Pagan: The Necromancer's Apprentice

So is anyone going to come along and move him?

       

The Guardian has marooned the Avatar on the world of Pagan, which is dominated by four titans, each with its own school of magic. The Avatar has learned that if he wants to escape, he's going to have to master the different magical systems. Let's get that organized:

       

Realm	Titan	Magic  School	Founder	Current Rep
Earth	Lithos	Necromancy	Moriens: Made a deal with Lithos to stop earthquakes in exchange for Pagans serving Lithos in death.	Lothian/Vividos
Water	Hydros	Tempestry	Kalen, a Necromancer: Imprisoned Hydros when the titan would not return his dead girlfriend, stole water magic from Hyrdos.	Mordea
Air	Stratos	Theurgy	Stellos: Caused the titan to breathe life into Kalen's beloved, lost his sight as a result.	????
Fire	Pyros	Sorcery	Four unnamed theurgists who used blackrock to imprison Pyros and thus stop a volcano from destroying the world.	????
????	None	Thaumaturgy	Unknown.	Mythran

     

The backstory of the game has a Guardian whispering dissent to the old followers (Zealans) of the three emotional gods, turning them to the worship of elemental titans as a way to defend against a coming Destroyer. A suggestion has been made in the comments that the Guardian (the evil being) was both the Guardian and Destroyer of Pagan and essentially the creator of the elemental titans. (Joshua's rot-13'd comment in that thread is worth reading.) It's an inspired idea, that the Guardian is uniquely good at identifying a world's weaknesses and exploiting them, much as he did with the Fellowship on Britannia—and that he has done so across multiple worlds (we have hints of a few other cases in Ultima Underworld II). I can't help but lament what could have been if someone had Origin had ever created some kind of governing document for the entire Ultima universe, outlining the true nature of these multiple worlds, the true nature of the Guardian, and the reason that magic works differently from place to place. This is exactly the sort of thing that Brandon Sanderson would do with his Cosmere in another decade.

       

The magical assignments seem a bit dubious to me. The link between water and tempestry is the most solid, but I believe that the term was invented for this game. As for the others . . . I don't see why necromancy should be concerned primarily with earth (yes, yes, interment, but still) or healing with air. "Pyromancy" would make sense with fire, but "sorcery" in general? The Ultima series likes to create neat little packages of its themes (8 virtues, 8 classes, 8 towns), but they don't always hold together well. The associations between elements and magic are, to me, the "bards = compassion" of Pagan.

      

I take some time to finally organize my backpack.

                

(You didn't ask, but writing "tempestry" several times made me think of Shakespeare's The Tempest, which I think is his most autobiographical play and thus one of the most interesting to study, but it's my least favorite to see performed. There's virtually no conflict in it at all.) 

       

But back to the present game. The Avatar has agreed to be the apprentice for Vividos, the new Necromancer Supreme, which of course begins with a fetch quest. I have to head to Western Tenebrae for some "fallen sticks from the place where spirits roam." This would be a good time to introduce the map I've been working on for the world as a whole:

     

I haven't visited much so far.

           

I'm not sure whether "West Tenebrae" means the area I've already explored (and found no sticks) or the map even further west than that, which I have not yet visited.

     

I know where there are spirits in West Tenebrae, though I don't remember any sticks there. I revisit just to be sure. I kill the ghost and his ghouls again, and yes, there are a couple of poles on the ground, but I don't think that's what Vividos was talking about. I'm just about to leave the area when I click on some sticks that look like a part of the background texture, and it turns out that they're what I'm looking for: Dead Man's Elbow.

    

The "elbows" are the items to the left and right of the tree in the upper-left corner.

       

I'm a bit disappointed because I was hoping to explore the area west of West Tenebrae. Even though I have only a Willie Suttonesque reason for doing so, I decide to go there before heading back to Vividos. While trying to find the western exit, I accidentally jump into the river and thus have to repeat everything from the beginning.

         

I end up calling the area "West Valley." It's a truncated map, about as long as a regular map north-south but only about as third as wide east-west. Encounters:

    

• A guardhouse. Inside a barrel, I find an abacus, which automatically counts up my various piles of obsidian pieces. Barrels on the roof include a hallucinogenic mushroom (the screen changes colors for a few seconds) and a hurricane, which does indeed seem to be the New Orleans drink, as after I drink it, the Avatar starts moving around in random directions. Hurricanes suck, by the way. Be a man and order a Sazerac.

    

Of course, just clicking on the pile of obsidian pieces accomplishes the same thing.

         

• There's a waterfall at the north end of the map with some nice water effects. 

