This is a two-part question.

[Oryx]

First, what is your favorite tidbit of (unclassified) history about Allanak? For instance, the prior ownership of the Red's Retreat, and how it got its name.

Second, which places within the city are most important for new players to find first, for playability? For example, the water temple.

Bonus points: A single location and historical tidbit that addresses both questions!

[Marauder Moe]

The pile of bodies on Meleth's Circle wasn't always represented with an object/description.  It used to be that it was simply a common PC practice to dump bodies there so people knew that they were dead, as it's a very high-traffic location.

The newbie shops have done a lot to help players pop into the game ready to play, but I still like to visit the off-brand (non-house) stores in the bazaar first thing.  Because they typically pay more for things than Kadius/Salarr they often have PC-sold items, things that might be a bit rarer in Allanak.  It helps give the appearance that your PC has seen more life than is provided by just the starter shops and default merchant inventories.

[650Booger]

newbie here, wtf is the water temple, besides an impossible dungeon in zelda

[mansa]

Meleth's circle used to be a circle instead of a rectangle.

It went something like...

          |  [Bazaar Area]
  X - X - X -
  |       |
- X - T   X -       T - Water Temple in the centre.
  |       |
  X - X - X - X     <- Trader's Inn
          |



Most important places?  I think I wrote about that in a newbie guide somewhere..

[Oryx]

Okay this is cool, but I was thinking of real histories. Like how Pearl opened the Silver Ginka, or how the spiders were battled back in the Commoner's quarter. That sort've thing. Even histories of some of the Templars that are depicted in statues throughout the city.

I know, I've got most of this stuff. I want to hear your favorites.

[Bahliker]

First: My favorite memory that (I think) fits what you're asking here is the fact that a PC was given governorship over the ruins of Tuluk during Allanak's occupation. Therlias Borsail took up residence in the Silverwood estate and spent the rest of his days dealing with rebels and terrorists. I believe he died before it all fell apart, but it was a pretty cool time and place to play.

Second: Rawgoods buyers for bone, stone, shell, hide, etc.

[WithSprinkles]

Well, heck. I'll cheat a bit and focus on Red's, but I've only played a few years so I'm allowed because I don't know much game history yet! 

Most times, unless you're playing a really, dirty and gritty type or an otherwise undesirable, you're gonna get asked to head into Red's at some point or another, so you're gonna wanna know where it is. And even then, you still wanna have an idea of where its located in case you DO have to stop in because fun stuff happens around there sometimes.

It's got interesting lore, I guess. I don't know much about the building it used to be, really. You can ask the person standing behind the bar the name of it. She won't be shy in replying! The thing that perked me up most about that is the name of the person she associates with it while speaking of it. I kinda have a bit of an obsession about finding out more about this person after hearing an amazing story and his name KEPT coming up. It became, like, a lifelong side quest!

Seriously folks. Talk to the NPCs.

Red's Retreat all the way!

[Dar]

The Meleth's circle in its entirety. The Water Temple. The Fancy Noble Tavern, and the most important thing in that area - the Cuddler!

[Marauder Moe]

Oh well...

I watched Trader's Inn burn down... from the inside.

I was playing a militia sergeant at the time.  Allanak was still suffering from post-flood/eclipse-HRPT starvation and the rioting was steadily building.  The PC unit was at the forefront of the efforts to quell the unrest.  Rioters were literally resorting to murder and cannibalism.  After we killed enough of the hungry mob, they no longer had to do the murder part themselves. 

Later on, Lady Templar Lyvrenxice Oash ordered us to round up a bunch of beggars and execute them at Meleth's Circle as an example to the populace.  I curse the staffer who animated those whimpering vNPCs.  Never have I felt so ill over doing such a terrible misdeed.  Needless to say, this public relations move did not go over well.  Again, the rioters attacked, and again we killed many of them.

