Yew

Description
Yew is a city within the Deep Forest of northwestern Britannia. Dedicated to the Virtue of Justice, Yew has long been home to the High Court of the realm, and has attracted a large druidic community around it. Throughout the ages, the city has coexisted with the surrounding natural world, occasionally dissolving into a series of scattered hamlets within the forests when its population has dwindled, and coming for several years to merge with the adjacent lands of Empath Abbey, the keep of Love.

Given the woodland surrounding it, Yew's economy has often been bolstered by the timber trade, and huntsmen and rangers are a common sight among its people. The legal establishment in Yew, however, has long been its defining feature and, in times both prosperous and ill, large numbers of trials and prisoners alike have been processed within this city.

A moongate, also hidden within the Deep Forest, can be found not far from the city, enabling quick passage to other settlements.

History
Yew is a very old settlement, having been already founded by the early days of the first Age of Darkness.

Age of Darkness


In Ultima I, Yew existed in what appeared to be land under the dominion of the Castle of the Lost King, a keep within the Lands of Lord British. This area of Sosaria was also home to the cities of Paws and Grey, and the burgeoning forest city sported an armoury, a weaponsmith, a transport service, a grocery, and a pub.

After the sundering of Sosaria following the defeat of Mondain, Yew still existed on the remaining continent comprising the world. During this time, Lord British commissioned a project known as the "Great Work," in which he ordered a series of exploratory travels to provide detailed maps of his realm. An individual known as Jhlona the Faithful provided the guide to Yew at the time, and indicated that an established druidic tradition already existed within the city. Eventually, during the quest against Exodus in Ultima III, the Stranger came to Yew, seeking revelations from its mystical holy place, the Circle of Light.

Age of Enlightenment
By the time of Ultima IV, Lord British had united all of Sosaria under the new name of Britannia, following the destruction of the triad of evil. It was during this time that Yew became dedicated to the Virtue of Justice, in keeping with British's newly established Eight Virtues. The High Court, presided over by Judge Talfourd, was established by this time, and the famed druids of the settlement could still be found within the city's boundaries. One of their number, a quiet woman named Jaana, was inspired to join in the Stranger's quest to attain Avatarhood during this age, and would eventually come to be one of the hero's close friends.

During the era of Ultima V, the city had become one of the bastions of Blackthorn's regime, with the High Court perverted into an instrument for the  Oppression's twisted justice. The city's elected member of the Great Council, Felespar, was imprisoned for the knowledge he bore of the Words of Power, and members of the citizenry lived in fear of the draconian rule of law, with even  children facing torturous penalties for slight infractions. As with most of Britannia's major settlements, Yew also fell victim to the Shadowlords, and was subject to invasion by these marauding shades so long as they existed.

In spite of, or perhaps because of the extent to which Blackthorn's rule affected Yew, the city also became home to the founder of the Resistance, Landon. With the aid of the towne's blacksmith, Chamfort, this driven warrior led the revolutionary group from within his hidden war room in the Arms of Justice, where he also sheltered Jaana, now an outlaw. It is likely that the Avatar came to join with these freedom fighters during the quest to restore Lord British, helping to eventually oust Blackthorn's despotic stranglehold on the city.

By the time of the gargoyle war and the events of Ultima VI, Yew had largely recovered from the harsh totalitarian settlement it had once been, becoming again a woodland hamlet where woodcraft and simple industry flourished. The secret tunnels beneath the town, once home to the Resistance had disappeared by this time, possibly from dissuse. However, its mayor and high judge at the time, Lenora, was renowned for her severity and strictness where the Virtue of Justice was concerned.

Age of Armageddon
Over the next two centuries, Yew slowly rearranged itself, spilling over onto the lands of Empath Abbey and merging with the property of famed archer,  Iolo FitzOwen, as its people dispersed across the Deep Forest. Throughout the Avatar's journeys in Ultima VII, the boundaries of Yew were extremely vague, with the High Court (now under the management of Sir Jeff) seeming as self-governing an institution as the Abbey's community of monks, and with most of the "city's" citizens living in relative isolation from one another.

By the time of Ultima IX, however, Yew's populace had converged back into a more concrete settlement, with many of its habitations now built in the treetops of the forest, in a manner similar to that of the emps who once shared the Deep Forest with man. The moongate associated with the town was moved to North just South of the Shrine of Justice. Owing to the influence of the Guardian's corrupting columns, Yew had again become a city flagrantly disregarding true justice, with the High Court under  Judge Grey producing corrupt rulings and penalties in a spirit of violent spectacle. It was here that Raven—the beloved of the Avatar—was unfairly tried for the death of the gargoyle race, being sentenced to languish in the dungeons of Wrong until such a time that the hero saved her.

Eventually, after the Avatar cleansed the Shrine of Justice, the citizens of Yew returned to the virtue they had abandoned, ultimately clearing Raven of the crimes she had no part in and returning to the pursuit of impartial and merciful judgment.

