Virtues



Virtue.... the way of life to find inner fulfillment and give the best to the people around you. At least, this is, when the virtues are well-meaning. Virtue can also be twisted into something different, to tighten the grip of tyranny. The systems of virtue, in good as in bad encountered throughout the ages, are shown on this page of the Codex, giving insight into the basics of a society.

The Virtues of Britannia
The virtue system of Britannia is complex enough to need an explanation in a separate article.

See The Eight Virtues.

The Principles of the Shadowlords
See The Principles of the Shadowlords.

Lord Blackthorn's Code of Virtues
See Lord Blackthorn's Code of Virtues.

The Gargoyle Virtues
See The Gargoyle Virtues.

The Ophidian Virtues
See The Ophidian Virtues.

Triad of Inner Strength
The Fellowship, in Ultima VII, followed the Triad of Inner Strength, consisting of three rules:


 * 1) Strive For Unity
 * 2) Trust Thy Brother
 * 3) Worthiness Precedes Reward

However, if someone looks a little further behind these words, the true meaning of them become obvious, as Alagner in Ultima VII discovered. In his notes about these three rules, he writes this:

''The first `value' is Strive For Unity. This implies that that we should all work together in harmony and towards one goal in life. However, careful examination of this tenet reveals that members of The Fellowship consider themselves an elite group, and a prejudicial one at that. They tend to believe that if one is not for them, then they are indeed against them! And if one is against them, then may fortune be with that person, for he/she may very well come to a bad end!''

''The second `value' is Trust Thy Brother. This implies that each member trusts implicitly other Fellowship members, and that each will do favors or deeds for another without question. On the other hand, this might mean that a member should do what another says REGARDLESS of the implications of the act. In other words, `do as I say and do not question it!' seems to be the underlying subtext of this tenet.''

''The third `value' is Worthiness Precedes Reward. If one does good deeds for The Fellowship, then one will be rewarded. The other side of the coin, of course, is that if one does NOT do good deeds for The Fellowship, then one will get his JUST reward! In The Fellowship, a `reward' can be either `good' or `bad'!''

This reveals the Triad of Inner Strength as extremist rules, that reflect the true purpose of the Fellowship. A tool of the Guardian to undermine Britannia's society before he would grab the power.

Killorn Keep
In Ultima Underworld II, the inhabitants of Killorn Keep -- a parallel universe to Britannia -- observe the Guardian's eight virtues. These were created by the Guardian to hold maximum control over his subjects and prevent any kind of doubt against his rule over his already conquered worlds.

Trivia

 * Amusingly, a real life Correctional Facility called Guardians of the Threshold have adapted the Guardian's virtues for their own use. We can only wonder if they realise the Guardian was an evil megalomaniac.

Zealan Beliefs
The Zealans of Pagan had a belief system which centered on six basic human emotions. In the woes of the war, three of the emotion gods were imprisoned and the other three lost their power due to the death of their followers (it was their followers that gave them their powers).

The Virtues of Mandrake
The joyful Mandrake the bard, in Ultima VI, has his own set of three Principles, which also form eight Virtues.

Eight of the virtues are derived from these three principles:

The relationships between the Virtues and Principles is not explained in the game, but the one presented in the table is the only logical deduction that has been made.

Presumably Happiness, just like Humility is to Pride, is the opposite of Sadness.

Somewhat related to this, in Ultima V it is explained that the mantra of eating is "yum".