Akthanakos

Camel-headedSkeletalFlashback

Akthanakos
Released								23 January 2006 (Update)
Members								Yes
Race								Mahjarrat
Quest								Enakhra's Lament Desert Treasure II
Location								Enakhra's Temple
Gender								Male
Options								Talk-to
Examine								He's been freed from the boneguard.
Map
Advanced data
NPC ID								3578,12313,12397
Link								MOID

Akthanakos is a Zarosian Mahjarrat and a sworn enemy of Enakhra. Due to the player's actions in the Enakhra's Lament quest, he is freed from Enakhra's control and chases her to The North. The Ugthanki are named after him.

Like the other Mahjarrat, Akthanakos was brought to Gielinor long ago by Icthlarin to fight against the Zarosian Empire, but switched sides, becoming a Tribune in the empire. When Zamorak conspired against Zaros and eventually succeeded in overthrowing him, Akthanakos sided with Zaros, while his rival Enakhra sided with Zamorak. At some point, he left Senntisten on an unauthorised mission, most likely heading to the Kharidian Desert.^[1]

In the desert, far from the sway of Zamorak, he grew particularly fond of the camels in the area; he tamed them and trained them to fight using an amulet of his own creation to speak to them. His fondness of his camels, which were named Ugthanki after him, also led him to occasionally appear with a camel's head similar to the deities of the Menaphite Pantheon, who also appeared as humanoids with different animal heads.^[2]

Some time after the betrayal of Zaros, Akthanakos was contacted by Enakhra, apparently repentant of her betrayal of the Empty Lord and wanting to switch sides.^[3] Meeting in her temple, Enakhra pretended to discuss this apparent change of heart, but Akthanakos soon discovered to his surprise that he had been deceived; Enakhra's supposed defection was but a ruse to lure her rival to the temple and entrap him there forever.^[4] To this end, Akthanakos was transformed into a Boneguard and enslaved by Enakhra, and would remain in this form for thousands of years, at the mercy of his rival.

Thousands of years after being imprisoned, freedom came to Akthanakos in the year 169 of the Fifth Age in the form of an adventurer. Enakhra's temple, and the Mahjarrat herself, had long since disappeared beneath the sands of the desert, yet there were still those who knew of its existence, such as the Zamorakian mage Lazim, who sought Enakhra and the knowledge she would no doubt have. To this end, he posed as a humble sculptor, and manipulated the adventurer into helping him build a statue, due to now being unable to do so himself. Upon completion of the statue however, the dune upon which it stood caved in, revealing the tunnels of the temple below. Lazim's true intentions revealed, the adventurer was then hired to explore the temple thoroughly, and in doing so, received odd visions about the temple's history, including Enakhra's entrapment of Akthanakos.

Eventually, after solving the temple's puzzles, the adventurer came across the final chamber, guarded by Akthanakos in his Boneguard form. After a brief encounter, Akthanakos beseeched the adventurer to free him from his incarceration by sealing Enakhra away behind the nearby wall. This allowed for Enakhra's hold over Akthanakos to break, and for the first time in millennia, assume his camel-headed form. Enakhra however would not be held, shattering the adventurer's hard work, but Akthanakos's request had been granted. The two rivals, now in a struggle again, transformed back into their skeletal forms and vowed to destroy one another, before both heading off to the North, where they would continue their fight.

They are currently locked in battle in the north whilst waiting for their ilk to gather.^[5]

When the same adventurer discovered and unlocked the Ancient Vault, Akthanakos and Azzanadra made their way there, where they also discovered their Zamorakian rivals. When they learned that Enakhra's plan failed, Akthanakos immediately mocked her. After Sliske's identity was revealed, he immediately got into a fight with his rival. Eventually, Sliske teleported the Elder Horn away, prompting Akthanakos to take his leave, telling Azzanadra that their allies needed to be informed of the new development.

• 
  Concept art of Akthanakos' graphical update, by Mod Grub.

23 January 2006– 26 July 2023	26 July 2023 – present

• Akthanakos' name might have been derived from the Greek word ἀθάνατος (athanatos), meaning "immortal" or "without death".