Most of what David said is true, but there are some slight variations and i have more info that might link it closer with gk3. Anyway, when Phillip got rid of the Knights Templar, it WAS for the money. Maybe it was jealousy or something, but he needed money for his wars and other things, and the Knights Templar had amassed HUGE amounts of treasure and its stonghold was in france. He couldn't attack them without papal approval, so he had the pope kidnapped and the 2nd one died under mysterious circumstances, letting him put someone who would let him attack them put on the papal throne. But, the knights left on ships to various places, some to portugal, scotland and others. But, there's more...

While the Knights were reigning in Jerusalem, there are various legends about what they did there. One is, during the infamous 4th crusade, some of the knights took a cloth that had the imprint of Jesus' face on it.

In one of their old churches, there is a mysterious painting that looks strangly like the Shroud of Turin, the famous cloth that supposedly Jesus was wrapped in.

Also, it is said that they were digging for Solomons treasure under their temple, and it is even mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls that vast amounts of treasure are buried there.

There even is a legend that in secret, they worshipped pagan gods. This is because in many of their temples, there are mysterious heads that some people call this weird name (which i forgot) when translated in to hebrew and then english is the name of a pagan goddess of wisdom.

And, there is a chapel in Scotland that was erected 150 years after the knights were disbanded, which some say the knights went after they had to leave France. Some knights templar symbols, and ones which supposedly only they could understand are in it.

I may have found out what the new GK game plot is about. [ Speak now or be thrashed! ] I've suspected it as a possibility for quite some time, but Sierra just released some more concrete clues that reinforce my theory. The GK3 site has been updated with a great clip of Mosely. Anyway, Sierra mentioned SOMETHING about a treasure hunt/lost treasure, so here goes...

I'm taking a class called European History to 1815. For a recent test, I had to study French king Philip IV (called "Philip the Fair"). He was the king responsible for bringing the papacy to Avignon (called the Babylonian Captivity) which would lead to the Great Schism, and in turn, the Protestant Reformation of Martin Luther. I did find something else about him. He took loans from an ancient order of "warrior monks" called the Knights Templar.

They were an order of knights chosen from the European nobility during the First Crusade, who initially lived lives of devotion to God and celibacy, with the exception that they fought in the Crusades to protect Christian pilgrims. The order was established in 1118 by Hugues de Payns after the successful campaign to recapture the holy city of Jerusalem. They were originally known as the "Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon, "As the order developed throughout the centuries, they turned from fighting the Muslims into administering their fortunes (priceless treasures acquired from several Crusades of conquest) and became very successful bankers. This is why King Philip IV turned to them for money.

However, the knights were still loyal ONLY to the pope. Their significant fortune and their disregard to Philip's secular authority made them a threat to Philip's reign. Philip spread a false rumor that the order had turned into Satan worshippers and heretics. The pope heard so many of these rumors that he assumed them to be true, and dissolved the order. However, when French authorities showed up at the order's headquarters, they found several members willing to turn themselves in.

As they were tortured and executed, the Grand Master Jacques de Molay (before he was died at the stake in 1312) prophecied the deaths of Philip IV and pope Clement V, whom he saw as conspirators trying to get the order's fortune (which was probably true). Both died within a year. A wagon was seen leaving the city of Paris a week before the arrests. It is rumored that this wagon contained all of the treasures and secrets of the order, which were said to have possessed several significant Christian holy relics (like the Holy Grail) and that the few members of the order who were captured did so only to protect the secrets of the order.

Another popular legend is that the order still exists today as a very VERY secret religious sect somewhere, protecting the treasure.

The deposed prince mentioned in the synopsis of GK3 could VERY WELL be a member or a descendant of a member of this order. It's all personal speculation, and I have NO connections with Sierra or Jane Jensen. If you want some more info, go to Britannia: Footnotes of British History, or look up "Philip IV" or "Knights Templar" on any search engine.

GK Kiss Dolls

From that crazy guy, Kenn Stollery-Jones comes... Virtual paper dolls! Now I ask you, has any other graphic adventure game, (based on a gothic premise) had such attention? . Look for 'em in the goodies section.

Updated Progress Report

The person who will be responsible for the casting and voice direction on GK3 has been announced. Stu Rosen will be responsible for satisifying everyones expectations of who should be playing what. May the force be with you! Hints of a definitive cast list are mooted for next month, so stay tuned!

Two New Development Team Profiles

David Henry (Lead Sound Designer and Composer), talks a little bit about himself, and especially about this amazing sound doohicky which will be "instrumental" (boom-boom!) in some of the music you'll be listening to. Scott Honn (Game Developer), one of the programming wizards responsible for creating the guts behind all the new visuals, aurals, and other bits and bobs...

3D Mosely!

Download a spiffy AVI files showing 3D mosely in all his chunky glory! And make sure you pay attention to the shadow creeping along the walls just before Mosely appears. Hubba-hubba! The link on the official site hasn't been changed to point there yet...

• Cindy Vanous, previous Web Lady/Webmaster/Webmistress type person (who did all manor of wonderful things over on Sierra's many game areas, including GK's), has been given the opportunity to move into the realm of game design, specifically on an RPG title. I wish Cindy the very best in her new calling, and hope that the new work schedule doesn't result in her being too busy to drop a line now and then (or even call us names, or something)

• A mysterious fellow using the moniker "AdamB" signed my guestbook, with a message which indicated that he would be the new webmaster for Sierra's GK web site (and presumably the rest of the games there). Congrats on the job, and will look forward to conversing with you soon!

• Jane Jensen is writing a serialised account of her game designing exploits, and its proving to be required reading for anyone who is even the slightest bit curious about what kind of effort is actually involved in creating these gaming leviathans.

• Updated AVI files of two characters from GK3, "Lady Howard" and "Emilio" are available on sierra's GK3 site. While "Lady Howard" does look very exciting (er, that is the animated motion of the character!), much had been mentioned on the GK message board of the latters motion, and how realistic it is. Personally, I feel that it is a great indication of the kind of plans that the development team has for the level of detail for its custom 3D engine. I hope that they continue to glue ping-pong balls onto people wearing spandex suits, filmed against blue screen, performing tasks such as reading sheet metal upside down. It is essential that this kind of important behaviour be made as realistic as possible...

• Carlos' GK web site, St. George's Website has blossomed into an excellent GK site, and has been host to some great things recently, especially the world-wide Shadow Hunter list. Go and add yourself to it, if you haven't already!