Ultima IV: Closing Thoughts

The completion of Ultima IV means a lot of things for this little journey of mine through the Ultima series. For one thing, it means I've made my way through the first third of the collection, and the last game that I've actually completed before for quite a while - I won't be hitting that territory again until Ultima VII, which means the next five games (or the second third of the series, to put it another way) are mostly uncharted waters for me. There's a certain excitement in looking forward to games that I've played before but never seen through to completion, and there's a lot of things in the games to come that just ooze anticipation. I've never been through the underworld of Ultima V, the Gargoyle realm of Ultima VI, never met a Martian or used a dream machine or blundered into a Tyrannosaur.

On the other hand, it means leaving the familiar, and the memories associated with them, behind. Ultima IV wasn't just a turning point for the series, it was a turning point for me. It was the first RPG I'd ever played, let alone seen through to completion, and seeing the mechanics used, diving into the world of Britannia as the game laid it out for me, gathering clues and chasing down leads - Ultima IV taught me what games are able to do, the stories they're able to tell in ways that books or movies can't quite accomplish. So for me, there's something a little poignant in seeing the quest draw to a close once more. In a sense, this isn't just a time for me to reflect on the game and its place in the history of the series and gaming as a whole - it's a time for me to reflect on my own journey to this point.

On top of the world, lookin' down on creation...

Let me start with the game first, though. Ultima III left behind the sillier elements of the series, and the sci-fi/fantasy mishmash in order to tighten its focus, finally deciding what path it wants to take. Ultima IV took those steps and refined them even further, which I expect will be something of a common theme as I move forward (at least up to a certain point). Take the world, for instance. I remember Ultima II feeling very empty, a lot of interesting "geography" without much real actual point to it. Ultima III went about it a lot better, pretty much every corner of the map being used for something, even if it wasn't strictly necessary to see the game through to completion - but in doing so, it felt a little too tightly woven in some respects. It didn't take long at all to traverse the overworld, the journey between towns was simple and easy, and there wasn't much to impede my progress while traveling about. Ultima IV strikes the balance - there's plenty to see and do and explore, but it feels neither too spread-out nor too compact. Moongates make it easy to travel to and from cities, but you need to look outside of just the cities eventually. Ultima III's monster spawning and short distance between cities meant you could go quite a ways without actually being threatened by anything, but that's not the case in Ultima IV, and I like that. It's a nice balance that works well.

A few other issues I had with Ultima III were fixed to some degree or another in its sequel as well. The interface feels a bit more streamlined, in that inventory and food and gold are all communal now, and I no longer have to use a bunch of semi-tedious keystrokes to move necessary items from one party member to another. Not having to pass all that gold around really was nice, and made it easier to focus on what I needed to get done rather than getting bogged down in the minutiae of who was holding what and who actually needed what.

Combat feels more varied, with battlefields like this.

In the same vein, combat feels improved, though still a little tedious at times, especially with a full party. But the game doesn't feel quite as grind-y as Ultima III did, and maybe that's in part due to the fact that the main character can build up experience via other means, and running around doing everything you need to do in-game will give you plenty of encounters so you don't have to go chasing them down, either. At the same time, combat screens are more interesting and varied than they were in Ultima III, with a bunch of different layouts and obstacles in the overworld and dungeon rooms being pretty unique more often than not. It meant you needed a little more planning than just arranging your party properly and then doing the 'Attack-direction' button mashing, although it did devolve into that a good deal in Ultima IV, too. At least the different layouts and the dungeon puzzles managed to keep it fresh beyond the barrage of missiles, though, and while it does feel somewhat repetitive after a while, at least it takes longer to get there.

As one of the Magincian ghosts said: The world went on without me.

Ultima IV takes further steps into developing an honest-to-goodness, breathing world, too. This is helped along immensely by the conversation and keyword system. Now instead of just simple one-liners, characters all have names, jobs, something to say. Sometimes it's something silly, like Short Round, or the rangers who seek a home where the deer and the antelope play, but it means the NPCs start to feel even more like characters. They're not just moving signposts now, they're characters proper, with a little bit of personality, even. They'll refer to other characters in other towns, give you advice on spells, even try and take action themselves only to fail (a lot of injured people at the various healers' are there as the result of failed dungeon explorations, after all). It speaks of a world that existed before you got there, of people with livelihoods going about their usual business, and that your path simply intersects with theirs. Sure, maybe the conversations you have with the populace are brief, but then again, considering the subject matter of the game, I think this sort of brevity suits it better - get too verbose and the game's liable to become a bit heavy-handed and preachy in places, as I feel may be part of the problem with Ultima IX (we'll see if I still think that by the time I play and finish it). So too do I enjoy the fact that you actually have to type in what you want to ask about, instead of simply choosing from a list - when there's a lot of keywords to use, the latter is admittedly much more useful and practical, but it feels more... I don't know, conversational to actually think about what it is you want to say, and maybe it's the linguist in me, but the fact that sometimes you have to figure out how to phrase things just right never really bothered me - quite the opposite, really, I kind of like it better that way.

I can't entirely move on from Ultima IV without some mention of its music, either. I didn't play with music this time around because I couldn't figure out how to get it to work properly without making the game zip at hyperspeed or else using a graphics path in conjunction with it, but I've done so in the past, and while I'm not overly fond of the overworld wandering tune, I love the rest of it. The town theme feels appropriately 'medieval domestic,' the dungeon theme is simple but ominous, a subtle reminder that danger could lurk around any corner. The music for the castles is bold and regal, the combat music just intense enough for a fight without being overbearing, and more triumphant than the minor-key bit used for Ultima III, to better reflect the honorable nature of it in this game. And the shrine music! Wispy and almost ethereal and reflective, just as it should be. None of it's terribly complex, but it's very well utilized.

Oh, I will, but I'll be back again.

And finally, of course, the story. There's two things that immediately come to mind while reflecting on Ultima IV's narrative on its own, separate from its place in the series as a whole. The first is the fact that it's very much a personal journey. It's not a story to strike down a bad guy to save the village or the kingdom or the world, or stop some disaster from happening for the same purpose. Sure, the Quest of the Avatar is purportedly to give the people of the realm an example to follow, some direction, and in that sense it is very much a quest for the kingdom as a whole, but when it comes down to it, in execution, Ultima IV's story is all about the journey of one individual and their development. What shapes the story isn't the outside forces moving that the player fights against - instead, it's the decisions of the player and what they learn as they move along. It's a story that's shaped from the inside out, rather from the outside in - one that's built upon the lessons learned by the character, instead of their reactions to what is happening around them. It's a Hero's Journey not just for the character in the game, but for the player himself. The only other game I've come across that has such an intensely personal story is Planescape: Torment, and I suppose it's small wonder that I rank that pretty highly on my list of favorite games, too. This is the type of story that I find much more compelling, because they're not just stories of the characters in the game - they're as much a story about the player. They're the stories that make a player think about what choices they make, not for what it will get them in terms of reward (be that experience, equipment, or the like), but for their own merit, what it says about their character. It's less a matter of conquering some Big Boss or Cataclysm or the like, and more a matter of conquering one's own self - highlighted even more in Ultima IV by the lack of a final boss, instead leaving the dramatic final encounter to a series of questions about the game's virtue system, which works well.

