The Templars were founded in June 2016 by Browe_ and Chailey. Following the collapse of CoV and the ensuing political turmoil, they sought to create a prosperous and peaceful crew, capable of defending itself in times of war, by recruiting players with talents for building, fighting or commerce. Thus, in the ruins of a former High Elven Citadel the Templar leaders knighted their first recruits and quickly began building the crew.
The Citadel
The Citadel, initially built by Browe_ for the High Elves, became the Capital for the Templar Order. An imposing fortress, surrounded by a wide moat and fortified by it's series of gated tiers.
The Citadel featured:
- A large ceremonial area used for the induction of new Knights, the process in which squires swore oaths of allegiance to the Order and were presented with a 'Templar Blade' and 'Templar Shield'
- A library of valuable books from across the server including Templar literature, player novels, crew histories and rare recipes.
- A crypt for fallen Templars and precious relics including the Shroud of Turin and the Holy Grail.
- A central crew vault
- A stable of purpose bred White Horses, originally intended for the High Elves.
After Browe's departure for the Templars, the Citadel was sold on to the Coalition by Chailey. A copy of the original now acts as a Coalition Naval base near Cove.
Prominent Templar Strongholds and Settlements
As the membership of the Templars grew, the number of settlements did too. The majority of these were existing bases of members, however some were purpose built for the Order.
Fort Xero - Built by Xadiez on the desert island which gives the Fort its name (Xero meaning 'dry'), this Fort was shared by Xadiez and Browe.
Fort WintersPeak - Built by Lithvather, featuring a series of traps and protections.
Cirquo's Castle - A formidable and highly detailed castle.
Galaxy219, Icebear89 and Keemstars' - A cluster of large castles, home to the respective players.
Colonial Expansion
Following the map expansion in 2016, the Templars were among the first to quickly explore the new land. Within a few days the majority of the new underwater temples, pyramids and Mesa gold mines had been mined or claimed by Templar members. Some of which remain marked on the map to this day.
Conflicts
Heart Pirates
Following the entrapment and killing of a Templar by The Heart Pirates, Trafalgar_Law and Goldieh, the Templars declared their first war on the crew. There were multiple raids made against the pirates by Templar forces, accompanied in some cases by their British allies. However, an incident in which the British abandoned the Templars in the midst of a battle lead to the breakdown of allied relationships between the British Empire and Templars.
Juice Pirates
As a new crew of Italian pirates lead by Applejk appeared, it was discovered that several members amongst them were hacking, leading to a crusade by the Templars against the Juice Pirates to eradicate the hackers.
Templar/BE War
As allied relations broke down between the Templars and British Empire, the Templars voted to declare war. They publicly denounced the British Empire for its behaviour and declared their intentions to seek retribution. However, accusations were levelled against the Templars for war mongering due to its reasons for instigating a conflict. Recently, it has come to light that the Templars had planned it all from the beginning. After recognising the monopoly on pvpers that the BE, they planned to ally them until they were strong enough to orchestrate enough reasons to declare war, without appearing to be at fault.
The first notable battle of the war occurred the Fort Xero. Initially a small skirmish by CaptainCraken, Shay and CrazyPirate1 against Browe_, the battle quickly escalated as both sides called for reinforcements. The siege lasted four hours as Templar and Asylum forces repelled a coalition of British, Elven and Juice Pirate forces. Initially, the attackers quickly overcame the defenders with the use of siege ships, and forced them to retreat inside. However, the defenders were able to regain control of the battlement cannons and inflict heavy losses on the attacking force.
The war raged for many weeks with sieges made against the British cities of Gloomsbay, London and Port Hope and against the Templar Citadel in retaliation.
After several weeks of fighting, the war became a stalemate as the British Empire refused to meet the Templars in open combat. Without a formal surrender, the Templars were forced to declare a stalemate and end the war.
Decline
Once the Templar/BE war had concluded, several key members of Templars chose to move on to a life of piracy including Ice and Keem who formed the Blackguard and former co-founder Browe, who formed Phantom.
Templars continued under Chailey's leadership, who merged the crew with the Xanthian Order. However over time the original members dissipated and the Templar crew was no more.