Guthix

Guthix (pronounced /ˈɡʌθɪks/, GÙH-thicks) was the god of balance and the last surviving member of the Naragi race. He was the first of the young gods to arrive to Gielinor, soon bringing in the goddess Seren and other races including the humans, sheep and elves. He believed in the concept of balance, and brought the aforementioned races - who had no concept of the gods and no inclination to either good or evil - to Gielinor to live in harmony with their surroundings and allowed them to make their own choices so the balance between good and evil would be maintained, although with the arrival of the gods, this plan failed. He was known to be a very serious and decisive being.

He became a god at the end of a war between gods on his realm, which saw the deaths of all his friends and family. By killing the god Skargaroth, he ascended to godhood himself, after which he left his devastated world. Soon afterwards, he discovered Gielinor, and, astonished by its beauty, shaped it to his liking for mortals to live on it without interference from gods. He then populated the world and created runestones for its inhabitants to use, thus earning Gielinor the nickname RuneScape. He descended into a slumber, hoping to be forgotten by his worshippers, but other gods began to arrive in the following centuries, which eventually led to the breaking out of the God Wars. After four millennia of warring, Guthix awoke, ended the wars, and banished all gods, much to their followers' dismay. Nearly twenty-two centuries later, his cave was discovered and Guthix was murdered by the Zarosian Mahjarrat Sliske, shattering the Edicts he put in place after the God Wars.

Powers and abilities
Guthix was an exceptionally powerful entity and one of the most powerful among all known young gods, which was likely a result of his prolonged contact with multiple Elder Artefacts and the ability to channel power through the Anima Mundi. With their aid, he was able to shape the world of Gielinor, which was an empty planet at the time he found it. When he first became a god, Guthix had the ability to open portals to travel to other worlds. He originally required Skargaroth's sword - an Elder Artefact - to do this, but eventually became powerful enough to open portals without it. He was also able to easily open many portals through which he banished the warring gods at the end of the Third Age. By this time, however, his powers had been amplified immensely through the use of various other artefacts, including the Stone of Jas, in the First Age. With the aid of the Stone, Guthix concentrated pure magic in chunks of rock, thus creating a vast, albeit finite, supply of runestones. Guthix could show other beings memories of his and is able to bestow power to dampen divine energy.

Through the power of Anima Mundi, he could also create a magical wall that kept any gods to potentially threaten equillibrium from walking on a world, demonstrated by his creation of the 'Edicts of Guthix'. Like most if not all other gods, Guthix had the ability to communicate with his followers while asleep, as proven by his vision to Admiral Dracs Melrose to reform the Void Knights. Additionally, he had some precognitive abilities and powers over time, able to slow and presumably speed up its passing at will.

Although he was a Naragi, Guthix was a skilled shapeshifter, able to take the form of anything he desired. He has stated himself that he would be able to take on any appearance as people could imagine him. He was believed to take the form of a butterfly when he first arrived on Gielinor. When he brought humans to Gielinor, he assumed the form of one himself so as not to frighten them. Additionally, the massive door sealing and the cave wall preceding the Ancient Guthix Temple portray him as a skull with tendrils. His massive power allowed him to leave his body at will - while this could have potentially saved him from death, he chose to die instead in a final act of hoping to be forgotten. Bandos acknowledged Guthix as the world's guardian, and stated in his memories that he was indeed a powerful god, having to stop the Gods war on his own. Bandos, after meeting Guthix, did not attack and surrendered quickly when Guthix told him to leave. Guthix was able to teleport Bandos into the void in a split second when the god of war attacked.

Beliefs
Guthix was the god of balance, and wished to have a world without gods where mortals could live in peace and balance without interference. Even so, he would have liked mortals to not fight in the name of gods or even know of their existence. Despite him knowing this scenario was unlikely, it was still his wish and the reason he resorted to sleeping underground, hoping to be forgotten, being a god himself.

The god was a benevolent entity who wished the best for mortals, thinking the best environment was one of balance. This would entail equal amounts of war and peace, chaos and order, nature and culture, et cetera. Likewise, he expected his followers to live in balance with their world and respect it. Guthix approved of morally evil acts if it would serve balance, so long as there would not be an excess of evil nor good

There is a common misconception about Guthix, which is that he was the god of peace or tranquillity. While this holds some truth, seeing that Guthix sought to create a world of balance where mortals could live in peace without the interference of gods, balance does not equal peace. Rather, he desires for peace to have an equal amount of war to counter it, as evidenced by the founding of the militant Void Knights to complement the pacifistic druids.

Over the large amount of years that Guthix had retreated himself from the world, his wish for mortals to forget him was not a success. Even from Guthix's point of view, what he wished for the mortals was corrupted, reshaped or misinterpreted by some of his followers. Guthix did not want people to worship or follow him (desiring them to be free from gods), but this led to quite a divide between some of his teachings and of his closest and most devoted of followers such as Juna.

After his death, his followers no longer worship him as a god and now follow his teachings. Some of his followers have known to become part of the "Godless" organisation, founded by the druid Biehn, where they believe as well that the world should be actively protected from gods.

Guthix's symbol, usually found on the clothing worn by his followers, is an iconisation of his tears and usually drawn in a shade of green. This symbol is said to have been invented by worshippers of Guthix, for the god himself did not wish to be worshipped. Given that it represents his tears, the symbol must have been created in the early Fourth Age. However, much older murals in Guthix's Cave depict Juna, an ancient Guardian of Guthix, donning the symbol as well, suggesting it to have different origins.

During the Naragi God Wars
Guthix was a Naragi native to a realm consisting of platforms resting on branch-like substances, where his race lived as peaceful farmers, craftsmen, hunters and light sculptors. Given their average lifespans, he must have been many centuries old. Guthix had a wife named Fraji and daughter named Aagi, both of whom he loved dearly, although Fraji died while Aagi was young.

When Aagi was a couple of centuries old, still a child by Naragi standards, father and daughter paid visit to a nomad who told them of a magical disturbance, speculated to be a portal in the process of opening itself, appearing near the great city of Askroth. The diviners had begun assembling a welcoming committee for whomever would come through and indeed the portal soon opened. A young god named Saradomin arrived with his armies and claimed ownership of the world. The Naragi did not submit themselves to his rule, to which he responded by attacking them in fury for being defied, razing Askroth to the ground.

A war broke out on the once peaceful world. Most Naragi fled to refugee camps to escape Saradomin's wrath, who attacked the various cities from his fortress built on the ruins of Askroth. Some Naragi, such as Narix, fought back, while others sought to make compromises. Guthix resisted the temptation of sending Aagi away as well, reasoning that the refugees would soon have no place to go. Therefore he hid her in the storm cellar of his own house, hoping for her to be safe.

Years after Saradomin's arrival, when other gods had begun to participate in the war, Guthix witnessed how the mindless and savage goddess the Naragi named Tuska, controlled by an army of purple, hairy monsters they called airut, broke through a portal and entered the Naragi world. There, she proceeded to attack Saradomin, who had since begun to regret his actions and attempted to defeat her to save the Naragi. The airut invaded swiftly, however, and had Tuska destroy everything in sight. After some time, during which most of the Naragi race had been annihilated, even Saradomin left the realm in fear of Tuska. By this time, the war had lasted centuries, and many gods had either fled like Saradomin or met their deaths.

Ascension to godhood
At one point, Tuska approached Guthix's home and the two stood face-to-face. Before she could do anything, however, her enemy god Skargaroth plunged his sword, an Elder Artefact, into her eye. The airut flocked around Skargaroth as their goddess duelled him. During the skirmish, Skargaroth was thrown off his feet. To Guthix's absolute horror, the god landed on top of his house, destroying it and killing Aagi, who was still inside. In shock, the Naragi picked up the sword Skargaroth had dropped and used it to gouge out Tuska's remaining eye as she was charging at her unconscious opponent. The blinded goddess howled and ran away, followed by her airut.

As Skargaroth regained consciousness and attempted to crawl away, Guthix plunged the sword into his back killing the god, which then transferred his power into Guthix himself, who became what he had always feared and despised. With his friends and family dead and his world in ruins, Guthix used the sword to cleave open portals to various locations in the multiverse and set out to travel in sorrow.

Over the course of several centuries, Guthix visited many different realms and encountered several races whom he admired for their balanced lives, tending towards neither good nor evil. On one occasion, he visited the world of the elves, where he befriended their crystalline goddess Seren, who shared his views of balance to an extent.

