Starting Cities: Qeynos, Freeport, Kelethin, Neriak, and Gorowyn FAQ

Where does my character begin the game in EverQuest II?

Players who start in Qeynos or Freeport start on The Queen's Colony or The Outpost of the Overlord.  In these places, new characters learn the basics of the game, from combat to tradeskills.  After you accomplish tasks in those locations, you are then able to take a ship to either Freeport or Qeynos (depending on the "alignment" of the race/class you chose). 

If you start a character in Neriak, Kelethin or Gorowyn, you will start in Hate's Envy, Greater Faydark, or Timorous Deep.  You'll be guided through learning the game in each of these locations and led through several quest hubs until you're ready to venture into the big world of Norrath.


Won't the fact that there are so few cities take away from the uniqueness of each race? And won't the newbie yards be overflowing with players trying to kill snakes and rats?

The zones that make up Qeynos, Freeport, Kelethin, Neriak and Timorous Deep include not only the city proper but also uniquely defined adventure areas. Zones are kept to a reasonable size to prevent overcrowding for Qeynos and Freeport through use of "hamlets" within the city proper. Each neighborhood in Qeynos and Freeport have the basic facilities you'll need (banks, shops, etc.) so that players are spread out instead of being crammed into one small part of town. 

The regions surrounding Neriak, Kelethin and Gorowyn are quite large.  They all have extensive play areas that are spread out with rapid respawns to enable many people to enjoy the content.

What is the major difference between the differing cities aside from their names?

The distinction is one of good versus evil. Qeynos, ruled by the wise Antonia Bayle, is a city of courage and honor. Freeport, controlled by the ruthless Overlord Lucan D'Lere, is a town of oppression and corruption. 

Kelethin is ruled by the benevolent Queen Amree, leader of the Fae and the city of Neriak is held in the iron grip of Queen Cristanos the Dark Elven creator/queen/goddess of the Arasai. 

Gorowyn, led by the militaristic Archlord Gor'sok and assisted by their assembled counselors, is the unusual city in this equation, being more neutral instead of polarized in alignment then the other listed cities. 

Qeynos and Kelethin, holding similar values are allied and citizens of each city can easily travel between them

Freeport and Neriak are allied, if cautiously.  Gorowyn, although nominally neutral falls under the Overlord's alignment as well, and citizen can move between the three.

Can I pick my city, or do my race and class limit which city I can belong to?

Your race determines which city will initially accept you. Fae, frogloks, halflings, dwarves, high elves, and wood elves are "good" races that will be heading to the good cities, that being Qeynos and Kelethin. Arasai, Iksar, trolls, ogres, ratonga, and dark elves are "evil" races that will be taking up residence in Freeport or Neriak.

Sarnak, Kerra, Barbarians, Erudites, Gnomes, Half Elves, and Humans can choose which city to call home as well as start in Timorous Deep due to their neutrality.  Even then, some races are rooted within their true homes, such as Fae, Arasai, Frogloks, Halflings and Sarnak, since they're only able to start in one city, depending on alignment.

So I will be able to switch my citizenship between such cities as Qeynos to Freeport whenever I want?

You can change your alignment through betrayal quests.  This isn't to be undertaken lightly.  You will lose all your gains from your previous faction alignment and have to start over with your new friends.  They will require rigorous proving of your loyalty.

Here's an example of how it works:  Say you make a Troll named Buhlia, and she decides to become a Shadowknight. Trolls are an evil race, so they are only accepted by Freeport or Neriak. Buhlia remains a citizen of Freeport as she gains levels (that's where she chose to be created). But as she matures, Buhlia realizes that she actually supports the principles of Qeynos more than those of Freeport and wishes to become a force for good.  Buhlia can renounce her citizenship of Freeport and work to become accepted in Qeynos. 

This will NOT be a trivial task, though. Buhlia is going to walk a challenging road, because the citizens of Qeynos won't be quick to trust a former enemy (and really, Trolls are a lil' stinky and have a taste for Halfling). Furthermore, the people of Freeport will look upon the Troll as a traitor when she renounces that city. But if she completes a series of quests and proves her worth, Buhlia can earn citizenship in Qeynos and be trained as a Paladin, losing the Shadowknight class.

You can however change your citizenship easily between cities that are allied within the same alignment.  Should you choose to move from Freeport to Neriak, you will need to complete a short series of quests to move your residence and change your affiliations to your city's leadership.

Is there any way to be accepted by both cities? For instance, can I do some quests and build up faction with the enemy city?

Nope.  The divide between the alignments is too deep to truly be accepted, you will either be welcome in Freeport or Qeynos, NEVER both. The only way you'll gain favor with the opposing city is if you betray your current citizenship and then pass through a series of challenging quests related to that process. 

As you advance through the game, you will do things that gain and lose favor with various organizations and individuals in the world. But it is not a matter of "I must gain X amount of Faction Y so that I can be welcome in Zone Z." If you are a citizen of Qeynos, there is no quantity of orcs you can kill in the Commonlands that will make you welcome in Freeport. Faction is not a mathematical equation, but rather a series of relationships between individuals and organizations. It is built not only on what you do, but also the social structures to which you ally yourself.

Will I be able to form groups and guilds with citizens of the opposing city? Will doing so hurt my standing in my home city?

You can group with whomever you want for as long as you want, there is no penalty or loss of standing for doing so.  You can be guilded alongside citizens of the opposing city, but there will be some challenges since those friends may not be accepted within your city of choice or the other way around. 

Player guilds pledge support to a certain faction within their home city. A citizen of Freeport cannot be allied with a faction in Qeynos. However, if a citizen of Freeport belongs to a guild registered in Qeynos, contributions made by that player to his guild will be going toward the benefit of the good city.

In essence, the Freeport person is indirectly helping Qeynos become dominant. But regardless of how much that Freeport person benefits his guild, he will not gain favor with the NPCs in Qeynos, nor will he be able to walk the streets of that city.  Should they be spied on the streets of Qeynos, they will be trounced out of the city gates!

However, Freeport NPC's will not punish him by withholding their favours.  He will still be able to reap the rewards of his service.

Will there be cities built by players? Or can I become ruler of Freeport or Qeynos?

At the time being, there are no plans to implement any form of "player-made" cities. While players can rise to prominence in Qeynos and Freeport, both cities are home to established leaders who are unlikely to give up their positions, and the surrounding area is still too wild to even try to stake claim.

Is there housing available within my city for my Guild?

There is!  There are several levels of guild housing available for your guild, be you aligned with Qeynos or Freeport, there is somewhere for you.  Each starting city has a starter guild hall available.  Qeynos and Freeport have an additional level of housing for their champions.

You'll find an even bigger hall in the Commonlands or Antonica for guilds who have adventured long and hard and built their status with their city.  These halls are faction independent and can be purchased by guilds of any alignment.

What happened to all of the other cities that EverQuest fans are familiar with?

Exploring the world and discovering what has survived the cataclysms is one of the central themes of EverQuest II. As you adventure in the Shattered Lands, you will learn the fate of some of your favorite locations from the past. Places such as Neriak had laid secret until recently, when it chose to be seen once more to the outside world.

Expect many surprises as our story unfolds.