The Curse of Arrav

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

The Curse of Arrav is a quest announced at the Summer Summit 2024 and released on 6 November 2024. It is a remake of the RuneScape quest of the same name, with changes made to match the lore and style of Old School RuneScape.

Start point	Talk to Elias White at the Uzer Oasis. Show on map
Official difficulty	Master
Official length	Medium
Description	The icy waste to the north of the troll country is as mysterious as any land in Gielinor, no less because of the interest the Mahjarrat take in it. Elias White thinks that he might have found a way for you to discover more about this strange area to the north. Uncover more of the mysteries of the Mahjarrat and learn about the dark magic that was used to enslave Arrav for these last few millennia.
Requirements	64 Mining[not boostable] 62 Ranged[not boostable] 62 Thieving[not boostable] 61 Agility[not boostable] 58 Strength[not boostable] 37 Slayer[unknown] Completion of the following quests: Defender of Varrock Shield of Arrav Temple of Ikov Below Ice Mountain Family Crest Garden of Tranquillity Creature of Fenkenstrain Priest in Peril The Restless Ghost What Lies Below Rune Mysteries Romeo & Juliet Demon Slayer Troll Romance Troll Stronghold Death Plateau
Items required	3 dwellberries Ring of life Any pickaxe Any crossbow (except the love crossbow) Mith grapple (Hallowed grapple will not work) Insulated boots
Recommended	85 Combat level Combat gear, Prayer potions, Super combat potions, and food for the final fight Salve amulet for the final fight Quick access to fairy rings Lumberyard teleport, digsite pendant, or ring of the elements for quick access to Zemouregal's Base Trollheim Teleport, stony basalt, or any Ghommal's hilt for quick access to Trollheim Stamina potion Anti-venom or Serpentine helm with 75 defence. Any ranged weapon (or suitable bolts for the crossbow already brought), or magic; recommended way to kill the toxic zombies during the fight against Arrav. Emergency teleport Lockpick unlocking code key chest towards the end to avoid small lockpick fails
Enemies to defeat	Golem guard (level 141) Arrav (level 339)
Ironman concerns	59 Fletching [boostable] to make a mith grapple 59 Smithing [boostable] to make a mith grapple tip OR 35 Firemaking [not boostable] for Barbarian Firemaking, to access the Ancient Cavern, and the means to defeat level 132 enemies for a 1/42.67 chance at a mith grapple drop (ideally the skeleton brute).
League notes	Not completable, as it requires access to Misthalin.

The player may receive Elias' message from a messenger once eligible to start the quest, but this is not necessary to start the quest itself. Players may choose to wait and receive it if they wish to read the message for immersion, but it is removed upon completion of the quest.

Speak to Elias White at Uzer Oasis to begin the quest. The quickest way to get there is via fairy ring code DLQ, then running eastward towards the coast. Elias will tell you that he has made progress towards Arrav's predicament, having discovered information on an unusual form of necromancy that was once practised in the surrounding lands, matching what Arrav is currently suffering from. His research had led him to the Uzer Mastaba, where a Pharaoh Queen, known for her work on saving the victims of a Mahjarrat necromancer, is buried. According to Elias, in order to free Arrav from Zemouregal's hold, you will need a way to recover his heart while keeping it preserved and beating. As such, he tasks you with searching the mastaba for information on heart preservation, while he works on finding where Arrav's heart is being kept.

Enter the Uzer Mastaba atop the nearby hill. Inside, you will find various dead skeletons littered around the area. Two of these will give the player a mastaba key when searched: the first is the southernmost skeleton in the cave beyond the first room, while the other is found north-west of the stone boat in the central chamber. Searching the rest of skeletons will only provide empty waterskins, damaged armour, vases, and dust.

The keys are used automatically when operating the levers in the north-east and south-east corners of the area which are behind wall traps. Ensure you search the odd markings on the walls preceding them to disable the traps and avoid damage, then attempt to pull the levers with the keys in your inventory. If you do not search the odd markings, you will be pierced for up to 19 damage when attempting to walk past them.