One day, the sergeant gets a frantic Way that there's trouble at Trader's Inn.  He grabs his gear and heads up that way to see what was up.  When he gets there, he finds an angry crowd gathered around, just starting to turn ugly.  No one else from his unit could be seen, but clearly he had to act.  He got himself in the doorway, guarding the entrance with the bouncer NPC.  There was a violent clash and the entire mob rushed the door at once.  The bodyguard and the beggar were both killed.  There was no stopping them from getting through, but the sergeant ran in after the mob.  He started cutting them down left and right but there were too many.  One by one, each of those famous Trader's Inn NPCs were torn to shreds.  The barkeep.  The half-elven server.  The noblewoman.  The soldiers and bodyguards... and then suddenly the mob had weapons.  The fight started going poorly for the lone sergeant.  He started to take wounds, while the rioters started setting things on fire.  Limping and bleeding, he barely managed to claw his way out side and ducked down Arena road for safety and to catch his breath.

Then like three people from his unit are in his head.  "Sarge, get out!"  "Jump out the window!"  "Hurry!  Fire!".  Apparently, unbeknownst to him, the rest of his unit had rallied elsewhere and arrived at the tavern just in time to see him run in after the mob.  For whatever reason, they didn't see him escape and thought he was still trapped inside the burning inn.  Everyone was quite relieved to see him laid up and being treated back at the barracks, but mostly somber at having failed their duty to prevent an Allanaki landmark from burning to the ground.

It was a long time before the new dome was built, and the poor old sergeant had to pass the scorched ruins of that building every day until his retirement, reminding him of his failure that night and refreshing the guilt over the hundreds of fellow Allanaki citizens he slaughtered during that time.

[Oryx]

Moe, that is an excellent landmark story! Same to you, WithSprinkles. I like where this is going.

[WithSprinkles]

That.. is so cool... Moe.. so, so awesome.

[Tisiphone]

Back before the gith war (2005? 2006? I don't remember, exactly) Lady Templar Troicha Valika was my first templar. Samos was basically running the PC scene in Allanak at that point, and I quickly positioned her as his right-hand woman because a) she was one of those rare true patriots, and b) she figured it would be a lot easier to follow him to the top than try to betray him.

I still remember being there when the Borsail estate melted before our eyes in a huge well of magma, punctuated by the screams and smells of those trapped inside. But that's not my favorite part.

After the gith attacked the city in the Great Allanaki Gith War, Samos and Troicha (mostly Samos, but she helped!) the city decided to go on the offensive. We set up a war camp just south of the Tablelands - a joint effort between the Arm, House Tor, the Byn, House Oash, and the Council of Allanaki Mages. (And maybe a few others; sorry!)

Then we sat there for a while. With stuff happening out in the sands, but Samos insisting that Troicha sit tight and not get involved.

After a couple weeks of this, Troicha got sick of it, and she sallied forth, damn his instructions, both because she didn't want him to get ALL the glory and leave her behind, and because she figured a good way to break the army's inertia was to go out and get into enough trouble they had to come save her and her soldiers.

It worked. The rest of the Army scrambled to come help her, and ended up dealing the gith such a crushing blow that they wouldn't recover for several Ages. Unfortunately, Samos was just seconds too late, with Troicha falling under a hail of gith arrows.

They recovered her body and held a huge funeral with honors. I'm told it was beautiful, though of course I wasn't there. But that's the best closure I've ever had for a character.

(I'm not sure I like this; it feels too much like tooting my own horn.)

For things newbies should know that hasn't already been covered: each morning the white-robed Templarate presides over a veneration ceremony outside Allanak's western gate, where a large amount of the populace shows their devotion to Tektolnes by genuflecting to the Dragon statue.

[Vox]

Favorite tidbit: 1476 (Year 13 Age 20)
Allanak, after centuries of bloodshed and war, launches a successful assault on the Northlands. In a series of bloody battles, Allanaki troops conquer the region of Gol Krathu. The lone surviving Allanaki templar, Elaira Fale of the Blue, is credited with the victory. However, the invaders are unable to finish the job, as Muk Utep holes up in his pyramid and an indefinite siege begins.
The lead up and culmination of these events were both epic in scope and galvanizing for conflict-based RP around Zalanthas. Also, because Tuluk was really only cool while being oppressed and occupied by an invading force. #fluffybunnytown

Places in the city most important for new players: The Gaj is the most important place in Allanak for new players, because it's traditionally a hub of activity and the Board sits there offering the names of the current Byn Sarges, Templars and other announcements of note. The other locations, while important, can be difficult to relate to contextually before the player is fully oriented.

