Ultima VI Part 10
Ultima VI: The False Prophet
Part 10
Last time I learned that the gargoyles are not just the stereotypical kill-everybody-cuz-I-can bad guys; they are the stereotypical oppressed indigenous society that I have to fight to protect. However, to do that, I need to find out how to contact them. Mariah suggested that I contact Sin'Vraal, the only gargoyle living in Britannia, so I pay him another visit.
So, Sin'Vraal ol' buddy, what do you do nowadays?
No job, milord. I am
free to wander where I wish.
What do you mean by 'free'?
Among my
people, those can fly rule. Though I Have wings, I cannot
fly. So I was a slave. Here I am free!
Tell me about your people.
I am not a daemon, though humans think so. I am a
gargoyle.
Tell me about the gargoyles.
I fled here to the Underworld because I was not free among the gargoyles.
Alright, let's skip to the chase. Tell me about this Book of Prophecy.
Wait, did you say
sacrifice?!
What did you say about flying?
There are two kinds of gargoyles: winged ones and wingless ones. Wingless ones are mute and unintelligent. They do all the manual labor. Winged ones are smart, and do all the planning and leading. Being able to fly is, to them, a sign of
intelligence. Even the
Temple can only be reached by the air.
A human could learn much by travelling there.
And you cannot fly any more than I can.
Well, this is a pickle indeed! Wait, I remember the librarian of the Lycaeum mentioning a book about ballooning. I wonder if that will be helpful.
I head into the central chamber of the Lycaeum.
I cast Dispel Field to punch a hole in the barrier, and then I climb down the ladder.
Here is a map of the library. As you can see, it is a veritable maze.
Here is the first book I managed to find, Tangled Tales. I decide to reproduce it here.
I find the book I am looking for in the southwest triangular hallway on level 3.
So the balloonist was from Minoc, eh? I decide to head there. First I speak with the mayor, Lady Isabella.
Good morning, Avatar. I'm glad thy travels have brought thee here again.
What do you know about the balloonist?
Ah, thou wouldst be interested to hear of that.
Yes.
Actually, it was quite annoying.
Anyway, I now pay Selganor another visit.
Do
you know anything about the balloonist?
Who is Sutek?
Where is the island?
Well, it looks like I will need a ship. Fortunately, my skiff makes a decent substitute.
It looks like sundials only work during the day. That is a cool feature (although annoying in my case).
I now warp to Trinsic and sail my skiff around the island chain to Sutek's island, which is the island where Blackthorn's castle was situated in the last game. I reach the docks and stow my skiff away.
Holy shit! I have been attacked by killer rabbits!
Run away!
Oh no! It looks I am forced to fight!
These rabbits are a lot easier than that other one was!
We did not even need the Holy Hand Grenade.
It is now time to turn our attention to the locked door.
I now cast Replicate to create a spare powder keg.
Bye, bye, door!
Inside is a raised drawbridge. It looks like the wench to lower the drawbridge is on the other side. Whatever shall I do?
Cast Telekinesis, of course!
It works!
Weird!
Here is a (mostly complete) map of the ground floor of Sutek's castle.
It looks like the way forward is blocked. First, I take the decorative sword off the wall. Then I move the wooden plank aside.
When I search the section of the wall where the sword had been, I find a secret door.
Both signs read 'this way!'
I decide to head left. I cast Dispel Field on the western barrier. I then kill the two-headed scorpion.
I now have a choice of two magically-locked doors to go through.
Instead, I will search the eastern wall to find another secret door to a room of levers.
Unfortunately, Telekinesis spells are blocked by the barriers.
Since I am (again) running low on reagents, I step into the fire field and take a bit of damage.
I then dispel two protection fields (i.e. the lightning) around the levers.
I then step into the purple (i.e. sleep) field and promptly fall asleep.
Jaana wakes me up with a blue potion. I then head north.
I then pull all the levers.
I don't know if this actually does anything, but I pull the chain.
I then unlock the westernmost of the two doors.
I search the new cell for a secret door and enter the new room where two two-headed alligators await.
Oh no! Not another hydra! I just pelt it with arrows, and it dies. Unfortunately, the passage to it is still blocked. I go back to the lever room to fool around with the levers.
I send Dupre alone to this room to observe the results of my experiment.
I finally flip the right levers (I can't for the life of me remember the combination to open all the grates.
This might be it, but I cannot remember for sure.
Anyway, I search the northern wall of the room where the hydra was to reveal a secret door to Sutek's 'laboratory.' I now speak to the man himself.
What is your name?
So you really are mad?
Alright, fruit loop, tell me about the balloonist who crash-landed here several years ago.
Yeah right!
Tell me about the catacombs underneath this castle.
What the fuck is a Pushme-Pullyu?!
Alright, Mr. Sutek, I just have one question before I leave. What the fuck do you do around here?
Don't you, milord?
Are you outta your fuckin' mind?!
What wouldst thou like to know?
How much wood would a wood-chuck chuck if a wood-chuck could chuck wood?
Bah! To hell with you!
Well, I have certainly done it now! There are several ways of dealing with this mad mage.
My favorite involves pushing him onto the saw blades. :twisted:
:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
I now head down the ladder south of his laboratory.
Here is a map of the first level.
It looks just like the view from the gem. Anyway, I wonder what the cells in the four ordinal directions contain.
Holy shit!
Anyway, the northwest cell contains three sets of levers (along the western wall) and four sets of switches (along the northern wall). Pulling a lever will free one of the silver serpents, and pulling a switch will open one of the four cardinal cells (that contain ladders down to the second level). I only want to mess with the switches.