Once the two levers have been pulled, the door to the north will then be unlocked, but the way downstairs is guarded by the golem guard. It attacks with melee, cannot be safespotted, and has a prayer-piercing special attack. When the game screen shakes and he draws his arms close to his body, it will stand in place and attack three times every two ticks, dealing up to 30 damage per hit; simply move one tile away from the golem guard to avoid this. Dying to the guard will send a grave to just outside the entrance to the mastaba.

Upon descending the stairs, you will come across a chamber with multiple coloured tiles which raise and block the way, depending on which sets the player stands on. Walk on either the blue and green tiles or the yellow and red tiles on the south side to cross over to the burial chamber; if the wrong pair of tiles are stepped on after starting the crossing, the player will take moderate damage. After crossing to the burial chamber side, pull the lever to disable the coloured tiles.

The Pharaoh Queen's burial chamber contains multiple statues depicting the lesser gods of the Menaphite Pantheon. The shelves to the north can be searched to receive a canopic jar filled with sacred oil. Head to the southern chamber where Tumeken's statue is found, and inspect the southern mural, which depicts the canopic jar being filled with three dwellberries and a ring of life; use the items in that order on the jar to fill it.

With the jar in tow, head back to Elias. You can save a bit of time by hopping worlds, which will teleport you back outside the mastaba.

Elias will tell you that one of his contacts spotted Zemouregal entering an old fort near Trollweiss Mountain, and also found an entrance on the summit that appears to lead right into it. However, he suggests bringing a pickaxe as parts of the tunnels within have been caved in.

Make your way to Trollheim. Take the path just north-west of Trollheim (towards the ice gate), then enter the Trollweiss Dungeon directly west of the ice gate. Activating Protect from Melee is recommended for lower-levelled players as the ice trolls can hit up to 21. Follow the path north until you can enter a crevasse to get to the summit of Trollweiss Mountain. Once you've exited the crevasse, run directly east and enter the tunnels.

Mine the rubble within the caves to clear the path; certain piles of rubble may need to be mined multiple times to be cleared, while some can only be mined once from each side before they're cleared, so you may have to run around the tunnels to mine the same rubble from different directions in order to clear it. Along the way, you can pick up the stone, granite, slate, and shale tablets, which depict a Mahjarrat attempting to avoid being chosen as a sacrifice in their ritual.

Mine your way to the eastern end of the tunnels to reach the fort's basement. Players can optionally search the bookcases on the eastern wall to receive Mahjarrat notes (a-j), which are written by Zemouregal and list various living and recently-sacrificed Mahjarrat, as well as his opinions of them.

Head upstairs to find that Arrav is standing before you, warning you to leave before Zemouregal returns. You will ask him about his heart, but he will tell you it is not present in the fort as Zemouregal did not want it too close to his fellow Mahjarrat. However, he will tell you to look behind the flame tapestry in the north-eastern room for something helpful. He is then summoned by Zemouregal, thanking you before he is teleported away.

The rest of Zemouregal's Fort is not accessible, so enter the door to the east and search the tapestry. You will receive a base key and base plans, which depict Zemouregal's Base.

Return to Elias, who you show the base plans to. He confirms that the base has a chamber marked as containing Arrav's heart, but it is found in the inner section of the base with state of the art security:

• Human detection spells...
• A sewage system accessed via the kitchen...
• ... whose floor is secured by periodic energy surges.
• A guarded vault door, made of five-inch thick runite-enforced steel, with a four digit access code to boot...
• Special fire ray enchantments, courtesy of Zemouregal...
• ... leading to a pedestal holding Arrav's heart hostage.

While seemingly daunting, Elias will suggest various measures to bypass the traps: a form of insulation from the energy surges, having him distract the zombies guarding the vault door, and a crossbow and mith grapple to climb over the fire traps.

Before heading to Zemouregal's Base, bring the required items for the heist, as well as the base key. Furthermore, players will be forced to enter a fight in which teleportation is the only way of escape. During the fight, players can be inflicted with venom. As such, take a sip of Antidote++ or similar proactively beforehand or after you are afflicted by venom.

