Ankh amulet
An ankh amulet is a small, loop-headed cross displayed by those who have attained Avatarhood or those undertaking the path to Avatarhood in striving to embody the Eight Virtues. First seen throughout the Quest of the Avatar, one of these metallic amulets remained with the eventual Champion of Virtue and would endure as an emblem of Britannia's hero in future returns to the realm. While generally decorative in function, the Avatar's ankh amulet has occasionally demonstrated mystic properties. It appears in Ultima IV, Ultima V, Ultima VI, Ultima VII, Ultima VIII, and Ultima IX.
History[edit]
Age of Enlightenment[edit]
In Ultima IV, the Stranger discovered an ankh amulet – delivered via a blue moongate – among a circle of stones on Earth shortly prior to the aspirant hero's journey to the recently unified realm of Britannia, where the ankh was a means of recognizing an those undertaking the Quest of the Avatar. After the Stranger ultimately attained Avatarhood, the ankh remained in the possession of the newly arisen Champion of Virtue, who would again have need of it in Ultima V, for when it was unified with the Codex Coin ethereally conveyed to Earth by the Companions of the Avatar, the hero was able to call forth a moongate back to Lord British's troubled kingdom, that the sinister Shadowlords plaguing the land might be vanquished and the missing monarch returned to his throne.
This amulet was also seen in Ultima VI, with the Avatar displaying the symbol from the early stages of the effort to resolve the Britannian-Gargish conflict; in an act of deference to the gargoyle ruler Lord Draxinusom, however, the small ankh was later substituted at the king's behest with the Amulet of Submission, humbling the so-called False Prophet before the Gargish populace in the hope of forging a lasting peace between the warring realms.
Age of Armageddon[edit]
Two Britannian centuries later, the amulet was seen back on Earth, along with the Avatar's Orb of the Moons, just prior to the events of Ultima VII; in the same period, however, an ankh amulet purporting to belong to the selfsame hero could be found in Britain's museum as the quest against the Fellowship, and their godlike mastermind, the Guardian, unfolded.
Eighteen months after the destruction of the Guardian's portal to Britannia, the Black Gate, the amulet was worn by the Avatar whilst pursuing the inter-dimensional conqueror's elusive subordinate Batlin to Serpent Isle and was one of the few items to remain unaffected by the teleport storms that ravaged the hero's party upon their arrival in the realm.
Many years later, at the site of the Avatar's mutually fatal last encounter with the Guardian, what appeared to be an ankh amulet was recovered in the aftermath from the surrounding rubble by the hero's grieving companion, Raven, marking the final appearance of the familiar symbol.
Locations[edit]
- Sub article: Locations
Ankh Trinket[edit]
When Ultima IV shipped, every box of the original release included a replica of the ankh from the game, which was made from pewter and could be worn on a chain as an amulet. The Dragon Edition of Ultima IX also shipped with an ankh amulet, including a small loop to allow for use as a pendant. Depending on the region of sale, the trinket was either small and bronze or larger and silver in appearance, with the latter variation being more akin to the ankh trinket included with Ultima IV.
Fot the limited boxed edition of Shroud of the Avatar, an ankh amulet was made. That one looks a lot like the ankh found on the cover of A Safe Passage Through Britannia.
Ultima IV ankh trinket
Ultima IX Dragon Edition ankh trinket
The Shroud of the Avatar ankh
