<-> <-=-> <-==-> <-===-> <-====-> <-=====-> <-====-> <-===-> <-==-> <-=-> <-> <\>\ // \\ / \\ // Ultima V \\ //<\> <\> \\ // \\ // \\ // solve it.. \\ // <\> <\> \\ // \\ // \\ // ...by The Mouser \\ // <\> <\> \\// \\// <-> <-=-> <-==-> <-===-> <-====-> <-=====-> <-====-> <-===-> <-==-> <-=-> <-> <\> <\> A fallen angel takes it, but she'll never let go.. <\> <-> <-=-> <-==-> <-===-> <-====-> <-=====-> <-====-> <-===-> <-==-> <-=-> <-> <\> call: < the G.O.D. Network > (IBM/Amiga) <\> <\> Sietch Tabr (313) 255-2767 130 megs 12/24 Ariel System (313) 569-3194 80 megs 12/24 <\> <\> also: <\> <\> Dungeon of Doom (313) 352-3666 Genesis II (313) 291-2520 <\> <\> The Ballroom (313) 295-7279 <-> <-=-> <-==-> <-===-> <-====-> <-=====-> <-====-> <-===-> <-==-> <-=-> <-> I am assuming that you have played Ultima V for at least a little while already, because there are a few things included here that may seem unclear unless you have played it. Since Ultima V is not a text adventure, there is no single proper solution, because of this I have put this file together listing the goals you will have to complete to finish the game, and how to go about that. There is a good deal of information here on the game that is not really necessary to finishing it, but it is possible to use sections of this file without giving away all of the secrets of Ultima V. The file is divided into the following parts: 1. Items and Goals in Ultima V 2. Townes, Villages, Castles, Keeps. 3. Tips and tricks of playing (more detailed than ULTIMA5.HNT) 4. Detailed information on the Items and Goals listed in 1. 5. The final steps to rescuing Lord British SOLVING ULTIMA V ---------------- 1. Items and Goals in Ultima V To finish Ultima V, there are several items you will need to possess: British's Amulet British's Crown British's Sceptre Codex Information Destroy Shadowlords of Cowardice, Falsehood, Hatred Grapple Sandalwood Box Shards of Cowardice, Falsehood, Hatred Skull Keys Words to some of the Dungeons Other items that will help you along the way are: Flying Carpet Glass Sword H.M.S. Cape Plans Mystic Weapons New Spells (three of them) Oppression Password and Black Badge Resistance Password Sextant Spyglass There is no requirement that your characters be of a certain level to complete Ultima V, but it will be difficult without a spellcaster of at least 7th level, and even then there are some 8th level spells that can be a big help to your quest. 2. Townes, Villages, Castles, Keeps. BLACKTHORN'S CASTLE. on volcanic isle west of Isle of the Avatar (Abyss) BORDERMARCH. in mountains on isle south of Skara Brae. Armoury. BRITAIN. center of continent, west of Brit's Castle. Provisions (6/22), Inn, Armoury. BUCCANEER'S DEN. on isle directly east of Paws. Guild, Inn, Armoury, Shipwright, Provisions (6/24). COVE. hidden in mountains off lake east of Brit's Castle. Reagents, Healer. EAST BRITANNY. next to Brit's Castle. Healer, Shipwright. EMPATH ABBEY. NW corner of continent, SW of Yew. Healer. FARTHING. in woods on isle SE of Jhelom. FOGSBANE. lighthouse. In bay south of Brit's Castle. GREYHAVEN. lighthouse. at southern end of continent. HUT IN DESERT. in southern section of great desert in far eastern end of continent. HUT ON ISLE. on isle south of New Magincia. HUT IN SWAMP. in swamp on southern shore of eastern section of continent. IOLO'S HUT. in forest south of Yew. Hard to find. JHELOM. on island off SW coast of continent. Directly south from Skara Brae. Armoury, Inn, Provisions (6/29), Shipwright. LORD BRITISH'S CASTLE. center of continent, starting place. Stable, Armoury. LYCAEUM. on same isle as Moonglow. On path at northern end. Stable, Reagents, Pub, Healer. MINOC. on northern shore on continent, towards the NE, on the Bay of Lost Hope. Healer, Shipwright, Armoury. MOONGLOW. on large isle south of the eastern end of continent, also directly west of Skara Brae. Provisions (6/14 CHEAPEST), Reagents. NEW MAGINCIA. on island east of Paws and Buccaneer's. Provisions, Guild. NORTH BRITANNY. next to Brit's Castle. Inn, Stable. PAWS. on path south of Brit's Castle. Guild, Provisions, Stable, Inn. SERPENT'S HOLD. on isle SE of Trinsic. SKARA BRAE. on small isle off western shore in middle of continent. Reagents, Inn, Healer (heals free if you're poor). STONEGATE. in mountains south of Minoc, southern end of Bay of Hope. STORMCROW. lighthouse. in Bay of Lost Hope, west of Minoc. TRINSIC. on path south of Paws and Brit's. Healer, Armoury, Stable. WAVEGUIDE. lighthouse. off western shore of Moonglow's isle. WEST BRITANNY. next to Brit's Castle. Tavern. WINDMERE. on isle south of the Isle of the Avatar (Abyss). YEW. in forest in NW corner of continent. Follow path from Empath Abbey. Armoury, Provisions (6/18), Government, Reagents. 