The Lord of Vampyrium

The Lord of Vampyrium is the sixth installment in the Myreque quest series. It was released on 14 September 2015 based on the results of a dragonstone Player Power poll, wherein it beat a quest about Daemonheim and floor 61 by 20,602 votes. The quest is of master difficulty, and involves the infiltration of Castle Drakan by the Myreque. It also features a battle with Lord Drakan himself, and the special talents of Ivan Strom, hinted at throughout the series, will be important.

The curator of the Myreque series, Mod Ana, was not a developer of the quest due to her being in the Ninja Team at the time of the poll, and no longer working on RuneScape at the time of release. However, the greater part of the design was hers, and Mod Rowley, was supposed to be working in close cooperation with her. Ana would have been be able to write some of the dialogue as well, but due to her leaving Jagex, this most likely changed.

Reuniting with Safalaan
Talk to Vanescula Drakan, who is located south-east of Burgh de Rott near the docks that can be used to travel to Meiyerditch, to begin the quest. A quick way to reach here is by teleporting with Drakan's medallion and running east. She will explain that she has something urgent to say to you and The Myreque, which may possibly relate to the missing citizens of Burgh de Rott. She will then request that you ask Safalaan, who is at the icyene graveyard, to return to Meiyerditch. Board the nearby boat to travel to the icyene graveyard. Once there, talk to Safalaan. He will not go to Meiyerditch until he has opened the crypt of his parents, King Ascertes and Queen Efaritay, and paid his respects to them. Solve the puzzle to remove the vampyric seal barring entrance to the crypt. Rotate the concentric rings of the puzzle so that their markings join up - a ring's markings will change from red to blue when it is positioned correctly.

Once the crypt door has been opened, inspect the statue of Queen Efaritay to obtain Efaritay's pendant. Talk to Safalaan again to give him the pendant, he will thank you and depart for the Myreque Hideout.

Gathering of the Myreque
Teleport to the Myreque hideout by using the "Meiyerditch" teleport option on Drakan's medallion. Enter the room at the centre of the hideout to begin a cutscene.

Talk to Safalaan, who is found with Vanescula and Veliaf Hurtz at the northern end of the hideout. Veliaf will make the player his lieutenant, awarding them the title of the Myreque. Vanescula will explain that her brother, Lord Drakan, has been angered by the groups successes over him and plans to return. Vanescula will ask the group to kill Lord Drakan; the player must prepare to fight Lord Drakan and then meet Vanescula's retinue in Darkmeyer.

Gearing up
Teleport to Darkmeyer and go to the blisterwood tree, within the Arboretum. The Myreque will appear. Talk to Veliaf to gain the ability to create dual-wield blisterwood weapons (sickles, off-hand sickles, stake-thrower crossbows, wands, and orbs) and to find out more about the group's plan. He will ask the player to get vampyre disguises for the Myreque.

Leave the Arboretum and travel west to the city wall to find a group of vyrewatch that includes Overwatch Mornid and Vanescula. Talk to Mornid to ask her about vyrewatch uniforms and she will tell you that there are some uniforms stored at Vanstrom's house. Enter the large house south-east of the vampyres and search the Vyrewatch crate to obtain Vyrewatch uniforms. Return to Veliaf and talk to him. He will take the uniforms, giving the player one of these House Drakan outfits. Click "yes" to proceed with the quest when ready. Veliaf will ask the player to inform Vanescula that the Myreque are ready.

Gaining reputation in Castle Drakan
Speak to Vanescula while having the House Drakan outfit equipped to enter the gate to Castle Drakan. Players cannot go to Castle Drakan if they have items other than the Darkmeyer outfit, House Drakan outfit, Drakan medallion, runes, Ivandis flail and blisterwood weapons and ammo with them. The weapons you bring must be in your inventory; you will not be flown to the top of the castle if you are wielding them. Vanescula and Mornid will fly the player and Veliaf to the top of the castle. Vanescula instructs the player to increase their status with the true-born nobles. Complete the following to gain status:


 * Talk to Lady Nadezhda Shadum about one of the werewolves in her pack, suggest that she humiliates the wolf (20 status).
 * Talk to Lord Alexei Jovkai about hors d'oeuvre, suggest that he tries the Defiant old man (20 status).
 * Talk to Lord Mischa Myrmel about her personal tithe, suggest that he shows the blood tithe mercy (20 status).
 * Shoo all three bats (15 status each).

After doing these activities talk to Vanescula again.

Drakan returns
The central trapdoor will open to reveal a portal, and Lord Drakan will emerge. He decrees that he shall lead the vampyres back to the promised land of Vampyrium. Lord Drakan will then ask to speak to the player: choose any of the responses to continue with the quest and gain status with Lord Drakan. Drakan will then state that he knows that the player is a human; choose whether to spring the trap or call the retreat. Regardless of the choice made, a cutscene will occur, where Drakan learns of Safalaan's heritage, claims that the person who killed his father is amongst the group, and Safalaan activating his icyenic powers. A second will show the player and the rest of the Myreque being caught, dragged, and put into prison cells.

Escaping Drakan's cells
Leave the cell and open the other 5 cell doors within the area to free the Myreque members. Each door will damage the player for 10% of their maximum life points. After freeing all the Myreque members, the portcullis leading to the next chamber will open. Enter the chamber and free Vanescula and Mornid by unlocking the seal that is causing them to be trapped in the bloodletter. As with the earlier crypt door puzzle, the player must rotate the concentric rings of the puzzle so that their markings join up. In this puzzle rotating a ring causes the smaller, adjacent ring to rotate as well. Rotating the centre ring causes the outer ring to rotate as well. Players can talk to Polmafi Ferdygris to reset the puzzle.

After freeing the vampyres, the next portcullis will open. Enter the next chamber and talk to Safalaan. He will tell the player about a mysterious prisoner who has been trapped beneath the dungeon floor by Lord Drakan. Go up the stairs and leave using the dungeon exit. Veliaf asks the player to explore the area.

Go into the room on the eastern side of the corridor and take from the butchery table to obtain mysterious jerky. The player can take up to 20 mysterious jerky, which is stackable and heals 2,000 lifepoints. Ivan Strom will give the player a book, A Taste of Hope. Enter the room on the western side of the corridor and talk to Vanescula and Mornid. Enter the room south of the corridor. You will need to match up each Myreque member with the blood lock corresponding to their emotional state. Investigate a blood lock to assign a Myreque member to it. The correct matches are:


 * Ghrazi - Veliaf
 * Alzeph - Radigad
 * Pyrah - Kael
 * Myrmel - Mekritus
 * Vitur - Polmafi
 * Shadum - Vertida
 * Jovkai - Safalaan
 * Drakan - Ivan

Unlock the tithing door and escape through the cellar exit.

Hallway
Polmafi Ferdygris attempts to teleport out of the area - but the Myreque's teleports are not working. Veliaf asks the player to lead the group out of the main gate. Enter the tunnel to the east and Lowerniel Drakan will appear, along with three venators. Drakan kills Mornid and Kael is killed by a venator. The Myreque retreat back into the castle and Veliaf tells the player to find something to barricade the door. Vandalise the Statue of Lord Drakan to obtain a statue spear and use it to brace the door. A venator will break in through a nearby window, defeat it and it will jump back out. Climb the stairs.

Barricading

 * Players can use the "get food" right-click option on Ivan at any time to obtain 4 mysterious jerky. If the player dies, they will respawn in the Arboretum and can resume the quest by clicking on the gates to Castle Drakan.

Veliaf will instruct the player to cover the windows. Smash furniture to gain furniture debris and use it to barricade the three windows. The furniture gives varying amounts of debris and 3 debris is required to barricade each window. A status bar will countdown the percentage of time that the player has left to barricade the windows. If the status bar depletes with a window remaining uncovered then a venator will break through the window and the player will have to defeat the venator and finish barricading the windows before proceeding. Use the blood lock to enter the next room. The player will to barricade the windows as they pass through a second room; extra debris can be gathered before using the blood lock and can be used in the next room. The second room contains two windows which the player is given less time than before to barricade.

Use the second blood lock and enter the third room. Click on the large table to help the Myreque lift it. A venator will break through the window into the room, throwing Mekritus A'hara out the broken window. Fight the Venator until it flees and then help the Myreque to finish lifting the table into place. Use the third blood lock and enter the next room.

Ring Puzzle #3
Barricade the two windows.

Solve the puzzle to remove the forcefield blocking the stairs. The puzzle can be completed by making these moves:


 * Rotate ring A clockwise twice.
 * Rotate ring B clockwise once.
 * Rotate ring C clockwise three times.
 * Rotate ring D clockwise twice.
 * Rotate ring E clockwise once.
 * Rotate ring D clockwise once.
 * Rotate ring C anti-clockwise once.
 * Rotate ring B clockwise once.
 * Rotate ring A anti-clockwise twice.
 * Rotate ring E anti-clockwise once
 * Rotate ring A clockwise once

Players can talk to Polmafi if they want to reset the puzzle. After the forcefield has been disabled, climb the stairs.

Unlocking the final door
Climb the stairs on the western and eastern sides of the chamber and open the blood valves in each room. Before entering the eastern room the player will see a cutscene showing Safalaan entrusting Vanescula with Efaritay's pendant. In the western room a venator will appear and wound Ivan, help Veliaf to fight the venator until it flees back through the window and then check on Ivan. Enter the room north of the chamber and open the final blood valve. Climb back down the stairs: Drakan will appear and kill Radigad Ponfit. Polmafi will ask the player to help him solve another puzzle. This can be solved by making the following moves:


 * Turn ring A clockwise or anticlockwise four times, until ring A turns blue.
 * Turn ring B anticlockwise twice, until ring B turns blue.
 * Turn ring C anticlockwise twice, until rings C and D turn blue.
 * Turn ring E anticlockwise three times.
 * Turn ring D anticlockwise three times.
 * Turn ring C clockwise three times, until ring D turns blue.
 * Turn ring B anticlockwise three times, until ring C turns blue.
 * Turn ring A clockwise three times, until rings A and B turn blue.

Players can talk to Polmafi if they want to reset the puzzle. After the puzzle has been solved, climb the stairs which are surrounding the chamber.

Confrontation with Drakan
Vanescula discovers that they are on the Vampyrium plane's version of the castle, and that the pylons are used to power the portal from Vampyrium and Gielinor. The player is given 10 mysterious jerky by Ivan and must now fight Lord Drakan while the Myreque calibrate pylons around the top of the tower. The fight has multiple stages; after each encounter, life points, prayer points, and your supply of mysterious jerky are all replenished. If the player dies during the fight then they will respawn at the Arboretum and can resume the quest by entering the gates of Castle Drakan. Combat boosts, such as overloads, carry over from outside the boss fight. Once a stage has been completed successfully, the player will not have to repeat it if they die.

Drakan will summon three venators; kill them. Lord Drakan himself will fly above the arena and damage the player for 20% of their maximum health if he flies over them. He will throw a spear at Polmafi to kill him, but Vanescula will protect him and take the spear instead.

Phase 1
Now the player must fight Lord Drakan, who will make use of two attacks. When Drakan says "Ha ha ha!" he is about to about to summon bombs; run away from the bombs to avoid taking damage. The player will be damaged for 25% of their lifepoints if they are within the 3x3 radius of a bomb when it detonates.

A second ability is signalled by Drakan saying things like "Still trying to run?" or "You think you can escape?". Use Anticipation when the attack is signalled to avoid it, and use Freedom if stunned to break free. The player will be stunned, have their prayers disabled and be pulled closer to Drakan, who will rapidly deal large amounts of damage to the player. Staying close to Drakan will prevent him from dragging and stunning the player; melee is recommended over ranged or magic for this reason.

Phase 2
Drakan is weakened, transforms into a cloud of dust and kills Vertida Sefalatis. He will then fight the player again, using three new attacks.

When Drakan says "Fear me!" he is about to transform again into a cloud of dust. Run away from the cloud, as it will deal massive damage to the player while healing Drakan. When Drakan says "Embrace darkness" stand within the sphere of lightening that is created by Safalaan. Drakan will launch a red sphere at the player, dealing damage equal to half the player's maximum life points if the player is not standing within the lightening sphere.

