The short version
30-second read- Turn Protect from Melee back on against Evelot. Her special switches it off and drains prayer, and she hits up to 35 without it.
- Lure the assassin into his own smoke bombs. He dodges every hit until then, and his poison vials hit up to 30, so bring antipoison.
- The Ghorrock codes are fixed for everyone. BLOOD opens the centre gate, 7402 the northern chest, and the braziers go NW, SE, NE, SW.
- Bring ranged and magic for the Strange Creature. It has 550 Hitpoints, and walking in with one combat style is a common way to fail.
Overview
Secrets of the North is a Master quest in the Mahjarrat series worth 2 quest points. To start it you need 69 Agility, 64 Thieving and 56 Hunter (none can be boosted), plus Making Friends with My Arm, The General's Shadow, Devious Minds and Hazeel Cult. Talk to the guard outside the Carnillean Mansion in East Ardougne to begin. Finishing it unlocks the Phantom Muspah and counts toward Desert Treasure II.
The first half is a murder case in Ardougne: inspect the crime scene, track Evelot from the Fight Arena bar, report to Hazeel in the cult hideout and pick the lock on a hidden chest. The second half moves under Weiss into the Ghorrock Dungeon, where an assassin attacks with whichever style you are not praying against and four fixed codes open the way to the boss.
The Strange Creature finale (level 368, 550 Hitpoints) is where most supplies go. Bring ranged and magic gear and expect to learn it like a boss. A death costs potions and a short run back from the salt mine, where your gravestone appears.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | Master |
| Length | Medium |
| Quest points | 2 |
| Quest number | 156 |
| Released | 11 January 2023 |
| Starting point | Talk to the guard outside of the Carnillean Mansion in the south-western corner of East Ardougne. |
| Members | Yes |
| Updated / fact checked | 2026-10-12 |
Requirements and Prerequisites
Skill and quest gates come from the OSRS Wiki quest details. All three skills are checked when you start, and none of them can be boosted.
| Skill | Level | Boostable? |
|---|---|---|
| Agility | 69 | No |
| Thieving | 64 | No |
| Hunter | 56 | No |
Four quests are direct prerequisites. Each pulls in its own chain, listed in brackets:
- Making Friends with My Arm (needs My Arm's Big Adventure, Swan Song, Cold War and Romeo & Juliet, which in turn pull in Eadgar's Ruse, Druidic Ritual, Troll Stronghold, Death Plateau, The Feud, Jungle Potion, One Small Favour, Rune Mysteries, Shilo Village, Garden of Tranquillity, Creature of Fenkenstrain, Priest in Peril and The Restless Ghost)
- The General's Shadow (needs Curse of the Empty Lord for full ghostly robes, a started Desert Treasure I for the ring of visibility, and Fight Arena)
- Devious Minds (needs Wanted!, Troll Stronghold and Doric's Quest; Wanted! needs Recruitment Drive, The Lost Tribe, Priest in Peril and Enter the Abyss)
- Hazeel Cult
Desert Treasure I only has to be started. You need it far enough along to get the ring of visibility from Rasolo, because Curse of the Empty Lord and The General's Shadow both use it.
Items to Bring
The required list is short: 100 coins for the barman's bribe, a lockpick and a tinderbox. Recommended gear is comfort, except for the Strange Creature, which really wants ranged and magic.
Required
- 100 Coins
- Lockpick (Strange Old Lockpick does NOT work)
- Tinderbox (obtainable during the quest)
Recommended
- Combat 85
- Antipoison or other form of poison protection
- Any Ardougne cloak to teleport near several quest locations
- Icy basalt to teleport to Weiss
A hair clip works in place of the lockpick for the Carnillean chest. The tinderbox can be taken from a crate in the Ghorrock Dungeon, next to the braziers that need it.
Where to Start
Starting location: Talk to the guard outside of the Carnillean Mansion in the south-western corner of East Ardougne.
