Valoria

Valoria
Location of Valoria
Located in:	Britannia
Type:	town
The volcano of Valoria

Valoria is the city dedicated to to the virtue of Valor, after Jhelom was destroyed in the Great Cataclysm. It appears in Ultima IX.

Description

The city of Valoria was founded by survivors of Jhelom and of the Order of the Silver Serpent after the city and Serpent's Hold had both been destroyed during the Cataclysm. Valoria takes its name from the Valorian Isles in the southwest of Britannia, where it resides, and was constructed atop and within the very same volcano that had reduced the old city to cinders. It is predominantly a city of fighters and is home to the renowned Knights of Valoria.

History

When Jhelom and Serpent's Hold were destroyed by the Cataclysm twenty years before the events of Ultima IX, the survivors of the Order of the Silver Serpent refused to despair and instead rebuilt a new city atop the very same volcano that had destroyed the city of Valor and dubbed it Valoria. Valoria quickly became the new city of Valor and the home of the finest warriors of Britannia: the Knights of Valoria. Shortly after that however, a triad of powerful daemons calling themselves the Daemon Triumvirate appeared from the depth of the volcano and begun their reign of terror upon the city. The Valorians constantly lived in fear of these seemingly immortal daemons.

As the Avatar came to the city in Ultima IX, only a handful of Knights remained after their commander Sir Drake left the city with his men in order to seal the dungeon Destard. Afraid of him, they only let him inside after he had brought them the head of the red dragon Talornia. When the Avatar found out that the key to destroying the Triumvirate was to kill each of them at the same time, he managed to rally the remaining Valorian Knights to his help and make them face their own fear, thus learning a true lesson of valor. With the Daemon Triumvirate finally destroyed, Valoria was finally freed from fear and the Avatar could restore the Shrine of Valor.

Lore

“

They with a wish to test themselves can find willing testers on the shores of Valoria. Jhelom, the old city of valor was destroyed by volcanic eruption, and Serpent's Hold, home to the Order of the Silver Serpent, was lost. Now dubbed the Knights of Valoria, these warriors rebuilt the city at the summit of the volcano that destroyed Jhelom, as if to dare the Titan of Fire. They prepare themselves behind the walls of the fortress of Valoria where they are forged into the finest knights in Britannia. Outside the walls gather innumerable beasts that engage any daring knight who emerges from the proving grounds inside. Many a fighter has finished his training in Valoria. Yet those who seek such mastery should do so quickly, as the grounds beneath the castle bubble with renewed fire that threatens to again burn away this tenuous encampment. It is a matter of time before the isle grow weary of the fighting across her rocky skin. These fighters have lost their will to fight back. Once champions of courage, the founding precept of Valor, the Knights of Valoria cower in fear of their own home, though they would strike at any who would claim it. – from Journal (Ultima IX)

Inhabitants

Map of Valoria in Ultima IX

• Artos: Valorian knight
• Eris: Valorian knight
• Geoffrey: Companion of the Avatar
• Lambert: Valorian knight
• Liselle: healer
• Meranthon: mage
• Old Jak: shopkeeper

Outside the town:

• Daemon Triumvirate: daemons
• Commander Hays: dead warrior
• Jordan: dead warrior
• Reynald: dying warrior
• Yastar: mage

Trivia

• In early drafts of Ultima IX from Bob White's tenure as lead designer, Valoria appears as a city stronghold of resistance fighters named the Bladesmen, who sought refuge on the isles and built the Citadel of Courage following the decimation of Serpent's Hold and New Magincia by the Guardian’s forces. According to concept art from the period, the volcanic environment seen in the final version of Ultima IX does not appear to have been present.

Gallery

• 

  Valoria, as depicted in early Ultima IX concept art

References

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Geography