3. Tips and Tricks of Playing Combat: Magic Axes are the best weapons I've found since they allow everyone to attack at long ranges. You'll be very lucky if you find one or two during the course of the game. You can buy them at Yew for about 1200, they're a damn good investment. Dungeons: In the dungeons there are several rooms where monsters are contained behind walls or other obstructions, waiting to be released by a secret door or the like. They can usually be killed off by a well-used Halberd without any threat to the wielder. Most often these monsters are Daemons and Wisps, meaning make sure you're protected against possession. When you've defeated all the monsters in a room, the game will tell you "VICTORY". Always make sure to watch for this, since it's an indication whether there are more nasties hiding or not. If you're trying to get into the Underworld from a dungeon, it's usually easiest to just use Down spells from the 8th level; the ladders down are typically guarded very very carefully, and in one case is unapproachable from the dungeon (though you can return back from the Underworld through it). Food: The absolute best prices on food are in Moonglow. Some of the prices are listed in section 2 with their location. Always look out for your food though. And I suggest you take at least 300 into the dungeon Doom at the end of the game since you'll need to hole up several times. Holing Up: You can rest approximately once a day. In some of the harder dungeons (especially Doom) you may want to rest 3 or 4 times in a row until you finally have exhausted enough time to regain magic and hit points. I believe that Lord British's appearing depends on exactly what time you hole up. I've had the best luck getting him to appear when I hole up EXACTLY on the hour. 9 PM being the best time of them all. Moving: The single best item you can possess is the flying carpet. Once you have it there is little need to walk anymore. The carpet will put you under a permanent speed spell during normal movement (not combat), allowing you to outrun anyone outdoors or in town. It also allows you to fly over swamp and shallow waters safely, thus removing the need for a skiff. Reagents: Prices on reagents vary from place to place, and as you become more popular they will slow decrease everywhere for you. Here's a list of the approximate prices every reagent selling place has on each item: Ash Garlic Ginseng Silk Moss Pearl NightS. Mandrake Cove 4.0 5.0 5.5 14 21 Moonglow 4.33 2.9 4.25 18.5 17 19 Lycaeum 44 59 Skara B. 1.4 2.8 7.33 4.33 Yew 1.3 2.5 2.8 5.5 7.25 Saving Game: Never save a game down in the Underworld unless you are positive you can get back out again. By that same token, always save a game after you've picked up a major item. You may want to just save from time to time and completely reboot the game from the last save if you find one of your better magic rings disappears in a battle (if you've played a while you'll know what I mean). Spells in Combat: Very few spells are useful in combat. By the time you acquire the spells of mass destruction your characters should be strong enough to fight the monsters off themselves. The powerful spells are relatively ineffectual against the strongest monsters also. The only monsters you should worry about in combat are creatures that can possess you (Daemons and Wisps) and Mongbats (found in the Underworld). Dragons can be a real pain if they start gating in Daemons also. The absolute best defense against Daemons and Wisps is Lord British's Crown, which will stop all possessions, other than that you'll have to use Charm and Sleep spells to unpossess your characters. Or, if you can kill off the enemies you can just exit the field and your possessed characters will pass out and return to normal. Mongbats can be extremely damaging to a party; they usually attack in large numbers, move fast, and do enough damage to severely hurt a party. They are the only case I've found where mass destruction spells work really effectively in combat. Poison and Flame Winds, Cone of Energy, and sometimes Tremor and Sleep spells are very effective. 4. Information on Items and Goals. (I'm going to do this backwards, and start with the less important items, moving on to the more important at the end.) FLYING CARPET The singularly most useful item in the game, it can be found in Lord British's room on the top of his Castle. Information on it can be gotten from Monsieur Loubet/Serpent's Hold, and Bandaii/Paws. Once on top of the Castle you have to dodge the patroling guards and make it to the room in the center. To get into Lord British's room you'll need either a magic unlock spell, or a skull key to open the magically locked door. Inside the room, the carpet is sitting on the floor in plain view, looking like a regular item in the room. Just grab it as you would any other item, and