Withering Heights: Fellhollow entry and the three Curse Fragments

Enter through the Forgotten Temple

1. Speak to the Wise Old Man near Ashien’s Watch and follow the strange-door objective into the Forgotten Temple.
2. Speak to Death, then Postie Pete. Continue into Fellhollow and use the Purification Pool when the quest asks you to remove the Soul Rift.
3. Find Cathan and read the three standing-stone clues. Check that the fragment objectives are active before travelling to their locations.

Spoiler clip · The strange door: choose the phrase to get in · reveal

Checked on screen · Oct 19, 2026 · Version 1.0

2:35–2:48 · 13 sThe strange door: choose the phrase to get in

Spoiler clip · Postie Pete, then into the Soul Rift · reveal

Checked on screen · Oct 19, 2026 · Version 1.0

1:15–1:38 · 23 sPostie Pete, then into the Soul Rift

Spoiler clip · Cathan's ghost between the glyph standing stones · reveal

Checked on screen · Oct 19, 2026 · Version 1.0

kingy.wiki2:01–2:05 · 4 sCathan's ghost between the glyph standing stones

Choose a Curse Fragment route

The three can be collected in any order. Our recommendation is to return and restock between them rather than treat the entire region as one continuous run.

Grief: resolve the four shrines

After all four shrines activate, return to the cleared barrier and interact with the curse seal for Grief. Choose dialogue by its meaning rather than assuming option numbers stay fixed.

The four clips below come from 1.0 footage, one per table row: the spirits and the Shrine to Armadyl by the lake, the Green Dragon at the standing-stone ruins, the island shrine with the pedestal below it, and the dark temple entered over its roof. The dragon clip ends mid-fight, before the shrine activates. A fifth clip shows the Grief seal itself: the fragment notice and the next objective, “Enter the Shattered Spire and defeat Imaru.”

Spoiler clip · Armadyl shrine: question the spirits by the lake and answer at the shrine · reveal

Checked on screen · Oct 16, 2026 · Version 1.0

1:51–2:38 · 47 sArmadyl shrine: question the spirits by the lake and answer at the shrine

Spoiler clip · Guthix row: the Green Dragon at the standing-stone ruins · reveal

Checked on screen · Oct 16, 2026 · Version 1.0

kingy.wiki1:30–1:50 · 20 sGuthix row: the Green Dragon at the standing-stone ruins

Spoiler clip · Saradomin row: the island shrine and the pedestal below it · reveal

Checked on screen · Oct 16, 2026 · Version 1.0

kingy.wiki0:25–0:52 · 27 sSaradomin row: the island shrine and the pedestal below it

Spoiler clip · Zamorak row: enter the dark temple over its roof · reveal

Checked on screen · Oct 16, 2026 · Version 1.0

kingy.wiki0:54–1:21 · 27 sZamorak row: enter the dark temple over its roof

Spoiler clip · Grief: the curse seal, then the fragment and the Shattered Spire objective · reveal

Checked on screen · Oct 19, 2026 · Version 1.0

kingy.wiki10:39–10:50 · 11 sGrief: the curse seal, then the fragment and the Shattered Spire objective

Rage and Despair: collect the seals after the encounters

Rage is inside the vault beneath the Lake of Lost Souls waterfall. Follow its spectral paths and purification points through to the Zogre encounter. Defeating it opens access to the curse seal; collect the fragment before leaving.

For Despair, climb Silverthorn Keep using its broken stairways and Windstep where needed. Prepare for the Green Dragon near the upper seal, then interact with the seal after the encounter.

The two clips below come from 1.0 footage: the Zogre fight and the Rage seal inside the vault, then Silverthorn Keep’s wall walk, the Green Dragon fight and the Despair seal.

Spoiler clip · Rage: defeat the Zogre in the vault, then use the curse seal · reveal

Checked on screen · Oct 16, 2026 · Version 1.0

3:44–4:17 · 33 sRage: defeat the Zogre in the vault, then use the curse seal

Spoiler clip · Despair: Silverthorn Keep's wall walk, the Green Dragon and the upper seal · reveal

Checked on screen · Oct 19, 2026 · Version 1.0

kingy.wiki5:39–6:17 · 38 sDespair: Silverthorn Keep's wall walk, the Green Dragon and the upper seal

Lake of Lost Souls vault: Vekchenven Kara walkthrough

The Lake of Lost Souls’ own dragonkin vault is Vekchenven Kara, behind the waterfall west of the lake’s northern island. It holds this quest’s Rage curse fragment. Reach the lake from Hope’s Fall through a small ravine along the south-eastern edge, or follow the trail north-east from where you first enter Fellhollow.

You have to soul-rift more than once to pass its spectral doors and collect all the loot, so note each purification pool as you pass it. Hazards include exploding plant traps that knock you into wither, wither itself and fire jets. Enemies are power level 5, from rats and dragonwolves to a Rotsworn Necromancer and vault guardians; while rifted, lost souls and ghost wolves keep coming.

The Zogre at the end guards the Rage seal; defeat it before collecting the fragment. The wiki lists the Fellhollow Zogre at power level 5 with 4,200 health, weak to Crush and resistant to Slash, Stab and Air. The vault also holds three vestige recipes, below, and the wiki counts seven chests.

Every new Imaru fight needs all three curse fragments again. If you have already cleared the vault, the wiki says it is faster to soul-rift and take the spectral door near the entrance to reach the end.

Skekven Kara is a different vault, between Silverthorn Keep and the lake, with Doric camped nearby. It gives the Salve Amulet tablet, not the Rage fragment.