     

Contrasting with the absolutely banal depiction of water immediately to the right.

      

• A cave that I nearly miss behind a tree is occupied by a kith. I kill it. Among the skeletons in the cave, I find half a dozen obsidian coins, some spell reagents, and a Scroll of Trap Destruction.

      

It's hard to take screenshots while moving. All my screenshots look like the Avatar is just standing around.

           

• A shack on the western edge is occupied by a woman and a little girl. The woman yells at me to go away, and the girl has the same dialogue options as the inquisitive little girl in Eastern Tenebrae. 

• A house with a roof deck has another one of these girls. They're annoying because you have to go through the whole dialogue before you can move on. 

    

Argh. Not again.

       

• There are a couple of large houses side by side in the southwestern part of the area. One seems to be a store, but nobody is manning the counter. I wait through several time periods.

• The other house is occupied by a fisherwoman named Kilandra. She stays away from town because Mordea "is a selfish, black-hearted woman." She recounts how she brought her sick daughter, Elaina, to the palace steps for healing, but Salkind (the seneschal) insisted that Mordea was taking a bath and couldn't be disturbed, "especially to help a filthy gutter snipe." The girl later died. The name seems familiar, and a quick search reveals she's the author of What the Fish Tell Me, a silly poem for children.

     

Kilandra, this world isn't big enough to have dialects.

        

• A ghost and a pack of ghouls.

• An unoccupied hut. There's a kith in a fenced-in back yard, but I can't figure out how to get to it.

• A changeling. A mandril.

• A dead fisherman on a bedroll next to his rope and basket.

     

Not a bad way to go in this world.

        

• A two-story stone house. It is well-kept and fairly opulent, but no one is living there. It does contribute the humorous My Rival, My Love to the "Books of Pagan" entry. 

        

Does no one live here?

       

That is all I can find, so I gird myself for the long walk back to Vividos. (Couldn't he have invested in a teleportation pad?) A guard stops me as I enter the Eastern Shore area and demands to know what I know of the scholar Bentic. I refuse to answer his questions, so he attacks me, and I actually manage to kill him. A nearby guard says "no fighting" but otherwise doesn't seem perturbed that I've just murdered his compatriot.

   

I decide I'd better see what this is about, so I reload and say, "We have spoken." The guard says that Mordea has executed Bentic for "conducting forbidden research." He then asks about the fisherman, Devon, who of course I also know. He has been arrested and imprisoned. Man, Mordea really has to go.

     

Can't you just say "killed"?

       

I teleport back to the palace. Just for fun, I try to kill Mordea, but the game isn't having it. With the first blow, a sorcerer appears and executes me. Actually, the sorcerer appears, and while Mordea is explaining to him what crime I've committed, she executes me.

      

Down in the dusty basement I previously visited, I find Devon in a locked room. I'm able to speak to him through the door. He asks me to help figure out what is happening and suggests I talk to Salkind. (In any conversation with Mordea, she asks where I'm from and refuses to talk anymore after I give the answer.) I find him in the throne room at mid-day. He is unapologetic about Bentic's execution (though he won't tell me what constitutes "forbidden research") and he says that Devon will be executed soon.

          

At least they gave you a decent bed.

     

Salkind mentions his logbook of executions a couple of times, which is back at his house in East Tenebrae. I head there, and sure enough, it has been updated to include Bentic's execution. It notes that: "The confiscated research is secured in the dungeon evidence chamber for further review to determine the presence of additional conspirators." Does the game really want me to find out the specific reason Bentic was executed? It strikes me that Mordea and Salkind aren't above just executing people on any old trumped-up charge.

     

I find a book in his desk that I missed the first time (or else it wasn't there before). It's called "Enemies of Tenebrae" and lists nearly everyone in Tenebrae.

      

These people seem more like victims of Tenebrae.

      

I toss the place, looking for a key to the dungeon. I'm almost surprised when I find a key under a pot. I find another one under a cloth in his bedroom. Unfortunately, they seem to open a door and chest within his house. The chest has several scrolls and 300 obsidian coins.

       

Damn. I really do need to move everything in this game, don't I?

          

I return to the dungeon and verify that the keys have nothing to do with those doors. I waste a lot of time tossing the dungeon and the palace, looking for the appropriate key. I do find the key to the armory (under a pillow in the barracks), but there's nothing I really want there. I wish I had found it earlier.

         

I think I prefer when the Avatar spoke in keywords rather than questions.

