Little did I know there was a town locked down due to a suspected outbreak of a plague. Once I found out, however, I was not going to just stand by and do nothing at all. Even more so since someone who was kidnapped was also in the locked-down city.
This all started because a quest I needed to do ended to unlock another quest that had its prerequisite quest to run. Nothing like needing to do a quest just to do a quest so you could go do a quest. It’s just how it is sometimes.
Even more so when I went to go do the one quest to realize the person, I needed to talk with was not there. They had been kidnapped and I was not going to be allowed inside their house till things were resolved.
The person I was after was a healer. She ended up going into the locked-down city to try and help. It seems she snuck her way in as no one from the outside is permitted in. This also means I must be sneaky if I want to get inside the town and find her.
If the city has a nasty plague, I can’t just sneak in there without something to protect myself. It turns out I'm not the only one looking for her. Her parents, or at least the people I assume are her parents, are willing to help me not only find a way into the city itself. They are also willing to craft me a gas mask.
It seems they had most of what they needed to make the gas mask. I just needed to collect some dwellberries. They apply them to the mask as if that is supposed to protect the user in some way. I found this to be quite strange and I had some large doubts it did anything at all.
I decided instead of trying to explain how silly that sounded to just smear some berries on a gas mask and hope for the best. It would just be quicker to collect them in a nearby area and acquire the mask.
Besides, everyone inside of the city was suspected of wearing masks as well. So, it’s not like I'd make it very far without the actual mask. Which was the only thing I cared about getting so I could move to locate the person I needed.
After I got the berries, they were given a mask. I was told there was a way down into a tunnel in their garden to get into the city. It turns out the city sewers ran right under their plot of land. All I had to do was soften the ground and do some digging.
It seems those in charge of keeping the city on lockdown did not forget about the sewers. Thankfully with some rope and help, I was able to tear off the grate they added to block my way to the tunnel into the town itself.
After asking around a bit it became quite clear where the healer was last seen. The house she was supposed to be in had a marking to mean the plague was active inside and therefore no one was permitted to enter. Unless you have special permission.
If the townspeople were not so on edge, I'd have tried to just barge my way in. Since I'm trying to keep as low a profile as I can I have to go the long way about things. I needed to get permission from the local leaders to enter the house. That way those inside could not come up with further reasons to prevent my entry as well.
I certainly thought I'd be denied. It turns out those running things don’t want to go near any house that has been marked as having the plague. Even furthermore I added in my story about someone being kidnapped and possibly held there.
I was granted a warrant of sorts to enter the building. If anyone was to give me trouble, I'd just show it to them. I was not welcomed into the house but in the basement, I found the person I was looking for. She had been kidnapped.
I could now go talk to her myself and do the quest I needed to do called Biohazard. As it turns out, many suspected the whole plague thing was not even true. This, however, would require some research to be conducted. There would also be people along the way who did not want anyone disproving that an actual plague was going on, so I'd need to be on alert.
It turns out to even test the samples let alone have some others look at it and confirm things. The lady I saved needed some equipment that had been taken from her back. I needed to sneak back into the city again and acquire the equipment.
Just one massive issue. The sewer system I had used the first time around to break into the city had collapsed. It had become clear someone did not want me to get back in.
Thankfully the healer had been working with others within the town and they had a way to not only communicate but to get someone on the inside as well. This would require me to get some bird feed and pigeons to send out a message.
After my message was sent out, I was told where on the outside I could meet the group of people who could smuggle me into the city. They would toss a ladder over the wall for me to climb the wall on. Then remove it when it is not in use. I just needed to talk to the smugglers again to be allowed out or even come back inside the town another time if needed.
Once inside I assassinated the person who was holding the equipment I needed and safely made it back outside the city again. With no one that remains alive any wiser, I was even there in the first place.
After she ran the samples through some equipment there were still some questions. So, I needed to run the sample and some chemicals quite a distance away for someone else to look at them.
The only issue is the place was being watched by a guard. It was his job to stop anyone from entering with a sample of the plague or anything that could be used for researching it.
So, everything I needed to smuggle into the area the research was in needed to be broken down. I’d end up using a network of several other people to divide things up and every a few people smuggling things in. With the hopes that if someone got searched no one would question individual items getting brought in as they could have been used for any number of reasons.
Out of the group, everyone made it past the guard with no questions but me. I had the actual sample and it’s clear I did not hide it enough. I spent some time trying to explore around the area hoping to find some backdoor way in.
I did not have any luck. I had to return to the healer to get another sample. I would also discover. This time around I would also have to mask myself. I ended up picking up some priest clothing and that did the trick.
Once inside I gathered everything from the other smugglers and made my way to the researcher. Many people were shocked but not my me in discovering that there was no plague.
I rushed back to break the news. For my work in uncovering the plague was not real I was given full access to the town itself and even their combat training camp. Which I ended up going to and doing a little bit of experience grinding.
From the looks of things, this is not the end of what is going on in the city either. I however lack the proper skill levels and items to continue for some time. At the very least I managed to finish a quest I needed for something else.
Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Old School RuneScape
