Castle Britannia

Description
Castle Britannia lies at the north end of Britain, south of Serpent's Spine. The castle is surrounded by a moat, and is heavily guarded. Castle Britannia is not only where Lord British, king of all of Britannia, lives, but also has long served as the political heart of the country. Here, the Great Council meets to debate the problems of the land and find solutions. In fact, it is here where virtually all important decisions of the realm are made. Also, once a week, Lord British gives public audiences where everyone can bring his or her matters before the king, as long as he or she waits in the line.

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. Castle Britannia is also the symbol of Infinity: the encompassing axiom which includes the Eight Virtues and three Principles.

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. Due to either temporal meddling of the sorceress Minax or due to the king's own attempts to impact events on the planet, however, Castle Britannia somehow existed in multiple time-zones on Earth, and was present 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 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 castle 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 which housed the Seer, Hawkwind. A hidden entrance to dungeon Hythloth existed behind the castle at this time, although this later disappeared. It was during this age that the castle was named "Castle Britannia", as Britannia had just been unified under Lord British's rule and given its name - previously, the structure had simply been known as "Lord British's Castle".

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 Blackthorn's dictatorship, the absent king's bedchamber, which contained the king's sandalwood box and the fabled magic carpet, was kept under close guard.

The Age of Armageddon


In Ultima VI and later in Ultima VII, Britain, which now included what was formerly the Britannys continued to expand around the castle, such as that it eventually became part of the city. Renovations on the castle continued thoughout the centuries, returning the castle to a single story, 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, and several of the castles chambers seemingly converted for the use of guests.

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 a trapped air djinni in their lungs. 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 (most likely Gwenno)
 * Lord British
 * A captive princess

Ultima II
In all time periods:
 * Andre the French Chef
 * Lord British
 * Brother Antos

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

Only on Earth (1990 A.D.):
 * Sister Sledge
 * The Merchant
 * The Subdued Balron

Ultima III

 * Chuckles
 * Cookie
 * Several guards
 * Gwino (most likely Gwenno)
 * Iolo
 * Lord British
 * Phantom fighter
 * Wise cleric



Ultima IV


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: the king
 * Maldric: kitchen chef
 * Nystul: royal magician
 * Sherry the Mouse: a mouse

And below in the sewers.


 * Daros: sewer worker
 * Phoenix: thief



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: the king
 * 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: the king
 * 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

And below in the sewers.


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



Ultima IX

 * Hennington: seneschal
 * Keller: weaponsmaster
 * Laurana: sorceress
 * Lord British: the king
 * Lydia: cook
 * Olsen: warrior
 * Richard: prisoner
 * Siona: musican
 * Tyson: jailor
 * Vasagralem: gargoyle king

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: weapon shop/armourer

Trivia

 * In no two Ultimas does the interior of the Castle Britannia look the same.


 * In Ultima V, it was possible to repeatedly access the treasure vault without using more than one skull key. If a bed on the same level as the vault was used and the player slept for an hour, the player could return to the vault and find the door still unlocked--but full treasure chests will have reappeared.


 * In the Quest of the Avatar Manga, Castle Britannia looks quite different from its usual appearance, instead resembling a French château constructed over a lake. It appears to have been photoreferenced from the famed manor house of Chenonceau in France's Loire Valley.