It's a penguin quest!

Many have pondered the big questions in life: Who am I? Why am I here? What are those shifty penguins really up to? But none had taken the last one more seriously than Larry, a rather discombobulated* Ardougne Zookeeper. He's long suspected those penguins were up to no good, and now he's going to prove it.

Larry is preparing to set off on an observational research trip to an iceberg in the Lunar Sea. He needs your help to get supplies and build a bird hide, where he will put your skills and your patience to the test. Be careful, though: a relaxing trip of penguin-watching is bound to reveal far more sinister things afoot... or aflipper.

For those of you eager to take on this challenge, you’ll get to explore a brand new iceberg where you're likely to meet some interesting - and strangely musical - creatures who can even teach you a few new emotes. You'll also be rewarded with access to a brand new Agility course involving swimming through dangerous waters, avoiding falling icicles, slipping on ice and sliding on your belly!

But not all is fun and games with these penguins. Be prepared to step into someone else's shoes, er, claws and discover what the penguins are planning in their Cold War.

To start this quest, go and visit Larry by the penguin enclosure at the Ardougne Zoo.

*Is nothing to do with disco, or Bob.

In other news...

In Barbarian Assault, defenders will find that their barricades now last for longer when they try to block the Penance caves.

Icons have been added to the minimap to indicate places where sandpits may be found.

It's time to dust off your undead combat kit! This week's update brings you the doom-laden lair of Tarn Razorlor!

Tarn is a necromancer who has discovered the power of the Salve crystal. If you've defeated Treus Dayth in the Haunted Mine quest, there's nothing to stop him from laying his evil hands on a piece of this precious crystal. Unfortunately, his intentions for this incredible mineral would make many a dead adventurer turn in their grave - if Tarn hadn't been there first...

Equip your Salve Amulet and head over to the Haunted Mine in the south-west of Morytania to experience the thrill of combat against the newly-awakened undead. With new monsters to fight, new traps to disarm and new treasures to unearth, can you survive the challenge of Tarn's Lair?

In addition to Tarn's new dungeon full of undead creatures, we've improved the look of many of the other undead monsters. Throughout the lands and dungeons of RuneScape, the zombies, skeletons and ghosts now have a brand new look and a far more convincing lurch. If you venture to the pyramids in the desert you'll find that the mummies have been similarly redecorated.

In other news...

We've made a slight adjustment to the ring of stone. Previously, when you changed back from being a rock, you'd have to unequip the ring and put it back on before you could become a rock again. It will now unequip itself automatically, just like the Ring of Egg does, which should be far more convenient for all you rock impersonators out there.

The bug that made the fire cape appear upside down in your inventory has been fixed!

The Barbarians have declared that they are fed up tripping over people's pet cats in the Barbarian Assault caverns, so they are now forbidding anyone from taking pets down the ladder into the minigame area.

Finally, in response to requests from players, it is no longer possible to trade the following items: Eye of gnome, Paramaya Inn ticket, Skull, Pole, Hollow reed, Palm leaf, Bad wine, Unfermented wine and Leaf-bladed spear.

This week brings a short break from the principal updates of the month, giving you all time to prepare for the forthcoming zombies and penguins! We've sent our highly talented team of artistic demons through some of the most commonly used interfaces and menus in the game and given them a much needed graphical makeover. Check out the new look of the Magic spellbook - now working without a scrollbar - and the Skill Advance guides. There's even a feature on the Friends List to show you which world you're on!

As you may be aware, we've been working very hard towards releasing RuneScape in other languages, and we need to free up more space on our interfaces for future developments. With this in mind, we've shrunk the text in the Quest Journal list by a point.

Deep within the Kharidian Desert, south of Shantay Pass, unrest is growing within the cities of Menaphos and Sophanem. With the threat of the Devourer still lurking in the shadows, the High Priest of Icthlarin has deemed it time to make contact with the citizens of Sophanem who had fled to Menaphos in the face of the recent plague. Thus far his attempts have proved futile, however, as Menaphos remains wary of the contagion and refuses to comply.

Perhaps all is not lost, though! Perhaps some brave soul will step up to this challenge and help out the High Priest! They will need to be well versed in the ways of the desert lands, having survived Icthlarin's Little Helper as well as Gertrude's Cat and Prince Ali Rescue. Adventurers with a desire to help should brave the desert as far as Sophanem and seek out the High Priest in the shade of the temple found in the south-west of that city.

