Pagan

Map of Morgaelin

Pagan was once a beautiful world ruled by a great civilization. But the attacks of the Guardian and his lackeys, the four Elemental Titans, left Pagan as a devastated wreck of a planet. The people of the world, unaware of the true evil responsible for the state of the world, pray to the Titans as their protectors. The Avatar visited this world in Ultima VIII.

This article focuses mainly on the only isle visited in the game, Morgaelin, as it is unknown if other islands exist.

History of Pagan

This section contains a short overview over the history of Pagan.

The Time of the Zealans

Much of the information about the Zealans and their history and culture was lost, and much more was distorted by the Pagans after having massacred their enemies. Nonetheless, it is possible to reconstruct some of it from the information given.

The people of Pagan were once called Zealans. Despite what was later written about them, they were spiritually and culturally developed. There were other cultures as well, but they seldom fought against each other. One of the leaders of the Zealans was Khumash-Gor, said to be the greatest warrior of all time, who defeated the other cultures in the end, essentially uniting the people of the world under one leadership.

The three gods Amoras, Odion and Apathas symbolised Love, Anger and Neutrality in perfect balance, while the other three gods Doloras, Felicitar and Timyra added their own part by representing Grief, Joy and Fear. Meanwhile the enormous silver tree of life, Elerion, whose branches reached wide into the sky, symbolised the unity of the people of Pagan, and was a symbol of peace for all of them. The tree also symbolised all the goodness in the world. The three gods kept care that the emotions of their followers stayed in balance, so that their lives would be fulfilled.

Attack of the Guardian

Then came the Guardian. At first, only few could hear his whispers. But soon more heard. He told them a horrible monster named Destroyer would come to destroy their world, but they could save themselves by rejecting their old ways and starting to pray to the four elements instead, helping them to gather form in order to defend them, and erect a temple with a special Obelisk. In fact, the Guardian himself was the Destroyer, and that the Titans would be his allies.

The Zealan priests and leaders saw through the lies, but the followers of the Guardian were already so deep in their fear that they did not listen anymore. The Pagans, as they called themselves, erected a temple with a blackrock obelisk, and performed horrific human sacrifices on the Guardian's orders. As years passed, the Guardian's agents became more and more powerful, and the fire of religious hatred burned in their follower's hearts. The forces of nature they worshiped materialized into four gigantic beings, the Titans. And as the Guardian had calculated, the Pagans attacked the Zealans after the Titans had fed their hatred of them long enough.

A horrible war followed, but with the power of the Titans, the Pagans committed horrible blood baths and destruction. They even torched the ancient forest of balance, destroying the silver tree of life, Elerion. When the Pagans had mostly won, the Guardian and the Titans decided to initiate the last stage of their amusement, before the Guardian would give the Titans what was left of the world. Ordering the People to leave the temple, he warned them that the Destroyer had arrived. The Guardian then entered Pagan through the obelisk, which was a Black Gate, and destroyed it to erase all evidence. Together with the Titans, he mostly destroyed the world, and hid the sun behind a thick cloud. The Titans took credit for defeating the Destroyer and demanded to be worshiped, while the Guardian went on to expand his empire elsewhere. Of Pagan, only one island, Morgaelin, seemed left.

Rule of the Titans

The Titans felt that what was left of this world was their property after Apathas, Odion and Amoras had lost their power and they had sealed away Doloras, Timyra and Felicitar. And yet they also argued among themselves who should rule over the most of it, while terrorizing the people at the same time with natural disasters.

Lithos calmed down first, after making a deal. He would receive the dead, essentially creating a enormous army, through the Necromancers. Hydros was trapped by a Necromancer decades later, and forced to give some of her power, thus creating a line of Tempests. Stratos gathered her followers, the Theurgists, and gave them the power to heal and detect lying. Pyros was the last, and he was trapped by Theurgists who would become the Sorcerers, and forced to give them a part of his powers.

This uneasy situation of peace lasted for centuries, with the world still being a shadow of its old self, and no hope of recovery as long as the Titans held power on Pagan. Indeed, as Remvatos the Observer noted, the obscuring of Pagan's sun was slowly bleeding the planet dry. Even though the ecosystem had tried to adapt to the new situation, animals and people were getting fewer as the centuries went on, as the lack of direct sunlight could not be fully compensated. If left to its fate, Pagan would have ended up as a barren, empty rock in space.

