The Light Within

The Light Within is a grandmaster elf quest. It was previously proposed to be released on 17 August, but was eventually pushed back to 24 August 2015. It was developed by Mod Ollie and Mod Raven, and was released alongside Seren-themed prayers and spells, and the discovery of Tarddiad.

The central focus of the quest is the return of the crystalline goddess of the elves, Seren, by helping the elven elders find and reunite her component shards.

Official description
"The Light Within's sprawling story will see you helping the elven elders to find and reunite the Seren Shards – the scattered remnants left when the goddess sacrificed herself to save her faithful.

Travel across Gielinor and beyond – to the elven homeworld of Tarddiad. Expect fiendish puzzles, challenging combat and some truly tough choices.

Whatever the outcome, your part in these events will be pivotal in the ongoing saga of Gielinor's Sixth Age."

Earthquake in Prifddinas
To start the quest, talk to Eluned in the Ithell district of Prifddinas, north of the player-owned house portal. The screen will start shaking as she questions Seren's arrival, worrying that the city will collapse. She requires your help in forming Seren.

Go upstairs in the Tower of Voices and all the clan leaders will be there, along with Seren in the middle. They will debate whether they should reform Seren or not, and they will give you the option whether to reform Seren or not. It doesn't matter which you choose, either option will result in Seren's reformation.

After choosing, they will wonder as to how they will reform Seren. Lady Trahaearn will suggest using the Enchanted key. Give her the key and she will attune it to moments in time relating to Seren.

Return to the past
Now you must follow the path which the Enchanted key takes you. This can be found by feeling the key, but the position is the same for everyone: it will lead you to Guthix's Cave at Guthix's corpse, easily accessible through the Sixth-Age circuit or modified diviner's headwear teleport. If you haven't yet unlocked the teleport to the World Gate, speak to the Guthixian High Druid to do so. Upon arrival, stand on the platform in front of Guthix's corpse and rub the key; you will be transported back in time.

Guthix will be there. Talk to him and pick any dialogue options. He will talk about the Enchanted key's origins and how to restore Seren. He suggests reconstructing her major shards through elven magic and replacement crystal. However, Guthix notices that they are being spied on. He suggests that you find out who it is before you leave.

Go up the steps and find Haluned to the north-west. She will recognise the player from Meeting History, and you may talk to her to find out that she is the twin of Eluned. While trying to talk to her further, she will teleport away, and Guthix will summon you again.

Guthix believes that Eluned is her twin, and because of that, the player will need to make a difficult choice later in the quest because they are both shards of Seren. After talking to Guthix, you will teleport back into the present.

Finding the major Shards of Seren
Return to the top of the Tower of Voices, where the leaders will mention that each pair of clans hold one of the major shards of Seren. Amlodd and Hefin, known as the Spiritualists, hold one shard. Crwys and Meilyr, known as the Naturalists, hold another. Cadarn and Iorwerth, the Military, hold a third, and Ithell and Trahaearn, the Artisans, hold the final one.

Talk to the clan leaders in the respective groups to find out where the shard may be hidden. Some of the leaders will redirect you to the other leader due to an issue (age, trust, etc.), so you should talk to the elder clan leaders to save time. The shards can be collected in any order.
 * Lady Trahaearn tells you that they hid the shard under the watchful gaze of Lady Ithell, with some sort of defence system. Lady Ithell will tell you that the shard is hidden deep beneath the earth and the entrance is watched over by clan Ithell.
 * Lord Iorwerth recommends you talk to Arianwyn, who will give you Baxtorian's journal. The journal includes a riddle to find the shard. You must read the journal for Arianwyn to appear later.
 * Lord Amlodd and Lady Hefin tell you that the shard was recovered from the Poison Waste and is trying to be purified. Amlodd tells you that a ritual must be done to completely purify it, which requires three light cores. This ritual is completed in the Hefin Cathedral.
 * Lady Meilyr and Lord Crwys tell you that she buried the shard and it grew into a crystal tree. However, to regain the shard, you will need a potion, formed by mixing a grand defence potion with a rare ingredient from Isafdar and another item that is a closely guarded secret of the treants.