Bonus: Many years ago I played a Templar who started questioning a person of interest in the Gaj before a small audience of commoners. Things got heated and this 'person of interest' went into violent spasms before transforming into a large Weretembo. There was a roar and a howl, a table was destroyed and it ran off. A bounty was laid, and business at the Gaj quadrupled with players hoping to see something amazing like that and hear the tales of those that were there. Makes me wonder what a new player hanging in the Gaj must've thought seeing something like that, because I imagine it's the kind of event that hooks new players and reaffirms old ones. Also, Vennant is clearly the hero of Allanak, that guy has seen EVERYTHING and lived to tell the tale.

[valeria]

First, what is your favorite tidbit of (unclassified) history about Allanak? For instance, the prior ownership of the Red's Retreat, and how it got its name.

I love the history of House Kurac in Allanak.  It was in Allanak, but Tek doesn't like spice.  Allanak took Luirs for a while, poor House Kurac.  Then it was let back in Allanak.  Then House Borsail took its estate after that lava thing that was already mentioned because Borsail suspected that Kurac was involved in helping the gith into the city, or at least they did back when I was playing my first Borsail noble pc.  Now it's back in its estate!  House Kadius helped fix it up for House Borsail and then helped fix it up for House Kadius and I was somehow involved in both of those events.  I even wrote the room descriptions for the upstairs part of the estate when it was Borsail-owned and maybe some day I'll be back inside and see if those rooms are still there.

Second, which places within the city are most important for new players to find first, for playability? For example, the water temple.

Part a) the mount seller.  Why this dude is tucked so far away from the stables, I have no idea.
Part b) the stables by the Gaj.  You don't need a mount to survive in the wastes, but if you don't have a mount as a new player, you aren't going to make it far without getting frustrated at how often you have to rest during the middle of the day and you won't survive for long.

[Lizzie]

Favorite tidbit of (unclassified) history about Allanak:

The origins of the current configuration of the Elementalist quarter. The whys and wherefores that went into putting a wall up on Wall Road and blocking that entrance into it, and the entrance off Ruk's Way. This history is not secret info. It's just been lost to time. I've tried RPing an interest in it with several of my characters in the past, and to date, not a single Templar or other PC or even request tool response has returned any acknowledgment that they know a) that there used to be exits there and b) why they aren't there anymore.

One of these days I'll play a character who has reason to actually know what the deal is with them, and she'll tell people IC.

[Marauder Moe]

OOCly lost to time or ICly?

https://www.armageddon.org/original/author/Marauder%20Moe scroll to the bottom, "Politics Overheard"

I could probably dig up more info about the wall if there's something specific people want to know.

[Lizzie]

Moe I'd love to see more about it. I know a bit more detail, but I wasn't involved in it. Even if it's not a log - a summary of the events leading up to Kishime wanting to build the wall in the first place - and subsequent activities that got the city to finally eradicate the entrances. This wasn't just one wall though. The quarter has always been walled. But there were three entrances in addition to the one(s) we already know about now, on totally different ends of the quarter.

[slipshod]

Tidbit:
This is to the best of my recollection.  Back in the late 1990s (RL time) there were only two public taverns in Allanak: Trader's Inn and the Dirk up by Hathor's.  Members of House Fale got the bright idea of opening a new tavern somewhere on Caravan Road.  My Fale Lord PC's (older wiser) brother wanted to call the place The Gladiator & Gaj and my character wanted to call the place The Hungry Hungry Halfling.  There are a variety of reasons why it's a good thing my character's idea didn't carry the day, but imagine if the tavern had taken that name instead.  Years later when halflings were phased out of the game there probably would have been a forced disaster and rebranding of the place.

Re:Vox's post:
The aforementioned Fale Lord of mine was the father of the Templar Elaira Fale, (and fighting those weretembos with Vox's Templar was unrivaled fun).

Re: Lizzie's and Moe's posts:
Having played Kishime Fale as well, I had completely forgotten his role in getting the Elemental Quarter walled off.  To this day it annoys me when my PC is walking around Allanak and cannot use those other entrances Lizzie mentioned.

