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Prifddinas/Pre-release was significantly altered after an update. This article is retained to provide information on past elements of RuneScape.
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Prior to its release, Prifddinas was heavily speculated about due to how little was known about it, and hotly anticipated. It was initially released in 2004, but only became accessible in the latter half of 2014,[1] with half the city released on 22 September and the rest later in the year.[2].
Geography and description[]
The inside of Prifddinas.
The woodland and path that can be found to the north of Prifddinas.
What appears to be one of the 8 crystal towers.
The hole mourners come out of.
There are three known entrances to the city; a large gate on the south and east sides, facing and having paths to Isafdar and Arandar respectively, and a smaller one on the north side. It is believed that there is a tunnel underneath Prifddinas, leading to the under-city, however it is extremely unstable and blocked off by rocks. A hole located by the eastern gate most likely connects to this.
Prifddinas is formed almost entirely from elven crystal, a substance that can be shaped by crystal singing, and wood. The crystal is indestructible and durable, forming the city's walls and structures. The houses vary in size, shape and exquisiteness. The city is divided into eight equally sized sections, each belonging to one of the original elven clans that built the city. Every section contains a crystal tower connecting to the centrally located Tower of Voices for communication with Seren, the elven goddess. The city also contains the Grand Library of the elves, sealed by Seren.
Apart from elves, rabbits, pawyas and grenwalls live in its vicinity; various kinds of fish, including shark, inhabit the shore to the north; finally, various kinds of butterfly make their home in and around the city. The small limestone mine at the foot of the Galarpos Mountains contains a group of dire wolves.
While the city was a seed, its crystals walls surrounded but an empty field. It only contained a few remaining pathways and elven lamps, while rabbits had their holes at its edges.
Statements[]
| “ | If you had ever seen the splendour of the Tower of Voices refracting in the sunlight, or the air itself in every corner of our city turn to rainbows in the Spring showers, or the last rays of the evening sun turn the world to deepest shades of bloody reds you would understand that no Elf could be a criminal. We live in beauty; not this impure, unclean world that the other races grovel in. | ” |
— The Elves[3]
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| “ | It is told that the first Elves to come through the 'world gate' found a world full of beautiful woodlands and terrible beasts.
It was Seren who told the eight families that if they were to survive in this hostile environment they must form a single community for mutual protection. Seren proceeded to show them all to a clearing in the forest, where she had already created 'The Tower of Voices', a place for all Elven kind to congregate and the future home of 'The Assembly of Elders'. Over the following days Seren imparted her idea for a new city, a city where all Elves have access to hear her words, a city where all Elves can live in peace, a living city made of the very same crystal of which she herself was made. It was decided that the city should be set out in an octagon with eight walls and eight towers. Each of the eight clans would have its own segment of the city. Each segment would be edged on one side by a city wall with its opposing corner at the city centre, where 'The Tower of Voices' is located. This would give each of the clans equal access to hear the words of Seren and equal responsibility for the city's protection in the case of a siege. Seren then provided one special seed for every clan, telling them that each seed should be taken to the centre of each clans segment of the city. Once there, it should be planted where it will develop to form a tower. The eight clans did this and soon there were 9 great towers in the clearing, each tower was different and had formed to meet the needs of the clan that planted it. And so, the city of Prifddinas was born. |
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— Taken from Prifddinas' history, Lletya bookshelves.
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History[]
Initial Settlement[]
The exquisite front gate of Prifddinas.
Prifddinas was built by the elves after they were led to Gielinor through the World Gate by their crystalline goddess, Seren, and Guthix, the god of balance, in the First Age. The elves settled in Tirannwn, a large wooded area west of the Galarpos, a mountain range which isolated it from the rest of the continent. The eight Elven Clans constructed their city in a clearing north of the Isafdar forest with the crystal given to them by Seren, which could be shaped through crystal singing. Massive, incandescently glistening walls surrounded the city, which became the hub of the elves' new life on Gielinor. The World Gate remained open to allow travel to and from Tarddiad, however, and was used to bring in more crystal to Gielinor.
