Part
II

The People &
Places of Martok

by Zinn

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Overview

This journal is an introduction to Kojan’s Martok Island,
which opened up in late beta 3. Kojan is an archipelago of islands
located in the ocean
roughly halfway between Qalia and Thestra. Martok is quite a
huge
island about 3.25 chunks in size. It is jam packed with MOBs and
content. Of all the starting areas in the game, this is the best made
and my favorite starting area.

I have completed the first 75 adventure quests in Martok. Doing these
quests will take a player up to around level 12 before she will have
to leave the island. The island has many areas and points of interest
from Grimsea Watch, Maw of Ghalnn, Veenax Garrison, Fanx Caverns,
Village of Gaxton,  Martok Gwarn’s Boundary,
Wildgrowth
Forest, Gardens of Xia’Liu, Badlands and the Temple of Ghalnn.

Grimsea Watch

Grimsea Watch is an outpost on the north beach of the island of Martok.
Martok is the home of the Martok Orcs and Goblins. Martok has been
fighting a long war against the Gulgrethor and the island is currently
under siege by invading Gulgrethors.



href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=goblin&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 150px; height: 120px; float: left;"
alt="Goblin" title="Click to enlarge"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/goblin.thumb.jpg"
hspace="4" vspace="2">You arrive on the
island of Martok as a slave on a Gulgrethor ship. You
first have to free yourself and then run to the Martok Outpost, Grimsea
Watch. Once arriving in Grimsea Watch, you are immediately thrown into
the Martok-Gulgrethor war, which you will learn about as you level.
Unlike many games, you are not a hero but just another soldier who will
have to slowly gain the trust of Martok people by completing tasks that
will help them in their war against the Gulgrethor.



The first thing a new player will notice is the chaos of the area.
There is a battlefield between the Gulgrethor ships and the Grimsea
Watch Outpost. NPCs are madly fighting and running in all directions.
One of the early tasks you will be assigned is to help heal some
wounded Martok soldiers. Once they are healed they immediately run back
to fight the Gulgrethor.



By completing quests you learn a lot about the lore of the Martok
people. You find out that the ship you arrived on is part of a
Gulgrethor invasion force. Your first 4-5 levels will mainly consist of
fighting off the invaders and gathering information about the invasion
force.



NPCs of Note:
Warden Grizzik.

Veenax Garrison

Veenax Garrison is a simple looking outpost with one building and a
lookout tower. But it occupies a key area connecting the Outpost at the
north beachhead, Gaxton Village, and Martok. Once you have proven
yourself somewhat trustworthy to the Martok, they will send you to the
southern outpost of the Veenax Garrison. You will be sent here to
notify the garrison of the invasion. Upon presenting your news, you
will be put to work helping strengthen the Martok military force
against the invasion. You will not be killing Gulgrethor invaders, as
you are some distance from the frontlines. Instead, you are assigned
the task clearing wildlife and collecting materials to ready the Martok
forces for battle. If you complete these tasks, the Martok will notice
your actions ask you to join the clan. But you will have prove yourself
worthy and pass a test of trials. By the time you leave here, you
should be close to level 8.



NPC’s of Note:
Vise Karnag

The Cave of Trials: the Fanx Caverns

In this area, you learn a lot about Martok lore and their long struggle
against the Gulgrethor invaders. You are given trials that replicate
the heroic actions of the Martok hero Grakkor. If you complete these
trials, you will become one with the Martok people.



Fanx Caverns is not really a dungeon but rather a large cave that is
separated into 3 areas—one for each of the trials. Fanx
Caverns
is a wonderful area and one of my favorite areas in the game. Fanx
Caverns should take you well into level 9.



NPCs of Note:
Warseer Fezzik.

Village of Gaxton

Upon completing the Test of Trials, you become one with the Martok
people and are sent to the Village of Gaxton. Calling Gaxton, which is
located in the center of the island, a village might be a bit of an
exaggeration, but it is a welcome sight coming from the wilderness. The
north beach invasion is quite far away and is not as important as it
was a few levels ago. In Gaxton you will be put back to work assisting
the Martok against the invaders, but you will also begin quests that
are designed to help Martok in battles to come. The quests here are
good and well-suited to the area and its place in the battle. Close to
Gaxton is the capital city of Martok and the outpost of
Gwarn’s
Boundary. Quests will lead you to both areas. The quests here should
get you close to level 10.



