Pollnivneach has a new inhabitant whose name is not Ali (or any variant of Ali, curiously enough). Who could this mysterious stranger be, and how did her sister end up trapped in a dungeon filled with Slayer monsters?
Do you dare to venture into the depths beneath Pollnivneach, where unknown dangers await amid smoke and screaming? The perils will be great, but, when rescuing a damsel in distress, the act should be reward enough...
Note: Sacred clay armour may be useful for this quest, as all three forms of combat are used and sacred clay armour can transform itself to each of the forms. Full Void Knight armour with all helms can also be used well, as all you have to do to change combat styles is switch the helm.
Also, completing the Contact! quest opens up the bank in Sophanem, which players may find useful throughout this quest.
Speak to Sumona in the house marked by the Quest icon in north Pollnivneach, south-east of the Rug Merchant. She tells you that her sister, Jesmona, has been caught by a monster and trapped under the well in the centre of the town. She asks for your help—accept!
When you try to climb down the well, a cat called "Ali Cat" stops you in a cutscene.
Equip a Catspeak Amulet to speak to Ali Cat. It warns you about the dangers of the well, which require wearing earmuffs and face mask at the same time.
Ali Cat tells you to find a dead Slayer master called Catolax and have a talk with him to learn how to combine these items. The cat gives you hints that he is buried at the ruins of Ullek, east of the Agility Pyramid.
Over the desert and through the swamp
Note: Before this next step, make sure you have the following items: Amulet of Ghostspeak, Amulet of Catspeak, cat (or kitten), and equipment for long-range combat (runes to cast attack spells and/or ranging equipment). Food is optional for lower levels (85 to 95 combat). If you have not done Dealing with Scabaras, bring a rope to set up a handy shortcut. If you cannot deal fast damage with ranged or mage, it may be helpful to bring a Dragon Dagger(p++) for its special attack. It may help in maintaining the simultaneous death of four monsters.
Make your way to the north-west part of the swamp by pushing through the reeds (it's not far, but the swamp is distinctly maze-like), go up the pillar and stairs, and arrive at a plateau with the lead and assistant archaeologists and a water source.
Note: If you haven't before, go west, climb over a small rock wall, and use your rope on a piece of rock jutting out over the edge (watch out for the Mummies! level 125). This will make getting here in the future much easier! (Climbing the rope requires level 40 agility, so if you do not have 40 or higher, don't bother with the rope part.)
Walk through the pass north of the archaeologists. Be careful of the level 115 skeletons. (You can refill your waterskins here if you wish.)
WARNING: Before you enter the dungeon from the outside, if your cat is out of your bag, the cat will disappear when you enter. Clicking the call button on your pet interface won't work, so you'll have to get a new cat from Gertrude. Bottom line: DON'T DROP YOUR CAT UNTIL YOU'RE INSIDE THE DUNGEON. Once in, your cat will meow to grab your attention.
Enter the first dungeon you see to the west (search the sealed door).
Note: If you log out while in the tombs, you will be back on the plateau, just outside the entrance to the dungeon, when you log back in. If you leave or die while in the tomb, your progress will be saved. However, if you log out AFTER defeating the skeletons (and after destroying the walls) but before disabling the traps, when you climb back in the tomb, you will need to defeat them again.
Search the tomb near the entrance for a Steel pickaxe: You see it in the wall. Note: If you have less than 6 mining, the Steel pickaxe will not work. If this is the case, bring a Bronze or Iron pickace.
Click the little hole in the base of the wall either to the east or west (choose the option "Search A holey wall"), and your cat helps you navigate through. If your cat remains in your inventory, drop it and then try again.
Talk to your cat again, and it has "some special advice from special sources."
Note: While the area you are about to enter is multicombat, a cannon will not hit any of the skeletons inside the chamber.