NOTE: If you're doing this all in one go, bring the filled canopic jar.

Make your way to Zemouregal's Base, just west of where the Odd Old Man is, by your preferred method. Talk to Elias outside the entrance, then enter the base and run through the dungeon until you reach the kitchen (marked by the icon). Enter the kitchen, wear your insulated boots, and then enter the sewer system via the southern wall using the pipe.

Head all the way around the path to the other end of the pipe exit to find yourself at the vault doors, ignore them for now. You can now safely remove/change your insulated boots. Make your way south to the room with three tables. Search the western table for decoder strips, and the chest for the code key. Optionally, you can search the eastern table for Mahjarrat notes (k-z), the other half of Zemouregal's writings; this reveals the Mahjarrat who dug the tunnels to his fort was Lamistard. He was discovered and promptly sacrificed for the ritual.

Read the code key and take note of the four-letter code. Return north to the vault doors. Attempt to open them. An interface will appear; enter your key code in order on the decoder strips in the interface that pops up (right side of interface). Each strip will be associated with a number, 0-9, and will have an order, 1-4 on the left hand side of the strip. Use the up and down arrows to input the number and the right arrow to enter each number once picked.

For example, a code key with the code "DAFE" would have the player put strip 1 on D, 2 on A, 3 on F, and 4 on E, which reveals the access code to be 9449.

Upon entering the vault, equip your crossbow and mithril grapple, then click on the metal bars above the fire traps to climb over them. Do not attempt to walk across the room as you will take ~14 damage and wake up far away. There are no further traps here. Attempt to take the heart from the pedestal to initiate a cutscene.

Upon attempting to take the heart, your character turns around to find out that Zemouregal and Sharathteerk have discovered your presence and send Arrav to kill you. Players cannot leave the vault physically as Zemouregal blocks your path, and as such bringing a means to teleport out is recommended in case of an emergency. If you leave, you will need to bring insulated boots to return, but you do not need a mith grapple or crossbow, as the rematch with Arrav starts immediately after entering the doors to the grapple room. If you die during the fight with Arrav, your gravestone will be in the caves past the zombies and you can grab your boots before trying again. If you die at the same time you kill Arrav, you don't have to fight him again.

Arrav uses a standard melee attack whose damage can be reduced with Protect from Melee. Every three attacks, Arrav will swing his axe in the direction he's facing, which will rebound back to him, dealing up to 26 damage in both directions. The thrown axe attack has a wind up time, allowing you to move adjacent or behind him and resume attacking; alternatively, you can quickly unequip your weapon and position yourself between Arrav and the axe, allowing you to catch it and strike his chest with a lightning animation for additional damage. When successful, a game message in the chatbox will state You catch the flying axe and embed it in Arrav's chest! Off-hand equipment does not need to be unequipped for this counter-attack to be successful.

Additionally, armoured zombies will also spawn with 10 Hitpoints each. They will not attack, even if attacked, and instead wander around the area, leaving behind venom pools wherever they walk. Stepping on these will inflict venom and deal up to 4 damage every tick if not moving; this stacks up to a maximum of 20 damage per tick if the player does not move. It is advised to target the armoured zombies with ranged, magic, or manually casting Crumble Undead, as melee will often lead to you walking into their venom. The player is healed and cured of venom when Arrav is defeated and the subsequent cutscene finishes. Faster attack speed ranged weapons like dragon darts are ideal for dealing with these enemies - later in the fight two at a time will spawn so it's best to deal with them as soon as they spawn with a fast hitting weapon. Due to the armoured zombies significantly negative ranged defenses, ranged attacks hit very accurately, and having a ranged max hit of at least 10 often allows one-hit kills.

Upon defeating Arrav, Zemouregal will order Sharathteerk to teleport Arrav away. However, the spell is blocked courtesy of Elias, who teleports in and asks you to grab the heart promptly. He will then cast a powerful spell that binds both Zemouregal and Sharathteerk in chains. You quickly take Arrav's heart from its pedestal, causing it to glow red, and Elias will teleport you and himself back to the Uzer Oasis.

• The player is discovered right before the heart is recovered.
• Arrav fights the player against their will.
• Elias comes to the rescue, casting a powerful binding spell.

You will be surprised at Elias' apparent capabilities of directly teleporting into a heavily secured location and binding a Mahjarrat in chains, however briefly. He will remain reluctant to share his history with the Mahjarrat, insisting it is a complicated one, and quickly switches the topic to Arrav's heart; while he has it, it is not enough to break Arrav free from control, and he commits to researching this further. He will lastly note that you will not hear from him for some time, but will contact you when the time comes.

Congratulations, quest complete!

• 2 Quest points
• 40,000 Mining experience
• 40,000 Thieving experience
• 40,000 Agility experience
• Access to Zemouregal's Fort.

The Curse of Arrav - Original

• Developer: Paul Gower
• Graphics: James W, Mod Alex, Mod Brass
• Quality Assurance: Dan G, Dan O'R, Nicola T, Mod James H
• Audio: Iain Hetherington, Mod Bond
• QuestHelp: Katie B

Missing My Mummy - Original

• Developer: Mod Newmatic
• Graphics: Nick F, Matthew S, Jeff K, Mod Alec, Mod GiuG, Wayne M, James W, Chris W
• Quality Assurance: Vicki M, Ian 'Chief' H, Andrew E
• Audio: Mod Grace
• QuestHelp: Katie B

The Curse of Arrav was originally released in RuneScape on 21 July 2009, nearly 2 years after the August 2007 Archive of RuneScape that Old School was built on.

Jagex announced plans to backport the quest during the 2024 Summer Summit, with some adjustments to bring it in line with Old School's standards as well as the overall story narrative of the game.

