Editing Ultima (series) (section)

==Common elements==
===Setting===
Originally, the world of ''Ultima'' was made up of four continents. These were Lord British's Realm, ruled by Lord British and the Lost King; The Lands of Danger and Despair, ruled by Lord Shamino and the King of the White Dragon; The Lands of the Dark Unknown, ruled by Lord Olympus and the King of the Black Dragon; and The Lands of the Feudal Lords, ruled by the lords of Castle Rondorin and Castle Barataria.

After the defeat of Mondain and the shattering of his Gem of Immortality in ''Ultima&nbsp;I'', there was a cataclysm that changed the structure of the world. Three of the four continents seemingly disappeared, leaving only Lord British's realm in the world. This remaining continent was referred from then on as "Sosaria". The Lands of Danger and Despair were later rediscovered as the Serpent Isle, which had been moved to a different dimension or plane, so it seems likely that the other two continents still exist. ''Ultima&nbsp;II'' shows Castle Barataria on Planet X, suggesting that the Lands of the Feudal Lords became this planet; ''Ultima Online: Samurai Empire'' posits that the Lands of the Feudal Lords was transformed into the Tokuno Islands by the cataclysm.

After the defeat of Exodus in ''Ultima&nbsp;III'', Sosaria became Britannia in order to honor its ruler, Lord British. Serpent Isle remained connected with Britannia via a gate in the polar region. The Fellowship leader, Batlin, fled here after the Black Gate was destroyed in ''Ultima&nbsp;VII'', preventing the Guardian's first invasion. Ninety percent of the island's population was destroyed by evil Banes released by Batlin in a foolish attempt to capture them for his own use in ''Ultima&nbsp;VII Part 2''.

===Virtues===
[[Image:Virtuegump max.jpg|thumb|The Virtues [[Paper doll (gaming)|Paper doll]] interface Symbol in ''[[Ultima Online]]'']]
In Ultima, the player takes the role of [[Avatar (Ultima)|the Avatar]], who embodies eight virtues. First introduced in [[Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar|Ultima&nbsp;IV]], the Three Principles and the Eight Virtues marked a reinvention of the game focus from a traditional role-playing model into an ethically framed one.<ref name = "U9PrimaGuide">{{cite book | last = McCubbin | first = Chris and [[David Ladyman]] | title = Prima's Official Guide to Ultima Ascension | publisher = [[Prima Publishing]] | location = Rocklin, CA | year = 1999 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/ultimaix00inci/page/254 254–264] | isbn = 0-7615-1585-2 | url = https://archive.org/details/ultimaix00inci/page/254 }}</ref> Each virtue is associated with a party member, one of Britannia's cities, and one of the eight other planets in Britannia's solar system. Each virtue also has a mantra and each principle a word of power that the player must learn. The Eight Virtues explored in ''Ultima'' are Honesty, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, Spirituality, and Humility. These Eight Virtues are based on the Three Principles of Truth, Love, and Courage. The Principles are derived from the One True Axiom, the combination of all Truth, all Love, and all Courage, which is Infinity.<ref name="U9PrimaGuide"/><ref name="ferrell198901">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1989-01-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_104_1989_Jan#page/n17/mode/2up | title=Dungeon Delving with Richard Garriott | work=Compute! | date=January 1989 | access-date=10 November 2013 | author=Ferrell, Keith | pages=16}}</ref>

