Moons

The Planet Britannia is circled by the twin moons of Trammel and Felucca. Trammel needs 9 days for one complete orbit and Felucca 14 days. While barren and lifeless, they play a big part in the working of the blue Moongates -- the destinations of which are entirely dependent on the moons' phases; the light they refected from the bright britannian sun.

Trammel is the bigger of the two moons. In the gate systems of Ultima III and Ultima IV, it is the phase of this moon that determines the gate that is currently open. In later Ultima installments beginning with Ultima V, Trammel is the moon whose phase is the destination gate for the first half of the night, until both moons are at equal hight on the sky.

Felucca is the smaller of the two moons. In the gate systems of Ultima III and Ultima IV, it is the phase of this moon that determines the gate that is the destination. In later installments beginning with Ultima V, Felucca is the moon whose phase is the destination gate for the second half of the night, as soon as both moons are no longer at equal height in the sky.

The moons played a part in the story of Ultima IX, where they were slowly pulled out of their orbits by the columns and threatened to collide and smash into Britannia, which would have meant the end of all life on the planet. Already their cycles were disturbed and made moongate travel totally impossible the normal way. The disaster was prevented at the last moment.

It is interesting to note that the phases of Trammel and Felucca are the exact opposite of Earth's moon; while our moon's orbit is counter-clockwise, Trammel and Felucca both orbit Britannia in a clockwise orbit (also seen on the Orrery). Therefore while on Earth, a crecent waxing moon starts on the right side, it starts on the left side in Britannia.



Appearance in the games
Considering that these two moons play a big role in the games, their graphic representation was once strangely lacking. They appears on the back of the Ultima II box, which was later used for Escape from Mt. Drash and the re-release of Ultima I.

In Ultima III, they were only represented with numbers, and in Ultima IV and Ultima V with small moon phase icons. The first "real" look at them was in the intro of Ultima VI, in the sacrifice scene. However, their phases were totally off, with both moons appearing as if rotated 90 degrees. In-game, the moon phase icons were again used. In Ultima VII, the only hint of them was the moon models on the Orrery in Moonglow.

In Ultima IX, the moons were shown in-game and in a cutscene; however, they didn't look alike. While in the cutscene, Trammel and Felucca where both white, in-game Trammel had a reddish hue. Of note is, that they were also seen in a cutscene that ultimately was dropped from the game, showing them low in the sky over the area surrounding the Shrine of Justice.

Cycles during the Month
The cycles of the moon during the month are as follows: