Scorpion Catcher

This quest has a quick guide.

It briefly summarises the steps needed to complete the quest.

Scorpion Catcher (#23)
Released		25 March 2002 (Update)
Members		Yes
Quest series		None
Lead developer(s)		Paul Gower

Scorpion Catcher is a quest in which Thormac, a wizard in the Sorcerer's Tower, has lost three of his scorpions. He tasks you with finding them for him.

Details

Start point	Speak to Thormac at the top floor of the Sorcerer's Tower, south-east of the Ranging Guild. <maplink group="pins" align="center" text="<b>Show on map</b>" plane="3" y="3407" x="2701" zoom="2" mapID="-1"> {"features":[{"type":"Feature","geometry":{"coordinates":[2701.5,3405.5],"type":"Point"},"properties":{"mapID":"-1","providerID":0,"description":" X/Y: 2701,3405 ","group":"pins","icon":"greenPin","plane":"3","title":"Start point"}}],"type":"FeatureCollection"} </maplink>
Official difficulty	Intermediate
Official length	Short
Description	Thormac the Sorcerer has a hobby involving scorpions. Unfortunately, three of them have escaped and managed to run far away. If you manage to find them all, he may just be able to perform an important service for you.
Requirements	31 Prayer (not boostable) (not required to start) Completion of Alfred Grimhand's Barcrawl The ability to run past level 172 black demons and level 64 poison spiders
Items required	Dusty key (obtainable during the quest) or 70 Agility (boostable).
Recommended	40 Combat level Anti-dragon shield or dragonfire shield (highly recommended, see the guide for the alternative strategy if they are unavailable) Antifire potion (provides complete immunity to the dragonfire if used with an anti-dragon or dragonfire shield) Antipoison or superantipoison Armour and some food Stamina or energy potions Fast travel to several locations The Sorcerer's Tower (Camelot teleport, Ardougne teleport or Combat Bracelet to the Ranged Guild) Taverley Dungeon (Taverley teleport, Falador teleport or Teleport to House if your house is in Taverley) Barbarian Outpost (Games Necklace or Barbarian teleport) Edgeville Monastery (Combat Bracelet or Amulet of Glory to Edgeville)
Enemies to defeat	Jailer (level 47) if you need to acquire the dusty key
League notes	Asgarnia✓ — location requirement Kandarin✓ — location requirement

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Walkthrough

Beginning

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To begin, talk to Thormac on the top floor of the Sorcerer's Tower, just south-east of the Ranging Guild and south of Seers' Village. (Or Fairy Ring code BLR, or teleport to Ardougne Farm with Ardougne cloak 2 or higher). He'll tell you that his rare Kharid Scorpions have escaped and are currently running loose. He'll give you a Scorpion cage to catch the scorpions with and suggest you go talk to the Seers that live just to the north.

The first scorpion

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</mapframe> Speak with any Seer in Seers' Village before continuing with the quest. [Note: If you do not speak with a Seer, the old wall will NOT open.]

1. The Seer will tell you that the first scorpion is in a secret room with nasty spiders nearby.

Pick up some food, an anti-poison potion or superantipoison, an anti-dragon shield (or dragonfire shield), and, with less than 70 Agility, the dusty key, if you have one. If you do not have access to an anti-dragon shield and have less than 80 Agility, read the next paragraph for a description on how to avoid the blue dragons in the dungeon. Make your way to the Taverley Dungeon any way you want (a Falador teleport is the quickest way to get there if your house isn't located in Taverley. A games necklace to the Burthorpe Games Room, a combat bracelet to the Warriors' Guild, a house teleport with your player-owned house set to Taverley also works).

Strategy without anti-dragon shield: The first scorpion will be difficult to obtain on a lower-level account. Players who have not yet started Dragon Slayer I to get access to the anti-dragon shield can use an alternative strategy that uses the fact the dungeon is single-combat. When running past the blue dragons, ensure a baby blue dragon is fighting you at all times. Avoid standing too close to adult dragons, and hop from baby to baby and draw their aggression when passing through this part of the dungeon. This strategy is not recommended for hardcore ironmen who are not confident they know what they are doing.

Once inside the dungeon:

• With 80 Agility you should use the shortcut directly to the poison spiders. The secret room is directly south of the shortcut.
• With 70 Agility you should use the shortcut to the blue dragons.
• Otherwise, walk the long way around and use the dusty key on the gate to the blue dragons.

If you need to acquire a dusty key, follow the track towards the Black Knights' Base and kill the jailer located in the eastern area of the base, who will drop a jail key. Use the jail key on the door of the cell containing Velrak the explorer. Speak to him; ask if there are any good places to explore, and when he asks you if you want to go further into the dungeon, say yes and he will give you a dusty key.

Walk south of the blue dragons, west to pass the black demons, and north to the poison spiders. To the south of the two coffins, there's a small room with a false wall that you can search to open (see the inset map).

Use the scorpion cage on the small scorpion inside this room to catch it (if you try to pick it up, it will sting you for 3 Hitpoints of damage).

The second and third scorpions

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The scorpion in the Monastery.

Returning to and speaking with any Seer in Seers' Village will reveal the location of the second and third scorpions. (Amusingly, you are not required to speak with the same Seer as you did earlier.)

2. The Seer will mention a merchant in Barbarian Village who may have the second scorpion.

3. Continue speaking with the Seer and he will reveal that the third scorpion is 'in some sort of upstairs room near some brown clothing': the 1^st floor^[UK]2^nd floor^[US] of the Edgeville Monastery.

It will be quickest to first collect the scorpion at the Monastery, and then head to Barbarian Village afterwards.

There are many ways to get to the Monastery; you could use the grouping teleport to soul wars and use the exit portal to Edgeville, or you could either teleport to Falador (standard spellbook), Lassar (Ancient spellbook), to Edgeville using a charged amulet of glory, to Barbarian Village using a charged skull sceptre, or you could teleport directly to the Monastery using a combat bracelet.

Once at the Monastery, climb the south-east ladder. (If you've never been upstairs, you'll have to speak with Abbot Langley to join their group, requiring 31 Prayer.) The scorpion will be right at the top of the ladder, or in the bedroom directly north of the ladder. Use your cage on it to catch it.

Now head to Barbarian Village to find the merchant, Peksa, in his helmet shop. He will tell you that he left it in the bed of a relative at the Barbarian Outpost as a "surprise gift". Interestingly, once the location of the second scorpion is revealed by a Seer, players do not need to visit and talk to Peksa to be able to find the scorpion and use the cage on it.

Use a games necklace or Barbarian Assault minigames teleport to go to the Outpost, where the scorpion can be found wandering just inside the entrance of the Agility training area, in the gated building. (To get in, you must have completed Alfred Grimhand's Barcrawl.)

Finishing up

Finally, bring the full scorpion cage to Thormac.

Congratulations, quest complete!

Rewards

• 1 Quest point
• 6,625 Strength experience
• The ability to have Thormac turn a battlestaff into a mystic staff for 40,000 coins

Transcript

This article on a quest has an associated dialogue page. Click here for a transcript of possible conversations encountered throughout the quest.

Trivia

• The player will bring up Thormac's promise to enchant their battlestaves despite this dialogue option not being present.
• It is possible to obtain multiple scorpion cages by having a full inventory when Thormac attempts to give them to you.
  • It is also possible to catch the scorpions multiple times in different cages. Furthermore, only one full cage has to be given to Thormac to complete the quest. The remaining cages will be kept in the player's bank.