The other thing that comes to mind is how very freeform the story's structure takes. Really, when it comes down to it, there's very little that has to occur in a set order in Ultima IV. There's a series of things you need to do, yes - gather the companions, find the eight stones, become an eight part avatar, get the three-part key, obtain the bell, book and candle - but what order you do all these in really has no bearing whatsoever, just so long as you have it all done before you dive into the Abyss. Stories of this freeform sort can be very hard to pull off properly without it feeling either forced or shallow, but I think it works in part because Ultima IV's story is so personal. I've nothing against linearity at all, I don't mind it in the slightest if it's the best way to tell the tale one intends to, but these two things coupled together, I think, make Ultima IV rather unique, and I honestly can't think of anything that pulls it off in quite the same manner.

In terms of the story of the series as a whole, Ultima IV stands in very stark contrast to his predecessors, and according to what I've read about Ultima IV's development, that's by design. We've moved from the Ages of Darkness into the Ages of Enlightenment, and as I said back in my second post for this blog, this is where we move from establishing the rules of the setting to establishing the heart of the setting. This is where we turn from the enemies, the squabbles, the fights, and start to move into the realm of the philosophical, trying to get inside the culture of the setting. This is, to my eyes, something that the series will cling to from this point on, each game (at least in the main series) able to be interpreted as an exploration of some aspect of virtue, whether that's the nature of virtue itself, its nuance, or what happens when one misinterprets it in varying manners. While it may be the fourth game in the series, Ultima IV is where it truly begins, in some respects, this being the first game to pose some of the bigger questions - not just the what, but the why. It's one of the things I love about the series as a whole, and this is where that particular facet has its beginnings.

And so we move back from the game's story to my story, and I think that's a good deal of what I love about the game - they're one and the same, in the end. My history as a gamer - and even a storyteller, to a degree - is inextricably linked to this game. Every time I fire it up again, some part of me is suddenly ten years old once more, wide-eyed as he explores not just the realm of Britannia, but what the medium is able to do, for the first time. Maybe it's just the nostalgia - I know the control scheme can be a bit cumbersome and clunky until you get used to it, the graphics aren't anything to look at, and I know there's some even among my own generation that just can't get past stumbling blocks like that. And small wonder, I guess - like I've said before, the game predates me by three years.

But in the end, I don't care. Ultima IV's story is undeniably a part of mine. And in the same manner that the Quest of the Avatar is forever, so too is there still a lot of my story yet to be written.

I suppose that's a good note to end on as I move into the next chapter, huh?

Well, that's why I took the screenshot.

Ultima IV: The End and the Beginning

It seems somehow fitting that my trek through the Abyss to the codex chamber should be my eighth post in my playthough through Ultima IV (not counting my initial post and my character creation post, that is). Eight virtues, eight stones, eight floors of the Abyss, eight objects to enter it (three parts of the key; the bell, book, and candle; the wheel and the skull)... it only seems right that it should take me eight posts to chronicle my journey as well. Not exactly intentional, but fitting nonetheless. A happy coincidence, shall we say.

Treacherous waters ahead...

Of course, I couldn't go diving into the Abyss just yet - I still had supplies to gather! If I was to pick my way through the dangerous depths of the Stygian Abyss itself, I wanted to make sure I was well-equipped for the journey. So I hopped through the moongate and made for Minoc, or more accurately, the marshy spot southeast of Minoc, where I could gather mandrake root when the moons were dark. I spend a good while here, gathering enough mandrake to mix several Tremor spells, which I thought would come in handy during my expedition, and about fifty portions of the reagent besides, just in case I needed more. It was a necessary reagent for not just the Tremor spell, but a crucial part of the Resurrection spell, and would be needed for the Negate and View spells too, which would come in handy in case I came across a mass of magical enemies or ran out of viewing gems. I ran into several creatures wishing me ill in the process, and the experience gained from all the battles was enough to raise Geoffrey a level by the time I made my way back to Britain, only to head out again to forage for nightshade. This was a much less necessary reagent to gather, in my mind, but I could make use of it in both Kill and View spells, so it would be a handy thing to have regardless, and I would much rather have an excess of it when I didn't need it than a lack of it when I did. After mixing a dearth of cure spells, I wandered back to Paws to stock up on the rest of my reagents, with the gold I'd gained from the fights I'd got into along the way. With a healthy supply of food, reagents, and useful spells at the ready, I headed for Jhelom, where I'd docked my ship for when the assault on the Abyss would begin.

Fair winds were at our backs as we sailed west from the city of Valor, and we set our course for the Isle of the Abyss. I took a moment to peer through a gem and make sure I was entering from the right direction - it seemed there was a portion of the island that I hadn't explored yet that was reachable from a large inlet on the western side. I remembered that I had been told I would need a magically strengthened hull to survive, so I made use of the wheel, steeled myself for what may come, and sailed onward. The inlet turned out to be the hiding place of a very large pirate fleet, and the battles waged on the high seas were tumultuous indeed, with sails flapping in the wind, the echo of cannon fire loud in our ears, and the ruffians even boarding our vessel on several occasions. Our ship was as strong as our resolve, however, and we pressed onward, docking our ship on a swampy spit that gave way to mountains, lava flows trickling over the ridges until we found ourselves staring at a large pool of the stuff, searing even from a distance.

We had found the entrance to the pit itself.

GOOD RIDDANCE!!

I pulled the Book of Truth, the Candle of Love, and the Bell of Courage from my pack as we stepped through the lava, and I could see the pain etched on my companion's faces from the burns, though none wavered in their determination. At the pool's very center, I rang the bell, which was louder than I thought it would be. I opened the Book of Truth, reading from its pages, and even though the heat dried out my throat and made it difficult to speak, the words sounded loud and clear. Then I lit the candle, and its flame burned brighter than the flows around us. The very earth trembled as the maw opened up - but we could not descend just yet, not until we took care of one last order of business. I held the skull of my one-time foe, Mondain the Wizard, and took a moment to reflect on that fight we had waged, who knew how many years ago, lost in the depths of time. I remembered what he had wrought on the land, both by himself and through his apprentice, through their creation Exodus - and I consigned this last remnant of his personage to the flames of the Abyss, watching the skull crack as it sank.

It didn't feel right running through endgame in silence, with only the blips and burbles of shots fired to punctuate this last leg of my journey, so in the absence of the game's music (I couldn't get it to work without either updating the graphics as well or making the game run on super-speed, neither of which were desirable outcomes) I fired up Pandora, which gave me a suitably epic medley as I descended into the pit (I found the Piano Guys' Cello Wars particularly amusing as I plunged through level three, as well as the string medleys of Zelda music and the Skyrim theme that popped up during levels four and five). So with dramatic strings skrilling in my ears, I stepped into the Abyss, ordering my party behind me.

Since Katrina and Geoffrey were limited to melee weapons here, I stuck them to my left and right, and also put Dupre in a more forward role in the second line of defense with Iolo and Shamino. Julia and Mariah brought up the rear. Our trek through the first floor of the dungeon was fairly straightforward, first battling several lava lizards while picking our way through yet more lava, then a pack of demons as we filtered our way through a corridor lined with impenetrable barriers that forced us to pass over sleep fields. The second floor, too, was mostly straightforward, simply making our way past the aquatic creatures that greeted us to make our way through a false wall a gem had forewarned us about, through poison fields that led to the altar. On each floor, I was questioned as to the nature of the Virtues and their relationship to the Three Principles, which I was made to answer before placing the stone of the appropriate color on the altar and making my way further down.