Shaping Gielinor
Eventually, Guthix was drawn to the planet Gielinor, the Elder Gods' final and perfect creation, and is said to have arrived there in the form of a multicoloured butterfly. He was taken aback by its serenity and lush environment as well as by the fact that it was empty. On Gielinor, he found more Elder Artefacts: the horn, staff and even the Stone of Jas. Using these items, he shaped the world as it is known today and claimed ownership of it, desiring for it to be inhabited by mortals living in balance.

He then invited Seren to come to Gielinor and live with him. Although some elves were initially reluctant, they followed their goddess through the World Gate and were amazed by Gielinor's nature as well. They settled in Tirannwn, where Seren aided them in the construction of the crystal city Prifddinas. She and Guthix would spend a significant amount of time together.

Guthix desired for Gielinor to be inhabited by peaceful mortals. As such, he used the World Gate, or the Portal of Life as he called it, to bring colonies of gnomes, dwarves, sheep and humans, amongst others, to the world. He greeted them as they arrived and instructed them to live in balance with the world. He gifted the humans with magic by using the Stone of Jas to create runestones, which he had spread by emissaries as Misalionar. These runes eventually caused the name "Gielinor" to fall into disuse as its inhabitants began to call it RuneScape instead. The human druids developed magic and many spells, thus becoming the first wizards.

Inevitably, the inhabitants of RuneScape, most notably the humans, began worshipping Guthix as their god, building temples and making sacrifices in his name, much to his disgust. As such, he gradually began appearing less, hoping to disappear from his worshippers' lives. Approximately four thousand years after populating Gielinor, he decided to leave altogether. He confided his intentions to Seren, and asked her to leave with him. Although she promised him to do so, she found herself unable to comply and leave her elves and so remained in Tirannwn. Guthix, on the other hand, buried himself deep underground, where he fell into a sleep, desiring to be completely forgotten by the Gielinorians, ending the First Age.

First awakening
As Guthix slept and Seren remained secluded beyond the Galarpos, RuneScape began to attract other gods, who did not share their beliefs about balance and peace. Saradomin and Zaros rapidly conquered territory and the latter would establish the largest empire the world would ever know. Other notable gods to be active were Armadyl, Tumeken and Bandos - the god of war itself. Over the course of the Second Age, there were many conflicts as the gods' followers clashed and Zaros expanded his vast empire. Guthixians began to decline in number and even his runestones were becoming scarce. However, a Fremennik seer discovered the Stone of Jas in a mine and learnt the art of runecrafting, which led to a schism in Fremennik society. At the end of the age, Zaros was betrayed by his general, Zamorak, using the Stone and the Staff of Armadyl, and disappeared from the world, while the latter became a god himself. He declared war on Saradomin in an attempt to reobtain the Stone, which had been confiscated from him, which started the Third Age, and a god war.

The God Wars would last for four thousand years and they saw the deaths of millions, the extinction of multiple races and the annihilation of many settlements on the RuneScape. The Guthixian gnomes and most of the dwarves were forced to hide underground to escape the war. Other Guthixians, such as moss giants, Fremennik and the Void Knights, fought in the wars, but they were but a minority. Most of the elves remained safe with Seren, although some chose to fight as well. At the end of the wars, Zamorak somehow obtained the Stone of Jas, but was cornered by Saradomin, Armadyl and Bandos. In what he thought to be his last stand, he tapped from the Stone and unleashed a wave of destruction over the area. As a result, the entire continent of Forinthry was obliterated and turned into a lifeless wasteland. So great was the destruction that scarred the land, that the Anima Mundi itself is said to have cried out in agony, thus waking Guthix after six millennia of slumber.

Upon awakening, Guthix witnessed a scene not dissimilar from the Naragi God Wars, with gods and their followers fighting in the aftermath of Zamorak's actions. In fury and grief, he interfered, taking the Stone and using it to create portals, through which he banished the fighting gods out of RuneScape with relatively little effort, being stronger than them.undefined

After removing the gods from the world, Guthix took a massive sword and plunged it into the crater left by Zamorak's destruction of Forinthry. Aided by the Stone, he erected a physical barrier around RuneScape, called the Edicts of Guthix, which prevented any god from setting foot on the planet again. He went to Seren and sorrowfully ordered her to leave as well. She could not bring herself to do so once again, and chose to shatter herself into millions of crystal shards in order to stay with her followers, magnifying Guthix' grief. He then after visited Bandos in his throne room and ordered the god to leave. Bandos accepted to leave peacefully until Guthix denied him from taking his followers. As Bandos aimed to attack Guthix, Guthix rose his hand and teleported Bandos into the void. He allowed Brassica Prime and the six demi-gods of the Menaphite Pantheon to remain, most likely not perceiving them as threats.

