Between a Rock...
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| Between a Rock... (#74) | ||||
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| Released | 21 March 2005 (Update) | |||
| Members | Yes | |||
| Quest series | None | |||
| Lead developer(s) | Vincent Van M | |||
Between a Rock... is a quest about helping the old dwarf Dondakan, who is trying to access a legendary gold mine south of Keldagrim, but is unable to penetrate inside.
Details[edit | edit source]
| Start point |  Speak to Dondakan the Dwarf at the Keldagrim south-west mine. Show on map |
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| Official difficulty | Experienced |
| Official length | Medium |
| Description | Hidden away from the fearsome trolls and the roaming Fremennik, the dwarves delve deep beneath the mountains in search for the ore they need to support their home of Keldagrim. One dwarf in particular, however, has for years been trying to crack open a rock that seems to be impervious to any material that he's tried on it. Convinced that solving the riddle of the rock will lead him to unimaginable wealth, he has spent the later part of his life on just this lump of stone. Help him out, but take care you don't end up in a tight spot! |
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Walkthrough[edit | edit source]
Don's rock[edit | edit source]
Start the quest by going to the Keldagrim mines (fairy ring code DKS), which can be found north-east of Rellekka (you can use the enchanted lyre for easy access, or, if your house is in Rellekka, you can also teleport there). Once you've entered the cave, there will be a crack between two dwarf statues directly across from you, which you should enter. From there, talk to the Dwarven Ferryman (not the boatman) for a ride across the river, which will cost 2 coins or be free if you have a ring of charos (a) equipped. If you instead take the minecart from the Grand Exchange, go north-west from the carts to the Dwarven Boatman and take the boat (free) to reach the Ferryman at the entrance. (Alternatively, if you have access to Blast Furnace or have completed Ratcatchers, you can use the Grouping interface.) After crossing the river via the Ferryman, the quest can be started to your north.
Go east and around the rock wall until you reach and cross the bridge west of you that leads to Dondakan's Rock. Speak to Dondakan to begin the quest. The necessary conversation options to do so are as follows:
- "Why are you firing a cannon at a wall?"
- "So why were you trying to get through the rock again?"
- "Sounds interesting!"
Dondakan will then ask you to get further information about the rock and tell you to talk to the Librarian. Return to the other side of the river, paying 2 coins again or crossing for free with the ring. This time, speak with the Boatman to be taken to Keldagrim. If you have not started The Giant Dwarf, you will be presented with a small cutscene introducing the area. You will then be taken by guards, giving you the option to start The Giant Dwarf.
You can talk to the Librarian on the Western side of Keldagrim, but it won't do much other than specifying who to speak with. Instead, go into the western part of the Trading Consortium. Look for the area with an anvil on the minimap in the palace and speak with the engineer inside of the room it's located in. This is located within the large building not the anvil which is further west.
You will be told to speak with Rolad located in the eastern building at the Dwarven Mine entrance camp next to Ice Mountain. To get there, either teleport to Falador or the Monastery and walk the distance, use Ancient Magics to teleport to Lassar, or take the mine carts located in the south-eastern portion of Keldagrim for 150 coins (75 coins if you have the ring of charos (a)). If you took the carts, head south, east, then north and exit the mine.
Rolad is inside the eastern house at the camp. He will ask you to find the pages from a book giving you information about the rock.
- Note: Make sure to fully complete the dialogue otherwise the pages won't appear.
Between the pages[edit | edit source]
All three pages can be obtained in the Dwarven Mine in any order. Note that the pages may require multiple attempts to be obtained:
- The first page can be found by killing scorpions in the south-eastern area of the mines. (Try switching worlds if killing a scorpion doesn't give you page 1)
- Tip: Squeeze through the narrow crevice (level 42 Agility) to complete a medium Falador diary task when returning to Rolad from the SE area of the mine.
- The second page is found when searching a particular mine cart. There are several along the rail tracks.
- The third page is found by mining clay, copper, tin, or iron rocks inside the mine.
Return to Rolad when you have found all three pages, and he will give you the Dwarven lore. When you have the choice, you can answer "Of course," or lie to him and keep it. Read the book, and keep it for later.
If you need a cannonball mould, purchase it from Nulodion in the western house next door to Rolad.
Head back to Dondakan using one of the methods first used to reach him and speak with him until you get a short cutscene where he kicks the rock to no avail. He then tells you that he wants a material that is stronger than runite and granite. This is where your gold bars come in handy. Show him your gold bar by using it on him.
- Note: You can also show him a gold ore instead. If you have forgotten to bring one, there is a gold vein in the cave south of Dondakan's.
Go to any furnace with a gold bar (you only need one cannonball, the other three bars are for the helmet later; if you want a trophy cannonball in your bank, do not make multiple cannonballs at once with the drop trick since your character can only carry one at a time, the only way to carry more than one gold cannonball is to telegrab the cannonballs you dropped one by one.) and your cannonball ammo mould, and make a golden cannonball. The closest furnace on foot is the one in Rellekka, which you can use if you have completed The Fremennik Trials. However, it's much quicker to teleport. You can also find a furnace at Zanaris. Another option is to take the fairy ring to Edgeville, or head back to the mine carts in South-east Keldagrim and take Cart 3 to the Grand Exchange; then, use the furnace in Edgeville by using the shortcut from the Grand Exchange to Edgeville (21 Agility required). You can also use an amulet of glory to reach Edgeville, and take any above given option to return to Dondakan. Teleport to Falador also puts you a few steps from a furnace.
When you are finished, give (by using it on him) the cannonball to Dondakan. When he fires it, the cannonball will disappear through the wall. He will then ask to fire you through the wall, but he needs the schematics in order to change the cannon to be able to fire a human. You will also need to make yourself a gold helmet (requires 50 Smithing) if you don't want your head to explode when you hit the wall.
