Across The Sky

Across the Sky is the second Quest in the Phoenix Quest series. The Fairy Queen has sensed a great force of destruction approaching. In order to help preserve the cycle of Life and Death, you must seek out the legendary Phoenix, and face a most fearsome foe.

Starting Off
Enter a Fairy Ring to teleport to Zanaris and head over to the Throne Room and speak to the Fairy Queen. She will remember you as the hero who helped her reclaim Zanaris from the Fairy Godfather, and ask for your help once more. Accept her request and the Quest will begin.

The Fairy Queen will say that, as a fairy, she and most of the other residents of Zanaris are in tune with the ebb and flow of life energy in RuneScape. However, recently this flow has begun to weaken and become chaotic, and she fears for the worst. Ask about what can be done to restore the flow, and the Queen will tell you that you should speak with the one creature in all of RuneScape who exists outside the normal cycle of life and death: the Phoenix. Agree to go see the Phoenix, but before ending the conversation, select the option "But her nest is so heavily guarded...". The Queen will concede this point and offer to teleport you directly into the room where she nests.

A Dark Flame
Items Needed: None

Once you have reached the Phoenix within her lair, either by using the Fairy Ring network and then proceeding through her lair or via the Fairy Queen's teleport, approach the Phoenix, and a cutscene will occur of her bursting into flames and being reborn. After it is finished, talk to her. She will note that your coming is an omen of what she had hoped was not so, and then ask you why you have come. Tell her either "The Queen of the Fairies sent me..." or "Life energy isn't flowing as it should...". They both lead to the same place, but selecting the former will have the Phoenix comment on how interesting it is that you're an acquaintance of the Fairy Queen, while the latter will have her compliment your ability to sense the flow of life energy, despite being a human.

She will then go on to say that one of her eggs has become corrupted, and that once it hatches, 'a creature of dark flame and death will end this world, and another shall not be born from its ashes'. Ask her how to stop this evil from befalling the world, and she will say that you must kill the phoenix that will hatch from the egg. Select the option "Kill a phoenix? But how?".

The Starseed
Items Needed: None

The Phoenix will mention that you must block both the hatchling's ability to be reborn as well as it's ability to steal life from everything around it. To do this, you will need to make five orbs using specially mixed sand, heating it over a fire made with Astral logs. In order to begin, talk to the Phoenix again. She will say that, in order to grow an Astral Tree, you must collect a Starseed from the sky. You will note your lack of an ability to fly, to which the Phoenix will respond that she will carry you 'across the sky' on her back. When you are ready, Right-click the option "Fly -> Phoenix", and you will be flown from the cave and into the sky over RuneScape. In order to collect a Starseed, you must find a cloud that has a sparkling object in it. Collecting the Starseed requires 55 Farming (which cannot be boosted) as well as 50 Prayer. Doing so will grant 150 Farming and Prayer XP, and will trigger the next phase of the quest.

Astral Wood
Items Needed: Magic watering can, Starseed, Seed dibber

Landing back in the Phoenix Lair, the Phoenix will tell you that now, you must grow a tree from the seed and then chop it for wood, which will fuel an incredibly hot fire you can use for making specially imbued glass using crushed Soul, Fire, and Death Runes. Before leaving, the Phoenix will also tell you that the glass, once blown into orbs, must be both 'blessed by song and fortified by spells'. This cryptic clue will come into play later.

Take the Starseed to any Tree Patch and attempt to plant it (attempting to plant it in a pot of soil will yield the message 'The seed bakes the soil, making it impossible to plant'). You will get a pop-up saying 'The intense heat of the seed makes planting it impossible. Maybe the Queen can help?'. Take the seed to Zanaris.

The Fairy Queen will be amazed at seeing the Starseed in your possession, and realize immediately what must be done. She will then tell you that you must use the Magic watering can she gave you after the Battle of Ork's Rift in order to keep the patch hydrated even when the seed is being planted. This will allow you to plant the Starseed in any Tree Patch now, so long as you have the Magic watering can.

With the watering can in your inventory, plant the seed in any Tree Patch, and you will begin to water as you plant. You will continue to water as it grows (which, thankfully, only takes a fraction of the time other trees take to grow), and once it has grown completely, you will receive the message "As the tree finishes growing, its intense heat dissipates, replaced by a comfortable warmth." Now you must cut it-- it will only yield one set of logs before becoming a stump, which will not regrow unless you lose/destroy the logs in your inventory.

The Thrice-Blessed Orbs
''Items Needed: 5 Buckets of sand, 5 Seaweed/Soda Ash, 10 Soul Runes, 10 Fire Runes, 10 Death Runes, Glassblowing pipe, Astral Logs

With the logs in your inventor, you can now add them to a furnace and be able to make the special glass. Before doing so, however, use a Bucket of sand on any of the three types of runes in your inventory. One of each type will be used and you will have a Bucket of rune sand. Do this four more times. Once this is done, use the Astral Logs on a furnace, which will begin to glow white. Then use a Bucket of rune sand on it, and you will begin to create Molten star-glass. Doing so rewards 25 Crafting XP per lump of molten glass. Use your Glassblowing pipe on one of the lumps of Molten star-glass, and you will begin blowing them into Star-glass orbs, granting 175 XP per orb.

