RuneScape Wiki
Advertisement

Abbess Benita chathead

Abbess Benita is the leader of the Abbey of St. Elspeth Citharede. She runs the abbey with a lenient hand, allowing the sisters certain freedoms such as composing.[1] She is also willing to give second chances.[2] She relied upon a fellow nun, Sister Anna, to help her with the task, taking care of the paperwork while Sister Anna screened the applicants.[3][4] She had been planning on retiring in a year, allowing Sister Anna to take over as abbess.[3][5] Prior to joining the abbey, she lived a peaceful life in Varrock. She has also written two religious texts, A Commentary on the Book of Saradomin and The Godwars as Allegory of the Spiritual Life, which can be found in the abbey's bookshelves.

She discovered a body in Sister Anna's cell and mistakenly assumed that it was Anna, when in reality it was the applicant Isabella. She prayed to Saradomin and commanded Sister Catherina to wait for an adventurer.[6] She tasked them with discovering the identity of the murderer, requesting they keep the nature of their investigation a secret, for fear of alarming the nuns. Despite her precautions, she was unable to save Sister Elena from being killed. She asked the adventurer to bring Sister Catherina into the safety of the abbey walls, but could only watch helplessly as the Killer revealed themselves and killed the novice. She proceeded to take the adventurer and Valerio, a troubadour who had set up camp outside the abbey, into her confidence, stating they were the only two she was certain were not the killer. The three of them concocted a plan to catch the killer, rejecting ideas of using gold or ancient relics as bait, as they abbey was ill-funded and the killer was seemingly uninterested in holy artefacts. They eventually decided to claim one of Valerio's troupe was to join the abbey and hid a dummy applicant in the cellar. The killer struck again and the adventurer pursued, eventually leading to a confrontation in the clock tower. The killer was revealed to be Sister Anna, driven mad, which Abbess Benita initially refused to believe.

After accepting that her trusted friend was a killer, Abbess Benita decided to step down, only remaining in the role until a new replacement could be found.[7] When news of the murders got out, there was a drop in applications, members possibly left,[8] and she is fearful that the order may soon die out.[9][7]

Dialogue[]

Elspeth nuns concept art

Concept art of Benita, Catherina, Cecilia, Debora and Elena.

References[]

  1. ^ Sister Elena, "One Piercing Note", RuneScape. "Sister Anna thought Sister Benita was too lenient with the order's rules.[...]She'd have stopped Sister Cecilia composing - prescribed melodies only."
  2. ^ Abbess Benita, "One Piercing Note", RuneScape. "*Sigh*...I thought that was over. A few months ago, Sister Anna brought me a stack of letters she'd found in Sister Elena's room. She was furious. Sister Anna wanted to expel Sister Elena, but I decided to give her a second chance. She appeared contrite. As long as she stopped seeing Valerio, I said she could stay in the abbey."
  3. ^ a b Abbess Benita, "One Piercing Note", RuneScape. "She was my assistant, she would have been my successor when I eventually retired, and she was also my friend."
  4. ^ Sister Catherina, "One Piercing Note", RuneScape. "[Sister Anna] interviewed me when I applied to join the abbey. It was like she could see right into my heart. To be honest, at first, she frightened me. I'm not surprised the other applicant left after she met her."
  5. ^ Sister Debora, "One Piercing Note", RuneScape. "Sister Benita was planning to retire as abbess next year. Everyone expected Sister Anna to become the new abbess."
  6. ^ Abbess Benita, "One Piercing Note", RuneScape. "And yet I prayed for an adventurer to come, and you came. Saradomin works through us in ways we do not realise."
  7. ^ a b Abbess Benita, "One Piercing Note", RuneScape. "I cannot remain as abbess, knowing that this evil could sprout in soil that I tended. I'll look for a replacement, but I don't know how much longer the order will survive."
  8. ^ Cecilia, "One Piercing Note", RuneScape. "I'm glad I left the abbey. There's so much more I can do with music now that I can focus on it for its own sake."
  9. ^ Abbess Benita, "One Piercing Note", RuneScape. "We're struggling, but not with anything dramatic. After the news of what happened got out, it's not surprising that we've had fewer applicants."
Advertisement