Lore




Ultima IV

 * Beggar (NPC): poor beggar
 * Calumny: inventor of Quickness
 * Court Guard: tall guard
 * Donnar: proprietor of The Dry Goods
 * Druid (NPC): wandering druid
 * Dwp: wise druid
 * Flamis: burning fire
 * Frida: withered beggar
 * Guard (Yew): big guard
 * Jaana: Companion
 * Jail Guard: big guard
 * Justin (U4): proprietor of Just Healing
 * Pinrod: thin man
 * Ranger (NPC - Yew): sleek ranger
 * Short Round: small child
 * Silent: chanting druid
 * Talfourd: wise judge
 * Vorpal: mean, nasty, ugly villain

Ultima IV (Nintendo Port)

 * Ramus: a forgetful child



Ultima V: Lazarus

 * Drusilla: druid
 * Gord: jailer
 * The Inquisitor: torturer
 * Lady Guinere: Captain of the Guard
 * Palin: carpenter
 * Renayl: provisioner

Ultima VI

 * Andrea: tavernkeeper
 * Ben: woodcutter
 * Boskin: prisoner
 * Jaana: healer and Companion of the Avatar
 * Lenard: tailor
 * Lenora: mayor of Yew and judge of the High Court
 * Nicodemus: mage
 * Pridgarm: prison keeper
 * Sinjen: criminal
 * Utomo: blacksmith



Ultima VII

 * Ben: woodcutter
 * Bradman: trainer
 * D'Rel: prisoner
 * Gharl: prisoner
 * Goth: prison guard
 * Gwenno: away
 * Iolo: Companion of the Avatar
 * Nicodemus: mage
 * Penni: trainer
 * Sir Jeff: High Court judge
 * Smith the Horse: a horse
 * Thad: masked man
 * Tseramed: ranger (can join)

Ultima VII (SNES Port)

 * Haggerty: provisioner

Ultima IX

 * Bakura: trainer
 * Desbet: Vasagralem's aide
 * Elaina: gossip
 * Grey: judge
 * Harrison: farmer
 * Jaana: Companion of the Avatar
 * James: provisioner
 * Jean-Paul: tavern owner
 * Luc: ranger
 * Lucy: bartender
 * Raliegh: bowyer
 * Sven: bar patron
 * Teresa: gossip
 * Vasagralem: gargoyle king



Ultima I

 * Defense Specialities Unlimited: Armoury
 * The Duelo Shop: Weaponsmith
 * Mary's Midway: Tavern
 * O.K. New and Used Transport: Transport Shoppe
 * Rations Unlimited: Grocery

Ultima III

 * Aliment: grocery
 * Sanescere: healer

Ultima III (Nintendo Port)

 * Temple

Ultima IV

 * Court of Justice: court and jail
 * The Dry Goods: grocery
 * Just Healing: healer

Ultima V

 * Healers Herbs: apothecary
 * The Slaughtered Lamb: tavern
 * Arms of Justice: weapon shop/armourer

Ultima VI

 * The Slaughtered Lamb: tavern

Ultima IX

 * Raleigh's Fantastic Bows: bowyer (note: name is only used internally)
 * Jean Paul's Meady Ale Tavern: tavern (note: name is only used internally)
 * James' Provisions Shop: provision shop (note: name is only used internally)

Things to see

 * Bee Cave
 * Circle of Light
 * High Court

Trivia



 * In Ultima I, the cities of Yew (in the Lands of Lord British), Gerry (in the Lands of the Feudal Lords), Ponder (in the Lands of the Dark Unknown) and The Brother (in the Lands of Danger and Despair) are identical. They share the same layout, stores, and citizenry; their only difference is their name and location in the map.


 * An unnamed cleric found in Yew during Ultima III says the words "Bonim anima teuri." - a corrupt form of the Latin phrase "Bonam animam tueri." meaning "I've seen the good spirit." In the FM-Towns port of this game, this phrase became further jumbled, resulting in a city of acolytes claiming to worship "Churi," the God of "Bonim."


 * In the manga adaptation of Ultima III, Yew plays a significant role in the early portion of the narrative. The heroes, seeking passage to Death Gulch, ask the acolytes of the settlement to use their mystic powers to reopen a  moongate, which had been rendered non-functional at the time. After the party arrives in the city on the heels of a large (but ultimately peaceable) stampede of wildlife, a horde of daemons besieges Yew, seeking to kill the adventurers. The four heroes are rescued by the holy order of the city, who places them within a protective barrier in the Circle of Light and eventually manages to teleport them away. Once the protagonists are safe, the comic shows the city's death as its inhabitants are slaughtered.


 * As seen in early concept art above, Yew in Ultima IX was supposed to be hut between the trees. How that morphed into huts on trees is unknown, but could be related to showing off the new engine.