Strange power



The strange power was an event that occurred at about 19:48 UTC on 23 January 2010. All across Gielinor, a strange power was felt by nearly all the players online at the time. The effects lasted for about seven seconds, featuring a red mist-like effect encircling and levitating users. When the players stopped floating, they all faced a specific direction. All the players who experienced it received a message saying, "You feel a strange power unleash itself upon you."

There was plenty of speculation of what the strange power was, or its true purpose. The RuneScape Forums were flooded with threads in relation of the event. In one thread, a Jagex Moderator refused to provide any hints on the nature of the event. On the Jagex Twitter channel, a Jagex Moderator posted a hint saying that all will be revealed in time. On the same day, Mod MMH posted an anagram on the official forums for players to solve. The anagram was Acolyte Until. He also said that the answer was four words long and began with an I. Players quickly discovered that the anagram unscrambled to I can't tell you.

Jagex officially stated that the strange power was a teaser for the 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." This does not mean the full purpose of the event has been revealed; it is possible that something remains to be discovered concerning who caused the strange power.

Facts
After the initial event, all sorts of speculation and rumours had spread. Among hundreds, only a few were confirmed to be true, which are the following:

Jagex statements

 * Mod Calm confirmed on the RuneScape Forums that the phenomenon "wasn't a glitch or a bug."
 * Mod Paul M confirmed that the strange power had nothing to do with the real life earthquake in Haiti (see Gallery).
 * Mod MMH posted an anagram on the official forums for players to solve. The anagram was Acolyte Until.

The event



 * The emote after the mist was the same emote Cyrisus did when he was fully healed in Dream Mentor (see Gallery).
 * Members and non-members experienced the event.
 * Pets and followers were untouched in the event.
 * The red mist effect lasted for about seven seconds.
 * After the event, all players were placed facing the same direction from different locations, which was north-east for anyone who was on the main plane of Gielinor at the time, which points in the direction of the Wilderness Castle. (Other directions were only reported if players were in a cave or minigame area.)
 * RuneScape Classic players received the message too, but without any animation.

NPCs

 * NPC chat dialogue (see Gallery) that was added after the strange power:
 * Peer the Seer: Uuuh... What was that dark presence I felt?! Ahem, sorry about that.
 * Seers in Seers' Village: Uh, what was that dark force? I've never sensed anything like it... Anyway, sorry about that.
 * Sin Seer: My inner eye is clouded from a wave of darkness; give me a moment. What do you want?
 * While seers were affected by the strange power, other psychics (notably the Oracle and Gypsy Aris) gave no apparent reaction.

Areas
Areas that deal with the Strange Power:
 * Daemonheim was added on 22 February as a hidden update where Hilda, one of two Fremennik guards at the entrance, mentions the Strange Power. Beyond the fence, one area resembles a camp.
 * Daemonheim is north-east from most locations, the way players were facing after the strange power.

Trivia

 * The strange power event corresponded with the release of Enakhra's Lament on 23 January 2006, exactly 4 years prior to this event.
 * Mod Chihiro has confirmed that the strange power was related to the backstory for Daemonheim.

Video footage
There are several videos on YouTube in which the event was captured.


 * Strange power unleashes itself on Runescape - Smithing
 * Runescape 1/23/10 [Strange Power Jagex's Hint on a Hidden Update? MUST SEE ] - Kalphite Queen
 * "you feel a strange power unleash itself upon you"+all runescape skillcapes at one moment - Mega Skillcape
 * Strange power emote at great guard invasion 5 - Super Treeco - Great Guard Invasion
 * you feel a stange power unleash itself upon you? barbarian assault - Barbarian Assault
 * Stange Power Unleashes Itself ¤ Wtf just happend on runescape? Glitch? Bug? Aliens? - Pking
 * Strange Power Unleashed At KBD? - Kbd Guide