The virtues were first introduced in ''[[Ultima&nbsp;IV: Quest of the Avatar]]'' (1985), where the goal of the game is to practice them and become a moral exemplar. Virtues and their variations are present in all later installments. Richard Garriott's motives in designing the virtue system were to build on the fact that games were provoking thought in the player, even unintentionally. As a designer, he "wasn't interested in teaching any specific lesson; instead, his next game would be about making people think about the consequences of their actions."<ref>{{cite book|author = Brad King and John Borland | title = Dungeons and Dreamers | publisher= McGraw-Hill/Osborne | year = 2003}}, cited in {{cite book |last=Howard |first= Jeff |title= Quests: Design, Theory, and History in Games and Narratives |url=https://archive.org/details/questsdesigntheo00howa |url-access=limited | date= 2008-09-01 |publisher=A K Peters/CRC Press |isbn=978-1-56881-347-9 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/questsdesigntheo00howa/page/n30 16], 21, 30–36, 58}}</ref> The original virtue system in Ultima was partially inspired by the 16 ways of purification ([[Sanskara (rite of passage)|sanskara]]) and character traits ([[Samskara (Indian philosophy)|samskara]]) which lead to Avatarhood in Hinduism.<ref name = "U9PrimaGuide"/><ref name = "TOBoU">{{cite book |last = Addams | first = Shay | title = The Official Book of Ultima | publisher = COMPUTE Books | location = Greensboro, NC | year = 1990 | page = 254 | isbn = 0-87455-228-1}}</ref> He also drew on his interpretation of characters from ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'', with the [[Scarecrow (Oz)|Scarecrow]] representing truth, the [[Tin Woodsman]] representing love, and the [[Cowardly Lion]] representing courage.<ref name = "CGW">{{Cite magazine | date = March 1986 | magazine = [[Computer Gaming World]] | title = Inside Ultima&nbsp;IV | pages = 18–21 }}</ref>

[[File:Ultima_codex_symbol.svg|thumb|Annotated approximation of the Codex symbol &ndash; the virtues (numbered) are associated with the principles (italics in shaded circles) they touch]]

The Virtues have become a frequent theme in the Ultima games following ''[[Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar|Ultima&nbsp;IV]]'', with many different variants used throughout the series. ''[[Ultima&nbsp;V: Warriors of Destiny]]'' saw Lord Blackthorn turn the virtue system into a rigid and draconian set of laws.<ref>[http://www.uoguide.com/Virtues#Lord_Blackthorn.27s_Code_of_Virtues Lord Blackthorn's Code of Virtues]</ref> The rigid system of Blackthorn unintentionally causes the Virtues to actually achieve their polar opposites, in part due to the influence of the Shadowlords. This shows that the Virtues always come from one's own self, and that codifying ethics into law does not automatically make evil people good.<ref name = "U9PrimaGuide"/> ''[[Ultima&nbsp;VI: The False Prophet]]'' confronted the Avatar with the fact that, from another point of view, the Avatar's quests for Virtue may not appear virtuous at all, presenting an alternative set of virtues.<ref>See "[http://codex.ultimaaiera.com/wiki/Gargish_Virtues Gargish Virtues] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505055729/http://codex.ultimaaiera.com/wiki/Gargish_Virtues |date=2011-05-05 }}" at the Ultima Codex</ref> In ''[[Ultima VII: The Black Gate|Ultima&nbsp;VII]]'', an order known as the Fellowship displaced the Virtues with its own seemingly benevolent belief system, casting Britannia into disarray; and in ''[[Ultima IX: Ascension|Ultima&nbsp;IX]]'', the Virtues had been inverted into their opposite anti-virtues.

