Mathis



Mathis is a spirit that the Avatar met in the Well of Souls of Skara Brae in Ultima IX.

He was a warrior coming from an unnamed village that lied west of Yew. However he had little interest in the arts of war and instead dreamed of becoming a mage in Moonglow, which caused many of the other children to pick on him and in turn lead him to be a coward. When time came to go through his rite of adulthood that consisted in stealing the totem of a nearby goblin tribe (which in turn would have lead them to abandon fighting), he ran away instead, intent on finding his way to Moonglow. He was however attacked by wolves on the way, and died.

The Avatar returned to Mathis's village and found out that it had been destroyed by the goblins because Mathis didn't steal the totem and the people of Yew refused to offer their help. Upon learning what befell his village, Mathis realized his mistake and understood that Courage was an important value and that he should not have fled.

Finally at peace, his soul departed after telling the Avatar that the Bell of Courage could be found in the sunken ruins of Serpent's Hold where his peopled use to go on a pilgrimage.

Trivia

 * The concept of the putting down the spirit to rest is very much similar to [[The Tale of Shamino and the Spirits|Shamino’s tale of Virtue] that was released on the Ultima IX website.