Part 47: Catacombing, and This Game's Obligatory Lord British Murder

Catacombing, and This Game's Obligatory Lord British Murder

Moonglow's next. This is the second most annoying rune to get, although even that isn't particularly bad.



You see a man who looks very amused - whether with his surroundings or himself is hard to say.
"Ah, welcome, milady! Come have a drink with me!"
"Are you coming on to me?"
"Maybe. Derydlus, and what was yours again?"
"I didn't tell you, and now I probably don't want to."
"Oh yes, of course. Come have a seat."
"No thanks. Do you work here?"
"In a sense. I'm trying to discover all the subtleties of Frasier's Folly. It's almost a career in itself!" He smiles. "Of all the towns in Britannia, you'll find no better brew."
"So, no."
"I wish I had your job."
"Have you had your fortune told yet?"
"What fortune?"
"Some people think Penumbra's a hoax. But she knows her stuff. You should bear with her - she can truly be of great assistance to you. Now, what shall we drink to?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'll drink to anything, mates!"
"Aaaaaaaaaanything?"
"Anything!"
"Oh really."



"I'm so clever."



You see a pipe-smoking gentleman with the symbol of the Codex tattooed on his forehead.
"Greetings to you, milady. My name is Manrel."
"What's with the tattoo?"
"Master of tact, Steve."
"I went drinking with some friends the night we heard of the discovery of the Codex. When I woke up the next morning, I had this tattoo..."
"That's the best story ever. So what do you do around here?"
"I'm a woodworker. I also dabble in alchemy from time to time. I make furniture, cabinets, walking sticks and the like. I'm trying to learn how to make healing potions, but I don't have the formulat right yet. I did stumble across a wicked recipe for red mead though."



You see a gentleman with an air of leadership about him.
"Thou art the Avatar! I saw thy portrait in Lord British's castle. I am Lord Aganar of Moonglow. If there be any assistance I can offer, thou needst but ask it."
"I guess you're the management type."
"I keep things running smoothly here. 'Tis not difficult in a town of such honesty. Hast thou ever thought of moving here?"
"Not really. I've got a computer and a portrait of a zebrataur at home."
"Thou wouldst not regret it. There's good fishing off our shores, and plenty of merriment to be found over the Blue Bottle. Honesty is the virtue we prize most highly here. We are closest to the Shrine of Honesty, and indeed, the Rune of Honesty was entrusted into my care some years ago."
"Yeah, I'm the Avatar and all that, so I need that rune. Avatar stuff."
"I had it once, but I entrusted it to Beyvin's care, as he is the most honest man I know. He lives with Penumbra. I haven't seen him around lately. Penumbra should be able to tell you where to find him."



Off to Penumbra's house then. She seems a wee bit paranoid, but then who am I to pass judgment? The electricity is a force field, the purple thing is sleep, the green poison, the red fire. Just have to Dispel Field my way through.



Check out the smart AI. Your companions don't blunder through active fields in Ultima VI, one thing I wish they'd kept in mind for Ultima VII. I guess I can't win them all.



You see a small, inscrutable woman, cloaked in shadows.
"Ah, hello Avatar. I was wondering when you would get here. I am the one known as Penumbra. I am the daughter of the eclipse, and a fortune teller."
"I heard you can, uh, see the future."
"Really? How did you know? Was it because I just said that? Because I'm pretty sure I just said that. To tell the future, I require a small donation for my services."
"Fine. Here's 10 gold."
She holds her hands out on either side of her crystal ball, not quite touching it, and closes her eyes. After a time, she speaks. "The future looks dark. All is unclear. Some more gold would shed further light on your destiny."
"Ugh... 10 more?"
"So be it. Though all is dark, I see a light at the end of the tunnel. Quickly - more coins before I lose the thread of this vision!"
"Are you serious? Fine."
"Much conflict lies before you. Your end... I cannot see it. More gold is needed."
"You have got to be kidding me."
"This is clearly a scam, Steve."
"Obviously, but it's not like we're even remotely concerned about money."
"Good point, I guess."
"You shall travel throughout the land before you are through. A few more coins and all should be clear."
"Whatever, just keep talking."
"You will journey into the depths of the earth... strange creatures will you face... I can almost see the end now."
"Ugh. Christ."
"You and your companions will face terrible choices... You will need powerful magic to prevail... Wait... There is some barrier before me. Give me just one more coin and I think I can break through it."
"One coin? Okay, okay."
"Yes, now all is made clear to me! I see a great Vortex. There is a violet lens that is crucial to your quest. It is broken, and must be made whole. But one lens is not enough! A blue lens is needed as well. You must have two lenses, else all is for naught." She opens her eyes. "I can see no more for now. Leave me, that I might rest."
"Wait a second, I need the Rune!"
"'Twas buried with Beyvin, rest his shade."
"Buried? You mean..."
"Yes, he was a terribly honest fellow. Alas though, he lacked the virtue of tact. He told the truth once too often, and those he spoke of did not appreciate it. He's buried in the catacombs under Moonglow now, pushing up daffodils. Even virtue has its price."