       

Determined to accomplish something this session, I return to Vividos. (Lothian's body is still just lying on the altar.) "I have found your reagents," I say. Vividos praises me and gives me the "Key of the Caretaker." which despite its name is a fairly large staff. He says my next task is to visit the Catacombs, which will require the "Open Rock" spell, cast on the rock face to the north of the Tomb of Moriens. He outlines the process for casting spells as such:

      

You must place the proper reagents in a bag, close the bag, and then invoke the power of the Key [of the Caretaker] on the closed bag. When you open the bag, you will find a magic talisman within. When you invoke the magic of the talisman, you cast the spell.

       

That's a little convoluted, and it requires a free bag. I had hoped to just keep all my reagents in one bag, but I guess that's not going to be possible. "Open Ground" requires Blood and Blackmoor, according to Earthen Magic, and I have both from Vividos's own office. I empty out one of my bags, give it a try, and soon I have an "Open Ground" talisman. Now I want to know whether the system really requires a bag, or whether any container works. In a pinch, could I just hold the reagents in my hand and use the Key on it?

      

Casting the spell on the reagent bag.

      

Vividos also says that I'll need to learn from the ancient necromancers buried in the Catacombs, and for this, I'll need "Death Speak," which requires Blood and Bone. I have two vials of Blood and two piles of Bone shards, but I suspect I'll need more. Hoping I'll find more in the Catacombs themselves (which in retrospect is probably stupid), I move on.

       

North of the Tomb of Moriens, I thought a ghost was blocking the exit to a new area. I see now that he's just blocking the gate to a building. I manage to kill the ghost this time; my strength and dexterity both hit their max of 25 during this battle. 

   

I enter the building and use the talisman on the stone wall, which opens to reveal a cavernous entrance.

        

I guess I should have assumed it would open at the end of the middle path flanked by busts of Lithos.

        

I start exploring the Catacombs. Encounters:

   

• Skeletons and ghouls. The skeletons are remarkably persistent here, following me from room to room, and rising even if I'm nowhere near their corpses. It would be nice if I were taught some kind of spell to kill them permanently.  

     

Slain by the undead.

       

• Holes in the walls shooting fireballs.

• Levers that open gates.

• A lever that flips the entire world upside down; I consider playing like this for as long as it will let me, but it gets annoying fast.

     

I need to test the limits of this.

       

• Pits that suddenly open up in the floor, requiring me to climb out. Some of these open into pools of lava or acid or something, which means I'm trying to climb out, which is hard enough, while taking damage. I die repeatedly from these.

      

I think I like it better in here.

         

• Gates that shoot electricity between them.

• An enormous pile of skeletons, not to mention all the ones in loculi on the walls. None of them seem to have anything. Eventually, I stop checking.

• I bypass a closed gate by climbing over a pillar.  

      

I just realized I probably could have jumped up on that roof from here. I'll have to go back and try it.

       

• I reach a plaque that reads "Hegland Hegwood." I think this might be one of the ancient necromancers, but when I cast "Death Speak" on any of the bodies in the area, nothing happens. Ditto with "John of Garland."

• A plaque reads, "Danger, do not enter." I enter anyway. The room beyond has "strange holes" in the floor that spout jets of flame if I get too close. I skirt them and grab a bag from the floor, which I really need.

• A two-story building has a chest on the top. Getting up there takes some real effort (I have to climb some nearby ruins). It has a Scroll of Trap Detection and several fire gems. I still don't really know whether they're spell reagents or valuables. I have a lot.

     

A great leap forward.

       

I really wanted to finish the Catacombs before posting, but alas, I ran out of time, and I wanted to keep my normal schedule. If I break the pattern, before you know it, I'll be on "hiatus." Thus, we'll have to resolve these plot points next time. 

    

I did find myself enjoying the game a bit more this time around. In my most recent entry on Ravenloft, VK noted some similarities between it and Pagan. It's an apt comparison. Both feature depopulated, depressing worlds run by tyrants and full of undead. Both have vacant houses and a general sense that the world's best days are behind them. I think the problem that I have with Pagan is that I've lost faith in the development team when it comes to the integrity of their storytelling. I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to regard all the empty mansions as a sign of a society that keeps executing its citizens or whether I'm to regard them as a sign that Origin ran out of time before it fully populated the world with NPCs.

      

This session, I had more fun as I realized I was giving Origin the benefit of the doubt. It does make sense if you compare Salkind's execution logbook with the vacant manors, for instance. It would just make more sense if more NPCs seemed to realize that their society is past the point of recovery. Anyway, I'll try to keep on in this more positive vein.

   

Time so far: 18 hours

   

****

   

Previous entry in this series

   

Next entry in this series

   09/08/2026  

Ravenloft: Town Without Pity

Summer is a bit slow on the uptake.

