Tree strikes and you're out
As the chill breeze makes way for warmth, the seasonal baton is passed from winter to spring. This ritual takes place annually in the Land of Holly and Hawthorn, and you have been granted permission to participate.
The ritual itself is an ancient one: the Queen of Snow and Queen of Sunrise fight in ceremonial combat, while a retinue of winter and spring creatures cheer them on. The battle can take many forms - this year, evil holly and hawthorn trees grow in the orchard and the queens are encouraging adventurers to cut them down - but ultimately the Queen of Sunrise wins, the Year is passed from winter to spring, and the world glows with the energies of a new season.
Something is different this year, however. While the ritual goes through its usual paces, there is a feeling that something ill is in the wind; that something integral to the event is missing. You will be required for more than your skills at chopping down trees, it seems...
Getting Started
Queens' Land.
The Easter portal is located just south of the Falador Clan Camp and north of Rimmington. Both free players and members can pass through this portal and enter the Land of Holly and Hawthorn.
To start the event, you should talk to the Queen of Sunrise or the Queen of Snow.
Holly vs Hawthorn
To symbolise the conflict between winter and spring, the queens are asking you to chop down your choice of tree. By doing so, you will find the Year in the evil tree's stump, and it can be passed on to either queen so that the seasonal ritual may continue for another cycle.
Talk to the Easter Bunny or Jack Frost to get a hatchet and tinderbox, as these will be invaluable in felling the trees. You can find the evil hawthorn trees in the grass; the evil holly trees can be found in the snow. Once you have found an evil tree, it is advised that you chop it down in a group rather than attempting to fell it solo. This is because the evil trees are stubborn creatures and they will regenerate roots that you have chopped down, making it a frustrating battle to be completed alone.
Your best bet is to chop the roots of the evil tree, gaining kindle as you do so. You can then light this kindle at the base of the evil tree, doing more damage over a period of time as you merrily chop at the trunk of the tree. Once the tree is felled, search its stump for the Year and pass it to one of the queens.
The Vale of Years
Having passed the Year to the queens, the ritual continues, and it becomes clear that something is very wrong indeed. You're called into action again, this time to search the area for someone who has useful information about the strange events. While the people surrounding the queens are less than useful, there are three figures on the outskirts of the area that may prove more knowledgeable.
These three figures will give you a location, and you are encouraged to search that location for your quarry. To give anything else away would be unfair; explore the Land and find the answer for yourself!
Once Spring Has Sprung...
Although spring may eventually gain the Year, and the cycle turns away from winter, it's still possible to cut the evil trees in the area. By choosing to cut either holly or hawthorn, you are contributing to a grand total for the world you are on, which can be viewed by inspecting the Season Tree in the centre of the land. If the number of evil hawthorn trees killed in the area is greater than the evil holly, you will find that the Season Tree becomes barer and wintry; if you kill more holly trees, then the tree becomes flush with leaves.
Rewards
By regaining the Year, you will be given the sunbeam crown by the Queen of Sunrise. This item is available to both free players and members. If you are a member and you have helped to kill an evil hawthorn tree, you will also be given an icicle crown.
Both crowns are permanent, but their effects can only be used until the week commencing 31st May. The sunbeam and icicle crowns can be used to receive a hint of the location of evil trees on members' worlds. This ability is the same as the one that is available from spirit trees. If the evil tree is fully grown, you can also use the crowns to teleport to it. A teleport expends one charge from a crown, and each has two charges by default but can hold a total of 30 charges. Kill an appropriate evil tree in the Land of Holly and Hawthorn (an evil holly tree for the sunbeam crown, and an evil hawthorn tree for the icicle crown) and your crown will gain two charges. Each crown can be used 30 times before they become ineffective.
By playing the Easter 2011 event, you will also unlock the Invoke Spring emote. Previous Easter emotes will also unlock.