Back in Penumbra's bedroom... um... I'm not sure I want to know what she's doing in here. Or what happened to Beyvin. It must not be anything you can get arrested for, as Penumbra places herself into stasis after the events of this game in order to warn me of something in Ultima VII, 200 years later (where she is a fairly major NPC). In case you haven't guessed, she actually is the real thing, and the lenses she has described will be necessary to finish the game. Nothing that needs to be worried about yet though.



She's got a bag full of reagents...



...and some other good stuff. I don't really care if it is stealing, though I should probably just gently move the flaming oil and such aside rather than waste karma taking it. The gems may come in handy soon.

Now, it's off to the Moonglow Catacombs to get the rune from a dead guy. First, we'll need the key to get in from his next of kin. That being Manrel.

"Oh, have you been to visit my cousin's grave?"
"Uhhhh, yeah."
He looks at you suspiciously. "You wouldn't be wanting the key to his crypt, would you?"
"Yes."
"Well, perhaps you have your reasons... Okay, you can have the key. But you have to take these flowers and leave them there."
"Um... okay."
"Daffodils were always his favorites... It's too bad I couldn't find any."

That's a pretty easy promise to make, and you don't even actually have to do it; you can toss the flowers in the garbage if you want. But I'm going to actually try in this case.



The catacombs are inexplicably located beneath the tavern, behind a secret door.



I don't think it's particularly secret when I can see it from a distance, but okay.



There's a little bit of a puzzle here, if you can call it that, with barrels blocking the way. I could maybe have just used Telekinesis to drag the barrels out, but it's easier to just steal a potted plant...



...and shovel everything else around so we can reach the stairs. Whatever.



The catacombs are an interesting place. There's apparently no concept of defiling of the dead in Britannia, because robbing their remains doesn't seem to have any effect on my karma or anything. Most of the loot is kind of substandard, although some shields are handy for later.



But when the loot is good, oh baby is it good.



This one's not as good as a glass sword, but eh, I'll take it.



Acid Blobs await in the darkness. They're so weak that Sword Halberd takes them out in one or two strikes. Note that Quenton never breaks formation position, because he's never blocked off by any obstacle.



Honestly, who gets buried with a freaking bucket?



Oh well, we're at the crypts, so let's get looting. First we take grandma here.



There are some ghosts, but Quenton is my secret weapon against them. One tries to flee into a wall. Clever, but Quenton can follow! Sucker.



Here's where we need to be. Manrel's already left some flowers.



But there's no reason I can't put one by each side of the door. That's nice. Also there's the rune, but I ain't done down here, no sir.

Wait, who is that attacking my guys?



A guard? Have my wild years of grave robbing and cannon murder finally caught up with me?



Fortunately, no. This is just a random encounter between some human enemies, which for some reason are taking on the appearance of a guard. That means I can kill them with impunity, and boy do I!



They've got good loot, and so do the rest of these corpses.



Now, here's something I don't get. Unless it's some incredibly easy solution like "powder keg" or "attack the stalagmite," you can't actually enter this tomb. I checked pretty hard.



Downstairs and in another crypt is... another ladder down. Into a strange chamber with four adjacent ones.



I have no idea what those messages are about. Most dungeons are on the same layer of the world, and basement areas are just parts of dungeons, so this is probably happening in a dungeon I can't access from here. Too bad about those children though.



Slimes are a lot better-looking in this game. When they're in close proximity to each other, they form together into bigger blobs like this. It's strictly aesthetic, but it looks neat.



Sweet stuff. Something is still murdering children elsewhere in this area.



I left to check out another area and came back only to find giant ants and scorpions lurking. There are no passages around that I can see, so I really don't know what happened; I assume these guys just spawned in here, possibly when I grabbed something in one of the other chambers. It turns out giant ants are really easy though, despite their large size.



When I'm done here, it's time to snap up the moonstone. It's pretty awesome that the Orb of the Moons works underground.

Speaking of which, you may be asking why the regular Moongates aren't in play here, even though I can travel to the places they're supposed to be. The answer is here in the shrines, actually. Remember being able to dig up a Moongate in Ultima V? The moonstones? That's what I've been collecting. Why the gargoyles brought them to the shrines is one of the game's little plot mysteries. Needless to say, I need all of them, and now I have 7!



Let's celebrate by murdering Lord British. Look at him, sleeping like a baby.

Now, LB is a tough customer. If anyone even begins to catch his attention in any sort of aggressive manner, he touch-o-deaths them instantly. Normally attacking him leads to immediate death, even if you've got something that can do the job. The only exception is when he's asleep.



Of course, we need something to do the deed with. This glass sword will do. If it can't kill Lord British, nothing can.



Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Too bad I already pickpocketed his amulet, or I could loot him for something that's actually interesting. That'll do it for all that free healing and advice.

Wait, what the hell am I saying? What the fuck did I even do that for?

code:
> Restore
Ok.