Shepherds are tenacious.

Level three was again very straightforward, and even opened with an empty room, though I found myself battling a large stream of demons afterward - appropriate, for the floor that centered around Valor. It was level four that began to require a bit more strategy, necessitating me to navigate through more false walls, wind my way through tight corridors, and deal with creatures that moved through walls. It was the following floor that truly stretched my party to its limits, however. The rooms I trekked through held balrons, triggers behind fields that needed dispelling in the same place as the magic-negating zorns, gazers - but it was the reapers that truly tested my patience. One room held no less than nine of them in addition to three gazers, and the Tremor spells I cast to open the fight were nowhere near as effective as I had hoped they would prove to be. It was a slow, tedious process for my party to creep their way over and strike them down. Katrina and Dupre unequivocally proved their worth in this room, and indeed seemed to be vying for position as Most Valuable Party Member. Dupre bore through the burn of poison to shoot at the reapers from afar, the toxins coursing through his veins apparently having the side-effect of making him immune to the soporific effects of the reaper's spells, and Katrina bravely took step after agonizing step as she suffered through a veritable deluge of electricity and fire, her progress hampered by the several-turn-long nap nearly every step of the way, undeterred even when she was down to her last sliver of health (she was down to 2 HP at one point, and it was only luck that woke Aric up just in time to cast a Heal spell on her). Meanwhile, Aric and Mariah jockeyed for position to sling whatever spells were available while they were awake to do so. Repeated Tremors frustratingly had little to no effect, so they threw out whatever could do some damage from range - Fireballs, Iceballs, Kill spells, even a few Negates I had lying around, cancelling the reapers' magic in the vain hopes of buying the rest of my party time to wake up.

A creepy corridor.

Battered and weary, my little band of adventurers stumbled out of the room, only to find themselves in a room filled with dragons not long afterward. Despite having been below 100 HP for a good long while, Katrina never faltered, and reinforced my faith in her as a Companion. She may start out as a frustrating weakling, but with proper care, she's a force to be reckoned with. I found her to be one of the most resilient of my party, and she cut large swathes through the crowds of enemies with her Mystic Sword - I remember blinking as she sliced down a gazer in one swipe back on level four. She kept her head during this fight with the dragon nest, too, though it was Geoffrey who found the trigger beneath the lava that allowed us to the altar, down to level six and the winding maze that wound through its halls. The proper path started through a false wall, and curved back on itself several times. There were narcolepsy issues here as well due to the many balrons we faced, though nowhere near as problematic as the reaper den we stumbled upon above. We did get lost a time or two, though we found our way through without too much trouble. It was still a relief when I peered through a gem on level seven and found the way forward was much more straightforward, though - just a series of single rooms, and as long as we pressed our way north and west, we would be fine. We skirted the edges of a room on the suspicion getting to close to the conspicuous spot in the center of the room would unleash hydras on us, found switches hidden in secret walls, and arrived at the altar none too worse for the wear.

Can't beat the real thing.

More fiery creatures met us as we made our way through the last floor of the Abyss, and we all spent some time roasting in the lava flows (again!) as we searched for the way onward - which we soon found to be over yet another pool of fire. A rest and walk down a hallway after that, we saw a sight that suggested we were nearing the end of our trek through this dismal place - we saw ourselves. It was almost like looking in a mirror, really. A full party of eight, comprised of one each of the eight professions of Britannia. They were like us, yet not - one last reminder of the fact that we must all face ourselves before we can truly gain wisdom. It was a little jarring to see these simulacra just on the other side of the room, knowing we would have to fight our way past them in order to proceed. Though the look Shamino gave his own counterpart was apparently enough to send him fleeing before a single blow was thrown. We were glad for our ranged weaponry, it meant we could fight without having to see up-close just how accurate these facsimiles of ourselves were. However they might have looked like us, though, they were no match for our fighting skills, and after another bout with balrons, gazers, dragons, and demons - we were at the final altar. It was somewhat tremulously that I answered the voice from nowhere this time, and with shaky hands that I placed the black stone in its proper resting place.

And then...  darkness. I called out for my companions, but there was no response - I was in this chamber alone. Perhaps this chamber was reserved for those who had become an eight-part avatar. As my eyes grew accustomed to the dark, I noticed a keyhole, shaped just like the key of Three Parts that I had formed in the dungeon altar rooms. A booming voice demanded the Word of Passage, which I called out in reply. And then the voice asked me a series of questions, asking about the nature of the virtues, the principles - and as I answered them, I slowly saw a design being etched into the stone before me, a design that looked vaguely familiar. Then I remembered it - the last page of the Book of History, imploring me to study that image well, for when I next looked upon it, my "life's quest would be revealed." The visions I had received at the shrines suddenly came together as I was asked one final question, and as I answered it, I felt the rumble as stone moved, revealing the resting place of the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom.

I had done it.

