Cove

Cove is a settlement nestled between the mountains at the southern shores of Lock Lake, east of Britain.

Description
Cove has long been a place of mysticism and romance, and evolved over the centuries to have a reputation as being home to lovers and passion. Due to its proximity to the Shrine of Compassion, the village eventually devoted itself to the principle of Love and as a refuge from the metropolis that Britain is. Although the original settlement of Cove was destroyed by flooding in the Great Cataclysm that preceded Ultima IX, its inhabitants eventually came to find refuge in concert with the gypsies of Minoc.

Age of Enlightenment
Founded some time in the years following Britannia's christening, Cove was originally an obscure retreat hidden away in the mountains and difficult to reach. At the time of Ultima IV, the city was only accessible by ship, and even then it often required braving the fury of a whirlpool to come to Cove's shores. During such times, Cove was a haven for mystics and philosophers, who came to attend the great Temple of the Virtues that lay within its environs. Many in such pursuits came to contemplate the mysteries of the great axiom that united the Virtues. During the time of Blackthorn's reign in Ultima V, Cove stood as a place of contemplation and healing in contrast to the days of the Oppression, and the temple maidens of that age had valuable insights that may have aided the Avatar in locating the Shard of Falsehood.

In the years that followed Lord British's return and Blackthorn's eventual exile, drastic changes occurred for the town, with the mountains surrounding the city shifting to permit public access and the Temple of the Virtues being dismantled or otherwise lost. By the time of the gargoyle wars in Ultima VI, Cove had begun to earn its reputation as a city associated with Love, and the settlement had expanded such that it nearly incorporated the Shrine of Compassion within its boundaries. During the war, the people of Cove, under Viscount Ahrmaand, tended to many of those who had been wounded in the Gargish onslaught.

Age of Armageddon
Over the next two centuries, Cove continued to grow, with the prodigy Ariana's granddaughter Magda eventually coming to build the picturesque Lovers' Walk. The town's repute as a place of lovers endured over the ages, and by the time of the Avatar's adventures in Ultima VII, superstition had it that those who spent much time in Cove were destined to fall in love. It is quite possible that even the vaunted hero found romance here.

In this age of new industry and societal shifts, however, Lock Lake fell victim to pollution, owing to runoff from the Britannian Mining Company's operations in Minoc. Legislation drafted by Miranda of the Great Council, however, eventually halted this practice, penalizing those who disposed of offal or waste in the lake by immersing them in its foul waters. The lake itself was eventually cleansed in an effort spear-headed by the caretaker of the Shrine of Compassion, Magda's granddaughter Nastassia.

Tragically, in the Great Cataclysm that came to wrack Britannia, this original settlement of Cove was flooded by the waters of Lock Lake. The inhabitants of the inundated city migrated eastward to settle on the remaining land mass along with the dwindling gypsy populace of Minoc. The Cove of this dark era was a sad shadow of the once proud city of lovers, with its gaje populace uniting under "first citizen" Raxos, who bade the people engage in slaughtered human oblations in the hopes of restoring the fouled Shrine of Sacrifice.

By the time of Ultima IX, Cove was reduced to but a handful of people, whose hearts were twisted to avarice and self-worship with the coming of the Guardian's columns. After the Avatar restored the Shrine with the aide of the Minoxian Rom Baro, the people of Cove were restored in virtue, and Raxos, guilt-wracked over the deaths he had wrought, retired to a life as a simple hermit.

Ultima IV
Shopkeeper:
 * Allen: small boy
 * Ankh (NPC): shining ankh
 * Blissful: majestic seahorse
 * Brother Zair: old druid
 * Charm (NPC): fair sorceress
 * Circe: wise mage
 * Draconian: old druid
 * Frontis: small druid
 * Linda (U4): singer
 * Mentorian: tall mage
 * Merlin: mystical wizard
 * Paul (U4): bard
 * Rabindranath Tagore: wise man
 * Shaman: tall mage
 * Sloven: old hermit
 * Spellbind: slender mage
 * Quat: proprietor of The Healer Shop



Ultima V

 * Ambrose: fighter
 * Ava: temple caretaker
 * Enlor: reagent seller at Mysticism
 * Jessica: proprietor of Sanctuary
 * Leona: temple caretaker

Ultima V: Lazarus

 * Carolyn: tavernkeeper
 * Ivar: tinker
 * Sarkael: daemon
 * Vortigyrn: bard

Ultima VI

 * Ahrmaand: mayor of Cove
 * Artegal: soldier
 * Ed: soldier
 * Gertan: sergeant
 * Gilron: soldier
 * Rudyom: mage
 * Sasha: healer

The Ultima VI Project

 * Ava: temple woman
 * Janis: potion seller
 * Jostin: provisioner
 * Justin: clothier
 * Leona: temple woman
 * Marin: tavernkeeper
 * Pete: fisherman

Ultima VII

 * De Maria: bard
 * Jaana: town healer
 * Lord Heather: mayor of Cove
 * Nastassia: shrine keeper
 * Pamela: innkeeper
 * Rayburt: trainer
 * Rudyom: mage
 * Zinaida: tavernkeeper

Ultima VII (SNES)

 * Barclay: laborer
 * Mather: provisioner
 * Mukow: cobbler
 * William: concerned citizen



Ultima IV

 * The Healer Shop: healer

Ultima V

 * Mysticism: apothecary
 * Sanctuary: healers

Ultima VII

 * The Emerald: tavern
 * The Out'n'Inn: inn

Places of Interest

 * Temple of the Virtues
 * Lover's Walk
 * Shrine of Compassion

Trivia

 * In Runes of Virtue II, Cove had been overrun by a powerful liche. With the creature's destruction, the hero could enter the Cavern of Pride, which was located within the former picturesque village.
 * Although the Ultima IX Journal claims that Cove and Minoc were moved to Dagger Isle after the Great Cataclysm, geographically the area where they appear to have been relocated better corresponds to what used to be the Drylands. In addition to this, Dagger Isle has historically housed the Shrine of Honesty, rather than the Shrine of Sacrifice.
 * In early drafts of Ultima IX, a druidic Cove is one of the few settlements in Britannia unbesmirched by the war against the Guardian, owing to an illusory, mountainous barrier—purveyed by the resident mage Nicodemus—that conceals the town. Initially accessed by balloon, it provides sanctuary to the Avatar's companions Iolo, Gwenno, and Jaana, the latter of whom has come to preside as the High Druid leader of Cove and acquires supplies from Asylum (the former Buccaneer's Den).
 * An unused version of the Cove region remains in the final release of Ultima IX, one of many test maps that can be accessed by altering code in the title's data files. Restoring this area to the main world map is one of the undertakings of the Forgotten World team.
 * In the Ultima 6 Project, the Temple of Virtue doesn't disappear and still is the prominent building of Cove.