Plane of Knowledge (PoK) was added with the Planes of Power expansion as a travel hub that became a gathering place, too. It has banks, merchants, parcel merchants, tradeskill equipment, travel stones to many places, spell/song/skill sellers, guildmasters (trainers) for all classes, and more. I'll just highlight a few here. Some are not available on TLP servers until specific expansions are unlocked (but I'm not sure which those would be.) PoK itself isn't available on a TLP that hasn't unlocked Planes of Power (PoP).
Called New Tannan by the locals, Knowledge or PoK has three types of areas. The centre is the tower of the Library (spell/song/tome sellers). The outer areas, three of them, are where the travel stones are, and in between are bankers, merchants, tradeskill stuff, and doors to the Guild Lobby and Bazaar.
Screenshots were taken during the 24th Anniversary so there are additional quest givers and decorations not normally present.
Big Bank
Called the "Big Bank" by players, this building has 2 bankers and a parcel merchant.
Small Bank
As a contrast the "Small Bank", is a single banker who is in a cluster of buildings that have other merchants and functions.
Go up to the platform and click on the door behind Morgyn.
The banker is around the corner to the right.
The Small Bank tends to have more patrons at the same time than the Big Bank, probably because of the other amenities in the cluster of buildings on the same platform.
Parcels
In the Big Bank and nearby the Small Bank, there are Parcel merchants. While they also will buy a lot of the the junk you find on your adventures, they will also send and hold parcels for you. If you see a box above your name in the HUD, you have a parcel waiting for you.
There are parcel merchants in many other locations in the world as well. Look for the function title or just the 3rd tab on a merchant (some do not have Parcels in the title).
Sending and receiving parcels does not have any cost which is very handy. (And happens instantly, which can be even handier.) Every Parcel merchant shares the parcel list no matter where they are.
Guild Lobby
The Guild Lobby is a place where many congregate to get buffs from others. It also has bankers, soulbinders, corpse summoners, parcel merchants, doors to Guild Halls, and a door to the player housing neighbourhoods, as well as a travel mage to limited locations. Guild Halls have more travel options with a portal gnome.
Bazaar
The other back corner is the door to the Bazaar where players can buy and sell stuff from their adventures to other players.
To set up a Trader to sell items in the Bazaar, you need to have an All Access (subscription) account and get special Trader's Satchels. Anything in the trader satchel that's not No Trade can be set up for sale. If you have other bags, they won't show up in the trader interface.
The Library
In the centre of PoK is the great library. This is where the merchants are for spells, songs, and ability tomes up to level 90. After level 90, you will need to go to other places in the world to buy your spells, songs, and tomes. There may even be some for below level 90 for your class that aren't sold in the library as well.
The path up to the library is on each of the four corners of the middle area.
Depending on which corner you came up on, you might need to circle around to the front.
Inside, the library is several levels with the merchants for each class in their own areas.
Outer Ring and Travel Stones
There are three sections in the outer area: Good (north), Evil (south), and Neutral (east). Each of these areas have travel stones to starting city areas corresponding to the alignment. For example, the stone to the dwarven home city of Kaladim is in the Good area while the stone to the dark elf home city of Neriak is in the Evil area. Cities that are neutral or have both good and evil classes, such Crescent Reach, are in the Neutral area. The outer ring also has guildmasters (trainers) for every class mostly corresponding to the starting cities available for those classes.
The stones look different in each of the areas, giving a bit of 'flair'. Click on the stone to transport to the location.
Some stones will offer you more than one destination when you click them. This is usually because there is a second later zone added that is higher level from a more recent expansion (recent in this context can be a decade or more 😆). If you want 85+ content and you're clicking on the Oggok stone, you would choose The Dream. Otherwise, be safer and click Feerrott.
There are also travel stones to some locations that aren't cities but are places you might want to go for adventure at some time.
Soulbinder
Before you go running off on an adventure, the Soulbinder in Pok can be quite helpful.
You'll find her in the Neutral ring, often with a few people around her, newly arrived from whatever misfortune befell them.
One of the changes in EQ over the years is that you no longer leave your gear on your corpse, but you do still lose a bit of XP (after level 6) each time you die. If you want a % of that XP back, you will need to have your corpse resurrected (or rezzed as most call it). This is where the corpse summoners in the Guild Lobby can be helpful otherwise you would need to get a rezzer back to the location where you fell.
Teeks and their adventures
There are several quest givers around PoK and not just the ones related to the anniversary event (though there are many of those while I am writing this).
Two of them, the Teek brothers by the Guild Lobby, can help advance you in your adventures in special ways.
Franklin will offer you a daily quest starting at level 20 in a location somewhat appropriate for that level and, as a bonus, the zone he sends you for the quest is also a "Hot Zone" with an XP bonus. The reward for doing his quest is a piece of gear applicable to the level and some money. If you don't need that piece of gear, you can sell it if it hasn't been attuned (equipped) to become No Trade. (On a free-trade server such Firiona Vie, attuning does not make the item No Trade.)
Clayton will offer adventures who are level 75 or higher an adventure or two in an instanced location with content for the highest level in the group. Many of the locations can be solo'ed with a merc (often called "moloing").
Mercenary Liaisons
All over PoK (and in some other places, too, such as starting cities), you will see Merc Liaisons.
If you have an open merc slot (additional slots for DB cash purchase or some quests), you can hire a merc with the visual of your choice. They're still the same 4 types, but they can look different. If you have a merc and you want a different merc, you can fire the one you have and hire a new one (might need to wait a few minutes after firing one). If you have All Access, you can higher a journeyman, otherwise you can hire an Apprentice. Journeyman is, of course, better. Mercs are intentionally not as good as another player, however they can fill in roles in a small group or help when soloing.
- Healer: cleric-like heals and some buffs
- Tank: warrior-like taunts and melee damage. (No guarantee the tank can hold agro against you if you're going all out.)
- Melee: rogue-like melee damage
- Caster: wizard-like spell damage
If the race of the merc liaison doesn't have one of those classes, an alternate creature appearance is offered. You can also purchase or obtain other Mercenary Contracts for mercs of different appearance.
Other than apprentice vs journeyman and those contracts that have to be obtained by specific means, there are no restrictions on who can hire what merc. If you have a Vah Shir, it might amuse you to hire an Erudite. If you have a Froglok, you might want a Bixie (Halfing liaison). If you have a Dwarf, you might a drinking buddy and so hire a fellow dwarf. The gender is, sadly, not selectable.
I think that's all the important highlights for PoK. I might add some later if I think of them.