Castle Britannia

Castle Britannia is the royal keep of Lord British, ruler of Britannia.

Description
Encircled by a moat and heavily guarded, the castle is found in close proximity to Britain, and has long served as the political heart of the country. The castle dominates the cityscape, acting as a visible symbol of the monarchy. Within its walls, Britannia's legislative assembly, the Great Council, regularly convenes to debate the concerns of the land and implement solutions and Lord British himself also holds weekly public audiences, in which his subjects are invited to bring their matters before the king.

Two major sights within the keep are the great hall, where feasts and celebrations are held; and the throne room, where Lord British holds audiences.

History
Before Castle Britannia was named as such, Lord British could always be found presiding over a stronghold, usually referred to as "Castle of Lord British" or "Lord British's castle." These designations were also later applied colloquially to Castle Britannia; otherwise, the exact relation between it and the monarch's earliest dwellings is not clear.

The Age of Darkness
In Ultima I, the Castle of Lord British was a single-story structure, and was of fairly spartan devising compared to the its incarnations in later Ages. It had storehouses for armour, weaponry and food, as well as a prison with a modest two cells. Within its confines, there lay the imprisoned Princess Julia, whom the Stranger could rescue.

In  Ultima II, Lord British's castle in Sosaria was not seen; however, he maintained a keep in multiple time periods on Earth, existing in both Earth (1423 B.C.) and in Earth (1990 A.D.). During this time, the castle housed a chapel, a mess hall and kitchen, a vault, and a prison. In the 3,413 years that separated the two temporal instances of the castle, nothing changed in its environs, save for its inhabitants.

In  Ultima III, the Sosarian castle housed a healer and an Oracle. Additionally, the royal store rooms were now sealed off by an energy field, and the prison now contained a torture chamber, which was later removed.

When Exodus was destroyed, the foundations of Sosaria were rocked by cataclysmic changes. Whether the old castle was destroyed by these events and rebuilt, or stood strong against the twisting geography has been lost to history. In the end however, the castle found its way to the centre of Britannia on the shores of the Britanny Bay.

The Age of Enlightenment
In  Ultima IV, the royal keep was first referred to as "Castle Britannia" – the eponymous realm having just been unified under Lord British's rule and given its name – and was located outside of the urban region, in the wilderness a short distance from Britain. The building was now a two-storied structure, sporting a barracks and a special chamber that housed the Seer, Hawkwind. A hidden entrance to Dungeon Hythloth existed behind the castle at this time, although this later disappeared.

In  Ultima V, the Britannys had expanded around the castle, which now sported a forge, a basement, stables, and numerous new storerooms and bedchambers. During this time of Lord British's disappearance and Lord Blackthorn's dictatorship, the absent king's bedchamber, which contained his sandalwood box and the fabled magic carpet, was kept under close guard.

In  Ultima VI, Britain, which now included what was formerly the Britannys, continued to expand around the castle, such that it eventually became part of the city. By this time, the castle had also returned to a single story architecture.

The Age of Armageddon
Renovations on the castle continued throughout the centuries, adding chambers for a court magician and for an expanded serving staff, and (despite Lord British's objections) inserting a royal nursery, which housed children of the members of the Great Council. It was during this time that the Castle's sewer systems began to expand into pre-extant tunnels beneath the earth, creating a vast underground dungeon-like expanse beneath the castle – although access to these sewers was not available during the Avatar's initial quest regarding the Fellowship and the construction of the Black Gate.

In  Ultima Underworld II, most of the action took place within the confines of the castle, which had been cut off from the rest of Britannia by the Blackrock Dome by the Guardian during a feast which celebrated the Reconstruction following the disbanding of the Fellowship. The castle had changed significantly in the year since the destruction of the Black Gate, with the sewers once more opening onto an expansive underworld, several of the castles chambers seemingly converted for the use of guests, and Lord British's throne notably absent. At this time, the castle was referred to as "Castle British" by its occupants.

During this crisis, tensions ran high as the castle's well ran dry and its inhabitants were mocked by the voice of the Guardian. Leaving the stranded part-goers to mete out rations and strategy, the Avatar delved into the bowels of the castle's sewers, finding such oddities as a tunnel leading to Buccaneer's Den, through which thieves were attempting to raid the treasury and a tribe of goblins who had become stranded in the tunnels during a fishing expedition. Eventually, the hero found a  blackrock gem echoing the larger structure of the Guardian's devising. It was through this gem that the hero was able access other worlds which had been victimized by the red titan's magic and after numerous adventures in these realms, the champion of virtue managed to free the inhabitants of the castle from the dome – shattering it with the sound of the Horn of Praecor Loth, which the Avatar blew only with the assistance of an air djinn embedded in the hero's body. This climactic event was accompanied by an extra-planar siege by the soldiers of the Guardian-controlled Killorn Keep, which eventually was repelled.

In  Ultima VII Part Two, the ravages of the Imbalance sent multiple plagues across Britannia, including earthquakes. Lord British, meeting the Avatar briefly in the realm of dreams, told the hero of a crack in the foundation of the castle, and of his fears that the keep would fall.

In  Ultima IX, little had been added to the castle, which had apparently either weathered the Imbalance or been rebuilt in the time that followed. It was again two-storied, although the building and it's staff had shrunk in scope. Lord British's throne room now took up most of the bottom floor, with his private chambers moved to the second. A large hedge maze sat to the west of the castle.