Use it to activate. GLASS SWORD Supposedly this is the only weapon that can do real damage to a Shadowlord. You don't need it to complete the game as there are other ways to kill the Shadowlords, but if you get into a fight with them you may find it useful. Information can be gotten from Justin/Britain, Eb/Britain, Malik/Moonglow, Sven/Buccaneer's Den. The sword is hidden in the Serpent's Spine mountains NW of Britain. Go to the approximate area, and use gems or view spells to locate the hollow section in the mountain. You will need the Grapple to get to it. Note: don't use this weapon against anything but a Shadowlord or it will shatter. H.M.S. CAPE PLANS The plans for the old H.M.S. Cape (remember her from Ultima IV?) can prove very helpful. Information can be had from Squire Jimmy/West Britanny, Sir Adam/West Britanny. I believe Sir Adam has the actual plans and will give them to you; not quite sure how I ended up with them, all I know is I talk to those two and somehow ended up with the plans. Onboard a frigate you can Use the plans to rig the ship for double-speed. MYSTIC WEAPONS As in Ultima IV, the Mystic Weapons are not crucial to the finishing of the game. I found after a while I had all my characters using Magic Axes as the range weapons seemed preferable, though I did have them continue to wear the Mystic Armour. There are: Mystic Swords, Mystic Armour, and Mystic Helms. Information on them can be got from Quintin/Farthing, Teila/Britain, Bullweir/Jhelom, Ambrose/Cove. The Mystic Weapons lay at the foundation of the Great Abyss. To get down there, enter the dungeon Hythloth, located on the SE side of the Isle of the Avatar (Isle of the Abyss). Once you work your way down to level 8 you'll have to use a down spell to get into the Underworld as the ladder only goes back up from the Underworld, but not down to it. Once in the Underworld, use a gem. You will see a pathway through the rocks off to the NW. You'll need to use the Grapple to climb mountains till you get to this pathway. Following the path to the NE will take you to a pool of lava. The weapons are hidden in the center, and you'll have to take your party into the lava, and Search the center, Taking each item you find before looking for another one. Keep an eye on your hit points and remember you'll need enough to get back out of the Underworld. Once you have 6 of each item you won't find anything else. Note: I had to save the game and do this a couple times before I got good success, oddly though after a couple times, I couldn't find any Mystic Helms, so I had to go through the game without them. Return back to the surface the same way you entered (the bottom rooms of Hythloth contain some really nasty creatures). OPPRESSION PASSWORD AND BLACK BADGE While it's not integral to finishing the game, there is some information you can obtain with it on the Sandalwood Box which you otherwise wouldn't. It also allows you to pass safely through Blackthorn's Castle if you're wearing the Black Badge. Information can be had from Tactus/Minoc, Judge Dryden/Yew, Dark Wizard/Skara Brae, Elistaria/Windmere. Elistaria in Windmere has the actual Black Badge and she will give it to you if you know the password. The password of course to the Oppression is "Impera". RESISTANCE PASSWORD This is not integral to finishing either, but will greatly help you play the game since many characters will ask for it. Information comes from Terrance/Britain, Chamfort/Yew. The password is "Dawn". SEXTANT This item is not nearly as useful as it was in Ultima IV since it only works at night, and of course doesn't work in the Underworld either. It can prove a help though and I do have a list of the locations of many places. The trail goes from Scally/Bucaneer's Den, David/Greyhaven. David in the Greyhaven Lighthouse on the southern tip of Britannia, down south past Trinsic will give you the Sextant if you mention it to him. SPYGLASS The Spyglass can prove a useful item. It allows you to see the stars (at night ONLY) and thus tell what townes are under attack by the Shadowlords on a particular night/day. Information on reading the stars can be had from Zachariah/Moonglow. Information on the Spyglass itself comes from Dufus/Farthing, Lord Seggallion/Farthing. DISAPPEAR SPELL The disappear spell is AN YLEM. Mix Garlic and Blood Moss. I'm not sure what the level of it is, nor have I found any good use for it. Information comes from Temme/Farthing FOOD SPELL The food creating spell can be had from Lord Steward/Moonglow. It is expensive to cast and creates very small quantities of food. Meaning, it is just about useless. RAT SPELL This spell turns a creature into a rat. I don't know whether it works outside of combat, or just how effective it is against daemons and dragons. The name is Rel Xen Bet and you