Columna
| Columna | |||||
 Columna, from Ultima VII Part Two | |||||
| Species: | human | ||||
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Columna (also known at the Green Enchantress) is a Moonshadian mage. She appears on the Serpent Isle during Ultima VII Part Two.
Description[edit]
Columna was the twin sister of Mosh, and according to her sibling, she was possessed of a deep and heartless envy that led her to seduce Trulacci, Mosh's beloved. Apparently, she discarded Trulacci soon after winning his affections, and by the time of the Avatar's arrival in Moonshade she was the wife of Melino, a respectable adept who seemed to be her elder by many years.[1] Her youthful appearance, however, was an illusion, maintained by the Comb of Beauty that she had stolen from Lady Yelinda of Fawn, and she used her restored beauty to win the affections of Torrissio, a young magician who provided her the amatory pleasures she could not find with her aging spouse.[2] The MageLord Filbercio, who was eager to bed Columna himself, sought to use his knowledge of this affair to force her into a tryst with him, and he contracted Stefano to steal a pair of her moonsilk stockings from Torrissio's house, hoping that they would serve as material for blackmail. Unfortunately for Stefano, a teleport storm exchanged the stockings with the Avatar's blackrock serpent, and Filbercio banished him to the Mountains of Freedom for failing to deliver.[3]
Displaying an elitist arrogance typical of Moonshadian mages, she refused to speak to the Avatar before producing a spellbook and thereby proving proficiency in the mystic arts. Once she deigned to address the hero, she proved willing to sell an assortment of spells and could relate some information about Gwenno, whose company she had enjoyed during her passage through the city.[4] Should the hero display her stolen stockings, however, she would demand their return, becoming decidedly less than cordial should she be unable to retrieve them.[5]
Eventually, following Stefano's escape from the Mountains of Freedom, Columna would seek to punish the thief by laying a curse upon him, summoning a Death Knight to pursue him relentlessly until he was slain.[6] While the Avatar was eventually able to slay this magical agent, Columna did not live to see her vengeance enacted or thwarted, as she was slain when the possessed Shamino laid waste to Moonshade following the release of the Banes of Chaos.
Lore[edit]
| “ | I have made the most wonderful discovery about the Comb that I took from that empty-headed ruler of Fawn! No longer shall I be forced to content myself with the bumbling attentions of Melino, my pitiful excuse for a husband! For upon using the Comb on myself, I have become beautiful and desirable! No one will ever guess now that Mosh and I are twins! Now I may use my wits for better things... like the Adept Torrissio! – from Columna’s diary (Ultima VII Part Two)
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| “ | Beside Andrio sat Columna. For some reason, I was suddenly minded of the ugly beggar woman in the streets, although the two women were certainly not at all alike. – from Balancing the Scales (Ultima VII Part Two)
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Goods[edit]
For Columna's prices for spells in Ultima VII Part Two, see Ultima VII Part Two magic shops.
Trivia[edit]
- The model for Columna's character portrait is Jeanne Sophia.[7]
- The Avatar will need to find a three-pronged, tan key in a chest in Columna and Melino's house and use it to gain access to the basement and thus greeted by a buzz saw trap. Thereafter a scroll of Time Stop may be found along with a green key, which will open a chest hidden within the trees outside of the home. In order to access this chest, which contains the Comb of Beauty, the hero will need to locate a hidden door within the mages' bedroom. A more general search of the property will additionally yield a curative red potion and strange, undrinkable potion in a bronze-colored container.
- The Avatar can recover the Comb of Beauty before or after Columna's death. If it is retrieved before she dies, she will revert to her natural appearance. However, while Columna herself acknowledges this transformation, no other characters remark upon it.[8]
- Should Columna be presented with her stockings, her response will differ depending on the Avatar's gender: if male, she will attempt to seduce the hero by suggesting she wear them during a "night of passion" in exchange for their return; if female, Columna will appeal for the protection of her marriage and offer a spell from her own collection as recompense. In either case, if the Avatar agrees and hands the stockings over, Columna immediately destroys them and renounces her bargain.[5]
- The identity of Trulacci's son, whom Mosh claims "now languishes in the depths of the Mountains of Freedom," is never revealed, and given Columna's affair with Trulacci, it may be that this unnamed individual is her son. It is possible, therefore, that she is the mother of Teldrono, Lorthondo, or Stefano, with the final possibility adding an interesting dimension to the affair of the stockings.[1]
- All the inhabitants of Moonshade have Italian or pseudo-Italian. Columna is actually the Latin word for "column" or "pillar". The corresponding Italian word "colonna" is also a family name (never a first name).
Gallery[edit]
Columna's true appearance
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mosh. Paul Carr’s Ultima transcripts. Ultima VII Part Two. "enchantress, Mosh, sister, Trulacci".
- ↑ Columna. Columna’s diary (Ultima VII Part Two – in-game).
- ↑ Torrissio. Paul Carr’s Ultima transcripts. Ultima VII Part Two. "Stefano".
- ↑ Columna. Paul Carr’s Ultima transcripts. Ultima VII Part Two. "Gwenno".
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Columna. Paul Carr’s Ultima transcripts. Ultima VII Part Two. "stockings".
- ↑ Stefano. Paul Carr’s Ultima transcripts. Ultima VII Part Two. "Death Knight".
- ↑ Armintrout, Bill. Ultima VII, Part Two: THE SERPENT ISLE - Moonshade Townplot (MOONSHAD.DOC) (Ultima VII Part Two). September 8, 1992. Page 18.
- ↑ Columna. Paul Carr’s Ultima transcripts. Ultima VII Part Two. "Green Enchantress".