The Ape City Quest

Legend

The renowned Merlkin Hairycles is trying to find true friends amongst the humans. To prove that you can be one of those friends, you must help the apes.

Location

Various; begins in Tiquanda

Dangers

Dworcs, Apes, Lizards, Spit Nettles, Skeletons, Ghouls, Fire Devil, Scarabs, Carniphilas, Gargoyles, Stone Golems, Bonelords, Green Djinns, Crypt Shamblers, Demon Skeletons, Elder Bonelords, Efreets, Bonebeasts, Giant Spiders, Serpent Spawns, Hydras, Behemoths, etc.

Reward

Possibility of being healed by Hairycles, ability to buy Bananas, Monkey Statue (No Hearing), Monkey Statue (No Seeing) and Monkey Statue (No Speaking), Shaman Outfits and permission to go to Forbidden Lands and Deeper Banuta.

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Required Equipment

Shovel, or equivalent
Rope, or equivalent
Cough Syrup (recommended to purchase in advance)
Hydra Egg (recommended to purchase in advance)
Key 3940
Crowbar
Melee weapon (for breaking Amphoras, the crowbar also works)
Dwarven Ring (1 recommended for all team members for last mission)
A lot of traveling money.

Method

To begin the quest, you must first go to Hairycles' temple in south-eastern Banuta (here). On the way there you will meet Carniphilas and other usual Tiquanda monsters, as well as many Apes of all kinds. On the first floor above ground of the temple you will find Hairycles, the main NPC of the quest, who is willing to entrust players in such dire times.

Mission 1: Whisper Moss

Ask Hairycles for a mission. He will tell you about a plague affecting the ape people. He wants for you to infiltrate the Dworc Caves and steal some Whisper Moss which is said to be a cure.

In Trapwood, the southern part of Tiquanda, fall down the south-easternmost Pitfall leading to the Dworc Caves (here). Use a melee weapon on the damaged Wooden Bars. If you picked another pitfall you will have to make your way to the correct room. In the eastern part of this room there is a sealed door. Go in and open the box inside it to obtain Whisper Moss.

Bring it to Hairycles and report about your mission.

Mission 2: The Cure

Hairycles now needs Cough Syrup that humans use. Hairycles will send you to the local barkeeper Brewster, but Brewster would send you to Ustan who would explain that his cough syrup supply was stolen in an ape raid. Ultimately, you would be sent to Carlin to buy it from the local druid there, Padreia. To buy it, ask Padreia for cough syrup. It will cost you 50gp. You can buy this in advance to save a trip to and from Banuta or accept syrup from another player, you don't need to purchase it yourself.

Bring the Cough Syrup to Hairycles to complete the mission.

Mission 3: Lizard Parchment

Hairycles thinks the plague is the work of the Lizards. Hairycles wants you to collect an Old Parchment from the lizard city of Chor. When you are ready, enter Chor from the south-western log (here) and go south, cross the bridge and then turn east. You should find a building with a sealed door on the eastern side of it. Go in the door and open the box in it to get the Old Parchment.

Note: Prepare your team because there are a lot of lizards in Chor. It might help to bring a mage with Great Fireball because of their numbers. Kill the Lizard Snakecharmer first because their summoned Cobras can be annoying. You can use a Stealth Ring for the Lizard Templars, but the other two lizards will see through it. Templars are the only monsters that will try to surround you, so it can help get out of a sticky situation.

Bring the Old Parchment back to Hairycles and report about your mission.

Mission 4: Parchment Decyphering

Hairycles cannot read the scroll. He needs you to find a way to decipher it.

Go to Ankrahmun and leave the city from the north-east exit. Follow the town walls south-east and dig for the Shadow Tomb (here). Go down into the tomb to the second main floor, the floor with the blue flame (not through it). Go south from the ramp and east all the way to the end, to find an Obelisk and 4 Red Shrine Stones. Step close to the obelisk to decipher the scroll. The text !-! -O- I_I (/( --I Morgathla will appear above your head.

In the tomb you will encounter Skeletons, scarabs, Ghouls, Crypt Shamblers and 1 Fire Devil. There might also be lured Stalkers, Ghosts, Vampires and Mummys.

When you have deciphered the scroll, report back to Hairycles about your mission.

Note: You don't need to carry the scroll with you to decipher it.

Mission 5: Hydra Egg

Hairycles needs a Hydra Egg to prepare his charm. Your mission is to bring him one.

You can bring him any Hydra Egg. It is suggested to simply buy one from the market because they are common loot from Hydras. If that is not possible, you can loot one yourself or receive it from the Hydra's Nest, on the Hydra Egg Quest (here). You can expect to fight one or multiple Hydras in either case if purchasing the egg is not possible.

Bring a Hydra Egg to Hairycles to complete this mission.

Mission 6: Witches' Cap Spot

Hairycles needs a sample of the Witches' Cap Spot for his Charm of Life. This can only be found in the Fibula Dungeon, the Bonelord section.

You will need Key 3940. Bring it if you have it. If you don't, you will need 800 gp (Simon the Beggar) or 2,000 gp (Dermot) to purchase it.

Go to Fibula which is through a tunnel far south of Thais, here. Purchase Key 3940 if you need to, and then use the Draw Well in the middle of the small town to enter the Fibula Dungeon. Follow the path south, east and then north to cross a bridge and find the door to use the key, if it's locked. Open the door and go in and down the stairs inside. Go directly south through the door and down one of the two ladders at the end of the passage. There are several Bonelords here. Keep going south until the end and then turn west until you hit a wall. You should see a sealed door. Go in the door and use the Witches' Cap Spot to obtain a sample of it.

