Savage Empire Magic



Spellcasting is not a main feature in Savage Empire. In fact, there are only nine spells to cast, and unlike most other Ultima installments, none of the spells are essential to finish the game. The unimportance of spellcasting is further emphasised by the fact that the Avatar is no longer the main spellcaster, who is sometimes aided by his fellow companions; in The Savage Empire, the Avatar cannot cast spells at all, while Triolo casts all the spells.

The Avatar is in a totally new land, and has no experience with its magical arts. Triolo, on the other hand, has been in Eodon for a while, but only knows a few of the basic incantations, which might explain why there are so few spells. A spell is cast when an offering is made to a spirit. This is done by using the totem of the corresponding spirit, and selecting an offering to be made to that spirit.

(Thanks to Dino for his information on the magic system, the information was originally from his site, see the link on the bottom)

Spirits
There are three main spirits invoked in spellcasting:

Aphazz, symbolised by the totem of a giant gorilla skull, is the spirit of emotions and strength. With the right offerings, Aphazz bestows blessings of well-being, vigor and charming of enemies.

His spells generally are meant to be supportive, without directly being battle spells. They include healing wounds, granting protection and charming the enemy. Motazz is the spirit of battle and aids only those who are in mortal combat. Motazz is represented by the totem of a jaguar skull, and provides a different advantage in combat depending on what offering is made to him.

His spells are very battle-oriented and either send beasts to battle, weaken the foes or strengthen the own party. Heluzz, patron of the wise, is the spirit of knowledge and visions. When the right offerings are made to a human skull, the totem of Heluzz, the invoker is provided with increased awareness of his surroundings.

All his spells deal either with better preciption of the surroundings, like making light, detecting enemies or getting an overview of the surroundings.

There is also a fourth spirit: The great Fabozz, known only to the Urali Tribe, is the spirit of nature and animals. Since only the Urali know whether Fabozz grants any powers to those who worship him, whatever power he may give is available only to the Urali, and Triolo has no access to it. Moreover, there is no known totem of Fabozz, other than the big head statue, which is too large to carry around.

The most powerful shamans are often heard invoking the name of Kukuzz when healing people. There is no known totem of Kukuzz, and his magic is restricted to the shamans Balakai (Barrab), Kunawo (Pindiro) and Intanya (Kurak), who will heal anyone who is injured with the magic of Kukuzz.

Offerings
Offerings work quite like reagents do in the mainstream Ultima series. There are three different offerings that can be made to each spirit. Since only one offering can be made at a time, there are only three spells for each spirit, making a total of nine spells.

Chocolatl has a strong flavour and smell, and is used to calm animals and bring light. This makes chocolatl an ideal offering to make in underground places where illumination is required, and in battle when an animal may be required to fight by your side.

Can be recognised by outsiders as chocolate or cacoa, scientifically Themobroma Cacoa. Pinde is used to help guide the spirits and produce visions. It provides benefits including a bird's-eye vision of the caster's location, healing and an advantage in battle.

Called in science Banisteriopsis Caapi. Yopo is a powerful powder used in appeasing spirits. When offered to the right spirits, it provides advantages such as awareness of nearby enemies, protection and an advantage in battle.

Called in science Virola Calophylla.

Lore


Trivia

 * Reagents can mostly just be found, but it is possible to buy them from shamans by tranding in flax. This was pobably done to ensure that the player never runs out of reagents.
 * In the SNES-Port of Savage Empire magic works differently in that thanks to not having a party system, the Avatar is doing the spellcasting. Also, totems don't have to be picked up and are available all the time through a menu. Only the reagents need to be collected.

Links

 * The original article by Dino