Ybarra
| Ybarra | |||||||||||||
 Ybarra, from Ultima VI | |||||||||||||
| Species: | human | ||||||||||||
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Ybarra is a former crewmate of the nefarious pirate Hawkins. Appearing in Ultima VI, he is found in the dungeon Shame.
Description[edit]
While much of his background is unclear, Ybarra was an older man known to have numbered among the crew who sailed the Empire under the command of Captain Hawkins,[1][2] a reputedly wicked pirate who, among other misdeeds, led an ambush against Zoltan’s band of gypsies as they were en route to deliver Captain Johne’s silver tablet to Mariah at the Lycaeum.[3] This artifact, inscribed with a translation from Gargish to the common tongue, was fractured in the ensuing struggle before Hawkins and his buccaneers made off with the smaller of its two pieces, burying it among other treasures in a network of caverns beneath the island that would come to be known as Spektran.
At some point after the raid, Ybarra and his comrades grew mutinous, ultimately becoming so incensed by Hawkins that they were driven to murder him.[4][5] These ten brigands then resolved to disband and live in anonymity, dividing the map to their buried treasure between them until such a time their notoriety had faded and they could safely reunite to salvage the hoard.[2]
This would fail to eventuate, however, and while some surviving members of Hawkins' crew were able to settle into relatively comfortable lives after piracy, others arrived at less fortunate circumstances in the intervening years. Although it is not known where Ybarra spent most of this period, he was eventually drawn in search of gold to Dungeon Shame,[2] a former mine in which he soon became not only lost, but trapped by gremlins lurking nearby.
It was in this predicament that Ybarra was discovered by the Avatar, who returned to Britannia in July of 161 amidst the era's Gargish conflict and came to require the old pirate's portion of Hawkins' treasure map. By this time, Ybarra's food supply was long depleted and he had become dangerously emaciated, resorting to such drastic measures of prolonging his survival as eating his own belt. Throughout any efforts to converse, he would repeatedly beg for sustenance and faint if his pleas upon parting ways were not met, requiring some hours thereafter to regain consciousness. Suggestions to accompany the Avatar's party would be declined by Ybarra, convinced he was on the cusp of regaining freedom on his own. Moreover, the haggard former pirate would part willingly with his map piece only when supplied with food in exchange; should he have been denied in this instance, Ybarra would succumb to desperation and attempt with his waning strength to take rations from the hero by force.[6]
Regardless of the condition in which he was left, Ybarra did not emerge from Shame for the remainder of the Avatar's quest, his fate lost to the passage of two centuries by the time of Ultima VII.
The Ultima 6 Project[edit]
This is an Ultima 6 Project-related NPC article or section. The information within may not apply to Ultima VI or other Ultima games.
A magical wishing fountain that produces food can be found deep within Shame. If the Avatar tells Ybarra the fountain's location, the starving man can be saved.
Trivia[edit]
- It is impossible to sate Ybarra, and his dialogue will terminate only in the event that he is refused food or the party's own supply is exhausted.
- Ybarra is named after an early Electronic Arts designer/producer, Joe Ybarra, as part of a pointed reference to personal and legal feuds between CEO Trip Hawkins (himself mocked as the deceased Captain Hawkins) and Ultima creator Richard Garriott in the late 1980s. While Origin had entered into a distribution agreement with Hawkins' company for the 1985 release of Ultima IV, Garriott became troubled by one of Electronic Arts' own properties, the 1987 CRPG Deathlord, which he alleged had plagiarized his work.[7] Upon Hawkins' flat refusal to address this accusation, Garriott and Origin withdrew from their affiliation with Electronic Arts, who subsequently targeted them with a frivolous lawsuit designed to force an out-of-court settlement.[8] These incidents were the impetus behind Hawkins' and Ybarra's tributes in Ultima VI, as well as those of colleagues Stewart Bonn and Bing Gordon, who respectively appear as former crewmates Bonn and Alastor Gordon.
References[edit]
- ↑ Ybarra. Ultima VI transcript. Ultima VI. "job".
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Homer. Ultima VI transcript. Ultima VI. "cave".
- ↑ Zoltan. Ultima VI transcript. Ultima VI. "silver tablet".
- ↑ Homer. Ultima VI transcript. Ultima VI. "Hawkins".
- ↑ Log of the Empire (Ultima VI – in-game).
- ↑ Ybarra. Ultima VI transcript. Ultima VI. "food, belt, give, map, join, bye".
- ↑ Wilson, Johnny et al. "Electronic Arts And Origin Pool Resources in "Ultimate" Acquisition". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications, Inc.: November 1992. Page 176.
- ↑ Varney, Allen. “The Conquest of Origin”. The Escapist. 2005-10-11. Retrieved 2016-12-29.