Fall of the Titans

This changed when the Avatar arrived in Pagan. Banished there by the Guardian, the hero tried to find a way to escape from this world and return to Britannia to stop the Guardian. The Avatar first learned the powers of Necromancy, before meeting with Amoras, Odion and Apathas. The old gods revealed what really was to be done. The Titans were susceptible to blackrock, and each had a fragment dedicated to him or her, made from the Obelisk that birthed them, with an additional fifth piece. With the powers of the Titans absorbed into the pieces, the obelisk could be recreated for travel to other worlds.

So the Avatar sought out to learn the other schools of magic and find all five of the fragments. The pact with Lithos was broken. Hydros was freed from her imprisonment, after perfidiously breaking her promise to the Avatar to give the gift of Tempestry. Stratos connection to her followers was cut, after the Avatar learned Theurgy. And Pyros was set free from his prison after the Avatar learned Sorcery. With all pieces and all Titans free, the Avatar went to the Ethereal Void, destroying the Titans, recreating the obelisk and leaving Pagan.

It is not known what happened to Pagan after the destruction of the Titans, though it is possible that without their influence, conditions improved.

Morgaelin

Morgaelin

After all the destruction, the four Titans settled down on the island of Morgaelin, meaning 'Dark Jewel'. It is unknown if there are other landmasses left in Pagan. Morgaelin itself is a great deal smaller than either Britannia or Serpent Isle, mainly as a consequence of the whole island being nothing more than the extended cone of the still-active volcano, also named Morgaelin, which is an ever-present threat to the people of the land. Owing to this size difference, the world available to the Avatar for exploration is radically reduced from those previously travelled.

This section only deals with places on this island.

Settlements

• Argentrock Isle
• Daemon's Crag
• Tenebrae

Other Places of Interest

• 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

Calendar

• For more information on the Pagan calendar, see Pagan calendar.

Lore

“

The world that remained was pitted and scarred, a vast wasteland with a smattering of island chains. The ocean brine had increased ten-fold formerly lush shore plants now withered at the touch of the tide. Many of the survivors, both Pagans and Zealans, gathered on one of the larger islands, from then on called Morgaelin after the volcanic remains of its lone mountain of the same name. However, despite the falling of the Destroyer, the world did not return to peaceful times. The Titans became enamored of their vast powers, demanding even greater sacrifices in return for their past deed. They set upon each other as they vied for supremacy of the world. – from The Chronicle of Pagan (Ultima VIII)

“

Sometimes, when the pearly covering of Pagan grows thin and looks like sheets of kith silk billowing in a storm, you can dimly glimpse a pale disk. It is called the Eye of Stratos. Cold and still in a turbulent heaven, it peers from above as if trying to see into the dim and shadowed world of Pagan. There is no one left, not even Stratos, who could put the name sun to the Eye of Stratos — but long before the new gods came and vanquished Apathas, my father, the sun shone brightly on an island of verdant life. In the space of a day, too long ago for mortal memory, the clouds came and the rays of the sun were warded away. The first to die were the flowering plants, then the animals which fed on them. Grasses and soaring trees disappeared, replaced by moss, fungus and hardy shrubs. In time the mushrooms and shrubs grew in size, but they do not provide the shelter and food for wildlife that the light-drenched world supported. The people, in their own way, adapted to their new world, but the teeming farms and bustling cities of yesterday are quiet and still these generations do not find it unusual nor do they notice that their numbers are decreasing. I find it almost unsettling to think that unless things change, I may not have a world to observe in a few millennia, just a bare dome of rock in a cold, lifeless sea. And then I, too, shall perish. – from Pentology (Ultima VIII)

Trivia

• Bentic calls the runic alphabet the "Archaic Alphabet" in the The Chronicle of Pagan. This suggests that the Zealans used it, though there is no explanation on how this relates Pagan to Sosaria/Britannia.
• Remvatos also mentions a place called Great Isle, suggesting there had been at least one other island on Pagan before arrival of the Titans. Plot cuts are the most likely reason for Great Isle not appearing in the game.

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Geography

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Worlds in the Ultima Series
Main Worlds	Britannia ☥ Sosaria ☥ Serpent Isle ☥ Pagan ☥ Earth ☥ Eodon ☥ Mars
Worlds of the Blackrock Jewel	Tarna ☥ Killorn Keep ☥ Anodunos ☥ Talorus ☥ Scintillus Academy ☥ Pits of Carnage ☥ Rhiannon ☥ Ethereal Void
Ahistorical Solar System	Sun ☥ Mercury ☥ Venus ☥ Earth ☥ Mars ☥ Jupiter ☥ Saturn ☥ Uranus ☥ Neptune ☥ Pluto ☥ Planet X
Other Worlds	Nexus of the Worlds ☥ Caledonia ☥ Balema ☥ Ashtalarea ☥ Alucinor