Skara Brae

Description


Skara Brae is city located on an island west of the Britannian mainland and near the forest of Spiritwood. It is dedicated to the virtue of Spirituality and was long home to many of the rangers of the land. It has suffered multiple calamities throughout the ages and has been twice destroyed by disaster.

Generally, the settlement has been home to a few modest merchants and the occasional fisherman in addition to the rangers for which it is famed. In addition to being the city of Spirituality, Skara Brae has a reputation for being a city of spirits, and numerous haunting have been reported over the centuries

A moongate, formerly on the island of Skara Brae itself, has long provided transportation to the inhabitants, although the position of the gate shifted to the mainland during the time of the Guardian's early incursions.

History
Skara Brae was founded sometime after the destruction of Exodus, during Lord British's]] renaissance of arts and sciences that heralded in the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment.

Age of Enlightenment
In Ultima IV'', with the development of the Quest of the Avatar and the spread of the Eight Virtues, the city became devoted to Spirituality. For some time, it was home to strange monument, the Ankh of Spirituality, which was capable of speech and which could impart knowledge of the Shrine of Spirituality. It was during this era that Shamino Salle' Dacil, who was residing in Skara Brae at the time, first joined with the Stranger in the hero's quest for Avatarhood.

By the time of Ultima V, the city, like most of Britannia's major settlements, fell victim to the Shadowlords. An active member of Blackthorn's Oppression, the archmage Flain, took up residence within a tower in the city and Skara Brae's representative on the newly-formed Great Council, Annon was driven into hiding to avoid persecution.

Eventually, the Oppression was dismantled and peace returned to the area. By the time that the Avatar encountered it in Ultima VI, it was a largely peaceable settlement of maritime tradesmen, although its tranquility was disturbed at the time but the violent murder of Quenton. Mayor Trenton, an arrogant and petty official, governed the towne during the incident and did little to investigate the death. It was also during this era that Horance, a mage and poet who would later become a central figure in the city's history, first was found dwelling in Skara Brae.

Age of Armageddon
It was Horance who started the tragic chain of events which would lead to the first razing of Skara Brae. Over the years of the magician's long life, madness slowly claimed him, perhaps due to the disturbance of the ether that was caused by the Guardian's early interference with Britannia. Whatever the reason, Horance's specialization in death magics combined with his insanity to create deadly results. Mad and hungry for power, Horance transformed himself into a lich, summoning forth legions of the undead to be his servitors and wreaking havoc upon the living residents of the city.

Desperate to put an end to the terror of Horance's army of the undying, Mordra Morgaelin, the town healer, prepared the instructions for a concoction which would restore Horance to humanity. Unfortunately, the mayor, Forscythe, gave inaccurate figures for the reagents needed to create the potion to the town's alchemist, Caine. The result was a massive conflagration which destroyed the city, killing all within it and thereby placing them in the domain of the Horance's power.

It is unknown for how long the souls of Skara Brae suffered under the lich. Eventually, the Avatar arrived in the burnt remains of the once prosperous city. Listening to the tales of the spirits who dwelt there, the hero realized Forscythe's error, and managed to replicate Mordra's original potion correctly. The hero then removed the curse of undeath from Horance, rendering him sane and ashamed of his deeds. Once this was accomplished, the champion of virtue was saddled with the grim task of having to find a soul willing to commit themselves to complete oblivion, in order that Horance's device, the Well of Souls might be destroyed and the spirits within freed. Eventually Forscythe, realizing his culpability in the city's destruction, made the final sacrifice and the curses that had plague Skara Brae for song long were at last lifted.



The city was eventually rebuilt, although there was a span of time during which superstition dissuaded many from resettling. In its new incarnation, Skara Brae existed under the care of a mysterious stone effigy called the Sentinel.

Sadly, twenty years later, during the events of Ultima IX, the Guardian razed the city once more, doing so while taunting the Avatar with visions of its destruction as he demonstrated his power. The hero was still able to explore the ruins of the city and eventually free Shamino, whose body lay within the confines of the rebuilt Well of Souls while soul was trapped in the realm of spirits

Ultima IV




Ultima V


Ultima VI

 * Dezana: healer
 * Gideon: innkeeper
 * Horance: mage
 * Marney: dock helper
 * Marta: rose seller
 * Quenton: a ghost
 * Stivius: wine merchant
 * Trenton: mayor of Skara Brae
 * Yorl: fisherman



Ultima VII
(Note that they are all ghosts, and therefore their "jobs" are only things of the past)


 * Caine: alchemist and tortured one
 * Ferryman: ferryman
 * Forsythe: mayor of Skara Brae
 * Horance: a powerful mage
 * Markham: tavern owner
 * Mordra: healer (and from Pagan)
 * Paulette: tavern maid
 * Quenton: long-time ghost
 * Rowena: wife of Trent
 * Trent: blacksmith



Ultima IX

 * Calan: thief
 * Elizabeth: mother
 * Mathis: warrior

Things to see
This puts all of the locations into a easy to read list.


 * Dark Tower
 * Ferry Station
 * Sentinel

Trivia

 * Skara Brae is the name of a real historical settlement on the west coast of Orkney (off northern Scotland).


 * Skara Brae is also the town where the computer game The Bard's Tale - Tales of the Unknown takes place. The city is destroyed in The Bard's Tale III - Thief of Fate. Interestingly, on some platforms, you could import characters from Ultima III and Wizardry into The Bard's Tale. In Ultima V there is an easter egg behind the apothecary's house--a tombstone reads 'Here lies the tale end of a bard'.


 * In Ultima VII it's possible to use the Magic Carpet to bypass the ferryman and land on the island.