Rudyom
| Rudyom | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Rudyom, from Ultima VII | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Species: | human | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Profession: | mage | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Rudyom is a mage living in Cove in Ultima VI and Ultima VII. He is noted for his experiments regarding blackrock which eventually came to serendipitously produce an artifact of crucial importance to the Avatar’s quest to prevent the Guardian’s invasion of Britannia.
Description[edit]
Rudyom could first be encountered by the Avatar during the age of the Gargoyle War, during which he proved a man of few words outside of the trade of magical provisions. Like many magicians of the age, he was marked by an impressive longevity, and was still alive – albeit much aged – when the hero was once more able to visit him some two-hundred years later in the early Age of Armageddon.
After observing the dramatic change in function of the moongates which resulted from the Guardian’s Sphere Generator, Rudyom began researching the magic-negating ore known as blackrock in the hopes of manufacturing a solution. However, like almost all skilled magic users of these days, Rudyom soon succumbed to the disrupted ethereal waves resulting from the Tetrahedron Generator, rendering him senile and witless. Unable to adequately continue his experiments under such duress, Rudyom produced an ill-crafted transmutation device which he hoped would render blackrock malleable through a combination of magical, magnetic and electrical energies[1] – only to find that it caused the targeted substance to explode spectacularly.[2]
When the Avatar eventually approached him in this fallen state, the once-proud mage related his failures to the hero amidst curses, biding that the champion take both his notes on blackrock and the non-functioning wand, if so desired. In his wandering state of mind, he also made brief mention of his lost magic carpet, which he had lent to some adventurers who had never returned it. Dismissing the artifact as only semi-functional and of a displeasing color, he gladly bequeathed this to the Avatar, should the hero be able to discover it and make it work.[3]
Should the hero's company have visited Rudyom after the repairing of the ether, they would find the mage much calmed and in high spirits with the return of magic. After the eventual destruction of the Sphere Generator, he even claimed some optimism regarding the lost moongates, hoping that their loss would spur on a new age of discovery and technology in the race to re-outfit the realm's transportation systems.[4]
Lore[edit]
| “ | Rudyom specializes in selling spells related to healing. – from The Book of Prophecy (Ultima VI)
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| “ | Then again, his favorite song is about poor Nastassia, the only person in Cove without a lover. Well, other than that mage, Rudyom; but what dost thou expect from a man who digs for roots and collects sulfur for a hobby? ... In Cove can be found Rudyom. He offers a greater variety than many other spellcasters. – from Key to the Black Gate (Ultima VII)
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Goods[edit]
- His prices in Ultima VI can be found at Ultima VI magic shops.
- His prices in Ultima VII can be found at Ultima VII magic shops.
Trivia[edit]
- In Ultima VI Rudyom has what appears to be a pet drake in his possession, which casts small bolts of fire at unwary visitors from its cage.
- In spite of being the oldest resident of Cove at the time of Ultima VII, Rudyom manages to escape mention by most of the other townsfolk. He is often omitted from conversations naming Nastassia as the only person in Cove to be romantically unentangled, as Rudyom is also single.
- Rudyom may have married and become a widower in the 200 years between Ultima VI and Ultima VII.
- Rudyom is the only mage to sell the immensely destructive Armageddon spell.
- In the SNES-port of Ultima VII, Rudyom is portrayed as being far deeper in the grip of his senility, and often has trouble remembering even simple topics of conversation. Upset that his transmuter did not work, the old man wandered into a cave to dispose of it, accidentally leaving it in the lair of a dragon.[5]
References[edit]
- ↑ Rudyom. Observations of Black Rock (Ultima VII – in-game).
- ↑ Rudyom. Underworld Dragon’s Ultima VII transcript. Ultima VII. "blackrock, magic, moongates, transmuter".
- ↑ Rudyom. Underworld Dragon’s Ultima VII transcript. Ultima VII. "carpet".
- ↑ Rudyom. Underworld Dragon’s Ultima VII transcript. Ultima VII. "magic, moongates".
- ↑ Rudyom. Ultima VII SNES transcript. Ultima VII. "cave, Blackrock, somewhere, wand".