Britannia in Ultima Online
Britannia is a virtual world which exists in the Ultima Online MMORPG and is based on the original Britannia from the main Ultima series. Many copies of Britannia, called shards, exist simultaneously to support many players without overcrowding.
Backstory[edit]
Shards were created at the end of Ultima I, during the time of Sosaria, when the Stranger destroyed Mondain’s Gem of Immortality. Mondain's power over Sosaria stemmed from it being magically "held" inside, the gem. When the gem was shattered, the Stranger noticed that inside each broken shard was a smaller, self-contained Sosaria.
As each shard evolved over time, each took the appearance of later Britannia, without the influence of an Avatar. This created a land of lawlessness, where bandits would frequently roam the land outside of protected towns. Each Britannia grew up with its own heroes, villains, buildings and inhabitants. This serves to explain Ultima Online’s many gameplay servers, each with their own subset of players.
Inconsistencies[edit]
Shards could be argued to technically exist in Britannia proper as tiny gem shards, housing an alternate reality of Britannia in each. The shards are never mentioned in the main Ultima games, but there are countless gems found throughout the series that could possibly be remnants of the Gem of Immortality. Regardless, Ultima Online is mostly ignored in Ultima canon, due to having no true impact on the series itself.
The explanation of the shards creation has several inconsistencies with the Ultima storyline. First, Mondain was defeated by the Stranger, who was not yet the Avatar. The opening movie portrays the Stranger as wearing an ankh, but the concept of virtues and spirituality would not be established until Ultima IV.
The Stranger appears roughly the same as in Ultima IX. In the early Ultimas, the starting character could be a different race, sex, or (starting with Ultima VI) facial appearance than the blonde male typically shown as the Avatar. The Avatar was not established as actually being the Stranger until around Ultima VI and Ultima VII.
The lands of Sosaria were also divided into four main lands, and did not resemble Britannia until after the gem was shattered. These lands were known as the Lands of Lord British, the Lands of Danger and Despair, the Lands of the Dark Unknown, and the Lands of the Feudal Lords. Unless Britannian land was created the moment the gem was shattered, each shard should mirror the appearance of Sosaria.
The time period in which the Ultima Online series starts to take place seems to indicate a future version of Ultima VII, due to the established cities and dungeons, bestiary, and friendly relation with Gargoyles. If time had evolved roughly the same as it would have from Ultima I to Ultima VII, then the following would have occurred within that time:
- No threat from Minax, Exodus, or the Shadowlords.
- Little influence from the Virtues (the shrines still exist, but little heed is given to them).
- A possible discovery and peacemaking with the Gargoyles
- No earthquakes caused from Exodus, the Isle of the Avatar, the Isle of Fire, or the Stygian Abyss, which would cause certain land masses to not appear.
- No attack from the Guardian , preventing the major changes in Ultima IX
- No discovery of the original lands of Sosaria (including Serpent Isle and Ambrosia), the Time of Legends, some parts of the Stygian Abyss, Earth, or the worlds in Ultima Underworld II.
- No knowledge of the Avatar whatsoever. If asked, NPCs will respond accordingly, for example "I have never heard of this 'tar' person".
There are several books in Ultima Online that explain the Time Lord visiting each shard's version of Lord British. The Time Lord, presumably from the main series, is aware of the existence of the shards as alternate versions of Britannia. This is never mentioned in the main series, though the event having happened some time in the series is a possibility.
Expansions add to the evolution of the shards, but largely ignore the Ultima canon. New lands are said to have "always existed," but this would not be consistent with the concept of a perfectly mirrored Britannia. For example:
- Ultima Online: The Second Age: the Lost Lands are inhabited by strange creatures that have never existed in previous Ultimas. Also, the Ophidian cutlure does not exist, but serpent creatures here are called Ophidians. What relationship this has to the original Ophidian culture, if any, is unknown.
- Ultima Online: Lord Blackthorn's Revenge: Lord Blackthorn's cybernetic appearance does not fit with the low level of technology found in Britannia. The exception is in Ultima I, where many sci-fi elements were present.
- Ultima Online: Age of Shadows: The Northern continent of Malas is introduced, but no such land mass has existed previously in Britannia. The land mass is polar, suggesting it was formed from ice over a long period of time.
- Ultima Online: Samurai Empire: The Tokuno Islands are explained as always existing in Britannia, but hidden until now. This is not consistent with the Ultima series.
