Unannounced phenomena

Unnannounced phenomena are various events in RuneScape that have at one time or another hinted to future updates.

Will o' the wisps
Prior to the introduction of fairy rings, will o' the wisps appeared at various points around RuneScape in all of the locations that the fairy rings would be placed.

Hunt for Red Raktuber teaser
On 27 May 2009, submarine periscopes could be occasionally seen surfacing in the water in the following locations:
 * Port Sarim
 * Catherby
 * Ship Yard
 * Port Khazard

The submarine was later featured in Hunt for Red Raktuber.

Spirit of Summer teaser
Voices could be heard within the eastern ruins of the Wilderness. They were a foreshadowing of the Spirit of Summer quest.

Prior to release, there was much speculation that it could be the third in the Curse of Zaros saga. The voices can only be heard by members.

Normally, these messages will appear simply as "Woo Woos", however, when wearing an amulet of ghostspeak, players can understand their meaning.

Normally, ghosts don't speak via the chatbox, the only other records of a similar phenomena are inside the Underground Pass, before Iban is killed, and in the two existing chapters of the Curse of Zaros saga, this is where this concept came from.

All the possible phrases the voices say (to date):


 * Help...beast...killing family.
 * Please...can hear...help...slowly killing...all.
 * Devouring...soul.
 * Someone please...pain....away.
 * Out there...need...is devouring...pain...stops.
 * Hurry...stuck...agony...death.
 * Beast life...me and...need help.
 * Anyone...help...please.
 * Save...is dying...have much...left.

Kuradal
From 3 December 2009, Kuradal appeared in various Slayer-related locations, cast Stat Spy or Monster Examine on a player or monster in the area, then teleported away. She appeared at aberrant spectres, abyssal demons, bloodveld, blue dragons, dagannoth, dark beasts, gargoyles, green dragons, hellhounds, steel dragons and greater demons in Brimhaven Dungeon.

She took up a regular station in the Ancient Cavern on 8 December 2009.

Strange power
On 23 January 2010, at approximately 19:48 UTC, a strange power was felt by all players online at the time. This had a massive effect on the community, with the RuneScape Forums being flooded by speculation of what it could be and its true purpose.

Later, Jagex confirmed that the strange power was a hint towards Daemonheim, stating, "The strange power that knocked players to their feet in early 2010 came from Daemonheim, or so the Fremennik believe. Their seers traced the source of the power to come from this point in the Wilderness, and they gathered dozens of warriors to explore Daemonheim's depths. Not everyone has come back, however."

It turns out the strange power was due to the death of the last Chelon-Mah, as confirmed by Bilrach during the quest Dishonour among Thieves. The same thing happens in the background during one of the cutscenes in The Ritual of the Mahjarrat, when Jhallan is killed by Lucien.

Frozen door
The frozen door was present in the God Wars Dungeon since its release, but on 20 December 2010 an "open" option and a rumbling effect was added. When trying to open the door, a voice threatened the player with the following phrases: The area was later revealed to be the Ancient Prison, the Zaros dungeon.
 * Mortals, only death awaits you here.
 * Release me and know despair.
 * Face me and know despair.
 * All those who oppose us will perish.
 * Give me the power of shadow!
 * My revenge will be great.
 * Face me and you will suffer.
 * You cannot imprison me forever.

Clan Citadel teasers
On 2 July 2011, at roughly 19:03 UTC, large rocks fell from the sky, causing the screen to shake. The rocks remained in place for a few weeks until the release of Clan Citadels on 26 July 2011. Chickens started appearing around RuneScape after the update on 7 July 2011. The chickens had smoke covering them and disappear after approximately 10 seconds. Avalani also appeared at the Clan Camp throwing chickens into a portal. This is identical to the "Chicken" emote from the rock fragment reward from Cryptic Clue Fest III.

