Beneath Cursed Tides

Beneath Cursed Tides is a quest released on 14 December 2015. It is based on a RuneLabs suggestion about the mysterious vanishing of Tutorial Island during the update that expanded the Wizards' Tower to include where Tutorial Island originally was.

This quest involves the player, Wizard Myrtle and Vannaka searching for survivors and diving to the sea south of the Wizards' Tower to investigate a sunken Tutorial Island.

Recruiting Vannaka
Speak to Wizard Myrtle at the fountains in front of the Wizards' Tower. She wants to know what happened to her mentor, Terrova, the magic instructor on Tutorial Island. However, she is afraid of water and wants to send you to find the island.

Go to Edgeville Dungeon and talk to Vannaka. He explains why he left Tutorial Island before it was flooded and wishes to go back with the player and Myrtle.

Return to Myrtle, who is now standing beside Vannaka, and they ask you to go to Mudskipper Point. This can easily be accessed through the fairy ring code, or by running south of the Port Sarim lodestone. There is a fairy ring to the south of the Wizards' Tower (code ).

The sunken island
Talk to Myrtle about diving down to Tutorial Island. There are three options you can choose from: Myrtle's spell, your own diving apparatus from your Aquarium, or a fishbowl helmet and diving apparatus.

Read the message in a bottle near the door of the first room. Your task now is to go through Tutorial Island as if you were a starting player years ago to break the dark magician's curse. There are multiple rooms that involve multiple skills.

Survival skills
Talk to Brynna about the survival skills. Catch raw shrimp swimming around, then boil it at the steam vent to create boiled shrimp. Talk to Brynna again, and she expresses amazement that you did not burn the shrimp, and demands you bring her some burnt shrimp first instead. As the vent is not hot enough to burn it, so you need to block the hole east of the vent to create more heat.

Catch another shrimp, cut some strong seaweed, then attempt to cut a dead tree down. You snag one of the soggy branches from the tree, which allows you to push the boulder into the hole. Now, burn the shrimp on the vent and speak to her again with both shrimps in your inventory.

Culinary teachings
Talk to the master chef Lev, who explains that cooking bread is no longer necessary, but making salads are. Obtain Levs music box from him to gather seaweed, then go south of the house. Play the music box in front of the large jellyfish: pick option 2, then 3, then 1. Gather the tasty seaweed, then talk to the Master chef.

Place it on the table and then pick the correct ingredients. For each column, pick either sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, salty, or mellow, depending on the Chef's instructions. For example, if the text reads:

 'Something mellow yet sour with bitter undertones.'

Then the order of your columns would be: mellow, sour, and bitter.

After this is done, proceed on the path to the next house and go down the ladder.

Smithing a butter-knife
Talk to the Mining instructor, who wants you to create your own bronze dagger. Mine soggy copper ore and soggy tin ore, put it in the furnace, close the furnace doors, operate the pump, then light the furnace. After doing this, open the door and your bronzish bar is smelted. Click on a nearby anvil to be prompted to smith a bronze butter knife then return to the instructor one last time. When you're done talking to him, head east toward Vannaka.

Two-handed sword training
Vannaka guides you through his room now. Enter the gate and click on the sword and shield in the centre of the enclosure to begin combat training. During the blindfolded scene, click on all the water bubbles and rat heads in order to progress. After killing all the giant sea rats, return to Vannaka, then proceed east up the ladder.

A bank heist
Speak to the Financial Advisor inside the bank. He will reveal that the banker is long dead, and that you can only continue by opening the vault. Read the memo and the banker's diary on both tables, and the calendar on the wall behind the bank booths, then proceed to the vault. The code is the birth year of the banker; "139". Take all the stacks of 25gp then go back to the Financial Advisor. He will then let you advance to the next stage of the island.

Fishy friends
Talk to Brother Brace in the chapel. He will tell you that he has lost his prayer book, which he needs to let you move on. Read his friend list and talk to all of his fish friends. Several of the fish can be found near Brother Brace's house, while others can be found nearby by backtracking through to the area surrounding the financial advisor. One of them eventually tells you that it is behind a certain piece of scenery, such as the anchor or a chest. Search the relevant location for the prayer book; these locations can be found near the church area. The location is different for each player. Take the book back to Brother Brace, and he will reveal that the book actually contained the key for the locked door to the next location. He sends you on your way to speak to the last tutor.

Bubble magic
Finally, talk to Wizard Terrova. He asks you to cast a wind spell on the chickens to prove your competency in magic. The chickens are strangely not cursed, and have air bubbles around their heads. Simply click on the chickens to cast a spell on them. This spell places the chickens in a larger bubble; once a chicken goes into a bubble, another chicken spawns. Players need to only defeat one chicken to continue, but are allowed to defeat as many as they wish.