need to mix spider silk, sulphurous ash, mandrake root, and nightshade. Information comes from Grendel/Hut in NE Britannia Swamp. WORDS OF POWER There are 8 Words of Power, used to open the sealed dungeons (assuming I didn't somehow miss a dungeon in the game). The trail to each word begins in the towne associated with the dungeon that the word opens. COVETOUS "Avidus". Anon/Britain, Rew/Minoc, Fiona/Minoc. DECEIT "Fallax". Malifora/Moonglow. DESPISE "Vilis". Anon/Britain. DESTARD "Inopia". Goeth/Jhelom DOOM "Veramocor". Complete visits to all 8 shrines and read Codex. HYTHLOTH "Ignavus". Kaiko/New Magincia, Hassad/Blackthorn's Castle. SHAME "Infama". Woolfe/Trinsic, Sleepwalker/Trinsic. WRONG "Malum". Felespar/Yew. NECESSARY ITEMS SKULL KEYS Skull keys can be had from two main places. Kristi/Serpent's Hold will give you a couple if you want, but the best place to get them is by searching the tree in the NW corner of Minoc (info from Beggar/Minoc, Shenstone/Minoc). Once a day you will be able to find 5 Skull Keys hidden there. While Skull Keys do the same thing as a Magic Unlock spell, you will need them if you cannot cast this spell yet, and also you'll need them to get the Crown in Blackthorn's Castle since magic doesn't work there till you have retrieved it. GRAPPLE The Grapple is an extremely useful item in retrieving several things from the Underworld, getting to Stonegate, and retrieving the Glass Sword in the Serpent's Spine mountains. Information comes from Lord Dalgrin/Bucaneer's Den, Tierra/Bucaneer's Den, Bidney/Bucaneer's Den, Lord Michael/Empath Abbey. You will absolutely need it to get British's Sceptre, also it greatly eases recovering the Shards from the Underworld by allowing you to Klimb smaller mountains. SHARD OF COWARDICE Gardner/Serpent's Hold: "Upon the Isle of the Avatar lies a dungeon. At it's bottom lies a small cavernous room of the Underworld. Many small chambers nearby can be reached with the proper magic. Much magic and exploration will get you the Shard of Cowardice, location LA, LI." The description seems to be backwards and the actual location is LI, LA (determinable only with the Locate Spell). Once you've made your way to the bottom of Hythloth and exited with a Down Spell to the Underworld, it's a good idea to save the game (I assume you're strong enough to fight your way back up). You're going to need a lot of Blink Spells (I'd advise bringing at least 30-40) and an equally large number of gems. From the entrance to Hythloth: go south through the pass into a second cavern. Walk to the west wall and blink west to the next chamber (note: if any of your blinks fail, use a gem and align yourself properly). Walk to north wall and blink north. Go to NE corner and blink east. Go to north wall and blink north. Go to the NW wall and blink west (use a gem to line yourself up). Go to NW corner and blink west. Go to north wall and blink north. You'll be in a long horizontal chamber, walk to western end and blink south. You'll find yourself in a medium sized chamber. You'll have to use the Grapple to climb mountains to the west until you can get no further. Then use a gem and examine your surroundings. You should see a small chamber to the north, and a long chamber to the south and west. Blink to the south or west (whichever one is open) and you'll find yourself in this large chamber. You can use Locate Spells to determine your exact position and hunt down the Shard if you have to, but it is located in the NW end of the long cavern. Once you've gotten the Shard you're going to have to exit back by the exact same path you came in, so it might be a good idea to draw some form of rough map when you're heading in (I had to). You may not be able to do exact reversals of your blinks. Since the Blink Spell can to be able to sense a clear grassy spot to transport you to, you will find it necessary to climb the smaller mountains on the way back and then blink, instead of blinking from the walls of the caverns. Experiment a little with gems and Blink Spells; if you can see a clear space with a gem, then you can blink to it. You will find at times you have to get closer to the spot you want to blink to to shift the map in memory over some. SHARD OF FALSEHOOD Janell/Lycaeum, Twin Sisters/Cove: "Shard of Falsehood below Dungeon Deceit. Path SW to a large system of caverns, then SW, at major intersection turn NW, soon branching NE. Long journey North, passage turns West, rocky hills to SW then NW. You'll come to a lake, cross the lake to a waterfall on the South shore and go over it. Over the great falls you'll find a larger lake, here on a small Isle lies the Shard of Falsehood." Using these directions and a gem everytime you come to an intersection will get you to the gem no problem. Now, the difficult part is of course