Bloody Plains

Bloody Plains
Location of the Bloody Plains
Located in:	Britannia
Type:	plains
The Bloody Marsh in Ultima VII

The Bloody Plains are a corridor of historically significant, though sparsely featured grassland southeast of Minoc.

Description

The area is so named for the vicious campaign fought upon these sprawling fields to overcome the newly unified Britannia’s remaining vestiges of evil and the massive amount of blood that was shed on those days of battle, giving birth to countless myths surrounding the area. Reflecting later geographical changes, the location would eventually be referred to as the Bloody Marsh.

History

Age of Enlightenment

Throughout the Avatar’s appearances in the realm, the area shared a reputation with the Fens of the Dead for fostering the scarce reagent mandrake root, with its small patch of marsh favorable to the rare plant remaining perpetually damp, according to legend, from blood spilled in the battles of yore. By the time of the gargoyle invasion in Ultima VI, adjacent swamplands had engulfed the landscape to such a degree that they began to encroach upon the outskirts of nearby Minoc, impeding thoroughfare to the city throughout this period.

Age of Armageddon

Over the course of the Avatar's subsequent two-century absence, the remaining plains were overgrown by woodland, and by the time of the hero's return in Ultima VII, the region had instead come to be known by its defining feature as the Bloody Marsh. Later, in the widespread devastation of the Great Cataclysm inflicted by the Guardian's final effort to conquer Britannia, this historical locale was ultimately one of many to be torn asunder from the continent and swallowed beneath the waves of the Great Sea.

Lore

“	Beyond the High Steppes lies the famous battlefield, known as the Bloody Plains, where the last major forces of evil were vanquished. Alas, many of our brave men perished here in the fight for virtue. Be very careful when thou passeth through this region. It is whispered that, at some phases of the moon, the undead rise and fight the battle again. – from The History of Britannia (Ultima IV)

“

Site of one of Britannia’s most savage wars, this desolate region lies sandwiched between two great swamps across the mountains northeast of the village of Cove. The bloodstained soil serves as a timeless memorial to the thousands of brave soldiers who met their fate there. Mages know this area as another of the few places where they can find mandrake root and nightshade. – from Compendium (Ultima VI)

“	In recent years the only places where this strange substance can be located are in the Bloody Marsh across the mountains from Cove (where many years ago thousands of soldiers lost their lives) or in the enchanted forest of Spiritwood, beneath the rotting bark of dead trees. – from The Book of Fellowship (Ultima VII)

Gallery

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  Bloody Plains art from Mysterious Sosaria

References

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Geography