Lavos' Guide to Templeton
With this Guide, I hope, quite simply, to acquaint you with Templeton. The sheer size of Templeton often discourages potential immigrants, and a detailed little introduction to this very exciting town might help out young adventurers.
I begin with Templeton's short and turbulent history. Following this, I discuss Templeton in a very general sense, and in this discussion, dissect the street structure to allow for me to describe the major destinations more easily. It's best if you glance at a map as you read through some of this. I divide Templeton into four quarters, and talk about each of the four quarters. Following this, I introduce you to the questmistress Lady Templeton, and her Castle. I then talk about miscellaneous but nonetheless important information: leveling opportunities, the underground sewer system, the locations of some fountains (both water and blood), and the docking place of the Merdraco.
Templeton is named after Lord Templeton, the town's founder. Shortly after its building, Templeton exploded in population and became a major port town, known worldwide as one of the largest ship-related manufacturers. Money rolled into the city with tourism and sailing, and all was as good as could be hoped for. After about twenty years of peace, a fey cult living in caves around the area tried to set up a chapter in the city. Lord Templeton did not permit them to do such a thing. Shortly afterward, he was attacked by a boar on a hunting expedition and was left to die by his servants, who turned out to be members of this fey cult. The cult was known as the Order of Tame. Following her husband's death, Lady Templeton has been Templeton's ruler; unfortunately for her, the city after her husband's death has been very unstable. When the cause of Templeton's death was discovered, the Lady decreed that no fey would ever sit on the city council, and the Order of Tame was forever banished from Templeton. This has led to much prejudice against the faerie races, and has escalated into all-round suspicion between all other races as well. The minotaur town guards, for example, regard anyone who isn't minotaur or human with an obvious air of suspicion. A group of young sidhe rebels now roam the streets attacking and abusing non-faerie folk in an attempt to even the odds; this, however, will only cause more anti-faerie sentiment to form. The town council is currently made up exclusively of minotaurs and humans, as these races constitute most of the populace. As for Lord Templeton, It is rumoured that his spirit still roams around his sealed Throne Room, up in his castle, but all who dare to enter that place are never heard from again.
Templeton is located on the west coast of the continent of Avros. Avros is set in the northern and eastern hemispheres of Alyria. The continent is full of fighter-types and most of the citizens dislike magic. But unlike Tellerium where the dislike of magic is so strong that massive obelisks have been built to prevent magical use, Templeton allows the casting of spells- although the locals may give you an evil eye now and then. Templeton is surrounded by a number of famous and important cities. To its south lies the great fighter city of Tellerium, to the north, the terrifying Frost Giant's Keep, to the southeast, the mystical tower of Aroxa, and very far off to the east, the Ogre Village. If you're sailing here, the sextant coordinates are (1619, 540).
The town can be subdivided into four quarters, which have a border around them. The border is made up of Seabreeze Lane on the west, Fortress Lane on the north, and Warehouse Road on the south. Imagine the four quarters as four quarters of a rectangle, with Town Square being the center of the rectangle. Town Square is also the "recall" point, which is very convenient for description purposes. The northwest quarter is where most of the town's business is conducted and contains the bank, post office, and most of the shops; the southwest quarter is mostly made up of a fairly respectable residential district (for NPCs); the northeast quarter is made up of: not-so-respectable residences, two important brothels, a new poker facility, and the very large and beautiful Black Wolf Park; the southeast quarter contains 8 houses owned by the town's upper class (NPCs) as well as Augustus Park. On the southern border of this rectangle, Warehouse road, as it goes east, turns into Mansion Walk. South of Mansion Walk is the home of the respectable Senator Leaveau. One particularly important road is Stenas Road which runs left-right through the middle of Templeton and cuts through Town Square.
The first impression you'll get of Templeton is that it is a very big city. (It's the largest port city in the world!) So if you're coming here for the first time, please make sure you have a map. It is also a dangerous city. Getting lost in Templeton can especially be dangerous for first classers due to the gang members roaming the streets. Gang members attack anyone who isn't Fey or Sidhe on sight, regardless of whether you are affected by an invisibility spell or whether you're sneaking.
You'll also notice that Templeton relies a lot on the sailing industry. The massive dreadnoughts and majestic galleons docked all over the jetty is one of the never-changing characteristics of the largest port town in Alyria. On the huge wharf west of the town and north of the town's entrance, you'll find the shipwright and all ship-related businesses. (For information's sake, refueling at Templeton Shipyards costs 35 gold coins per fuel point , 195 gold per hull point, 350 gold per shield point and 6000 gold to dock). The wharf also has a smithy (Bjorn's Metalworks) and a general store (Deek's Supplies). You'll find sailors all over the streets and in all of the half-dozen bars…pop into any of them, and you'll soon find yourself enthralled in an authentic tale of authentic drunken adventure on the high seas!