getting back, because you can't follow the exact same path back due to the falls. Once you've found the Shard, go to the east side of the lake and use a gem. You'll see a passage off to the east that you can blink into. Blink into it and using the sketch of the trail you made while you were getting there (not absolutely necessary, but well-advised) you can find your way back to Deceit without much difficulty. SHARD OF HATRED Lord Michael/Empath Abbey, Sin'Vraal'/Hut in Eastern Desert: "Shard of Hatred lies at IA, IA in Underworld. Enter through dungeon by Lost Hope Bay." The Dungeon is Covetous and once again the directions seem to be goofed. My own calculations place the Shard at EK,IK in the Underworld (it is possible that Locate Spells function differently above and below ground...dunno). As a note, the Shard can also be reached easily from Wrong, but my directions will be from Covetous only. Upon working your way down through Covetous and exiting into the Underworld, once again it's a good idea to save the game there. Outside of the dungeon, head east until it turns south. You'll follow south for a long distance and then turn west. The path will then turn northwest. You'll come to a minor intersection, take the path to the left (the one on the right is a dead end). Following a little further you'll come to another intersection. Using a gem you'll find that the path rejoins itself and in the process circles around a mountain. You'll also notice that while most of the outside is tall mountains, in the center are rocky hills. With further examination you'll note a path of low mountains starting in the NorthWestern corner, heading east, and then turning south, west, north, and west once more before finally exiting into the small chamber in the middle (you will of course need the Grapple to follow this path). In the center of this chamber you'll find the Shard of Hatred. Retracing your path will return you to Covetous where you can exit back to Britannia again. DESTROYING SHADOWLORDS The most difficult part of killing the Shadowlords is obtaining their respective Shards. Once you've done this the hard part is over. Information on destroying a Shadowlord can be had from Sutek/Hut on Isle SSW of New Magincia. Once you have the appropriate Shard, find the corresponding Flame (Flame of Courage in Serpent's Hold, Flame of Truth in Lycaeum, Flame of Love in Empath Abbey). You will have to stand below the Flame and call out the name of the Shadowlord opposing that Flame (be careful to use the proper name). Upon doing this the Shadowlord will appear. You'll then have to Pass one turn, and the Shadowlord will move towards you; exactly over the Flame. At the moment, Use the appropriate Shard; you'll cast it into the Flame thereby destroying the Shadowlord. The names of the Shadowlords are: Shadowlord of Cowardice: "Nosfentor". Malone/Serpent's Hold. Shadowlord of Falsehood: "Faulinei". Shalineth/Lycaeum. Shadowlord of Hatred: "Astaroth". Lord Michael/Empath Abbey, Sin'vraal'/ Hut in NE Desert. LORD BRITISH'S CROWN The Crown is located in Lord Blackthorn's Castle on the Isle of the Volcano's. (Remember that from Ultima IV?). It's a short distance west of the Isle of the Avatar. I strongly advise you use the Flying Carpet when you go after the Crown. The Black Badge and Oppression Password will greatly ease your expedition through the castle. The Castle is 5 levels, including one sub-level. On the battlements, in the center of the castle you'll find a small room. Guarding it are two Daemons and two Gargoyles. Riding the Magic Carpet will give you enough speed to evade these guardians. You will need a Skull Key to open up the door (Magic Unlock will not work). Inside you'll find the Crown. Again the Carpet should give you enough speed to outrun the guardians when leaving. (Note: the Gargoyles appear completely invincible) LORD BRITISH'S AMULET The Amulet is located in the Underworld. To get it you'll have to enter the Underworld through the path that Lord British took. This information is included in ULTIMA5.DOC. Be sure to bring a few gems, and once again the Flying Carpet is very helpful. Enter the waterfall in SpiritWood (follow the coastline of Britannia south from Skara Brae till you come to a series of islands. From there follow the coastline in a skiff north until you come to a river, going under a bridge and eventually to the waterfall.). You'll end up in the Underworld in a small lake. Follow the river exiting the lake to the South. Go South at the first intersection (skipping the Eastern tributary, but remember the location; you'll be coming back). At the second intersection go West (skipping the south passage). At the third intersection it really doesn't matter which way you go. British's log says to go north, but no matter which path