Ultima IV: Shame

 

My wallet's getting full. Dispels are starting to run low. You know what that means.

Dispels need garlic and black pearls, and Paws sells both at their cheapest. I go, fill up, mix some, along with awakens, cures, undead turns, and some resurrects that I almost certainly do not need.

That depletes my mandrake, so I farm it in the fens just south, and mix up some iceballs with some of them.

After all that crafting I am out of ash and silk, and Moonglow sells both cheaply - I go there and fill up. This is enough to max out all of my spells except for the utterly pointless View.

I don't have a problem! You have a problem!

The dungeon Shame is quite close to Britain, buried in a hidden cove within the southern Serpent's Spine, reachable only by Blink (or perhaps balloon if you really want to futz with the wind, and I don't). Two unexplored regions are on either side of it, and I map those out.

I enter Shame.

Well, this is different! The entrance goes straight down to level 7.

I figure there has to be a hidden passage here, and sweep it thoroughly. There is!

The other side has a ladder that goes all the way up, but the stop on floor 4 has a secret exit.

Level 4

 

A plus-shaped formation of five encounter rooms connects the four arms of this floor. I go right first.

By far the worst thing here is lining up your party to exit south single file!

For some reason I have flashbacks to the Water Temple.

The right arm here has two orbs that deal 400 damage to the user and boost strength and intelligence, and two fountains that heal all damage.

Next I go south - I have to repeat the previous two rooms in reverse.

 

It's a direct corridor to the ladder up. 

Level 3

Two empty rooms flank the south ladder, and a fixed encounter room is at the junction in the middle.

 

I turn left and take the ladder up.

Level 2

Cool - there's the stone already!

There is also a ladder up surrounded by energy fields.

Level 1

 

Three encounter rooms in the middle.

A secret switch in the northeast alcove unlocks the north wall

This room is real annoying to navigate - the poison-filled passage is only wide enough for one person at a time, so you gotta put your spellcaster into position, and then skip everyone else's turn. Then case dispel on the first field. Then skip everyone else's turn. Then move your spellcaster south one tile. Then skip everyone else's turn. Repeat two more times - and the whole time the reaper on the other side is casting sleep on you and there's nothing you can do to stop it - Negate will negate your own spells too. If your spellcaster on point gets slept, you gotta wake him. If all of your spellcasters get slept, you gotta wait until one wakes up.

To the north,

Half of those chests are mimics.

Zorns here love standing on the tables, from where they can hit you, but you can't hit them.

During the scuffle, I accidentally tripped a switch that opens the north wall, where another shame ball is stashed.

I backtrack through the treasure room and the annoying passage and go right.

The notch opens up the outer cloister.

There's nothing else here except a damaging water fountain.

Three casts of Zdown takes me back to level 4 - somewhat luckily, right next to the healing fountains. I use them and go west at the four-way junction.

Did the rats kill him or are they just scavenging?

Level 5

 

This time you start in the four-way junction. No fixed encounters in the black rooms, though. I take the west ladder first.

Level 6

 

Both ladders go to the same place - a floor with an L-shape corridor and a ladder going down in the corner. A secret passage leads to piles of money.

And one lonely balron guarding it all.

 

Level 7

 

The way down is right in front of me, but I take the detour to the room in the southeast corner here first. 

The least annoying way to reach those chests? Have everyone but one party member leave off-screen immediately. Then you can have the last gather them solo without constantly making everyone else wait.

After you get them all, the way clears.

Level 8

The basement of Shame! That's what we call our own basement whenever we need to hide the trash there because our pickup bins are too full.

It's a roundabout path to the main junction room.

I can't see a way to enter the dragon corridor, but the walls south are false, so we slip through them.

 

Once again, the only way to progress here is through the fake walls south. Negate helps keep the Balron from putting everyone to sleep.

 

For the third time, we're in an alcove separate from the fracas and the only exit is false walls to the west.

A healing fountain and two shame orbs. I heal and turn around.

Same room but the entry point makes all the difference here. We fight our way up north through all three rooms.

A nook in the dragon room unlocks the way back, but I go north.

I turn left.

Perfect! I have the blue, green, and purple stones from Deceit, Wrong, Shame, plus the white stone, and can use them here.

No need to visit the other room - I already know it's the Altar of Courage, and I'm short one Valor stone.

I Xit out and go back home, where Katrina reaches level 7.

One last thing to do. Quite a long time ago, a mage in Trinsic told me to seek the purple stone. I've got it now - I go back to Trinsic and let her know.

Well, that was anticlimactic.

 

My world map - the main continent is pretty much complete now: