Children of Mah

Children of Mah is the sequel to Fate of the Gods and is the third quest released as part of Sliske's Countdown, being part of the Sliske quest series.

Following the player and Zaros disturbing Mah, she has awoken and is planning on creating her own universe, beginning with the destruction of Freneskae. The quest sees a confrontation between Zaros and Zamorak, the general who betrayed him, which gave Zamorak the power he has now. The Mahjarrat return to Freneskae, as does Zamorak. The player also visits the throne room in the past to witness the original fight between Zamorak and Zaros.

Starting off
Speak to your Mahjarrat ally, Kharshai, beneath Rellekka through the trapdoor in Skulgrimen's Battle Gear, where Koschei the Deathless was first encountered. He will explain that his divine energy, along with that of other Mahjarrat, is being drained quicker than usual, requiring a new Rejuvenation Ritual. As he is the only one of his kind to not have picked a side in the fight between Zaros and Zamorak, he has no allies among the Mahjarrat and therefore fears that he will be the one sacrificed during the upcoming ritual. He calls upon the World Guardian for assistance.

Ritual Site
You must now make your way to the Mahjarrat Ritual Site, either by using the fairy ring (Glacor Cave, you need to leave the cave and go slightly north-west to reach the ritual site) or by using the canoe in the snowy hunter area. Investigating the Ritual marker will summon forth all Mahjarrat bar Sliske, along with Zaros who offers them immortality without having to sacrifice one another, should they choose to return to Freneskae. The Zamorakian Mahjarrat eagerly point out that Zaros made such a promise during the Second Age, one he did not keep. They argue back and forth, until Kharshai interrupts the argument, saying that the only way to truly remember the events of the Second Age is through memory projection. He hands you a charged Engrammeter, instructing you to go to The Empty Throne Room, beneath the Digsite and recover his memory.

Kharshai's memory consists of 5 fragments, each indicated by a memory spring, which must be found to unlock the full memory. The first spring is located outside of the Empty Throne Room's entrance. The second and third are located inside the throne room at the top of each set of stairs, and the fourth and fifth springs are located on the second lowest level of the throne room on either side of the bottom level. Once all five memory fragments have been collected return to Kharshai at the ritual site.

Inside the memories
Kharsai will send you into his memories. You will assume control of Kharshai and will have to find clues and speak to characters to pass stages. You will appear in the throne room of Zaros' empire.

Stage 1
Speak to Jhallan, Zebub, Perjour and Duke Sucellus as well inspect the red horn markings near Jhallan on the pillar and the broken mouthpiece on the pillar near Zebub. This will give 100% completion for the first sequence and allow you to move down the stairs.

Stage 2
On the north side, speak with Pernix and Akthanakos. Both will question your identity and trustworthiness.

For Pernix, he will ask why you are here, state that an inquisitor was sent for. Then he will ask you if you about the markings, state red horn markings. Finally, he will ask about your assessment, say that there is a plot to overthrow Zaros. He will then place his trust in you.

For Akthanakos, he will give you several questions:
 * 1) Who is Freneskae's god? (Mah)
 * 2) Who brought the Mahjarrat to Gielinor? (Icthlarin)
 * 3) What shape do I take? (Camel)

After correctly answering all three, Akthanakos will trust you. Investigate the broken enchantment (North of Pernix) and the Northern side will be finished.

On the south side, speak with the warpriest and choose the second option in the dialogue to reveal her as a demon, apprehending her. Investigate the stashed weapons behind the first staircase and the red horn marking on the pillar, then speak with Sliske to finish up the second level.

Stage 3
Move on down to the bottom floor and talk with Azzanadra. He will ask you to judge the three in front of him as they are accused of treachery. Pass judgement - kill them or not, it has little bearing on the remainder of the memory. Zamorak then makes his entrance.

The betrayal
Zamorak attempts to sway the rooms occupants to his side and you will get to choose your side - again, the choice has little bearing on the rest of the memory. After this Zaros will appear and a fight will break out in cinematic cutscene, ending with Zaros catching the staff in his hand when Zamorak attempts to strike.

When the memory ends, the Mahjarrat discuss that they still do not know what happened in the last moments. Zamorak will appear and offer to show them that memory with Kharshai as the neutral expert. It will show that Zaros thought of the Mahjarrat as hired hands, and that he didn't have any intentions of helping them free themselves from their rituals. Zamorak will realise the power of the staff and he strikes, siphoning Zaros's energy.

