Ultima III: Exodus/Sosaria

As soon as all your characters have 550 health points, a good weapon, a decent armor (up to the chain/bronze armor), and most and foremost a ship, you can step to the second part of the adventure.

Overview of Sosaria
From the manual:
 * «Sosaria is the world which Lord British calls home, and it is the world which is under threat from the mysterious and enigmatic Exodus. Some areas can be reach on foot, others must be sailed to, and other still can only be accessed through the mystical Moon Gates, whose positions change according to the phases of the two moons.»
 * «Sosaria contains many secrets, most of which are designed to be discovered by you throughout your journey. You can learn much by talking to citizens of the towns, or through exploration of the land itself.»

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Gathering information
Talk to the townsfolk in all the towns of Sosaria. Apart from flavor text, people know about some specific subjects: (1) Ambrosia (incl. whirlpool and shrines); (2) Dawn and the exotic arms; (3) the four marks and the silver snake; (4) the four cards.

Unfortunately, the information is fragmented and scattered; your duty is to collect all such information and put it back together. In the NES port, dialogue is four times more extended, and vital pieces of information are often heard in a different town.

Here's a travel plan:

Furtherore, some areas in some towns are restricted. First of all, you should buy a sufficient amount of keys. The following table divides the town services found already in Britain and those exclusive to other towns.

Britain, the royal city
The starting town is also the first place where you should look for information.

Five characters give clues about different topics. The man who says "Round back!" is suggesting to explore the back of the building.

The characters in the main halls of nearby castle offer no clues. By the way, there are three old acquaintances: the bards Iolo and Gwenno (from Ultima 1) and the jester Chuckles (from the "Alternate Earth" in Ultima 2).

Town of Grey
You probably noticed two locked doors in the castle. The only way to open them is to use some "magic" keys (known as "lockpicks" from Ultima 5 onwards).

Grey is located in the south-west of Sosaria. It has the feeling of a "town of outlaws": most inhabitants are thieves, and the guards talk like shady bouncers («Watch it, bub!»).

Grey is the only easily accessible town with a Thieves Guild. It is in the back room of the pub. There, you should buy a dozen keys (there may be more than two locked doors in Sosaria). The other tools for sale will be useful later.

In the south-east corner of Grey there is a treasure room. Be careful: some thieves will ambush and attack you if you go in. After the fight, all the guards in town will attack, too.

Talk to all the people and get some hints about Exotic arms.

NES port differences:
 * The "outlaws town" feeling is lost; the inhabitants of Grey are normal characters.
 * A single character gives all the hints about the Exotic/Mystic arms; other characters talk about some items.
 * No thief will ambush the party if they try and get in the treasure room. Actually, the room's entrance is blocked by two groups of heavily armoured guards.
 * There is a casino behind the pub.

Castle British (locked rooms)
After purchasing "magic" keys in Grey, you can go back to the castle and explore the locked rooms.

To the east is the prison and torture chamber: some of the prisoners hold important information; you need a way to walk on fire if you want to question them, though.

From the throne room you can access the king's private quarters. There, you can meet Radrion the Oracle. With his vision he can provide much understanding of the occurrences in the world around you. Knowledge is a costly thing, so bring a heavy purse: 4500 GP will do. Unlock another door and you can access the moat. Use the boat there and reach the Wise Cleric, who has another important clue for you.

NES port differences:
 * The prisoners in the torture chamber are peaceful. Instead of attacking the party, they will talk.
 * The Oracle gives only five hints instead of ten; the total cost is 2500 GP.
 * One character in the king's quarters gives a hint about a NES-exclusive pick (that replaces the "dig" command).

Town of Moon
Moon is located far to the west from Britain.

The townsfolk give four hints about different subjects: the whirlpool, the shrines, Dawn, the "bribe" command. The latter will be necessary in two towns: the and the.

NES port differences:
 * The town features the temple, the only place where a character turned into ashes can be revived.
 * The "bribe" command is learned elsewhere. Instead, a woman gives a hint about entering in Death Gulch (one of the towns where you have to bribe guards).

Town of Devil Guard

 * ''«Of marks I say there are but four of fire, force, snake, and king.
 * ''Learn their use in Devil Guard, or death you'll surely bring.»
 * --- Radrion, Prophet of Life

Moon Gates allow to reach two destinations inaccessible by any other means: the lake town of Devil Guard and the dungeon of the Moon/Time (for more information, see the Moongates page). You can get to Devil Guard in two steps:
 * From either mainland moon gate (West or South-East from Montor), enter the gate when the right-hand moon phase is first quarter (2).
 * From the landlocked valley, enter any gate when the right-hand moon phase is last quarter (6).
 * To return to the mainland, enter a moon gate when the right-hand moon phase is gibbous waxing (3) or new moon (0).

Devil Guard is a lake town made of small islets connected by bridges. Its structure reminds of Venice (in North Italy) or Esgaroth upon Long Lake (from "The Hobbit").

Depending on which version you are playing, you have different reasons to come here: on the computer ports, Radrion the Oracle sent you here; on the NES port, here you can learn the "bribe" command.

Six characters will tell clues about the Marks and the Snake.

Despite what the manual says, horses never appear in the wild. They can be only purchased in the town stables of Devil Guard (or in the magic town of Dawn). Horses simply allow to outrun enemies. They are quite expensive at game start, and they are unnecessary later.