A third additional attack is only used when they player uses certain combo abilities such as Asphyxiate or Destroy. He will roar and stun the player, then perform multiple melee attacks in succession, similarly to his drag attack. This can be countered by using Anticipation and/or Freedom.

Phase 3
After the player defeats Drakan again, Polmafi succeeds in opening the portal. Jump in the portal with the rest of the Myreque, where they'll believe they've finally escaped Drakan, who then bursts from the portal, throwing Polmafi Ferdygris back into it in the process. Fight Drakan again; he will use all abilities from the previous stages and he will now move more quickly.

Phase 4
After defeating Drakan again, talk to him. Vanescula stabs Drakan with the Sunspear, weakening him immensely. You will now fight him for the final time. This time, he has only 20,000 life points and he will attack rapidly with melee. He uses a special attack where he will rapidly stab the player, dealing heavy melee damage, but this can be avoided by moving away from him. He also spawns bombs much more frequently in this phase, though only one is spawned at a time. It is advised to keep moving and either employ a hit and run tactic or use magic or ranged.

Drakan's death
Use the "finish" option on Lord Drakan to stab him using the remains of the Sunspear, after a brief conversation in which he states that he regrets nothing and that Vanescula will betray the player. The remaining members of the Myreque and Vanescula will be revived; talk to Veliaf. Vanescula will declare that she is now the leader of the Vampyres. She will then kill Safalaan in order to use his icyene blood to be able to pass the Salve, and then reveal her plans to invade Misthalin to restore things to how they were in the days of the Zarosian Empire. She will then teleport away and the player, Veliaf and Ivan will return to Burgh de Rott.

The Myreque disbands
Once back in Burgh de Rott Veliaf will say that things are hopeless, that Calsidiu does not really exist, and disband what little remains of the Myreque. Talk to Ivan, who will ask you to take him to the Paterdomus. Choose yes to escort him there. Drezel meets the player and Ivan, Ivan suggests that the player goes to talk to King Roald.

Go to Varrock Palace and inform King Roald of what has happened in Morytania. Several cutscenes will occur, showing Vanescula mocking the deceased Drakan; Veliaf embedding his sickle in the Myreque plaque and leaving; and Drezel, who has learned of the events from Ivan, stating that the barrier must be reinforced. Meanwhile, the mysterious prisoner escapes from Drakan's castle in Vampyrium after sensing his death.

Rewards

 * 2 quest points
 * The Tome of xp 4th ed with 3 charges, each charge giving 75,000 XP in a chosen skill at or above level 75
 * Sunspear a weapon that automatically burns vyrewatch corpses when you kill vyrelord/ladies (this counts towards your achievements)
 * The House Drakan outfit
 * Drakan's wings
 * Two titles: and
 * The House Drakan outfit
 * Drakan's wings
 * Two titles: and

Music unlocked

 * The Gathering
 * Blood Hunt
 * Dirge of Drakan
 * Lament for the Hallowed
 * The Lord of Vampyrium

Development history
Following the release of The Branches of Darkmeyer, Mod Ana would continue shaping the plot of the remainder of the Myreque series and stated she was very excited to be working on it in addition to her main projects. The release of The World Wakes in March 2013 meant she had to adjust parts of her design, seeing that that quest's events had changed the role of the Morytanian splinter group last seen in Legacy of Seergaze.

At RuneFest 2013, the Myreque series was discussed by Mod Ana. She mentioned that the next quest would focus on Safalaan, that she would like to reveal Vanstrom's history and that the series might potentially feature spin-off quests about the splinter group and the werewolves.

In 2014, Mod Osborne confirmed the quest would not be released that year due to the development of a very large amount of elf content, consisting of Plague's End - the finale to the elf quest series -, Prifddinas and the Tirannwn Achievement Diary. In the latter half of December, a dragonstone Power to the Players poll was released, allowing players to vote between the next Myreque quest and a Daemonheim quest for release at the end of 2015. The poll came with a detailed description of the quest:

The Myreque quest subsequently won. Later, it was announced on the forums and on Twitter that Mod Rowley would most likely be developing the quest after finishing work on Dimension of Disaster and possibly the Construction update. By the end of January, the quest had entered pre-design stage as Mod Ana drew up her aims and plans for it. The quest entered development stage in the first half of March.

According to the developer, Mod Ana's departure from the RuneScape team in April had no impact on the development of the quest. Around late June, Mod Stu joined the development team when adamant and rune dragons were released.

In late June, the Ninja Team also started a Myreque series spotlight, aiming to make improvements to the existing Myreque quests and their rewards. Closer to release, a medley of the new music tracks was also released.

Pre-release teasers
In August, the members of the Myreque, minus Veliaf and Safalaan, who had been updated four years prior, were graphically updated. These graphical updates, along with the addition of skyboxes to Morytania, were released on 10 August 2015. In addition, dialogue for The Branches of Darkmeyer was added to Amelia and Rory.

Over the course of the following days, villagers began disappearing from Burgh de Rott, with one villager disappearing every day that a player with The Branches of Darkmeyer completed visited the village, specific to each player. Every time a villager disappeared, a missing poster appeared for them and Amelia and Rory's dialogue about the Branches of Darkmeyer updated to note their disappearance. A total of 20 villagers disappeared, leaving only Amelia, Rory, Aurel, Cornelius, Elisabeta and Radu.


 * 1) Teodor, Victor and Helena - Missing: Teodor - has he been harvested?
 * 2) Vasile - Missing: Vasile - last seen eating a rat.
 * 3) Catalina - Missing: Catalina - lost while playing hide and seek.
 * 4) Valeria - Missing: Valeria - gone, just like Gabriela and Marius.
 * 5) Sergiu - Missing: Sergiu - lost him, but found his missing shoe.
 * 6) Emilia - Missing: Emilia - it's unlikely she escaped to Misthalin.
 * 7) Luminata - Missing: Luminata - last seen eating a rat.
 * 8) Nicoleta - Missing: Nicoleta - out alone in the cold.
 * 9) Calin - Missing: Calin - gone, but not forgotten.
 * 10) Mihail - Missing: Mihail - where are you, Mihail?
 * 11) Ileana - Missing: Ileana - she owed me money.
 * 12) Sorin - Missing: Sorin - looking for new chess partner.
 * 13) Razvan - Missing: Razvan - rat population growing.
 * 14) Grigore - Missing: Grigore - last seen eating a rat.
 * 15) Ivan - Missing: Ivan - lost playing hide and seek.
 * 16) Luscion - Missing: Luscion - gone, but not forgotten.
 * 17) Simona - Missing: Simona - gone, but not forgotten.
 * 18) Florin - Missing: Florin. Wanted: Someone to throw tomatoes at strangers.

After 7 disappearances, Veliaf Hurtz also gained new dialogue, speaking about the people who have been disappearing from Burgh de Rott and that there are rumours that Lord Lowerniel Drakan is poised to make his return.

Trivia

 * The quest was originally stated to be grandmaster but was later revealed to be master.
 * In the September 2015 BTS, the Hunter requirement for the quest was incorrectly stated to be 70 rather than 76.
 * At the Icyene graveyard a single seagull can be found at the dock, which drops feathers upon death. This is likely a reference to the forum campaign to make seagulls drop feathers, a campaign that infamously perplexed Mod Ana, the previous developer of the Myreque series.
 * Additionally in the Icyene Graveyard is a grave for Sergeant Mazakon.
 * Upon completion of the quest, the adventurer's log states "The Myreque and I attempted to assassinate Lord Drakan. Things did not go to plan."
 * In Castle Drakan there is a painting of Lord Tytn Myrmel, which is a reference to Mod Tytn who worked on the first instalments of the Myreque series. Another portrait depicts Lady Anastasia von Alzeph, most likely a reference to Mod Ana, the previous developer of the Myreque series.
 * There is a reference to Perjour in Castle Drakan. When investigating the bookshelves, a book he wrote can be seen.
 * Taking the Sunspear to Kara-Meir results in a brief dialogue about it, referencing her use of it in the third RuneScape novel Legacy of Blood.
 * At the top of Castle Drakan, Safalaan will disguise himself as a vampyre named Deathly Hallows. This is a reference to the series.