Finding Inner Light and Truth

It was time to visit Skara Brae. I did not know about this historical Orkney site when I first played games such as Ultima IV and the Bard's Tale. I did, at the time, think it odd that different games chose the same name. I now appreciate the layout of Skara Brae with its stone walls. Being the towne of Sprituality, there were many folks seeking the inner light, and some like Buddha who might have attained it. Dickens and Michaelangelo can also be found in Skara Brae.

Although Shamino cannot join my group yet, this was still a very productive trip. I learned about the word of passage needed at the last gate to the abyss. (I don't "know" what it is yet and I need to seek out Zair the wise in Paws.) I learned the mantra, rune and location of the shrine of Spirituality. The ankh shown above can also talk and was a source of two of these pieces of information. At Skara Brae, I was told to visit pubs for more information (the Tap at Trinsic to learn about the stone, and Axe-N-Ale in Vesper to learn about nightshade.)

My next trip was back to Verity Isle where I first started my quest. I skipped going to Moonglow and instead struck north towards the Lycaeum, the city of Truth, where dwell the Lord and Lady Frasier. I found the great wizard Nigel and he told me the ingredients to his "Recall" spell, so I now know how to mix all spells except Undead. Given the manual and my good memory, I know the ingredients without needing to figure it out by trial and error.

I made my way to the throne room, meeting the Lord and Lady, but the person who divulged the most information was Jon, the guard. He said there are "four townes that follow the principle of truth" and that "there are eight possible combinations of the three principles" in accordance with the eight townes. Zajac the jester also told me to ask Chuckes back in Castle Britannia about his clue. It wasn't clear to me what the Frasiers knew yet.

I ran into Father Antos in the hallway and asked him about the book. He was cryptic, but after visiting the library and talking to the librarian, it was quite obvious. One feature I like about the Lycaeum is the Observatory. Palamar (whose name I suspect is a play on "Palomar" the observatory in Southern California) was helpful in explaining where to search to operate the telescope. Way back when I first played Ultima IV, the Lycaeum was the second place we visited because we did not yet know how to get off Verity Isle until we stumbled across the moongates when the time was right (or ripe, I suppose). We couldn't get the book yet, because one needs a key to access the library. (Not to mention we did not know what to ask Father Antos yet during our first visit.) The telescope gave us an idea of the number of townes/cities in Britannia and we spent quite a bit of time puzzling over the maps of the places we had not visited.

On my way out of the Lycaeum, we ran into several truth seekers. This parallels folks we met in Skara Brae searching for the inner light. Before heading back to Castle Britannia, our party walked around Verity Isle in the hope that a pirate ship may come by. No such luck. We did meet two groups of Ettins (I had not encountered them yet in this game) and several of the usual orcs, skeletons, trolls and rogues. We took the moongate back to Britannia and I had enough experience to be raised to Level 6. I remembered to ask Chuckles about his clue. He asked me to speak to the Water about the altar. I visited the Water (I had forgotten it could talk, although I had remembered the talking Ankh in Skara Brae) and it told me about how the altar rooms in the bottom levels of the dungeons connected the dungeons to each other. This wasn't earth-shattering news because I had just found that out from the wounded fighters in the Lycaeum.

I decided that my next visit should be the village of Paws. I think I was motivated by seeing its map in the telescope, in addition to seeking out Zair the Wise and Barren for information about the word of passage and the rune of humility. I also talked to Seer Hawkwind and learned that I had done well in the virtues of Honesty and Honor and was directed to meditate at the shrines for three cycles. This means I need to go and visit Trinsic (after Paws) and I really, really need to get a ship. I might also get a horse at Paws. All the excitement meant that I completely forgot to search for the rune of Spirituality in the castle. I only remembered when I got to Paws.

After my visit to Paws and Trinsic, I should remember to go back and get the rune of spirituality. More meditation at the shrine might do me good.

11146 moves. Cumulative playing time = 7.5 hours.