I had finished the Quest Lord British had bestowed - and taken up a new one, for the Quest of the Avatar, as the Codex told me, is forever.

~~~

This is probably my favorite of the final virtue questions.

So ended Ultima IV, and its endgame still remains, perhaps paradoxically, both utterly unique and the quintessential 'final stretch' experience. The final challenge in a solid game, and the events leading up to it as well, should be reflective of the game as a whole. One last test of how well the player has learned the rules of the game, the skills that he has been honing, the knowledge he has been gathering. Ultima IV's final exam is just that - a series of questions that cut right to the heart of the game itself, a method of testing just how well the player has learned the system of virtues at its very core. The dungeon leading up to this test serves to reinforce these lessons, necessitating brief reflection on the structure of the virtue system before one can proceed to the next level of the Abyss. Even the battles in this stretch help test how well the player has been paying attention - there are scads of tough fights, secret walls, and hidden triggers. It's memorable (the face-yourself moment on the final floor, the gradual drawing of the symbol of the Codex and the callback to the foreshadowing of it in the manual... I could go on for a while in this vein), it's exciting (I can still feel my pulse quicken bit by bit as I descend the Abyss, no matter how many times I've been through it), it's a solid culmination of everything the game has thrown at you (as any endgame should be), and I love it. It's the perfect conclusion to a game revolving around a philosophical journey and personal development. Sure, it can be frustrating at times (my first time through waaaaay back at the tender age of ten, I blew through the Abyss solo only to be kicked out at the very end for not having gathered the full party, and I had to do it all over again, and I can only imagine the look on my face), but in a sense, even that's fitting for the tone of the game, especially at the endpoint. Attaining wisdom isn't easy, and the bright-eyed intent to find it dims eventually. It's the struggle afterward that really defines the quest, and it is, as the game states, the endless quest of a lifetime.

As always, I'll have one more post collecting my final thoughts on the game, and then it'll be time to gear up for Ultima V! Stay tuned.

What more can I add to that, really?

Ultima IV: The Keys to Victory

With four of the stones in my pocket, a full party of eight, and sitting on the doorstep of Cove, it was time to ply the last batch of townsfolk for clues. Many of the threads I'd followed led to this small little village hidden off the coast of a lake, and it was time to tie them up into as neat a bow as I was able. Somewhere within this little village were the answers to the last questions I had about this quest of mine, and I was determined to draw them out.

Let's just say things were heating up and leave it at that.

My first answer come in the form of Brother Zair, whom I'd been directed to practically at the very beginning from a man I'd met in Paws. He had information about the word of passage that I would need at the entrance to the chamber of the codex - it would seem that each of the rulers of the three keeps across the land each knew one part of the word. Looked like another visit to the Lycaeum, Empath Abbey, and Serpent's Hold was in my future. Sloven pointed me to the supposedly haunted in over in Skara Brae to find out about the location of the white stone - he not only confirmed that the inn was indeed haunted, but that I'd have to ask the ghost who did the haunting about the stone. Merlin was rather more straightforward about the black stone, in contrast - I was told to search for it in a moongate, the one that opened on the darkest of nights, when the moons were black. That seemed fitting, and I added it to the list of places to revisit when I made my way back to the Lycaeum. A gathering of mages left me with much to ponder about the one pure axiom I apparently need, and Allen told me that the abyss could only be approached by ship, I'd need a magically strengthened hull to accomplish that. The sailors I'd talked to in my journeys talked often about the HMS Cape, and how mighty it was. I knew it went down in the Cape of Heroes, so perhaps it was time to plunge the depths of the seas. Finally, Blissful the Seahorse told me to meditate at the shrines of Honesty, Compassion, and Valor to find out what steps I'd need to take to enter the Abyss itself. There'd be some backtracking in my future!

There was one last thing I'd been directed to Cove to find, though, and after a little poking around I found the Candle of Love in a little alcove off of the shrine they had there. The shrine's Ankh also gave me a handy checklist of what I'd need to enter the chamber of the codex when I finally made my way to the bottom of the Abyss. I'd need to be an eight-part avatar, have the key of three parts, and know the word of passage and the one pure axiom. I only fulfilled one of those pieces, but I knew how to obtain two of the others, and I had much to consider in regards to the last. I considered myself well informed by this point.

I wonder if he'll finally find his peace after I finish the quest...

Saying goodbye to the pleasant folk of Cove and the quiet, contemplative atmosphere of the place, I prepared a Gate Travel spell (which I had learned from Mentorian near the town's entrance) and magiced over to Trinsic, where I supplied Geoffrey with a bow, who was in desperate need of a better weapon lest he be left behind. From there I made my way to Skara Brae by way of Minoc, so I could pick up some more Mandrake along the way. In Skara Brae, I stayed in the inn for a mere five gold - I suspect they had to discount the room severely in order to get any business, due to its haunted reputation. It took a couple nights, but the specter did show up eventually - and proved rather friendly to one on the Quest. I found myself wondering what his story was - his lingering presence seemed tied to the Quest itself, and I couldn't help but wonder what sort of circumstances led to that. He was disinclined to elaborate on the subject, though he did inform me that I could find the white stone in Serpent's Spine, though I'd need the ability to float through the clouds to find it. I remembered being told about a lighter-than-air device just outside Hythloth, and that I could find a secret entrance to that dungeon in Lord British's Castle, so I made a note and moved on.

My next stop was Yew, as that was a quick jump through the moongate away, and Empath Abbey wasn't too far away from there. A brief discussion with the lord there confirmed that he knew one part of the word, and told it to me with the exhortation to seek out the other two parts, which I had every intent of doing. From there it was off to the Shrine of Compassion, and after three cycles of meditation there, I discovered that I had to light the Candle of Love third in order to open the way to the Abyss. I suspected the shrines of Valor and Honesty would tell me the first and second steps, so I boarded my ship and set sail, with a brief stop at Serpent's Hold to learn another part of the word of passage from Sentri and a little poking around the Cape of Heroes, where I found the wheel to the HMS Cape. From there I sailed to the Shrine of Valor, learning that I should ring the Bell of Courage as my first step at the entrance to the Abyss, then it was off to the Shrine of Honesty, which I actually found without getting lost for once, where I was told to read the Book of Truth after ringing the bell. Since the Lycaeum was close by, I stopped there to learn the last part of the Word of Passage, then headed over to the moongate to pick up the black stone. Three more to go, and the complete Word of Passage to boot! Progress was undoubtedly being made.

The White Stone was here once.

...or so I thought. I took the moongate back to Britain, and plunged into the depths of Hythloth only to turn right back around and try to climb my way back out to the surface. I'd never done this before in any of my playthroughs - either I'd just X-it my way out, or I'd use Blink to get the white stone and not bother with the balloon at all. Consequently, this meant for a fair bit of stumbling around to find my way up. I even managed to find the altar where the stone used to be, and no wonder it went missing! It was RIGHT THERE on the first floor of the dungeon, and sure it was behind a trick wall and three poison fields, but surely somebody could find their way to it without too much trouble - although I suppose there's no way to get a ship there, but someone who can swim real well might be able to. Well, in any case, I kind of undid some of my progress here. I got swamped through a combination of dungeon rooms and encounters in Hythloth, and I was so desperate to get out that I somehow lost both my Valor and Sacrifice eighths - I'm still not entirely sure what happened, I blinked and suddenly they were gone. Apparently 'impatience' is not a virtue of the Avatar, either.

A brief glimpse of what's to come, from the air.

