Paineel
Paineel is a city in exile. Its inhabitants were once followers of Erud, like their brothers and sisters the Erudites, to the north. However in times past they turned away from the teachings of Erud, following their own path into the powerful dark arts of Cazic-Thule. The Erudites persecuted them as heretics, leaving the Paineelians to found a new home deep within Toxxulia Forest on the ruins of a much older settlement. [1]
Some of the craftiest necromancers and shadowknights in the world come out of this vile haven, where the writings of the first necromancer, Miragul, remain inscribed upon texts and scrolls to this very day.[2] Clerics who follow Cazic-Thule have also found refuge here.
The entrance to Paineel is buried in rubble at launch, and the tunnel is mined open come the February 17, 2000 patch. Requires a Bone Crafted Key to enter the city. Although it overlooks The Hole and it adjacent to the Warrens via the rock crevice past the newbie yard, neither of these zones were yet uncovered until some time in the Kunark and Velious expansions, respectively.
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Map
 Paineel Main City Map  Paineel Newbie Zone Map Main City
Teleporters are located at A, B, and C and teleport to the spot with the matching letter. |
Dangers
The young Erudite pupils of Paineel should choose their targets carefully beyond the city gates. The decaying skeletons and fire beetles that wander the grassy slopes are generally not hostile but they are quick to come to the aid of their kin when necessary.
Those who have not earned the appropriate welcome from the residents of Paineel are advised to take extreme caution when traveling through the outer walls of the city. The inner city is even more perilous for unwelcome visitors as they will quickly find themselves at the mercy of the Knights of the Fell Blade.
Benefits
There is a newbie yard just past the entrance to the city along a fork in the path that also leads to Toxxulia Forest. This provides a much safer place for young students in the dark arts to train their skills under the watchful guise of city guards.
Surrounding Areas
Toxxulia Forest lies just outside the doors of the city, and across the darkness of the woods lies Erudin, home of the members of the Council. Old Paineel itself lies beneath the city, and many who enter its remains never return.
The exit to The Hole door can be found at the southeast.
The exit to The Warrens can be found near the newbie area, on the left before The Hole.
Traveling To and From
Paineel is at the southern edge of Toxxulia Forest. To get to Antonica, you have to first pass through Erudin. This can be dangerous to Paineel's citizens, since they are actively hunted by the citizens of Erud. You will need a Bone Crafted Key to enter Paineel. It controls the rock elevator that takes you into the city.
Nazwadi's Glorious Adventures and Travel Guide
Notable NPC's: Coriante Verisue, Darton
Lore
The following passage is recorded in the Book of Ages (see History of Norrath)
The Age of Turmoil It came to pass some years later that a small group of Erudites discovered the lost art of Necromancy. They were branded heretics and great conflict arose. For the first time in several hundred years, the Erudites fought. They engaged in a civil war not entirely dissimilar to that which they had loathed and fled from back on the mainland. But there was one very significant difference - they did not use swords and bows, but rather magic, and the result was terrible. Lives by the hundreds were lost, great buildings and structures destroyed, and eventually the heretics were forced to flee Erudin, to hide and regroup in the southern regions of Odus. In one final battle, great mystic energies were released and an immense hole leading to unknown depths beneath the earth was created. Into the sides of this chasm the heretics built their own city which they called Paineel. And while both sides still seethed with anger and hatred towards one another, their fear of what the last battle had wrought has kept any further conflict at bay.
History
The history of Paineel begins with the warped and obsessed man known as Miragul, an Erudite who grew discontented with the rules that the Erudin High Council enforced to control magical study. Gradually amassing a group of followers who shared his distorted ideas, he began to hold secret meetings to study forbidden tomes and dark magics. Some of his followers traveled to faraway Neriak and returned with knowledge of necromancy and the dark gods-- knowledge that instantly captured Miragul's imagination above all else. He and his group came to believe that Cazic-Thule, god of fear, was the most powerful of all gods, and that the practice of necromancy was the best way to serve him.
In time, the Erudin High Council began to uncover the secret workings of Miragul's followers, and declared them Heretics for turning to the dark gods. Miragul was enraged by what he saw as the Council's weakness and fear, and began a civil war. His followers set up camps to the south and practiced guerilla warfare against their former brethren. The High Council fought back with the combined might of their arcane schools, and drove the Heretics further and further south, until the war culminated in one disastrous outpouring of hostile magic.
The Erudites - some say with the help of a double agent - tried to end the war with one concentrated blast of magical force. This single devastating explosion of power was enough to expel a large chunk of Odus out into space. The blow was too great for the Heretics, and their forces scattered. The Erudites, thinking they had won, returned northward... but meanwhile Miragul and his followers had begun building a great city deep within the chasm created by the blast - the chasm that came to be known as the Hole.
Unfortunately, during their building projects, the Heretics unwittingly opened a portal to the plane of the Underfoot. Elementals flooded into the city of Old Paineel and nearly wiped out the Heretics before they were able to close off the portal and begin building over again, closer to the surface. If one looks down deeply into the Hole, however, one can still see remnants of what was once the vile city of Old Paineel.
Local Color
Places
The city has an interesting design, with separate areas connected by portals that instantaneously teleport anyone between them. Other areas of interest are the Pit and the nearby Observatory. It is unclear what purpose this observatory might have once served where it is.
People
The citizens walk casually among the many skeletons that they have animated to protect the city from without and within. Although ever hunted, the inhabitants are comfortable in their city of the dead.
Guilds
Abattoir (Necromancer)
Fell Blade (Shadowknight)
Temples
Tabernacle of Terror (Cazic-Thule)
Did you Know?
Paineel was originally designed by Mike "Hutch" Hutchison who passed away in May 2020.[3]
Forageable Items
Information needed.
Bestiarum Vocabulum
Found 0 NPC's that spawn in Paineel.
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Items
Found 0 items that drop in Paineel.
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Quests
Found 0 quests that start in Paineel.
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Historical Release and Revamp Dates
- Paineel was first released during Classic on February 17, 2000 about a month after the Plane of Sky was released (Plane of Sky era) and 2 months before the official release date of Everquest's first expansion, The Ruins of Kunark.
References
- ↑ Everquest: The Ruins of Kunark. Prima's Official Strategy Guide. ISBN: 0761530924
- ↑ Everquest: Role-Playing Game: Player's Handbook, p.20.
- ↑ "Original EverQuest Developer Mike “Hutch” Hutchins Dies". Available online at https://everquestshow.com/2020/05/05/original-everquest-developer-mike-hutch-hutchins-dies/. Last accessed 29 December 2021.