Other inconsistencies include names or references to Earth, such as "French bread" or "katana." There has been mention of characters coming from other dimensions, including Earth, in past Ultimas (particularly Ultima VI), but whether this applies to shards as well is unknown.
Distinctive Shards[edit]
Some shards have particular properties that separate them from the majority of other shards, such as Siege Perilous.
Player-operated shards are privately run shards that can still exist due to the shard creation backstory.
The Shadowlords: Three shards that split from the Gem of Immortality caused the three Shadowlords to be created. There is no official alternate version of Britannia in these shards, though a fan made shard used one of the Shadowlord shards as its backstory.
Locations[edit]
Only locations that do not exist in the canon Britannia (single-player) are on this list.
Settlements[edit]
Dungeons[edit]
Locations[edit]
Lore[edit]
| “ | Long before the Stranger ever entered the lands of Sosaria there was a young wizard named Mondain. As Mondain grew in age and knowledge, so grew his thirst for power. Eventually he learned of the Gem of Immortality and, after considerable effort, secured the Gem to use in a ritual that would give himultimate power. During the ceremony that bound the Gem to Mondain's spirit, the Gem itself captured an image of the spirit of the entire land. All of Sosaria was caught in this snapshot, save the wielder of the Gem - Mondain himself. Once imbued with the power of immortality, the Gem provided Mondain the means to rule the world - until the Stranger arrived to destroy the very source of Mondain's power, that is. Mondain's power was gone, and with it the sorcerer himself was destroyed. But as the essence of immortality was loosed upon the land, the very multiverse began to unravel. Aware of the devastation caused by the destruction of the Gem, the Time Lord grabbed a hold of the fabric of time and space and re-wove the fibers of Sosaria, later to be called Britannia. Concerned by the results of the natural course of events, whereby one man's quest for ultimate power nearly annihilated a world, the Time Lord set into motion a plan to ensure that the land would come under the rule of the right. Behind the scenes, he reconstructed the world and maneuvered happenstance to permit the reign of Lord British, the virtues, and the Avatar.Thus the continuance of the Ultima series ... But when the Gem was shattered, thousands of splintered fragments scattered across the multiverse. Within the facets of each fragment lay the very image of Sosaria as it had been captured during Mondain's ritual. Each of these in turn became parallel instances of the World, each replete with their own version of Sosarian culture, kingdoms, and histories. However, unlike the original Sosaria - which saw such events as the corruption of Mondain, the rise of Lord British, the quest of the Avatar, and the appearance of the Fellowship, all seeded by the efforts of the Time Lord - these Sosarias have been left to their own devices, where the rise and fall of power is often a daily occurrence. It is on one of these Worlds that the adventurers of Ultima On-line will come to make their fortunes and reputations ... |
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Ultima Worlds Online: Origins[edit]
The planned setting of Ultima Worlds Online: Origins (formerly Ultima Online 2) was two hundred years after a magical cataclysm which occurred in multiple shards as Lord British aimed to rebind the fragmented Britannia as a single world. The cataclysm echoed with two other cataclysms through time, one in the distant prehistoric past of Britannia (when the entire life was wiped out by the spell of Armageddon) and one in the distant future when Jukarans warriors battled with the original form of Exodus. The cataclysm merged all three eras together, creating a new world dubbed New Britannia which would have introduced steampunk technology in the traditional medieval world of Britannia.
The story was further developed in a trilogy of novels:
- The Technocrat War 1: Machinations
- The Technocrat War 2: Masquerade
- The Technocrat War 3: Maelstrom
Some of these concepts, notably the corruption of Lord Blackthorn and use of cybernetic technology, were adapted in Ultima Online: Lord Blackthorn's Revenge.
A preview of Ultima Online 2 is found on the Avatar's computer in Ultima IX. The Ultima series was first seen as a computer game in Ultima VII, though its impact on the story, if any, has never been brought up.
Ultima X: Odyssey[edit]
The setting of Ultima X: Odyssey (which could be seen as an Ultima Online 3, being the third planned Ultima MMORPG) takes place after the events of Ultima IX, where a new world is created and overseen by the Avatar. The setting was based on the original Britannia, with no given connection to Ultima Online or the shards.
External links[edit]
| Worlds of Ultima Online | |
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| The Worlds | Britannia ☥ Trammel ☥ Felucca ☥ The Lost Lands ☥ Ilshenar ☥ Malas ☥ Tokuno Islands ☥ Ter Mur ☥ Eodon |