Lore · Legendary Figures
Antonius Bayle & the Founding of Qeynos
Qeynos began as a village in green hills, under a plague nobody could explain. One man ended it, and the city’s throne still carries his name.
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, by steep hills and the tunnel to the gnolls’ Blackburrow to the east, and by a bay to the southwest. Several gnoll clans lived there, but only the Sabertooth clan was violent toward the settlers.
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, until even the gnolls retreated into Blackburrow and barred the door.
The Great Unifier
Antonius Bayle was born in those years, the son of Vallius Bayle, 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. He united the nomadic plains clans with Oceangreen village and went on to found a city on the bay. He called it Qeynos. He refused the title of king, and asked everyone to call him simply Antonius.
Discord in the hills
Seeds of Destruction returned to that moment. Discord reaches back through time to strengthen the plague and the cult just then, and adventurers fight beside the young Antonius Bayle to save Oceangreen village and keep humanity’s future on course.
The line of Bayles
His heirs held the city. Antonius II, trained by the Knights of Thunder and the Surefall rangers, kept it 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. A later history, Sovereignities of Qeynos, claims he 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.
Qeynos under the fourth Antonius
Antonius Bayle IV was born in 5275 and crowned in 5299. His rule is “firm yet just,” and Qeynos is “the pinnacle of human achievement,” but “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, with two ships running 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.
Where the sources disagree
The original manual credits Antonius Bayle the First with founding Qeynos; the 2002 RPG names Antonius Bayle III as the king Antonica was named after.
A 2003 strategy guide calls Qeynos “ruled by the recently crowned Antonius Bayle II,” while classic EverQuest’s king is Antonius Bayle IV.
Sovereignities of Qeynos is an EverQuest II book, written in-world on the first anniversary of Antonia’s crowning, so its claims about Antonius IV’s secret family are later lore.
The birth and coronation dates for Antonius Bayle IV come from the Library of Erudin.
Sources
[1] EverQuest.com: Seeds of Destruction, Unfolding the Lore Part 2 (2008) · [2] Library of Erudin: Sovereignities of Qeynos (EverQuest II book) · [3] EverQuest.com: Seeds of Destruction, Unfolding the Lore Part 1 (2008) · [4] Library of Erudin: Antonius Bayle IV (overview; The Maps of Myrist — Qeynos, Southern)
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Retold in our own words from the sources listed on this page; short quotes are marked and sourced. The illustration is an original AI-generated painting made for this page alone, not from the game.