Templeton is more than just a port town, however, and has more than just drunken sailors loafing around. The city is filled with citizens of all races (though minotaur and human make up more than two-thirds of the population): elves, gnomes, ogres, halflings, dwarves, etc., of all monetary classes. For the daily needs of all of the various kinds of folk who live here, outsides and citizens like, there's a large Market Area in the northwest quarter of the city, with which we'll begin our Tour.
The Northwest Quarter
The market area in the northwest section of Templeton is the largest on the continent and is made up of many tiny tents. Market street is pretty safe from the threat of gang members. The most important are the armor tent (Divine Armor), the weapons tent (Weapons Galore), and the reagent/scroll tent (Magical Aura). Magical Aura sells all types of spell reagents, with the odd exception of air and water reagents. You can also find earth reagents lying on the ground all over the Bryne Forest (in the wilds), which touches Templeton on its east side. Mandrake leaves, oak leaves, and pine needles, all earth reagents, can be found there. The Fighting Styles dojo, where fighter skills can be trained, is also located in this Market area.
Just west of the Market area are two important places- the Bank and the Lockers. The Lockers are in a warehouse and since the room title does not say "Lockers" explicitly, it may go unnoticed by some adventurers. Templeton Lockers hold 45 items, weighing 37 stones, for 65,000 gold coins per month. The bank is in a safe room and is an extension of Tellerium Bank and Trust, known for its ridiculously high interest rate.
Just east of the market area, on the east side of the portion of Commerce Road that runs north-south, are the Post Office, and the Hammer and Anvil (another smithy). Also on this side of the road is the Night Lights Brothel (one of the many brothels in this sailors' town), where the Mark of Passion is obtained by males. Simply give 5000 gold coins to the wench. (All this is, of course, strictly according to rumor: I would never condone or participate in such … activity.) Females need to go to Jasmine's Bordello, northeast of the town square, and pay the male prostitute 5000 gold coins. Jasmine's Bordello is the first north on the stone path going east off Hillstop, just south of where Hilltop meets Oak. If you are a lower or mid-first classer on your way to attempting this mark, flee instantly from any gang members that attack you. They live only to cause you pain.
Immediately south of the market area, you'll find some places of worship: St. Ruth's Cathedral, where you can confess your sins alongside other parishioners, and The Temple of the Holy Order, with a priest from whom you can buy the typical spells that priests sell (remove curse, cure light/serious/critical, cure poison, cure disease, refresh, heal, and aura cleansing). Rumour is that Templeton's old catacombs, which were sealed off many years ago because the stench grew too unbearable after a priest forgot to use formaldehyde on the corpses, are hidden underneath the Temple of the Holy Order and are now the headquarters of the fey cult known as the Order of Tame, where they practice their evil rites and devil-summoning and whatnot. I would not recommend adventurers below higher third class to dare to exhume the catacombs' dangerous secrets and search out its wonderful treasures. (A little peek, without going in, can't hurt though). To enter, tell the priest the words, "Restore the Order of Tame".
Also south of the market area are the Federal and District courts, where (some of the) town's ruffians get their comeuppance.
To the north of the market area is the city hall, where the mayor's office is. The town council meets with the mayor once a month to discuss important issues affecting the citizens. Visit the city clerk in the city records room west of the mayor's office for some more information about templeton's Leadership and Rulers, Nightlife, Parks and Recreation, City History, and Current Events. Just ask the clerk for "help". On either side of city hall are guardhouses but more importantly, stables. The stallions aren't at all well-guarded, so if you need a mount... Hey, in a town filled with thieves, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
The Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast Quarters
The northeast quarter, as mentioned when discussing the female Mark of Passion, contains the very popular Jasmine's Bordello. It also contains Rachel's Hideaway, which is popular for its non-traditional variants of the oldest profession in the world. Here you'll also find Maple Street Bar and Grill, where a very skilful Poker Dealer has very recently set up a table. Look at him for instructions on how to play. The Bar and Grill is easy to spot- it's the only place on Maple Street with a hitching post. If you follow Maple Street to the second last intersection, and then head all south, you'll cross the "Guildhall of Shadows", where thieves young and old practice many of their skills. This guild teaches, among many other things, the deadly backstab.
