A key. Hours down here in the Fractured Archives , navigating the halls that the world has long forgotten about, killing things that Guthix should have left for dead, and all I’ve found is a key. My allies have found their own treasures . Paired crossbows, a magical shield, a tool fit to break any that fall before it. And all I’ve found is a key. These Archives were for Guthix’s eyes alone . Has he not already hidden away this place from any who would find it? Is this place not hellish enough that any normal thief would fall before they could walk away with unearned treasure? And yet, I’ve found a key. Our failure led to the Stone of Jas being stolen by the Mahjarrat. It had sat there, untouched for thousands of years, already protected by its isolation, and secrecy, and Guthix’s own guardians. But the Stone of Jas was not protected by a lock, and I’ve found a key. I’ve found a door, tucked away in a corner of these Archives. There’s been plenty of these, down here, with monsters and magical ruins and other horrors lurking behind them. But no other door has been secured by such a titanic lock as this. And I have a key. Through the door, I find a chunk of land, as if it’s been ripped clean off the surface of the world. The very edges of the land have been scorched with the sheer violence of its removal, and yet the soil itself is rich, with grass growing under the cavern’s sunless sky. A building sits at the very centre of this chunk. It looks, for all the world, like a church. Hastily erected by human hands, with a layer of godly magic preserving all of it. Runes are etched on the walls, speaking of a God, marked with the symbol of a golden star. The runes proclaim this place to be the very first church to Saradomin. On an altar at the end of a room sits a book. It sits there, closed, waiting. From the darkness, a familiar shape emerges. A Balance Elemental, a creation of Guthix, looms over me. “ This place was taken from the world for its own good. ” It declares. “ The Edicts stand. The influence of the Gods must be kept in their place. A God War must never happen again. ” But the world is not in balance. Werewolves have crossed the Salve to steal humans for their vampyre masters. Cultists in Varlamore have been trying to bring about the apocalypse for their own gods. And the Mahjarrat now have the Stone of Jas, and with its power will break the world. The Balance Elemental thinks for a moment. “ You cannot take the book. It would bring Saradomin back into this world, and I cannot abide that. But Balance must be restored. For everything that you have told me… ” The Elemental gestures, and the book opens. “ You may read one page. ” I do so. It is one thing to believe in a god. To hold Piety in your heart for a being that so fully eclipses you, that you can only appreciate it in the abstract. Because how on earth could you take all that makes a god, and put it into words on a scroll? And how can you make a simple human understand that, constrained as they are? Mortals, as limited as we are, as small and frail as we are, shackled and restrained as we are. And now, I have the key. Hi there! I saw in the rewards that Zeal was proposed as an upgrade to Piety. I think that’s cool, and I’m down for it. I do think that Prayers, for all that they’re such an incredibly important part of this game mechanically, aren’t really…that big of a deal in the world itself? There’s a few quests that mention Protect from Missiles, and obviously you get Chivalry/Piety from the King Arthur questline, but it’s not even like you go to a fancy place beyond the top of the castle to beat up some knights. And then there’s CoX… Here’s my suggestion. The key itself is, effectively, the scroll. But the experience of actually unlocking Zeal should mean something. Why not have an actual room in the Archive you can go? Why not have this place be the very first church of Saradomin? I know the big thing about OSRS is that the gods will never return, but especially since in-story we’ve already reasonably seen things that could be a threat to those Edicts, and so why wouldn’t Guthix correct the balance by using the player instead? There’s a few bits of art here as well. I’m a significantly better writer than I am an artist, but I was struck in a mood to paint a couple of things. Only a few though, painting takes ages! I also have a proposal for the logo. One thing that almost bothers me with Prayers, and all the many high-level weapons/items, is that very few of them are actually Saradominist. Why wouldn’t the top-level prayer for melee have his symbol? Anyway hope you enjoyed my osrs fanfiction lmao. Also if you get the key on a pure then Guthix balances your character with 83 defense XP. submitted by /u/BattleParse
Originally posted by u/BattleParse on r/2007scape