Familiarisation

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One of the rewards for Familiarisation (triple charm drops) lasts for a set amount of time after it is granted. This is in-game time; if you log out, that time will only continue to count down once you log back in.


Pikkupstix, Master of Summoning, seems to have a habit of burning out, through and up (and in one case, just burning) apprentices. That being said, his latest apprentice, Pikkenmix, seems to have some staying power. Perhaps that's due to his uncanny ability to locate active summoning obelisks (and quite possibly some anti-dragon underpants).

The druids use these active obelisks to mentally project themselves into the spirit plane - the place where all familiars are summoned from - as only spirit shards gathered there can be used to infuse summoning pouches here on RuneScape. And what with the recent upsurge of new summoners (thanks to those adventuring types), spirit shards have never been in more demand!

Will you familiarise yourself with the druids' mental techniques? Will you get into the spirit of things? Will you cringe if you hear just one more pun? Summoning-related rewards are up for grabs for those that do (well, not for cringing).


There are no requirements to begin helping out the druids, but completing quests such as Fishing Contest or Underground Pass will grant you access to a greater number of summoning obelisks, any of which could become the next active obelisk.


To help Pikkenmix you'll first need to locate where he is, and with him the currently active summoning obelisk. Pikkupstix usually has a vague idea of where his apprentice is at any given time, so heading to Taverley to ask him would be a good first port of call. Once you've figured out where Pikkenmix and the active obelisk is, simply head there and talk to him. He will help you to mentally project yourself into the spirit plane. An obelisk will only remain active for around twenty minutes, but a new obelisk becomes active roughly once every two hours, so if you miss one, there's always another.

Your mental projection into the spirit plane will randomly take on the form of a known familiar so that you can more easily blend in. Your goal is then to pick up as many piles of raw shards as you can, which you'll find scattered all over the ground. You'll be able to gather up to a maximum of sixty of these piles of raw shards to deliver back to Pikkenmix in RuneScape.

Your Form		Immediately Opposed By
Thorny snail		Barker toad	Desert wyrm
Compost mound		Geyser titan	War tortoise
Giant chinchompa		Hydra	Karamthulhu overlord
Void spinner		Obsidian golem	Vampire bat
Evil turnip		Compost mound	Thorny snail
Spirit coraxatrice		Spirit kyatt	Spirit larupia
Spirit larupia		Spirit wolf	Void ravager
Stranger plant		Pack yak	Ravenous locust
Adamant minotaur		Forge regent	Lava titan
Giant ent		Beaver	Fire titan
Ice titan		Pyrelord	Spirit Tz-Kih
Pack yak		Albino rat	Spirit cobra

It's not quite so simple as just picking stuff up off the ground, though. As soon as you enter the spirit plane, there will be two types of familiars opposed to your form that will instantly recognise you as a rogue element within their plane of existence. The longer that you remain within the spirit plane, the more types of familiars that will start to see through your disguise and recognise you too.



If you pass too close to any familiars that will recognise you, which are depicted at the top of the screen, they will drain some of your mental focus and your presence within the spirit plane will weaken. Your level of focus is tracked by the bar on the left-hand side of the screen. When this has completely worn down, you will lose focus and your conscious will return to your body on RuneScape, next to Pikkenmix, exactly where you last parked it, along with as many piles of raw shards as you managed to collect. Your current level of mental focus can also roughly be gauged by the colour draining from your form in the spirit plane.



Mental projection like this takes a lot of effort, so you will only be able to stay in the spirit plane for a maximum of twenty minutes from when you first entered. That is unless the native familiars cause you to lose focus or if you find all sixty piles of raw shards first. It will also take you a while to recover from the familiarisation process, so you will only be able to aid Pikkenmix once every week.




Once you've returned to RuneScape you can get a reward from Pikkenmix. You can choose between a blessing that grants you luck with charm drops or to receive some ingredients to use in infusing summoning pouches. If you choose lucky charms, for up to the next forty minutes of in-game time, any charm drops that you receive will be tripled. If you go for the ingredients, you'll randomly receive a box of items that can be used to infuse pouches. What item or items you receive, and in what quantity, is based upon your current Summoning level and how many piles of raw shards you managed to collect from the spirit plane. If you enter the spirit plane again before taking your reward, however, you will only be able to hold on to a maximum of thirty piles of raw shards from your last trip. Any more than this you had previously collected will be lost, so it might be more prudent to take your reward before entering the spirit plane again. Pikkenmix will give you fair warning if this is the case.


Developer: Marion C
Graphics: Alex R, Kris F, Mike W, Samantha H
QA: Liam H, Thomas H
Audio: Grace D

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