Showdown
Once you speak to Terrova, you are interrupted by Hector Vivian, the magician who enacted the curse in the first place. He explains that Vannaka is the last piece of his curse, but before doing anything, Wizard Myrtle dives down, overcoming her fear of deep water, and channels a spell against Hector Vivian to stop his evil scheme.

The player must assist Myrtle in channeling the spell, but the player must also repel all the crassians that attempt to disrupt her. It is recommended to click on Myrtle rather than clicking on the animation that is between Myrtle and Hector, because the clickspace is bigger and easier to obtain. Crassians appear periodically, often away from Myrtle. This buys the player some time to advance the spell, but the player must be quick and repel the crassians. Once the crassians are in their bubbles, quickly click on Myrtle before another one spawns. Repeat until Myrtle's (and the player's) meters are completely filled up.

Once the meters are filled, Hector is "defeated". In order for the battle to be officially over, the player must finish Hector off by trapping him in a bubble.

The tutors resurface
Return to the mainland and talk to Wizard Myrtle. All the tutors now arrive on dry land in their human forms, discussing what they have missed out on for years. They announce that they will start off fresh, and thank you for your efforts in freeing them from the curse.

Rewards

 * 1 quest point
 * Vannaka's Sword, a sword override similar to that of Vannaka's steel two-handed sword which can be held in one hand
 * Giant Oyster, a monthly D&D that provides Fishing and Farming experience
 * A cooking lamp that grants 5,000 cooking experience
 * A fishing lamp that grants 5,000 fishing experience
 * A combat lamp that grants 10,000 combat experience, including Herblore, Slayer, and Summoning
 * Lev's old music box - It crumbles to dust when played, but unlocks Newbie melody (original)

Music unlocked

 * Newbie Melody (Boss)
 * Newbie Melody (original)
 * Newbie Melody (underwater)
 * Scape Cave (underwater)

Trivia

 * When lodestoning underwater, the environment is altered without the player moving. For example, symbols appear and branches burst from the ground while the player floats idly during the Guthixian war teleport animation.
 * If a player prays at the altar, there is no animation, though the player's prayer points are still restored.
 * When talking to Brynna, she says that new players used to wear "horrendous green clothing" when talking to her. This is a reference to the old default clothing.
 * When the player burns the shrimp, Brynna says "shrimpin' ain't [sic] easy" which is a reference to .
 * When examining the unicorn head in the house above where Vannaka is, the examine text is a reference to .
 * When examining the message in a bottle after diving underwater, the examine text is a reference to the song of the same name by.
 * When you examine the underwater furnace it says "a hot furnace" even when full of water.
 * When you make the bronze dagger underwater, it is referred to as a bronze butter knife instead of a dagger. This is a reference to Vannaka calling it a butter knife in the original Tutorial Island.
 * After finishing the smithing task the advisor says that he wants to make a smithing master out of the player. Should the player however have Smithing 99, he says that he already is one.
 * When talking to Vannaka about wielding his sword in one hand, you say "Yes senpai" in reply. "Senpai" is the Japanese word for senior or upperclassman and.
 * Brother Brace's prayer book has the appearance of a Guthix's Book of Balance despite Brother Brace being a Saradominist. The fish guiding the player to this book are all references.
 * When talking to Brother Brace's fish friends, one of their responses is a Disney film reference, a line from Under the sea, a song from .
 * Maggie Karp, this is a reference to the ' of a phonetically similar name, '.
 * Two of Brother Brace's friends are called Nemo (a red fish) and Dory (a blue fish). This, and the shapes of the fish, are references to the Pixar films, ' and its upcoming sequel, '.
 * Another of Brother Brace's friends is called Vince. This may be an oblique reference to singer .
 * When spoken about the search of the lost prayer book Brother Brace calls the adventurer the chosen one, this might be a reference to the prophecy of the same name in the .
 * After defeating Hector Vivian, players are given an option to "Finish him!", a reference to the game .
 * When the adventurer traps Hector Vivian in the bubble, he says, "I would have gotten away too if it weren't for you meddling-" — a reference to , wherein perpetrators always repeat that sentence after being caught and exposed.
 * Although the RuneScape guide and the Quest guide were also originally on Tutorial Island, no mention is made of them during or after the quest.
 * Upon completion, the quest is referred to as "Tutorial Island" in the Adventurer's Log and not its correct name.
 * Upon completion, the Adventurer's Log states "I discovered the true fate of Tutorial Island and helped break the curse that had been put upon the tutors."