Back to Moonglow

The first time we played this, Iolo was the first to join the party. This was repeated when I visited Britain yesterday. I have been contemplating who I should pick up as the next companion now that I have reached Level 3. I don't remember who it was last time (I'm guessing Jaana or Shamino) but I know it certainly was not Katrina. She was the last to join back then because I had not explored Magincia properly thinking it was just full of skeletons and the like. Katrina does not have any magical ability and can use few weapons so it's very hard for her to gain experience and increase in level so that her maximum hit points go up. Yes, I guess if I'm playing afresh maybe I'm not supposed to know that every towne has one person who could potentially join my party or that the maximum size of the party corresponds to my level. In any case, I'm thinking of having her join earlier rather than later.

I think I could rationalize my plan with the following story. I was planning to go back to Moonglow anyway to get the rune. I decided to walk from Castle Britannia to the portal south of Trinsic so I could meet a few marauding creatures and get more gold. I was not disappointed. Iolo and I encountered maybe 10 orc bands, 2 groups of skeletons and 2 groups of rogues and pocketed maybe 700 Gold. The land of Britannia seems to be seething with ne'er-do-wells. After Iolo got poisoned several times opening the treasure chests, I decided I needed to get reagents to mix more Cure spells. I also looked at Iolo's stats and was surprised to see that my dexterity was higher than his. So much for my earlier plan to have him open all the treasure chests. I think I'll do them instead until his stats increase.

When I got back to Moonglow, I loaded up on reagents spending over 300 Gold on sulphurous ash, ginseng, garlic and spider silk. Then I mixed up another 10 Cure spells. Why Magincia next? Well, I was not careful in talking to everyone during my first visit. I missed talking to William when I bought food at the Deli the last time. He told me where to find the rune! Then I talked to Patric, the humble shepherd who reminded me that humility is not derived from the direct combination of truth, love and courage. Also, one of the last people I talked to in Castle Britannia was Shawn who told me more about Magincia, so it has been on my mind! I must say that I'm now "intrigued by this ruined city."

So, that's where I'm headed next. After exiting Moonglow I decided to "hole up & camp". What a nice feature this is! I definitely like being able to do this and not having to cast heal spells or visit Lord British (at least I don't have to pay him in Ultima IV). Just after being refreshed, I ran into a bunch of trolls ruining my perfect health. At least I got 53 Gold from it. Oh, well. Here I am just by the Verity Isle Moongate. It just came up!

Onward to Magincia next, with a brief transit at the Valerian Isles Moongate. Good thing I know the system well and can be efficient about it. Back then I just wandered around at random.

2844 moves. Cumulative playing time: 2.5 hours