Quiet Before the Swarm

Quiet Before the Swarm is the first of the three Void Knight quests, as stated by Mod Mark. It was released on 24 June 2010.

Starting

 * Speak to Sir Tiffy Cashien to start the quest. He will tell you that a Pest has escaped the Void Knights' Outpost. His job for you is to interview the residents on the island to find out how it could have escaped.


 * Go to the Void Knight Outpost and speak to Commodore Matthias. He can be found in the north-eastern part of the island. He will tell you to speak to Captain Tyr, just south of the house he resides.

Run through all the options given when you are talking with everyone.
 * After talking to Captain Tyr, he will ask you to talk to many of the residents on the island. There are 9 people you must speak to (not necessarily in order) which are:
 * Knight Ami
 * Knight Bernard
 * Knight Diana
 * Knight Mikhal
 * Jessika
 * Mariah
 * Mrs Gord
 * Squire Sam
 * Terry Gord

To view the people you have already spoken to, see Quiet before the Swarm in your quest journal.

The accused

 * After you have spoken to them, go back to Captain Tyr.


 * Captain Tyr will then ask you to single out a person who you think has committed a crime. The person that committed the crime is Jessika, the researcher, and the only one who does not interact with the locals.


 * Talk to Jessika and talk to her about the crimes she has committed. She will act suspicious and attempts to deny that you have proof.


 * Go back to Captain Tyr and he will tell you to return to Commodore Matthias.


 * After talking to Commodore Matthias, he will call in for Jessika and you will be given a potion which will allow you to go into Jessika's mind. (similar to Lunar Diplomacy's dream plane)

Inside Jessika's mind

 * In her mind, you will have to solve a relatively easy slider puzzle.

The trick is to put it together from top to bottom. It is easy to see what piece goes where, since when it is completely put together, it forms a square around the picture of the pest. This is made rather simple by the fact that there is an outside border on each tile - the empty space should be in the middle at the end.

Note: If you mess up, you can always restart be exiting through the portal and repeating the cutscene of confronting Jessika.

Possible solutions
There are various pictures of various monsters, but all with a 3x3 puzzle.

Arresting Jessika

 * After completing the puzzle, you learn Jessika really did release the Pest, and you inform the Void Knights about it. Jessika is arrested, and the Commodore calls a meeting of the highest ranked Knights.


 * You are told to return to Sir Tiffy in Falador,


 * Sir Tiffy then returns with you to the Docks on Port Sarim. You find Commander Korasi in a stupor, and Sir Tiffy sends Savant to get Lady Table.


 * Tiffy brings you back to Falador, and tells you you must bank all your items (including familiars) before entering the HQ to see Korasi; Bank your items, and return to Sir Tiffy, who will teleport you to the HQ.

Bridge and the sword

 * This puzzle relates to the bridge and torch problem.

Note: Logging out during the following portion of the quest will result in you returning to Falador Park, in front of Sir Tiffy.
 * You find yourself inside a small room with Sir Tiffy and Commander Korasi.
 * Talk to Commander Korasi and you will now find yourself inside a blue plane. You will need to complete a puzzle before you can advance.

The objective of the puzzle is to get all three knights, as well as yourself, across the bridge. However, there are a few hitches. First of all, only two people can go across at a time. The second problem is that the person crossing must have the sword. The third problem is that each person weighs a different amount. The bridge can only handle the weight of 15. Your player weighs 1, Bernard weighs 2, Ami weighs 5, and Diana weighs 8. Lastly, only the heaviest weight is counted when you go across. So if Ami went with Diana, the total weight would only be 8. Here is a possible solution:


 * 1) You cross with Bernard
 * 2) You cross back
 * 3) Ami and Diana cross
 * 4) You let Bernard cross from the other side to you
 * 5) You cross with Bernard

Doing it this way makes the equation for weight 2+1+8+2+2=15

Ship positions
After completing the bridge puzzle, you find yourself with the 5 knights who were on the ship: Commodore Matthias, Korasi, Diana, Bernard and Ami. Each of them holds a hint to where the other knights were, what they saw, and what they were thinking about. To complete this puzzle you must correctly match up each person with the hints given by the other knights.

You will know when you have completed the task, as when you fully complete the last NPC, the task will end.

The best way to solve such a riddle is to make a table. See more at Wikipedia.

Note: Logging out of this part of the quest will erase all memories the memory-knights have.

The Pests' attack

 * After finishing the second puzzle, you go into a cut-scene. You are Korasi, in the hold of the ship. Upon seeing a Torcher, attack it and kill it.


 * After you finish killing it, proceed up the ladder onto the main deck. There you see the other three knights and a squire fighting pests, who are unfortunately killed by them.


 * A Shifter stops you in the path, forcing you to kill it in order to continue.


 * After killing it, your character automatically goes up the ladder to find Commodore Matthias fighting a Mysterious Figure. Using the last of his energy, he teleports Korasi to Port Sarim which is where you find her.


 * Once the cut-scene is over, talk to Sir Tiffy Cashien. He will tell you to talk to Captain Tyr (Now Commodore Tyr) at the Void Outpost.


 * Travel back to the Void Outpost and speak to him. Congratulations! Quest complete!

Reward

 * 1 quest point
 * 4,000 Attack experience
 * 4,900 Strength experience
 * Void seal

Music unlocked

 * Mindful - inside Jessika's mind
 * Void Knights' Theme - at the Temple Knights' HQ
 * Lortnoc Tsep - during Korasi's memory

Required for Completing

 * A Void Dance

Trivia

 * On the day of release, the spoiler read: We're currently delving into the developer's mind to help her remember what the rewards are. Back in a jiffy, what?
 * Jessika mentions during the quest that a "Professor Melville" helped her with the Pest that she freed. It is later confirmed in The Void Stares Back that he is Grayzag.
 * The unlock hint of Lortnoc Tsep and Mindful used to say Calm Before The Swarm instead of Quiet Before the Swarm.
 * When accessing the "Worn Equipment" tab while controlling Commander Korasi, it shows that she is wielding full Adamant armour with an Adamant scimitar, which may be removed and dropped. Removing the Adamant scimitar results in Korasi holding her weapon differently.
 * After completing this quest, your Adventurer's Log will read, "Overcoming many challenges, I unlocked Korasi's memory and learned of the pest attack on the Void Knight ship."
 * When the player uses a cake on Squire Sam, there is a brief dialogue, and Squire Sam asks the player to hold him.Void knights concept art.jpg
 * While in the Temple Knights' HQ, a special track can be heard, however it can't be unlocked. It has a military theme. The track became unlockable when A Void Dance was released.
 * After solving the puzzle and returning to Void knight headquarters, Jessika will say "I taught it, him, to remove himself from the hive mind." This is a reference to Star Trek: the Next Generation, and a Borg named Hugh.