Blood Runs Deep

The Dream
A primary part of this quest is killing dagannoth creatures, and it is therefore highly beneficial to complete this quest while on a dagannoth slayer task.

Start this quest by talking to Baba Yaga in her walking house on Lunar Isle. She is located in the north part of the settlement on Lunar Isle. Ask about the man in her bed. Agree to go into the man's dream to find the sickness. The dream takes you to a lighthouse. We find out the man, Silas, is actually the Lighthouse keeper. Listen to Silas as he is writing in his journals about dagannoths.

Search the bookcase at the north end of the island to receive a Prophecy tablet (lighthouse). Talk to Baba Yaga and she suggests you search where the stairs lead. Go up the staircase.



Listen to Silas for information. You find out that Silas is a servant of the Dagannoth Mother. Her forces are attacking Rellekka, and she is planning to attack the "Jah-Nay Islands"(Jatiszo and Neitiznot). Misk island (Miscellania) will not help them, as she has captured their king. She had developed new immunities and once her children have mastered them, the world will be their toy.

After you eavesdrop on Silas, Baba Yaga needs to find a lectern and suggests going through the tunnel on the other side, where you find Silas lying on the floor.

Talk to Silas and then read the lectern. You'll find it isn't working. Baba Yaga is trying to finish it and you need to stall long enough. During the fight, she will give the power of Vengeance and also occasionally heal you. Level 90 dagannoths attack you with melee while from a distance a level 88 dagannoth ranges you and a level 90 Wallasalki mages you. You do not need to kill all of them (since they will respawn), but instead just fight and survive long enough until Baba Yaga fixes the lectern and teleports the two of you to her house. This will take a few minutes, bring twelve to eighteen sharks or better. If you do die, you will have a gravestone. It will spawn near Baba Yaga's House.



Defending Rellekka
After escaping successfully, talk to Baba Yaga. If you are ready to continue fighting many dagannoths, agree to use her 'trick'. If not, head to the bank, stock up on supplies, and then talk to her again. Her trick is to take your Seal of passage, which means, since you are no longer wearing it, she does not recognize you and expels you back to Rellekka.

At Rellekka, you join the Fremennik there in defending the city against level 88 and 90 dagannoths that use melee and ranged. Protect from Melee is recommended. You may want to help the villagers instead of fighting alone, which is easier. Once you have killed numerous dagannoths (a cannon greatly speeds this process up), Brundt the Chieftain will tell you to join him on his ship on the indicated dock, marked with a yellow flashing arrow. Once on his ship speak with Queen Sigrid to find out that King Vargas is missing, to hear that the two are engaged to be married, and to get the mighty weapon Balmung. The queen tells you not to let Vargas, beloved but known to be clumsy, to use Balmung. After you receive it, Brundt offers to drop you off at Waterbirth or at Etceteria to bank and gear up.

Note: From this point onwards, you will have to teleport and re-stock very often, so you may want to move your player-owned house to Rellekka, as this will be a convenient way to return to the action. Alternatively, you may use an enchanted lyre for getting back to Rellekka quickly. You can also use the Moonclan teleport spell from the Lunar magic spellbook and talk to an NPC there (without your seal of passage) to get teleported back to Rellekka.

Saving King Vargas
Once at Waterbirth, go to the dungeon entrance where you find Bardur. Ask him if he see's anything strange and he tells you that he saw a hole on top of the island southwest from the entrance which is located near snape grass spawn and a hobgoblin. He will give you a rope to go down the hole. Warning: This is a multi combat zone, and without prayer or lots of food, and familiars such as Beast of Burden, Unicorns, or Titans, your chances will be very slim as the monsters in the cave hit you rapidly.



Once down in the cave you will see King Vargas, who is badly injured. He will give you a prophecy tablet then explains that there is a way out of the dungeon. Help him to escape. He will ask for food, but this should not be given to him unless he is injured as he does not store any and will immediately eat any food that is used on him. You cannot go through the south cave because it leads to the Dagannoth Mother and Bardur warns you about dagannoths coming from the top. The only way is to go through the Waterbirth Dungeon. You start at the room above the rock lobsters and have to make your way past the area with all three combat styles attacking, and make your way to the exit up to the lighthouse. You are in a Multicombat area and will face Wallasalki with magic attacks, Rock lobsters with melee attacks, and Dagannoth with ranged and melee attacks. The rock lobsters can deal a lot of damage to players who don't use Protect from Melee against them. However, by giving them wide berth as you pass them, some will not notice you and will not attack.

