Horance

Horance was a mage in Skara Brae with an inauspicious and fateful history.

In his earlier years, he was kindhearted with a passion for magic and writing poetry. The people of Skara Brae initially felt safely protected by his presence. As the years wore on, however, Horance's mind began to deteriorate into a senile shadow of his former self. His poetry became a "rhyming doggerel" and the only form in which he would speak. His demonstrations of magic also became increasingly violent, provoking fear from his fellow citizens. It was in this state that he was encountered in Ultima VI, living as a recluse and trading destructive spells with the Avatar.

After a time, Horance had the Dark Tower erected upon the northwestern tip of Skara Brae and completely confined himself within its walls. The mage eventually descended into total madness from years of isolation, his existence dominated by an obsession with discovering the secret to immortality. Though finally able to divine its formula, it ultimately came at the dreadful cost of his becoming one with a malevolent, power-hungry liche. He began to raise the dead from their graves in order to do his ghastly bidding, of which included abducting Rowena, wife of Trent the blacksmith. Rowena was killed in the struggle and the distraught inhabitants of Skara Brae, in an effort to put an end to these horrors, formulated a plan to destroy the Liche. However, it went horribly awry and resulted in a colossal fire burning the entire island to the ground, leaving no survivors.

When the Avatar met Horance the Liche in Ultima VII, he had become a powerful megalomaniac, effectively controlling all undead on the island and leeching the essence of its spectral townsfolk to further his dark existence and overtake Britannia. With the Soul Cage and a properly concocted Liche Potion, however, the Avatar managed to destroy the vile magicks corrupting Horance and freed him from their grasp. Upon the subsequent destruction of the Well of Souls, the spirits it once held captive were released to their destinies, with Horance vowing to remain in Skara Brae and restore the island city of Spirituality to its former beauty.

Trivia

 * Horance is armed with a Firedoom Staff.