Hacki's Ultima Page - Ultima IX nitpicks in Britain

“Britain seems to have changed. They’re sending the sick people to Paws.”

Here you’ll find inaccuracies in Britannia’s capital Britain, its corresponding dungeon Despise, and the poisoned neighboring village of Paws in Ultima IX. Britain is actually a very nice town in this game. The houses look good, the atmosphere is quite OK, as long as you use your imagination and don’t listen to the dialogues. It’s just so much smaller than in Ultima VII. The absolute highlight is undoubtedly the guy screaming "Bring out your sick and poor". It reminds me of Monty Python every time I hear it. After the shrine’s cleansed, prepare for a crapload of schmaltz unmatched by anything else in the game when people cry about how evil they were.

Ignorance of predecessors (17)
Technical shortcomings (15)
General problems (13)

Ignorance of predecessors

In Ultima IV, the Avatar threw the Skull of Mondain into the lava-filled depths of the Stygian Abyss, which destroyed the Skull forever! (Which was later confirmed by Erethian in Forge of Virtue)
Even so, nothing lasts forever: In Ultima IX, the clean and polished skull lies in a showcase in the museum.
I personally don’t believe the museum pieces are just magical images or imitations.

(by Hacki Dragon)
The game insults your intelligence when you find Korghin’s Fang in the museum. An item from Pagan! From Pagan! How in the world did it make its way to Britannia? And why do the people know how it is related to the Avatar? Ahh, I know: the Guardian had been watching the Avatar on Pagan, right? And so he reported live to the people in Britannia:

The Avatar has beaten up a skeleton and found ten gold coins. Now he is running north... ahead, north. Oh god, a trap! But the Avatar has passed it and is now jumping across several platforms, nearly falling into an abyss!! I’ll report to you again tomorrow, with the next episode of the series “The pains of the Avatar”.

(by Hacki Dragon)
In the patch, it is said that the fang was found at a dead Wyrmguard’s body. This explains almost everything! One question remains: Why does the sign say that the Avatar once it used...? And why do the people in Britannia know that the fang is from Korghin?
Say, where are the Stones of Virtue from Ultima IV, which were kept found in the museum in Ultima VII and made great teleportation spells possible?
(by Hacki Dragon)
At the entrance of Despise, Blackthorn flees after being attacked by Raven with an ordinary knife. Well, in Ultima V, the evil lord was certainly more powerful: attacking him meant instant death guaranteed afterwards...
(by Hacki Dragon)
After he has talked to Aleena about the Isle of the Avatar, the Avatar writes into his journal:

“...according to legend, the Codex is located on the Isle of the Avatar. No one seems to know where that island is located, but at least it’s a start.”

Wow, hard to believe! Instead of acting as if he had never heard of the isle where he became the Avatar, destroyed the Black Gate, and did even more cool things, he should express his confusion about the fact the Isle of the Avatar has fallen into oblivion in his hilarious journal entries.
(This nitpick might be explained with the theory that involves the Avatar hurting his head in Pagan.)

(by Hacki Dragon)
The patch makers have shown some consideration with us unfortunate Ultima veterans and removed that stupid entry.
As we know, the teleport storms of Serpent Isle posed a big problem for Britannia, too. For example, the royal mint in Britain was replaced with an old lighthouse near Monitor. Nothing about that is mentioned in Ascension.
(by Lord Eternal Dragon)
Fortunately, the patch makers remembered the affair with the lighthouse. Precisely, the patch tells us that it is the lighthouse in the southwest of the Shrine of Compassion. In a book, we can read about how Britannia experienced those storms.
What’s the Talisman of Infinity doing in the museum? It was thrown into the void along with Exodus’ dark core in the Forge of Virtue... Oh, and the talisman should have the same shape as in Ultima VII, of course.

(by Tribun Dragon)
According to the dialogue patch, the amulet in the museum is actually just an ordinary Amulet of Turning.
The designers have taken things too far with Despise. It had always been a natural system of caves, but in Ultima IX, it seems that it was built by humans.
(Of course you could argue that the dungeon looks like that because Kiran had been living there for a while, but I bet the designers didn’t waste a thought on it.)
(by Tribun Dragon)
The museum has lost a number of items after Ultima VII, as for example: the statue of Lord British, the piano, Lord British’s gun, the bones of Zog, and the original Avatar Ankh. (Did I already tell you my opinion of the museum leaders?)
(by Angelo)
In the patch, the Skull of Mondain becomes the Bones of Zog. Two inaccuracies fixed at once.
The gun in the museum of Ultima VII makes you wonder why Lord British’s didn’t manufacture the item in mass production to arm his soldiers with proper weapons against the Wyrmguards. Perhaps he’s just paranoid in regards to certain weapon types. (see theory)
(by Artic Blaze Dragon)
The four cards from Ultima III should not be in the museum, because they disappeared in the Exodus machine, which would be destroyed at the end of the game.
(by Tribun Dragon)
The list of missing buildings in Britain is very long. What happened to the Music Hall and the Royal Theatre? What happened to culture in this town? Don’t tell me it’s the Column’s fault.
(by Artic Blaze Dragon)
The patch fixed this to some extent.
In Ultima IV, the Silver Horn could be used to drive daemons away... a good weapon. Makes you wonder why the Avatar can’t demand that they give it to him, because actually, it was discovered by the hero and belongs to him.
(In Ultima VII, there was a similar problem, but you could at least use the horn and try to pick it up.)
(by Tribun Dragon)
The entire commercial district of Britain has gone, and I thought they’d build a new mint. (By the way, where the heck is money produced now? That’s why they had a mint in Ultima VI and VII.) No way! Likewise, forget about the harbor buildings, the inn, and the stables.
(by Tribun Dragon)
What happened to the cellars of Lord British’s Castle or the canalization of Britain?
(see Remnants of the original Ultima IX)
(by Tribun Dragon)
The Avatar asks Lord British where Despise is located. Pagan sends its best!
(by Tribun Dragon)
The patch puts an end to such crap.
The Horn of Praecor Loth should be in the museum, no? After all, it was used by the Avatar to save the castle in Underworld II. (It’s strange because Altara’s Sceptre did it make into the museum...)
(by Tribun Dragon)

Technical shortcomings

Surprise: the Vortex Cube is no longer cube-shaped!

(by Hacki Dragon)
All of the Fellowship medallions had a triangle shape in Ultima VII. When you look at the medallion in the museum of Ultima IX, you’ll notice that the triangle is just engraved.

(by Hacki Dragon)
The path from Britain to Yew over Serpent Spine is blocked! A rock is only a few inches too high! Can’t the Avatar ask Lord British for a ladder, or better yet, making the rock disappear using his mind’s power, as seen later in the game? (see Lord British’s Castle)

(by Hacki Dragon)
Margery, the street cleaner, is supposed to be influenced by the Column, so that she approves Aidon’s policy. Bullshit! After the shrine’s cleansed, she is still cold-hearty!

(by Hacki Dragon)
The Vortex Cube does not only have a wrong shape, it also shimmers lately.
(by Tribun Dragon)
Did the Silverhorn shrink after being washed? It’s way too small - and looks like a post horn now.

(by Tribun Dragon)
The precious exhibits in the museum are not guarded well enough. Too hair-splitting? Don’t think so: Remember, the runes were stolen only because nobody had guarded them. This leads us to the following conclusion: The leaders of the museum are completely incompetent.
(by Tribun Dragon)
Are the city walls of Britain actually meaningful? If you must do it, then you can easily invade the town via a bordering hill!
(Maybe the budget had to be shortened due to the expensive war against the Guardian, and that’s why the walls could never be finished...)
(by Tribun Dragon)
This is one of the funniest inaccuracies in the whole game:
The runes were supposedly stolen years ago, but there are still pieces of broken glass on the floor!

(by Lord Eternal Dragon)
Where is the dead body of the Wyrmguard who was killed by Raven in the cutscene?

