Moonglow

Description


Moonglow is a city situated on Verity Isle, which is dedicated to the virtue of Honesty. It has long been home to magicians and scholars and eventually expanded to merge with the Lycaeum, the great keep dedicated to the Principle of Truth and home to the most extensive library in Britannia.

The city also came to be home to a huge Orrery and Observatory, which allowed the scientifically minded to better examine to the astronomical workings of the Britannian Solar System. It also sported, for a time, the mysterious Oracle of Moonglow, which came to guard the Lycaeum's treasure, the Book of Truth.

Given its position as a bastion of academia and magic, the Moonglow's economy has long sported a number of herbalists and magical provisional, although in the course of the towne's history it has naturally had need for professionals of a more mundane nature.

The city shares its island with a Moongate, which allows travelers swift passage to the mainland.

History
The city of Moonglow likely had its roots in the earlier Sosarian settlement of Moon, also renowned for its mages. It is interesting to note that Moonshade, a city on the distant Serpent Isle founded by colonists from Moon resistant to Lord British's ideals, has a similar etymology to its name - with Moonshade, a city dedicated to the philosophy that magic is based in illusion, employing a word for darkness in its name, and Moonglow, a city dedicate to the tenant of Honesty, employing a word for light.

Age of Enlightenment
In Ultima IV, with the development of the Quest of the Avatar and the spread of the Eight Virtues, the city became devoted to Honesty. It was during this time that Mariah, then a young mageling with a sense of wanderlust, first joined with the Stranger in the hero's quest for Avatarhood.

By the time of Ultima V, the city, like most of Britannia's major settlements, fell victim to the Shadowlords. It was during this time that astronomy began to take hold as a calling in Moonglow, as Zachariah, an ardent student of the stars, had taken up residence there, and was studying the connected between the ill auspices of comets and the position of the Shadowlords. Malifora, a former member of the newly created Great Council, stayed within the city walls in spite of the threat of discover by Blackthorn's agents.

By Ultima VI, the city had already grown around the Lycaeum, and the members of former keep and the inhabitants of the town mingled as one community. As the Avatar had need of Mariah's skill as a translator during this time, the hero stopped through the city, coming in on the heels of the death of the keeper of the Rune of Honesty. The mayor of the city during this age was Aganar, a knowledgeable and honest man.

Age of Armageddon
The next two centuries heralded in changes for Moonglow, as the Lycaeum continued to be absorbed into the city and the construction of the famous Orrery and a new observatory was undertaken. At some point over these years the mage Penumbra, who had met the Avatar but briefly in the hero's adventures during the gargoyle war, foresaw that the champion of virtue would someday need her aid. To ensure that she could meet the Avatar when the time came, she placed herself in a deep mystical slumber after locking herself in her house by magical means.

By Ultima VII, Moonglow was a mixed community of mages, scholars, farmers and craftsmen - with the Lycaeum and Orrery towering over much of the cityscape. The Avatar eventually came to awaken Penumbra, who was able to assist the hero in alleviating the corruption of Britannia's ether by the Guardian. For a long time, the slow perversion of magical power had resulted in the insanity of most mages and a general intellectuality of the mystic arts. Once the ether was righted, however, these changes were swiftly undone.

Twenty years late, by the time of the events of Ultima IX, the city had grown smaller and in spite of the mana crisis, the architecture had changed radically in reflection of the inhabitants power including floating lights and a magically fueled flying gondola facilitating transport. By this time, the Lycaeum had been reconstructed as a small floating building within the sky, with but a modest handful of materials. The people of this era, like so many others, fell victim to the corrupting influence of the Guardian's columns, and grew deceitful and ruthless. It was only after the Avatar was able to cleanse the Shrine of Honesty that virtue again took hold on the hearts of the populace.

Lore




Ultima IV (Nintendo Port)

 * Basil: secretive mage

Ultima V: Lazarus

 * Johan: paper miller
 * Landar: clothier of The Mage's Robes
 * Shalira: mage trainer
 * Siona: woodcutter
 * Terrisa: guard captain

Ultima VI

 * Aganar: mayor of Moonglow
 * Beyvin: dead runekeeper
 * Dargoth: healer
 * Derydlus: scholar
 * Ephemerides: mage/scientist
 * Manrel: alchemist
 * Penumbra: mage
 * Rob Frasier: tavernkeeper
 * Xiao: mage



Ultima VII

 * Addom: traveler
 * Balayna: Fellowship treasure keeper
 * Brion: orrery keeper
 * Carlyn: weaver
 * Chad: trainer
 * Cubolt: farmer
 * Effrem: inhabitant
 * Elad: healer
 * Morz: farmer
 * Penumbra: mage
 * Phearcy: tavernkeeper
 * Rankin: Fellowship branch leader
 * Tolemac: farmer

Ultima VII (SNES Port)

 * Sarah: apothecary



Ultima IX

 * Batista: sorceress
 * Byron: thief
 * Duncan: warrior
 * Ella: thief
 * Janus: gossip
 * Joshua: mage
 * Kyra: old woman
 * Leeland: child
 * Linda: gossip
 * Mariah: Companion of the Avatar
 * Markus: child
 * Marna: mage
 * Oracle of Moonglow: an oracle
 * Phillipa: store owner
 * Randolas: daemon
 * Richter: thief
 * Tommy: child
 * Tydus: mage



Ultima IV

 * The Healer
 * The Honest Inn
 * Magical Herbs
 * The Sage Deli

Ultima IV (Nintendo Port)

 * Spells Unlimited

Ultima V

 * The Alchemist: reagent shop
 * The Honest Meal: tavern

Ultima VI

 * Blue Bottle Tavern: tavern

Ultima VII

 * The Friendly Knave: tavern

Ultima IX

 * Shop of the Two Moons: magic/reagent shop and healer

Things to see

 * Observatory
 * Orrery
 * The Lycaeum

Trivia

 * As it can be seen on the early concept art, the radically different architecture of the city in Ultima IX actually was planned right from the start. However, the scale and detail-richness of the early plans were much greater, as can be seen in the art which represents only part of the city.


 * In Ultima VI, it is not entirely clear, where the city ends and the Lycaeum property starts. In Ultima VII, the Lycaeum property is reduced to the building itself.