- Tip: Smithing a golden helmet in the Resource Area is a medium Wilderness Diary task.
Breakthrough design[edit | edit source]
There are a set of four (4) schematics:
- The first schematic is given to you by Dondakan.
- The second one is given by the engineer you spoke to earlier back in Keldagrim, by the anvil in the western palace bottom floor. You can make your golden helmet while you're here; use your gold bars on an anvil. (Don't forget your hammer!) (If you do make it here, you may want to bank it before you get the other pages, as it is very heavy and will bring your run energy down very fast while running around for the other schematics.)
- Read to the last page of the Dwarven lore book, and you will find another schematic page.
- Teleport to Camelot, head east, and enter the shortcut that goes under White Wolf Mountain, or go back to Keldagrim via the mine cart, and this time, take the mine cart to White Wolf Mountain (this ride costs 100 coins for one trip). (Or use a games necklace and walk south a bit and down a ladder ) Go to the small bar area, and speak with Khorvak. He will ask for a dwarven stout. You can take one off the table and give it to him, or refuse and enjoy a funny piece of dialogue about RuneScape and alcoholics. Either way, you will receive the final schematic.
Once you have all schematics, click 'assemble' on the one Dondakan gave you. You will be shown all schematics, but they will not make any sense. What you must do here is move the schematics one by one so that they fit with the original schematic. Select and show one at a time, rotate and move them to fit. It may be easiest to use the human stick figure legs, torso, and head to position each of the pieces correctly. This part should be quite simple. Be aware that even if you move the pieces in the correct relative position, you might need to select them all and move them together to the correct position on the screen. Once you put them all in place, the screen will show: "That's it! It all makes sense now! If you were a dwarf, that is...".
Travel back to Keldagrim, bank, get combat gear, a pickaxe, and if needed, go back to the engineer in the Trading Consortium so that you can make your helmet by using your remaining (3) gold bars on the anvil if you haven't made it already.
Equip the golden helmet; make sure you have a pick because any gold ore in your inventory will disappear. Go back to Dondakan with the schematics and the items needed to kill the level 75-125 enemy. Once you are ready, ask Dondakan to shoot you into the rock.
Riddle of the rock[edit | edit source]
To fight the Arzinian Being of Bordanzan, you will need to mine at least six (6) gold ore. Otherwise, it will keep regenerating its hitpoints. Mining 15 pieces of gold is highly recommended as this will lower the combat level of the boss from 125 to 75. The gold must remain in your inventory. You only have eight (8) minutes to mine the gold and defeat the avatar; if you take off your gold helmet, you will be teleported back to Dondakan.
- Note: Mining a gold rock here will grant you the achievement for the Medium Fremennik Diary. You will not need to revisit the mine after the quest.
When you feel you have enough gold ore, go to the centre of the area, where you will find a set of flames. Go through the first set of flames and talk to the second set. While talking to the flames, the Arzinian Avatar will attack.
The avatar will appear in one of three forms for the duration of the fight. The form chosen is usually based on your highest combat stat, though there is additionally a small chance to instead pick another form. The form that appears will determine the attack style of the boss:
- Arzinian Avatar of Magic if your highest combat stat is Strength or Attack.
- Arzinian Avatar of Ranging if your highest combat stat is Magic.
- Arzinian Avatar of Strength if your highest combat stat is Ranged.
Choose combat equipment and prayers accordingly. See Arzinian Avatar for more details.
You can use Prayer for an easy fight; the spirit shouldn't take too long to kill. If you are close to dying, you can take your gold helmet off, which will teleport you outside of the rock, next to Dondakan.
When you have defeated the spirit, you will be teleported back out of the rock. Speak to Dondakan to finish the quest.
Note: If your inventory was full when defeating the boss the helmet will be dropped on the ground, take it before speaking with Dondakan or else it will disappear.
Tip: If you plan on obtaining the Music cape, re-enter the mine to unlock the song In Between.
Rewards[edit | edit source]
- 2
Quest points 
5,000 Defence experience
5,000 Mining experience
5,000 Smithing experience- A rune pickaxe
- The ability to teleport to Dondakan's rock using a ring of wealth
- You get to keep your gold helmet and can continue using it to fire yourself into the rock to access the Arzinian Mine where there are lots of gold rocks and gold veins, and a nearby dwarf, at the river, banks the player's gold ore for a charge (he keeps 20% of the ores, rounded up, or 10% of the ores if the player has the ring of charos (a)).
Required for completing[edit | edit source]
Completion of Between a Rock... is required for the following:
- Medium Wilderness Diary (partial completion required)
- Medium Fremennik Diary (partial completion required)
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- If the 'perfect' gold bar from the quest Family Crest is offered to Dondakan to make cannonballs from, he will tell players "Perfect gold? That's much too valuable to be used to make cannonballs!"
- After the quest, you may attempt to make an offer to buy Dondakan's Granite boots, but no matter how much you offer, he will never sell them.
- You can easily see 3 rooms used for Temple Knight initiation in Recruitment Drive from where you enter the rock.
- You have an option to respond to Dondakan when you are ready to be fired through the wall with "you may fire when ready!" which is a Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope reference.
- The part of the quest where the player gets launched with a rocket to the fight might be a reference to the 1902 adventure film A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès.
- As of 23 May 2024, if Dondakan's cannon has been firing at the wall every 4 game-ticks since the quest released, he has spent approximately 46,135,764,000 on cannonballs.
- Between a Rock... was released months before Keldagrim was opened to players. Prior to the city's unveiling, the Dwarven Engineer could be found in the Dwarven Mine below White Wolf Mountain.
- The name of the quest is a reference to the saying "between a rock and a hard place", which means "faced with two equally undesirable alternatives".
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