To prevent any further abuse, Guthix hid the Stone of Jas deep underground and created a powerful balance elemental to protect it. The cave was sealed by druids, who built a massive temple around it, with the world's first stone circle. As Guthix was leaving the cave, he wept for the damage done to his planet, and the surrounding rocks began to cry with him. Out of his most loyal followers, Guthix proceeded to appoint several Guardians of Guthix, whom he tasked with various important tasks and granted immortality as well. For instance, Juna was to protect his tears, which held great magical power, and Fiara was to guard the location where the Stone of Jas had been kept by Saradomin, due to the residual energy left there. All business done, Guthix retreated into a cave to sleep once more. The Guardian Cres was tasked with protecting said cave and erecting barriers around it.

Assassination
In desperate attempts to nullify the Edicts and return their gods to RuneScape, various gods' followers began to search for Guthix' refuge at the dawn of the Fourth Age. Most notably the Mahjarrat desired to bring back Zamorak or Zaros, but the god proved unfindable, causing the hunt to eventually cease.

This changed in 169 of the Fifth Age, one of the most turbulent years in RuneScape's history. That year, a down-on-his-luck natural historian in employment of the Varrock Museum, Orlando Smith, discovered what he correctly suspected to be Guthix' refuge in central Kandarin. However, he was unable to open the door concealing the cave. The devious Zarosian Mahjarrat Sliske found out about this and alerted his fellow Zarosian kin, who formed the plan to wake and negotiate Zaros' return with Guthix. The cunning Sliske pretended to go along with their decision, but, having secretly obtained the Staff of Armadyl, actually harboured other plans. Meanwhile, Orlando hired an accomplished adventurer to accompany him into the cave, the door of which they were strangely able to open. Inside, they discovered a smorgasbord of ancient artefacts, including the shattered sword Guthix had slain Skargaroth with.

The adventurer inadvertedly set off a security mechanism, activating a silent alarm, which caused the Sword of Edicts in the Wilderness Crater to send distress signals to all the stone circles of the world, and also woke up Guthix himself. It also triggered the release of Cres' security automatons, who detected a Mahjarrat life form in the cave and, thinking it to be Orlando and his companion, killed the former before attacking and being defeated by the latter. Sliske then revealed himself and told the adventurer about the alarm and how various factions would soon arrive to kill Guthix. Concealed in the Shadow Realm, they observed Zemouregal finding out about the discovery through dark wizards from the Varrock stone circle. He then advised the adventurer to side with the Guthixians to defend Guthix from all factions, then aid the Zarosians once they would reach him. He then left as the first enemies, Commander Zilyana and Kree'arra, made their entrance.

After a battle that marked the departure of Kree, the adventurer met with the Guardians of Guthix, who arrived to protect their god with several druids. Together, the party progressed through the cave and met with Cres in the central chamber, where the adventurer was made a Guardian by Guthix as well. From there, they positioned themselves to counter the incoming attacks on the four storage wings. With great effort, they managed to send the Bandosian and three Zamorakian factions packing. Zilyana and her army of Saradomin invaded at that point and, while keeping the other Guthixians distracted, attempted to kill Juna, who was guarding the seal leading to Guthix himself.

The adventurer protected her, but Zilyana, who had been duelling Cres, killed the automaton, mistaking him for Guthix. As he fell, the Zarosian faction - minus Sliske - arrived, having trailed the Saradominists, thus avoiding detection. An argument arose between the Saradominists, Guthixians and Zarosians and the adventurer was forced to pick a side. As they did so, Sliske broke the seal to Guthix in the Shadow Realm and went after the god. The adventurer, unaware of the invader's identity, went after him while under attack of the opposing factions. They found themselves in front of Guthix, when Sliske appeared and mortally wounded the god using the Staff of Armadyl before teleporting away.

