FREEPORT

Project1999 Links: What's in this zone?

Description

Freeport is considered by most to be the hub of Antonica for a variety of reasons. It is the mercantile center of the continent, since it holds the only port with a regular boat to the island continent of Faydwer. It holds facilities for most of the artisan trades, and most budding craftsman travel to Freeport to take advantage of the readily available facilities. Freeport is also the hub for traffic of all sorts. The good races travel its streets to go to their guilds and the shops, as well as to the boat to Faydwer, and the dark races travel through the sewers to reach most of the same destinations. Guild Halls for all classes except the Rangers, Druids, and Shamans are present within the city.

Surrounding Areas

Freeport lies at the intersection of several notable areas of Antonica. To the west of Freeport lies the Commonlands, a vast tract of forested plains that are ringed by desert. In that direction lie the other large cities of the humans, Highhold Keep and Qeynos, and more distantly the homes of the barbarians and the Erudites.

To the south of Freeport lies the vast Desert of Ro, which stretches south until it reaches the swamps of the ogres and trolls. This vast untamed desert still holds the sand giants and Dervish Cutthroats that have made it dangerous to travel for generations.

To the east of Freeport lies the vast Ocean of Tears, and it is over this ocean that the ships of the humans travel to provide trade to the distant land of the dwarves, elves, and gnomes.

Travelling To and From Freeport

Freeport can be reached from the east from across the Ocean of Tears by the ships that regularly travel the route. From the south, one travels to the Northern Desert of Ro and from there into East Freeport. From the west, one travels to the easternmost part of the Commonlands, and from there into West Freeport.

Local Color

Places

Freeport is a city of many layers, both good and bad, as one would expect from a town so busy and so large. The tunnels beneath the city allow the dark races to connect to the various areas of the city, including their dark guilds as well as the docks. Certain parts of the city are relatively unsafe, the worst is in East Freeport at the bazaar. The guards in the area are unaware of what goes on just below the surface, and one will commonly see dark elves travelling through the area. This is also where the surface access to the guilds hidden from the rest of the city are located.

Other places of note are the Temple of Mithaniel Marr in North Freeport, which is laid out in the whitest granite, and very different than the rest of the city, as well as the guild hall of the magic users, a wonderful floating structure over a small pond, with teleporters as its only access. Most of the shops lie in North Freeport around the vicinity of the bank, and in East Freeport.

People

The people in Freeport are as varied as the town itself. Travelling through the city one can see an entire range of races, including ogres and dark elves, humans and elves, and various beggars in between. Also, it is not uncommon to see several of the more powerful members of their guilds travelling through Freeport on their ways to other places, or engaged in some transaction.

The guards of Freeport constantly roam the corridors, and to the naked eye could be considered normal guards. Beneath the surface, however, the paladins of Mithaniel Marr secretly hunt the guards, for they are corrupt, and, as rumors have it, their leader was a banished paladin himself.