I head down the northern ladder.
It looks like a dead-end.
I now head down the eastern ladder. Same thing.
I now try the southern ladder.
I search the northern wall to reveal a secret door.
Here is a a map of the second level.
This two-headed horse is the Pushme-Pullyu Sutek mentioned. It is supposed to deliver a cryptic hint about what is the safest passage to take. I just end up killing it.
I flipped a coin and decided to take the eastern passage.
After a mostly uneventful jaunt, I take the ladder down to the third level.
Here is a map.
I just head around to the ladder at the top.
Here is a map of the fourth level.
I start in the northeast of the level.
I find Gorn, the guy who would escape from Blackthorn's dungeons with me in Ultima V, wandering around the southern part of the level.
What is your name again?
I be named Gorn, milord.
Greetings, Gorn. What do you do around here?
I be a fighter, a homeless vanderer. Here I vait until I find somevun else to
trafel mit.
Trafel?!
Much vould I like to vander again, but I haf no vun to trafel mit now. Somevun vill ask me to
join mit them zooner or later.
Hey, Gorn, how's about joining us?
Cool!
I find the corpse of the balloonist in the northwest corner of the fourth level.
I search his body and get the balloon plans. I examine them on the way up.
So, to construct a hot-air balloon, I need several things:
1. An iron cauldron
2. A basket big enough to accommodate the entire party.
3. A giant bag made out of spider silk
4. A length of rope.
5. Optional: a ship's anchor
I stop by Horance's and buy 40 spider silk. I then warp to Minoc.
While we are here, we might as well recruit Gwenno. Now, where would I find someone capable of weaving a giant bag of silk? I think back over my journey.
Now I remember! Fyodor of Britain said that Charlotte in New Magincia might be capable of this! I speak to her.
What is your name?
I am called Charlotte
Weaver, milord.
Is that your job?
I am but a humble
weaver, milord.
What do you weave?
I turn
wool into cloth. I am not very good, but some people take pity on me and buy my
cloth anyway.
Could you weave a giant silk bag?
Later!
Farewell, milord!
I now warp to Britain and take the road south to Paws.
Here is a map of Paws.
Here are some random screenshots of exploring Paws.
This looks like the place.
I speak with the threadmaker Arbeth.
What is your name.
He looks around at the ground and mumbles. Arbeth.
Can you spin some spidersilk into thread?
Yes.
'Tis a most difficult job, milord. It'll cost thee 20 gold! Still interested?
Yes.
Arbeth takes Elzair's gold and silk and starts spinning... Soon he has finished a spool of fine silk thread! There it is, milord, my finest work! A true pleasure!
Arbeth hands Elzair the spool of silk. You'll have to find a
weaver, of course...
Where can I find a suitable
weaver?
I'm not a weaver, milord, just a spinner. Talk to
Thindle.
Where is Thindle?
He lives here in Paws and is a fine weaver.
Okay, I talk to Thindle.
You see a little, white haired man hunched over with age. Back, back, back they come.
He smiles to himself and claps his hands. Yes, yes, yes," he says, bobbing his head up and down.
What is your name?
Thindle the spindler.
He grins at you.
Can you weave a giant silk bag from these threads?
Silk? Oh no, oh no.Can't work silk, oh my, no.See
Charlotte. She can, yes she can!
Are you talking about the Charlotte that lives in New Magincia?
Okay, I warp back to Charlotte.
This is the spool of silk thread.
I have the thread. Can you weave the silk bag now?
Yes.
Turning to her loom, Charlotte soon weaves the thread into fine silk cloth. Finished!
She takes Elzair's gold and hands over the cloth.
This is what silk cloth looks like.
So where do I get the bag made?
Where does Marissa live?
She lives in Paws.
*sigh* I travel to Paws again and speak to Marissa.
Hello.
What is your name?
Marissa. You may call me
Miss Trihune.
Can you make a giant silk bag from this cloth?
Okay, I now have one part of the balloon. Let's find the other three (or four).
I steal a cauldron from Charlotte. I find some rope lying around. Then I warp to Minoc to talk to the basketweaver.
How can I help thee this fine day?
What is your name?
I'm Michelle. Thou needn't tell me thy name, Elzair. The Avatar is famous throughout the land!
What do yo do, Michelle?
I weave baskets, just like my
father and his father before him. My
baskets are sold throughout Britannia!
What do you know of balloons?
Why don't you take a look at these plans?
*sighs* Sure.
Hast thou found a silk weaver yet?
Yes.
Thou art wise, then. 'Tis a huge bag this will require.
To fly, duh!
Oh, I see.
I hope you do!
It took less time than I had thought it might!
Well, we have all four of the (required) pieces, so let's assemble it!
Here are all four pieces along the top row of my inventory.
By the way, here is a neat trick for carrying near-infinite items. First, make sure a character has a bag in his inventory. Next, open the bag. Now, get an item from the world. It will be added to the inventory even if it overburdens the character. The only two restrictions are that the weight of every single object must be less than that of the maximum carry weight of a party member and that the bag must be closed and re-opened for each item picked-up.
I use the balloon plans to construct the balloon.
Here it is all blown up! Let's hop aboard!
Similarly to Ultima IV, the balloon moves with the wind; it will move in the opposite direction the wind is blowing from. In this case, the wind is coming from the southwest, so the balloon moves up and to the right with each turn. I can land the balloon on any patch of solid, level ground, and I do so. I then let the air out of the bag, and Gwenno picks it up.
That's all for now! In the next update, I will tie-up a few loose ends before journeying to the land of the Gargoyles.