The dying Guthix took his newest Guardian into his memories of the Naragi world and recounted his life story to them. He granted them additional powers to serve as World Guardian, protecting RuneScape from the incoming gods. He stated that the massive amounts of power he had as a god disrupted balance and desired for a mortal to serve as the protector of equilibrium, admitting he had wanted to die for millenia, and he deliberately allowed Sliske to kill him despite being able to stop it at any time. He granted the adventurer immunity to divine magic and tasked them with protecting Gielinor from the gods before he died. With Guthix's death, his Edicts fell as well, literally raining down upon the world. In the cave, the people present observed Guthix' petrified body in shock as Saradomin himself arrived after more than two thousand years of absence.

Legacy
After the death of Guthix, the abolishment of his Edicts allowed the gods to return to RuneScape starting a new age, the Sixth. As is customary upon a god's death, his energy was dispersed around the world and manifested itself in solid form. His power, along with some memory fragments, also materialised as energy wisps and the ensuing turmoil resulted in damage to the Anima Mundi, which caused energy rifts to bleed out its life force into the world. A few human researchers soon found about this and discovered how to harvest energy from the wisps and return it to the Anima Mundi, hoping to heal the damage. The Anima Mundi seemed to mourn his death as the trees themselves manifested crying faces on their trunks.

Meanwhile, Kaqemeex, leader of the druids of Taverley, announced the death of Guthix to the world in addition to spreading his wish not to be worshipped. Most druids agreed to stop worshipping him and to spread his teachings instead, and they held a tribute to Guthix. Others, however, were unable to accept his wish and left the order. One of these druids, Biehn, founded an organisation he called the Godless, a name invented by his friend, the famous heroine Kara-Meir. Its members strive to protect RuneScape from all gods, true to Guthix's life goals.

A few months after Guthix's death, Saradomin and Zamorak clashed in the Battle of Lumbridge as they sought to obtain the divine energy Guthix's death had spread over the world. The battle ended with the latter's defeat as Saradomin massively empowered himself using the collected energy.

Juna
""I give you my tears, and in those tears you will know that I am ever-living; that I am with you, and that I weep to be apart from you"."

Juna admired Guthix and saw him as a father and mentor. When he descended into the planet after ending the God Wars, she was stricken with grief and asked him to remain with her, but he declined and left her to guard his tears and thus his essence instead. She has dutifully done so ever since, although the many centuries of isolation led her to idolise Guthix and twist his ideals as she tried to keep him close. For instance, she eventually came to believe the gods to be a sort of community and looked down on defiance and atheism. After being confronted with reality during the Guardians' attempt to protect Guthix in 169, however, she regained an accurate image of her god's views and responded to his death with shock and sorrow.

Saradomin
""Terrified refugees spoke of a blue man the size of a mountain. The diviners had angered him, they said, and in that anger he had razed the city"."

Being the first god to arrive on the Naragi homeworld and having begun the war that would eventually destroy the planet, Saradomin was arguably the being Guthix despised most of all. When Tuska arrived and attacked Saradomin, he was momentarily hopeful, thinking she might be able to defeat him. Although her appearance indeed caused Saradomin to flee, her damage to the world was even greater.

When Saradomin himself returned to Gielinor after Guthix's death, he silenced his Commander Zilyana when she eagerly showed him his corpse, stating that Guthix's death was regrettable but necessary. It seems he respected the god and compared his views to his own, although he is of the opinion that Guthix's methodology of balance was flawed.

Seren
""We'd grown close, and I had no intention of abandoning her"."

After meeting her on the elven homeworld, Seren and Guthix became good friends, largely sharing their beliefs about balance and peace. In fact, she may have been the only god whom Guthix did not loathe. Additionally, both gods had an affinity with the Anima Mundi, although Seren's connection was arguably stronger. Despite having lived on RuneScape together for nearly four thousand years, Seren was unable to part with her elves when asked to, whereas Guthix was more than eager to leave the world to mortals.

When he created his Edicts, Guthix visited Seren in Isafdar and ordered her to leave Gielinor. Once more, she found herself unable to do so, and decided to shatter herself in thousands of crystal shards instead. Guthix cried about losing her, proving that he had cared strongly about the crystal goddess. When he died, the Anima Mundi itself mourned his death, likely to be a reflection of Seren's feelings.