Ultima's virtue system was considered a new frontier in game design,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kline |first1= Stephen |last2=Dyer-Witherford |first2=Nick |last3=De Peuter |first3=Greig |title=Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture and Marketing | date= 2003-07-31 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-2591-7 |pages= 160–162}}</ref> and has become "an industry standard, especially within role-playing games."<ref name="halosandavatars">{{cite book |editor= Craig Detweiler |last= Hayse |first= Mark |title= Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games With God |chapter= Ultima&nbsp;IV: Simulating the Religious Guest |date= 2010-01-01 |publisher= Westminster John Knox Press |isbn= 978-0-664-23277-1 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/halosavatarsplay0000detw/page/34 34–46] |chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/halosavatarsplay0000detw/page/34 }}</ref> The original system from ''Ultima&nbsp;IV'' has influenced moral systems in games such as ''[[Black & White (video game)|Black & White]]'', ''[[Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic]]'' and the ''[[Fable (video game series)|Fable]]'' series.<ref name="halosandavatars"/><ref name="videogamesandeducation">{{cite book |last = Brown |first= Harry |title= Videogames and Education |url = https://archive.org/details/videogameseducat00brow |url-access = limited |date= 2008-09-01 |publisher= M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-1997-6 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/videogameseducat00brow/page/n106 82], 88–90}}</ref> However, Ultima can only be won by being virtuous, while other games typically offer a choice to be vicious.<ref name="videogamesandeducation"/> Mark Hayse specifically praises Ultima's virtue system for its subtlety. The game emphasizes the importance of virtue, but leaves the practice ambiguous with no explicit point values and limited guidance. This makes the virtue system more of a "philosophical journey" than an ordinary game puzzle.<ref name="halosandavatars"/>

===Characters===
{{Main|List of Ultima characters}}
===Artificial scripts and language===
[[File:Britannian runes.png|thumb|Britannian runes, loosely based on the [[Elder Futhark]], and their Latin equivalents]]
The ''Ultima'' series of computer games employed several different [[artificial script]]s. The people of Britannia, the fantasy world where the games are set, speak English, and most of the day-to-day things are written in Latin alphabet. However, there still are other scripts, which are used by tradition.

Britannian [[rune]]s are the most commonly seen script. In many of the games of the series, most signs are written in runic. The runes are based on [[Runic alphabet|Germanic runes]], but closer to Dwarven runes in Tolkien's ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', which creator Richard Garriott has stated he has read. They gained steadier use since ''[[Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny|Ultima&nbsp;V]]'', which was the first game in the series to use a runic font for in-game signs. Runes in earlier games were mostly found in hard copy materials, such as maps and the decorative covers of booklets. Runes appear less in ''[[Ultima VII: The Black Gate|Ultima&nbsp;VII]]'' and in later games.

Gargish is the language of the gargoyles of Britannia and the language used in spellcasting within the game. Unlike the runic script, which is usually used simply as a visual cipher for English, the Gargish script encodes a genuine [[constructed language]], based on (but expanding greatly upon) the magical words of power that first saw use in ''[[Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny|Ultima&nbsp;V]]'', as well as the mantras for each of the Shrines of Virtue, which had remained consistent since ''[[Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar|Ultima&nbsp;IV]]''. The lexicon mostly comprises deformed or truncated Latinate stems (''flam'' "fire" ← Latin ''flamma''; ''lap'' "stone" ← Latin ''lapis''; ''leg'' "to read" ← Latin ''legō''), but other origins are also apparent (''uis'' "wisdom" ← English ''wise''; ''kas'' "helmet" ← French ''casque''). But the grammar is ''de novo'' and bears little resemblance to Latin, being largely [[Analytic language|analytic]] in structure instead. Gargish uses suffixes to denote [[grammatical tense]] and [[grammatical aspect|aspect]], and also in some forms of [[Derivation (linguistics)|derivation]]. The Gargish alphabet is featured in ''[[Ultima VI: The False Prophet|Ultima&nbsp;VI]]'', though it is seen only in specific game contexts. ''[[Ultima VII: The Black Gate|Ultima&nbsp;VII]]'' and onward does not feature anything written in the alphabet, with the sole exception of some books to be found in the gargoyle colony in the underwater city of Ambrosia in ''[[Ultima IX: Ascension|Ultima&nbsp;IX]]''. The Gargish language and alphabet were designed by Herman Miller.

The Ophidian alphabet, featured in ''[[Ultima VII|Ultima&nbsp;VII Part Two: Serpent Isle]]'', was used by the Ophidian civilization that inhabited the Serpent Isle. It is based on various snake forms. Ophidian lettering was quite difficult to read, so the game included a ''Translation'' spell that made the letters look like Latin letters.