NPC’s of Note:
Witch Doctor Ravix

 

Martok

Martok is quite a big city. It may not look very sophisticated, but
there is a lot going on here. Martok is located close to the href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album17&id=Martok_6&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 150px; height: 113px; float: right;"
alt="Martok" title="Click to enlarge"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album17/Martok_6.thumb.jpg"
hspace="4" vspace="2"> Martok
docks where one can obtain passage to Thestra or Qalia. There are some
nice quests in Martok. One quest will send you on a misson to the visit
the Rathok Ogres and request aid from them in the war against the
Gulgrethor. This will lead you on a series of trials to prove to the
Ogres that Martok is worthy of their aid. Beware doing these quests, as
they will send you through areas populated by level 16 MOBs. The Ogre
quests are very well done and quite fun.



-Crafting in Martok

 

Martok looks like a very nice area to craft as there are not a lot of
people and it's all self-contained in a small area. We have already
covered crafting in a previous journal. For more information please see the
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=436 ">Ten Ton Hammer Crafting Guide
.

 

-Diplomacy in Martok



Coming Soon.





NPCs of Note:
General Zewg, Lieutenant Crakisk, Class trainers, and many vendors.

Gwarn’s Boundary

Gwarn’s Boundary sits on the edge of the Wildgrowth Forest.
There
are a number of quests here gathering information and leading you into
the Wildgrowth Forest. Visually, Gwarn’s outpost looks like a
well-defended fort on the edge of the wilderness. You get the feeling
leaving Gwarn’s Boundary that you will not see the comforts
of
civilization again for quite sometime.



NPC of Note:
Vice Garthog.

Port of Martok

The Port of Martok is located east of Martok. By the water there is a
small port town which is home to the shipmaster where I could book
passage to Qalia, Thestra or the beta PvP island. Along the shore to
the south of the port town there are a few buildings which look like an
unfinished quest hub.

Wildgrowth Forest

The Wildgrowth forest has always served as a natural barrier protecting
Martok against any invasion form the North. Recently there have been
many strange occurrences in the forest and there is a fear that the
Gulgrethor may be setting up a presence in the forest. Adjacent to the
forest is the Gardens of Xia’Liu and a Martok outpost on the
south beachhead end of the forest. The Gardens are home to the Yukiona,
a human like race that is an enemy of the Martok people. Recently the
Yukiona have begun to move into the forest from their Garden home. The
forest is a dangerous area that is packed with aggro MOBs.



Fighting is quite simple through this area. One has to be careful
watching out for unwanted aggro or wandering MOBs. The forest has lots
of hills and undulations. You should proceed with caution and it is
safest to keep the mountain edge to your back as you wander through
forest. There is one quest that involves killing some three dot Yukions
that is better suited to for groups of two players rather than solo.



There are a number of nice quests here. Once completed you are just about
done with solo quests on Martok. There are two solo quests left that I
know of, both in the Badlands. Once completing this area, you should be
close to level 12 and ready to move on to another area.



NPC of Note:
Tracker Nod

Gardens of Xia’Liu

This is a group area outdoor dungeon with level 13-15 three dot MOBs.
There are about 10 quests for this area at the southern camp close to
the entrance. It is quite well done and fun. Mostly, the MOBs here are
single and double pulls. The MOB difficulty seems a bit hard for their
level. There are some nice drops here as well, and the quest rewards
are quite good. Because of the MOB difficulty, one should be aware of
unwanted aggro and pulling back to safe spots. The Yukiona level 15
caster MOBs are probably the toughest and most dangerous mobs in this
area. They seem particularly resistant to counter spells. We ran across
two named MOBs in the Gardens, both casters who use an AOE damage spell
that casters should avoid. The drops for these named MOBs are very nice
and the respawn times are fast. Good counter spelling mages are
essential to kill them.

href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album17&id=Martok_5&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 150px; height: 113px; float: left;"
alt="Martok" title="Click to enlarge"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album17/Martok_5.thumb.jpg"
hspace="4" vspace="2">Badlands

Quite an interesting area. There is a Martok camp next to the southwest
beach. Quests here, with the exception of one, are all group quests
leading to the Gardens of Xia’Liu. The Gardens are quite fun
and
worth the trip to Martok. If you follow the road to the east you can
see more of the Gulgethor-Martok war. There are four Gulgethor camps to
the east leading to the Temple of Ghalnn, which from the outside
appears to be either a cave or a tunnel guarded by level 16 three dot
Gulgethors. Close to the entrance is a large Martok force which appears
to be in a struggle with the Gulgethor to regain possession of Temple
of Ghalnn. There is presently one known soloable quest given by the
Martok forces gathered outside the temple as well as one known group
quest available in Khal.

Temple of Ghalnn

The Temple of Ghalnn is located on the southeast corner of Martok. It
appears from the outside to be a dungeon, but it may just be a tunnel
to grant access to the other side of the mountain. Its entrance is
strongly guarded by level 16 four dots Gulgtheors and I have also seen
level 18 three dots outside the cave. From the outside appearance it
looks to be high teens or level 20 content. I can’t wait to
go
back and explore around here soon.

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