Vesper

Description
Vesper is a village located some distance south of the Shrine of Sacrifice and on the shore of the Great Sea. The town has been settled twice, and twice either been abandoned or destroyed. A major site of the Britannian Mining Company in its second incarnation, the town became a contentious site of gargish immigration during the early Age of Armageddon, making it a crucial avenue toward the attempted integration of the otherworldly race and a hotbed of racist rhetoric.

Age of Enlightenment
Presumably founded in the early days of Lord British's renaissance, Vesper was but a small fortified village during its first appearance in Ultima IV. Surrounded by the green and fertile eastern plains of this age, Vesper offered a safe haven for travelers, and appeared to be home to a number of refugees from the destroyed Magincia. A diverse hamlet, the town also was the single home to a branch of the Guild of Thieves outside of Buccaneer's Den, and a number of colorful characters could be found lurking amidst Vesper's dark alleyways.

In later years, the town vanished from the Britannian landscape—perhaps having been abandoned during the droughts that begat the Drylands or having been depopulated by the eventual diaspora of the Magincians. Whatever the reason, the land remained unsettled for centuries following the first Vesper's demise, with the only inhabitant of the region for many years being the gargoyle, Sin'Vraal.

Age of Armageddon
By the time of Ultima VII, however, a new Vesper had been founded, and was inhabited by both humans and gargoyles alike. Born from a community of miners employed by the Britannian Mining Company (BMC), the city's economy largely centered on the BMC's operations in the area.

Owing to the BMC's penchant for hiring Gargish workers, Vesper was the only city in modern Britannia with comparable numbers of both gargoyles and humans, and suffered from a significant and growing socio-economic class disparity between the two races that comprised its populace. With many inhabitants of the town subscribing to overtly racist rhetoric, the society of the settlement had become sharply segregated.

The human population, having much of the institutional power in the region, held almost all positions of political and economic power. Many of its people belonged to the separatist Britannian Purity League, and supported efforts to deport gargoyles from human civilization. With most gargoyles refused employment or working as inexpensive laborers, Vesper's Gargish citizens were often poor and disenfranchised. Several appeared to turn to anti-human interpretations of the Book of Prophecies, often implying that the affair of the False Prophet was far from settled. In this hotbed of racial bigotry, all sides feared an outcome of violence, and during the Avatar's travels in the region at the time, the hero had the opportunity to witness many of the injustices that such a situation fostered.

In the later years of Ultima IX, both Vesper and the Drylands were no longer present within the declining kingdom of Britannia. While what eventually caused this settlement's second end ultimately remains unknown, a plethora of possibilities exist. It is plausible that Vesper was a target during the various reforms of the Reconstruction, and it may be that the village's economic dependence on the BMC proved its undoing when the company faced investigation over its labor practices. In addition to this, the geological upheavals brought on by the Imbalance and the Great Cataclysm ultimately made the land uninhabitable, much as had happened to Cove. Whatever the reason for its disbandment, no trace of the settlement existed during the Avatar's final journeys.

Ultima Online
Vesper also exists in Ultima Online as a major sea port. It has a wide variety of shops largely due to the crafts originating from Minoc, which is in close proximity. Most of the city is divided by a series of canals into a collection of sixteen islands, all interconnected by stone bridges. Due to all the stone work, Vesper has a reputation for being a beautiful city.

Lore




Ultima IV
Services: 
 * Balthasar: sturdy peasant
 * Corkrin: bold paladin
 * Dirgen: wise man
 * Dyka: thief
 * Flatbush: apprentice mage
 * Friday (NPC): guard
 * Gem (NPC): fair shepherd
 * Joseph (U4): wise shepherd
 * Plain (NPC): shepherd
 * Randal: teacher of the Shrines
 * Servile: meek shepherd
 * Shazbot: funny jester
 * Simple: slender shepherd
 * Traveling Dan: tinker
 * Twin Gates: tall mage
 * Nameless Gate Guard (Vesper): hulking guard
 * Arron: proprietor of Axe 'n Ale
 * Long John Leary: proprietor of The Guild Shop
 * Tymus (Vesper): proprietor of The Sleep Shop
 * Wendy: proprietor of Village Arms

Ultima VII

 * Ansikart: tavernkeeper
 * Anmanivas: ex-miner
 * Auston: mayor of Vesper
 * Aurvidlem: provisioner
 * Blorn: troublemaker
 * Cador: mine supervisor
 * Catherine: a child
 * Eldroth: provisioner
 * For-Lem: storyteller
 * Foranamo: gargoyle
 * Liana: secretary
 * Lap-Lem: miner
 * Mara: miner
 * Wis Sur: mage
 * Yongi: tavernkeeper
 * Yvella: mother
 * Zaksam: trainer

Ultima VII (SNES)

 * Arden: provisioner
 * Slaskow: provisioner



Ultima IV

 * Axe 'n Ale: tavern
 * The Guild Shop: guild shop
 * The Sleep Shop: inn
 * Village Arms: weapons shop

Ultima VII

 * Gargoyle Tavern: tavern
 * Gilded Lizard: tavern/inn

Places of Interest

 * Vesper Mines
 * Shrine of Sacrifice