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As a lore nut, I recently started playing Old School and noticed they're building a story of their own. In the far off continent of Zeah, there was once a king: King Shayzien VII. As you play through the novice quest series themed after the five houses, you learn that king returned from the dead as none other than the evil wizard Xeric, who created the lizardmen as servants, tried to subjugate all of Great Kourend, and worst of all, is probably still out there somewhere due to creating a new font of dark magic to exploit for immortality.



...But that's about where it leaves off. The rest delves into speculation based on the pieces scattered around the continent. Mainly:

the contents of the completed Kharedst's Memoirs https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Kharedst%27s_memoirs

the Ancient Letter https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Ancient_letter

the mysterious voice that calls out from Xeric's new copycat altar https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Mysterious_Voice

the Shayzien crypts, with one intact crypt belonging to Camorra Shayzien, right next to one broken one with Xeric's logo on it. Headcanon Haven, where everything is made up and the points don't matter.
OSRS Lore: Xeric
Slepe Tight - Slepe Lore

27-Jan-2019 00:04:02

27-Jan-2019 00:04:11 - Last edited on 26-Mar-2019 00:09:14 by Lego Miester

27-Jan-2019 00:25:30

09-Feb-2019 23:58:36

Second Theory Redux: The Mysterious Voice was potentially Xamphur's wife (debunked), who is mentioned in the memoirs to have died, which would mean he created the unstable altar. Perhaps he managed to cheat death, and actually resurrected Xeric. That would certainly explain the exploded, empty tomb! This Xamphur character is increasingly looking like a formidable threat, especially after someone let me know you could use a knife on the memoirs for a hidden final page. Though it leaves an ominous question: who's grave is this?



The "strange energy" around it would make me think Xamphur, but he also gave his daughter that weird locket. Hmm...

Re-reading the memoirs, I think I can fully confirm that the wizard mentioned who first harnessed the Dark Altar was Xeric, and that knowledge was leaked to the Arcaeus house later.

Currently using the memoirs on various key characters looking for hidden dialogue. Interesting stuff so far.

The Old Dwarf for example mentions he had a panflute, a dirty book, and a charred skull stolen from him. The same dwarf that had dialogue for me using this dirty old book on him. That would make the panflute the golden one, so then who's skull did he have?! I'd keep an eye on this guy. I get the feeling he's important to this whole Xamphur business, between that and him making Rose's dark locket. What could it all mean?

A strange contradiction I found was one of the people I used the book on said Rose's mother died in childbirth, but Rose writes that her father has been acting strange "since mother died, I suppose." I think this lends to my theory that she was sacrificed and false information was thrown around. (or even implanted, these people have shown that kind of power with Veos) (debunked)



You said it, me. I'm still hoping I can get some help untangling this fascinating web. Headcanon Haven, where everything is made up and the points don't matter.
OSRS Lore: Xeric
Slepe Tight - Slepe Lore

23-Feb-2019 02:01:56 - Last edited on 31-Mar-2019 21:03:25 by Lego Miester

Of minor note, in Dragon Slayer 2, you get to see a flashback of Camorra Shayzien, putting the final nail in the coffin of my original second theory, as her chathead looks nothing like the spirit in the altar.





An OSRS questpoint cape and yet I still fall short of this mystery. Whether there's more hidden lore strewn about Kourend or this has to wait for a future content update remains to be seen, but I for one (and apparently only one!) am fascinated to see where it's headed.

edit: Wait a second. Why are there two mysterious altars with chains on them in that picture?

SECOND THEORY TRIDUX: WE'VE FOUND RICKARD! Or rather, the OSRS wiki did and I managed to find out how they knew it. Behold, the Armed Forces Report in the Arceuus Library! Penned by a one Lord Rickard Shayzien , at the time of the rule of King Hosidus V, AKA just before Xeric's shenanigans.



The woman can't be Rose and the captor Xamphur, then. They existed hundreds of years later. [debunked] The woman, then, must be Rickard Shayzien's wife, with Rickard chained up on an altar beside her. She's not pleading to her captor at all, she's pleading to her husband to turn away in fear instead of watching the horrors unfold on his wife. Xeric killed them both to fuel his Unstable Altar. [/debunked]

Let's look at that timeline again:



So we know from the Royal Accord of Twill that the lord of the house becomes the next king when they take turns. https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Royal_accord_of_twill If the military commander Lord Rickard Shayzien IS the very same Shayzien member who then becomes king after Hosidius...

Second theory Quadrux: Rickard IS Xeric!!!

And the unfortunate couple chained down, who happen to know him by first name? That'd be King and Queen Hosidius V, of course. Headcanon Haven, where everything is made up and the points don't matter.
OSRS Lore: Xeric
Slepe Tight - Slepe Lore

25-Mar-2019 23:52:20 - Last edited on 26-Mar-2019 01:19:35 by Lego Miester

So, holy crap, that needs a TL;DR:

Lord Rickard Shayzien, leader of Shayzien House, sacrificed King and Queen Hosidius V, to create the Unstable Altar. This caused him to be the next house in line for the cyclical throne, becoming King Shayzien VII. He sacrificed many others in twisted experiments below Mount Quidamortem using strange crystals imbued with necromantic magic. He would eventually fall, only to come back as Xeric the evil wizard, who terrorized all of Kourend with his lizardmen army. He would eventually fall at the hands of Byrne, who replaced him as king.

At some time in between here, the Arceuus House learned how to harness the same crystals as Xeric to abandon their mortal bodies and take on the form we know today.

Fast forward a while and you have King Kharedst IV, who appears to have brought Xeric back from the dead and taken on the name "Xamphur". The state of himself and his daughter Rose are still a mystery.

And that, at long last, is the origin story of Xeric. MYSTERY SOLVED.

Headcanon Haven, where everything is made up and the points don't matter.
OSRS Lore: Xeric
Slepe Tight - Slepe Lore

26-Mar-2019 00:33:02 - Last edited on 26-Mar-2019 00:37:10 by Lego Miester

Bonus theory I just thought of: Remember the mysterious skull held by the dwarf? I believe it is none other than Xeric's Ensouled Head. The whole shtick of the Necromancy spellbook that the Arceuus teach you is that you can take a head which has the soul trapped in it, add some magic, and resurrect them. In most cases, to kill for prayer xp. In this case, for an ancient evil to reawaken and terrorize the land of Zeah once more. Tomato tomahto.

This doesn't change the above theory, only build on exactly how I think Xamphur did it: Procuring the Ensouled Head (charred skull) from the dwarf, returning the skull to its body in the Shayzien Crypts (as anyone who's done Restless Ghost would tell you is the right thing to do!) and enacting a dark ritual, causing the coffin to explode and Xeric to rise once again!

Headcanon Haven, where everything is made up and the points don't matter.
OSRS Lore: Xeric
Slepe Tight - Slepe Lore

26-Mar-2019 00:52:55 - Last edited on 26-Mar-2019 01:42:12 by Lego Miester

26-Mar-2019 17:47:12