you take you'll end up in a large lake (note: you'll be returning by the Southern tributary so you may want to take that instead). On the South shore of the lake (towards the eastern end) you'll find a river exiting the lake which quickly divides into an east and west branch. Take the Western branch and continue over a couple waterfalls until you end up in a small lake with no other water exits. Leave your skiff in this lake and continue south through a small passage on land. The passage will turn east, then north. You'll pass through a couple caverns but always maintain an East/NorthEast path. Eventually you'll come to a massive cavern, with a river running through it and a lot of swamp territory. Head for the eastern side of the large cavern and use a couple gems to locate a passage heading NorthEast into another smaller cavern. There will be another path to the East from this into a second cavern which contains a number of dead bodies and the graves of Lord British's knights. In the center of all this is the Amulet. Once you have it, you'll want to exit back to the large cavern. You can't return by the exact same path due to the waterfalls. Riding the Flying Carpet follow the river out of the large cavern. After some traveling you'll come back to the large lake you passed about half the way back to the entrance. You will then want to go to the north shore of the lake. You can't take the river back that British came in on in the NW corner, but you can take the next one to the east (there are points here where you will have to use to Grapple to climb small mountains). Following the river north you'll come back to the third intersection from before. Head East. Continue East past the second intersection. You'll turn back North and eventually come to the first intersection. This time, instead of heading north (where you originally came from) go East. Follow the river a while, you'll go SE, pass a small island, turn South, pass another island, and finally go over a waterfall. After crossing the waterfall you'll be at an East-West intersection; take the Western branch. You'll go past one tunnel in the side of the river, a short distance later you'll see the second one--this is the one you want. After following it NW for a while you'll come to the Underground entrance of Destard (note: if you come to another river you've taken the first path by accident--go back and take the next tunnel south of it). You will then be able to fight your way up through Destard and back to Britannia. LORD BRITISH'S SCEPTRE The Sceptre is located in Stonegate; the Shadowlords' fortress in Britannia. Leaf/North Britanny, Sir Sean/Lycaeum: "Sail ship southernmost part of Lost Hope Bay. Travel skiff as far south as possible. Cross the mountains with the Grapple. You'll come to Stonegate Keep, Earthly domain of the Shadowlords, guarded by Balinor the Demon." Lost Hope Bay is just west of Minoc. The directions are pretty straightforward. Don't bother trying to enter Stonegate if you haven't first killed all of the Shadowlords; they'll all appear and kill you with little difficulty. Once you open the door (you'll need a Magic Unlock or Skull Key) you'll be greeted by Balinor. He'll ask you a riddle "What is as tall as a house, round as a cup, and all the King's horses can't draw it up?". The answer is of course "Well," but Balinor doesn't really care and will attack anyway. It shouldn't prove too difficult. The Sceptre is in the center of the Keep and quite simple to find. CODEX INFORMATION To obtain the information on how to free Lord British, you have to complete the 8 quests from the Shrines of Virtue. Go to each Shrine and meditate, using the proper Mantra: Compassion : MU Honesty : AHM Honor : SUMM Humility : LUM Justice : BEH Sacrifice : CAH Spirituality: OM Valour : RA (You might notice these are the same mantras from Ultima IV...(such creativity..)) You will be given a quest by the Shrine to go to the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom and then return to the Shrine and meditate again. You will receive good bonuses to your Avatar for this so it's a good idea to make all eight trips (my Avatar got two attacks to everyone else's one by the time I finished). On making the eighth and final trip you will receive a message from the Codex: "Beyond Shame's egress in the center of the Underworld there is a place of darkness. Beyond this darkness lies the gate of the core of the world. When thou art ready thou must call forth 'Veramocor' to unlock the gate and venture past ethereal wards and stealers of souls. That which the world lost awaits thy coming." SANDALWOOD BOX To complete the game you must have the Sandalwood Box. You can get all the way to where British is being held prisoner and it will do you no good whatsoever unless you bring the