Ultima VI: The False Prophet/Mariah's Quest

Mariah's Quest
The following is a an extract from the game dialogues.


 * Mariah

"With both pieces of the tablet, I should be able to work out a translation." She studies the tablet for a while, and then starts reading, haltingly, from the book:

''"An ancient prophecy tells of the final days, when the end of our world shall come. Three signs will precede the end. Thrice shall a being of great evil come unto our land, and by this it shall be known that the end is nigh. This evil one is of another race, who consider the evil one a great prophet. Yet this false prophet follows not the principles of Control, Passion and Diligence. One day the false prophet will come and desecrate our most holy shrine. And the false prophet will steal our most holy artifact, the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom. This shall be the first sign of the end. Then, it is written, the false prophet shall descend deep into the bowels of the earth. And the false prophet will cause the underworld to collapse. This will cause great earthquakes to tear our world asunder, and there will be a time of plague and famine. This shall be the second sign of the end. One last time shall the false prophet come. This time, the false prophet will come with a band of warriors. And they will destroy all that remains of the gargoyle race. There is only one way that this prophecy may be averted: That is by the sacrifice of the false prophet."''

Mariah pauses for a while, deep in thought. "When they refer to 'the false prophet,' they must mean you." she says. "It would seem that they have reason to think you evil, from their perspective. This is a difficult matter to resolve. I think you'd better seek out more information. There's a gargoyle named Sin'Vraal living out in the desert. He speaks our language. Perhaps he could tell you more about this book, and of how the gargoyles view us."


 * Sin'Vraal

"The Book of Prophecies says that the False Prophet will come to destroy the gargoyle race. Only the sacrifice of the False Prophet will save us. Sacrifice means many things in my language. You should seek out a gargoyle scholar to learn more. Travel the other side of the world, and you should be able to find one. You can go down through Hythloth to get to the realm of gargoyles."

"The great Temple of Singularity held the Codex. The Temple is the most holy gargoyle place. A human could learn much by traveling there. But you could never get to the temple. Not only is it deep below the surface, but it can only be reached by flying. And you cannot fly any more than I can. Yes, a strange concept this. Yet as some in Minoc can tell you, flying can be achieved by anyone."


 * Isabella in Minoc

"The balloonist flew off on an important mission, and never returned. Selganor should be able to tell you more about it. Tell me, is it true you once rode in a balloon whilst on the quest of the Avatar?" Yes? "It must have been wonderful, to drift amongst the very clouds..."


 * Selganor in Minoc

"Oh, are you looking for the man who invented the balloon?" He stares upward, stroking his chin pensively. "Ah yes, now I remember. He flew to Sutek's castle. Said something about a big job he had to do there. Sutek lives on an island, far to the south. It's east of Serpent's Hold."