Ultima Underworld II: All in One Mighty Sepulchre

 

The architect of this session.

     

I've become used to some new drama taking place in Castle Britannia when I return from my trips below, and this return visit did not disappoint. It began with Miranda insisting that I see Nelson, who had come up with some kind of breakthrough. 

  

Patterson was suspiciously in Nelson's chambers, and when I spoke to him, he acted as if I'd caught them in flagrante or something.

         

Zip your fly, Patterson.

   

Nelson started to tell me about Batal Thaam, an early sorceress who found a means to manipulate blackrock with a spell. As he tried to tell me the story, Patterson kept interrupting, insisting that he had something more important to tell me. Just as Nelson was about to give me the rune combination, Patterson said, "I'm sorry, Nelson," and stabbed the poor mage in the neck right in front of me. He then dropped the knife and attacked me with his fists.

    

I have to be honest, Patterson: you're not going to like going out this way, either.

     

Patterson became the first enemy to fall to my Axe of Fire Doom, which I was just checking out after taking some levels in "Axe" from Dupre. I'm not sure I like it, since its explosions of fire seem to injure me, but I guess I could mitigate that with "Resist Fire." As he died, Patterson called out to the Guardian to save him, but no help was forthcoming. He then asked me to tell Judith, his wife, that he was sorry. (I tried reloading and just letting Patterson swing away while I walked down the hall to other places; all the dialogue with other NPCs assumed that Patterson was dead, even if he was still punching me as the dialogue was happening.) Guards rushed into the room and I told them what happened.

Everyone seemed to think that this proves that Patterson murdered Lady Tory, too, but I'd hardly call it conclusive. Feridwyn hoped that this meant people would stop regarding him with suspicion, but I told him it doesn't mean anything of the sort. 

 

Making Patterson the traitor was realistic but also predictable. It also goes against the idea--however unrealistic--that everyone is redeemable. Patterson was a villain in Ultima VII, seemed to be rehabilitated, but turned out to still be a villain in Underworld. Yawn. How much more interesting (and devastating) would it have been if Julia, Dupre, Iolo, or Geoffrey had turned out to be the traitor? It's also too bad that the Avatar's role in unmasking him is entirely passive.

Back in the dungeon, I tried the west-northwest facet and ended up in an octagonal room with openings in the cardinal directions and brass or blackrock walls at the diagonals. (Note the repetition of the figure 8 that we see throughout the Ultima series; in this game, the blackrock teleporter has eight facets, too.) Thus began my journey through the Tomb of Praecor Loth, a sprawling, complex, four-level structure with a lot of lore and many puzzles. I would say the Tomb is the ne plus ultra example of what's possible with the Ultima Underworld engine. Another few levels and it would have been a fine stand-alone game. The problem is that it was introduced at Hour 42 of an already long game. Right at the point that we should be hearing the drumbeats that will march us to the conclusion of the symphony, Ultima Underworld II introduces a brand new movement. When it became apparent what was happening, I crashed pretty hard. I didn't want to play, didn't want to write about it, didn't want to even continue with this blog. I took a few days off and it helped, but I still didn't enjoy the Tomb as much as it deserved to be enjoyed. I'd say there's a lesson in pacing to be learned here, but so much of this sort of thing is subjective.

   

Level 1 had corridors shooting out from the central area like spokes, although there was no outer ring "wheel" to connect them. They all ended in dead-ends or rooms. Starting with the northwest spoke and going counter-clockwise, these areas had:

 

• A dead-end where the corridor had collapsed. A corpse of someone buried in the rubble had an Axe of Great Damage and a blackrock gem. It was interesting to find it so early in the level. Even better, I used Altara's Staff here and got the same sparkles and rumbles that indicated its successful use in other worlds. Except for a couple of things, the entire rest of the Tomb was superfluous after this point.

     

Done!

      

• A room with three friendly golems just standing around. I didn't see any reason to kill them. There were coffers with gems in the corners, but the golems didn't object to my looting them. A bit of verse on the wall read: "By my hand now eight times parted / Else face death a land / Seldom traveled, seldom charted."

• A room with a switch puzzle. Rather than try to figure it out, I just cast "Open" on the door that the switches controlled. It led to a small room with a piece of a map. I think this is what was meant by the "eight times parted" line above. The rest of the level had almost (I clearly missed a couple) eight map pieces, all of which annotated parts of the map for Level 3.

       

Yeah, screw this.

      

• A line of eight skeletons guarding another piece of the map. When I took the piece, they became hostile, but they were just skeletons.

      

This was almost a trap, except that skeletons are easy.

     

• A water area with raised platforms. I had to jump from platform to platform and "Open" a gate on the far side. It led to a small room with another map piece and a Sword of Stone Strike. This almost-too-good-to-be-true sword paralyzes living enemies when you strike them. It almost makes combat too easy. I wonder if it has a limited number of strikes.

• Another water area with a large platform in the center and a fire elemental guarding it. I swallowed a Potion of Fireproof, waded in, and killed him. His platform had another map piece and a Breastplate of Very Great Protection. When something is called that, you have to take it, but it made my life difficult for a while because I was so over-encumbered. I had to get rid of anything excess, including food and potions I didn't think I'd ever use.

       

I remember fire elementals being fearsome in the last game.

     

• A room with a secret door leading to another room with a piece of the map.

• A large room full of non-hostile dread spiders. On the other side of the room are the stairs up.

    

I don't think I knew where I was until I read the message on the wall in front of the stairs. "Praecor Loth is dead," it said. "Let all mourn the occasion of his passing, this 23rd day of Starsend, in the 28th year of his reign, on the 57th day of this accursed war." This plaque indicated that the Tomb is in the same world as Killorn Keep, which had been sacked by Praecor Loth in ancient times. I had open quests from Killorn Keep to find the banner that Loth looted from it and his horn, which could shatter buildings . . . and perhaps blackrock?

   

I moved up to Level 2, arranged as a series of burial crypts for Loth's family and staff: Teej, carriage maker; Felis, royal physician; Molloy, faithful tailor; Warrinn, chief of servants; and so forth. Some of the rooms had hostile undead, but far more had peaceful undead interested in talking. Molloy, for instance, talked about the king's burial and the rituals performed by "The Three," his top lieutenants. He said that the Loth's chambers would be above this level.

       

If I die, my servants are free to go on living. You read it here first.

    

The largest chamber held the remains and ghost of Praecor Loth's wife, Helena. She filled in a bit more of the history. Praecor Loth's wars of conquest--which he completed with the help of Queen Lethe, Morphius, and Lord Umbria--united the land, but then the Guardian came and instigated the Final War. Loth was driven back to this dungeon and killed 700 years ago. Helena took her own life. Lethe, Morphius, and Umbria somehow survived and became liches or something, erecting all kinds of traps on the third level. Helena urged me to "show them no mercy."

 

Apparently, the Guardian's forces make occasional incursions into the tombs to try to find Praecor Loth's horn, but they're always defeated by the undead and the traps. A ghost named Trystero tells me of the "last incursion" several centuries ago in which Lethe caused a corridor to collapse on the Guardian's agents. The collapse also caught Trystero, who wanted me to find his bones for him. I went back to the first floor and retrieved the bones from the collapse that I was sure he was talking about, but he didn't recognize them.

        

I don't know what he would have given to me, but I hope it wasn't vital.

    

"Let only the strong enter" said the plaque on the way up to Level 3. At the top of the stairs, I met the ghost of one of the Guardian's servants, Silanus, who died trying to make his way through the level. Between us and the exit, he said, "stand terrible machines of slaughter--fire and moving floors and worse!" He mentioned a key that would help me bypass two of the three guardians on the fourth level, but I never found it, and based on the layout of that level, I'm not sure how that would have been possible.

 

By this time, I had most of the level already mapped out from the map pieces I found on the first level. It depicted the exit at the north-central part of the level, about half a map away from my arrival in the mid-east part.

   

My map of Level 3 as I enter Level 3.

    

I was not in the mood for this level, which made my being a mage all the more useful. The maze was full of pressure plates that launched fireballs. I was clearly supposed to avoid or weigh down the plates, but I just cast "Resist Fire," sucked up the damage, and recovered with "Heal." There were corridors full of pits that I was clearly meant to find the right sequence of switches to open and close; I cast "Fly" and soared where I pleased. Doors I was meant to find keys or switches to open, I defeated with the "Open" spell. 

      

Fireballs careen through an open section of the level. I have "Resist Fire" active.

      

There were a satisfying number of piles of bones in the corridors, each with a Guardian signet ring. I found a few other magical items, but nothing better than I already had. I did exchange my Plate Boots of Minor Toughness for some Chain Boots of Tremendous Toughness.

