“There is no purpose greater than ours. The world will founder without structure and discipline.”
Having been approached by one of their agents, players who join the Templars will soon find themselves in a secluded part of London, blocked off for normal citizens and only available to those with close ties to the Templars. A strange set of circumstances will see the player experience not only a travel through space, but one in time as well when they enter London. From there, players will meet Richard Sonnac of the Templars order, who will give them their first taste of what the Templars are all about.
Well chronicled in legend and history as well as popular culture, the Templars is perhaps the most recognisable secret society of modern time. But their public image as the righteous knights of the Crusades and clandestine Masonic lodges only tells part of the story.
The organisation today known as the Templars is far older then the Crusades, and while their rise at the time threatened to soar into heaven, their fall was greatly exaggerated.
The true origin of the Templars is still unknown, but some claim they can be traced back as far as the land between the two rivers and the rise of the Mesopotamian city-states, through Babylon and the Persian Empire, even to the marble floor of the Roman Senate. From there they spread their all-encompassing wings over Europe where they sat comfortably with kings, generals and popes. Their rise and arrogance was so great that the other secret societies conspired to bring them down. And they almost succeeded in the 1300s.
But despite centuries of open conflict with their arch-enemies, the Illuminati – and the Dragon patiently waiting in the shadows to strike – they are still the rulers of the old world, and by far the strongest secret society of Europe.
And after thousands of years, the one true goal of the Templars still hasn’t changed; to rid the world of evil and rule without compromise.
New Templars recruits are sent to London, to the capital of the secret world, and a secret neighbourhood nestled safely in the shadow of Temple Hall, the Templars’ global headquarters. This is the world of the Templars; history and heritage, loyalty and conviction, ruled by a strict hierarchy with a fabled Grand Master at the top, pulling the strings.
As an initiate of the Templars, players will feel the weight of thousands of years of history in the great arches of Temple Hall.
Where angels fear to tread, the Templars kick down doors.
Rogue Agent – A Templars Ranking Mission
In the Secret World, players will progress through the ranks of their secret society, accumulating power and rewards as they earn an increasingly higher standing within their chosen society. In order to move up the ranks, players will complete missions that are unique to their secret society.
The Backstory
“Laws. Tradition. Blood. These are our core values, our pillars. Without these, we are nothing. To betray what we are and what we stand for is the greatest crime an agent of the Templars can commit.”
The Templars are currently going through a period of transition. There is a schism dividing the so called “new blood” and the “old blood”, and there is a certain amount of distrust between the various factions within the society. The one thing that they all agree upon, however, is the absolute persecution of any agent who betrays the Templars.
The Templars Perspective
Someone has recently been discovered trading Templars secrets on the occult web. The Templars systems have tracked the informant to a dingy PC bang in Seoul, deep in the heart of known Dragon territory.
The player must locate the PC Bang, and hack a computer there, setting themselves up with a fake account and pretending to be interested in buying information from the agent. With a little trickery the player is able to determine that the agent is in fact a rogue Templars operative!
Receiving further instructions from HQ, the player is directed to deal with the rogue agent permanently. However, when confronted by the player, the rogue agent flees into Agartha.
Thus begins an epic, world spanning chase, as the player follows the agent who hops from portal to portal. Glimpses of the past, the future and of worlds beyond our own flash past as the player pursues their prey.
Finally, the player corners the enemy in a small pocket of the hell dimension – ready to deliver the justice that the Templars crave.
And that is where we will leave it, to avoid spoilers.