Scroll Repository
The Scroll Repository is a location in the Lost Desert. It is a vast stone pyramid, painted gold, that was built during the events of the Lost Desert Plot to house the many ancient scrolls that had been recovered. Hidden in its basement is a model of the city of Sakhmet.
Its construction was supervised by The Foreman, who would later work as a chef in the Repository canteen, and then as a janitor in the Hall of Heroes in Altador.
Plot summary[edit]
Lost Desert Plot[edit]
- Main article: Lost Desert Plot
The player could first visit the Repository several days after Sakhmet disappeared. If they player had found the statue of Nuria in the Temple of 1,000 Tombs and read the corresponding scroll, they could hoodwink the guards of the Repository to let them pass.
Before the Repository could be used, it first had to be unburied - it had become covered in sand in a sandstorm - and then the interior had to be emptied out - the original builders had built a solid pyramid with no interior space. Finally, the Repository needed to be furnished. These steps were collaborative between all the players.
Each player could take one handful of sand away at a time. This took between one and three hours depending on the speed stat of their active Neopet. It took four days and 104,034 handfuls of sand to dig out the pyramid. It took another 22 hours to move the 4,330 blocks from inside the pyramid to make room for the scrolls. The player could only remove the block corresponding to their Nuria statue's symbol, and it took five players to move each block. Sometimes, scarabs would appear from behind the block and frighten the players away.
The 1,829 pieces of furniture, carved by Ruki craftsmen, had to be taken into the now empty pyramid and put in a position corresponding to its chalk outline. The players had to consult the Interior Decorator as to which floor they should take the furniture to, but this was complicated as he moved to random locations about the pyramid every few hours. Progress was slowed by thieves, who would steal furniture after it had been placed. 138,989 pieces of furniture were taken in this way, and so it took several days before the pyramid was complete furnished and the scrolls could be brought inside.
A hidden staircase on the fifth floor of the repository leads to the map room, a secret room with a model version of Sakhmet city in it. Three times a day for one hour each, random for each player but separated by seven hour intervals, light shines into this room. The player could place one of four Useless Crystals on the palace's spire when the room was lit, and it would project the light onto the opposite wall. This cryptically told the player which scrolls to read, corresponding to their heirogylphics tablet, in order to discover where to find the next crystal. The last crystal blew a hole in the wall of the room, and revealed a Mysterious Scroll that the Fortune Teller and the player used to translate Sakhmetian writing into Qasalan writing.
Trivia[edit]
- The Scroll Repository was first mentioned in Lenny Conundrum puzzles #132 and #133.
- The Map Room sequence is a reference to a similar scene in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark.