Serpent's Spine
| Serpent's Spine | |
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 Location of the Serpent's Spine | |
| Located in: | Britannia |
| Type: | mountain range |
 A young Lord British shows the newly formed mountains to the Stranger, and gives them the name "Serpent's Spine" before they were mapped. | |
The mountain range of the Serpent's Spine is located in central Britannia and runs from west to east.
Description[edit]
The mountains of the Serpent's Spine, named after the way their profile looks from the windows of Lord British's castle, separate the Deep Forest in the north from Britain and Castle Britannia in the south. They are next to impassable, so one either has to go around them, or use the Serpent's Pass. These mountains also hold the entrance to the dungeon Despise in their middle part.
History[edit]
Age of Enlightenment[edit]
In Ultima IV the Stranger learned from the ghost Isaac in Skara Brae, that the white stone was hidden in these mountains, and that a balloon was needed in order to actually reach it. With the balloon from the entrance of Hythloth, the Stranger did manage to reach the small valley in the Serpent's Spine, marked by an ankh shrine, and recover the stolen stone.
Several years later in Ultima V, the Stranger (now the Avatar) learned from the glassblower Sven in Buccaneer's Den that a shipment of glass swords was lost in the Serpent's Spine by an incompetent airship captain. Using the grapple, the Avatar reached the same valley where the white stone had been, and found there numerous glass swords.
Age of Armageddon[edit]
By the time of Ultima VII, several radical elements under the leadership of the mage Selwyn had erected their own fortress in these mountains and planned to murder the sovereign of Britannia. However, they were surprised by the Avatar and killed before these plans could come to fruition. The mage's tower could be found at the foot of the mountains.
Unlike other parts of the land, the Great Cataclysm destroyed the plains surrounding the Serpent's Spine, which became an insurmountable barrier, fully separating the two parts of the now smaller Britannian mainland. This made travel between parts next to impossible in Ultima IX, with the Avatar being forced to resort to a tunnel to pass the mountains.
Lore[edit]
| “ | To the north of the castle of Lord British lies the great mountain range, known as the Serpent's Spine. The peaks of this range are the highest in all Britannia. During the summer months, a small out-of-the-way pass allows knowledgeable travellers to save much time on their journeys. Beware of the one-eyed Cyclops and fierce, two-headed Ettins that inhabit this range. – from The History of Britannia (Ultima IV)
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| “ | Mountains are rugged natural barriers for anyone without proper equipment. Beware, however, of certain wild creatures to whom the rocky crags are home. The highest peaks are simply impassable. – from The Book of Lore (Ultima V)
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Places of Interest[edit]
- Cave of the White Stone (NES-port of Ultima IV)
- Dungeon Despise
- Selwyn's Tower (just west of it)
Trivia[edit]
- According to the epilogue of the FM Towns-port of Ultima III, the Serpent's Spine mountains were created during the cataclysm which accompanied the defeat of Exodus and the sinking of the Isle of Fire.
Gallery[edit]
Serpent's Spine art from Mysterious Sosaria
| Geography |
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| Pagan | |
|---|---|
| Settlements | Argentrock Isle ☥ Daemon's Crag ☥ Tenebrae |
| Other | Carthax Lake ☥ Catacombs ☥ Cemetery ☥ Fishermen's Reef ☥ Hall of the Mountain King Herdsman's Valley ☥ Plateau ☥ Shrine of the Ancient Ones ☥ Stone Cove ☥ Treasure Cove Vengeance Bay |