Followers of Guthix
These followers are those who worshipped Guthix before his death and continue to honour him afterwards. Like most worshippers of gods, they have modified his ideologies to a certain degree over time. The most obvious example of this is the very fact that they worship him, much against his will. It is because of this that the god went to sleep in the First Age.

In general, Guthixians strive to achieve balance although they do this in a multitude of ways. For instance, druids are pacifists and practise natural sciences such as herblore, whereas the Void Knights protect the world from void pest invasions in large battles. Arguably the most peculiar Guthixians are the chaos druids, who believe Zamorak's methods are the ideal way to achieve balance. For this, they have been banished by the other druids, a notable example being Urval the Exile.

After Guthix's death, the world was properly informed of his wish not to be followed, to which the Taverlian Order of Druids began honouring rather than worshipping him. Some were unable to accept this and left the order, however.

Groups and races

 * Druids - Pacifist naturalists and potioneers based in Taverley.
 * Certain dwarves - A small but tough group of humanoid who are known to be great miners.
 * Seers - A group of humans who are often considered prophets.
 * Moon Clan - A group of magically and telepathically gifted humans.
 * Void Knights - Protectors of Gielinor, found at the Void Knight Outpost.
 * Gnomes - A small humanoid race that live closely with nature.
 * Crux Eqal - Underground group of druids fighting the Mahjarrat threat.
 * Certain Fremennik - A group of humans who inhabit the Fremennik Province.
 * Ents - Sapient trees who are able to walk and speak.
 * Fairies - Small flying humanoids from Zanaris.
 * Moss Giants - A species of giant which are shown to support Guthix.
 * Automatons - Creations balanced between nature and technology.
 * Chaos druids - Combative druids who strive for balance using Zamorak's methodology.
 * Jade Vine (Armies of Gielinor)
 * Green Order - One of the founding orders of the first Wizards' Tower.
 * Order of Ascension - An extremist organisation that is now attempting to create a new god of balance to worship since Guthix's death.

Notable individuals

 * Filliman Tarlock - Nature Spirit in Morytania.
 * Juna - a Guardian of Guthix who guards the Tears of Guthix in the Lumbridge Swamp Caves.
 * Fiara - a Guardian of Guthix who overlooks the Fist of Guthix minigame.
 * Balance Elemental - a creation of Guthix, appointed by Guthix to guard Stone of Jas.
 * Valluta - a Guardian of Guthix who was appointed by Guthix to guard the veil between worlds and protect Gielinor from otherworldly threats, especially void pests.
 * Thaerisk Cemphier - leader of Crux Eqal.
 * Cres - a Guardian of Guthix and the leader of automatons, appointed by Guthix to guard his chamber.
 * Spider Queen - queen of the Spider Realm.
 * Hazelmere - legendary gnome who was a key political and military figure in the early days of the Gnome Stronghold.
 * Jack - founder of the Wizards' Guild.
 * Sarah - founder of the Herblore skill.
 * Kaqemeex - chairman of C.A.R.E. and leader of the Taverley Order of Druids.
 * Harold Death - a Guardian of Guthix who controls time and death.
 * Ocellus - a mad Guardian of Guthix currently trying to stop the Order of Ascension.
 * Quercus - an ancient ent, who is working against the Wilderness warbands.
 * Queen of Snow - queen of the Land of Snow.

Animals associated with Guthix
 * Sheep
 * Guthix raptors
 * Spiders
 * White wolves (Armies of Gielinor only)

Trivia

 * In RuneScape Classic, Guthix had a different symbol, only seen on the god stones in the Mage Arena. He was given his current symbol on the transition to RuneScape 2, initially only seen on the Guthix staff.
 * Entering the word "murder" or "redrum" in the notes section results in the message "All rest and no play makes Guthix a dull boy." This is a reference to a famous line used in the film , based on the novel by ; "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
 * In the Origins of Gielinor, Guthix can be seen with green eyes, but in his resting place, he has cyan eyes. His younger Naragi form portrays him with turquoise eyes.
 * Prior to The World Wakes, Guthix was believed to be genderless due to his age and affinity with balance. In the God Letters, he stated to lack both gender and race due to being a god.