Hoe of Destruction

The Hoe of Destruction is one of the weapons in Ultima VII: The Black Gate. It looks like a hoe that has a glowing red blade. It inflicts considerable damage to opponents.

The hoe belongs to farmer Mack, who can be found in his farm east of Britain. When the Avatar met Mack, he told him a story about a mysterious craft that had landed on his field, and the strange feline creature that came out of it. (The mysterious craft is in fact a Kilrathi vessel from the Wing Commander series, also by Origin)

When describing the encounter, Mack mentions his hoe. Around the time the game takes place, the magical Ether is greatly disturbed, and most of the mages of the land have gone completely insane. Some years before the game starts, Mack had taken his broken hoe to a mage called Mumb, who, almost unable to practice magic anymore, had started to fix things. At the same time, a fighter had brought his sword to Mumb, hoping he could turn it into a "Sword of Death". It appears that Mumb, in a fit of insane confusion, managed to enchant the hoe with terrifying magics, and the fighter killed Mumb because his sword was now only good for cutting weeds. Whatever the truth is, Mack now had the Hoe of Destruction.

Mack was happy to give the hoe to the Avatar, but there was a problem. He had lost the key to the shed where the hoe was kept, and could only remember that it had been used as a fish hook. In order to obtain the key, the Avatar had to either find the key from among the fish and rubble of the Lock Lake shore, or find another way to open the door.

The Hoe of Destruction can be found in Mack's Shed at game coordinates: 21 South, 25 East. The key to Mack's shed can be found under a cattail on the shore of Lock Lake, inside a dead green fish, game coordinates: 2 North, 48 East. The door to the shed can also be destroyed with a powder keg.

References in other games

 * Doom II's map 11 is named "Circle of Death", but on automap, the name is listed as "The 'O' of Destruction". (John Romero is a fan of the Ultima series in general. One of Doom II's quit confirmation messages is "You want to quit? Then, thou hast lost an eighth!", which is a reference to Ultima IV.)