The elves peacefully coexisted in Prifddinas, as had been their goddess' intention. Each was given their own segment of the city, where they were given a small tower found near the city wall. In the middle Seren had already created the Tower of Voices, where the elves could communicate with the goddess herself. It would also become the site where the Elven Council of Elders convened.
During the remainder of the First, and the Second Age, Prifddinas would remain isolated from the rest of the world. Zaros did steal the World Gate from the elves and sent at least one party to the west to find out about what his divine companion Seren had been up to, but this party was ambushed by elves south of Eagles' Peak and did not succeed in reaching the city.
Likewise, the elves were able to defend their territory during the God Wars. Some would leave the safety of Tirannwn and actively fight in Seren's name, while others, most notably the militant Cadarn Clan, successfully warded off any enemies at the Underground Pass.
After Seren's Departure[]
Following the end of the wars, Seren was forced to leave Gielinor in accordance with the Edicts of Guthix, and Guthix personally made this request, having found out that she had lied to him about leaving the world at the end of the First Age. Seren was, however, still unable to part with her followers, nor could she lie to her friend again. Therefore, she decided to explode into a shower of crystal so that she could remain with her followers. A saddened Guthix then left Tirannwn, leaving the elves without Seren's guidance for the first time in thousands of years.
When the Fourth Age commenced, the Break Out occurred amongst the elves and a pass over the Galarpos, Arandar, was built. Many travelled east, exploring the lands that are now Kandarin. Spearheaded by the Cadarn Clan, led by the legendary King Baxtorian, the expedition formed ties with the humans and gnomes in the area, although they failed to form treaties with the Bandosians due to the contemporary Feldip Hills Civil War taking place. Soon, the elves permanently settled in the newly acquired area, marking the creation of the first major elven settlement outside Prifddinas.
Civil War[]
During the absence of the Cadarn and the other settlers, however, the Iorwerth Clan betrayed the other clans and invaded and occupied Prifddinas. They brutally slaughtered thousands of elves and took full control of the city. Until 1930, the eastern elves had no idea about this. Only the Great Divide prompted the eastern elven elders to sent a scouting party to Tirannwn, of which only one elf, Adwr, returned to report the civil war.
In an attempt to restore peace, Baxtorian launched a campaign to liberate the crystal city from Lord Iorwerth's clutches. The elves attempted to recapture the city at the Battle of Prifddinas, which ended disastrously in 1935 with many Cadarn dead. This left the few survivors stranded in Isafdar (notably Lletya, a small, hidden village the refugees erected), where they still fight today as rebels.
At some point, the Council of Elders somehow managed to completely revert the city to a crystal seed, forcing Lord Iorwerth to settle in a camp outside its walls.
Concept art[]
.png "Prifddinas concept art (runefest).png (384 KB)")
Development history[]
- Prifddinas was released with the Regicide quest in 2004, alongside the rest of the elven lands. The walls were originally made of stone and much thicker, containing ladders and a much thinner wall inside the city proper. Only half of it was shown on the world map, although this soon changed to three quarters.
- With the release of Mourning's End Part I, the walls of the city were made thinner and changed to be made out of crystal instead.
- During the January 2011 RuneFest meet, Mod Mark stated that the release of the Elven City was far off in the distance, confirming that it would not be released in 2011. It was also confirmed that Prifddinas would be released along with the yet to be subtitled Mourning's End Part III now known as Plague's End.
- In 2012, the head of the design team, Mod Mark, states that they want to make Prifddinas very impressive and make the crystal look great, thus it won't be released until 2014 at the earliest.
- When the black areas of the world map were filled in, Prifddinas's missing quarter was added, and a large expanse of land was added to the north of the city, which can freely be explored.
- By the end of 2013 it was announced that Prifddinas will compete with Invention for a scheduled release in July/August of 2014 in the in-game poll. The poll was released on 13 January 2014, along with Mod Osborne's Q&A on the forum. In the Q&A it was revealed that to access or even see the city, players will have to complete the Within the Light quest and that there will be story content explaining the current state of the city. Some time later the next part of the city will be released with new grandmaster quest. It was also confirmed the city will be a high-level hub and will introduce Crystal Singing as a new training method for skills like Crafting and Construction. Moreover it was said, that Seren will not be involved in any of these releases and will receive separate content and that Jagex intends to create a second Grand Exchange in the city, if possible.[4]
- In the 2014 March Q&A, Mod Osborne mentioned that Prifddinas will be released in two batches of four clans. The first batch is planned for September, and the other later in the year.[5]
- The podcast titled "The Road to Elf City"[6] revealed that:
- The quest Plague's End is aimed to be released in August
- The first batch (ETA September) will include:
- Tower of Voices, a Lodestone, a Grand Exchange
- Clans: Iowerth (Slayer/Melee), Cadarn (Ranged/Magic), Trahaearn (Mining/Smithing), Crwys (Woodcutting/Farming)
- The Iowerth Clan will have the highest level Slayer master yet, who offers preferred Slayer tasks
- The second batch (ETA early November) will include:
- Clans: Hefin (Agility/Prayer), Amlodd (Divination/Summoning), Meilyr (Dungeoneering/Herblore), Ithell (Crafting/Construction)
- The city will not include Dungeoneering, a Divination colony or PvM
- Crystal Flask recipes will need to be unlocked by finding them or buying them
- The mine in the city can only be used once a day
- A task set centred around Prifddinas will be released after
- The Seren-associated Prayers and Spells from an April Power to the Player poll will be released after
Features[]
Prifddinas will feature resources for sixteen skills, aimed at high level players. Each of the eight clans will have dominion over two of those skills. Details of the resources and facilities of Prifddinas were released in the downloadable Elf City design documents.
The first batch will release the Tower of Voices. The eight clans will be released as follows:
| Batch | Clan | First skill | Second skill |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | Iorwerth Clan | Melee | Slayer |
| First | Cadarn clan | Ranged | Magic |
| First | Trahaearn Clan | Mining | Smithing |
| First | Crwys Clan | Farming | Woodcutting |
| Second | Ithell Clan | Construction | Crafting |
| Second | Amlodd Clan | Divination | Summoning |
| Second | Hefin Clan | Agility | Prayer |
| Second | Meilyr Clan | Dungeoneering | Herblore |
Access to Prifddinas will be by foot, through gates to the south and east, by a new lodestone in the centre of the city, a spirit tree or fairy ring to the east, a gnome glider to the north, or by crystal seeds tuneable to any of the clan segments. The city will be on platforms over a crater, with farms and buildings below them. Each clan will have its own segment of the city, with the colour and logo of the ruling clan showing which sector players are in. The centre of the city will be the Tower of Voices, from which a walkway will lead in each cardinal direction.
Amenities in Prifddinas will include a small Grand Exchange centre with two bankers and one Grand Exchange attendant, from where players will be able to teleport to the Grand Exchange in Varrock, a herblore decanter, a challenge quartermaster, a permanent fire with a chance to save logs, an NPC who will accept Divination chronicles at the same exchange rate as Guthix's Shrine, and a loyalty store.
Four different portals will be available in the city, also. Players will be able to set their player-owned house in Prifddinas for 50,000, access their player-owned port, clan citadel, and teleport to Daemonheim or sinkholes.
Design documents[]
Jagex have released five 'Design documents' which contains artwork and confirmed features of Prifddinas, each concerning one of the following topics:
Polls[]
- Several Power to the Players polls have been carried out to determine the skills that Elf clans will focus on, with the results as follows:
- February: Mining and Smithing
- March: Agility and Prayer
- March: Herblore and Dungeoneering
- A poll in March determined that Crystal Singing will involve using a harp.
- Another poll released in March determined that "A Different Reward" would be offered as a quest reward for Mourning End's Part III, with the other options being Crystal Halberd, Crystal Magic Staff, and Crystal Thrown Weapons. Note that players will be able to get all 3 Crystal items anyway in Prifddinas - the poll just determined the immediate quest reward.
- The final poll in March determined Crystal Flasks would allow players to combine two potions together into one six-dose potion.
- An April poll regarding a slayer update for Prifddinas had the "Preferred Slayer Task" option win.