Make sure that you walk very slowly and heal Vargas as needed or you will lose him and you must go back for him. If other players are in the area, they can draw off the attacks of the surrounding creatures in all but one of the cavern areas.

In this one room, you find yourself alone with the king and a group of dagannoth attacking with melee and ranged, and several of them will target King Vargas initially. These dagannoth must be killed before the player can climb the ladder. An easy way to pass this second room is to use the ancients spell ice burst or ice barrage on the dagannoths before they reach Vargas. This makes it so that the only the ranging dagannoth has the potential of hurting him, which is not much of a problem.



Using Prayer and or familiars can increase chances of success, and/or your own survival rate. If possible, do this in a group because with more players, the less chance you have of dying.

After taking King Vargas through the dagannoth lair, you try to help him get up, but by accident he lets some rocks fall, killing you. You will find yourself in the Fremennik spiritual realm, where the fallen warriors from Fremennik go after they die.

Talk to Eir, then Nial Swiftfling and Asleif Hamalsdotter. After talking with them talk again with Eir so she can take you back.



After you wake up, you find yourself on the boat and everyone is happy to find out that you're alive. Afterward, King Vargas and Queen Sigrid are getting married on the boat and they want you to perform the wedding for them.

After they are married, the one you are engaged to (Prince Brand or Princess Astrid) suggests you two also marry. You can also choose not to marry by saying you'll talk about it later. (Any choice is fine, as events later in the quest will show.) After you get married, talk to the chieftain and return to dock at Rellekka.

Once this is done, talk to Brundt the Chieftain, who states that it is high time for a final assault against the dagannoth. He offers to teleport you to Waterbirth directly or Etceteria to bank and gear up. When ready, go to Waterbirth and head down the dungeon.

Into the caves
You will be accompanied by Koschei the Deathless, Baba Yaga, The Prince and Princess of Miscellania. By now, you have figured out that the daughter of the old Dagannoth Mother (Horror From The Deep), who you slayed, has grown and become the new mother to the dagannoths. To prevent this from happening again, instead of killing the new mother you must weaken her severely and then seal her in her chamber.

Enter the first cave from the surface and then attempt to enter the second cave. As you are about to do so, Koschei offers to stay back and hold the other Dagannoths off from behind.

Enter the second cave and attempt to enter the third cave. At this point, a huge roar makes the party realise that the Dagannoth Kings themselves are arriving. Koschei won't be able to handle them alone, so the rest of your companions go back to fight the kings while you must finish the quest by yourself. Enter the third cave, where you fight with two Dagannoth Sentinels.

Fighting the Dagannoth Sentinels
Be aware that the sentinels can use magic and ranged plus they can heal each other. While both are alive, one will attack with magic while the other will attack with ranged. They will alternate between the two, however (the one who attacks with magic may switch to ranged, and the one who attacks with ranged will simultaneously switch to magic) and will strike with melee if you are within range, so that you are assaulted from all areas of the combat triangle. One way to beat the Sentinels is to equip Balmung, hit one Sentinel, then change targets and hit the other. If you constantly do this they don't get a chance to heal each other to full hp when they get to half. (You don't need the balmung except for the mother.)



Additionally, if you have a Beast of Burden, or Titan/similar attacking familiar, you can set it to attack one of them while you alternate between the two. Damage taken due to familiar attacks is not healed back by the Sentinels.

Getting to the Mother's lair
After you beat them, enter the tunnel to get to the next cave. There are Dagannoth guardians here. These use melee and ranged but not magic. Make your way through the cave, going over a low obstacle and through a tunnel in the wall, and you'll find the entrance to the Dagannoth Mother's cave.

If you need to, you can teleport or walk back to a bank and restock on food etc. When you come back the Dagannoth Sentinels will be gone from guarding the entrance.



