Runestone Basalt
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| Runestone Basalt | |
|---|---|
| Secret messages have been discovered in Old School RuneScape. | |
| Type | Official |
| Creator | Jagex |
| Discovered | 2022-01-19 |
Main Page > List of Investigations > Runestone Basalt
This article uses material from the Runestone basalt article on the Oldschool RuneScape Wiki and is licensed under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 license.
This wiki page documents an ongoing puzzle hunt in Old School RuneScape, which started on 19th January 2022 during the Leagues III: Shattered Relics update.
Contents
Runestone Basalts
Runestone basalts with a card on top have been found scattered across the Shattered Relics League worlds. Upon interacting with these stones they displayed a message to the player saying "You reach for the card but it fades before you can grab it... as if pulled into another realm..." and opened up a cryptic image in the player's browser. After interacting with the basalt, the card disappears and further searches of the basalt now display a message saying "A faint warm glow can be felt where the card once was... I wonder where it went?".
Initial Message
Originally upon interacting with a runestone basalt it would link to one of three images, all with a triple spiral patterned design. The first image was just the plain triple spiral pattern image. The second image contained a hidden phrase in the background with the message keep watching keep waiting for the moment in and out of time. The third image similarly contained another hidden phrase that said keep watching keep waiting for the moment in and out of time. Three unique basalts have been discovered near the Lighthouse, Harmony Island, and Great Kourend. The basalts originally linked to these three images, but later were all updated to have a unique puzzle for their location.
Lighthouse Puzzle
The first runestone basalt was found near the Lighthouse, north of the Barbarian Outpost. Interacting with the basalt opened up a cryptic image in the player's browser. Hidden in the background of the image were the letters FHXSPLZLOUCUGS. The file name of the image is jato5xu7a4. Converting the numbers in the file name to letters (A=1, B=2, Z=26, etc), it becomes jatoexugad. Using this as a key in a Vigenere cipher with the string hidden in the image as the ciphertext, it decodes to WHEEL OF FORTUNE.
Harmony Island Puzzle
The second runestone basalt was found on Harmony Island, south of Mos Le'Harmless. Interacting with the basalt opened up a cryptic image in the player's browser. Hidden in the background of the image were the Chinese characters 暗輪鑰謎蠱籠間. By counting the amount of strokes in each character, and then converting the numbers to letters using the same technique as before, it produced the string MOYQWVL. Once again using this string as the ciphertext, and the file name thumbnaillarge as the key for the Vigenere cipher produced the phrase THE EVIL.
Great Kourend Puzzle
The third and currently final runestone basalt was found in Great Kourend, in the continent of Zeah. Interacting with the basalt opened up a cryptic image in the player's browser. Hidden throughout the image were seven dark cyan pixels. These pixels could be found in the image in the following X and Y coordinates (146, 85), (500, 100), (312, 301), (1271, 111), (1420, 500), (1122, 341), and (816, 522). Going from left to right, by adding all of the digits in the X and Y coordinates together, and once again converting these seven digits alphabetically from numbers to letters, produced the string XJFXNLN. The file's name 5c2s0xcwug could also be decoded using the same method (with '0' recursively becoming 'Z') to get the key ECBSZXCWUG. Finally, using the string hidden in the image as the ciphertext, and the converted file name as the key for the Vigenere cipher, produced the string THE FOOL.
Confirmation
After all of the Runestone basalt puzzles were solved by the community, the images found near the Lighthouse, Harmony Island, and Great Kourend, were updated to contain the decoded phrases. As show in the photos, players are currently on standby for further messages. Additionally, hidden in the background of these updated images is the message seriously just wait.
The Lighthouse
Harmony Island
Great Kourend