Lore




Ultima I

 * Six guards
 * Gwino the jester: holder of the key
 * Princess Julia: one of the imprisoned princesses
 * Lord British

Ultima II
All time periods:
 * Andre the French Chef: cook
 * Lord British: ruler
 * Brother Antos: wise mystic

Earth (1423 B.C.):
 * Bishop Bob: clergyman
 * Commander Decker
 * The Wandering Bard: bard

Earth (1990 A.D.):
 * Sister Sledge
 * The Merchant
 * The Subdued Balron: imprisoned balron

Ultima III

 * Chuckles: jester
 * Cookie: chef
 * Gwino
 * Iolo: bard
 * Lord British: ruler
 * Phantom Fighter
 * The Wise Cleric



Ultima IV

 * Chuckles: jester
 * Jester Twins: jester
 * Joshua: wise mage
 * Juliet: fair maiden
 * Landri: grim shepherd
 * Le Chef: chef
 * Reaper (NPC): prisoner
 * Seesha: injured fighter
 * Shawn (U4): strong and beautiful shepherdess
 * Sheila: solemn ranger
 * Water (NPC): well
 * Zorin: very old wise mage
 * Nameless Gate Guard (Castle): burly guard
 * Nameless Guard (2nd Floor): burly guard
 * Nameless Treasury Guard (Castle): treasury guard
 * Nameless Prisoner (Castle): nameless prisoner

Services:
 * Hawkwind the Seer: evaluation of Virtues
 * Lord British: ruler of Britannia
 * Pendragon: proprietor of The Royal Healer



Ultima V

 * Alistair: bard
 * Chuckles: court jester
 * Desiree: kitchen girl
 * Drudgeworth: prisoner
 * Margaret: upper kitchen chef
 * Max Engel: Sells weapons/armour at the North Star Armoury
 * Stephen: lower kitchen chef
 * Saduj: an agent of the Oppression
 * Stillwelt: guard
 * Treanna: stable girl

Ultima V: Lazarus

 * Biggs: steward
 * Weldon: gardener

Ultima VI

 * Chuckles: court jester
 * Geoffrey: captain of the guard
 * Lord British: ruler of Britannia
 * Maldric: kitchen chef
 * Nystul: royal magician
 * Sherry the Mouse: a mouse

Sewer-dwellers:


 * Daros: sewer worker
 * Phoenix: thief

The Ultima 6 Project

 * Almric: caretaker of the royal dogs

Ultima VII

 * Benny: chief butler
 * Boots: cook
 * Charles: servant
 * Chuckles: court jester
 * Geoffrey: captain of the guard
 * Inwisloklem: member of the Great Council
 * Kristy: child
 * Lord British: ruler of Britannia
 * Miranda: member of the Great Council
 * Max: child of Miranda
 * Nanna: child maid
 * Nell: room maid
 * Nicholas: child
 * Nystul: royal magician
 * Sherry the Mouse: a mouse
 * Weston: innocent prisoner
 * Wislem: royal advisor



Ultima Underworld II

 * Charles: head butler
 * Dupre: Companion of the Avatar
 * Feridwyn: Paws poorhouse director
 * Geoffrey: captain of the guard
 * Iolo: Companion of the Avatar
 * Julia: Companion of the Avatar
 * Lady Tory: noblewoman
 * Lord British: ruler of Britannia
 * Miranda: member of the Great Council
 * Nanna: child maid
 * Nell: servant
 * Nelson: scholar
 * Nystul: royal magician
 * Patterson: mayor of Britain
 * Syria: leader of the Library of Scars

Sewer-dwellers:


 * Dripper: goblin
 * Fissif: thief
 * Rogwump: goblin
 * Unnamed Goblin: goblin



Ultima IX

 * Hennington: seneschal
 * Keller: weaponsmaster
 * Laurana: sorceress
 * Lord British: ruler of Britannia
 * Lydia: cook
 * Olsen: warrior
 * Richard: prisoner
 * Siona: musician
 * Tyson: jailor
 * Vasagralem: gargoyle king



Runes of Virtue

 * Penumbra: mage



Runes of Virtue II

 * Cooper: blacksmith

Ultima IV

 * The Royal Healer: healer

Ultima IV (Nintendo Port)

 * Britannia Hostel: inn and healer

Ultima V

 * North Star Armoury: armoury

Places of Interest

 * Large pond: Bonus 10% of pence dropped (round down) to Random Stat
 * Northern small pond: Bonus Random weapon, must drop at least 10 pence
 * Southern small pond: Bonus 300% of pence dropped to Food

Trivia

 * In no two installments does the interior of the Castle Britannia look the same.
 * In Ultima V, it is possible to repeatedly access the treasure vault without using more than one skull key. If a bed on the same level as the vault is used and the party members sleep for an hour, they can return to the vault and find the door still unlocked, but all treasure chests will have reappeared.
 * In the manga Ultima: The Quest of the Avatar, Castle Britannia looks quite different from its usual appearance, instead resembling a French château constructed over a lake. It appears to have been photo-referenced from the famed manor house of Chenonceau in France's Loire Valley.
 * A Kraken can be found in the moat in, ready to attack the unwary townsfolk.