Antonica · EverQuest (original release)
Qeynos
The great human port of the west coast: two walled districts, a harbour that trades with Erudin, a guard that patrols as far as the Plains of Karana, and a seamy underbelly of smugglers, rude locals and too many taverns.
A city on the western shore
Qeynos stands on the middle of Antonica’s western coast, west of the Plains of Karana, and it is one of the two great human cities of the continent; the other, Freeport, lies on the far eastern coast. The city is the seat of the Bayle line, and the game splits it into two zones. North Qeynos holds the Priests of Life, the monks of the Silent Fist and the rogues of the Circle of Unseen Hands, and its gate faces the Qeynos Hills. South Qeynos holds the warriors, the Order of Three, the Knights of Thunder and the bards.
The EQ Atlas lists two religious houses, the Temple of Life and the House of Thunder, and a full set of artisan stations: brewery, forge, kiln, oven and pottery wheel. Humans and half-elves begin here, and almost every class has a guild in one district or the other.
Sources: Allakhazam: North Qeynos (zone) · Allakhazam: South Qeynos (zone) · EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Qeynos · Project 1999 Wiki: North Qeynos · Project 1999 Wiki: South Qeynos
Docks, alliances and the long road east
The docks are the city’s window on the world. The only regular sea traffic is with Erudin, the high human city across the ocean to the west, by way of Erud’s Crossing, and the EQ Atlas credits that alliance with a great deal of the city’s mystical knowledge. To the north, the savage gnolls of Blackburrow stand between Qeynos and the barbarians of Halas, and the rangers and druids of Surefall Glade are close allies who prefer to keep clear of city streets.
Freeport, the guide says with some feeling, might as well lie on the sun. No ship route linked the two cities, so the overland journey ran either through the swamps of the ogres and trolls or east across the Plains of Karana and the bandit and giant country beyond. The Qeynos guard keeps posts in the plains, but they thin out past the western edge.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Qeynos · Allakhazam: North Qeynos (zone) · Project 1999 Wiki: North Qeynos
Taverns and characters
The EQ Atlas writer, a bard, ranks the four main pubs by declining politeness: the Lion’s Mane Tavern near the docks, the Mermaid’s Lure right on them (decor and odour both aquatic), Fish’s Ale, and Crow’s Pub and Casino, whose crowd is the worst in town despite sitting beside the Silent Fist’s reflecting pool. Crow’s has a brewing barrel in the back. The Wind Spirit’s Song is home to the League of Antonican Bards, and the Grounds of Fate stage bloody bouts between warriors and monsters the guards have captured.
Merkes Tabolet roams the docks trading in everything; keep a hand on your purse. Qeynos also has its share of rude locals who attack anyone nearby, and the guards will not step in.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Qeynos
At the gates
Monsters near the city run from about level 1 to 5: decayed skeletons, gnoll pups, large rats, bats, snakes, fire beetles and the klicniks, whose hive near the city had not been found when the guide was written. Fippy Darkpaw, the gnoll who throws himself at the gates, is the most famous of them, and the Blackburrow gnolls do make the occasional real assault. Beyond the gates the Hills are jointly patrolled by the Qeynos guard and the Surefall rangers.
Beneath the streets run the Qeynos Aqueducts, the catacombs listed among the city’s neighbouring zones. The wider history of the city, from the Bayles to Kane Bayle and the War of Plagues, is told in our lore library.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Qeynos · Allakhazam: North Qeynos (zone) · Allakhazam: South Qeynos (zone) · Allakhazam: Qeynos Aqueducts (zone)
Lore tied to this zone
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Qeynos · Allakhazam: North Qeynos (zone) · Allakhazam: South Qeynos (zone) · Project 1999 Wiki: North Qeynos