Rotoluncia

Rotoluncia (also known as the Red Witch) is a Moonshadian mage who may be found on Serpent Isle during Ultima VII Part Two.

Description
Rotoluncia was a specialist in fire magic who was noted for her ruthless ambition and her quickness to anger when crossed. During her upbringing at Moonshade's Seminarium, she began a relationship with her tutor, another apprentice two years her elder known as Filbercio. The two of them remained lovers for a time, and Filbercio pleaded with her at some point to leave Moonshade with him for the mainland, hoping to escape the ceaseless intrigue the city's mages. This was not to be, however. Both parties eventually became adepts deeply enmeshed in the city's politics, with Filbercio becoming the city's MageLord and Rotoluncia taking a seat on the Council of Mages. Their relationship was bitterly broken off shortly after Rotoluncia formed a political alliance with the young Torrissio, whom Filbercio jealously believed to be the new object of his mistress' affections. Enraged at being discarded, Rotoluncia was only further angered when Filbercio took the ice sorceress Frigidazzi as a new paramour. She eventually came to devote her studies to the subject of daemons, and somemused that this was done with the aim of seeing her former lover rotting in the entrails of such a creature.

At some point in the year and a half prior to the Avatar's arrival on Serpent Isle, the sage Batlin passed through the city and Rotoluncia became fixated on his companion Palos, a gargoyle whom she thought to be a daemon that Batlin had tamed. When the champion of Britannia finally came to the shores of the Isle of the Beyond, Rotoluncia falsely believed them to be versed in the art of binding daemons themself, given that they shared Batlin's world of origin. She sent one of her automata to greet the hero and to give them a magical scroll through which she could communicate with them. When the Avatar honestly informed her that they had no knowledge of the secret she sought, Rotoluncia grew incensed, warning the hero there would be consequences for thwarting her ambitions. Subsequently, at a banquet held by Filbercio on the Avatar's behalf, she attempted to convince her fellow council members that the hero was in some way connected to the teleport storms ravaging the land, urging that they be interrogated. When the other adepts refused her suggestion, she changed her tactics. At a later point in time she spirited away one of the Avatar's companions, hoping to hold them as a hostage in order to leverage the hero into giving her the information she desired.

The Avatar, who saw their companion disappear through means unknown, would have to undertake an investigation to trace their abduction back to the Red Witch. While there existed a variety of avenues through which they could inquire about the matter, some involving parties urging them to suspect Torrissio or the necromancer Mortegro as culprits, they would eventually come to search Rotoluncia's home for their lost friend. Here, the hero would be confronted by one of her automation servitors, who would attack them when the extent of their knowledge became clear. When no trace of the missing companion could be found within the mansion, the Avatar eventually turned to Filbercio in search of answers. The MageLord would then reveal that he had secretly rekindled his relationship with Rotoluncia about a year prior and that she had demanded that their love-making be done in secret. He had built a small retreat for them on an islet within the Lake of Enchantment, and he urged the hero to search it for their lost friend, giving them leave to use his royal yacht to make the journey. Once there, the Avatar found Rotoluncia, who was -in fact- holding their companion captive, and she once again demanded of the hero the knowledge of daemon binding, telling them that the would only win their friend's freedom through their compliance or her own death. She was bested in the combat which ensued and died cursing the Avatar with her last breath.

Trivia

 * The model for Rotoluncia's character portrait is Amy Howe.
 * Should the Avatar agree to tell Rotoluncia the secret of demon summoning, one of the hero's companions will object, and she will warn them not to intervene before igniting a magical fire around them. Should no companions be present when the Avatar agrees, the hero will pass out and some manner of magical explosion will overtake them, killing them in the process.
 * Should the Avatar have no companions travelling with them at the time Rotoluncia attempts the kidnapping, she will send them a second magic scroll to tell them about the friend she has abducted. Should all of the companions be dead, she will kidnap the Avatar themself, teleporting them directly to her stronghold on the lake.
 * Searching through Rotoluncia and Filbercio's cottage on the lake, one will find a whip, a banana, a diaper, a kidney belt, and a brush. These may be related to the "strange and difficult practices" Filbercio claims Rotoluncia taught him after he renewed his relationship with her.
 * Rotoluncia appears to be the subject of one of Xenka's visions. In the Book of Prophecies, it is written "I see the color red, and a woman is involved."
 * According to early design documents for Serpent Isle, the player was originally to have been given the option of allowing Rotoluncia to live, upon which she would have been exiled from Moonshade and, much like Ensorcio, taken up residence at the Inn of the Sleeping Bull.