Captain Stokes

Captain Stokes is a character in Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle. He resides in the House of Wares in the woods near Fawn, north of the Knight's Test mountain.

Little is known about him, aside of the fact that he killed a bard called Gannt, whose ghost can be found haunting in the northern mountains. He's a smoker, and killed Gannt for complaining about the smoke. He has (or has had) a ship called The Mustang.

If the player enters the House of Wares, he will not react to the party in any way; however, the party will attack him if you go in combat mode.

Captain Stokes is actually an easter egg: He's actually a software pirate. In the House of Wares (which might as well be called a "House of Warez"), there's a computer that's running pirated copies of Origin games: Strike Commander, Privateer and - as improbable as it may sound - Ultima VIII. Software pirates, in general, take pride in cracking and distributing software before it's proper release, so releasing the next part of the series while the previous game is still underway is skillful indeed! Regrettably, the Avatar doesn't get a peek in the future - the computer will blow up as he tries to use it...

As the Avatar peruses the computer, Strike Commander and Privateer come first. Finally, Ultima VIII:Pagan? is displayed. Although an easter egg, it still provides the title of the next Ultima, to which Avatar replies. "This does not bode well." Nice bit of foreshadowing.