NES port differences:
 * Three charactes only (instead of six) give clues about the Marks and the Snake.
 * Speak to the woman in the hospital twice to learn the "Bribe" command. To access this command, open the menu, then press Select.
 * Horses can actually be useful: when the party gets to level 5, pirate ships and powerful daemons start appearing; horses allow to dodge daemons while looking for a pirate ship.

Town of Montor East

 * ''«Ask about Cards in Montor.»
 * --- Radrion the Oracle (NES)

Services: armoury, weapons dealer, pub.

Although the two Montors are supposed to be twin cities, Montor East lacks two services available in the other one: the grocery shop and the prison.

Talk to all townsfolk and learn two hints about the cards (only one in the NES port). After all, Montor East is the less relevant town in Sosaria.

Town of Montor West

 * ''«The cards their suits do number four, called Sol, Moon, Death and Love.
 * ''Unto the Montors thou must go for guidance from above.»
 * --- Radrion, Prophet of Life

The information in the manual is inaccurate: Montor West is a fully autonomous town, featuring five different services. In the pub the party can meet Shamino (from Ultima 1) and Sentri (from the "Alternate Earth" in Ultima 2).

Montor West has a prison. You can enter it by bribing the guard. Depending on which version you are playing, you can learn the "bribe" command either in Moon (computer ports) or in Devil Guard (NES port). The two prisoners hold important information about the Cards. A third character gives an indirect hint about Dawn.

NES port differences:
 * One prisoner only gives the useful hint.
 * The indirect hint about Dawn is more difficult to understand. Note that not only Montor West has a prison, but also the Royal Castle.
 * The bartender gives a NES-exclusive hint that is extremely important to find the Exotic/Mystic arms. Also, one character gives a hint about the NES-only flower for Noriko/Sherry.
 * Shamino is replaced by his real-life alter-ego Richard Garriott. Sentri gives a real-life suggestion.

Town of Fawn

 * ''«Ask about the Snake at Fawn.»
 * --- Bartender in Grey (NES)

Fawn is on an island north-west of Britain. It can only be reached with a ship.

In town, four characters give hints about the Silver Snake, and in particular they teach you the "pray" command.

NES port differences:
 * The "pray" command is learned in another town.
 * One character gives a hint about a NES-exclusive pick (that replaces the "dig" command).
 * There is a casino behind the pub.

Town of Yew


Yew is hidden deep in the Mountains to the east of Moon. Enter the pass on the west side of the mountainous area going east from Moon.

Very limited view because of the dense forest. Beware of some lava pits!

The inhabitants give no clues about the game solution, but this town features the Circle of Light you heard about in Fawn. Pray in the circle (use the "[O]ther" command), and you will learn a magic word to be yelled at the Silver Snake.

NES port differences:
 * Two characters give a hint about the NES-only flower for Noriko/Sherry. One of them is in a locked room within the hospital.
 * If you have the Mark of Fire (or a lot of HP), approach the priests in the temple. They will teach you the "Pray" command which can be used at the "Circle of Light". You then get the "Silver Horn", a tool that replaces the "Yell" command.

Town of Death Gulch
Services: Armor shop, Weapon shop, Pub, Grocery store

From the manual: ''Upon an eastern island, this towne of wretched villains is carved back into the mountains themselves, making it nearly impregnable for any normal foes. The Armoury may be raided, but take care to bribe the guards before thou doth enter.''

The "bribe" command learned in Moon (or Devil Guard) will be necessary here. In order to enter the town, you can also use the way through the forest labyrinth and save a 100 GP bribe.

There are no clues at all to be learned in Death Gulch. Even the character in the large fire field says nothing relevant.

There are lots of treasure chests near the armory, but be careful of the guards when you open the chests! Details in the ../Shortcuts and cheats/ page.

NES port differences:
 * Five characters give somewhat useful clues. In particular, one is about Dawn and one about the NES-only pick.

Summary
Let's summarize all the information gathered so far:
 * 1) Exodus: in order to defeat Exodus, you need three things: equip the Exotic/Mystic arms, get past the Silver Snake, use the Four Cards.
 * 2) Exotic/Mystic arms: the final clues are in the magic town of Dawn; all you know about it is that it appears with two new moons, and that it is in the large forest west of Montor; this is not enough to locate it.
 * 3) Silver Snake: in order to get past it, you have to pray in the Circle of Light in Yew and you need the Mark of Snake; this mark is in one dungeon; you are not yet powerful enough to brave a dungeon. Where can you improve your attributes?
 * 4) Four Cards: they can be found in the Shrines of Truth. Where are such shrines?

Other topics:
 * Whirlpool: someone said he/she came back from there; maybe it conceals either Ambrosia, or the Shrines, or both.
 * Ambrosia: many people suggested to find it, but where is it? One possibility is that the answer lies beyond the whirlpool.
 * Fire and force fields: found in Lord British's castle and in Death Gulch; some people dwell in there, and they may hold important information; you need the marks of Fire and Force to cross them, but again, you are too weak to brave the dungeons.
 * Time Lord: he may hold important information; once more, you are too weak to brave the dungeons.

The only thing that can be done now is to explore whatever lies beyond the whirlpool.