Outpost

The Outpost is an old, now-derelict tower to the north of West Ardougne where Jorral can be found, and is involved heavily in the Making History quest, which centres around the tower. The Outpost, though now disused, played a very important role in the history of Kandarin and the Ardignas line of royalty.

The Outpost lies just off the north-west corner of West Ardougne, and can be reached in a variety of ways.

Note: Many of the fast transport methods require the start or completion of various quests before they can be used.

• Necklace of passage
• Tree Gnome Stronghold locations:
  • Spirit tree
  • Balloon transport system
  • Gnome glider
  • Stronghold Slayer Cave teleport on the Slayer ring
• Games necklace to Barbarian Outpost, take the level 37 Agility shortcut
• Teleports to the Ardougne area. From East Ardougne, players must walk north-west to exit the city and then west to the Outpost.
  • Ardougne Teleport.
  • Spirit tree to the Battlefield of Khazard.
• Eagle transport system to Eagles' Peak, then climbing down the eastern side of the mountain.
• Fairy ring AKQ to the Piscatoris Hunter area, then walking east to use Kathy Corkat's rowboat to the southern part of the hunter area.

Established in the year 30 of the Fifth Age,^[1] the Outpost was constructed to serve simple watchtower to guard the city of Ardougne from invading armies.^[2]

It was not until year 95 of the Fifth Age that the Outpost was put to important use. 65 years after its construction, a group of followers of Zamorak, a religion which was becoming popular in Kandarin, moved into the Outpost and began to cause trouble around Ardougne, in the period now known as "The Dreaded Years of Tragedy" in history books, in which the Zamorakians carried out various mischief such as turning all the children in Ardougne invisible and letting them cause chaos. Three years later, Saradominists launched a crusade to defeat the Zamorakians.^[3]

After several years of chaos in Ardougne, the authorities there called for help, and an army of Saradominists, led by the former friend of the Zamorakian leader, met with the Zamorakians and fought what later became known as The Great Battle, a battle which led to the deaths of everyone present, with the exception of the two leaders, the Saradominist and the Zamorakian, both being the most powerful mages.^[4] After seeing all the bloodshed they had caused, the two put aside their differences and both converted to Guthixianism, following the teaches of the god of balance, Guthix. Later the two set about helping the steadily growing city of Ardougne, one of the two becoming the King, who ruled fairly and leniently.^[5][6]

The King that rose from the inconclusive Great Battle was the first in the line of Ardignas. While his name is not recorded, he is father of King Narras, grand-father of King Ulthas, and great-grandfather of King Lathas and King Tyras, who still rule Ardougne, which has now been split into two parts, East and West.

In Making History, the player encounters a few figures involved with the outpost. A couple surviving descendants of a man who died there reside in East Ardougne: Erin the Silver Merchant and his mother, though neither know much at all about him or his involvement in the conflict except that the enchanted key Erin possessed belonged to him, which he will pass on to the player. There is also the ghost Droalak in Port Phasmatys who left for the outpost (for reasons unspecified), but is reluctant to talk about the experience except that he died there. He possesses knowledge of key events concerning the outpost and writes their dates on the scroll that he hands off to the player in Making History. He also presumably knows of Jorral as he names him without the player having done so.

Following the completion of the Making History quest, the Outpost is the location of a small Museum, which houses several oddities and artefacts as well as several books on the History of the Outpost itself, the modern-day history of Ardougne and the Ardignas line, and a book on "The Mysterious Adventurer", which is a tale told about the player themselves.

Several important items are exhibited in large displays in the ground floor^[UK]1^st floor^[US] and 1^st floor^[UK]2^nd floor^[US] of the outpost, consisting of a helmet supposedly worn by Wally, a hero in the history of Varrock who slew the demon Delrith with the sword Silverlight, a battleaxe wielded by Arrav before his quest to find a magical shield to save Avarrocka from Zemouregal, a Mahjarrat, and last walking boots which were worn by Randas, a famous explorer who was known to have braved the Underground Pass only to be corrupted by Zamorak and turned into a Soulless.

There is also a large, wooden shield in a glass case akin to those used by the Fremennik, nomadic people who are the closest link to the Fourth Age there currently is, and an Iron mace which serves as an early example of smithing weaponry, and two flags: one bearing the Star of Saradomin, and the other the symbol of Zamorak. On the roof of the outpost there lies a dilapidated and rotten catapult.

• Jorral, a historian whose plight is to save the historically important Outpost from being torn down by Lathas. He begins the Making History quest.
• The Outpost is surrounded by several creatures and monsters which could pose a danger to lower-levelled players, such as grizzly bears, wolves, and hobgoblins. Also, further north, close to the Tree Gnome Stronghold, there are groups of gnomes and warriors dotted around the forest.

One quest can be started in the Outpost, one of which is heavily centred around the building.

• Making History, in which the player pieces together the history of the Outpost to save it from being demolished and turns it into a museum.
• If Making History is completed before initiating the quest Tower of Life, it is revealed by Effigy that the Outpost was supposed to be their new alchemy lab. Unfortunately (due to a pesky adventurer) the plan was spoiled when the Outpost became a museum.

• The large display on the ground floor^[UK]1^st floor^[US] of the Outpost states the battleaxe on display was wielded by Arrav, who supposedly left it behind by accident before going to find the legendary shield. However, Arrav can be seen wielding his axe when encountered during Defender of Varrock and The Curse of Arrav. Due to the differences in the designs of each axe (with the one Arrav wielding notably having three blue stripes on its handle), it is possible the axe in possession of the Outpost is a fake.
• The large display on the 1^st floor^[UK]2^nd floor^[US] of the Outpost incorrectly states that the battle occurred 68 years after the start of the Fifth Age rather than 68 years after the construction of the Outpost.