The Dagannoth Mother
WARNINGS: 
 * You cannot leave this fight by any other means than teleporting.
 * If you are on a non-standard spellbook like Ancient Magicks or Lunar Spells, it is absolutely necessary to switch to normal spellbook for use of Elemental Spells!
 * Her stripe will be grey at first and will NOT change, you must hit her with Balmung to activate the colour change.
 * Do not forget to drink Prayer potion. Some players forget because of having to change between fighting styles.
 * When starting the battle, make sure Protect from Melee is ON.

If you die fighting her you get the option to be taken back to the outer cave of her area, so you should easily be able to reach your gravestone in time.

The Dagannoth Mother is a powerful foe, using ranged, magic and melee attacks. She sticks to one attack for a while before switching style, so Protect Prayers and Deflect Curses can prevent a lot of damage. Her back will change colour periodically, showing the only type of damage she is currently vulnerable to. You should bring equipment for all the combat styles.

You must bring more than one combat style, and have every type of mage spell available, a range weapon and a melee weapon - if you neglect two or more of these, the mother will alternate between the two methods that you don't have. It is suggested to maintain a high mage and ranged attack bonus, because the mother tends to alternate between whatever your lowest attacks are, and if you are consistently missing with magic attacks, she will not switch away from them. She will not move toward you if you stand away from her, so when not using melee, stand out of melee range from her, lowering her max hit to about 19 with range. Her max hit is 43 with melee, yet her melee attack rarely hits, if you see her meleeing you it is definitely suggested to switch as fast as you can.

A good strategy is to use good magic defence gear, such as black dragonhide or Karil's.



Suggested Equipment:


 * Black D'hide body
 * Ahrim's skirt/Mystic robe bottom (for Magic bonus)
 * Amulet of Fury/Glory
 * Prayer book/Spirit Shield
 * Wizard boots
 * Wizard Hat
 * Rune Crossbow (with Broad Bolts)
 * God Cape/Ardougne cloak 3 (for Prayer bonus)
 * Ancient staff/Lava staff for more space for food
 * Balmung (required to first attack mother)
 * Barrow gloves

Inventory:


 * 1 Prayer Potion
 * All elemental wave spells (at least 50-100 casts)
 * Super defence potion
 * Familiar Pouch: Beast of burden (Spirit terrorbird and above) / Healing Familiar (Titan and above)
 * Fill the rest of Inventory with high healing food (Shark, Cavefish, Rocktail) If summoning a Beast of Burden, they should be carrying a full load of food.
 * Note: It is NOT worth taking a bunyip as they do not heal enough.

Strategy

 * See Dagannoth Mother (Blood Runs Deep) for more detail on how to fight her.

First start of the fight with the Balmung, this damages the mother and she will start to change colour.

When she changes colour, use the following table to distinguish which attacks to use. Remember, green is not

Earth attacks, it is ranged.From then on, it is more effective to stay at a distance and Protect from Ranged.

This will prevent the Mother from using melee, which only leaves her magic or ranged to attack. Therefore, good magic defence such as Karil's is advised. This is the best technique for avoiding her devastating 40's and will make her a relatively easy kill. When the Mother does turn orange, players can switch to their Balmung and execute a hit-and-run technique, which is a similar technique seen in Bounty worlds.

Tip: If you cannot see the colours clear, you should go to Graphics settings and set lighting detail to: low

Eat food when required and keep changing your attack style corresponding to her colour.

(Note: Many people have died during this quest trying to melee her when she has not turned orange. This has been proven to be ineffective.)

Sealing the chamber
When the mother runs out of hit points, she collapses but does not die. (There are no drops, and she is still visible on the map and minimap, but she is lying on the ground, unable to move or attack.) You can now exit her chamber and should do so. In the entrance area, collapse the columns there with the help of the pickaxe, tinderbox, and plank, which spawn there. Your plan goes amiss and the ceiling caves in, killing you once more and sending you to the Fremennik Valhalla.

Finishing up
Eir will explain that this is your last time you can visit until you are there for good. She will send you back to your companions at the start of the caves. There, you discover Princess Astrid and Prince Brand have been killed by the Dagannoth Kings. (This is why it doesn't matter whether you get married or not earlier.) Koschei and Baba Yaga seem to be alive and you can talk to them. However, Koschei reveals that he thinks he has died again.

