Dupre

Dupre [doo-pray] is a recurring character. He first appears in Ultima II and is one of the companions of the Avatar, and a native of Earth.

Biography
In Ultima II, the Stranger first met Dupre in a strange village on the planet Jupiter, asking if the hero wished to purchase a duck. While time altered significantly after the death of Minax, potentially making this meeting ahistorical, the paladin would later ask the hero the same question during the reign of Lord Blackthorn (and actually could procure the animal for the price of five coins). Still later, during the gargoyle wars, he requested that the hero not mention ducks again.



Later, Dupre was part of a project known as the "Great Work," in which Lord British, then king of Sosaria, commissioned a series of exploratory travels to provide detailed maps of his realm. Dupre set out to find the mysterious city of Dawn, a city which only appeared within the Dark Forest on nights when both moons were new. He would describe it as the most beautiful and sacred settlement in the land, and he swore to its denizens to not reveal the secret of its location.

In Ultima III, Dupre could be found in a pub in the town of Britain, telling the Stranger to "Drink up!" - a sentiment very much in tune with his iconic love of alcohol.

In Ultima IV, Dupre was an established Paladin and the leader of the town of Trinsic. He spoke of the virtue of Honor, claiming it to be a constant quest to maintain - like finely polished armor, and was willing to join with the Stranger in the hero's quest to obtain Avatarhood.

Dupre was likely declared an outlaw during the time of Blackthorn's regime and was forced, along with many of the Avatar's other companions, into hiding. He came to dwell in the keep of Bordermarch along with Sentri, where he awaited the Avatar in the hopes of fighting alongside the hero again.

Ultima VI, Dupre helped to save the Avatar, along with Iolo and Shamino, when the three companions intervened to rescue the hero from sacrifice at the hands of the gargoyles. After escaping with the freed Avatar to the Castle of Lord British through a red moongate, the paladin once more joined in the hero's quest.

Dupre was knighted by Lord British at some point between Ultima VI and Ultima VII, and following this honor, he began to travel the land widely, indulging his fondness for drink by touring the various taverns and drinking establishments of the realm. He told several tavern-keepers that he was doing work for "Brommer's Britannia" as a pub critic, although it was never discovered if this claim had any truth to it.

In Ultima VII, he could be found in the Bunk and Stool in Jhelom, where he would eagerly join the hero's party once more, if asked. Throughout the journey, his familiarity with various barmaids and tavern-keepers would become evident, and he would reminisce and joke with many of them.

In Ultima Underworld II, Dupre was among the guests attending the fete at Lord British's castle to celebrate the Reconstruction, and was trapped inside of the great blackrock sphere that the Guardian crafted to imprison the revelers. During this tribulation, he was the only person in the castle, other than the Avatar, to travel through the miniature blackrock gem found in the castle's sewers and pass into other world. He trekked to Anodunos, a formerly grand city which had been destroyed and frozen over with ice. His goal was to acquire fresh water, in the form of ice and snow, for the inhabitants of the Britannia, as the well within the castle's grounds had run dry.

In Ultima VII Part Two, Dupre accompanied the Avatar to Serpent Isle, chasing after Iolo's wife, Gwenno and the former Fellowship head, Batlin. During their adventures within the ruins of the ancient Ophidian civilization, Dupre became possessed by the Bane of Wantoness, an aspect of the shattered Chaos Serpent from Ophidian cosmology. In this fallen state, Dupre slaughtered numerous inhabitants of the city of Monitor and the Inn of the Sleeping Bull. He was eventually struck down and cured of his possession (and the resultant insanity it imbued him with) by the Avatar.

Death
As the time of the Imbalance crept near, the prophetess Xenka decreed that only the living sacrifice of a soul who was "in balance" could re-join the sundered parts of the Serpent of Chaos, and marked the Avatar, Iolo, Shamino, Dupre and Gwenno as the only potential candidates. When straws were drawn to determine the unlucky person, the Avatar was picked as the oblation, and Xenka instructed that the hero should be immolated alive in the crematory fires in Monitor. Dupre, wracked with guilt over the atrocities he had committed and reluctant to let his friend face death, pushed the Avatar aside and jumped into the flames, martyring himself to restore the world. His last words were, "Let it be said that Sir Dupre died bravely!"

As the Chaos Serpent
The Avatar later took the knight's ashes and the three imprisoned Banes to the Wall of Lights beneath the Skullcrusher Mountains, and performed the ritual which would enable the Serpent of Chaos to reform, with the three Banes bound together by Dupre's soul.