Resolving to rectify this unpleasant turn of events as soon as possible, I boarded the hot air balloon I found just past Hythloth, and a bit of navigating and several wind change spells later, I landed the balloon in a little alcove atop Serpent's Spine, marked by an ankh - and sitting there by it was the white stone! It didn't take long after that to regain my partial avatarhood in sacrifice, all it took was a rather generous blood donation to the castle healer and then a stop by the shrine. It took a little longer to regain my valor partial, but it too didn't take too much time, thankfully, and I opted to leave my ship by Jhelom and use magical means to get back to Britain - it was a short trip from Jhelom to the Isle of the Abyss, so it'd be more expedient that way. Having recovered from my momentary lapse of virtue, I delved back into Hythloth and pushed my way into the altar room of Courage, through which I pushed my way into Destard. There were some tough fights here, I bumped into a lot of Reapers and Gazers while searching, but I suppose my party was getting some much-needed rest as a result of those battles. In any case, it was a relatively short venture, and once the red stone was mine I ventured into Shame through the altar room. This was a longer journey, but eventually I made my way to the second floor where the purple stone lay awaiting me. I took the ladder up - and discovered that this part of the first floor didn't have an exit ladder. Well, I decided I wasn't quite up to backtracking quite that much, and caved - I mixed and cast an X-it spell.

Only to plunge back into Hythloth and make a run of the altar rooms. I'd noticed that each dungeon connected to the altar room associated with the principles that formed the virtue that stood in contrast to each dungeon, and since Hythloth was Spirituality's opposite, that meant it connected to all three. And sure enough, after enough poking about in its depths, fighting off demons, and placing the proper stones in the right places, I pocketed first one third of the key, then a second, then finally the last. A few spells later, I was back in Castle British, who raised Mariah another level - and then told me I was ready for the Abyss.

And I paused a moment. Enlightenment in eight virtues. Tracking down the eight colored stones. Checking out the Book of Truth from the Lycaeum's library. Pulling up the Bell of Courage from the depths of the sea. Finding the Candle of Love in a small alcove. Scrounging about in the dark depths to find the three parts of the key. The Word of Passage. The wheel from the Cape. Even the very Skull of Mondain himself. Everything I needed was there, either in my hands or in my head. The knowledge I needed, the necessary items, and seven stalwart companions that had fought by my side against dragons, gazers, zorns, demons, balrons, reapers, the most terrifying creatures the depths could think to throw at us.

All that remained was the Stygian Abyss itself. And there, down in the very heart of the darkest pit in all of Britannia, lay the object of my quest. The Codex of Ultimate Wisdom.

Together, the eight of us would conquer it. And I would enter the chamber and finally view the codex itself.

The end of the journey was in sight.

Ready for the final leg...

Ultima IV: Into the Depths

It strikes me that the terminology for an avatar to be can be a little confusing at times. An eight-part avatar is not automatically the Avatar, despite the fact that that's kind of what it suggests, seeing as there's eight parts to the code of virtues that Avatar must abide by... I'm not sure what a better term would be for one who's attained enlightenment in all eight virtues but not yet completed the Quest of the Avatar proper yet. Almost-Avatar? Junior Avatar?

Well, this has 'long nap' written all over it.

Well, whatever the term, that's where I found myself at the end of my last session, and so this session meant it was time to gather the rest of the items that I needed for my eventual venture into the Stygian Abyss. As I saw it, I had two options of going about that. On the one hand, I could seek out the hidden city near Lock Lake. The citizens of the realm had pointed me there for information on all kinds of things - the white stone, the black stone, the Candle of Love, the Word of Passage... I'd need to follow up on all of these leads eventually. When it came to information and clues, it seemed like all roads led to Cove. On the other hand, there were six other stones that needed to be gathered, and I knew that these could be found in the various dungeons scattered over the land. I knew there was a secret entrance to Hythloth in Lord British's castle somewhere, and I'd stumbled upon the entrance to another in my travels. I also knew that there were altar rooms deep in the bottoms of the dungeons that connected them to each other (and I can only imagine the convoluted geography necessary that would make such a thing possible). The only question was which route I should pursue first.

I opted for a plunge into the dungeons. I'd have to make my foray into their depths sooner or later, and I'd have to get used to the nature of the gloomy passages that wound their way under the surface of Britannia - they were sure to be worse in the Abyss itself! Besides, it would be a good way to gather more gold for supplies, build up the strength of my companions, and get used to guiding this group. Of course, since Lord British had recognized my growth at the end of my last session, I could add another to my band. We were lacking both a fighter and a mage, so after a moment's consideration, it was off to Moonglow to pick up Mariah (along with a bit extra food, now that the party was larger we were going through rations quicker), whose magical prowess would surely be a boon to the group.

SO glad I have ranged weaponry for this one.

Having expanded the party to seven, and with an excursion into the dangerous world of the Britannian underground looming, I opted to take some time to gather what supplies I was able, and outfit my fellows with the best equipment I could get. That meant a trip to Buccaneer's Den, where I sold a few of the Mystic Weapons I'd obtained in Serpent's Hold - not that I doubted their strength, but I had learned long ago that range tended to trump power in this age of Britannia. In a sense, that almost seemed fitting, based on the lessons I'd learned - that there are things more important than brute strength and raw power. (I'd be rather surprised if reflecting that idea was a conscious part of the design of Ultima IV's combat system, but I must admit I do find it fairly fitting for the theme of the game, if only in a small way.) After some negotiations with some questionable merchants (this was Buccaneer's Den, after all), I along with Iolo and Mariah were brandishing magic wands, while Dupre, Shamino and Julia had magic bows at the ready. Poor Katrina was still stuck with her sling, but she assured the rest of us she was quite content. We were all clad in the mystic robes we'd found in Empath Abbey's grove, and while we were in the Den we saw fit to spend the rest of our funds on magic gems for mapping purposes within the dungeons, and reagents for whatever magical assistance we could make use of in the depths. We even made a foray into the forest west of Britain in order to gather a little nightshade - not much, but enough to provide that little boost, just in case. Katrina and Mariah earned enough experience during these preparations to gain a level each.

With our coffers emptied, spent on amenities for subterranean exploration, we trekked through the mountains to the entrance to the dungeon Despise, situated just a little ways north of Britain's moongate. (I never remember where any of the other dungeons are. I really should fix that one of these days, my mental map of Britannia is missing that crucial detail.) We took a moment to gather ourselves and steel our nerves, then with a breath of trepidation we set foot into the darkened cavern and lit a torch.

Those poison fields were not kind to my little band.

Going into this playthrough, I was determined to refrain from making use of the dungeon teleportation spells, the Up, Down, and X-it spells. They're useful things, to be sure, and I made copious and repeated use of them during my first time through the game (and many of them after), but I've never really taken the time to explore the dungeons proper, or at least try and push my way through them without zapping myself past all (well, most) of the obstacles. It does present an interesting trade-off, though - expediency for experience. Actually pressing through all the obstacles, while time-consuming and taking a toll on resources, provides a fair amount of experience, because these aren't just the orcs and rogues and skeletons that wander through the overworld - these are the zorns, the balrons, the dragons, the liches, the reapers - the harder monsters that deliver experience at a more rapid rate. Either you can zip through the dungeons and claim their prizes, or you can take your time and get rewarded for the experience. I like the fact both options are possible, as I've had uses for both approaches in my past playthroughs.

Despise was a fairly straightfoward dungeon, I found. There was only one real 'fork' in it that I came across, one leading to the yellow stone and the other down to the bottom floor where the altar room of Love could be found. I panicked upon seeing a room full of gremlins on the way down, and Tremored my way through it, only to realize I went the wrong way and had to fight my way through it again. Fortunately, my party was strong enough to pound the gremlins into the ground before they had a chance to steal any food from me - in fact, through all my dungeon crawling, I only had a gremlin swipe a couple units worth of food twice. Dupre touched a magical orb in the dungeon, taking a hard hit in exchange for extra dexterity, and Shamino would do the same further down in the depths. This was also where I and my entourage encountered our first reaper fight, which meant a lot of us got a mid-battle nap. It wasn't long before I found the yellow stone on the fifth floor past a windy corridor, though, and with plenty of supplies left we pushed onward into the depths.