The southwest quarter contains mostly residences. There are a few buildings of note, such as the City Mission, which provides food for the poor; the "Strange Herbs" store, which caters to all your herbalism needs and also sells roots for changing your sex, roots that give you the power to breathe underwater, and many other strange and intriguing herbs; and the General store on Seventh Street just southwest of Town Square.
The southeast quarter contains the very picturesque Augustus Park, as well as the houses of the richest nobles of Templeton (with the exception of Lady Templeton, who is in the castle, and Senator Leaveau, who has a grand mansion that can be accessed by going south from this southeast quarter, past the checkpoints.
Templeton Castle, and Questing
I highly recommend a visit to Templeton castle, located on the northwest corner of the town. Templeton castle is very large and very beautiful. Lady Templeton's Aviaries, for instance, have many varieties of brightly-feathered birds and is worth taking a look at. The castle often hosts important guests from all over the world who have come to visit the beautiful Lady Templeton, questmistress and ruler of this fair town.
Lady Templeton is usually found in the Castle Commons (the south commons). To get there from the castle entrance, go all south, all west, and north until you see the corridor leading east from the "West Hallway". She always has a task or two for the worthy, willing adventurer and offers some of the handsomest rewards in the land for successfully completed quests. The only shortcoming is that her quests are generally for adventurers who are level 60 and up. Her quests often require that you visit Tellerium and once in a while, the Frost Giant's Keep as well, and so it would be sensible to gain some familiarity with those areas if you plan on reaping the great rewards of Lady Templeton's quests. Unlike other questmasters and questmistresses, however, she does not yet offer quest items. Nor does she allow you to deposit tourmalines.
But wait! One day, while questing, you discover that Templeton castle is only open to the public from 6am to 8pm! Oh no! You can't submit your quest, you say?! Is all your effort wasted?? Well, perhaps for that one quest, yes. But for the future, there's a way to get around this obstacle, and enter the castle whenever you want. It's a well-known fact that the castle hires way more janitors than it needs, and so the castle guards don't really keep track of them. How do you take the guise of a janitor? Just pick up some of the trash lying around town and give it to one of the janitors roaming the streets, fooling the bloke that you want nothing more in the world than to help him pick up icky trash. If you give a janitor two pieces of trash, he'll give you the coveted janitor's patch, your key to the castle.
Whilst roaming the castle, make sure to avoid the many CPK areas. If you die in any of these, it's almost certain you won't get your equipment back. Don't even go near them! You can tell PK (Player Killing) rooms by the Red colour on the room compass. Normally, say, to go east into a room, the "E" on the room compass would be yellow. But if the room to the east were a PK room, the "E" would appear in RED. And you would know not to enter. The CPK areas in Templeton Castle include, but are not limited to the Knight Malcolm's training field on the first floor, Lord Templeton's Throne Room on the second floor, and parts of the Castle Dungeon in the basement.
If you do decide to stay here a bit longer, perhaps for some questing, you'll sometimes notice that the whole town has been mercilessly and ruthlessly slain. This is because the NPCs around town tend to be very good targets for leveling for first classers. They also carry a fair amount of gold. Upper third classers and Fourth classers can level against NPCs found down in the Templeton catacombs.
Another interesting area is the Templeton Sewers. Jonny the halfling, bartender of the Harbord Maid, knows a lot about these, and this is what he told me: "Templeton was the first city in the world to create a self-sustaining sewer system. Lord Templeton designed the city on a slope into the ocean allowing waste to flow west easily." On a practical level, the sewer system provides alternate pathways (which some people would call "shortcuts") for going from place to place within Templeton. I would advise you to have levitation and a light source with you if you're going to explore the sewers, as it's very dark and not at all impossible to drown in there. Thinking happy thoughts would probably also help you get through quicker.
On the topic of thirst… Although the lost and thirsty tourist may not think so, Templeton does have a great many water fountains, and even a blood fountain! There is a fountain east of the first shipping warehouse on Warehouse Road. Another is just south of the intersection of Stenas and Stillwell. There is also one on Maple Street, one on Treetop Road, and at least one in the first floor of the Castle. The blood fountain can be found at the very east end of Stenas Road.
Know that the Merdraco docks on the southwestern-most point of Templeton's pier.
This concludes my Guide to Templeton, which I hope has been of some use. As long as you stay away from the dangers of CPK and remember to flee from the aggressive gang members, Templeton is truly a wonderful place to explore and hang out in.
