could be a reference to The Avengers.
 * After the quest, the player may ask Veldaban, why his father "Dondakan" did not become king, Veldaban would reply saying that there is a maximum age "once the king reaches a hundred and fifty, the throne passes on to their heir." implying dwarves have a long lifespan.
 * The troll-dwarf battle in King of the Dwarves happened off-screen because showing it would have broken the graphics budget.