After working our way through a room absolutely covered in fire, sleep and poison fields (many cure spells were needed during the plunge, as I'll make mention of later), we made our way into Covetous through the altar room of Love. It turned out the orange stone lay just one level above the altar room we'd come in from, through a fair few secret walls, but it was otherwise pretty much just a straight shot. Having come what I came in for, it was back to the altar room for me, and I ducked into Wrong. That turned out to be slightly less straightforward, but still rather simple - all we had to do was zip up a level via a ladder that was right outside the door, and then back down again via a different ladder. From there it was a pretty simple, direct route to the green stone - though I had a bit of trepidation when we passed through a room with a few lava lizards, which we hadn't come across yet. Fortunately the lava in the room stayed pretty contained, otherwise it could have become a little tense.

Oh, so THAT'S where I am.

The altar room of Truth was in a corridor just past the stone, so I slipped in there and headed for Deceit. Which was more full of traps rather than tricks, though I did take a somewhat roundabout way of getting to the blue stone, past several magical fields. Fitting, I suppose, for the dungeon that was supposed to be the antithesis of the virtue the mages hold to. I was running fairly low on reagents by this point, and I figured that it might be wisest to climb my way back to the surface and restock. Again, it was more traps than tricks that did me in, although there was one trick on the second floor that tripped me up for a bit - the room's exit kept disappearing on me! I eventually figured out I had to stick to the room's edges to get it to reappear and let me out. I also found an orb that I let Mariah touch which boosted her intelligence - as my party's mage, I figured she'd get more use out of it than any of the rest of us. And indeed she did - despite being three levels below Aric, she's already got more magic power than he does.

Of course, when I crawled out of Deceit, I discovered I was on a small secluded island with no way off except by ship. Normally this is the type of situation where I Gate Travel spell myself elsewhere, but since I'm sticking to information that I've been able to pull out in-game, and nobody's yet told me the ingredients necessary for that spell, that wasn't an option for me this time. So after peering through a gem, I took stock of my location and found myself not too far from the island housing the Shrine of Honesty, so a couple blink spells (and many poisonings in the swamplands) later, I was back at Moonglow and restocking on some badly needed garlic. I'd started my dungeon ventures with about fifty or sixty, and I was down to about five by this point. (I told you I got poisoned a lot! And this was not helped by the fact that I was attacked by snakes during a rest just after I cured everybody.)

Blinking around reminded me of the usefulness of the spell for travel's sake, though. So after moongating back to Britain and wandering around the northern edge of Lock Lake, I decided to see if I could blink my way to Cove. Expending a gem or two to line myself up properly, I cast the spell... and there I was at the town's outskirts! Success!

So there ended my session for the day, with half of the stones I needed in my pocket and on the doorstep of the hidden city of wisdom. Guess what my plan for next time is!

Snakes... why did it have to be snakes...

Ultima IV: Enlightened

With five partials obtained and three more ready to advance, I had a pretty solid gameplan for this particular session - namely, become an eight-part avatar proper. Having left off at the Shrine of Compassion, I toddled my way back to Castle British, where Iolo and Julia gained a level after all the fights we'd struggled through in our travels. A little stronger now, I herded our merry little band of adventurers onto our ship, and sailed for Buccaneer's Den, having obtained enough gold to purchase a much-needed sextant. I was starting to get coordinates that I'd have to visit, and I needed a way to figure out where I was!

The Quest of the Avatar is forever, after all.

With that taken care of, I sailed around the south end of the continent to make my way to Skara Brae, or more accurately, the other islands nearby, where I poked around for a bit before I unearthed the Silver Horn that I would need to get past the demons that guarded the Shrine of Humility. But before I headed there - the Valarian Isles were a lot closer, and I had business at the Shrine of Valor. But first I had to find the rune! The last time I was in Jhelom, I found out nothing about it, but there were people behind locked doors that I couldn't question. This time, I had magic keys with me, and soon I was rummaging around the passages on the inside of the town walls, looking for a man named Nostro. The poor guy had been trapped within the passages himself, and in reward for helping him out he informed me the rune lay within the southeast tower. With that in hand, it was a quick hop over to the next island, and a few cycles of meditation later, I became a partial avatar in Valor.

My next destination was the Shrine of Humility. I'd been told it was on the northern side of a large isle in the southeast of Britannia, and that it lay on the same island as the Abyss. It was therefore with some trepidation that my band of five set a course for the Shrine, as we wondered if we might get a glimpse of what we might have to expect. Viewing gems showed a rough landscape indeed, and I blew the horn as we trekked over the mountains to the shrine to keep the demons away. The horn worked exactly as I was told it should, and I reached the shrine with no trouble, nor was I attacked on my way back to my ship after becoming enlightened in Humility.

Since I was sailing around anyway, and I wasn't too terribly far from the coordinates I'd been given by Jude, I went to go fish up the skull of Mondain from the depths of the sea. Surrounded by little eddies of volcanic activity, I was a little unsettled to have the thing in my inventory, the very skull of the evil wizard that caused so much trouble, directly or through his apprentice and/or progeny, in the past three games. I'll be glad to destroy this thing in the Abyss.

I intended to make my way to Moonglow afterward, but I forgot exactly where Verity Isle was, got turned around, and ended up closer to Britain than anywhere else. So I sailed back to the castle - catching sight of the settlement near Lock Lake through a gem on the way - and to my delight, I was ready for another level, as were Dupre and Shamino. I also spent some time exploring passages in the castle that I hadn't previously, with magic keys to unlock doors finally in my inventory, and I learned of the bell, book, and candle, and that I'd need to seek out those named Antos in the other keeps to find out where they were.

I don't know how comfortable I am carrying this thing.

With another level of experience under my belt, I could add another member to my party, so I swung by the ruins of Magincia again to pick up Katrina - again, I know she gets a bad rap and not undeservedly in some respects, but I still like her regardless, and wanted to give her opportunity to pick up a couple levels before we went dungeon crawling. Which didn't quite work out, but more on that later. For now, we made our way to Moonglow, which ranks pretty high on my list of favorite Britannian locales. A city of scholars and magic on an island, a stone's throw away from the best library in the land? Sign me up!

Anyway, after plying the townsfolk for information, I picked up the rune, learned the mantra, and set out for the Lycaeum to ask after the bell, book and candle as I was instructed. I was directed to search the library under T for the Book of Truth, and lo and behold, there it was! From there I blinked onto the island just north of me - since I'd taken the moongate rather than my ship - and after a bit more meditation, I was finally an eight-part avatar.

Still, that was only just the first step of my journey. With a lot of threads to follow up on still, I blinked back to Verity Isle - or tried to, at least, I had trouble aligning a bit, and ended up getting my entire party poisoned in the swamps in the process, and not enough reagents to heal it! Katrina ended up dying as a result of this - ONE STEP away from me mixing up the spell that would save her! It would be a while before I could revive her, although I did learn the mix for a resurrection spell in this session.

I still hadn't figured out where to find mandrake root and nightshade, though, so I asked around about that, along with a few other leads. Sir Simon and Lady Tessa told me where to find the mystic weapons and armor, and I learned where to find the Candle of Love and the Bell of Courage while poking about Empath Abbey and Serpent's Hold while gathering them. I learned where to find the two reagents not sold in stores, and spent some time collecting mandrake. All of my leads are starting to point toward the hidden city of wisdom off of Lock Lake now, though, so I think it's time to start plunging into the dungeons while I look for a way there. There's a veritable plethora of information waiting for me to discover, information that I need.

Armor in a very peaceful place.

I ended the day with yet another level for me and one for Katrina. I think I'm going to go pick up Geoffrey in Jhelom before I start chasing down my other leads. I do enjoy the fact that there's multiple ways to find out about certain important things in this game, as opposed to its predecessors - the three part key, the altar rooms, the skull... I've come across more than one character who's been willing to point me in the right direction on those topics, and it makes it a bit less frustrating than other games where vital information is gated behind one single character in an obscure, hard to locate position. Makes for a bit more enjoyable experience.

