Ultima Underworld II: Tangerine Trees and Marmalade Skies

A kaleidoscope eye.

        

When I wrapped up last time, I had just inadvertently brought myself into the final world accessible from the teleportation gem. The game labeled it the Ethereal Void. It was a freaky place of floating platforms and shifting colors. The automap didn't work at all. I frequently found myself in completely black, empty areas only to be teleported to elevated walkways or platforms. Eyeballs and sparkles and spirals floated in the air. Gazers, imps, and mongbats floated around shooting spells at me. "Fly" helped get to them when they were out of reach. 

      

Some enemies in this area couldn't be hit. This was one of them.

      

On one walkway, I encountered a trippy version of Iolo with a glowing aura. He said he was dreaming and expressed surprise that I wasn't asleep myself. He said I'd find the blackrock gem in the Shrine of Spirituality, after first finding the pyramid.

  

You look so much cooler like this.

         

I also encountered Mokpo, the unfortunate derelict from the ice caverns. Back then, he claimed to visit a weird world frequently, which he insisted was the "real" world. He said if I could pass through the "realms of four colors," I would find "a fifth," where the Time Lord is imprisoned by the Guardian. "Seek ye a pyramid with a moongate at its summit." 

After a while, I stopped running around randomly and tried to focus on the colors. I followed a blue path through a moongate and into a blue area, where I met a guy named Prinx. He didn't understand English, but he indicated he wanted the eyeball from a floating eye. At least, that's how I interpreted it. 

       

More freakishness in this area.

      

I also met a wisp. As usual--or, at least, since Ultima VI--he wanted to trade for information. He wanted to know the fate of Bishop, and I said that he'd escaped. In return, I had options to ask him how to destroy the blackrock gem surrounding the castle, how to navigate the Ethereal Void, and what he knew about the history of the Trilkhai, the sentient cats back in Killorn Keep. Although the first was the most obvious, I felt like I had a handle on that anyway. So I asked him about the Trilkhai. He said they used to be powerful, but since their "catastrophic loss" to a group of humanoids, they'd devolved below the tool-using phase. I guess this sets Wing Commander firmly in the Ultima multiverse. Unfortunately, the wisp didn't want any more information after that. 

A gray gate (I suspect you're going to tell me it was actually something else) took me to an area of gray monoliths. Blog the troll was wandering around. A path beyond him didn't look like water but acted like water. I followed it to an area of pillars and bouncy pads that launched me across obstacles. I took a few pads to a black path that turned into a slide, dumping me into the visage of the Guardian. On the other side, I found myself in a wireframe corridor with a "stickman" for an enemy.

      

An homage to Akalabeth, perhaps.

      

I followed the corridors to a gray moongate. It took me to the top of a quarter section of a pyramid. The tops of the blocks turned gray if I stepped on them, like that old Q*bert arcade game. I didn't know if I was supposed to make a pattern out of them, or turn them all gray, or what. I left it for now and popped into a white moongate. It took me to a square area with moongates in each corner, a pentagram on the floor, and a large skull floating above the pentagram. Messages on two nearby plaques read "gil Of" and "ing."

       

Jumping on pyramid tiles.

     

Not to break the narrative, but you may recall that in the last entry, I was ready to give up the game when the Tomb of Praecor Loth became too complex. You can imagine, then, how I was feeling about this area. I mean, come on. It's time for the game to be done, and you're throwing this hallucinogenic nightmare at me?

      

Not to mention: another pentagram!?

     

But I sighed and tried to do things a bit more systematically. Four colors, four paths leading to four gates. They all started from a central nexus where I repeatedly found myself. I settled on what I assume is red: 

This is the one that led to Mokpo. I took the moongate behind him and found myself in a hellscape of lava, fireballs, fire elementals, and imps. I died in about four seconds. Reloading, I cast "Fireproof" first and tried again. That made it a lot easier.

    

I didn't last long here initially.

    

Moving across a lake of fire, I found a red structure inhabited by a demon. My Sword of Stone Strike did its job well here. It may have taken me more hits than the Black Sword of Great Accuracy, but he never had the chance to fight back because the sword kept him paralyzed. At his feet were a pile of bones and a scepter. I knew before I even picked them up that I had found the Scepter (or "sceptre," as the game has it) of Deadly Seeker that Zoranthus was looking for.

       

I petrify the enemy near his treasure hoard.