Box along. Information on the box itself can be had from Saduj/British's Castle, but information on how to find it comes from a separate source; Lord Kenneth/ Greyhaven. When you visit Lord Kenneth, he'll teach you how to play the harpsichord; you sit down in the chair in front of the instrument and any numbers you type during that time come out as notes. To find the Sandalwood Box, you must make your way to Lord British's room atop his Castle. In the corner is a harpsichord. You must play the music from "Stones" (British's favorite song, and incidentally the notes are included in the docs and are unavailable elsewhere I believe): 678 987 8767653. Upon doing this, a secret door in the room will slide open, revealing the Sandalwood Box. There's nothing you'll be able to use it for until you find British and give it to him. 5. Rescuing Lord British. First off, there is no way you will actually rescue Lord British without the following items: British's Amulet British's Crown (not required, but nearly impossible without) British's Sceptre (again not required but extremely difficult without) Flying Carpet Sandalwood Box Words to the Dungeons Shame and Doom You should have destroyed the Shadowlords by now. It is almost impossible to obtain British's Sceptre without having destroyed them, though I really don't know what will happen if you try to rescue British and the Shadowlords are still alive.. Go to the dungeon Shame (word: INFAMA), make your way down through it and into the Underworld (Shame: enter dungeon, take first left to ladder. Go down to level 7, find the secret door there. Past the door you'll find a room containing a couple ladders both ways. Take one down to level 8 and use a Down Spell to get into the Underworld). Once in the Underworld, use the Flying Carpet to fly east over the swamp (you can walk but why get poisoned?). Eventually the swamp will end and you'll come to a wall of mountains. Use a Blink Spell to teleport east over the mountains. You'll see a river to the east of you, ride the Flying Carpet over it to the large island in the center (you'll take some damage on the rough water in the middle of the river). Use a gem or two to get a good idea of the island, you're going to have to walk over one of the lava paths to get to the center of the island (which will show as all black on a view). Once again you're going to take more damage (by the time you make it all the way to the center you'll be pretty low). Before you enter the blackness in the center of the island, put on Lord British's Amulet; it will allow you find the Dungeon Doom in the center of the blackness. Walk around till you find the entrance. This is a really good place to save the game. You'll probably want to spend some time resting the party and using magic to regenerate hit points. Whatever you do though, make sure you have full magic points before you enter the dungeon. DON'T SAVE THE GAME once you've entered the dungeon; there is no exit to it, so if you're not strong enough to rescue British you will be permanently trapped. I suggest you put British's Crown on here also. Open the Dungeon Doom (word: VERAMOCOR) and enter. You'll find yourself in a room surrounded with energy fields. Use British's Sceptre to dispell them and exit the room in any direction (all 4 are the same). Take the first ladder down that you find. You'll find yourself in a corridor, don't take the ladder you see ahead of you; take the first left you can and go down the ladder you find to level 3. You'll be in a cross-shaped corridor with a loop in the SE corner. There are two secret doors in the SE corner, take either one and it will lead to a room with a ladder down, guarded by daemons and wisps behind more energy fields. If you're wearing the Crown they can't possess you. You can kill them all with a halberd before dispelling the fields and continuing down to level 4. The ladder continues down to level 5. You'll find yourself in a corridor shaped like a figure-8 with a room full of daemons at the meeting point. You shouldn't have to enter this room. Take the first (and only) grate leading upwards that you find, leading to level 4. You'll find yourself in a cross-shaped corridor. Move towards the center, you'll fall down through a trap door to level 5. If you use a gem you'll find this is an odd looking set of corridors, they are endlessly interconnected. Go east till you come to an intersection, then turn north and continue on till you find another grate leading up. Take it back to the 4th level. You'll find yourself in an east-west corridor. Turn east, then north at the turn. It'll end at a T-intersection. Turn east and move forward, you'll fall down another trap door. You'll be in a one-space room with a ladder down. Take it. On the 6th level there's only one direction to