They appeared in the following locations:
 * Varrock
 * Falador
 * Lumbridge
 * Piscatoris Fishing Colony
 * Canifis
 * Seers' Village
 * Grand Exchange
 * Daemonheim
 * East Ardougne
 * Burthorpe
 * Yanille
 * Neitiznot
 * Tree Gnome Stronghold

Snowmen at Grand Exchange
On 18 December 2011, dozens of level 22 snow warriors, rangers, and mages appeared at the Grand Exchange. They dropped several snowballs on death and did not fight back.

Shadowed Figure
On 18 February 2013, a Shadowed Figure could be seen around RuneScape before the release of The World Wakes.

He appeared at the following locations: During The World Wakes, the Shadowed Figure was revealed to be Sliske.
 * Grand Exchange entrance
 * Grand Exchange north-west corner near the underwall tunnel
 * By the steps to the ruins by the Legends' Guild
 * God Wars Dungeon entrance

Scopulus
On 24 June 2013, Jagex released scopuli, who appeared at the Grand Exchange, Falador and the borehole.

Tuska Comes
As a preview to Tuska Comes, Tuska's face showed up, tinted the screen cyan and shook the screen. Players fell and were given the message ""

A crashed rock also landed south of Barbarian Village, where it could be mined for meteor shards. Eventually, it would vanish and a single Docile strange insect along with a horde of Strange insects attack the players would spawn. The docile strange insect could then be lured to the Airut located at the Piscatoris Hunter area where upon arrival, all Airut will begin to chant out Tuska's name.

The Lord of Vampyrium
On 10 August 2015, and over the course of the following days, villagers began to disappear from Burgh de Rott. One villager, specific to each player, would go missing every day a player visited the village, having The Branches of Darkmeyer quest completed. Each time a villager disappeared a missing poster would appear; Amelia and Rory's dialogue about the Branches of Darkmeyer updated to note their disappearance. A total of 20 villagers disappeared from Burgh de Rott, leaving only Amelia, Rory, Aurel, Cornelius, Elisabeta and Radu behind.


 * 1) Teodor, Victor and Helena - Missing: Teodor - has he been harvested?
 * 2) Vasile - Missing: Vasile - last seen eating a rat.
 * 3) Catalina - Missing: Catalina - lost while playing hide and seek.
 * 4) Valeria - Missing: Valeria - gone, just like Gabriela and Marius.
 * 5) Sergiu - Missing: Sergiu - lost him, but found his missing shoe.
 * 6) Emilia - Missing: Emilia - it's unlikely she escaped to Misthalin.
 * 7) Luminata - Missing: Luminata - last seen eating a rat.
 * 8) Nicoleta - Missing: Nicoleta - out alone in the cold.
 * 9) Calin - Missing: Calin - gone, but not forgotten.
 * 10) Mihail - Missing: Mihail - where are you, Mihail?
 * 11) Ileana - Missing: Ileana - she owed me money.
 * 12) Sorin - Missing: Sorin - looking for new chess partner.
 * 13) Razvan - Missing: Razvan - rat population growing.
 * 14) Grigore - Missing: Grigore - last seen eating a rat.
 * 15) Ivan - Missing: Ivan - lost playing hide and seek.
 * 16) Luscion - Missing: Luscion - gone, but not forgotten.
 * 17) Simona - Missing: Simona - gone, but not forgotten.
 * 18) Florin - Missing: Florin. Wanted: Someone to throw tomatoes at strangers.

After 7 disappearances, Veliaf Hurtz gained new dialogue. Speaking with him, he'd reference the people who have disappeared from Burgh de Rott, and speak of rumours that Lord Lowerniel Drakan was poised to make his return.

Return of the Gods
On 17 December 2016, an eclipse appeared followed by a message on chat. Players were also levitated and enveloped in a green light.

The message did not appear to correspond to any god affiliations.

The following messages also appeared once every 20 minutes, starting at 19:06 UTC from the top:

After the third message, Armadyl returned to the top of his tower. The third message was repeated 4 minutes after being originally broadcast. It is unclear whether or not that was intentional.

Further messages started appearing every 10 minutes at 20:00 UTC, starting from the top:

After the third message, Saradomin appeared at his throne in the altar room of the White Knights' Castle. Additionally, Janus appeared at the Empyrean Citadel.