Mariah

Mariah is one of the Companions of the Avatar.

She is native of Earth, and friend of Lord British. In Britannia, Mariah is a Mage, and made her home in the island town of Moonglow. In Ultima IV she gladly joined the future Avatar's quest to find the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom.

She was declared an outlaw in Ultima V, and had to hide in the Lycaeum, recovering from a wound that the Shadowlords inflicted on her with one of their arrows. She was glad when the Avatar arrived, joining the party on the quest to topple Blackthorn's tyrannic regime. After these events, she continued to work in the Lycaeum. The Avatar found her there in Ultima VI. She gladly translated the Book of Prophecies for the Avatar, after bringing her the complete Silver Tablet, revealing the disturbing contents of the book. This sent the Avatar to Sin'Vraal in the Drylands.

Mariah continued to work in the Lycaeum, but the disrupted Ether caused by the Tetrahedron Generator made it impossible for her to make even one clear thought. She was in a sorry state by Ultima VII, and didn't even recognize her friends, acting almost totally mad. This had also cost her the respect of the the other inhabitants of the Lycaeum. After the Generator was destroyed, and her mind clear again, she was frightened at how much time she had missed and how much everything had changed. She assisted the Avatar by selling spells and reagents.

In Ultima IX, she was seduced by the columns, and tried to fight the Avatar, but he evaded her since he didn't want to hurt her. In the end, she became herself again, and even told the Avatar about the rite of renewal.

The Tale of Mariah and the Demon: A Parable of Honesty
''Above all things save one, a young mage must be curious, and so it was with Mariah. It was this curiosity that led her, in the course of her journeyman wanderings, into a certain grove that had a reputation locally as a perilous and haunted place.''

''She soon found that reputation warranted, when a soft, deep and not-unpleasant voice inquired, "How now, little mage, you wander far from the safe byways." ''

See the complete tale at: The Tale of Mariah and the Demon: a Parable of Honesty

Trivia

 * She is based on Richard Garriott's personal secretary, Michelle Caddel, in Origin.
 * In the Mods for Exult, it is possible for Mariah to join, after the Ether is cleansed.
 * In Ultima VI, she also manages the copy protection.