Meilyr and Crwys shard


The Elixir of Revealment potion is obtained from mixing a grand defence potion with a wintercup mushroom and a bloodcap mushroom.

Talk to Coeden in the Crwys district. He will tell you that you need the wintercup mushroom, which he will give you after he tells a story. Your character will start to fall asleep during the story; to stay awake, click on the elven clan icons that appear on the screen as he automatically narrates. If you should fail, once the eyelid screen has gone black, you can move Coeden's chat screen to see the icons better. In the legacy mode interface, click the red button beneath the home teleport icon in the top right corner of the screen to leave the black view.

The bloodcap mushroom can be found just west of the Tirannwn mushroom farming patch. Use both mushrooms on the potion to create the Elixir of Revealment. The potion must then be used on the shards around an active Crystal tree to reveal a cave entrance. If you have access to the Max Guild and have level 94 Woodcutting, you can attune one of the portals to take you to the active crystal tree. Once you find it, use the potion on one of the shards around the tree and a hole will appear in the ground. Climb down and take the Seren shard of harmony from the roots.

Trahaearn and Ithell shard
Travel to Lletya (teleporting with a crystal teleport seed or by a similar method) and equip the Trahaearn exoskeleton set. Investigate the well in front of the Ithell Statue, and climb into it. Trahaearn automaton mk V is encountered guarding access to the shard, and it will not let you pass. Wearing the Trahaearn exoskeleton set makes it confuse you for Lady Trahaearn, but it will still ask you some questions to ensure you are not an imposter.


 * Question 1: What is the exoskeleton set made out of?
 * Answer 1: The set is made out of runite.
 * Question 2: Who is your husband?
 * Answer 2: Lady Trahaearn's husband is Cynog.
 * Question 3: How many seren stones are being managed?
 * Answer 3: Five seren stones are being managed.
 * Question 4: Our children are our future
 * Answer 4: "The future is doomed"

Once the questions are successfully answered, the automaton will go into a passive observation mode in a corner of the room. Take the Seren shard of prudence from the singing bowl in the room.

Amlodd and Hefin shard
Three light cores are required, which are obtained from cleansing shadow cores in the Amlodd district. Shadow cores are an uncommon drop from all types of shadow creatures, and since you are not guaranteed to acquire a light core from cleansing, it can take up to an hour to get 3 light cores. The shadow creatures hit with very high and very accurate melee attacks, so protect from/deflect melee is almost mandatory. They are weak to fire magic. Shadow cores are also obtainable from pickpocketing Amlodd workers.

Walk up to the Hefin Cathedral and there will be a chatbox option to purify the corrupted Seren Stone upon entry. Lady Hefin will start the ritual by using the same poses from the Serenity posts, followed by an incantation, both of which must be copied correctly. Three poses then incantations are used, which will increase to four and five respectively as you progress through the ritual. If your incantation is incorrect, you must restart and copy the poses again; you will not have to restart back at three poses/incantations, should you accidentally fail the ones requiring four or five. If you have difficulty memorising the incantation, you can write down the first letter of each word to help you through the process (the letters are different for everyone).

After completing the incantation, you will be given a Seren shard of wisdom.

Iorwerth and Cadarn shard
Make sure you have talked to Arianwyn and received Baxtorian's journal.

Travel to Barbarian Outpost with a Games necklace, and run south to the Baxtorian Falls with Glarial's amulet and enter the Waterfall Dungeon under the falls. The dungeon can be accessed by boarding the log raft west of Almera, using the rope on the rock across the water directly south of you, and using the rope again on the dead tree to get onto a cliff with the entrance. Alternatively, you can use a hoardstalker ring to teleport to the Baxtorian Falls resource dungeon, which does not require the amulet or a rope. Go into the eastern room and search the northern crates for A key (Waterfall Dungeon). If you previously had the key in your bank and attempt to use it, the door will not open; you must search the crates. Read Baxtorian's journal if you haven't already, then go into the north-western room and open the door. Arianwyn will be inside.

