New Jester



New Jester was a village on Uranus in the year 2112 A.D. It appears to exist within the alternate time line created by Minax's interventions during Ultima II.

Description
New Jester was a strange and alien town, noteworthy for the bizarre and seemingly suicidal behavior of its residents. The Uranian jesters, upon seeing the Stranger entering their habitat, would swarm the hero relentlessly, refusing to disperse even when killed. A select few of this race were invulnerable to attack, however, and the hive of jesters was thus capable of forcing the Stranger into inescapable predicaments, forcing the hero to die a slow death of starvation amidst the onslaught of fools.



During the time in which the committee of survivors of Earth's apocalypse compiled information, Uranus was known to have viable life upon it. It is unknown if the planet had been colonized by Terran jesters who later adopted strange behaviors, if the Uranians had been the instigators of the profession on Earth, or if the two populations jokesters were wholly unrelated. The presence of a French jester and several establishments that appeared to be based upon Earth corporations, however, indicated some traffic between the two planets' cultures.

In addition to its unyielding inhabitants, New Jester also sported a vast array of geoglyphs, constructed out of the Uranian landscape. These included: the expression "Ha!"; the figures of a ghost and a ghost hunter; some manner of human face; a humanoid figure; an animal resembling a frog; and an emblematic jester within the pond in the center of the town. New Jester also sported an appropriate big top, and a series of buildings that were seeming analogues to the Montgomery Ward and  Sears retailer chains of Earth and a  Jack in de Box.

It is unknown if New Jester existed after the death of Minax and the ensuing correction of the time stream, although Earth and Uranus had no truck with one another after history returned to its normal course.

Inhabitants

 * The Court Jester: a jester, seemingly cognizant of the absurdity of New Jester, who would ask the Stranger if this was not a silly place
 * The French Jester: a French fool who would tell the Stranger to eat them
 * The Stoned Jester: an individual claiming that rocks had animistic spirits attached to them. This may potentially have been some insight on the import of the numerous geoglyphs, although it is also probable that this jester was simply speaking out of drug-fueled ignorance.
 * The Swamp Jester: an invulnerable jester who would block the egress of those caught within the confines of New Jester's enclosed swampland, leaving them to perish of poisoning or hunger

Shops and Services

 * Druid Magic: Cleric's Shoppe
 * Jack in de Box: Grocery
 * Magic is Fun: Wizardry Shoppe
 * Sear, Sears, More Sears, Monkey Ward: Oracles

Trivia

 * It is technically possible to navigate through New Jester without killing any jesters, albeit difficult. There are several areas where the player can become trapped with no escape, and there are at least two jesters in the village that are invulnerable, even to cannon fire.