The quickest route is a spirit tree to the Battlefield. Later, an Ardougne cloak teleports you to the monastery near the sewer entrance for the Hazeel Cult hideout, and the icy basalt puts you next to Weiss. If you have just finished Hazeel Cult, log out and back in or the guard will not offer the quest.
Official quest description: Our story begins - as all good murder mysteries do - with a mysterious murder, and there's no shortage of suspects - in fact, you're one of them! Be prepared to form an uneasy alliance, dig up secrets best left buried deep, and walk away with more questions than answers...
Walkthrough, Stage by Stage
Steps follow the Wiki quick guide, and dialogue options you must pick are in brackets. Evelot, the assassin and the Strange Creature each have a fight note in the Boss Fights section.
- 1
A Death in the Family.
Make your way to the Carnillean Mansion and speak to the guard. (dialogue: Yes.)
- 2
Climb up the stairs and speak to the guard again.
- 3
Inspect Ceril's corpse and the broken window.
- 4
Knock on the false wall, then climb up the ladder and inspect the chest in the hidden room up the ladder.
- 5
Speak to the guard again.
(dialogue: The window was broken from the outside. → Ceril was stabbed from behind. → A hidden room above us was broken into. → I think that's everything.)
- 6
On the Trail.
Head to the Fight Arena Bar, speak to the Khazard Barman and pay his 100-coin bribe. (dialogue: Do you know anyone called Evelot?)
- 7
Track Evelot by inspecting, in order:
the barrels just outside the bar entrance, the north-west boulder, the north bush, the tree stump, another boulder and the east bush. The trail ends at a rowboat south of the Tower of Life.
- 8
Approach Evelot to begin the fight.
Every few attacks, she will use a special attack that disables protection prayers and drains your prayer.
- 9
Finish the conversation with Evelot after defeating her.
- 10
The Mysterious Benefactor.
Head to the Hazeel Cult's hideout by way of the entrance to the Ardougne Sewers slightly east of the Clock Tower. Board the raft.
- 11
If the raft will not move, make sure all sewer valves outside the cave are in the correct position.
See the Hazeel Cult guide for details.
- 12
Speak with Alomone (if you sided with Hazeel) or Clivet (if you did not).
- 13
Speak with Hazeel.
- 14
Return to Carnillean Mansion and talk to the guard.
- 15
Climb down the ladder inside the house and talk to Claus the Chef.
- 16
Search the south-western cooking shelves and press the button.
(dialogue: Yes.)
- 17
Inspect the wall next to the noticeboard and enter the passage.
(dialogue: Yes.)
- 18
Pick the lock on the chest by moving the pins along to specific positions.
They will appear blue if the number is correct but in the wrong position, and green if that pin is at the correct position. The ordering does not change attempt to attempt.
- 19
Inspect the dusty scroll.
- 20
Bring the dusty scroll to Hazeel.
- 21
In the North.
Head to the northern entrance of Weiss and speak to Big Fish.
- 22
Head to the main building and speak to Snowflake.
(dialogue: Have you seen anything odd around here recently?) (Chat option 2 if you don't have the Weiss fire notes)
- 23
Head to the northern entrance of Weiss and speak to Big Fish.
(dialogue: Why would the killer come here? → What is this ritual you keep talking about? → Okay, I'm done asking questions. What now?)
- 24
Head down the stairs in the main building, and go through the southern cave entrance.
(dialogue: Yes.)
- 25
After the cutscene, fight the assassin.
He will attack with melee or ranged, whichever style the player is not praying protection against.
- 26
The assassin will continually throw 1x1 tile smoke bombs around the room, which you then need to lure him inside to be able to deal damage.
- 27
The assassin will also occasionally throw vials of poison, which can deal up to 30 poison damage and inflict poison starting at 6 damage.
- 28
Speak with Hazeel located just south-west at the cave's entrance.(dialogue:
I'll get going.)
- 29
Search the barrel south of the centre room to find a lever handle.
- 30
Enter the centre room, using the code BLOOD to unlock the gate.
- 31
Open the northern chest using code 7402 to obtain an icy chest.
