OSRS Icthlarin's Little Helper Guide: Unlock Sophanem

Icthlarin’s Little Helper is the second quest in the Kharidian series. It lets you access the city of Sophanem and get the Catspeak Amulet. One of the fun parts is working with your cat throughout the quest—I personally really enjoy the storyline.

General Questing recommendations

Turn on the RuneLite Quest Helper in your plugin list. Hold space to skip through NPC dialogue, and use the number keys for chat options—there’s quite a bit of cutscenes and talking in this quest.

Item Requirements for Icthlarin’s Little Helper

Some of these items can be bought from Grand exchange. Follow the ironman notes below to learn to obtain them if they are not available.

• Any cat or kitten

• • Waterskin (4): available on grand exchange
  • Tinderbox: available on grand exchange
  • Bag of salt or empty bucket
  • Willow logs: available on grand exchange

• Bucket of sap

• Linen: available on grand exchange

How Long it takes

Icthlarin's Little Helper took me about 14 minutes to complete. 

Ironman notes

• Any cat or kitten: You should have one from Gertrude’s Cat quest. If you lost it, you can buy another from Gertrude in Varrock for 100 coins.
• Waterskin (4): Needed for the quest. I recommend bringing a few extras so you don’t accidentally sip it while in the desert.
• Tinderbox: Grab one from any general store if you don’t already have it.
• Bag of Salt or an empty bucket: You can get a bag of salt from a Slayer Master, or use a bucket to collect saltwater during the quest. They cost around 10 GP. I suggest getting it first from a Slayer Master near you—Krystillia in Edgeville is pretty close. That would save you some time.
• Willow logs: Cut these from any Willow tree (requires 30 Woodcutting).
• Bucket of sap: Obtain this by using a knife on an evergreen or a regular tree marked “a commonly found tree” with a bucket in your inventory. A fast way is to teleport to Nightmare Zone, then use a knife on the regular tree just east of it as shown below.
• Linen: Can be bought during the quest.

Recommendations for Icthlarin’s Little Helper

• Prayer potion: Very handy since you’ll be running through a cave with enemies hitting you with melee attacks. With enough prayer potions, you won’t have to go back to the bank to restock throughout the quest.
• Antipoison: You’ll likely get poisoned while in the maze.
• Waterskins (4): Essential for staying hydrated in the desert sections.
• Stamina potion: Highly recommended—you’ll be moving through a maze with lots of aggressive enemies.
• 600+ coins: 100 coins needed for travel from Shantay Pass, 30 for Linen
• Armour: Wizard top, hat, and robes or better, paired with your best Magic attack spell if you’re planning to safespot.
• Food: Important, especially if you’re not bringing Prayer potions.
• Nardah teleport: These cost 50k each. Only worth it if you are trying speedrun through the quest.

Walkthrough of Icthlarin’s Little Helper

Starting the Quest

Make sure to bring all the required items, plus as many of the recommended ones as you can, so you don’t have to keep running back to a bank during the quest. Especially, if you have enough prayer potions to do the quest in a single run.

• First, make your way to Shantay Pass and hop on the flying carpet to Pollnivneach—it’ll set you back 200 coins. From there, just run south until you spot the Wanderer (look for the quest icon highlighted below). 

If you don’t have a bag of salt, you can use your bucket on the spot just east of the Wanderer shown below to get a bucket of saltwater, which works as a substitute

• Don’t forget to have your cat following you! Talk to the Wanderer and choose option 1 to kick off the quest. Chat with her again, and she’ll take your tinderbox and full waterskin. Next thing you know, she hypnotizes you, and you suddenly find yourself in Sophanem.

Flashback

Heads up—you won’t be able to teleport out during the flashback, so you’ll have to finish it or die, which means losing your cat.

I’d suggest drinking an Antipoison potion now, because you’re going to get poisoned in the next area. Also, double-check if you brought enough food. Then, head to the pyramid, south of Sophanem. Open the north door of the pyramid as shown below to trigger the flashback.

.

