Captain Stokes

Captain Stokes is a wares-dealing pirate in Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle. He resides in the House of Wares in the Knight's Forest west of Fawn. His ship, the Mustang, is never seen, presumably having been lost like most vessels to the teleport storms of the age.

Description
Little is known about Stokes, save his penchant for smoking indoors elicited repeated protest from the famed bard Gannt one evening at the Inn of the Sleeping Bull. This unwelcome complaint turned into a violent altercation in which Gannt was slain, and the ghost of the poet persisted afterward, driven to seek vengeance upon the man who took his life.

Gannt's spirit traveled to the northern mountains, and would produce a scroll telling its sad tale if the Avatar encountered it, in which it begged for a champion to avenge the wrongs bestowed upon it by Stokes. Found here also was a key that allowed the bearer to unlock the door to Stokes' foul House of Wares.

If the champion undertook this task and slew Stokes, the pirate's sinister work could be found: a mysterious cube within which strange visions of various simulated adventures appeared. In this box's shifting canvas, images of tales known as Strike Commander and Privateer could be viewed.

The strange object also presented the title of Ultima VIII: Pagan, upon which the watching Avatar commented, "This omen doth not bode well," obviously perturbed by the revelation of imminent adversity. Attempting to interact with Stokes' apparatus a fourth time would cause it to combust spectacularly, destroying itself in the process.

Trivia

 * Captain Stokes is the namesake of Ultima VII Part Two playtester, Perry Stokes.


 * Stokes is, of course, an Easter egg poking fun at software piracy. His "glowing cube"—in actuality a computer—shows blurbs for various Origin games developed concurrently with Ultima VII Part Two. Software pirates, in general, take pride in cracking and distributing software before its proper release, so distributing the next part of the series (Ultima VIII) while the previous game is still underway would prove a skillful feat indeed.


 * Stokes does not react to the intruding party when his house is entered; however, the party will attack him once combat mode is activated.