I may be an eight-part avatar now, but there's still a lot to do before I can venture into the Abyss. Time to track down some more clues!

Ultima IV: Always More to Learn

The road to enlightenment may be a rocky one, but once tangible progress begins to evidence itself, new epiphanies tend to cascade. Or at least that's how it tends to go in Ultima IV, I've noticed. It's a slow start to increasing your virtue scores, but once you start getting partials, the rest start falling into place pretty quickly.

Clearly not the friendly, patient sort.

I started this session with partials in Honor and Justice, and with Sacrifice, Humility, and Valor all ready to advance. So, naturally, I blew them off for the moment to head over to Buccaneer's Den, that dreadful hive of scum and villainy that a hopeful Avatar candidate really has no business being. Except that I did, as I remembered that I was told to ask after the skull of Mondain here. Plying the townsfolk for information proved a bit of a troublesome task, a lot of them were unsavory characters with a tendency to turn away if I was too inquisitive, but I did eventually find out that an extremely poor, destitute beggar named Jude might be able to tell me something. I did some restocking while I was in the Den, finding a rare source of magic keys and magic gems in town. So too did I find a reagents shop, which I made use of - only to get attacked by a balron sitting in the corner! Fine way to treat honest customers, by siccing one of those on them!

I hightailed it out of there, done with the town for now, though I expected I'd have to return eventually. The shops there did, after all, stock some very nice-looking weaponry, and I hadn't had enough money to purchase the sextant the guild shop owner kept behind the counter, either. For now, though, it was smooth sailing back to Britain, and I managed to commandeer yet another ship near Paws. I think that's four total now - I've been exceedingly lucky in that respect this time around, sometimes I have to make judicious use of blink spells to get around to the shrines I need! Doesn't seem to be the case this time around!

From the mouths of babes... sage advice.

With Sacrifice ready to advance, I hopped the moongate to Minoc, learning what I could there. I still can't quite figure out why they thought to keep the rune to the shrine waaaaaay in the back of the blazing hot forge, but I came out little worse for the wear because of it, so I suppose all was well. At least the smith was rather helpful, this turned out to be Zircon that I'd been told I should ask about the mystics. Apparently he gave them to Sir Simon and Lady Tessa, whom I remembered meeting in Paws. They'd told me they were the keepers of what they could not say - maybe now that I knew, they would be a bit more forthcoming. Having heard the mantra of Sacrifice sung in a bard's song, I next dropped by the poorhouse, and it was here that I found Jude. The poor man, he was clearly consumed by guilt for having made use of the skull himself once. A promise to never use it except to destroy it at the entrance to the Abyss seemed to be enough to gain his trust, however, as he gave me coordinates to where it could be found, on the darkest night. Saving up for a sextant became very important indeed.

Wait, haven't I met you before... did Minax hire you?

With a new companion in tow (I'd asked Julia at the poorhouse if she'd be willing), I made my way to the shrine, and after some time deep in thought, I had my third partial. Vesper was only a short jaunt away, so I paid a visit there. A group of shepherds told me a bit about the situation concerning the shrine of Humility - where it was, the fact it was guarded by demons, that its mantra was the mantra of pride reversed, all in all very helpful. Taking note of this, I made my way back to the moongate, and remembering that the Shrine of Spirituality was found through the gate of double full moons, I paid a visit to it, where I was rewarded with the knowledge that the white stone could be found in Serpent's Spine. But how do I search a mountain? Maybe the lighter-than-air device I heard about in Buccaneer's Den might be able to help there.

Maybe I should have stayed at the shrine a little longer, though, because when I made my way back to Hawkwind, he told me I was ready for advancement in Spirituality as well. So it was back the shrine for more meditation, and then I set my sights for the locale where I could learn more about what the shepherds in Vesper had hinted at. I headed for Magincia.

One of my favorite lines in-game, I must admit.

Magincia is one of my favorite parts of the game. Exploring the ruins, meeting ghosts and skeletons in varying stages of grief and regret, the missing walls, the encroaching swampland - it's all very poignant, and a very stark lesson in humility in and of itself. It's a reminder that there's a flipside to virtue, and that it can have very dire, lasting effects. The town and its denizens serve as a lesson by way of example of what not to do in contrast to the light, jovial feel from the rest of the settlements. I even love the fact that not everyone in Magincia seems to recognize these lessons - the nobleman who seems very convinced that of course I should have heard of him and his family coming swiftly to mind. Understanding humility in Ultima IV is inextricably tied in to understanding its antithesis is well, and I love that effect, because, as C. S. Lewis puts it in The Screwtape Letters, it's a particularly delicate virtue, easily shattered by the very fact that once one realizes one is acting humbly, then "almost immediately pride - pride at his own humility - will appear." It's even brought up by one of the resident ghosts to beware becoming too proud of your own virtue, lest you lose it in the process. It's a nice reminder that stands in stark contrast to the rest of virtues and seeking enlightenment in them as the game goes about it, and it's somehow fitting that attaining anything related to humility, whether it be the rune, the mantra, the stone, or its shrine - is somehow more complex than most of the others.

Anyway. While exploring the ruins of the town, I learned again of the demons that guarded the shrine, and that there existed a silver horn to ward them away. The lady in waiting of the Queen of Love was supposed to know something, so I made a note to myself to stop by Empath Abbey as soon as I was able. I discovered the mantra of pride - MUL - which meant that its reverse was the mantra I wanted. The locals informed me that Nate the snake would tell me of the rune and stone if I asked before it strike, and in return I was told to ask Barren in Paws of the rune, and at the pub in Britain of the black stone. I said hello to Katrina on my way out - I wasn't experienced enough to bring her into the party, which somewhat disappointed me. I know Katrina gets something a not-entirely-undeserved bad rap as a companion, with all the limitations shepherds generally have, but I've always liked her as a character, at least. The only survivor of a ruined city, presumably spared because she actually understood the virtue her home was supposed to honor and represent, sitting there starting out over the ruins. Once again, a poignant image of humility.

No... no, can't say that I have.

I moongated back to Trinsic and walked back to Britain, stopping in Paws along the way to ask after the rune of Humility (which turned up in the hills on the edge of town) and to ask Sir Simon and Lady Tessa about the mystics - which they told me could be found by one who was an eight-part avatar. They won't tell me anything more until I reach that point, so I bought some more reagents and headed for the Britain pub, where I learned Merlin the wizard could tell me of the black stone. Hawkwind told me I could elevate Honesty at this point, but I wanted to follow up on the horn, so some running about Empath Abbey informed me that I could find it off the tip of Spiritwood.

My session ended when I made my way once again to Castle British, where Hawkwind told me I could achieve a partial in Compassion (for some reason that's always the last one I seem to be ready to advance), so I ran over to the shrine, meditated, and called it a day. That gives me five partials under my belt now, and the other three ready for the gaining. I think it's time to hit the seas, visit Moonglow, drop by Jhelom and Spiritwood, then make for the Shrine of Humility. I'm becoming enlightened - but there's still much more to be learned before I can take a peek at the Codex.

Ultima IV: A Bit Partial

...well, that's the last time I decide to move twice over the holiday season. I didn't make a whole lot of game progress in my last session, which means I don't have many screenshots, either, but I followed up on a few threads and managed to make my way a little further along. Let's dust off my notes and see what I've got here, shall we?

The last time I scribbled down a bit of these adventures, I mentioned that I was ready to gain partial Avatarhood in Honor, Justice, and Humility, and that my plan was to head off to garner the two partials I could gain on the mainland before heading for Magincia to find out what I needed to do the same for Humility. Which I was all excited about, because I absolutely adore Magincia in Ultima IV, but... alas, I'll have to wait for another day to gush about what I like about the ruined city, because as it is with nearly all plans, they were derailed somewhat, and I still haven't made my way there yet. I had a couple threads to follow up on in Paws, so I figured I'd walk to Trinsic and make a pit stop to do so. I asked Zair the Wise for help with the word of passage I'd need at the last gate of the Abyss, as I'd been told in Skara Brae, and he told me I'd also need a three part key, which was alluded to back in Jhelom in connection with the stones. As for the word, I was told I'd have to ask his brother, who lived in a village beyond Lock Lake.