• Now, you need to follow the path until you get to the pit highlighted in the minimap below. Make sure you move using the minimap so you automatically dodge all the traps; if you click around normally, those traps will hit you and deal damage. You will be attacked by mummies (level 96) and Scarab Swarms (level  96) which can poison you - Ignore them and keep on running

• When you reach the pit, make sure you have at least 20% run energy. If not, drink a stamina potion or just wait a bit for it to regen. Crossing the pit might take a few tries, and if you fail, you’ll respawn a little further back in the maze—so don’t stress, just try again. Unequip any item in your hand slot to improve your chances of making it across.
• Once you’ve crossed the pit, head for the western door. You’ll need to solve a puzzle to get it open

Western Door Puzzle

You'll now face a tile puzzle where the goal is to flip all tiles to their gold sides. There's no limit to how many times you can click. Each time you flip a tile, it also flips the eight surrounding tiles in a 3x3 grid. To solve it, first reset the puzzle until it matches the default layout shown below. You can do this by right-clicking the gold solution, then repeatedly clicking the “reset puzzle” button until the tiles match the image. Once the layout is correct, click the tiles in the exact order shown in the guide. 

The Puzzle:

The Solution:

When all tiles turn gold, the puzzle will complete, and you’ll wake up fully healed outside the pyramid.

Flashback 2

You’ll need to enter the Pyramid again, but this time it’s a bit tougher. Not only do you have to run past the same enemies as before, but you’ll also face a level 75–81 monster. Don’t worry though—you can safespot him. If your supplies are running low, hit up a bank to restock before you go in.

• Start by chatting with the Sphinx in Sophanem, just north of the pyramid, with your cat by your side. Answer its riddle with “9,” then pick option 1. After that, head southwest to talk to the High Priest, as shown in the image below.

• Enter the pyramid again.
• Follow the path again until you reach a pit, then jump across it. Remember to move using the minimap to dodge all the traps. Enter the north-west room and try picking up the canopic jars until a level 75–81 enemy shows up. Don’t worry—you can safespot him using the central table and take him down safely.

• After killing him, try picking up the canopic jars in the north-west room again then head back to the pit and jump back it with the jar to exit the trance.

Returning the Canopic Jars

• Your character now feels regret and wants to return the jar. 
• Cross the pit again, head to the northwest door, solve the puzzle to unlock it, then enter.
• Drop the canopic jar back in the spot you took it from. Then leave the pyramid by running past the monsters and traps, and head up the same stairs you entered through. To make it easier, you can just logout and log back in to appear outside the pyramid.
• When outside, return to the High Priest, west of the Pyramid shown below.

Preparing for the Ceremony

• Bring the following items: 1 Bucket of sap, 1 Bag of Salt from a Slayer Master, or an empty bucket to get some, Linen or 30 coins to buy some, 1 Willow logs
• Talk to the Embalmer just south of the High Priest.

• Get some linen. You can buy some from Raetul east of Sophanem shown below for 30 coins.

• Use the bucket of saltwater on the sun trap in the southeast of Sophanem.

• Talk to the Embalmer again, just south of the High Priest.
• Talk to the Carpenter in the east of Sophanem until he gives you the holy symbol.

Finishing the Quest

Check your supplies: make sure you have enough food and decent combat gear to run through the Pyramid again and kill possessed priest (level 91). This is a good time to restock if needed. You’ll also need your cat.

• Enter the pyramid in the south of Sophanem.
• Follow the path again until you reach a pit, and jump over it. Move using the minimap to avoid all the traps.
• Enter the east room this time.

• Use the unholy symbol on a sarcophagus.
• Leave the east room.
• Jump over the pit to leave the trance.
• Enter the east room again
• Kill the possessed priest. Pray protect from magic against the priest. Bring good food if you don’t have protect from magic. It’s not possible to safespot him since he uses magic.
• Talk to the High Priest in the northeast room of the Pyramid.
• Leave the room and witness a cutscene at the exit.
• Return to the High Priest in the west of the Pyramid to finish the quest.

Rewards from Icthlarin's Little Helper

• 2 Quest Point
• 4,500 thieving XP
• 4,000 agility XP
• 4,000 woodcutting XP
• Amulet of Catspeak
• Access to the city of Sophanem
• Unlock carpet rides from Pollnivneach to Sophanem to Menaphos.

Overall, Icthlarin’s Little Helper is an important quest in the Kharidian series, with several useful unlocks that help later on. On top of that, the Catspeak amulet alone is required in multiple other quests, so finishing this is huge step towards completing the series