Ambrosia (U9)



The underwater city of Ambrosia is where the gargoyles retreated to in Ultima IX, a city on the ground of the ocean, protected by a huge dome.

Description
After the Great Cataclysm, the gargoyles of Britannia isolated themselves from the human population and decided in their growing pride to build a city at the ground of the ocean, where no human would reach them, and name it after the lost island of Ambrosia which had sunk during the cataclysm. This did not go without conflict however, and they in the end exiled their own king, Vasagralem, which in turn created a schism in gargoyle society, now that a uniting government was gone. Due to this schism, winged and wingless gargoyles were in a constant state of tension, with violence between the two groups being common.

The great inventor Wislem was credited with this "unbreakable" dome. However, his pride would be the gargoyles' doom, as during the Avatar's visit to the city, the dome did start to collapse right after completion of his crandiose statue at the peak inside the dome, killing all the inhabitants in the end.

Inhabitants

 * Deresh: deceased wingless gargoyle
 * Grond: shipwrecked human
 * Exferlem: leader of the wingless
 * Noname: wingless prisoner
 * Queen Zhah: the queen
 * Valkadesh: leader of the winged
 * Voresh: prison warden
 * Wislem: inventor

Trivia

 * The distinct, pyramidal Gargish architecture of Ambrosia is also seen in the Realm of the Gargoyles in Ultima VI.
 * The subaquatic Gargish city of Ambrosia appears—albeit already in ruins—in early drafts of Ultima IX from 1995, and is similarly accessed through a whirlpool close to New Magincia, as in the final game. Sought by Vasagralem and Desbet as refuge from the Guardian's invasion of Britannia, it is connected to the sewer system of Britain—rather than New Magincia—via the underwater tunnels of sunken Hythloth, which the Avatar traverses in order to return to the surface world. Ambrosia was removed from the game for a time, before reappearing in the final release.
 * While the model of the dome in the game is impressive, the engine-created fog makes most of it invisible, essentially ruining the entire effect. Only removing the fog by editing the files gives an idea what the designers intended.
 * To enter the chamber of the queen, the Amulet of Singularity is needed.
 * Even though the dome is supposed to be sealed to prevent entry by anything, somehow the Avatar and the Grond end up inside the dome following failing through maelstroms.