Investigate the statue of Baxtorian. Arianwyn will chant an incantation which will make Baxtorian come back to life. Baxtorian explains that four pieces of the Song of Restoration must be found in order to revive Seren, and gives you one piece. You will gather the other pieces throughout the rest of the quest. After asking him where the shard is, he will turn the statue of Glarial into the shard you are looking for.

Take the Seren shard of integrity.

Haluned, the Dark Lord
Return to the Tower of Voices with the four shards. A cutscene will occur where Seren needs your help, and you will obtain the second piece of the song.

Go back into the Tower of Voices and return the shards to each leader. However, Lord Iorwerth will mention that the shard of the Dark Lord (Haluned) and Eluned need to be used as well.

Go to Morvran in the Iorwerth district and ask to be taken to the Grand Library. Go west through the door to enter the Grand Library. In the very south-west corner on the edge of the cliff, click on the Seren shard. You will be given a choice to include the dark Seren shard in the restoration of Seren. If you choose to include it, you will take the shard; if you choose not to include it, you will kick it into the abyss. After making your decision, return to the Tower of Voices.

All the main crystals are collected, but the elders cannot recreate Seren without filler crystals. They'll suggest Tarddiad may have what is needed, although it may be dangerous since no one's been there in thousands of years.

Tarddiad
Teleport to the World Gate with the Sixth-Age circuit, or alternatively teleport to the Eagles' Peak lodestone and run south. Interact with the controls directly in front of your character to change the Gate's destination. Rotate the dials until a number "1" is presented on the Gate (not to be mistaken with the straight line and backwards 1). This is the portal to Tarddiad. Step through it and a cutscene will occur where Seren regrets going to Gielinor. The third piece of the Song of Restoration is remembered here. Upon entering, after stepping a little further from the portal, a Crystal Shapeshifter will attack you. This shapeshifter is the only aggressive one you'll encounter, and its aggressiveness can be reset by running far enough, until you toggle the option to make all of them aggressive (more on this later).

50 Tarddian crystals (a total of 150 Crystal fragments) need to be collected. Crystal fragments can be obtained from mining solid crystal, chopping branching crystal or fishing floating crystals. Both crystals and fragments stack. Level 75 is needed in the respective skill to mine, cut, and fish for the crystal fragments. These fragments can be exchanged with Angof in the north-east corner of Tarddiad at a rate of 3 crystal fragments to 1 Tarddian crystal. Alternatively, you can kill Crystal Shapeshifters around Tarddiad, who drop 2 crystals upon death. However, the shapeshifters are more challenging than their combat level suggests and it may be better to collect fragments by skilling instead of killing them. You can right-click on Angof to toggle aggressiveness and increase the amount of shapeshifters around Tarddiad; it can always be reverted by toggling again.

Speak to Angof and end the conversation to get the final piece of the Song of Restoration.

In the house behind Angof, there is a crate which can be searched for her diary. Although you cannot take it, you can read it.

There are three journals that contain additional lore on Tarddiad, and are not necessary for the quest, however, reading all three is a requirement for the Master Quest Cape. In the north-west corner, inside the middle building, there is a boulder you can search for the Ancient Tarddian Journal. To the north-east (west of the river), at the end of a faded path, a bush will yield the Weathered Tarddian Journal. A crystal formation abutting the top of the southernmost stairs (small click area) can be searched for the Dusty Tarddian Journal.

Return to Freneskae
Once 50 crystals have been collected, return to the tower of voices, and the restoration ceremony will begin. You have the choice to sacrifice Eluned to complete Seren, or keep her alive. Regardless of your decision, Seren will appear, but because she lacks a soul she will collapse in front of the elders. The elders discuss that she needs to be taken to Freneskae. Once you are ready, talk to any of the elders to continue.