Bring the sample back to Hairycles and report about your mission. You are now a friend of the apes and can purchase Bananas for 2gp. Hairycles will also heal you if you are low in health.

The Witches' Cap Spot will last 24 hours (as of 10.63). If you lose your Witches' Cap Spot you can obtain another one 24 hours after you obtained it.

Mission 7: Destroying Casks

Hairycles wants you to destroy the Small Casks below the city left by the Lizard ancestors so that the Apes cannot drink from them.

In order to destroy the small casks you will need a Crowbar . From Hairycles, go down twice to enter the basement. Go north and follow the corridor to a large room full of Apes. Turn west and go down the stairs at the end of the hall. Now go east, north, west and north again. Ignore the first chance to turn east but take the second. Follow the passage and you will reach a large room with lots of Apes and 7 Casks on the east side. Enter each door and destroy the casks until you are done.

You need to destroy 3 casks per person; if you are in a large group you may need to wait for them to respawn (3–5 minutes?).

Note: There are lots of Apes underground. If you are a mage it is recommended to bring Avalanche Runes to deal with them.

Mission 8: Evidence of Holy Ape

Hairycles aims to strengthen the spirit of the apes. He wants for you to find evidence of the holy ape figure Bong existing within the Forbidden Lands.

Save for the last mission, this is the hardest part of the quest. East of Banuta you will find The Blind Prophet (here). Ask the Blind Prophet to transport you to the Forbidden Lands. The Forbidden Lands contain a lot of massive monsters, like Behemoths, Hydras, Giant Spiders and Massive Earth Elementals. Expect to face 2-3 Behemoths, 2-4 Giant Spiders, many Massive Earth Elementals and other Tiquanda monsters, like Carniphilas and Spit Nettles. Hydras spawn on the north-east side of the Forbidden Lands, it is unlikely that you will encounter them.

From the ramp at Forbidden Lands, go all the way west, staying close to the southern Palisade to avoid most of the monsters. If you stick south you should be able to avoid the Behemoth on the surface by the ramp to Forbidden Lands. When you reach the corner, turn north and continue following the path until you find a hole. You will most likely encounter a Behemoth as you walk north. The hole leads to the Forbidden Lands Hydra Cave. Go north-east of the hole and you should find two Giant Footprints (here). Use the north-western tile of the left footprint to obtain the Giant Ape's Hair.

Now go back to Hairycles and report about your mission. If you lose your Giant Ape's Hair you can purchase it from Black Bert. Note, however, that you must have obtained it once in order to turn it in.

Mission 9: The Deepest Catacombs

Note: Remember to bring your Snake Destroyer. If you forget the snake destroyer, you cannot complete the quest and will have wasted a lot of time on this mission.

Note: Remember to bring any melee weapon for breaking amphoras, Snake Destroyer cannot be used for that.

Note: It is recommended to bring Egg of The Many in order to unlock a secret tunnel from Tiquanda to Deeper Banuta. This egg is used on a snake head directly east of the teleporter once inside Deeper Banuta.

Hairycles wants you to go deep under Banuta and find the Lizards' serpent god monument and destroy it. On accepting this mission you will receive a Snake Destroyer (you will need this) and gain entry to Deeper Banuta.

Go here and enter the Magic Forcefield to appear at the first floor of Deeper Banuta. Here you will encounter Green Djinns and Efreets, Bonelords and Elder Bonelords, among minor monsters. You must go further down, but in order to do so you must open the teleporter on this floor. There are 4 Canopic Jars that must be broken in order to open the teleporter. The jars will recover after a certain period so you must be fast.

The best way is to send the group to the teleporter in the center and have one person run and destroy the jars. There is plenty of time to do that if the jar breaker ignores all the monsters. A second player breaking the jars will make it even quicker, one player working on the south side and the other on the north side.

When the jars are broken, everyone in the group should jump in the Magic Forcefield in the center of the floor. When you arrive at the lower floor, you may immediately be chased by a Serpent Spawn.

Legend

Suggested route
Levers to pull (7x)
Monument to destroy

Now you are at the quest floor. This floor is significantly harder than the floor above. On this floor there are Bonebeasts, Hydras, Serpent Spawns and Medusae. You must find and destroy The Statue of the Snake God, which is in the northern room. However, the room is sealed and can only be accessed if you open the wall.

Throughout the floor there are 7 levers. All of these 7 must be pulled to the right. The order in which they are pulled does not matter except the last one. The last lever to pull is by the wall that will be removed. You have a limited amount of time to pull the levers.

The quickest strategy is to have a high level (200+ recommended) run the levers, ignoring the monsters. This can be dangerous for lower leveled players, mostly due to the constant Paralysis from Hydras. Another strategy is to have 2 people pulling the levers, splitting the floor in half, both starting on the south-west side and working in opposite directions.

When all the levers are pulled, the wall will disappear. Go through the hole in the wall and find The Statue of the Snake God north. There are no creatures in this room. Use your Snake Destroyer on the statue to complete your mission. It takes 40 seconds for the Smashed Stone Head to repair itself.

While in this room, you have the opportunity to receive Damaged Steel Helmet (north) for the Knight Outfits Quest, if you have the quest to do so. You can also see the level 999 Door of Expertise (east).

When your team is done, you can leave the floor by stepping back through the portal at the start. If the wall returns and you are inside it, you can use the lever by the wall to open it again and leave. When you enter the portal at the start of the floor, you will appear at the second floor of Banuta, with Apes, not the last floor you came from.

Report back to Hairycles about your mission and then ask for shamanic powers to receive your Shaman Outfit. Now you can also buy three Monkey Statues (No Hearing, No Seeing, and No Speaking) in Furniture Kits to unpack in your house.