The Lost Vale discussion (Ultima VIII)

[Kobra_Kai]

Hello, Ultima fellows.

I'm using this thread to discuss anything related to The Lost Vale
(lost expansion of Ultima VIII). This first message contains some
information acquired from the internet, as well as some personal
comments.

Main sources:

PC Games That Werent (pcGTW):
http://pcgtw.retro-net.de/index.php?id=games:lostvale

Dino's Ultima Page:
http://gigi.nullneuron.net/ultima/u8/u8tlv.php

Prologue:

- Lithos and Hydros combined their powers to imprison the Zealans in
the Lost Vale during the Second Epoch.
- Lithos commanded the walls of the valley to rise, "entombing" most
of the Zealan population.
- Hydros withdrew from the Zealans lands, thus removing her waters
from their reach.
- The tragic death of two boys caused a schism between two Zealan
tribes. One tribe blamed each other for the deaths.
- They have not talked to each other for about ten years.

Plot:

- Somehow, the Avatar manages to pass through the double-doors on the
Plateau. They led him to the Lost Vale.
- One of the tribes sends the Avatar to find a flower which is
supposed to be a remedy for a sick villager.
- The flower had actually a deadly poison. The Avatar gets poisoned
and have a time limit to find the antidote.
- The person who had sent the Avatar to this trap did so because his/
her tribe thought him as a spy for the other side.
- Somehow, the Avatar realizes he needs to awaken the three Lost
Ancient Gods of Emotion: Felicitar, Doloras and Timyra to end the
schism between the Zealans.
- Somehow, the Avatar discovers that the three lost gods are supposed
to be in the Cloud City.
- Somehow, the Avatar manages to ascend to the Cloud City, which seems
to be uninhabited, but with plenty of traps.
- The Avatar discovers that the Lost Ancient Gods were not actually
slumbering, but imprisoned by a unknown force.
- The Avatar finds two halves of the Ancient Ceremonial Shield which
is supposed to be a sort of permit to communicate with the trapped
gods.
- Somehow, the Avatar manages to bind the two pieces together and
reform the Zealan Ceremonial Shield.
- It is the Avatar's mission to release the forgotten gods, help the
Zealans to regain their sanity and cure himself from the deadly
poison.

Places:

- The Sunken Ship (unconfirmed source) or The Sunken Lands.
- The Cloud City.
- Vengeance Bay (maybe).

Features:

- Tiny-tar spell: Self-cast miniaturization spell. Essential to the
plot, since the Avatar is supposed to enter in a ruined temple through
a crack in the wall.
- Bag of Reagents: A never-ending source of supplies for spell
casting.
- New enemies: Water-zombies and Harpies.
- Increased stats.
- Three forgotten gods of Emotions: Felicitar (left) rules joy,
Doloras (right) rules grief and Timyra (behind) rules fear.
- Another Zealan Ceremonial Shield (Sun for Felicitar, Eclipse for
Doloras and Tear for Timyra).

Trivia:

- The Cloud City is considerably brighter than the other places in
Pagan, since it is situated nearer to the Sun.
- One of the Zealan tribes talks like Yoda from the Star Wars movie.

Personal comments:

- Khumash-Gor was suppposedly killed by a poisoned blade. The Avatar
is also poisoned during his quest.
- Khumash-Gor succeeds in unifying the Zealan warring tribes. The
Avatar's mission is similar to Khumash-Gor's in a smaller scale. The
trapped gods must have been the key to Gor's success.
- The Avatar had already been deadly poisoned in Serpent Isle. He was
cured by Harnna with Varo leaves.
- The lost Zealan Ceremonial Shield has been split into two halves.
Since it's made of wrought metal, it needs to be remade by a Zealan
with ability to work with metal. Korick is not a Zealan, but, even
though he fears the Titans and their followers, he believes in the
Ancient Ones. He is the appropriate man to do this job.
- The sea has increased ten-fold after the war against the Destroyer.
Since Lithos created great walls and Hydros removed the waters from
the Zealans' reach, it's presumable that those waters filled the sea
around Mt. Morgaelin. It may also imply that the Lost Vale is located
bellow sea level.
- The symbol of Felicitar is the Sun. How can one have Joy without
seeing the light of the day in Pagan? Interesting point.
- It was interesting that The Lost Vale had a time limit attached to
it. In a world that time seemed to be stopped (without day and night),
the Avatar was the only one who expected a bit more than just pass the
time and then serve the Mountain King and the such.

In addition:

- An unconfirmed source (legends claim that it is Richard Garriott
himself) tells that the Guardian was supposed to be the 7th Zealan
deity which ruled leadership (was Khumash-Gor his follower or his
enemy?).
- (just my opinion) In the Cloud City, there are 7 pillars around one
obelisk. 7 pillars for 7 gods? Coincidence?
- He also tells that the imprisoned gods are in this situation because
they were tricked by the other three, led by the Guardian.
- (just my opinion) After that, Love overwhelmed Joy, Hate overwhelmed
Grief and Apathy overwhelmed Fear.
- (just my opinion) Love without Joy (something like greed), Hate
without Grief (something like wrath) and Apathy without Fear
(something like grimness) led the population to disaster.
- The Guardian took advantage of this situation and used the Elements
and Titans trick both Pagans and Zealans.
- (from the official story) People didn't care about killing their own
family just in the name of their, let's say, religions.
- The Guardian would then be the only god left, worshiped by all
Pagans.
- (just my opinion) With the dark clouds, the Guardian, the Titans and
their followers have not only hidden the Sun, but the Cloud City and
the trapped gods as well.

I'll try to post some thoughts on this topic later. This message is
already long enough for today.

- Kobra Kai Dragon