• The original version had slightly different quest and skill requirements:
  • Tale of the Muspah and Missing My Mummy were originally requirements, but do not exist in Old School. Tale of the Muspah was instead adapted into Secrets of the North, with parts of Missing My Mummy being added as parts of The Curse of Arrav.
  • 64 Ranged, 64 Strength, and 66 Thieving were originally requirements, which were lowered to 62 Ranged, 58 Strength, and 62 Thieving.
  • 41 Summoning was also a requirement, which does not exist in Old School.
• The experience rewards were slightly different:
  • 30,000 Mining, 14,000 Thieving, and 9,000 Agility experience were rewarded, and were increased to 40,000 experience each in Old School.
  • 9,000 Ranged, 9,000 Strength, 2,500 Slayer, and 4,000 Summoning experience were originally rewarded.
  • The post-quest versions of armoured zombies and their associated broken zombie helmet were not present in the original quest.
  • In RuneScape, after completion of Missing My Mummy, a large room of zombie small scarabs could be accessed from the uninviting hole in the lower level of the Uzer Mastaba, as well as a shortcut on the upper level. While the hole is present in Old School, it cannot be entered.
• Minor changes were made to the quest's pacing and narrative:
  • The Curse of Arrav was originally started by speaking to Ali the Wise in Nardah, who was first encountered during Tale of the Muspah. In Old School, he is replaced by Elias White, who is introduced in Defender of Varrock instead. Elias White's name is an anagram of Ali the Wise, as well as the Mahjarrat Wahisietel, who was first mentioned in the original version of The Curse of Arrav.
  • Ali the Wise originally sent players directly to Trollweiss Mountain, with the Uzer Mastaba instead being explored in a previous quest, Missing My Mummy.
    • He also originally directed players to explore the cavern as part of his general research into the Mahjarrat Ritual of Rejuvenation, not mentioning Zemouregal or Arrav. The significance of Arrav's heart was only learned after recovering the base plans in Zemouregal's Fort. In Old School, taking Arrav's heart is the goal from the beginning of the quest, as its significance is explained in the Old School version of Defender of Varrock.
  • A major plot point in Missing My Mummy involved the player helping to reconstruct the mummy of Queen Senliten after her mastaba was raided by grave robbers in order to help her remember her identity. As Missing My Mummy is not present in Old School, Queen Senliten is never interacted with, which causes the following to change:
    • The burial chamber is in pristine condition, instead of it needing to be repaired.
    • The player finds the canopic jar inside the burial chamber instead of it being given to them by Senliten.
      • In RuneScape, players received an empty canopic jar from Senliten, and had to place sacred oil inside it. In 2024, the RuneScape version of the quest was changed to have Senliten give players a jar with the sacred oil already inside, which Old School follows.
    • The player learns how to prepare the canopic jar by reading murals instead of Senliten telling them how to prepare it.
    • Queen Senliten is never referred to by name, simply being called the Pharaoh Queen in Old School.
    • Additionally, the floor puzzle inside the Uzer Mastaba could not be disabled, and had to be manually navigated every time.
  • The Mahjarrat notes originally explained Enakhra's rejection of Zemouregal's offer to sire more Mahjarrat as a result of her feelings for Zamorak.
  • Originally, a brief fight with Arrav occurred inside Zemouregal's Fort, and players had to partially deplete his health before Zemouregal called him away. In Old School, Arrav is instead fought at the end of the quest, and is significantly stronger and more mechanically involved.
  • Investigating the caged killerwatt originally revealed a label revealing it was purchased from "Oddenstein Labs security systems". In Old School, the killerwatt's cage cannot be interacted with.
  • The player had to use the remote view ability of the Macaw or Ravenous locust summoning familiar to wait for an opening between armoured zombie patrols before leaving the sewers of Zemouregal's Base. As Summoning is not present in Old School, Elias White automatically distracts the zombies instead, and they are not visibly present.
  • Originally, the player was able to take Arrav's heart without interference. In Old School, Zemouregal confronts the player and orders Arrav to kill them.
    • After being stolen, the heart in a canopic jar item was obtained. In Old School, this item is never obtained, as it is automatically given directly to Elias White.
  • As he was not present inside the base, Ali the Wise was not shown to possess any magical abilities or be recognised by Zemouregal in the original quest. Ali the Wise also remained in Nardah after completion of the quest, while Elias White disappears.
  • During or after completing the original version of the quest, players could give Ali the Wise the four tablets written by Lamistard, in addition to the Mahjarrat notes. They could also give him information regarding the events of various Mahjarrat-related quests if they had not done so already after completing Missing My Mummy. This does not happen in Old School, as Elias White simply teleports away.
• Some minor changes were made to the quest's music:
  • In RuneScape, a music track called Kharidian Nights was added outside of Uzer Mastaba a few weeks after the original release of the quest. In Old School, the song is not present. Notably, Kharidian Nights was the first music track composed for RuneScape by Mod Ash.
  • A music track called Ancestral Wisdom originally played on the lower floor of the Uzer Mastaba. In Old School, The Plundered Tomb plays on both floors.
  • Undead Army originally played inside Zemouregal's Fort, with The North (music track) instead being a track called Rest for the Weary that played during Tale of the Muspah.
  • Heavy Security was originally an unlisted music track.

• The addition of The Curse of Arrav to Old School RuneScape was first hinted at in the February 2022 Gielinor Gazette.
• The quest itself, as well as parts of Missing My Mummy, were speculated to be backported upon release of Defender of Varrock on 21 February 2024. This is due to a large majority of the assets for both quests having been added to the game alongside the quest, of which the inner section of the base and Zemouregal's Fort were both inaccessible but viewable in-game via oculus orb, as well as assets for the Uzer Mastaba (which could be viewed with datamining software).
• The Tale of the Muspah, Missing My Mummy, The Curse of Arrav and The Temple at Senntisten were originally intended to release as a single quest called Mysteries of the Mahjarrat, which would have been a multi-part special quest in the same vein as Recipe for Disaster. They were instead released throughout 2009 as a quest series. As a result, Missing My Mummy and The Curse of Arrav being combined into one quest in Old School brings things closer to the quest's original vision.
• During the quest, when talking about the defences in the base, the player character mentions that "It sounds like an impossible mission!". This is a reference to the Mission: Impossible film series.