Attempt to climb up the rope, and Brundt the Chieften will call down, saying they have to retreat from the dagannoths on the surface. You and he board his ship and talk about what happened. If you use a teleport to escape the dungeon instead of the rope you will have to talk to Brundt in Rellekka where he will tell you he was waiting for you at Waterbirth. The quest will then continue.

You sail to Miscellania and Etceteria, where a bittersweet cutscene plays as King Vargas, Queen Sigrid, Brundt, and you launch and set on fire the pyre ships bearing the bodies of Prince Brand and Princess Astrid.

Brundt and you then return to Rellekka, and the quest will be complete. Speak to Brundt three times after the quest to receive all your rewards.

Rewards

 * Three lots of 150,000 experience in either Attack, Defence, Strength, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic or Prayer (level 75 and higher), for a total of 450,000.
 * Balmung
 * 2 Quest Points

Music
Music tracks unlocked:
 * The Fallen Hero
 * Jaws of the Dagganoth
 * kött
 * Maiasaura

Trivia

 * This is the only quest that involves the player dying in the storyline.
 * When the quest first came out, the spoilers for the quest read "Eir is keeping the rewards a secret for now.  She'll let us know what they are sometime before the End of Things..."
 * If the quest is selected as an objective, the objective tab reads: "Solve the mystery of the man washed ashore on Lunar Isle. Gives combat XP of your choice and a big axe."
 * In the adventurers log, when someone has completed the quest, it shows up with the story "A new dagannoth mother threatened civilisation itself around the northern seas, but with a mighty force of Fremennik and their allies at my back, I have trapped her."
 * During the battle in Rellekka, some Fremenniks say "This is Rellekka!". This refers to the film 300 where King Leonidas said "This is Sparta!"
 * This is the first quest that requires players to have finished a whole Achievement Diary before they can start the quest.
 * There is an Aliens reference in the first conversation that you have with King Vargas underneath Waterbirth Island ("They mostly come at night. Mostly...").
 * There is a Star Wars reference when speaking to Nial Swiftfling. Nial says: "You've got a lot of guts coming here, after what you pulled." - Lando Calrissian
 * This quest gives the most experience when completed, a total of 450,000 experience. (Previously While Guthix Sleeps with a total of 400,000 experience.)
 * There are multiple glitches in the quest; for one, when fighting the Dagannoth mother, it will tell you in the chat box that your ring of recoil is ineffective, even if you don't have one equipped or with you. This is caused by using Deflect curses in the Ancient Curses prayer set when using them.
 * A glitch occurred when a player reached level 65 Slayer. The accomplishment scroll read: "You now have all the levels/the Slayer level required to complete null."
 * The name of the quest, Blood Runs Deep, is multi-layered. It could be a reference to:
 * The idiom "Still Water Runs Deep".
 * The strong bonds of family and friendship strengthened and forged over the course of the quest.
 * After the quest it is impossible to retrieve any of the prophecy tablets, as the player character tells Brundt they will destroy them and they disappear, even from the bank.
 * Beware, there is a glitch after you kill the Dagannoth Mother, when she is lying down in the death position. If your familiar continues to attack the Mother she will briefly stand up and retaliate against the player. If you have an aggressive familiar it is wise to keep protect against melee on until you leave the cavern where the mother is situated.
 * After the Mother is killed if you fail to examine the dead bodies and go straight up the rope, the cut scene will play as normal except there is no reward; The player is then prompted to go back into the hatchery to examine the bodies, thus causing the cut scene to be played twice showing the funeral again.
 * In the music track 'Jaws of the Dagganoth' Dagannoth is spelled with two G's instead of two N's.
 * This quest has 3 skill requirements higher than any other quest (Attack, Strength and Slayer) but since you have to complete the Frememnik achievement diary you might need further skill levels.


 * A glitch occurred when a player reached level 75 Strength. The accomplishment scroll read: "You now have all the levels/the Strength level required to complete null."
 * When Princess Astrid and Prince Brand are lying dead on the floor, you can talk to Baba Yaga about her promise to protect Princess Astrid/Prince Brand, if you keep choosing negative comments you will be able to attack her for one time, after attacking she teleports away.