Crucial locations for new players: 
Dragon Temple on Meleth's and Gaj were my first thoughts, but I'll say the Merchant's Gate.  I imagine many new players are mainly aware of the west gate and learning the location of the second gate instantly opens up a greater vista and scope of the gameworld to them.

[Vox]

The Hungry Hungry Halfling is instantly my favorite thing ever.

P.S. slipshod has simultaneously played some of the most noteworthy PC's this game has produced while also being directly responsible for killing mine. And he's so good, that I still love him. Lucky are those who get to play with him. #mutualadmirationsociety

[Kialae]

I was so disappointed when the Azure Dragon burned down. I think I was playing a Tor Noble at the time and knew how much the person who worked his balls off to get it off the ground had to go through.

[Armaddict]

First:

The Gan Zein Marketplace used to house both a powerful elven group and the Guild, the latter of which was housed in a nice big building called the Detritus Den.  In order to get to it, you had to go into another tavern and out the back of it.  An earthquake destroyed it all, completely changing the alley system into the more familiar ones you know today!

Second:

The Screaming Mantis, in the case they will be in the alleys at all.  While the 'rinth doesn't seem 'mazelike' to those experienced with Arm, it's pretty easy to get lost in as a noob.

[Oryx]

Ha! I forgot how many stories the Azure Dragon has.

These are all great. Keep them coming.

[TheGoose]

I know absolutely nothing about Allanak's history, except for the fact of three(?) wars with Tuluk. The rest is hardcore hidden from new players, or seems to be.

[Kialae]

You might know that Tektolnes and his buddies founded the city at the beginning of time and the descendants of Tek's pals are the modern Nobility. You probably know that the Senate, which is a convening of stately minds representing each Noble and Merchant Family, happens once a year, but if anything actually changes your simple life inside this quorum you never find out.

Maybe your great-grandfather once told you of House Borsail's estate sinking into the ground a King's Age ago. Maybe you live on Miner's Road and its verbal history remarks on the time the gith invaded the city and burned down the Bard's Barrel, where now the Red's Retreat stands (named after a heroic Templar with one eye).

You might know of the time Allanak conquered the Known, and even Tuluk and the Sun King bent knee to your Highlord, until eventual sedition broke the occupancy and drove us out.

You'll maybe know of the Copper Wars, which Allanak definitely won (though the more daring amateur historians might refute that by providing facts of how Tuluk actually won it).

Almost everyone would have heard of the time the Dragon-formed Highlord took flight and took the battle to aggressive Tuluki forces around that time.

If you're Gemmed, you probably know of the Council of Allanaki Mages, a cabal which held an inordinate amount of power for such a condemned people.

There was more but I forgot what I was going to include (I got called away just before typing it).

[CodeMaster]

It was once (~98?) relatively easy to find a "hamlet" of eyeless people living in the sewers of Allanak.

The first RPT I ever attended, probably around the same time, was led by a templar who took a group of volunteers down into the sewers to hunt down a defiler who had made its last stand there.  I remember the templar gave out potions of infravision to everyone so we wouldn't have to bother with torches, and everyone gulped these potions down without question.

The T'zai Byn as we know it has some interesting beginnings that were published in Imaginary Realities: http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2011/03/20/clans-in-a-roleplaying-world/  It's a good read!

Welen's Fineries (is that the name of it?) used to have "Welen" as its shopkeeper, then he died.

I think the first round of Gladiator-only PCs came about shortly after the movie Gladiator was released.  Everyone was so excited about that movie.  Sometimes I'd be idling on my main character and a staff member would ask if I wanted to get my gladiator on to execute a northerner or whatever.

The ALA (we called it that IC, too), or the "Allanaki Liberation Alliance" was all about taking huge risks, assassinating templars, righting wrongs in the labyrinth (I think you'd have been afraid to hear the name "ALA" even if you were in the Guild back then), and creating unrest.  I get the impression templars were PK'd more readily back then than they are now.  I think the ALA were mostly elven -- I briefly played in that clan and got to take part in spoiling an arena event by igniting flash powder and setting fires.