       

There were a couple more rooms full of fire, imps, and demons before I found myself atop the pyramid again. This time, acting on a hunch, I took the time to make all the tiles red. The tiles rotated among the colors you've already discovered, plus white, and you can't change any one tile twice without changing another in between. It's also hard (without keeping "Fly" going) to change upper tiles without stepping on (and changing) lower ones. But once you understand the rules, it's not so hard. When I hit the last tile, the entire pyramid turned red, even the sides. That said, I'm not sure what I accomplished, as the moongate just brought me to the same pentagram as before.

Well, maybe not. The previous one's two plaques had read "gil and Of," but this one's said "The Si" and "ing." So together they seem to be talking about some kind of sigil.

       

These giant hellhounds scared the bejesus out of me, but it turns out they're just illusions.

   

Back in the main area, I had three other choices: blue, gray, and either yellow or orange. I'm going to assume yellow. A fifth ramp that I suppose is probably green seemed only to serve to bring me back up to the central area if I fell into the void below. I did blue next. It took me back to the blue checkerboard area with Prinx. I hadn't found any enemies that I could hit that flew and dropped eyes. There was a floating eye in this area, but it seemed to be illusory. I couldn't hit it with spells or weapons.

    

The central area and its paths.

   

There were seven blue moongates and a pathway. I followed the pathway south to an area in which walkways formed a large square with a void in the middle. I killed a gazer and a floating brain creature, neither of which dropped eyes. Imps in the central void kept pelting me with spells. I cast "Fly" to get at them and discovered that the "void" had a platform with a moongate in the center. I took it and found myself back at the pyramid. Still not knowing if I was doing anything useful, I painstakingly changed all the tiles to blue.

 

I want to mention at this point, in case it wasn't clear from my earlier accounts, that in between all this stuff I was doing, I was also resting frequently, then casting "Create Food," to restore mana and keep my strength up. "Fly" is expensive. With healing and the other spells I had to cast, I spent weeks in the Ethereal Void.

The yellow path brought me to a large maze. I killed a couple of flying brain creatures, and they did drop a couple of eyestalks each. (They're the same objects as the eyes in Lord British's locked chest, which just deepens that mystery.) I cast "Fly" to get up at one of them and realized I could fly over large parts of the labyrinth this way. I flew around the edges until I found the chamber with the exit moongate (and two more giant floating eyes). Once again, I recolored the pyramid and returned to the main area. 

     

Solving a horizontal maze vertically.

      

I had already been down the gray path, but I didn't do the pyramid thing, so I retraced my steps. When I got to the new pyramid, there was a new color available. It could have been anything, so I had to call Irene to my office to confirm that it was "orange." Now I didn't know what to do. I stuck to my original plan and changed the pyramid to all gray. When I returned to the main area, there was a moongate where there hadn't been one before. It brought me back to the pyramid, which I now colored "orange" (it was lighter than "red" and darker than "yellow," which allowed me to figure it out). Doing so meant I had to cycle each tile through all the other colors first. 

       

Yay.

    

A new moongate appeared on a platform above the shrine. I took it, and I appeared in what I can only describe as a yellow moat surrounding a tall black platform. Once again, "Fly" saved the day. I have no idea how half of this game is accomplished without that spell. I flew up and found myself outside what the game called the Shrine of Spirituality. There were bars around it, though, and I couldn't find a way through. I finally got there by tossing a moonstone through the bars and casting "Gate Travel" on the other one. I realized later that "Teleport" probably also would have worked. If there's a non-magic solution, I'm interested in hearing it.

    

There was no sign of the Time Lord, but I think Mokpo was thinking about Ultima VII.

    

The blackrock gem was inside the shrine. I took it and used Altara's Staff, which worked. Mission accomplished, I reversed the process to get out. Before searching for the exit, I went back up the blue path to Prinx and gave him the eyeballs, for which he rewarded me with a scroll with . . . the "Fly" spell. I guess that's one way a non-mage could have accomplished at least part of the puzzle.

The question now was how to get back to Britannia. I couldn't find the exit, so I just went back to the fire area and killed myself in the lava.

 

I had a lot to do in Killorn Keep, but I'd also earned 28 skill points during the session, so I headed up to the castle to train and see if anything was new. Miranda confirmed that I'd cut the lines of power in all of the eight worlds. I had Nystul treat the gem, who also remarked that it was the "last one." I spent my skill points with Nystul, Geoffrey, and Syria. ("Attack" and "Defense" are up to 24; "Sword" to 27; "Mana" to 29; "Casting" to 28.) Lord British had nothing new to say. I tried blowing the Horn of Praecor Loth, but it said my "lungs fail me." 

      

It was worth a try.

     

Back in the sewer, I used the final blackrock gem on the teleporter, which started alternating colors on all of its facets. I pondered my next move. The solution to the blackrock encasement of Castle Britannia would seem to lie with the Horn of Praecor Loth and some of the things that Zoranthus told me. He had talked about imprisoning a djinni, which he also called an "air daemon." That sounds like the sort of being that would have the power to blow the horn. He gave me the recipe for trapping a djinni:

• Find a container
• Find mud rich in Filanium. This exists in or near the city of Anodunos (in the ice caverns).
• Mix basilisk oil (which I have) into the mud.
• Coat the container with the mud.
• Immerse the container in lava to "fire" it.

    

He further added that the "container" could be anything, even a human body. He had heard of sorcerers doing that "and then releasing its power in a single tremendous burst," which sounds like what I need to blow the horn.

       

He then said if I ever want to release a djinni from its container, I should seek out the "Sigil of Binding" in the Ethereal Void. Things clicked. "Sigil of Binding" must be what the plaques on the wall read, although I didn't see all of them. So I have to take the djinni to the pentagram, let him out, and then trap him in my own body so I can blow the Horn of Praecor Loth. That first means returning to the Pits of Carnage to give the Sceptre of Deadly Seeker to Zoranthus.

   

But I had business in Killorn Keep first. I took the teleporter there and paid for some more wand recharges from Merzan. I don't think I mentioned before that Merzan will take gems, cups, and scepters instead of just gold. Since my encumbrance has been at near-maximum for a while, I've been eschewing gold but picking up gems.

I went to tell Josie the talking cat about her people's history, but she demanded water first, and I didn't have any. I went off to search for some. In the dining room, I found Ogri and gave him the keep's banner. As a reward, he told me what I had already figured out: the two brain creatures in the basement keep the flying keep in the air. Altara was impressed that I'd managed to sever the Guardian's connections with the various planes, but she had no new ideas. 

     

This whole side quest got me nothing.

     

I had to head back to Britannia for water. I don't know what happened in the meantime, but when I returned to Killorn, everyone started attacking me--even the merchants. The Sword of Stone made short work of them. I had to kill Merzan, and he egested every gem and gold piece I'd ever given him. Fortunately, the Trilkhai didn't turn on me. I brought Josie her water and then realized she's not even the one that asked me about her people's history; that was Blackie. I spoke to him and related what I'd learned from the wisp.

In turn, Blackie related that he'd been listening to Lord Thibris's thoughts, and she knew that the Guardian's champion, Mors Gotha, is on her way to Killorn Keep with some soldiers. They plan to "invade a fortress near here," which puzzled Blackie because there are no fortresses in the desert above which the keep is floating. I'm guessing they plan to invade Britannia. The blackrock teleporters go both ways. Frankly, it's a wonder that no one from the other worlds has shown up in the castle already.

       

I wish I could bring him back to read Lord British's thoughts.

    

The hostilities were limited to the main chamber; no one else attacked as I circled the rest of the keep. Still, I was in a conundrum. If Mors Gotha were planning to invade from Killorn, the sensible thing to do would be to bring it crashing to the ground. But that would also kill Altara, the Trilkhai, and a couple of other friendly NPCs. Still, I decided to take a save and try it. 

I headed down to the basement, cast "Fly," hovered up to the brain things, and killed them. The keep began to shake and shudder. It kept doing so periodically as I returned to the main level. I spoke to Altara, but she only said: "The Keep's going down! Make thy peace with the Guardian, for now we die!"

      

Make peace with the Guardian? What kind of traitorous talk is that?

    

I kept going past her to the exit and returned to Britannia. I waited a few minutes and re-entered the teleporter to Killorn. I was still able to cross, and the Keep was still there, but in ruins. Everyone was dead, their items strewn in heaps. Rubble was everywhere. Some walls were down, and one area that had been level with the rest of the floor was now recessed. A few areas were blocked off by new walls. It was glorious. Any fatigue I had about the game was wiped away by this awesome graphical depiction of the consequences of my choices.

      

There used to be a wall here.

      

But did I stop the invasion, or will Mors Gotha still be able to enter the keep, cut her way through the rubble, and invade Britannia? Which saved game should I keep? Interesting questions to debate for next time, which I hope will be the last.

Time so far: 52 hours