       

Last session, the servants of Lord Dhelt of Elturel chased a burglar into a forest to retrieve a holy symbol that he stole. They killed him, but shortly after they retrieved the symbol, they were transported through a mist to the Svalich Woods in an alternate dimension. There, they started to hear about the enigmatic ruler of the place, Count Strahd von Zarovich. They found a couple of companions, but the ranger Quill was poisoned in a fight, prompting the adventurers to cut short their exploration of the Old Svalich Road South and head directly to the village of Barovia, hoping to find a cleric, temple, or potion that would cure the condition.

      

It becomes clear quite quickly that this isn't the kind of friendly "service town" of many RPGs. It is depressed and deserted. Most of the buildings are deserted; some are boarded up; the few people on the street refuse to talk with us. Sound effects include shrieking cats, crying babies, and howling beasts. Summer compares it to towns in the Forgotten Realms that had been ravaged by war.

       

This man has nothing to say to us.

        

We explore in east-west strips (despite Summer's suggestion below). Encounters:

   

• As we enter, the paladin Summer suggests we try to find "its first citizen, a mayor, burgomaster, or such," maybe in a large, prominent building near the edge of town.

• There are four "Strahd skeletons" (skeletons on poles with notes pinned to their chests advising the reader to follow Strahd's laws) clustered right at the entrance. Jeez, man, we get it. And how did you duplicate the same exact handwriting on so many notes? 

     

The desolate streets of Barovia.

         

• A house with a skeleton. It has a broadsword, shield, and two throwing daggers.

• Some warehouses in the southwest are empty except for barrels and boxes that I can't interact with. Fhalken explains: "Trade has become a forgotten art in Barovia. Few travel, and fewer still can afford to transport valuables from place to place."

    

What could possibly be after "contact manager at"? A phone number?

        

• Three broken ones (a grotesque, humanoid enemy) attack as we enter a deserted building. I try a few times, but I can't kill them without losing someone. We leave it for later.

• Several houses have people sitting in chairs, but they refuse to say anything to us.

• One old woman does speak with us, but only to make mad rantings.  

      

Someone's off her medication.

        

Summer notes that we're committing burglary when we enter some of the buildings. I wonder if these comments are tied to her class (paladin) or alignment. 

      

Summer rationalizes our trespasses.

        

• We're attacked by a brigand as we enter one house. We kill him and find a stairway down to a lower level behind him. The map shows us in the "Lesser Catacombs Beneath Barovia." However, we soon run into a locked door and cannot continue. 

• Items found in miscellaneous houses: battle axe, spear, Potion of Speed, Scroll of Raise Dead, broadsword, Potions of Extra Healing, Scroll of Negative Plane Protection, Scroll of Fortify, Scroll of Fireball, Scroll of Neutralize Poison, dagger, Oil of Fiery Burning, Keoghtom's Ointment, chain coif, chainmail, Wand of Fireballs, white robe, bow and a bunch of arrows, shield, warhammer, footman's pick, lots of stones. I slowly identify them with "Improved Identify"; when finished, I have several swords +1 and a warhammer +2.

• There are a lot of cats curled up in the vacant houses.

• An attractive, noble-looking woman in a vacant house offers to join the party. Her name is Tatian. She's a Level 4 neutral good half-elf fighter. As we don't really need another fighter, we leave her there.

      

An unnecessary fighter.

         

• The party members frequently comment on how bleak everything is.

        

I want to know what evil party members have to say.

           

Brigands and darklings attack as soon as night falls. They're not hard to kill, but their sheer number threatens to overwhelm us. It becomes clear that we're going to need to rest at night. We can't sleep while Quill is poisoned, but a commenter alerts me that Keoghtom's Ointment cures poison. I waste it on that purpose, continue on, and then Quill gets poisoned again by a broken one. Of course, I accidentally save while he's poisoned, forcing me to reload from almost the beginning of this session. 

      

Bandits roam the night.

        

True to what the manual promised, Fhalken and Velika cannot attack the moment we enter an indoor area. That limits Fhalken's utility considerably. I hope I'll meet a cleric or another mage soon.

   

Velika can at least cast her spells. The game freezes during spellcasting, allowing accurate targeting. "Magic Missile" is as useful as always.

   

Continuing on:

      

• A large house crawling with broken ones has something I can't quite identify in one of the squares. It looks like wriggling green vines descending from the ceiling.

 

What the hell is this?

