The Arc

The Arc is a region within the Wushanko Isles, found in the south-western part of the Archipelago, that is also visited in Player-owned port. The Arc will become an in-game area accessible to players in an upcoming update planned for 25 July 2016.

Getting there
The player must have completed the miniquest Impressing the Locals to access the Arc. They can then reach the first island in the Arc, Waiko, by chartering the ship Sarim's Revenge by talking to Mister Gully.

Areas
There are 6 islands in the Arc:


 * Aminishi
 * Cyclosis
 * Goshima
 * The Islands That Once Were Turtles
 * Tuai Leit
 * Waiko
 * Whale's Maw

Waiko, Taut Leit, Aminishi and Whale's Maw will be added in the initial release of the Arc. The second half of the Arc content will be released in October 2016. Goshima, Cyclosis (for players who have unlocked access to the island in Player-owned ports) and The Islands That Once Were Turtles will be released in October. The Halloween 2016 event may possibly take place on one of the islands and be involved in one of theTales of the Arc. This half of the update will introduce deeper story and narratives about the region.

Notable features

 * The Uncharted Isles: a system where the player may explore and claim randomly generated islands.
 * Tales of the Arc - one per island.
 * New untradeable currencies unique to the area that can't be bought for coins. It will not be possible to use resources from Ports in the Arc. The primary currency will be chimes which will be obtained from selling materials gathered by skilling in The Arc and which will be spent on rewards and supplies for voyaging to the Uncharted Isles. A secondary currency, taijitu, will be obtained from miniquests and from looting rare treasure chests on the Uncharted Isles. A trade hub of merchants to exchange materials obtained from skillng in The Arc for chimes will be present on Waiko. A merchant called Doni will allow the player to exchange chimes for trade goods for their port.
 * New skilling activities for a range of skills, aiming to offer the best experience rates for training these skills. Raw resources will be obtained from gathering skills and may be processed into stackable commodities using artisan skills: for example at level 90 Woodcutting players may cut bamboo and at level 96 Fletching this may be combined into bundles. The processed resources will be more valuable when trading with merchants. The Hunter skilling addition will involve trapping tortoises, using new traps obtainable from the Hunter merchant, to collect shell chippings to make tortoise shell bowls used in resource gathering. New methods will also be introduced for Mining, obtaining salt, and Fishing, collecting raw fish which can be processed into fish oil. There will be a Hunter and Fishing training area on Whale's Maw. It will not be possible to use Crystallise with any of the skilling methods on The Arc.
 * A contract system will allow the player to obtain challenges from an NPC called Sojobo on Waiko. Completing a contract will award the player experience and chimes. Players who have unlocked certain adventurers in player-owned port will be able to obtain specialist contracts in specific skills e.g. The Whaler will give contracts related to Fishing. Sojobo will give contracts in a range of skills and will be accessible to all players. There will be a daily cap of 3 challenges that a player can complete; this may be increased through unlocking a reward. It will be possible to reroll contacts using increasingly high numbers of chimes. The contracts will award chimes and experience; 15-35% more experience an hour may be earned while working on a contract.
 * Acolytes of Seiryu - a previously unknown faction of followers of the water-themed legendary azure which is depicted on the legendary player-owned ports portal. The Temple of Seiryu will be located on Aminishi. Monks on the island may ascend to their elemental form and then become spirit dragons. Spirit s will be added as a new Slayer monster. It will not be possible to obtain spirit dragons as a Slayer assignment from a regular Slayer Master, however they may be killed on a contract from The Assassin for additional Slayer experience. An elite version will not be added for spirit dragons, but there will be a spirit dragon pet that may be bought using chimes.
 * Random lore drops to reveal narrative, especially that involved in the Acolytes of Seiryu.
 * Introduction of a new weapon called the Mizuyari.

Role in Player-Owned Ports
It is the first region available to the player advancing through the minigame, and is described as the area where westerners are most likely to be found. A mostly tribal region, the rulers are khans and the people are mostly fishermen.

Trivia

 * Most of the islands in this region, except for the Cyclosis, share their shapes and sizes with a major island of the real-life Hawai'ian Islands. Tuai Leit is shaped like Kaua'i, Whale's Maw like Ni'ihau, Goshima like O'ahu, the island north of Aminishi like Kaho'olawe, and the eastern island of The Islands That Once Were Turtles like Moloka'i.
 * The Arc was decided upon as the subject of a game-world expansion after winning a RuneLabs poll in December 2015. A poll in January 2016 for ideas for activities to take place in the Arc was won by a suggestion for a new Slayer/combat area. From February to April 2016 Runelabs' subject was "Eastern Lands brainstorm": the team selected from the suggested ideas concepts which were feasible to include in the update.