(by Tribun Dragon)
The intro video with the ascending column... it is totally meaningless! Where is this scene supposed to happen? Many say it’s the column of Britain, but the surroundings of the column look completely different in the game. I’d say: the video was just included so that the money used for its production would not have been wasted.
(by Hacki Dragon)
The bastion in Trinsic is not the only spooky building in Britannia. The museum in Britain is haunted by ghosts, too:
1. In the room with the tapestry, you hear hundreds of voices! More than the number of people in whole Britannia in Ultima IX is concerned.
2. When entering the room with the “portrait of an adventurer”, you are greeted with “Good day, Avatar”, but there is nobody there!
(by JBO Dragon)
Why has Iolo not moved away yet from his new house? If I were Iolo, I’d be annoyed by the huge Column next door and the dangerous hot lava.
(by Tribun Dragon)
The artists must have saved up tons of memory and disk space with “Ugh”, the troll found between Britain and Paws. That “troll”, to be precise, is just an enlarged goblin. Not to mention that trolls previously looked different, but it’s really very, very evil to stretch a monster in the engine and present it as a new race.
(by Tribun Dragon)
In Britain, there are chickens, pigs, and goats running across the streets, completely out of control. The once glorious capital has gone to rack and ruin...
(by Tribun Dragon)

General problems

Altomar told you that Nico went to Cove to search for his brother in the first place. However, this plot thread is completely forgotten once you lifted the secret and get back to Britain.
(by Hacki Dragon)
The patch uses Altomar’s dialogue for more important lines.
Amoranth tells the Avatar that the Lycaeum and Empath Abbey are destroyed. Straightly, three things disturb me here:
1. The Lycaeum still stands, doesn’t it? (Or is it a new one? The game tells you nothing!)
2. The Avatar asks what the Lycaeum is! (see certain Pagan theory)
3. The Avatar wonders what the Lycaeum could be, but he apparently knows about Empath Abbey.
(by Hacki Dragon)
1, 2, and 3 do no longer appear in the dialogue patch.
Why did Gwenno not explore the dungeon Despise by herself, considering she was so worried about her husband? She had to fight in dungeons before, didn’t she? Once, she even dared a trip to distant Serpent Isle all alone!

(by Hacki Dragon)
The dialogue patch reveals: Gwenno had to promise Iolo never to put herself into danger again.
After being freed from the Guardian’s influence, Iolo enjoys the sweet life in his hut with woman and song. (Obviously, he intends to adapt Mandrake’s way of Virtue... see Ultima VI) Doesn’t he feel like joining the Avatar’s adventure again? In Ultima VII, you even hurt his feelings when you tried to throw him out of the party!

(by Hacki Dragon)
Why actually has Aidon compassion with Meribeth when he searches for her in Paws? And why does Joe the cripple rescue the mayor? Does the Column no longer work?
(Maybe the Column lost sufficient influence after the Avatar had taken the glyph out of it, so that some could escape its grip. Well, that’s by all means possible, but unfortunately, the designers did not think of such a solution and just ignored the problem...)
(by Hacki Dragon)
In Aidon’s house, the Avatar uncovers (using Ethereal Sight) that Killigan works for Blackthorn. You can confront Killigan with the secret letter, but you can’t talk to Aidon about it!
(by Lord Eternal Dragon)
If 20 years have passed since the Columns appeared, then we should no longer see the farmer’s corpse and the cart from the intro video in the game (near the Column). The corpse must have been rotten by now. The cart? Destroyed, stolen, or whatever. Probably rotten, too.
(by Tribun Dragon)
This one really needs to be added to the list. It’s an Avatar quote:

“How do I get to Paws?”

You know, these are the times when you not only think that the Avatar’s brain suffered damage in Pagan, but you also get the impression that the designers themselves hit their heads.
(by Dino the Dark Dragon)
Why does the mayor keep the secret of the Heart of Compassion from the Avatar? It’s completely worthless for him, isn’t it? Actually, there’s no reason for him to keep the seal.
(by Tribun Dragon)
The mighty Avatar can’t even get a corpse off himself, although he can wear heavy plated armour...
(by Miguel Nollet)
The swamp of Paws is contaminated and poisoned. How in the world can a windmill with a valve produce clean water there? Only a modern sewage plant would be capable of cleaning such dirty water... Soon, everyone in Paws is going to die of poisoning.
(by Tribun Dragon)
When you tell Iolo in Despise that he’s a liar and not Iolo, and kill him afterwards, the Avatar still writes into his journal that he met an old companion, and he even tells Gwenno that he had to kill him! Now that’s hard! I guess an Avatar needs to follow different ethical rules...
(by Dennis Dragon)