A cutscene will ensue once you are teleported, taking Seren through Freneskae. A face mask is not needed for this part. As you reach The Cradle, a Force muspah will attack you, followed by a second one shortly. Since you are carrying Seren you cannot fight them and will need to avoid their attacks. You will be stuck in walk-mode during this time. After a short while, Zaros will appear and banish the muspahs, and will say that it wasn't the right idea to bring her here. As you agree not to tell Seren of his appearance, he will take you to the Elder Halls.

Light puzzle
You are required to direct two beams of light, from the centre, onto the fractured shards at the outer edge of the puzzle. You do this by rotating crystals which refract the beams. The crystals are divided in three rings, an outer ring, middle ring and core ring - if the compass is pointing north the rings can be seen clearer. Rotating any crystal in a ring turns all the crystals in the ring identically. Rotating any crystal in a ring also rotates the crystals in one or both of the other crystal rings in the opposite direction. The crystals can be turned clockwise or anticlockwise, and there are eight turns in a full circle (i.e. N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW). The turn effects are explained below.



Turn Mechanism
 * Turning a crystal in the core ring clockwise, turns the middle ring anticlockwise, and leaves the outer ring alone.
 * Turning a crystal in the middle ring clockwise, turns the core ring anticlockwise, and the outer ring anticlockwise.
 * Turning a crystal in the outer ring clockwise, turns the core ring anticlockwise, and leaves the middle ring alone.

Turning any crystal anticlockwise simply reverses the above.

If you mess up, you can click on Seren to reset the puzzle.

There are four puzzles in total. After completing each puzzle, a cutscene will occur.

Light Puzzle Solution

Puzzle 1: Puzzle 2: Puzzle 3: Puzzle 4:
 * Outside ring: +2 (2x clockwise)
 * Middle ring: -2 (2x anti-clockwise)
 * Core ring: -1 (1x anti-clockwise)
 * Outside ring: +2 (2x clockwise)
 * Middle ring: +1 (1x clockwise)
 * Core ring: -2 (2x anti-clockwise)
 * Outside ring: 0 (no movement)
 * Middle ring: -2 (2x anti-clockwise)
 * Core ring: -3 (3x anti-clockwise)
 * Outside ring: -2 (2x anti-clockwise)
 * Middle ring: +2 (2x clockwise)
 * Core ring: -2 (2x anti-clockwise)

Seren's return
After the light puzzles are completed, more dialogue between Seren and the player will ensue in which more insight to Seren and Zaros' relationship is given.

The player will eventually be given the option to teleport to the Tower of Voices or to the World Gate. Regardless of your decision, return to the Tower of Voices where Seren will tell the elders that they are now the rightful rulers of Prifddinas, and appoints the player as their champion.

'''Congratulations! Quest complete!'''

Required for completing

 * Children of Mah

Trivia

 * The quest's name is a reference to Within the Light, one of the previous instalments in the elf quest series.
 * The quest was originally suggested on RuneLabs.
 * 80 Slayer was stated as a requirement in the podcast and Behind the Scenes video from 14 August 2015, but this was later noted to be a mistake. Yet when the quest was released, 80 Slayer was indeed a requirement.
 * There is a crate in Angof's house that when searched, produces the message "This crate is sealed; you cannot open it currently.". This crate can later be opened by returning the Ancient Elven Wedding Ring to Angof, yielding a journal entry as its contents.
 * Upon completion of the quest, the Adventurer's Log states "I helped return the light of Seren to the world by reforging her body and soul."
 * One of the possible messages you would receive if you fall completely asleep during Coeden's story says "Can you truly be sure you're a human who dreamed he was a cabbage, or a cabbage that is dreaming of being a human?" This might be a reference to a classic Chinese story of the philosopher, who asked the same question after dreaming of being a butterfly.
 * While Lady Trahaearn is enhancing the enchanted key, the player says "I think I can smell fudge", a reference to the show.