Silver Sapling
The Silver Sapling is a mysterious plant found inside The Abyssal Colony in Ultima Underworld.
Description[edit]
This sapling looks like a miniature tree made of silver, which grows in suitable dirt found in the Abyss. If pulled out, it turns into a portable seed, only to instantly re-grow itself once being planted. Its magical power lies in restoring a chosen person's life if killed in the Abyss. The restored person wakes up at the site of the sapling with no injury at all.
The Avatar found the Silver Sapling on the first level of the Abyss, learning of its secret. With it, the terrors of the Abyss became much less frightening, as the sapling offered restoration to life. When the Abyss erupted at the end of the adventure, the sapling was most likely destroyed as well.
Standard[edit]
the Standard of the Silver Sapling
The Silver Seed[edit]
This section is about the seed which gives the power of resurrection in Ultima Underworld. For other uses, see Silver Seed (disambiguation).
A silver seed is what remains when the Avatar reaches for the Sapling and it withers away. This can either be done by performing the PICKUP action or the default action and dragging on the tree. The tree then disappears and the silver seed appears on the cursor, to be either dropped or placed into inventory.
To plant the seed, the Avatar left-clicks on the seed in inventory and it will be planted several feet away. The space where the seed is to be planted must be free from obstructions. The ground must be of loose dirt and it cannot be inclined or triangular shaped. If all these requirements are met, the Silver Sapling instantly grows.
Lore[edit]
| “ | Here you will find an oddity, an exotic silver plant which blooms rarely. If you reach for it, it will wither, leaving only a silver seed behind. There are directions on the wall for proper use of the seed. – from Mysteries of the Abyss (Ultima Underworld)
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| “ | Plant the seed of the Silver Sapling and a new Sapling will spring forth. In return for this gift of life, thou shalt be granted a new life thyself, when this one doth end. – from Plaque in Silver Sapling room (Ultima Underworld)
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Trivia[edit]
- While the sapling fully restores the player, it comes with a hefty Experience penalty. This can be exploited to get around the experience point cap and thus the training point cap. See Cheating in Ultima Underworld for details.
- The planting process can be exploited to warp through certain doors and walls with resurrection. See Cheating in Ultima Underworld for details.
- The Ultima Underworld demo does not include the Silver Sapling. The room where the sapling should be found still has the banner hanging on the back wall but the sapling and the plaque describing it are both missing. The game files do not include the resurrection video, only the death video.
Gallery[edit]
The silver sapling in its original location. Note the banner behind it.
The sign next to the sapling
Death and resurrection animation. The sapling has chased death away, for now. Compare to character death in Ultima Underworld
Silver sapling animations: in-game and cutscene versions, overlaid
The sapling resurrection animation in the PSX-port of Ultima Underworld. The sapling has defeated death, bamboo torture style.