Lava falls
Travel to the World gate and dial it to Freneskae, and choose the first option when entering it ("Children of Mah"). Talk to Kharshai and Zemouregal will appear, taking him captive. You will have to navigate the lava to proceed to the next area. Jump on the rock and steer to avoid obstacles using the arrow keys on your keyboard, or by clicking the on-screen arrows. Be aware that while on the rock, your inventory will be disabled, and you cannot eat, drink potions, or teleport away. Therefore, ensure your health is as high as possible before riding the rock. Running into an obstacle will deal 2000 damage to you. Damage reductions such as Leviathan ring or Aegis aura can reduce this damage. If you die on the lava rock, you will restart back at the beginning - this is a safe death, even for hardcore ironmen. A sign of life and/or phoenix necklace can be used without interrupting the puzzle. Do not equip ring of life as it will teleport you out upon activation. If you die after completing the puzzle and getting to the lightning rod, you will skip the puzzle when you re-enter.

Muspah
Upon arriving you will face multiple level 150 muspah. It is highly recommended to use Ancient Magicks spells for this section, as they provide vastly increased damage against the muspah, and the Shard of Zaros to make them non-aggressive.

You will find a lightning rod. Muspah will appear and can be killed directly via combat, or will take 7,500 damage each time the lightning hits the rod while they are stood adjacent to it. Keep killing muspah until a level 160 grand force muspah appears. Do not kill this muspah; wait for its adrenaline bar to fill up and stand next to the interactable wall. It will fire a missile; avoid the missile, and the wall will break. If you accidentally kill the grand force muspah before this happens, you will need to continue killing the lesser muspah until another grand muspah appears. Run to the next area, and repeat the same process.

Once the second wall is broken down, you will find another lava rock. This time, there are a few muspah on the side; using Protect/Deflect Missiles/Magic is useful to shave a bit of damage; again, if you are wearing the Shard of Zaros, they will not attack you. As with the previous lava surfing section, your interfaces will be disabled. Make your way through until you reach a lavafall; you will fall down, but Seren will save you in time. Continue the dialogue with Seren, then enter the cave nearby to reach Mah's ritual marker.

Reunion
The remaining Mahjarrat will appear, in addition to Zemouregal, who attempts to sacrifice Kharshai. Fortunately for Kharshai, he fails, as Zaros appears and intervenes. Continue through the dialogue until Zamorak appears.

Zamorak and Zaros will battle, and Zamorak, being overpowered by the difference in strength between himself and Zaros, stops attacking and begins sacrificing his energy, channelling it into the other Mahjarrat and losing his wings in the process. Zaros, noticing this, halts his attack, refusing to make Zamorak a martyr.

They discuss and agree to the Vinculum Juris, a demonic pact that binds the participants to uphold their end or be 'undone' (destroyed). They begin the ritual, disturbing Mah in her sleep - Zaros will ask you to go stop her. At the top, you will find Seren, who will send you into Mah's dreams.

Protecting Mah
You have a progress bar above your head for the entirety of Mah's dream section. The bar fills when you are in the dark, and pauses (or if you are almost full, slowly drains) when you are inside of light. Should the bar completely fill, you become disturbed by the nightmares - while in the dark, you now take 250 damage every 2 ticks. If you die here from taking damage, this is not a safe death and you will be transported to Death's office. The progress bar is reset after each stage.

Should you fail any stage, you will reappear by Seren and be allowed to return to the start of the stage you failed. If you leave Freneskae, you can return to the world gate to re-enter, then speak to Seren to continue.

In addition to easier modes, you can also wear wicked robes and boots of lightness to do it faster, especially Dream 3.

Dream 1
As soon as you enter the first area, you will find a 8 light shards and Mah's core. There will be also four Bladed Muspah, though they cannot be attacked. Seren will give you a glowing orb and tells you to protect the core. The muspah send shadows out which will deal 1000 damage to the core if they touch it - the core has 6,000 life. The shadows are dispelled by placing the core in the shard the shadow is coming through. Protect the core until the meter reaches 0% to proceed to the next area.

Dream 2
In this next area, there are unattackable nightmares. Make your way through, touching the light pillar when you reach it. A new path will open and the path you take will be completely dark. Run towards the newly opened area and interact with Zemouregal or Azzanadra to escape.

