Destard

Destard is a dungeon in the mountains west of Trinsic that has long been known as a haven for dragons. As one of the eight major dungeons of Britannia, it is associated with the Virtue of Valor, and throughout the course of history, numerous articles relating to Valor have been found within its tunnels.

Ultima IV
Destard was formed around the time of the foundation of Britannia, and in the course of questing toward Avatarhood, the Stranger sojourned through its caverns. During the hero's descent into the dungeon, the Red Stone of Valor would be found, in addition to numerous magical orbs that gifted those who touched them with supernaturally enhanced strength. In its deepest passages, Destard was adjoined to the great Altar Room of Courage, which interlinked it with the dungeons Covetous, Shame and Hythloth.

Ultima V
After the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom was raised from the Abyss, the Great Council placed a seal over Destard and the other seven great dungeons, hoping to shield the surface world from the terrors that lay below. This, however, had the unforeseen outcome of creating a vast and expansive Underworld beneath the soil, providing a haven for dark and unnatural beasts to flourish.

After Blackthorn's rise to power, the members of the council were criminalized under the Oppression, and suffered persecution from the authorities of the realm. With those who knew how to unseal the dungeons forced into hiding, the returned Avatar had to seek out the maddened Goeth, who knew the Word of Power that would reopen Destard: Inopia. Once armed with knowledge of this password, the hero could use the dungeon as a means of reaching the Underworld below, where it opened onto an area near to the lost Amulet of Lord British.

Ultima VI
It was during the years after Blackthorn's exile that Destard became a home to the dragons for which it would later be infamous. By the time of the Avatar's return to the realm amidst the Gargish conflict, the caves of the dungeon were home to a number of flights of dragons and their young. The Avatar would again have cause to journey here in this era, this time to procure dragon eggs for Sandy of Trinsic, that the ex-pirate might reveal information regarding the treasure map of Captain Hawkins.

Ultima Underworld I
During the eruption of the Stygian Abyss in the midst of the Avatar's fight to banish the Slasher of Veils, the spirit of the powerful wizard Garamon transported the remaining settlers from Sir Cabirus' colony to the tunnels of Dungeon Destard. Here, the remnants of the experimental settlement supposedly attempted to build another dungeon city, although no trace of them remained by the time of the Avatar's next return to the realm, some two centuries later.

Ultima VII
By the time of the Guardian's first attempted invasion, Destard was once more a haven to dragonkind, although a solitary unicorn inhabited its southern caves. In the days of the Avatar's adventure concerning the Black Gate, the deceitful Fellowship leader, Batlin, would send the hero to the dungeon in search of a nonexistent cache of money, falsely claiming Destard to be deserted. While the Champion of Virtue ultimately survived the ordeal, the sheer number of dragons could easily have proven overwhelming to the wayfarer's party.

Ultima IX
At some point in the course of the Guardian's slow corruption of Britannia in the late Age of Armageddon, a single female dragon rose to prominence in Destard, now located north in the mountain range traditionally occupied by Shame. This creature, known as Talornia, made a compact with the Destructor of Worlds, offering up her eggs that her young might outfit Blackthorn's growing Wyrmguard. In exchange for this, the red titan's followers offered her a cult of worship and helped to drive foes from her territory. By the time of the Avatar's final return, Destard was divided between Talornia's domain and the regions where Wyrmguard slavers oversaw mining operations to benefit the forces of the titanic conqueror. In addition, Destard was sealed from the inside by one Sir Drake using its historical Word of Power, which on this occasion could only be spoken to reopen the entrance from within the cavern itself.

The Avatar would eventually descend into this hellish dungeon through a secluded and ice-covered hole to face a former comrade-in-arms, Geoffrey, who, like numerous other companions, had fallen under the sway of the columns. Eventually, the hero would best Talornia in combat, that her head might be brought before the knights of Valoria.

Ultima VII

 * Cairbre: mercenary
 * Cosmo: questant
 * Kallibrus: gargoyle
 * Lasher: unicorn

Ultima IX

 * Bane: slave
 * Dartane: Wyrmguard slaver
 * Talornia: dragon
 * Saphera: cult priestess
 * Yerffoeg: Wyrmguard

Trivia

 * The name Destard is likely derived from dastard, meaning an insidious coward.
 * In Runes of Virtue, Destard, known as the Cavern of Cowardice, appears on Verity Isle. The Rune of Valor can be found within the dungeon, as well, a powerful magic rope which allows the hero to cross waterways dwells within its depths.
 * In Runes of Virtue II, the Cavern of Cowardice is located on a small island to the south of Jhelom. From these depths, the hero would rescue Lord Zellivan from his imprisonment by the Black Knight.  Also located within this dungeon is a magical shield and a powerful whip.
 * In earlier drafts of Ultima IX, developed under Bob White's tenure as lead designer, Destard was to have been found at its traditional location west of Trinsic—with a sheer cliffside entrance inaccessible without rope and grappling hooks—and explored by the Avatar in search of Britannia's missing paladins, who had mysteriously vanished in the course of the Guardian's invasion upon the realm. In this version of events, the hero further had cause to seek out the Queen of Dragons, Alexadraconia, that she might be moved to lend the aid of her kind against the dragon-riding Wyrmguard in the great battle set to take place against the Guardian's forces on Terfin.
 * In the final release of Ultima IX, there is an unhatched dragon egg in Destard that can be picked up and kept in the player's inventory. This may be a vestige of an earlier plot design, in which various egg chambers could be found throughout the dungeon.
 * In the cancelled Ultima Online 2 and the Technocrat War trilogy, Destard was to be included as a dungeon on the southwestern continent of Avenosh.