This has certainly been a long journey. Confined to Pagan the Avatar does now seek all the elements so he can defeat the Guardian and try to return to his home world.



Deep inside the Pit of Death I find the heart of Lithos which is used as the earth element. Returning to Argent Rock Isle I retrieve the Breath of Wind which is the air element. The last element is hidden in the castle in Tenebrae. Devon found it in his fishing net when fishing one day. The Tear of Seas.

Now with all the elements I head back to speak to Mythran. He teaches me Ethereal Travel which enables me to travel to the Ethereal Void. Read More...

Things starting to warm up here. I can feel Pyros is close. I have now ventured deep into the Obsidian fortress where I’m presented with 4 trials where I need to recover a symbol from each.

I’m warmly welcomed by a mage who is worried I will steal his secrets. He’s right :)



There certainly are some strange things inside here. I’m attacked by children. They look possessed. Nothing the my magic sword can’t handle.
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This seems to be plodding along very slowly. It's a really hassle each time to create a spell. I’ve managed to become a candidate by helping Bane destroy Vardion. Malchir was not too pleased.




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I think I’ve blown my chance to find the secret ghost armor. Jenna is mad at me and there is no way to continue the sub plot. Doh!

Back to the main quest. My next challenge was to find Hydros, Titan of water. The location was not too clear. Carthax lake was mentioned. I eventually found it.



Over a dry crater I climb bridges hanging high in the air, Hydros is trapped in a small pool of water. She asks me to set her free and I agree.
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The plot thickens as they say. After activating my foci and discovering who really stole the focus from Xavier I made my way to windy point to speak with Stratos.



I confront Torwin and he confesses all. He then jumps off the edge, great another dead body. Doh! I then make the leap of faith myself and with the help of Stratos I make it to a ledge.


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After my non productive day I finally stumbled onto the path again. There is a door on the eastern edge of the UpperCatacombs that opens to another level above. Here I found a door and using the key given to me by Vividos this led me to Argentrock Isle.



As I cross the bridge a wind picks up. I’m in the domain of Stratos, titan of the air. I come across a city where I meet a mage called Xavier. I ask him for enlightenment, he tests me. Failing the first time I head over to the library and start reading the books there.

The second time around there is no doubt in my mind. He then asks me to take the Centreness test. I make my way over to windy point and climb up.
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Well, a bit of a non-productive day. I find with Ultima VIII there are moments when you have no idea where to go or continue the plot. Today was one of those days.

The clue to go on was I need to find the three remaining titans and take the power from them. Two on the surface and one underground, thats pretty broad.

In the end I have to head back to the upper-catacombs and use the skull of quakes to find the teleporter.



I still need to find more obsidians in order to purchase the next scroll from Mythran. Lets hope I get some drops. I’m thinking I will have to continue up because I’ve been everywhere else. Lets see where the path leads me.

Just thought I would show you my setup. Mac Pro Quad Core 2,8ghz with a Roland MT-32 and SC-55 MKII running under DOSBOX. Ultima VIII sounds absolutely amazing now. Ultima VIII was written for the Roland SC-55 and general midi.

I managed to find a cool website dedicated to the music of the Ultima series. The Rabbit’s Lair. Here is a sample of the Roland SC-55 in action. The music from the Zealans.

What a day. I stumbled across a site that mentioned that they were given access to old Origin Systems data and that they had found a tape labeled U8-Project Archive. I instantly though of the Lost Vale expansion. This was all in vain as doing a little research and speaking to the people involved it turned out the tape was only full of images and press material, no Lost Vale Source code. Looks like its lost forever.

Back to the blogging...After meeting the Mountain King I head back to the cemetery and inter Lothien.



Her remains are present and the ceremony begins. The Mountain King speaks and the body is taken back to the earth. My next job is to try and free Devon. He was taken by Mordea’s guards and thrown into jail. After speaking with him I need to locate the information Bentic was compiling before he was killed. It sounds like he was in over his neck.
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Well this is certainly getting interesting. After spending a load of time in the dungeons I finally made my way to Stone Cove where I found a patch of earth to create the earth Golem the necromancer told me about.



The Golem opened the doors with ease. As I wander in the doors close shut behind me. This is the Hall of the Mountain King. I have to locate him.


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Today has been a great day. I did get sort of stuck in Tenebrae earlier. It took me a while to find the plot path again. I needed to locate the necromancer in the graveyard out of town. Following the road to the East I find the graveyard.



Vividos is found walking outside. He explains to me the ceremonial dagger has been taken and that I need to recover it so he can finish the ceremony. I go back to the castle and try and break in to Mordea’s room. I manage to get half way. I speak to Aramina and she tells me to meet her at bloodwatch.


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I don’t know why everyone slagged off Ultima VIII so much? I think its great. Day two and I’m finally starting to get a path and work out how it all works.



I found out the use of the teleport pads. Very cool. Makes it easier to get around Pagan. Not that its that big :) I have not found the keyring yet but I’m sure its close.


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A shame to see the end of Ultima VII Part Two but also I was hanging out to play Ultima VIII. Back in 1995 when it was released I only played it a little and did not get really far before ditching it for something else. Maybe because I did not have a decent computer to run it.




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