Altar rooms

Seven of the major dungeons of Britannia are interconnected at their lowest levels by a series of altar rooms in Ultima IV, which are dedicated to the three principles of Truth, Love and Courage.

Description

Each altar room was linked to the four dungeons which opposed the virtues connected to the principle which its altar embodied. The Altar Room of Truth had passages leading to the dungeons Deceit (Honesty), Wrong (Justice) and Shame (Honor). The Altar Room of Love led to Despise (Compassion), Covetous (Sacrifice) and Wrong. The Altar Room of Courage led to Destard (Valor), Shame and Covetous. All altar rooms also linked to the Dungeon Hythloth which connected itself to all three Principles due to its opposition to Spirituality. Using these altar rooms, the questing Stranger would be able to quickly traverse the dungeons of the realm and could access dungeons whose entrances had not yet been discovered.

Key of Three Parts

Eventually, the hero would also use the colored Virtue Stones won through adventuring to the three altars so as to obtain the Key of Three Parts – a device necessary to complete the quest in the Great Stygian Abyss. To create a part of the Key of Three Parts, one must stand upon one of the altars and use the four stones (Use STONE) connected to the Virtues associated with the Principle which the Altar represents. Clearly the White stone will need to be used by all. The Altar of Love requires the yellow, green, orange, and white stones. The Altar of Truth requires the blue, green, purple, and white stones. The Alter of Courage requires the red, purple, orange, and white stones.

It is not necessary to be a partial avatar to gain a piece of the Key of Three Parts.

Lore

“	'Tis rumored that the seven known dungeons are interconnected through three vast altar rooms. 'Tis further said that this system of interconnection holds a part of the answer to thy quest in its design, so heed well its logic if you can. – from The Way of the Avatar (Ultima IV)

Navigation

Each the Dungeons, except for The Great Stygian Abyss, are linked via the Altar Rooms. Each exit of an Alter Room leads to distinct Dungeon. By entering an Altar Room from one Dungeon, one may quickly travel to another Dungeon by exiting in the correct direction. The tables below document which exit leads to which Dungeon.

The Altar Room of Truth

Direction	Destination
North	Deceit
South	Hythloth
East	Shame
West	Wrong

The Altar Room of Love

Direction	Destination
North	Despise
South	Hythloth
East	Wrong
West	Covetous

The Altar Room of Courage

Direction	Destination
North	Destard
South	Hythloth
East	Covetous
West	Shame

Trivia

• The fastest way to access all three altar rooms is to enter the Hythloth through a secret passage in Castle Britannia, which directly leads to the eighth level of the dungeon, where passages to all three altars exist.
• Thanks to a bug in the French version of the game, the stones (like all other items in the game) cannot be used to gain the key, thus making the game unwinnable.