go, follow it until you come to a room. In it you'll find exits in every direction, but there's only one way to go since the room is divided by a river. There are about 3 serpents and another 3 giant squids. They shouldn't be too difficult to kill. If you can't do this, you probably shouldn't be in the dungeon yet. After exiting the room you'll find the corridor continues till you come to another ladder down to the 7th level. The ladder continues down after this, but you don't want to go any further. You'll be in a short corridor with ladders at either end and room in the center. This is possibly the nastiest room in the entire dungeon. It contains about 6 wisps, 6 sand traps, 2 daemons, and 2 dragons. You're going to need a lot of firepower. Tremors, Flame Winds, Poison Winds, Energy Cones, and other mass destruction spells are very helpful here, which is why you need all of your spell points and hit points when you enter. Once you've killed everything in the room, go through the treasure chest you'll find in the exact middle of the room; there's a ladder down underneath it. It leads down to another room full of nasties. This time around 4 dragons and 4 sea serpents. You best bet is to kill EVERYTHING in the room above. This is very difficult since some of the wisps are hidden behind rocks in the edges of the room. If you want to kill them all you'll need to remove the Crown for periods of time to allow the wisps to teleport. You'll probably also have some characters possessed so be ready to put them to Sleep or Charm them. Don't leave this room until you get the "VICTORY" message in battle. If you can get the VICTORY message you'll be able to exit the room and keep resting in the corridor until you have magic points to cast Vas Mani's on yourself (Great Heals). Once again don't stop until you have full magic and hit points; you'll need them. Re-entering the room, there will be no monsters waiting this time (if you destroyed ALL of them before). You can then take the ladder down (your chances are really low if you can't rest before you go down). You'll find yourself in the room with the dragons and serpents. There is no easily apparent exit; a river divides the room. Kill the dragons and serpents first, then get out a halberd and kill the mongbats that are hidden behind the northern wall. Once you've done this, the secret trigger to open a path across the water is next to the waterfall in the NW corner of the room, hit it with an arrow or more preferably magic axe. Exit the room to the west. Once again make sure you have a considerable amount of magic and hit points. On exiting the room you'll find a ladder going up to level 7. You'll find yourself in a room with Mongbats and a Reaper. They shouldn't prove too difficult to handle. There is an exit to the west, but don't take it. There are secret exits to the north and south. The triggers are in the NE and SE walls of the room on the eastern side. You can exit either north or south; it doesn't matter. Walk to the end of the corridor you find and you'll fall down a trap down to 8th level again (this is gonna continue a while). You'll be in a short east-west corridor, with a ladder up at the western end. Taking it up will put you in a C-shaped corridor. Go west from here, you'll fall down another trap door. This time, Klimb back up instead of moving around down there. Continue down the corridor as you were before you hit the trap, you'll have to turn when you get up, and after another two steps you'll fall down yet another trap door. I don't remember what's in this room, but one of the next two you encounter will have daemons and mongbats behind an energy field. As soon as you move, a lava field will surround the party and start doing damage. Dispell the field quickly and blast the mongbats with mass destruction spells. Getting out of the lava as quickly as possible is your most important goal. Anyways, you'll exit east out of this room into a corridor with a ladder leading up at the end once again to the 7th level. You'll enter another room filled with still more monsters. It shouldn't be too difficult. On exiting this room to the east once again you'll find a short corridor. At the end you'll fall down another trap door, but this time into Lord British's room. You'll be in a small study, with a mirror on the northern wall. There is a man moving around in it. Move your party in front of the mirror one by one and they will be absorbed by it. When everyone has been absorbed you will find yourself in a room with British. If you've brought along the Sandalwood Box, he will take it and the game is over. enjoy the ending...it's much better than Ultima IV's....and I guess we just have to wait for the next one now.... "it's a dream...that you must live.." (Styx) till the next time, The Mouser