Playing Ultima IX Ascension – Day 3

Day 3 – Being lost, Shrine of Compassion and Despise

I examined Iolo’s place and found some amusing stuff but no trace of either Iolo nor Gwenno; I resumed my journey to Lord British castle or rather tried to… I wander around aimlessly until I bumped into the first column; Despise should be nearby!

But I’m still weak, so I won’t dive into it yet… I found a warrior who suggested I go meditate first to the Shrine of Compassion… I set to that, but first gotta get to the castle to get some healing…

…or at least that’s what I hoped, but Old British doesn’t seem able to do that anymore… dawn is coming, but I guess I’ll sleep a bit on my quarters to recover some health.

That didn’t work either, I’m still as weak as ever! I had a bread I had taken from the kitchen, and quaffed a potion. Now let’s go to the Shrine.

I exit the castle, and I know the shrine is east of Britain, but something is weird… it seems like the directions are inverted in the compass? I follow the compass to what I supposed was the east exit, and walked north a bit, then I saw a giant dragon flying by!

I try to climb the mountain near the dragon; may be the shrine is just to the other side… useless! the dragon spits fire at me but I don’t think he hit me… I then realize the compass doesn’t pinpoint with it’s long point but with the red dot (I guess that’s how compasses work)… so I head back to Britain to take the correct exit.

I find a circle of stones… I wonder if it’s the shrine of compassion or just the spot where the Britain moongate appears?

Then I find the lighthouse, abd I remember I have a sextant and a map, so I can easily know where I am, the map looks a bit odd, the lake near cove seems to be gone? in any case I decide I won’t use the map + sextant combination a lot, I like exploring, I may actually drop the sextant for more fun.

I decide to take a trip through the shoreline to the Shrine of Compassion. After a long trip along big rifts with some swimming I notice a grassy path I can climb. And I end up just by the statue Shamino was talking through the day before!

The storm from the last day replicated, it seems to be caused by a magic spell of sorts! I finally hit what seems to be the ruins of the Shrine of Compassion. It’s all messed up compared to what it once was.

In a nearby cliff I found some strange looking thing, I guess I’ll have to do something here to fix the shrine and make people compassionate again.

I walk around the Shrine but don’t find much apart from some potions. I was about to leave but then I thought may be I could try meditating on it. It worked! After “Mu”ing a bit some strange voice started talking with me and gave me tips on my overall mission of restoration of the land, which involves finding the corrupted runes in the dungeons, and the sigils in the towns, the do something at the shrines. It was worth coming here! I guess the voice is the same that thunders on Ultima V when you meditate.

SO LET’S HIT THE DUNGEON!, I travel back to the column and had my ass kicked by a Troll I restored and came back.

Luckily, I took another path who put me just over the maze of castle Britannia! I jump over it and can see the center of the maze, a magic fountain… and a Flaming Sword… awesome!

Now, I feel confident to hit Despise…

It’s amazing how it feels inside the dungeon, after a short cavern I solve some simple puzzles and I’m in. I heard some people locked behind a door, which I open. They tell me they were a group of four who came here looking for the Kyran stone (?), and that each one knows a piece of it. One seems to be atop a pillar, another behind some water.

I proceed into the dungeon to promptly find a room with a huge pillar.

After some careful jumping, I manage to get to the top where I find the piece of the stone as well as button that opens the door to continue onward.

I push onward, suddenly the floor where I’m standing goes down, I guess it’s a trap! However I think I could just climb and continue down the way I was going.

However it doesn’t seem to be just a trap; there’s a passage leading into a room, there’s a painting of myself here (huh?) upon close examination it reveals to be a poster of Ultima III! and it comes bundled with a Wyrmguard armor which seems better than what I’m wearing… I don’t think a bit more of protection will hurt.

I continue down the passageway, then I find myself trapped in a room with a giant pool. Will I be able to escape?

After some exploration, I put two buckets of water on an altar and a door opens, yay!

I continued exploring and found a hidden room after moving a shield in the wall, it had a healing fountain and a small treasure 🙂

There was also some kind of armory with a sword in a case…

Afterwards I found the third of the crew… sadly he died to the terrors of the dungeon, possible poisoned by a nearby fountain (who drinks water from a dungeon?). He has a scroll that points to a secret behind the dining room.

Then I found and saved the life of the fourth guy! he doesn’t want to know anything about dungeons and adventures, so he gives me his stone, I now have two.

I find the dining room and try to pass through the tapestry, burning, do something… but I fail. I decide to go onward

I found an alchemy lab with stuff to do potions, but I won’t be doing that for the moment.

Then I find the Cathedral of Despise. Nice architecture! I lit the flames all around and get healed by compassionate light.

I must go back to that dining room and find it’s secret! I finally step on a nearby plate and open a secret path which looks pretty awesome. Inside I find a weird map and a teleporter into another set of rooms which finally lead me to the blue Kyran stone.

I return to the Cathedral and onward, where I find some pillars and a magic circle. I put the three stones I have there, wondering if I missed the last one…

I go onward into a flooded cavern, I press a lever and I find the last stone behind the waterfall.

Then I go on and find myself in the last room of the dungeon, a wyrmguard is guarding what appear to be the bottom of the giant pillar!

After some talking we engage in combat, I quickly dispatch him (I am a warrior with a flaming sword, I AM THE AVATAR!) but he turns out to be Iolo… no wonder I didn’t find him at home!

I get the Glyph of Compassion, and run back to the dungeon entrance.

There, a wyrmguard and Blackthorne try to get me, but I’m saved by the pirate, Raven… she wants to make sure I’m the avatar, she needs to see a rune of virtue. I guess I’ll do that once I get the sygil of compassion and restore it.