The second set now has six Mahjarrat, and Seren gives you two glowing orbs. Repeat the process as before; should you fail twice a new 'Easy Mode' option will become available. Leaving will reset the number of attempts to 0.

Dream 3
After this set, you will be sent into another dark area. Go to the open path to the West, touch the Shard there, then go across to the other path East and touch that Shard. Make your way to the new path that appears to the South when the second pillar is touched, and exit via Zaros or Seren.

The final, third set has Seren and Zaros as Mah's final nightmares. You will get three orbs this time. Repeat the same process. As with Dream 2, if you fail too many times the 'Easy Mode' option will appear with the same restrictions on leaving. If you still fail on easy mode, another option will appear 'With Seren's help'. It is helpful to leave two of the lights in place and only focus on moving one.

Finishing up
When finished, Seren will pull you out of Mah's dreams. Zaros's ritual has completed and drained almost all of Mah's energy from her - her mind is corrupted and broken, but her body remains living in agony. Seren, seeing this, will mercifully kill Mah. Finish up her dialogue and return to the marker.

Zamorak and the Mahjarrat will recognise that Seren's energy signature is the same as Mah's, subsequently realising that Seren posed as Mah when they were taught the rituals of enervation and rejuvenation originally. Seren argues that she did so to prevent Mah from ripping Freneskae apart as she believed that the rituals helped to curtail her wrath and maintain the planet's anima mundi. They are angered that Seren had sent their race towards extinction doing this although Zaros supports Seren. Conversely, Seren is angered that Zaros killed Mah through the ritual. The Mahjarrat taunt her, angering her until Zaros convinces her to leave the planet.

The Mahjarrat decide that, while they still have grudges with each other, they should work together now that they don't have to complete any more rituals. Zaros will teleport up to Mah's corpse, asking you to meet him there. You can now speak to each of the Mahjarrat about their plans and other topics - head back up to Mah and speak to him to continue.

Zaros will tell you that while he loathed Mah, he has a sense of sadness with her death, and can understand Seren's anger at having to kill their mother. However, he is pleased that there is something dormant inside her and that it will further his future plans. He will then give you a reward for helping save the Mahjarrat.

Congratulations, quest complete!

Rewards

 * 2 quest points
 * Kharshai's journal: A tome of experience with three chapters, each worth 100,000 experience in a skill above level 75 of your choice (50,000 experience if used on elite skills)
 * Shard of Mah
 * Access to nightmares, level 80 Slayer monsters which drop nightmare gauntlets.
 * Addition of ancient memories to Guthixian Caches: these give 4 points per conversion.
 * Legatus Maximus Armour
 * Tiny Kharshai
 * Legatus Maximus Armour
 * Tiny Kharshai

Early bird bonus
The first two weeks after the release players were rewarded an additional chapter in Kharshai's journal as an Early Bird Bonus.

Post-quest activities
After the quest you can return to the Lava Falls via the World Gate to replay the lava surfing minigame and to investigate the four mahjarrat deathstones that are required to unlock the master quest cape if you didn't do so during the quest.

Music unlocked

 * Chamber of Zaros
 * Elder Daughter
 * Lava Falls
 * The Nightmare Continues

Trivia

 * After completing the quest, the Adventurer's Log reads "I helped to free the Mahjarrat from their rituals."
 * When Zaros and Zamorak encounter each other at the Tower on Freneskae, they utter the following Infernal words: "Animus contrahendi. Vinculum Juris!" When translated from their parent language, Latin, the phrase translates (verbatim) to the following: "Spirit of contracting. Bond of law!" When interpreted legally, the phrase may be interpreted thusly: "Intention to contract. Legal bond!" By uttering these words, Zaros and Zamorak both magically establish an intention to enter a legal contract with one another under the aforesaid terms, and then magically seal the bond of legal obligation under demonic law.
 * The "mysterious motto" engraved on the mural above Zaros' throne in his throne room is "Abscondita est in astra". Roughly translated from its parent language, Latin, this motto means "[She] was absconded (hidden/concealed) into the stars."
 * Zaros disappearing and leaving behind his robes after being stabbed by Zamorak in the Second Age could be a reference to Obi-Wan Kenobi disappearing after being killed by Darth Vader in .
 * At the time of release this quest held the record for having most quest requirements in the game. Requiring a total of 111 quests (53% of all quests at the time of release), all 10 Recipe for Disaster subquests, 3 miniquests and the easy, medium and hard Fremennik Province Tasks.