Ultima VII, Part 3:
Return to Serpent Isle
Exult Mod

COMING ATTRACTIONS
Ultima VII, Part 2: Serpent Isle Carries Award-Winning Saga Into a Second Decade of Fantasy Adventure
OVERVIEW
   Ultima VII, Part 2: Serpent Isle is the thrilling sequel to ORIGIN's award-winning Ultima VII: The Black Gate. You begin this chapter in the Ultima saga trapped in Britannia by the same circumstances that thwarted the Guardian in Ultima VII: The Black Gate. Eighteen months have passed since your seeming victory but you find yourself in a world strangely out of balance: A wave of terrible magic storms is sweeping the world; a strange sickness plagues the Gargoyles and the Emps -- a sickness that will surely spread to humans if you don't find a way to stop it; and then there's the matter of the Fellowship, whose leader, Batlin, fled from justice at the end of Ultima VII.
   The solution to these problems can be found on the legendary Serpent Isle, reached by sailing through the mysterious Serpent Pillars in the Britannian Ocean. As you explore the new land in search of a way to end the threat to your world and countless others, you discover a grave imbalance between the forces of Order and Chaos -- the root cause of Britannia's troubles. But before you can balance the cosmic scales, you must piece together the strange and fascinating history of the ancient people of this mysterious isle.
   Can you defeat the Banes of Chaos and Order before imbalance destroys the world? Can you stop Batlin's plan to transform himself into an all-powerful Titan capable of wreaking vengeance upon those who thwarted him in Britannia? It's a race against time, and it's up to you to restore Balance to the Serpent Isle -- and all of Britannia!
LINKS TO THE PAST 
   Ultima VII, Part 2: Serpent Isle draws inspiration from over ten years of Ultima games and thousands of years of Britannian history. The exciting new story line is built upon events that took place in the distant past of Lord British's magical realm:
The First Age
   In the First Age (recounted in Ultima I), the world was divided into four continents -- the Lands of Lord British (also known as Sosaria, and later Britannia), the Lands of the Feudal Lords, the Lands of the Dark Unknown, and the Lands of Danger & Despair.
   Following the defeat of the evil wizard Mondain, the face of the world was revised. Only the lands of Lord British remained, so far as the inhabitants of Sosaria/Britannia could discover -- the other continents had disappeared or been removed.
   In reality, the defeat of Mondain warped the world in such a way that each of the four continents was wrapped within its own dimensional cloak. The only way to travel between the continents  was to sail through the Serpent Pillars, which appear only on certain nights when the moons are in position.
   The world in ORIGIN's latest Ultima saga Ultima VII, Part 2: Serpent Isle is, in reality, the continent previously known as the Lands of Danger & Despair. It received its new name due to changes which occurred since Ultima I.
Shamino's Past
   In the days of Ultima I, Shamino ruled a kingdom in the Lands of Danger & Despair. He was visiting Lord British when Mondain was defeated, and the subsequent changes in the world made it impossible for him to return to his subjects. Consequently, he stayed with Lord British and became his faithful friend.
   Because Shamino formerly inhabited the Serpent Isle, he can act as a guide to the local geography. Much of his information will be useful ("These mountains extend all the way to the north"), some of it is dated ("This forest was once a swamp"), and a little is useless ("A wench named Blyte lived here, centuries ago ...").
   The castle which once belonged to Shamino now lies in ruins, and there is little sign of the people he once ruled.
The Great Earth Serpent and the People of the Snakes
   In the days after the defeat of Mondain, the inhabitants of the Serpent Isle looked for something to give meaning to their lives and explain the changes in the universe. Many of them turned to the ethical doctrine of Balance, and its twin properties of Order and Chaos.
   Rather than seeing the beauty of the unifying Axiom of Balance, the ancients became obsessed with the struggle between the rival Principles of Order and Chaos. They split into two factions, each denigrating the worth of the other and yet managing to cooperate (under the shepherding of the Great Earth Serpent) in order to build a society.
   In the days of Ultima III, however, Exodus stole the Great Earth Serpent from the Void and used him to block the entrance to his fortress. In the absence of the Great Earth Serpent, the balance between the Order and Chaos factions on the Serpent Isle was lost. A civil war ensued.
   The fanatics of the Order faction deluded themselves into believing that there could be a just and lasting victory over Chaos, and that such a victory would result in an idyllic world where the influence of Chaos could never be felt. They were ruthless in slaying their Chaos adversaries and, in the end, the people of Chaos were defeated. In a climactic ritual, the Order faction split the Chaos Serpent into its component parts, known as Banes, and imprisoned the Banes in magical containment devices. Victory belonged to the forces of Order.