Dupre, now a part of the Serpent of Chaos, then spoke to the Avatar, warning the hero that the reborn serpent wished him harm and that he was doing his best to prevent it from attacking. He exhorted to hero to trek to Sunrise Isle, and there to restore the Great Earth Serpent to the Ethereal Void.

Once the Avatar had completed this task and passed through another Wall of Lights into the void, the Great Earth Serpent of Balance assured the hero that Dupre's soul was one with the great serpents, and content.

Resurrection
Although Dupre's physical ashes were seemingly destroyed in the reunification of the Chaos Serpent, they later were found interned in a memorial to the fallen paladin in the city of Trinsic.

In Ultima IX, the Avatar was able to speak to Dupre's ghost, seemingly separate of the great serpents. The paladin's shade revealed to the hero the location of the Chalice of Honor, also repeating for him the appropriate mantra.

Later, Dupre was resurrected by the forces of the ethereal void to aid in the final defeat of the Guardian. The once again living knight journeyed to the Dungeon Shame and cleansed the corrupting column linked to it, helping to cut off the Guardian's power and to divert the catastrophic collision of Trammel and Felucca with the Britannia.

The Tale of Dupre and the Gargoyles: A Parable of Honor
''I'm sure you know that the Gargoyle folk joined Britannian society after the restoration of the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom. I'm also sure it will not surprise you to hear that the treaty between Lord British and Draxinusom, King of the Gargoyles, did not instantly bring accord to the two races. Certain ignorant humans continued to hate and fear Gargoyles, and certain intractable Gargoyles continued to regard humanity with enraged contempt. The most notorious Gargoyle fighter against mankind in those days was named Gratagmalem. He was equally renowned among his people for his keen intellect as for his fierce disposition, and when peace was achieved between the races, he turned outlaw with a small band of likeminded Gargoyle bravos. This fierce troop devoted themselves to burning and pillaging the remote crofts and farms of the land, stopping short only at outright murder of unresisting enemies. Nonetheless, they were the cause of much suffering, loss and deprivation to their victims.''

''Now there was a certain inn, located midway between Britain and Yew, and famous for its excellent autumn ale. So good was the brew that many fine folk were given to retire to that place for a fortnight's holiday when the new casks were breached. Tents had to be pitched on the grounds to hold all the guests, and for two weeks each fall the place took on the air of a fair or festival.''

See the complete tale at: The Tale of Dupre and the Gargoyles: a Parable of Honor

Trivia

 * The character is based on Greg Dykes, a personal friend of Ultima creator Richard Garriott. Dykes himself appears in Dupre's portraits for Ultima Underworld II and Ultima VII Part Two.
 * A "Christian Richard Dupre" appears in the awards lists for the Society for Creative Anarchonism's barony of Bryn Gwlad - where Richard Garriott has been known to participate in the persona of Shamino Salle' Dacil. It may that this is Dykes' SCA persona.
 * Dupre's interest in ducks likely comes from "Wanna Buy a Duck?" - a popular drinking game.
 * In Ultima VI, after a long scavenger hunt instigated by Chuckles leads the Avatar to Smith the Horse and his outdated clue, Iolo tells Dupre he owes him a drink, explaining to the Avatar that Dupre bet him there was no such thing as a talking horse. Dupre's reply to this was "Now I've seen everything! I suppose we'll be inviting some ducks over for tea next!" - once more referring to the paladin's peculiar fixation with certain waterfowl.
 * Although several characters in Ultima VII imply that Dupre was knighted some time after Ultima VI, the paladin is already referred to as "Sir Dupre" as early as Ultima III.
 * In Ultima VII, Dupre has run up a significant bar tab (seventy gold pieces) at the Modest Damsel in New Magincia, and will implore the Avatar to help him pay it. If the hero refuses, Boris, the owner of the establishment, will refuse to serve the party so long as Dupre is with them.
 * In Ultima VII Part Two, Dupre is the only companion of the Avatar's to be portrayed by a voice actor - and only after his death. His voice, performed by Denis Loubet, appeared after he had fused with the Chaos Serpent and spoke to the Avatar from the Void.
 * Ultima IX does not explain how the resurrection of Dupre is possible without catastrophic consequences; in Serpent Isle, Dupre's corporeal death and merging with the Chaos Serpent was necessary to save the universe, and there is no explanation as to how the Chaos Serpent will be able to maintain itself with Dupre's soul removed from it.