Part 10: Humility - Part II (also Sacrifice - Part I)

Humility - Part II (also Sacrifice - Part I)

Yeah, this is the PC version of Ultima IV with the original graphics. This isn't the very first version of U4 to exist, I don't believe; there were also Commodore and Amiga versions around the same time. There's a VGA patch for the graphics of this which is actually pretty decent, I just preferred not to use it to show off the game in its original glory (and also because the VGA patch is arguably nicer than the graphics in Ultima V, and I'd rather graphics actually get better between threads).

The NES version has its differences, but in a reasonable sense it is a pretty good port.



Hitting a whirlpool can sink your ship. Unless, of course, you've used the H.M.S. Cape's wheel on your ship, which makes it far too awesome to head to the bottom. Instead, you get spit out in Lock Lake, NE of Britain.

The problem is that you can't get back out to the ocean. A ship on Lock Lake is stuck there for good. Since you need to get a boat on Lock Lake (or be insanely good with Blink) to reach Cove and get the Candle of Love, this isn't a big deal. It's a lot easier than waiting for a ship to show up on the lake proper.



Cove is through some shallow water to the south. Since it's on grass, it should be possible to blink here, but I've never actually tried that.



Cove is a simple little town full of smartasses. It's got nothing of interest except the Candle, but the Candle is plot-critical, so here we are.


You meet a small druid.
: I am Frontis.
: Job?
: Welcome to Cove, the hidden city of wisdom!
: I thought it was the hidden city of love.
: Love and wisdom. It can be both. Also peace. We got a lot of peace here.


You meet a tall mage.
: I am Shaman.
: That's really more of a job, isn't it?
: No, Shaman is my name. I'm a mage.
: Must be Elemental.
: Shut up, Iolo. What are you doing out here?
: I like to meditate on the Codex.
: Codex?
: The one pure axiom is more endless than the changing tides, more eternal than the day and night!


You meet an old hermit.
: Name?
: I am Sloven.
: Job?
: I am a recluse.
: Recluse?
: I have withdrawn from society.
: Oh. So I guess you find us talking to you really annoying.
: Yeah, basically.
: Let's poke him some more, guys. There's no virtue against annoying people!
: Awesome.
: Way ahead of you.
: Why don't I have any lines?


You meet an old druid.
: I am Brother Zair.
: Job?
: I sit and watch the river.
: River?
: It flows endlessly. Agree?
: Uh, agree what, that the river is flowing? Yeah?
: Good.



When you talk to a healer with a certain amount of HP and decline to be healed, they'll ask if you'd be willing to donate 100pts (I always read this as "pints," which makes the Avatar one hell of a badass) of "blood" (HP) to the poor. I don't know what good donated blood is going to do in a medieval setting without refrigeration or anything, but that's not the point. The point is we get Sacrifice from it.


You meet a strange man.
: I am Rabinadrathtagore.
: What?
: I speak of love. Dost thou seek to carry love in thy heart?
: Are you coming on to me?
: In love, all life's contradictions dissolve and disappear.



Also there's a shrine here.

You meet a shining ankh!
: Name?
: I am the ankh.
: Job?
: I resonate with thoughts.
: Health?
: Bright.



Well, that was useless. Anyway through a fire field there's a secret door in the wall, and on the other side of that is the Candle of Love. I'm sure nobody minds us yoinking it.



Certainly not Lord British, who rewards us with some levels. Hey wait, Lord British heals us for free. And there's a healer in his castle!



Go figure. Easiest virtue ever.

Now to go find that shrine. Not Sacrifice, the other one. Humility.




Sailing into the mouth of this bay starts the biggest pirate brawl of all time, which can sink even a Wheel-fortified ship. The trick is to board the ships and kill the pirates that way, which not only lets you avoid cannon duels, but also gives you free ships. I got about 4 out of this, but of course there was no way to actually sail more than one of them away. Well, I could maybe have sailed two away very, very slowly.



Zoinks! P-p-pirate ghosts, Scoob!



And then we make landfall. It takes me until here to realize this isn't the way to the Shrine of Humility.

It's the way to the Abyss. I just did all that for nothing.



Well, perhaps not nothing. Mondain's Skull goes bye-bye, and my Virtues go up. Throwing stuff into volcanos is awesome.

Now, I forgot to screenshot the actual path to the Shrine of Humility, but it's north around one tip of the Isle of the Avatar (which isn't what it's called yet).



Failure to blow the Silver Horn in the hills around the shrine causes infinite numbers of Daemons and Balrons to spawn, which you can't really escape from. So don't do this.



The mantra of Pride was "MUL," so naturally its opposite Humility is "LUM!" Isn't that convenient. I hate this shrine.

But now it's done. I never have to be humble again! Not that I wanted to be, of course. Certainly not.