Shmed

Shmed
Shmed, from Ultima VII Part Two
Species:	human
Appearances
Ultima VII Part Two Location: Monitor

Shmed is a Knight of Monitor, a city on the Serpent Isle. He appears in Ultima VII Part Two.

Description

Shmed was a Knight of the Wolf Command who was tasked with overseeing and administrating the Knight's Test following his retirement as an active soldier. While few Monitorians had much to say about him, Caladin claimed that he had been given his assignment to save him from the disgrace of exile, as he was a coward who proved too fearful to engage in the effort against the Goblins. Cantra, who was preparing to undergo the Knight's Test at the time that the Avatar arrived in the city, additionally indicated that he made her uncomfortable with his leering glances.

In the course of the Avatar's adventures, it became necessary that the hero attain the mantle of Monitorian knighthood, and after attaining the permission of Lord Marsten, Shmed admitted the Avatar to the Knight's Test. Unbeknownst to the hero, however, Shmed had been seduced by the enchantress Selina, who had conspired with him to populate the testing grounds with magical creatures and an invisible assassin, ensuring that the ordeal would prove a lethal one. Despite these measures, the Avatar nevertheless emerged from the Test triumphant. Panicked, Shmed attempted to best the hero in direct combat, blaming his mistress for his actions but not betraying her name. He ultimately failed in his attack and almost certainly perished in attempting it. In the latter case, his last words were for his paramour, and he died exclaiming, "My love!"

Later, as talk of a traitor among the Monitorian Knights spread in the wake of an altercation at the Avatar's initiatory banquet, Lord Marsten would potentially insist that it had been Shmed who had been conspiring with the Goblins, attempting to deflect attention from his own misdeeds. Such claims, however, were met with skepticism by both Caladin and Harnna, who felt that Shmed had been too craven a man for such an undertaking.

Trivia

• Shmed's likeness is that of Ultima VII Part Two's lead composer, Dana Glover.
• It is technically possible to simply ignore Shmed's attack and thus avoid killing him, although he will remain a hostile NPC for the remaining duration of the game.
• Given that the measures taken to render the Knight's Test lethal to the Avatar are magical in nature, it makes sense to identify Selina as Shmed's unnamed lover. Further evidence of this may be found in unused dialogue in the game's code, which indicates that fishnet stockings were originally planned to have been found on Shmed's person. The Avatar would have been able to trace the origin of these stockings to Alyssand of Fawn, who made them as luxury goods for Moonshadian traders. Alyssand, in turn, would be able to confirm that Flindo was a regular customer of hers, and Bucia would indicate that a "Selina" used to regularly purchase them from his shop, the Capessi Canton. Furthermore, should the player examine Selina's equipment when she briefly joins the Avatar's party in the finished game, they will find that she is wearing a pair of fishnet stockings.
• Unused dialogue in Serpent Isle's code reveals that there was some iteration of the game in which Shmed was to have been transformed into a wolf. A snippet exists in which he exclaims "It was horrible! I was a wolf! I know I was! I saw myself in a reflection on a puddle of water!" (see Cut Material in Serpent Isle)