   

I found the stairs to the fourth floor before I'd explored even half the level. In the interests of at least trying to explore the rest, I moved on for a bit. There was a roomful of skeletons in the northwest, maybe 15 of them at once. New ones spawned for every one I killed. They were incapable of damaging me, and I could have grinded here infinitely for skill points, but it got boring fast, so I moved on. When I died (stupidly) because I entered a roomful of fireballs without "Resist Fire" active, I reloaded and just went upstairs.

       

The Corridor of Infinite Skeletons.

      

Level 4 was pretty linear. It started with a chamber occupied by Morphius, who said he had been a thief before Loth pulled him out of the gutter and gave him some responsibility. Our dialogue collapsed into a probably-unavoidable battle (though there were some dialogue options I didn't try). He was tough, but between my skills and equipment, I feel pretty invincible these days. I had to cast "Heal" a couple of times, but otherwise I killed him by just whacking away with my Sword of Great Damage. 

         

Morphius explains his loyalty for Loth.

     

Umbria was next. He didn't have any dialogue--he just attacked, first by sending a barrage of fireballs down the corridor at me, then by rushing me with his sword. He must have had "Fly" or "Levitate" active because he floated above the ground. When he died, runes exploded from his body, including VAS and FLAM.

    

Umbria attacks me from the air.

    

There were two earth golems in his chamber, tougher than he was, but his chamber had some platforms. Every time the earth golems damaged my hit points, I could just jump on one of the platforms, out of their reach, and take my time healing.

   

The corridor beyond Umbria's chambers had some kind of magical barrier at the end of it. There was an alternate passage heading east. It led to an area with water at the bottom and a bunch of flat-topped pillars in the middle. This was probably some kind of jumping puzzle, but once again, I just cast "Fly" and made my way to the opposite side of the chamber, where a pentagram was set up with a crystal ball in the middle. I wasn't sure what to do to disrupt the pentagram, so I picked up all the candles and tossed them into the water. This seemed to do the trick, as the barrier was gone when I returned.

        

What is it with this game and pentagrams?

      

Lethe was waiting beyond. She stopped to talk a bit, saying that Loth had seen her prowess in the arena and elevated her to his assassin and mistress. Like Morphius, she couldn't be deterred by words, and we ended up fighting. She beat the hell out of my equipment but didn't do a lot of damage to me. When she died, she dropped a Black Sword of Great Accuracy. I don't know how that compares with my Sword of Great Damage or my Sword of Stone Strike, but I grabbed it to check out.

       

Lethe had a cool graphic.

       

A pair of massive double doors beyond her refused to open even to "Open," so I took another passage east. This led to a large swamp full of lurkers, slimes, rotworms, and other creatures, including a demon. I killed some of them by luring them back into the hallway and others by casting "Fly" and swinging my sword as I levitated over the swamp. A dry spot in the middle had a key, which opened a door at the far end, which led to a small hallway with a pull chain. This chain opened the double doors back in Lethe's chambers.

         

A tomb is kind of a weird place for a swamp.

   

Beyond the double doors was a chasm full of fire and fire elementals. I cast "Fly" and made my way to the other side, but I'm honestly curious how you possibly cross this chamber if you're not a spellcaster.

      

Seriously, what am I missing?

     

The final chamber had Praecor Loth's ghost, which delusionally thought we were back in his castle surrounded by living members of his court. Through a long conversation, I slowly convinced him that it was centuries later, he was dead, and everyone he knew was dead. He finally accepted reality and told me about his wars with the Guardian and the horn he carried: "To wield it requires great strength in the lungs--few can attain such strength, save by sorcerous means." He gave me the horn and slipped into the afterworld. A couple of platforms beyond held some treasure, including the banner looted from Killorn Keep.

       

If Louis Armstrong were the Avatar, the game would be over now.

      

I stopped in Helena's room on the way out, but she was gone entirely. I thus made my way back to Britannia. Surprisingly, nothing horrid had occurred in the castle since I was there last. Nystul had somehow heard of Praecor Loth and reiterated that we need to find some way to blow the horn. 

I spread some skill points around with Geoffrey, Syria, and Nystul, had Nystul treat the latest blackrock gem, and headed back to the basement. I had intended to go back to Killorn Keep, but I forgot what I was doing and entered the final facet of the gem. It's a freaky world full of a lot of platforms and vertical space, and I can tell "Fly" is going to be a big help.

    

This world looks like it's going to be interesting.

     

In the end, I blunt-forced my way through the Tomb of Praecor Loth and probably missed a lot of its subtleties and treasures. But I also think the game packed just a little too much content. I'm ready to be moving on to other worlds.

    

Time so far: 46 hours