Skeletons

Animate skeletons have long plagued many worlds, including Sosaria, Britannia, the Serpent Isle and Pagan. Of the undead, skeletons typically rank amongst the weaker specimens, although these creatures have been known to overwhelm the living through strength of sheer numbers. Skeletons feature in Ultima I,  III,  IV,  V,  VI,  VII, Ultima VII Part Two,  VIII and  IX, as well as in the Ultima Underworld series.

Description
These creatures generally have their origins with necromancers,  liches or other practitioners of dark magics (and are often seen in their company), although it is rumored that in places of great evil, the bones of the dead may rise of their own accord, or may spring full formed from unliving stone. Typically taken from the stock of fallen warriors, skeletons prove relentless combatants, fighting with near to the same proficiency as they had while still alive. These beings seemingly suffer from neither pain nor exhaustion, and in almost all cases have no mind save the will of whomever reanimated them. If they are outfitted, it is often with whatever rusted weapons and decaying armour they died in, although axes seems particularly common equipment for the skeletons in service to Pagan's Lithos.

In the late Age of Darkness, clerics in service to the Cult of Truth created a means of dispelling the magic which created such undead (along with their close relatives: ghouls and  zombies) leaving them naught but immobile piles of bone. While this incantation (known as Pontori), appeared to later reemerge as the Britannian spell  An Corp Mani, such magic eventually fell into disuse, and by the time of Lord Blackthorn's regime in the middle Age of Enlightenment, the means of dismantling skeletons through such means had become a lost art.

Enchanted skeletons can remain inert for long spans of time, and may make the sudden transformation from what appears to be a harmless pile of bones into a hostile fighter near instantaneously. In later ages, such skeletons could even re-arise after having been dispatched, making it often necessary for those battling them to separate their bones to prevent them from reforming.

In some rare cases, a skeleton has been found which retains the consciousness of its original owner, and such undead are capable of speech and reason, much like many ghosts. While sentience among skeletons is not always a guarantee of a peaceful temperament, the individuals often seek much the same things as the other restless dead - closure on their former lives which might enable them to at last seek out the Void.

Lore






Notable Examples

 * Banter and Demitry: two of many sentient skeletons found in the ruins of Magincia during Ultima IV; these former men of pride both had knowledge of the Silver Horn necessary to reach the Shrine of Humility
 * Skullface: the last of the great Meridid family; lost his life in the fall of Magincia and remained as a skeleton, unaware of his death or of his family's decline into obscurity
 * Skitle: a skeleton found in Trinsic during Ultima IV, who had left dungeon Shame and knew about the Purple Stone
 * Ferryman: a skeleton in charge of ferrying people in and out of Skara Brae in Ultima VII
 * Lothar: found in dungeon Covetous in Ultima IX where he was bound in service to the liche Khelereth; begged the Avatar for the release of death, which could only be brought about with the magical Gringolet sword
 * Giant Skeleton: also in Ultima IX's Covetous; the largest skeleton encountered in the Ultima series

Trivia

 * In Ultima V, inanimate skeletons were used for the first time as simple atmospheric decoration. In certain dungeons, humanoid skeletons could be found shackled to the walls, with eyes that would flicker red occasionally as if animated. These bones would crumble to dust when searched.
 * Skeletons in Ultima V strangely leave a pool of blood when destroyed.
 * In the SNES Port of Ultima VII, skeletons would attack by continuously throwing their own bones at their intended quarry.
 * Skeletons were to be included in the canceled Ultima X. See Planned Monsters for Ultima X for further details.