Current Affairs

This quest has a quick guide. It briefly summarises the steps needed to complete the quest.

Current Affairs is the third quest released with the Sailing skill. It involves helping Arhein get past some political red tape, and teaches the player how to track currents using a current duck.

Start point	Talk to Arhein on the Catherby docks. Show on map
Official difficulty	Novice
Official length	Short
Description	Help Arhein get past some political red tape and unlock the current duck, a useful Sailing tool.
Requirements	22 Sailing [not boostable] [required to start] 10 Fishing [unknown] [required to start] Completion of Pandemonium
Items required	Charcoal (obtainable during quest) 50 Coins
Recommended	Highly recommended: A boat docked at the Catherby docks - you will be required to sail nearby at the end of the quest
Enemies to defeat	None
League notes	Takes place in Kandarin✓ but is inaccessible due to Sailing being unavailable in the Demonic Pacts League.

Talk to Arhein on the northern end of the Catherby docks, and ask him what's with the duck. He explains that a travelling salesman claimed a duck is able to accurately track currents. Unfortunately, Arhein is unable to test that theory, as the local councillor is threatening to fine Arhein for using non-human workers. After offering your help, he suggests you might want to talk to Councillor Catherine.

Find her in the council office in north-east Catherby, just north of the Archery shop. Ignoring your concerns, she points out that you are not registered as a sailor to do business in Catherby, and hands you the form cr-4p to fill in. If you didn't bring charcoal, search the cabinet and grab some.

Click on the form with the charcoal in your inventory, and you will be presented with a series of nonsensical questions with three options. You can select any responses you want, but you will need to repeat the same answers later. This can be simplified by simply picking the first answer every time, as the order of the answers do not change later when being quizzed. Speak to her again to return the form. She explains that any change to the by-laws requires approval from the Mayor of Catherby, but the Catherby Data Protection Regulation prevents her from sharing their location.

Return to Arhein and ask him about the mayor. He explains that the mayor recently died; there have been 25 consecutive mayors, all of which have been fish. As nobody other than Catherine wanted the job, the citizens used fish to prevent her from becoming mayor. You need to sneakily replace the latest mayor before she realises, and Arhein suggests that Harry at the nearby fishing shop could help.

Harry is located in the most eastern building in Catherby. Tell him you are here about the mayor, and he will sell you a mayoral fishbowl and tiny net for 50 coins. Fish the Mayor of Catherby from one of the two aquariums in the shop.

Show Arhein the mayor and he will give the fish a mayoral chain and tell you to return to Catherine. Speak to her and after showing the mayor, she will refuse to do anything until you've reviewed your form cr-4p and ensured all the information is correct. Repeat your answers from before.

Note: If you make any mistakes, Catherine will ask you to repeat only the incorrect answers after finishing the form, allowing you to choose new responses each time until they’re correct.

After successfully confirming your answers, she gives you form 7r4-5h. Use it on the Mayor of Catherby to sign it, then return it to Catherine to finally change the by-law.

Inform Arhein that the by-law has been changed. He will hand you his duck; he wants you to take it out on the ocean to test the theory. Head east in your boat until you find a ripple in the water just west of the Obelisk of Water. While on top of the ripple, click on the current duck to track the current. Follow the duck until it arrives at the shore where Holgart is. Collect the duck and return to Arhein to tell him you've charted the currents. He thanks you for your help and lets you keep the current duck and mayor.

Congratulations, quest complete!

• 1 Quest point
• 1,400 Sailing experience
• 1,000 Fishing experience
• Access to Sea charting/Current
• The current duck
• The mayor of Catherby
• 25 sawmill coupon (oak plank)

• Forms cr-4p and 7r4-5h spell out "crap" and "trash", respectively in leetspeak.
• Councillor Catherine mentions the Catherby Data Protection Regulation, which is a play on the General Data Protection Regulation.
• Form cr-4p gives you three options for a home port: Varrock, Falador, and Edgeville. None of these cities have ports or are even on a coast.
• Using fish food on the Mayor of Catherby will consume it, resulting in the message "The mayor accepts your generous donation to his campaign."
• You can place the Mayor of Catherby in your player-owned home.