- 32
Light the braziers in the following order:
NW, SE, NE, SW (a tinderbox can be found by searching the crate in the room)
- 33
Open the western chest to find a jewel shard and a settlements note.
- 34
Head to the northern room, pressing the LEFT - UP - LEFT - DOWN arrows in that order to unlock the gate.
- 35
Use the handle on the lever mechanism, and pull it.
- 36
Inspect the south-western pillar in the room where you fought the assassin for the other jewel shard.
- 37
Use the jewel shards on one another, and use the ancient jewel on the icy chest.
- 38
Open the gate south of the centre room with the icy key.
- 39
Strange Creature.
Resupply with ranged and magic gear for a fairly difficult boss fight.
- 40
Enter the crevice to fight the Strange Creature.
Fight notes are in the Boss Fights section below.
- 41
After the cutscene, accept Hazeel's teleport.
(dialogue: Yes.)
- 42
Return to the guard at the Carnillean Mansion.
- 43
Finish the closing dialogue to complete the quest.
Deaths are cheap in this quest. Lose to Evelot and your gravestone appears south of the Tower of Life; lose to the assassin or the Strange Creature and it appears in the salt mine, outside the Ghorrock Dungeon entrance.
Ghorrock Dungeon Puzzle Codes
The second half of the quest takes place in the Ghorrock Dungeon under Weiss. Every code there is the same for every player, so you can enter the answers below directly.
| Puzzle | Where | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| Pin lock chest | Hidden room off the Carnillean Mansion basement | Blue pin means right number, wrong spot; green means right spot. Set every pin to 1 and confirm, then raise each pin that is not green by one and confirm again. Six guesses at most. |
| Word lock gate | Centre room | BLOOD. The Duke note and strange cipher spell out BOUND BY BLOOD. |
| Northern chest | Centre room | 7402, from tracing the settlements note on the ancient map. Gives the icy chest. |
| Braziers | Centre room | Light NW, SE, NE, SW (the numbers note reads 3241). This opens the western chest with a jewel shard. |
| Direction lock gate | Northern room | LEFT, UP, LEFT, DOWN. The purple letters in Tullia's letter (S, P, C, D, L) trace Senntisten, Paddewwa, Carrallanger, Dareeyak and Lassar on the ancient map. |
| Icy chest | Inventory | Get the second jewel shard from the south-western pillar in the assassin room, combine the shards into the ancient jewel and use it on the icy chest. The icy key opens the gate to the boss. |
One trap on the brazier step: the numbers note is mirrored, with NW and SW written on the right and NE and SE on the left. Read the letters and ignore where they sit on the note.
Boss Fights
Three fights. Levels, max hits and phase rules below are from the OSRS Wiki.
| Fight | Attacks with | Pray | What decides the fight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evelot (level 148) | Melee, up to 35 | Protect from Melee. Her special turns protection prayers off and drains prayer, so switch it back on. | She is weak to magic and immune to binds and freezes. You can kite her around the bush next to her rowboat. |
| Assassin (level 262) | Melee or ranged, whichever you are not praying against; poison vials up to 30 | Pray against the style you are weakest to | He dodges every hit until you lure him into one of his smoke bombs. Step one tile away when he throws a vial. General Khazard helps but will not finish him alone. |
| Strange Creature (level 368, 550 HP) | Melee in the brown phase; ranged and magic in the green phases | Protect from Melee if it reaches you in brown, then Protect from Missiles, switching to Magic when it charges purple energy | At 20% it teleports to the centre: hide behind spikes for the shockwave (up to 40), then break its prayer shield with Smite or sapphire bolts (e). Spikes hurt you and heal it, so keep moving. |
The cheapest setup the Wiki suggests is a crossbow with enchanted bolts for the whole fight, with ruby bolts (e) to shorten the brown phase, blessed d'hide and plenty of prayer potions. On lower accounts, a thrall and Ward of Arceuus from the Arceuus spellbook take a lot of pressure off.
Rewards and Unlocks
Rewards from the Wiki reward scroll. The 150,000 total XP lands in the three skills you already had to train for the requirements.
| Reward | Detail |
|---|---|
| Quest points | 2 |
| Difficulty | Master |
| Length | Medium |
| Reward | Agility 60,000 experience |
| Reward | Thieving 50,000 experience |
| Reward | Hunter 40,000 experience |
| Reward | Ability to mine ancient essence crystals in the Ghorrock Dungeon |
| Reward | Access to a stronger version of the Strange Creature, the Phantom Muspah |
The Phantom Muspah is the stronger, repeatable version of the Strange Creature. Our Phantom Muspah guide covers the boss itself, and if you would rather skip the learning kills, BILS also offers Phantom Muspah kills as a service.
Fact checked 2026-10-12 against the OSRS Wiki quest page and quick guide.
Common Mistakes and Warnings
Weiss code rooms are where people stall after a clean Ardougne half.
- Misreading the Carnillean crime scene questions and looping the guard dialogue.
- Leaving Protect from Melee to look after itself against Evelot. Her special switches it off, and she hits up to 35 without it.
- Forgetting a lockpick or hair clip for the dusty scroll chest.
- Entering the assassin fight without antipoison after seeing the smoke-bomb pattern once.
- Lighting Weiss braziers in the wrong order and assuming the chest is bugged.
- Bringing only one combat style into the Strange Creature.
- Skipping Hazeel Cult valve setup so the raft will not move.
- Starting under 69 Agility. It is checked at the start and cannot be boosted.
Ironman Notes
The hidden chest takes a lockpick or a hair clip. If you have neither, Martin Thwait's Lost and Found in the Rogues' Den sells lockpicks for 20 coins, and the 64 Thieving and 69 Agility this quest asks for already clear the shop's 50 Thieving and 50 Agility gate.
Ultimate Ironmen who die to the Strange Creature leave a normal deathpile in the salt mine, outside the Ghorrock Dungeon entrance.
FAQ
What does Secrets of the North unlock?
The Phantom Muspah boss, ancient essence crystal mining in the Ghorrock Dungeon, and 60,000 Agility, 50,000 Thieving and 40,000 Hunter XP. It is also a required quest for Desert Treasure II.
What are the Secrets of the North codes?
BLOOD for the centre gate, 7402 for the northern chest, braziers in the order NW, SE, NE, SW, and LEFT, UP, LEFT, DOWN for the direction lock in the northern room.
Is 69 Agility boostable?
No. Agility 69, Thieving 64 and Hunter 56 are all unboostable and checked when you start.
Who is Evelot in OSRS?
Evelot (level 148) is the name engraved on the Khazard Army amulet found at the crime scene. You track her from the Fight Arena bar and fight her by a rowboat south of the Tower of Life. She stole the scroll from the mansion but did not kill Ceril.
How do you damage the assassin?
Wait for his smoke bombs to land and lure him into one. Outside the smoke he dodges every attack. Pray against whichever of his two styles hurts you more, and step off your tile when he throws a poison vial.
How hard is the Strange Creature?
It is level 368 with 550 Hitpoints and four phases. The Wiki rates it a reasonable fight for 85+ combat in gear like blessed d'hide and enchanted onyx jewellery, as long as you bring stamina potions and a prayer restore.
Do I need Desert Treasure I?
Only started. The chain through The General's Shadow needs the ring of visibility, which Rasolo gives you partway through Desert Treasure I.
Does Hazeel Cult side matter?
Only for who you talk to in the cult hideout: Alomone if you sided with Hazeel, Clivet if you did not. The quest plays out the same either way.
Still stuck on a mechanic? Ask the team on our Discord, it is free.
Bottom Line
The Ardougne half is detective work and one fight you can kite. The Weiss half is four fixed codes, an assassin you can only hit in smoke, and a 550-Hitpoint creature that wants ranged and magic.
If you want the Muspah unlock without the assassin and creature learning curve, our quest service completes it by hand.
Sources
Numbers and mechanics on this page come from these 6 OSRS Wiki pages:
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