Spoiler clip · Vekchenven Kara: a Purify your soul pool · reveal

Checked on screen · Nov 3, 2026 · Version 1.0

3:46–4:06 · 20 sVekchenven Kara: a Purify your soul pool

Break the tower seal and return to Death

With all three fragments, head to Imaru’s tower in Hope’s Fall, called the Shattered Spire in the objective record. Interact with the seal to enter. After the fight, bring Imaru’s head back to Death at the Forgotten Temple.

The Imaru sections below cover preparation, his attacks and drops from community sources. Restock with healing food; the older walkthrough’s Wardstone and healing-potion recommendations conflict with the 0.12 health rework.

Before Imaru: stats, kit and what to leave behind

Imaru is a power level 5 undead dragon with 14,000 health. The community wiki lists no weakness and no resistance, and immunity to Poison, Burn and Bleed. Leave weapon poison, barbs and fire arrows behind; fire spells still hit, but their burn is wasted.

The wiki’s strategy page suggests power level 5 gear for a first fight, Sea Life food such as Undead Delight or Eggs Royale, and Soul Food from Pumpkin Soup or a Pumpkin Spice Infusion. Bring a shield that blocks dragon breath for her fire, such as the Dragonblight Shield. Tempest Shield helps melee and crossbow users block her bolts and ground spikes.

The Salve Amulet adds 17% damage against undead. Its recipe starts with a tablet from Skekven Kara, which you take to Doric.

That strategy page says it is still being rewritten for 1.0’s Ascension Core upgrades and combat changes, so treat its kits as a starting point, not a 1.0 test.

Magic users: Jagex’s October 15 known-issues post says the fourth hit of the Air staff combo deals no damage. Wands and other elements are unaffected. No fix had been announced by October 19.

Keep a free quest-item slot for her head. Outside the tower, her specter only hunts you if you stay soul-rifted too long.

Imaru boss fight: phases, attacks and the spectral stage

Enter through the seal in Imaru’s Tower in Hope’s Fall. Her lair has four purifying pools and patches of wither, and Imaru rises from the river in front of you. Through the fight she shifts in and out of the soul-rift state and tries to heal by devouring souls.

The table follows the community strategy page, which was written before 1.0. The 1.0-era video guides cover the same beats: SuperStooob lists spectral stages, summons and purification, GamerCory has a purification-phase chapter, and Spopes explains the soul-rift mechanic and the adds. Steam reports from August and September describe the same mechanics.

Sources disagree on when the stages change. The strategy page puts the later stage below 50% health and the last spectral stage below 10%; a GAMES.GG guide from September 22 gives roughly two-thirds and one-third. Watch for the transitions, not the numbers.

Sources also disagree on the spectral-stage timer. The strategy page gives 40 seconds to clear thralls, knock her down and cleanse; an April Steam reply says about a minute. Head for a pool early.

On hard difficulty the strategy page says thralls and mechanics arrive earlier; the stages are the same.

Spoiler clip · Imaru's tendril cage, the blue wave and a pool · reveal

Checked on screen · Nov 3, 2026 · Version 1.0

2:55–3:20 · 25 sImaru's tendril cage, the blue wave and a pool

Spoiler clip · Imaru's arena: the pools and her arrival · reveal

Checked on screen · Nov 3, 2026 · Version 1.0

10:46–11:08 · 22 sImaru's arena: the pools and her arrival

Imaru drops, Imaru’s Talon and the quest reward

The wiki labels these rates as Jagex-provided unless marked otherwise. Kingy hasn’t measured them, and a 1/10 rate doesn’t promise a claw within ten kills.

Looking for Imaru’s sword? Her weapon is Imaru’s Talon, a power level 5 scimitar. Once the Serrated Claw unlocks it, craft it at a Blacksmith’s Bench from 1 Undead Draconic Visage, 1 Steel Scimitar, 12 Vault Shards and 1 Vault Core. Its Soul Feast effect restores 15 health on a kill, with a 30-second cooldown, and it can be ascended at the Mystic Forge with Ascension Cores.

The quest reward is separate from her loot. The Withering Heights Reward Pack holds the Dragoncurse Shield, an Undead Draconic Visage and the Tome of the Undying, worth 750 XP each in Attack, Ranged and Magic. The shield blocks dragon breath, and a parry sends a ghostly claw at the enemy (Imaru’s Retribution). An October 17 Steam report says the claw shows a damage number of 1; a reply says the health bar still drops by about 25, the figure the wiki lists, so it may only be a display bug.

Each new boss instance resets Imaru, and the tower seal needs all three curse fragments again, so plan fragment runs into every farming trip.

Imaru’s head missing, an endless spectral charge or fall deaths

These checks can’t fix every boss or quest-state bug. If the head or reward is still missing, note your platform, build, difficulty and whether you were in co-op before you report it to Jagex.

1. No head after the kill: look in the quest items tab, not the main inventory. A September 22 report says the head never appeared after two kills in which Imaru seemed to die in spectral form, and Death’s reward bag didn’t arrive; that report has no confirmed fix.
2. A spectral charge that never ends: you can’t damage her in that form unless you are soul-rifted. Step into wither, hit her until she drops, then cleanse at a pool.
3. Thrown into the air and killed by the fall near the end: players link this to the exploding spikes of the last stage. A reply says a dodge roll’s invulnerability frames avoid them.
4. The 1.0.1 fix for heads picked up early in someone else’s world is covered in the next section.

Imaru’s Head acquired early: 1.0.1 progression fix

Jagex reports that quest items acquired early through multiplayer could prevent progress into the next region, citing Imaru’s Head blocking Fellhollow. The update also corrects Wither Curse locations in Hope’s Fall. These are named publisher fixes; keep the save and record the installed build and objective if the route still blocks.