Laszlo

Laszlo, the Rom Baro, is the leader of a group of gypsies encamped near Minoc. He is also the husband of Alara and the father of Irina.

In Ultima IX, the Avatar first encountered him when Blackthorn had entered the gypsies' camp and, after murdering two other gypsies, was threatening Laszlo's daughter in the hopes of forcing him to release the blue lens. Although Laszlo did not deliver the artifact, Blackthorn failed to make good on his threats to Irina, choosing instead to cast a curse upon the gypsies as a whole - condemning to death any who assisted the Avatar's quest.

When the Avatar spoke to him, he agreed, initially, to deliver the lens in exchange for the hero returning a blackrock crystal ball - an artifact which had been stolen by a lich and taken into the depths of Dungeon Covetous. Once the hero succeeded in this quest, Laszlo admitted his reluctance to part from the artifact, deeply frightened of Blackthorn's curse, and offering the Avatar gold in the lens's stead. Determined to have the lens, the hero used the crystal ball to show him visions of the destruction which would be visited on his people if he refused. Eventually, Laszlo conceded that the sacrifice of his own life would be worth his people's salvation, and revealed that years prior it had been prophesized to him that he would have the honor of saving his people through his death.

Giving the Avatar the key to his wagon, Laszlo told the hero that the blue lens and the Tear of Sacrifice lay within, asking the Avatar to promise to complete his mission, such that his sacrifice would not be in vain. Moments later the curse took it's grim toll, and Laszlo, Rom Baro of the Minoc gypsies, was consumed by fire. His last words were directed at his people, asking that they remember that through sacrifice, men might receive the greatest rewards.

Trivia

 * Rom Baro is actually a term used, primarily by American Romani, to denote leadership. It translates to "big man" in the Romani language.