        

• An old man with an eyepatch sitting in front of his fire. In poetic language, he introduces himself as a fallen paladin facing an impending death. We ask what we can do to help, and he asks us to find a holy symbol he abandoned in chambers beneath the village—presumably the Lesser Catacombs we found earlier. He tells us to take the footman's pick (which we've already found) and use it to dig west of a stump to find the key. He promises us multiple magical items if we return with the symbol. We later find the stump and the key.

     

I think if I were a paladin trapped in a pocket dimension, ruled by an immortal vampire, I'd lose faith, too.

      

• A tavern seems to be open. It offers several NPCs. The first is a woman with a masked face and an unmasked chest. She rebuffs our attempts to get to know her, saying only that she wants to get out of Ravenloft.

    

So that's why this town is so desolate: COVID.

        

• A Vistani—presumably the one we met earlier—offers to sell a potion that will allow us to escape the fog for 15 coins. Since I don't have a single coin, I have to decline. He suggests he'll take us to his camp if we allow ourselves to be blindfolded. I leave this for later.

• The innkeeper is named Bray Martikova. He welcomes us to the tavern and has quite a lot to say. Strahd's laws are to pay taxes and anything else Strahd wants; Strahd's castle is to the north, but hardly anyone sees him; we should talk to the burgomaster. We do not, curiously, have any options to order a drink or a room.

     

Wait. Helm is a deity in this setting, too?

         

• There are rooms where we can rest, though since we can rest anywhere, that's not much of a boon. The inn has an entire second floor with nothing of value that we can find. 

• A resident is mourning his dead son. I think he might be the same guy we already encountered in the forest. 

• The buildings have a fun set of decorations, like statutes and paintings. The image below gives some examples of this environmental art. On the negative side, hardly anything is interactive. 

         

Some of the game's environmental graphics.

       

Summer feels a dark premonition before we enter a house. We're confronted by the ghost of a jeweler named Strobel. A gang of thieves entered his house one night looking for jewels. Although he handed them over, the leader of the gang, Grymig, killed Strobel and his family. Later, Grymig somehow escaped death and lives in the cemetery as the Lord of Ghouls. He demands that we avenge him and possesses Summer to ensure that we do so.

     

The once-humble jeweler possesses Summer.

        

This seems like something we'd better resolve, so we discontinue our explorations of the town and try to figure out where this cemetery is.

   

We leave town via the north gate and find ourselves in the Old Church Grounds, which seems to be promising. The large map has a large church on it and one exit, maybe to the cemetery, but it seems to be locked. Seeking the key, we enter the church. Strobel warns us that if we dally too long, he'll tear Summer apart. 

      

Note how the game depicts possession.

        

"Cherish and obey the land but defy it not," reads a message on the wall of the church entrance. Unfortunately, that's as far as we can go. The door beyond is locked. We don't have the key. We look around the area a bit, trusting that the automap will show us if we've missed something, but we don't find anything.

      

That doesn't seem like a "but."

       

I generally like to deal with what happens to me, but I don't want to be another three hours into the game and suddenly have Strobel lose his patience, so I reluctantly reload from before his possession and skip his house.

   

With the paladin's key, we open the door in the Lesser Catacombs. Immediately on the other side of the door, we run into a living wall: a grotesque, undulating assemblage of faces and limbs. (Summer: "By Helm and Lathander both! What is this thing?") Fortunately, it's static. After it wallops us in melee range, we stand back and use the old "throw the dagger and pick it up again" trick to kill it slowly, but with no damage to us. A fireball roars down the corridor towards us from a distant source on the other side, but we manage to dodge it.

     

The old "picking up the same knife and throwing it repeatedly" trick works on this living wall.

       

It takes me a couple of hours to clear the dungeon, which is swarming with wererats and plenty more of those living walls, blocking access to rooms until I destroy them. Fireballs shoot down corridors frequently, requiring me to dodge or suck up the damage. 

     

Wererats attack as I enter this room.

        

Fhalken is useless in the rear rank, so I reluctantly give Quill a composite longbow and quiver, then have him switch places with Fhalken. This allows everyone to participate in battle (Velika has throwing daggers), but picking up all the items afterwards is no fun. 

 

I ultimately have to find two keys, which open the way to a central chamber where the holy symbol resides.

     

What do you suppose a "winged" holy symbol depicts?

        

Back on the surface, the old paladin is grateful for the artifact. True to his word, he opens an adjacent room, in which I find a paladin's sword +3, a paladin's dagger +2, an adamantite chain helm, and an Arrow of Slay Undead. I'm glad I took a paladin. 

      

The reward room. Note how everything in the game is on the floor. Although the buildings have shelves and tables, it does not appear they're capable of holding objects the player can pick up.