   But that victory resulted in a world that was far from the idyllic place envisioned by the seers of Order -- after years of battle, the land was hardly capable of supporting human life. The seers came up with a plan to leave the Serpent Isle, to travel through the Void to another place, a place that would be their land for Order.
   They constructed a vast Wall of Lights and journeyed through the Void to what they hoped would be a better world. Their fate on this new world is a tale for another time ....
The Sosarians Arrive on Serpent Isle
   When Lord British united Sosaria in the days between Ultima III and Ultima IV, there were malcontents who -- for a variety of reasons -- could not accept the Eight Virtues as promulgated by that king and accepted by the majority of the populace.
   These malcontents, organized by a rogue mage named Erstam, emigrated from Britannia in search of the legendary Lands of Danger & Despair. They discovered the secret of the Serpent Pillars, gateway to the Serpent Isle, and sailed to the long-lost continent.
   The colonists planned to name their new land New Sosaria. However, the discovery of the ruins left behind by the departed People of the Snakes and their many serpentine hieroglyphs caused the land to become known as the Serpent Isle.
   Today, the colonists' sole common ground is their traditional hatred for the enemy of their ancestors -- Lord British, the man-demon who drove them from their homeland.
   From time to time, some of the Sosarian colonists (and their descendants) have attempted to retrace their steps through the Twin Pillars. None have succeeded. Years ago, the wreckage of at least one such vessel has washed ashore in Britannia, and a tale was told by the rotting parchments onboard. However, since the Britannians do not know the secret of the Serpent Pillars, and since no such wreckage has been found in recent times, the story of the Serpent Isle has become a musty and seldom-heard legend in Britannia.
Gwenno, the Fellowship and the Serpent Isle
   During the course of Ultima VII: The Black Gate, the Avatar discovered a note left by Gwenno (wife of his long-time friend and companion, Iolo). In it, she revealed that she had left on a voyage to discover the lost and legendary land of the Serpent Isle.
   What Gwenno didn't know was that the voyage was financed by the Fellowship. The Guardian, knowing about the Banes of Chaos and their prison on the Serpent Isle, revealed part of this secret to the Fellowship leader, Batlin. He ordered Batlin to sponsor a ship to discover the lost continent, and revealed to him the mystery of the Serpent Pillars.
   When the ship found the lost continent, Gwenno went among the Sosarians to learn of their cultures. Meanwhile, her crew -- mostly Fellowship devotees -- settled down around the town of Fawn, waiting until Gwenno and the other sages finished their studies.
The Coming of Batlin
   By the start of the game, the Guardian has been defeated and Batlin is on the run. Unbeknownst to Lord British or the Avatar, Gwenno inadvertently made possible the evil Fellowship leader's escape to the Serpent Isle. There the Guardian promised that Batlin would be allowed to merge with the imprisoned Banes of Chaos and become a Titan with powers nearly the equal of the Guardian's.
   In fact, the Guardian has other, far less pleasant plans for Batlin -- the reward for failing the Guardian is death. But the promise of great power is enough to spur the gullible mage to release the Chaos Banes, unleashing their destructive power of Chaos on the Serpent Isle and the rest of Britannia.
The Freeing of the Chaos Banes
   The freedom of the Chaos Banes, without the corresponding force of the Banes of Order, causes an imbalance in the universe. Strange and malevolent magical storms sweep the world. The Gargoyles of Britannia begin to dream strange dreams of snakes, war, and death. The Emps are suddenly struck with a mysterious plague which drains them of energy (being more sensitive to the presence of Balance than the other races, they are the first to succumb to the deleterious effects of the Chaos Banes being free and unopposed).
   The Emps will die if the Chaos Banes remain free, and the Gargoyles will be driven insane. Mankind, though more resistant to the imbalance, will eventually suffer a similar fate. And the storms are wreaking havoc in all corners of the world.
   Lord British, reacting to this disastrous news, summons the Avatar and explains that the disappearances of Gwenno and Batlin are connected and are, in turn, linked to the strange storms and mysterious illnesses being suffered by the Emps and Gargoyles of Britannia. He also reports that the solution to all of these mysteries lies on the Serpent Isle. The Avatar and his three trusted companions Iolo, Shamino and Dupré, are sent to investigate the matter.
   Their goals are simple (though achieving them will be anything but): Find Gwenno and reunite her with her husband, Iolo; put a stop to whatever evil scheme Batlin has concocted with the Guardian; and of greatest importance, restore the Balance between Order and Chaos before the entire universe is torn asunder!