Part 16: Chapter 4, Part 1

CHAPTER FOUR: Are we having fun yet?

: I know that you may have some reservations, but Samhayne is alright. Trust me.
: But isn't he a pirate?
: No, he's not. Samhayne is a businessman. He may not subscribe to the virtues as strictly as you do, but he is an ethical man.
: Come on Avatar, Britannia can't afford for you to be stubborn about this.
: Don't rush me! I want to look around first.




After a few steps off of the boat, the screen zooms in and we have our first random encounter.




Wild Communists appear.

: And don't expect us to work! Don't expect us to contribute to your corrupt system!
: No! Don't expect us to play your game!
: Give us your gold!
: Hey! Give us some gold!
: Why should I give you my gold?
: Because we don't have any!
: Why don't you have any?
: Because society is corrupt and we won't contribute to it. But, we have a right to have gold!
: Why don't you find a society that isn't corrupt?
: Are you going to give us your gold or not?!




: No.


Our first stop in town is the Cartographer's Shop.



: Can you tell me about the troubles that have been plaguing this area?
: Well, I've heard about whirlpools causing some shipwrecks, but I really don't know anything about them. Sorry friend, I'm just a cartographer; I don't know much about the sea.
: I must leave now. Goodbye.

NOTE: Later on, we buy a sea chart from him.




The cartographer's chest has a stabby weapon in it. This is good, because humans are vulnerable to stabbings.




Tugging on the skull in the provisioner's shop opens the door to the warehouse.




Inside is some gold, various jewelry and some chainmail armor.




Heading off to the east side of Buc's Den brings us to a boxing ring built out of driftwood.




: Maybe. What do I have to do?
: It costs 300 gold to get in the ring. You fight whoever is in there. If you win, you get all of the glory and experience in hand to hand fighting.
: You can quit after one fight, or you can take on challengers. It's as simple as that! The only restriction is that you can't use any weapons in the ring. So, what do you say; care to give it a try?
: Sure, I'll give it a try.
: That'll be 300 gold.
: That sounds like a fair price.
: Excellent! Are you ready?
: As ready as I'm going to be.
: Oh, and one more thing: this is bare hand fighting only, no weapons allowed. You'll need to stow your gear. I'll keep it safe for you until the fight is over.

This peddler seems trustworthy.

: Okay, here you go.
: Good luck, kid.




After beating three men to death with our bare hands, we are declared the winner.






Exploit alert: Ultima 9 has an easily-exploited misfeature whenever your entire inventory is removed. If there isn't enough room to restore all of your items, the engine gives you extra bags. In this part of the game it is possible to leave the ring without winning, effectively allowing you to buy bags for 300 gold apiece. The trainer gave us one extra bag, but I didn't repeat the process because that would be totally lame.




Our next stop is a crashed boat that's been converted into a house. Some treasure can be found on the very top.




We drop our gnarled staff on the ground and climb up it.

Wait... what?




Doing it again on the roof gets us close enough to reach three emeralds. The vendors in Buc's Den give lousy prices, so we'll have to hang onto them until we get back to Britain.