I am officially an honorable man now.

Thanking him for his time and his help, I continued on to Trinsic, where I followed up on another lead before making for the shrine. I'd been told to ask about the whereabouts of the white stone at the pub there, since it was no longer in Hythloth. The barkeep had heard some gossip that Sloven, again near Lock Lake, could tell me where it currently was. I'm going to have to make it a point to visit that village as soon as I'm able, that's two important clues and one lead on a spell (a mage named Mentorian there is supposed to know of the gate travel spell) that's awaiting me there! While in town, I picked up a bow for my old friend Shamino, now in my party, then headed over to the shrine of Honor, picking my way over the treacherous swamps. There I sat, contemplating the nature of Honor and what I had learned over the course of my journeys thus far, and when I came to myself again, I was given a vision, a fragment of what lay before me.

Wisdom thus gained, I made my way back to the castle of Lord British, where I tasked myself with my now-standard process of healing up, donating blood at the healer's, and checking in with Hawkwind. To my surprise, he informed me that I was ready to achieve enlightenment proper in the virtue of Sacrifice as well! That modified my plans for Magincia slightly, since Minoc was a bit more easily accessible via moongate. Before I did that, though, I had another partial to gain. So I ducked through the moongate to Yew, and blundered around the forest for a while trying to find the shrine in the darkness. Many battles were fought in the process, and by the time I found the shrine and received another vision, Shamino was ready for a level gain and when I dropped by the castle to do so I also found out Valor was ready for advancement! All this adventuring is doing me some good, it seems.

That was about all the game progress that I managed to accomplish in this session - the battles came fast and often, and with my party getting fairly large, it can take some time to plow through all the enemies. It does give me opportunity to talk about one aspect of the game I'd nearly forgotten about through my numerous replays, though, because of how I'm going about it this time.

See, since I've played it so often, I know where everything is in Ultima IV. I snag the black stone on my first to Moonglow because it's right there in the moongate. I pick up the rune of Spirituality on my first visit to Lord British's Castle, I Blink into the space in Serpent's Spine where the white stone sits at my first opportunity, that sort of thing. But I'm not doing that this time around. I'm acting as if I'm not aware of the clues the game has to offer, so I can chase them all down, scribble down my notes and follow up on the all the leads the game has to offer. It gives me reason to explore the game more fully than I usually do, remind myself of conversations that I pretty much have no reason to go through in my normal playthroughs because they're not telling me something I don't already know.

In doing so, though, I've also reminded myself of one aspect of the game that I don't see as much in more modern games - and that's making the player act on their own initiative. Plying the townsfolk for information, going from place to place to follow up on leads, having to remember what leads I've got and how things were worded and getting directions and getting lost trying to follow them properly - this is what helps make the world feel lived in for me. It feels more organic, not simply having everything laid out for me point-blank. Some of these hints I can blink and miss - I know I didn't see a lot of them my first time through the game, and it was years before I realized Lord British actually has dialogue if you ask him for 'help.'

It's reminding me of some ways that more recent games do things differently, and some of the potential side-effects that can have. Journals and quest logs, for one. Personally I've got nothing against them, per se - they're handy things to have in a large, sprawling game where it's hard to keep track of details and plot threads because there's just so dang many of them. It's nice to have a place to keep all of that organized, and also a very convenient perk that you don't have to halt the action to scribble them down yourself. At the same time, though, it's making me wonder if it doesn't oversimplify things sometimes. Quest logs make it very clear what's important to a certain story thread and what isn't, and that can lead to losing a bit of nuance. It also means one doesn't really have to pay much attention when a quest is given, either, because what's needed is all right there in the quest log anyway. It can even lead the writing to suffer a bit, because what does it matter if the quest-giving dialogue is unclear or not? It's all there in the quest log. I know this sort of thing doesn't matter to everyone, some people just want to move things along and don't pay much attention to story or motivation for doing things, but it's easier to gloss over that sort of thing when one has a quest log to lay it all down for you. And I wish more games would allow a player to add their own notes as well - Baldur's Gate had an option for doing so, if I recall right, and I like it. Scribbling my own for the Ultimas I've played - IV in particular, since the importance of doing so ramps up - has been very satisfying, leafing through what I've done and yet to do, wondering if something I wrote down will turn out to be important or not, making those decisions for myself. With what games can do these days, I kind of wish more gave a player more freedom as to how go about the in-game method of keeping track of everything. Is it really so bad to let us have the option of doing that ourselves?

To the Shrine of Justice!

And then there's quest markers. While there's a fair few reasons for it, this is probably the single biggest reason I favor Morrowind over Oblivion and even Skyrim. Quest markers have their usefulness, yes, especially in particular types of games. It's helpful to have something pointing out which way you need to go in order to accomplish what you've set out to do, and helps mitigate the time running around lost and frustrated. But at the same time - you lose so much that way, and once again, you run the risk of letting your writing suffer because of it. Again it's a matter of eliminating the need for clarity and understanding in the quest dialogue, and it also has the effect of no longer needing a lot of little details that are, ultimately, what help bring a game world to life. A quest in Oblivion or Skyrim will tell me "Go to these ruins, I think what you're looking for is in there," and there it will be on my map, along with a helpful arrow on my game screen pointing me to the location in question. And this is all well and good and expedient. But a Morrowind quest will tell me, "I think what you're looking for are in these ruins - they're out of town to the west, follow the foyada until you see two stone pillars and it should be on your left. If you hit the lake you've gone too far. What's a foyada? Oh, that's what we call those big canyons left by lava flows." And not only am I told where I'm going, I'm told how to get there, how it fits in relation to where I am, gives me a bit of world-building detail, and makes me think on my own when I'm heading out that way. Sure, it gets frustrating sometimes when directions are unclear or you miss a landmark or whatever. But it makes me lean on my own wits more, necessitates more nuanced writing, and gives me a better sense that these characters I'm interacting with exist in a world, not just a setting.

And this is what all I'm getting in Ultima IV - the series as a whole, really, and it's awesome to see how that develops as the series goes on. Plot threads that make me search for their continuations on my own merit. A map to chart my course with and a way to figure out which way I'm going when I'm told where things are. Little details to the world that I'm running about in. All because I as a player am trusted to poke about on my own and figure things out for myself - I'm not being lead. I don't mind a little hand-holding, goodness knows I need it every now and again, but that sense of discovery, that 'aha!' moment when a puzzle finally clicks, finding something new even a dozen playthroughs later, the little additions to a story that make it come alive - that's what I thrive on. That's the type of storytelling that I go to games for. And that's what Ultima is absolutely full of.

Is it any wonder I love the series as much as I do?

...well, that was a bit of a tangent, I'll admit, but hey, that's half my reason for doing this, I guess. Gives myself reason to really examine these games I've come to love and figure out why I appreciate them, and what all contributes to the Tale of Ultima. I think my game plan for my next session will be to follow up on a lead about Mondain's Skull in Buccaneer's Den, then head for Minoc and gain a Sacrifice partial while I stock up on guild items in Vesper. Gives me opportunity to become more honest (by stocking up on reagents), compassionate (lot of beggars in Minoc!) and spiritual, which are the three virtues Hawkwind tells me still needs some work. So we'll see how far I get next time!