    

I have to wrap up this session early. I had meant to talk to the burgomaster. I guess that will wait for next time. Ravenloft  is growing on me, certainly more so than Pagan. I still don't like the controls, but it has a solid atmosphere, with a Dantean sense of talking to people who are already dead but perhaps don't know it. I look forward to seeing where the plot goes.

   

Time so far: 7 hours
   

****

   

Previous entry in this series

   

Next entry in this series

  09/05/2026 

 

Pagan: Rite of Passage

 

I don't like the look of this.

         

The Avatar has been dumped by the evil Guardian on the alien world of Pagan. He has managed to outfit himself, but the only clue he has that might lead to a way home is to consult the hermit Mythran on the Plateau. The only thing stopping me from getting there is my tendency to stop and investigate everything along the way.

  

Hence, this entry opens with the Avatar in a cave whose entrance he has just finished clearing by painstakingly removing about 20 boards. It leads to a short dungeon with something that looks like a bedchamber, but the experience ends in a couple of locked doors. I return to the Valley.

          

As far as I can get in this cave.

       

Elsewhere on this map, I find:

   

• A large torax ranch with multiple toraxes in stables and an adjacent field.

• A dilapidated house with a dead kith (a spider-like creature) and a copy of Devenoming the Kith. 

• The house of Gwillim, the rancher I met last time. He's not in it, but I meet his wife, Corinth. She's proud of her son, Cyrrus, who has gone to study with the Theurgists to increase his natural talent for healing. Her second child, a girl, was devoured by a kith as a baby.

   

While I'm talking with Corinth, I notice that a lot of conversation options disappear if you don't click on them the first time. The weird thing is that they don't seem like mutually exclusive options. For instance, if I ask Corinth, "What do you do?," she tells me that she does a lot of things and that her son moved away. On the next screen, I can ask about "many things" or "your son?" Whichever I choose, the other disappears. Now this particular dialogue tree is repeatable, so that's not a problem, but I don't think they all are. It makes me wonder how many topics I missed with other NPCs.  

        

A rare role-playing choice appears in dialogue with Corinth.

        

I find none of the enemies who gave me trouble the last time I was here, including the kith and the troll. I also don't find an exit that will take me to the Plateau—at least not at first. It takes me a couple of circuits before I see a cave entrance that I missed the first time.

         

You see how it might be easy to miss.

        

The cave leads me to a large underground lake. I have to jump from stone to stone to cross it. This is no trouble at all; I just click with both mouse buttons on the stone I want to end up on.

       

Action shot!

       

I thought this would be a good place to try the unpatched version of the game, since I thought I could get here, running, without having to fight any enemies. Unfortunately, the Internet Archive—my only lead on a potential unpatched version—was down when I was playing this. I'm about to head off on a trip for a couple of weeks, and I don't know whether I'll have time to try again before this entry posts. Just in case, I watched a video of a player attempting this puzzle with the original version. Wow. I get the problem. In the original version, clicking both mouse buttons does cause the Avatar to jump, but not to where the cursor is. Instead, he jumps a fixed distance, making it remarkably easy to overshoot the target or to fall short. Running jumps seem even harder to time. Watch that video. It's hilarious if you're not the one playing. It takes the player 18 minutes and about ten reloads to get across the lake. I did it in one minute on my first try.  

   

On the other side, I face the occasional ghoul. There are a lot of corpses strewn about; many of them have potions. Sometimes, when you click on a corpse, a voice says something like, "Do not disturb my bones." I think this is random and not a sign that any particular pile of bones is taboo.

        

Which game had more random piles of skeletons? This or Ultima VII?

        

Upon a plateau, I'm enticed by a glowing object under a skull, but it turns out to be a trap that damages me. On the other side of that is a puzzle involving two closed gates and a nearby inoperable lever. A bridge takes me to a crumbled building with seven levers and no indication which ones to push into which positions. ("There is no escape from this prison," the Guardian intones as I enter.) I try all of them and note that the winch against the far wall only turns when some of them are activated. I push all of those and the screen rumbles and shakes. Back across the bridge, the inoperable lever is now operable, and it raises the two gates. A short jog later, and I'm out of the dungeon and in an area that turns out to be the Plateau, although despite its name, it has stone walls rising on all sides of it. Maybe "Plateau" is meant ironically. 

           

"Those kids seem to really love that Dungeon Master." - Someone at Origin.

       

I follow my usual exploration plan of exploring the perimeter and then filling in the middle. I encounter:

   

• Some hostile toraxes.

• A bunch of "fire 'shrooms" that I can't pick up but that explode if I walk over them. A patch of them actually manages to kill me. They're surprisingly hard to avoid.

• More changelings.

     

I don't remember which one is me.

      

• A cave that I decide to save for later. 

• It takes two reloads and almost all my health to kill a seeker. The problem is that his reach is longer than mine. He's guarding a shack with no valuables, but it's surrounded by mushrooms that I can eat to restore my health. 

        

"Yes, Avatar. Eating mushrooms directly off the ground in a strange world is always a good idea." - The Guardian.

        

Mythran's "house" is in the northeastern quadrant of the Plateau, not far from the cave exit. I put "house" in quotes, because the front door seems to transport me to a void, and the foyer is full of traps. Two spiked balls roll back and forth on either side of a pair of pillars. Lightning crackles between the pillars. I have to carefully time my passage through them. This basic setup is repeated for four consecutive rooms. The final room has a couple of healing potions on a table.

       

Passing through the gauntlet.

          

The exit leads me to a two-story wooden house. The first floor has a backpack with 137 obsidian coins and something called Korghin's Fang.

   

I find Mythran upstairs. Our conversation is long, particularly since I reload a couple of times to make sure I go through all the options. Highlights:

    

• The house is indeed in another dimension, although he doesn't provide details.

• For 50 obsidian coins, he sells scrolls that open magical barriers. 

• He tells me a lot about the history of Pagan, replicating what's in the game documents.

• He suggests I read the books in his house, of which there are many.

• He doesn't like Mordea or the Pyromancers.

      

"Or it would be a tragedy, if the city had more than six people."

       

• He practices Thaumaturgy, a fifth form of magic that is not tied to one of the elemental titans.

Most importantly, when I ask about leaving Pagan, he says that something about the titans' magic blocks travel to other worlds. He thinks the solution is to become a master of all forms of magic. He suggests I start with the Necromancers by asking Vividos to be his apprentice. They live in the cemetery.

        

Mythran has his own private fishing hole in his little pocket plane.

         

His house has a lot of books that bulk up my "Books of Pagan" entry. My intelligence increases by 2 points from reading them all. While I'm reading, I get a rumble from the Guardian that "Nyustl sends his regards."

   

Mythran also gives me a "recall item." When I double-click on it, I can choose to visit any teleportation platform that I've already visited, which in this case is the one in Mythran's house and the one on the roof of the palace. That's handy. I warp back there.

         

Does someone sit in that chair just waiting for people to teleport in?

       

On the way to the Cemetery, on the east side of Tenebrae, I find a house unlocked that was locked before. It turns out to be the residence of Rhian, widow of Toran, the man beheaded at the beginning of the game. She says he expressed his opinions one too many times in the tavern. Their son, Torwin, has gone off to be a Theurgist, something that confuses Rhian because he never expressed any interest in becoming a healer when he was growing up. Toran was a gemcutter, and Rhian is now running his shop. She sells both clothing (her own trade is as a weaver) and gems. I don't buy either for now.

        

I might stop by to sell you a dozen pieces of jewelry tomorrow.

        

The house is enormous; I guess gemcutting is lucrative. The loom in Rhian's workshop moves up and down if I double-click on it, but there's no way to feed yarn into it the way you could in Ultima VII. 

    

I leave Rhian and head for the cemetery. "I do so enjoy the cries of torment," the Guardian gloats as I pass through the gate. As usual, I explore the edges and then the interior. Encounters:

 

• There are lots of battles with ghouls and skeletons. I thought my mace was killing skeletons before, but now they're getting up. The toss-them-in-the-water trick doesn't seem to work for me. But running off the screen solves the problem.

• I take note of all the gravestones and report their inscriptions on the "Books of Pagan" entry. It's cute that they made references to most of the developers, but I think that gravestones are an excellent epistolary way to convey lore, and I wish more games took them seriously. There are only a few in-game references in the long list. 

      

One of many football references in the cemetery.

         

• A specter guarding a north exit kills me. I reload, but he keeps killing me before I can kill him. I leave it for now. Another one keeps killing me in front of a grave that reads: "Get off my grave." Curiously, many of my blows against these ghosts trigger the thunderclap, but they don't die. Yet I killed a ghost with the same mace the last session. I'm wondering if I'm mixing up ghosts and aerial servants; the manual doesn't supply an image of the latter.

     

A specter seems invincible as a zombie rises from the ground nearby.

       

In the center of the area is a two-story structure that turns out to be the Tomb of Moriens, the first Necromancer, who arranged the deal with Lithos by which the titan would stop the earthquakes if the people of Pagan would serve him in death. The first floor has an altar in the central area and what looks like a stone chair behind an unopenable gate. 

       

That looks uncomfortable.