Once you've crafted all five orbs, Right-click the 'Enchant' option. Each orb will use another Fire, Soul, and Death Rune and will become a Charged star-glass orb. This will cover 'fortifying with spells'. Now all that must be done is to 'bless it with song'.

In order to accomplish this, you must take the orbs to the Citharede Monastery. Speak with Sister Cecilia, and she will agree to have the Choir sing while you bless the orbs, which requires 55 Prayer. With the orbs blessed, they will become Orbs of life. Now you must take them back to the Phoenix Lair, and prepare for the final battle.

Death's Wings
''Items Needed: Orbs of life, Shears/Secateurs. Recommended Items: Food, Super Set, Blue/Red Dragonhide Armor and Magic Longbow OR Dragon Armor and Dragon Dagger (p++) if using Protect from Magic''

Making your way through the Phoenix's Lair, you will find that none of the monsters within will attack you, and their Attack option has been removed. Along the way, shear one branch from each of the scented trees that you would normally use to build a pyre for the Phoenix. On reaching the Phoenix, she will no longer be in her nest, but will be near where you enter. She will tell you she has placed the egg that will hatch into an evil phoenix on the pyre, which you will have to finish building. She also tells you that you must place the orbs at key points around the room so that it cannot b reborn once you have killed it.

Place the orbs first-- there will be a flashing indicator over the spot where you need to place the orbs. After placing the orbs, use one of the branches on the unfinished pyre, which will require 52 Crafting and 53 Fletching. Once finished, a cutscene will begin wherein the egg will hatch. You will sustain an unavoidable attack that will reduce you to 1 LP. After this, though, the Phoenix will restore your health before leaving and the battle will begin in earnest.

Confrontation
The Death Phoenix will be Level 253, and have incredibly high Defense and Magic levels, so it is recommended to pray against Magic even if you are wearing Dragonhide Armor. It primarily uses a Magic attack that looks like a dark-gray Fire Blast spell that can hit upwards of 550, and will often hit in the 400's. It will also use a weak Ranged attack with a max hit of 250. When within one space of the Death Phoenix, it will use a Melee attack that can drain LP and Prayer, but it is incredibly inaccurate.

The Death Phoenix is weak to Ranged attacks as well as Stab and Crush attacks. It will soak up most Magic Damage, so it is not advised to use Magic. After it has lost 1/2 of its LP, the Death Phoenix will cry out in fury, and use an arena-wide Magic attack that hits three times and drains LP. Praying against Magic will negate two of the three hits. After this, it will activate Protect from Ranged, to cover its biggest weakness, and then continue its assault.

Once it reaches the point where the next hit would kill it, it will retain 1 LP and become incapable of fighting, but also activate an Omni-Protection prayer. At this point, you must light the pyre beneath it, which will consume the Death Phoenix and kill it. The orbs around the room will turn red momentarily as the Death Phoenix attempts to be reborn, but it will fail, and the battle will end.

Finishing Up
After killing the Death Phoenix, the normal Phoenix will approach you and thank you for your help in preventing catastrophe. She will then offer you the chance to use one of her pinions to teleport back to Zanaris. Accept, and you will find yourself transported to the Fairy Ring. Run to the Throne Room and speak with the Fairy Queen, who will congratulate you on another excellent display of heroism. She will then give you your rewards and the quest will be finished.

Rewards

 * 3 Quest Points
 * 15,000 Prayer and Firemaking XP
 * 13,000 Farming, Fletching, Woodcutting, and Magic XP
 * The ability to receive Phoenix Pinions, which are a one-click teleport to Zanaris, when completing the Phoenix Lair D&D
 * The ability to farm, cut, and burn Astral Trees by collecting more Starseeds, which are received as a drop from the Death Phoenix
 * A higher chance of finding Phoenix Eggs after completing the Phoenix Lair D&D

Other Rewards

 * If you speak to the Fairy Queen, she will teach you a spell which will allow you to use your Amulet of glory to teleport to the entrance of the Phoenix Lair.


 * Speaking with the Phoenix after the quest will reveal that more Death Phoenix Eggs are probably laying dormant within her caves. From then on, when finding the Phoenix's egg stockpile, you have a 1/250 chance of finding a Death Phoenix Egg.
 * The egg can then be taken to the arena and hatched to fight the Death Phoenix again, granting 5,000 Slayer XP and 2,500 Prayer and Firemaking XP. Having a Death Phoenix Egg in your inventory will render all Reborn monsters non-hostile and incapable of being attacked, just as they were in the quest.

Music

 * An Endless Cycle (after speaking with the Phoenix the first time)
 * On Swift Wings (during the fight with the Death Phoenix)

Trivia

 * On the day of release in the knowledge base, the rewards were covered by the message: "The rewards for this quest are currently hidden behind a wall of dark flames. Hopefully they'll have burnt out by tomorrow."
 * When asked after the quest if fighting her is now dangerous due to the presence of the orbs, the Phoenix will reply that they are attuned to the Death energy given off by the Death Phoenix, as opposed to her own Life energy.