Be prepared for what an ancient dungeon full of dangerous high-level creatures might throw at you. Rumour has it that certain sturdy inhabitants of this town have recently vanished during attempts to make contact with those over the river, so folk afraid of physical danger should probably steer well clear of this mission. Especially likely to come to a sticky end are those who rush in blindly and unprepared, though the careful and nimble explorer might find that success comes relatively easily. Those who prove themselves in this task can expect not only generous Thieving and Combat experience, but a new weapon that will prove most potent against Kalphites and other, as yet mysterious, foes. These rewards will come from both the High Priest and more unexpected sources; will you be among the first to experience them?

Make sure to pack your lantern, tinderbox, food, and plenty of guts, though maybe not your life savings. You'll need them for one of the most dangerous places in RuneScape!

(No, honestly, we really mean that.)

In other news...

Fans of Barbarian Assault will be glad to hear that we've fixed a number of bugs in that popular minigame, including the issue whereby players' side-interfaces occasionally disappeared and the problem with the Horn of Glory interface getting closed. On a lighter note, the egg launchers have had their mechanisms adjusted so that they should no longer shoot innocent-looking pet cats.

If you're waiting to be recruited for a game of Barbarian Assault, please note that you'll now need to turn on the ACCEPT AID option if you wish to receive recruitment offers. This option is controlled by the button on the left of the Run/Walk toggle.

The animations of the defender weapons have been adjusted to fix the problem where players appeared to stop walking for a moment if they got hit while wielding a defender.

The effect of the Flames of Zamorak spell is to temporarily reduce its victim's magic level. This was not working against players who'd boosted their magic levels (such as by drinking a potion). We have now fixed the spell to make it drain its victim's magic level, even if that level had been boosted. A corresponding bug has been fixed with the Claws of Guthix.

Deep below the Barbarian Outpost a new menace twitches and pulsates with anger, preparing wave after wave of shrieking, monstrous pummeling at the barbarians' expense... or is it some kind of strange training regime? Can these creatures have been put here on purpose? What are these strange mutants and why have they been caged beneath the earth?

Behold the Penance! The barbarians believe these vile creatures were spawned by the mighty gods to allow the people of RuneScape to show their allegiance through combat. A gargantuan arena has been built below the Barbarian Outpost for you to prove your worth, so head to the area and talk to Captain Cain.

Take up the challenge in this long-awaited minigame. As part of a team, choose which role you want to play against the deadly threat. You could be an attacker and hack your way through waves of slimy flesh, or become a defender, setting up traps and luring the monsters to a grisly death. Those of you who enjoy a fast pace of life could be a collector, sorting out the ammunition for the fierce launchers and unleashing havoc on the Penance below. The last role is that of the trusty healer - using poisonous substances against the Penance and ensuring your own team stays alive!

This is a team-based game, so the greatest rewards are for those willing to work together. Use barbarian horns to shout to your team and climb up to the mighty 'Horn of Glory' to let everyone hear your orders. You can choose to play with your friends and wander into one of the team rooms, or if you go to the quickstart room we will find a group of adventurers for you.

Working through the waves of monsters, you can level up your ability in the roles and improve your value as a fighter against the Penance. Other great rewards are available, including many items to be won - both new and old. These include a new armour set with multiple uses, gloves of lightness and many of your favourite rewards from other areas of the game, including dragon equipment.

Before starting you will be treated to a training tutorial, so you'll be ready to put your best tactics into play. This is also a safe minigame, with lots of expendable equipment (such as runes and arrows) provided for free.

So how about it? Anyone can show their penance, but it takes a real hero to help a barbarian assault!

We have updated Rule 7 and Rule 9 to clarify some long standing gray areas, and to cover some recent threats. Please take the time to re-read both rules and make sure you fully understand them.

The reason for this update is both to clarify some very frequently asked questions, and also to help address recent threats which have been harming our players. In particular we have extended rule 7 to make it clear that it DOES now include third party RuneScape clients/world switchers.

We have done this for two main reasons:
a) The sheer number of users losing their account/password to programs which pretend to be one thing but actually steal their password
b) Problems with some of these programs including extremely unsafe chat channels where large amounts of scamming go on, and users encourage each other to try to break the rules.

When RuneScape fansites are distributing programs which are then used to discuss breaking the rules or result in their own users being scammed, it's clear that our rules need revision! We don't want to be unnecessarily restrictive, but we obviously also have to balance that with protecting our users. We've thought long and hard about this, and hence this update.