Julia

Julia is one of The Companions of the Avatar.

She is a native of Earth, and friend of Lord British. In Britannia, Julia is a Tinker, and made her home in the poor town of Minoc. As often cited, her temper is quite legendary. In Ultima IV she gladly joined the future Avatar's quest to find the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom.

She was declared an outlaw in Ultima V, and had to flee Minoc. Hiding in Empath Abbey, she was glad when the Avatar arrived, joining the party on the quest to topple Blackthorn's tyrannic regime. After these events, she returned to Minoc, where the Avatar found her in Ultima VI. She again joined the party to help, and made a panpipe for the Avatar to obtain the Rune of Sacrifice.

200 years went by after the gargoyle war, and Julia became bored with the quiet life of a tinker. During Ultima VII, a horrible double-murder happened in Minoc. Horrified by these events, Julia joined the Avatar, who arrived that morning to inspect the murder scene. She also helped to expose Owen the shipwright as incompetent by studying his plans.

One year later, she joined the large feast in Lord British's castle, and was trapped with the others inside in Ultima Underworld II. Wounded by Mors Gotha, she nonetheless survived, and in the end was freed from the trapped castle.

Prior to the events of Ultima IX, Julia was sent by Lord British to investigate the column that a spawned near Minoc. She was gradually seduced by the corruption influence of the column, and ended up serving the Guardian as a Wyrmguard, guarding the Glyph at the base of the column. When the Avatar faced her, she was brought back to her senses, and she confessed to him the love she had been harboring for many years. She later helps the Avatar defeat the Guardian by putting the Rune of Sacrifice back in the column in order to revert its effects.

The Tale of Julia and the Clock: A Parable of Sacrifice
''In olden days Minoc was well known as the center of all the finest artisans and craftsmen of the land, and among that honored company two were most famous. Jervaise, the carver, was everywhere acclaimed one of the greatest artists Britannia had ever produced, being able to create items from rock or wood that were not only durable and practical, but also astounding works of fine art. A table or lamp from the hand of Jervaise was valued above many a marble statue or painted portrait in the great houses of the land. The other, younger, dean of Minoc's crafters was Julia, the Tinker. While Jervaise was, above all, an artist, Julia was an artisan. It was said her timepieces would remain accurate to the very second for a hundred years, if kept wound and properly tended. She also invented many cunning devices of the sort to make difficult tasks both simpler and more precise. ''

When one of the great nobles of the land wished something that was both beautiful and intricate, he would often commission both Julia and Jervaise to work together on it, and these collaborations became almost instantly the stuff of legends.

See the complete tale at: The Tale of Julia and the Clock: a Parable of Sacrifice

Trivia

 * She is based on a girl Richard Garriott once dated in the past.
 * In the First Age of Darkness, there was a Princess Julia imprisoned in The Castle of Lord British (in fact, each of the 8 kings had imprisoned a princess for untold reason). She was rescued by the Stranger who would later defeat the powerful archmage Mondain. But no one seems to have ever questioned whether this princess is the famous tinker Julia of Minoc.
 * It is never good to anger Julia, because she can get REALLY angry. In Ultima VI, she will even refuse to rejoin the party, if she had previously been asked to leave it for any reason. Her comments about Patterson in Ultima Underworld II also are quite feisty (she thought about feeding Patterson to the Lurkers).
 * Very oddly, in the NES port of Ultima IV Julia became a man, named Julius.
 * While many companions end up falling under the influence of the Guardian's columns in Ultima IX, Julia is the only one whose gradual change we can witness, through her journal (which can be found behind a waterfall in Minoc).
 * While Julia in most cases was red-haired, in two occurrences her hair changed colour: In Ultima Underworld II she had brown hair, while in Ultima IX, she became blond.
 * In Ultima IX Julia suddenly ended with a thick Gypsy accent instead of her traditional Scottish manners. This is obviously a mistake by either the designers or the voice director who must have assumed she was meant to have the same accent as the other characters from Minoc.