        

The second floor has living quarters. The head necromancer, Lothian, is sick in bed. Her assistant, Vividos, is wandering around. (I'm pretty sure Vividos never tells me his name. It doesn't come up in my initial conversations, but when I speak to him again, I somehow already know it.) Vividos tells me that Lothian is dying. Vividos wants to perform the ritual (rituals are very important to the necromancers) that will let Lothian transition to the afterlife, but the "evil and power hungry" Mordea has confiscated the necromancers' ceremonial dagger and will only lend it back to them if they beg. If Lothian dies without the ritual, Lithos might destroy the world in his anger.

   

I offer to retrieve the dagger; it's clear I'll have to solve this issue if I want to learn necromancy. I teleport back to the palace and find Mordea in her throne room. She's shouting things every few seconds: "Feed them all to the lurker!"; "More work, less pay!"; "Flog the peasants!"; "Double the taxes!"; "No more days of rest!" Her seneschal responds to each rant with "pure genius!" or "you are correct!"

       

I'm guessing there's no romance option here.

         

I find the key to her bedchamber under a folded piece of cloth with a skull on it, but Mordea gets upset that I'm moving things around. I have to rest for a while for the throne room to clear out. I toss her bedroom and find a dagger in her wardrobe, but it doesn't look like what Vividos described. There is a locked closet with a chest in it, but I can't find the key to open it.

    

This seems too easy.

      

Remembering Aramina's (Mordea's handmaiden) offer to speak to me at her home during BloodWatch, I wait until the appropriate hour and then visit. She gives me the key to the closet as long as I promise not to tell anyone that I got it from her.

      

Unless there's more than one, they'll probably be able to figure it out.

       

I return to Mordea's chambers, but I'm stupid enough to barge in while she's in bed. She wakes up and destroys me with a fireball.

     

That's the best you could come up with?

       

On a reload, I wait until Mordea is in her throne room, then openly enter her bedroom, shut the door behind me, open her closet, and steal the dagger from the chest. A lot of what I'm doing relies on Tenebrae having no investigators, just patrol officers.

   

Back at the Tomb of Moriens, I find that Lothian is breathing her last. Vividos has laid her body on the first-floor altar. He gratefully takes the dagger and instructs the Avatar how to help with the ritual that will send Lothian's soul to Lithos. Lothian says he's ready to go. The ground shakes. Vividos incants a spell, and three zombies rise. Vividos plunges the dagger into Lothian's chest. (This is all handled without the player's input, but it's still a fun sequence. It might be worth watching online. I mean to capture a GIF, but I fail.) He later explains that he has completed the Ceremony of Eternity, which will allow Lothian passage into Lithos's halls. I expect that the zombies will somehow carry Lothian away, but they just sort of hang out.

       

What role do the zombies serve?

       

Vividos explains that with Lothian's death, he is now the Necromancer. Moreover, he has no apprentices. I volunteer for the role, and he says my first task will be to gather reagents: Executioner's Hood "from a place of danger," and "fallen sticks from a place where the spirits roam." I already have the first, but to find the second, I'll have to go to Western Tenebrae. This seems like a good place to wrap up.

      

Miscellaneous notes:

  

• Some experimentation suggests that the Avatar can indeed climb up onto any roof. I feel like I need to explore the entire town again now that I have a better sense of a) how to climb and jump, and b) how to search for keys by moving things around. 

• Drinking potions leaves empty bottles behind. Are they good for anything? I'd love an excuse to clear out the damned backpack. 

• I contributed a few more books to "The Books of Pagan." One, called Earthen Magic, gives the reagents and syllables for two necromancy spells: "Open Ground" and "Death Speak." A scroll in Lothian's room gives the recipe for "Quake."

• The dialogue options too often just repeat the last thing the NPC said with a question mark.

          

Don't let the door hit me in the ass?

        

I end this session with my attributes in the mid-20s, about halfway between the starting values (15) and the maximum values (30). [Edit: I guess maybe maximum values are 25.] Apparently, if I wanted to stand still and swing away with my sword, or to open and read the same book over and over, I could grind them all the way to the maximum before continuing on.

  

As I wrap up, it occurs to me that Pagan feels a bit like a simple console RPG of the period, with its limited NPCs, limited character development, rather linear plot, and simple action combat. There's nothing that makes me feel like I'm role-playing or otherwise playing in a unique or personal way. I feel as if I could get the same experience, and have about as much fun, just watching a video of someone else playing. Maybe I should watch a speedrun. I think I'd short-cut this one if I could.

   

Time so far: 14 hours

   

****

  

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   09/08/2026