Antonius Bayle & the Founding of Qeynos

Oceangreen

After the Combine fell, most humans settled the plains of Karana and the western Oceangreen Hills. The hills were lush grassland, hemmed in by the Jaggedpine forest to the north, steep hills and the tunnel to the gnolls’ Blackburrow to the east, and a bay to the southwest. Several gnoll clans lived there, but only the Sabertooth clan was violent toward the settlers.

Sources: EverQuest.com: Seeds of Destruction, Unfolding the Lore Part 2 (2008)

A plague from the hills

A blight crept through the region, twisting animals and plants alike, and for years no one knew why. Unknown to the villagers, a temple to Bertoxxulous stood on the outskirts of their land, carved out of the rock by the god himself, so pleased was he with his followers. As the village grew, so did the temple, and even the gnolls retreated into Blackburrow and barred the door.

Sources: EverQuest.com: Seeds of Destruction, Unfolding the Lore Part 2 (2008)

The Great Unifier

Antonius Bayle was born in those years and grew into a strong leader. He took hunters and warriors into the hills, built a stronghold at the forest’s edge and fought the followers of Bertoxxulous until he won. The druids of Karana washed away the disease, and Bayle went on to found a city on the bay. He called it Qeynos.

The EverQuest II history “Sovereignities of Qeynos” adds that he was the son of Vallius Bayle, that he united the nomadic plains clans with Oceangreen village, and that he refused the title of king and asked everyone to call him simply Antonius.

Sources: EverQuest.com: Seeds of Destruction, Unfolding the Lore Part 2 (2008) · Library of Erudin: Sovereignities of Qeynos (EverQuest II book)

The line of Bayles

The same history lists his heirs. Antonius II, trained by the Knights of Thunder and the Surefall rangers, held the city together through the Erudite exodus. Antonius III made alliances with Erudin, the northmen and Rivervale before he was assassinated, leaving three sons: Kyle, who vanished, Antonius IV, and Kane “the traitor.” Antonius IV, the king of classic Qeynos, created the Circle of Ten. The book claims he later faked his death at sea to live with his secret love, Lady Shae of Felwithe, and that their line led, generations on, to Antonia Bayle of EverQuest II.

Sources: Library of Erudin: Sovereignities of Qeynos (EverQuest II book)

Discord in the hills

In Seeds of Destruction, Discord reaches back through time to strengthen the plague and the cult at exactly this moment, and you fight beside the young Antonius Bayle to save Oceangreen village and keep humanity’s future on course.

Sources: EverQuest.com: Seeds of Destruction, Unfolding the Lore Part 2 (2008) · EverQuest.com: Seeds of Destruction, Unfolding the Lore Part 1 (2008)

Qeynos under the fourth Antonius

The Library of Erudin dates Antonius Bayle IV’s birth to 5275 and his coronation to 5299. The Maps of Myrist call his rule “firm yet just” and Qeynos “the pinnacle of human achievement,” but warn that “the seeds of corruption are being sown by the Circle of the Unseen Hand and their allies in the city guard.” The city sits on sandstone cliffs that are nearly impossible to climb, which make it safe from the sea, and its pier is tucked into a natural harbour. Two ships run to Erudin through Erud’s Crossing. Ebon Strongbear of the Steel Warriors and Earron Huntlan became local heroes for leading the militia against the Sabertooth gnolls of Blackburrow, and the Circle of Unseen Hands is said to hide in a passage leading from the Crow’s Pub and Casino.

Sources: Library of Erudin: Antonius Bayle IV (overview; The Maps of Myrist — Qeynos, Southern)