Scintillus Academy
The Scintillus Academy of Magic is a school for magicians which exists on an unnamed planet. The Avatar visits its ruins during the course of Ultima Underworld II.
Description[edit]
Scintillus Academy was a unique institution on its world, and admission to its halls was a prestige supposed to be reserved for only the most promising magic users. After nine years of training in the occult arts, prospective graduates were able to volunteer for a final examination which required them to navigate a number of potentially lethal environments, and should they survive with a passing grade they would be recognized as full practicing mages on their world.[1]
Over sixty years before the Avatar's arrival at the academy, the foremost magicians of the institution discovered inter-dimensional disturbances in the ether which indicated a massively powerful force was approaching their planet. While it is not known exactly what transpired, a calamity linked with the Guardian eventually struck Scintillus, killing nearly all within its walls. A binding pentagram littered with bones could be found on the school's uppermost levels, bearing testament to some manner of massacre.
When the Avatar travelled to this realm through one of the faces of the blackrock jewel, the hero met with the lone survivor of the incident, an undergraduate mage who had been trapped in the antechamber preceding the final exam. In order to reach the common areas of the university and discover what had transpired there, the Avatar would have to brave the perils of the test.
Inhabitants[edit]
- Elster: accidental lone survivor of the tragedy
Lore[edit]
| “ | Note: Although it seems that the Guardian has slain the entire faculty of the Scintillus Academy, I was able to recover some written records of that place. Most were illegible or not useful, but these two seem most relevant. |
|---|
Trivia[edit]
- The word "Scintillus" possibly derives from either the Latin word "scio" (to know) or "scintillo" (to sparkle).
- Before the Guardian's assault, the instructors Devrow and Rovilar managed to secure the academy's treasures in an trans-dimensional vault located within the void. The Avatar could attempt to traverse the safeguards of this secure area and retrieve the riches therein.[2]
- Bishop managed to obtain records regarding the operations of the Scintillus Academy and included them in his work, Gems of Enlightenment, hoping that they might be of use to the opponents of the Guardian on various worlds.[2]
- While little is known about the world which Scintillus inhabits, Elster mentions that the lifespans of the humanoids dwelling there extend into the millenia.[1]
- Zogith mentions that Zoranthus graduated from Scintillus Academy at the age of sixteen, implying that either the Scintillus Academy and the Pits of Carnage may both be found on the same world or that the two worlds housing them have had contact across the planes.[3]
Gallery[edit]
The test of the arrow pillars
The big pentagram
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Elster. Ethereal Software’s Ultima Underworld II transcript. Ultima Underworld II.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Grossman, Austin. "Scintillus Academy". Gems of Enlightenment (Ultima Underworld II). Origin Systems, Inc.: 1992. Page 26-34.
- ↑ Zogith. Ethereal Software’s Ultima Underworld II transcript. Ultima Underworld II.
| Worlds in the Ultima Series | |
|---|---|
| Main Worlds | Britannia ☥ Sosaria ☥ Serpent Isle ☥ Pagan ☥ Earth ☥ Eodon ☥ Mars |
| Worlds of the Blackrock Jewel |
Tarna ☥ Killorn Keep ☥ Anodunos ☥ Talorus ☥ Scintillus Academy ☥ Pits of Carnage ☥ Rhiannon ☥ Ethereal Void |
| Ahistorical Solar System |
Sun ☥ Mercury ☥ Venus ☥ Earth ☥ Mars ☥ Jupiter ☥ Saturn ☥ Uranus ☥ Neptune ☥ Pluto ☥ Planet X |
| Other Worlds | Nexus of the Worlds ☥ Caledonia ☥ Balema ☥ Ashtalarea ☥ Alucinor |