Royal Museum

The Royal Museum is a public institution located in the capital city of Britain, which showcases numerous curiosities and artifacts from Britannia's past. It has operated for several centuries – from before the time of Ultima VI through the end of Ultima IX.

History

Age of Enlightenment

Founded some time after the exile of Lord Blackthorn by Lord British, the Museum of Oddities was created concurrently with other similar public works projects, namely the Music Hall with which it originally shared a building. During the Avatar's journeys during the Gargoyle War of Ultima VI, the institution was under the care of Kytyn, a young woman previously employed as a falconer. Many of the early exhibits in the museum at this time focused on unexplained phenomena, and a variety of scientific aberrations were on display during this era, including the bizarre perpetual motion machine and a strange fountain-producing rock of unknown origin.

While little is known of the various exhibitions featured in the museum over the next two centuries, it is known that sometime shortly after the accord between Lord British and Lord Draxinusom, the museum underwent extensive renovations at the hands of Bill, son of Jenn. While little is known about this laborer, his humble diligence in restoring the exhibits without expectation of reward led to a simple iron ring in his possession eventually being prized as one of the eight talismans of Sir Cabirus.

Age of Armageddon

Two hundred years later, the museum had been relocated to its own building, and was now under the care of a woman known as Candice. During the time of the Avatar's adventures in Ultima VII, a special exhibit on artifacts relating to the champion of the virtues – with many of the artifacts on display having been items once used in the course of the hero's quests. Due to the nature of the Avatar's current travels, it is quite possible that the hero and companions saw fit to "borrow" some of these exhibits, having need of them in their current battles against the Guardian.

Towards the late Age of Armageddon, the museum was one of the few institutions to have weathered the cataclysms of the Imbalance and the various assaults of the red titan. When the Avatar returned to Britannia for the last time in Ultima IX, the building still housed a number of rarities – some of which had long thought to be lost – and was under the care of Aleena, who told the hero that the legendary runes of the Eight Virtues had been stolen from her care. Locating these artifacts, which had been perverted into the glyphs of anti-virtue, would comprise much of the hero's last trials within the realm.

Even more notable, the museum now contained the Tapestry of Ages, a miraculous device of prophecy which had long been hidden from public view, which had mystically chronicled the Avatar's adventures and hinted at the hero's ultimate fate.

Wings of the Royal Museum

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  West wing

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  East wing

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  South wing

Lore

“	Just south of the castle are a couple of buildings that house government sponsored projects. ... In the same building is the royal museum of oddities. Kytyn, the curator, is a fine lass, but she's already spoken for. She's sweet on chancellor Tholden, who works just across the street. – from The Book of Prophecy (Ultima VI)

Exhibits

Ultima VI

The Museum in Ultima VI

• A terran monolith
• Preserved head, wings and egg of a dragon
• Energy field
• The Bones of Zog
• The Mystery Fountain
• The perpetual motion machine
• Trinsician Klein bottle†
• Unicorn horns†

† _{Not on display but reportedly arriving soon.}

Ultima VII

• Ankh amulet
• Bones of Zog
• Lord British's musket
• Manittzi's harpsichord
• Swamp boots worn by the Avatar
• The human and Gargoyle lenses
• The Runes of Virtue
• The Gargish Silver Horn
• The Stones of Virtue
• The Vortex Cube

Ultima IX

The Museum in Ultima IX

• A black badge
• A blue tassel
• Altara's Scepter
• Korghin's Fang
• The Bones of Zog
• The Four Cards
• The Silver Horn
• The Skull of Mondain
• The Talisman of Infinity
• The Tapestry of Ages
• The Vortex Cube

Trivia

• The museum actually is the biggest building in Britain in Ultima IX – bigger than the Cathedral of Love.
• Despite the Avatar being told the runes have been stolen years ago in Ultima IX, the smashed-in display cases, complete with lots of broken glass, look like the theft happened just recently and no one had yet bothered to clean up.