Go through the entrance your cat just opened in either the east wall (with three skeleton mages who are level 53) or the west wall (with three skeleton rangers who are level 31) and fight the skeletons(is not required to finish the quest). Each side's skeletons are across a chasm and thus unattackable with melee. On the west path, the skeletons use range and are most vulnerable to magic. On the east path, the skeletons use magic and are most vulnerable to range. Either way, three opponents firing at once will whittle your life points, so turn off Auto retaliate and focus on killing them one by one to reduce incoming fire. Prayer may be a good idea, unless you have lots of food or high Defence. It is a good idea to walk into the room bit by bit so you can pick them off one by one.
Once they are dead, use your pickaxe on the broken door to the north. (See warning below!) An alternative is to run in and break the door as the skeletons notice you, although this will require leaving and re-entering the room (at least twice).
Warning: After you've destroyed the door, do not walk into the room yet! Traps on the walls can hit up to 190 life points, so disarming the traps first would be a great idea. On the wall on one side of the corridor before each set of traps is a rectangular switch. Searching the wall (not the odd markings) temporarily disables the traps. (ie, for just a few seconds) The message in the chat box is "With a subtle grinding sound, a hidden mechanism operates just ahead of you. You'd best make your move now."
A wall with the traps.
Mummy warrior attacks!
Once you have passed two sets of traps, open the door at the end of the hall and enter the room. The room has two zombies and two skeletons. They have varied combat levels, and none is a serious threat. On the other hand, with the level 69 zombies hitting at least to 100, and the potential to be caught in a crossfire with their missile or magic-casting skeleton companions, you could easily be hurt seriously.
Kill the zombies and skeletons, wait a moment, and a level 54 Mummy Warrior climbs out of the central tomb. The zombies and skeletons respawn fairly quickly. It may be difficult to keep the zombies and skeletons dead simultaneously if you cannot deal fast enough damage, so it may be helpful to have a Dragon Dagger(p++) for its special attack, or a fast melee weapon. The Mummy warrior does not awaken unless all four are dead simultaneously and unless you turn off all protection prayers. Even though he's not much of a threat to those with 95 and higher combat, he's got decent defence and can still hit up to 80, so many turn on Protect from Melee once he is out of his tomb.
Kill the Mummy warrior and pick up the key—it will either be a Magic path key or a Ranged path key, depending on which path was chosen.
Now, use the key to open the door, and once inside, pull the lever.
Walk back out to the centre again. You will not set off traps on this side any more after you have pulled the lever.
If you did the ranged side, now it's time to do the mage side! Or vice-versa. Don't forget to disarm the traps in the second room! Once you've pulled the levers on both sides, the traps in the centre pathway are disabled too.
Go back to the centre and walk over the disabled traps. Note: With the traps, clicking "Pass" or "Search" should tell you that they're disabled. Walking over them is all you need to do.
After you pass the traps, you reach the dead slayer master Catolax. Equip your Ghostpeak amulet, and talk to him. You have a "momentary insight, from a source that is completely unknown" and then know how to combine a Facemask with a pair of Earmuffs.
The Banshees in the well
Go to the bank, get your supplies, and make your way back to the well in Pollnivneach.
Head north, and kill a level 90 Mighty banshee to get a Banshee voice. If you don't get it the first time, keep trying as it is not a rare drop. The Mighty Banshees appear to use a magic-based melee attack, fighting them in black dragonhide seems more successful than, for example, dragon armour. Use Protect from Melee prayer if required.
Use the Banshee voice on the glowing red, wavering mystic barrier directly to the north.
Note: Trying to skip the cutscene will result in the player being placed outside of the barrier and you will need another Banshee's Voice to get back in.
Shortly, the Banshee Mistress attacks you.
Warning: Switch on the Protect from Range prayer slightly before the Banshee Mistress reaches half health, or you may be hit by up to 200 damage repeatedly from each of the four powerful Insectoid Assassins she calls to her aid. At some point, the Banshee Mistress will say 'Aid me, minions'. This is your sign to turn on the Protect from Range prayer.
The mistress mainly uses melee, but she also casts Water Blast at a distance, so using the Protect from Melee prayer for the first half of the fight with good magic defence armour such as Dragonhide armour is suggested. She is relatively easy at the beginning, but she calls the assassins to help her with rapid ranged attacks when she has less than half health.
The Banshee Mistress will occasionally sound an acoustic attack, which may deal up to 130 damage and knock you down.
Good food, preferably sharks or above, is suggested. It is still possible for a level 85 to kill the Banshee Mistress with monkfish, but sharks are recommended if you want to be safer. You can also bring a familiar here: A bronze minotaur or higher should do the trick.
Note: If you die when fighting the mistress, you will be able to go back to your gravestone and retrieve your items. Your gravestone will spawn outside of the well, so getting to your lost items isn't such a big problem.
A Dragon dagger(p++) is useful against the Banshee Mistress for its special attack.
Although the room has few safe spots, if you have a high range or mage level, don't be put off ranging or maging as it is quite possible. You can use a Dragon halberd to kill her as well, using Protect from Magic at the same time to minimise damage.
When the mistress is dead, the assassins will keep attacking you, and, if you have auto-retaliate on you will start attacking one, but killing them is not required.
After you kill the mistress, you see a short cutsene, and Catolax then speaks to you.
Go back to Sumona, and talk to her.
She insists that you put your cat (or kitten) in your backpack before she will talk to you.
Congratulations! Quest Complete!
Note: If you wish, you may go back to Catolax (who now appears down the well, just inside the dungeon you discovered) to learn some information and background details about the area and Sumona.
After this quest, a player earns slayer reward points for each slayer assignment completed. More for assignments from higher level masters. Points add up until used, or until a task is changed. Slayer reward points may be exchanged for:
On the day of release, the spoilers said, "We're having to cut a deal with Sumona in order to access the rewards scroll. Please check back tomorrow."
The title of the quest seems to come from the warning that "smoking cigarettes kills." However, the developer later posted on the forums that this was merely a pun and had no intentional meaning. This was also confirmed by Mod Emilee.
If you got a slayer task before the quest was added, you got this message while using Enchanted Gem.
When you spoke with or contacted your slayer master with your Enchanted gem during a task you were assigned prior to this update, the master would tell you "We seem to have lost your records in our recent reshuffle", and you are unable to determine your progress in your task.
This was the second quest that had a required minimum Combat level (level 85) to complete (after Dream Mentor was released on 15 May2007).
Once you defeat the Banshee Mistress and view the cutscene, the slayer master whom you found in the tombs does not require a ghostspeak amulet to talk to (when he talks to you just after the defeat of the mistress). You still need a ghostspeak amulet if you wish to communicate with him afterward.
Upon the release of this quest, almost all the slayer monsters' graphics changed, leaving a small amount unchanged.
If you have a cat out, Sumona will grow angry and not talk to you saying "<How dare you to speak to me with that spying cat following you. Keep the vile creature away from me.>"
If you run into the sarcophagus while it is opening, you get stuck in the middle and are not able to move.
The song title of "Cool for Ali Cats" may be a takeoff of the song "Cool for Cats" by Squeeze.
There is a glitch where, when the player uses the Banshee voice on the barrier, you see a loading screen, then, with a glimpse of the Banshee mistress, the player is teleported back without fighting, and has to obtain another banshee voice. If this occurs, simply go up the well and climb back in.
Upon the completion of this quest, one's Adventurer's Log will read: "Forget about smoking doing the killing, what about giant banshees? I've managed to make my way out of the smoky Slayer dungeon and gained a new Slayer master."
If you can not destroy the doors with the given steel pickaxe then try again with a pickaxe you can use at your mining level.
Talk to Sumona in Pollnivneach
Members only
Intermediate
Quests:
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