Ultima IV: Buccaneer's Den

Exploring the Inlet of Honor

 

The remaining uncharted world is divided into two ocean regions; a small region west of Cape of Heroes, and almost the entire Britannian gulf east of it. I finish exploring this smaller region first.

Stopping at Skara Brae for more wind-changing reagents - Ash & Moss

The Cove of Shame - sailing here is pretty complicated

Nothing new of note is here, so I sail around to the other side and explore the gulf.

This is mostly open ocean, and not terribly interesting to see.

I am seeing this a lot.

There's also a fair amount of this.

 

But there are important things here.

 

Eventually, I spot an inhabited island, about four screens east-southeast of Paws.

 

Finally, Buccaneer's Den! I don't think the game gives any clues about its location. An imprisoned Reaper in Lord British's castle mentioned it, and alluded to a destructive artifact here which I assume must be Mondain's skull, but apart from that I don't know how you're supposed to actually find Buccaneer's Den other than lawnmowing the sea as I did.

• Serpents swim in the moat here and will attack if you get close. But they would not be threatening to any party capable of reaching this place.
• The guards at the bridge are rude.
  
  
  
• A number of generic sailors are seen drinking in the tavern, with nothing interesting to say. Their captain, Silver John, brags that they are pirates and love to pillage and burn. There is also a ranger here named Ragnar who seems important.
  
• A tinker here, Dancek, tells me that he most likely made the cannons on my ship. He's probably right, considering that every ship in the game is crewed by pirates.
  
• The bartender offers information about Mondain's skull, but it takes more than $100 to get him to talk. He tells me to ask the beggar Jude if I must know.
• A sorceress hiding in the woods behind the tavern tells me that sleep spells require just one silk, but I knew that already. 
• The wizard on the island tells me how to mix magic missiles - one part black pearl, one part ash. Again, I knew that already.
  
• In the meadow north of the main road, a merchant Marsor tells me he makes his own wine on an island to the northeast.
• The wizard Ignap warns me not to enter the woods, for it will seal my doom. I go anyway.
• The woods leads behind a building, where I dispel a magic field, and immediately fight a balron. After beating him, I can enter the building - a magic shop, where black pearls are incredibly cheap at $1 each, and everything else is more expensive than in other shops. I fill up on black pearls, though I don't really need to.
  
• The troll outside the east building attacks when spoken to.
• A thief inside the building claims inside information on the dungeons, but doesn't respond to the names of any of them.
• The thieves' guild sells the same gear as Vesper.
• The pirate quartermaster "Green Beard" hopes to buy magic plate, but the armour shop sells nothing special - just cloth, leather, and chain mail.
• The arms shop, on the other hand, sells three weapons not seen before - flaming oils, magic bows, and magic wands! Magic wands are quite expensive at $5000 each, and your wallet holds just one dollar short of $10,000, but by selling one of my rarely used magic swords I can afford two which go to myself and Jaana. This leaves nothing for magic bows, which cost $2000 each.
• In the woods to the south, a cowering man "Sniflet" offers me information, but only if I promise to use it for good.
  
  Not real useful, since the only thing the balloon is good for is escaping Hylothe, but notice how he spells it "Hythloth." Ultima is anything but consistent about how things are spelled.
  
• I go back to the thief and ask about "Hythloth."

  

  Knew that long ago, but thanks!
  

  
  

I leave Buccaneer's Den and finish mapping the gulf.

'Bye Magincia.

Marsor's vineyard. There's nothing here - I checked.

 

After mapping out the last square of ocean, Moonglow is about six screen-lengths to the west. I started my quest there, and I have some long outstanding business there.

Remaining goals:

• Ask Jude about Mondain's skull
  
• Find the Rune of Honesty
• Meditate at the shrines of honesty, compassion, and valor to learn how to enter the abyss 
  
• Become an Avatar
• Paws: Get mystic arms from Sir Simon and Lady Tessa
• Learn the Word of Passage
• Learn the Pure Axiom
  

 

My world map: