Ultima VII: The Black Gate/Vesper

A quick stop in Britain
The mayor Joseph of Jhelom told you that Elizabeth and Abraham left his town and went to Britain.

Therefore, go to Britain, too. Exchange gold nuggets and gold bars, then talk to Batlin. He will inform you that his associates already left to Vesper, to the north-east of Britain.

Optional areas
There are some optional caves between Britain and Vesper.

Swamp tunnels
Originally nameless, this cave was thus named in the action-adventure remake. The entrance to this cave is north of Rudyom's home in Cove. The exit is on the other side of the mountains, to the east, in front of a swamp (hence the name).

This cave is crawling with cyclopes. They will attack you only if you go into the very northern area of the cave. You will also find a wand there. The cyclopes each carry one or two gold nuggets; this is a fairly decent source of income as they are much easier to kill than dragons.


 * Loot:
 * West door: 1 lockpick, locked chest (mutton, 2 hams, cheese, fish, 38 gold coins)
 * South tunnel, campfire: green key, flaming oil, cleaver, magic leggings, leather collar, 2 muttons, 1 torch
 * South tunnel, west dead end: locked chest (lightning wand, ring of regeneration)

Th green key opens the chest to the west.

When you leave these tunnels from the east, go straight north until you reach the road. Follow that road eastwards, and you will eventually reach the edge of the Drylands.

Scorpion cave
Originally nameless, this cave was thus named in the action-adventure remake.

IMPORTANT: before entering this cave, you should have at least the Recall spell (purchase from Rudyom of Cove or Mariah of Moonglow) and the Orange Stone (from the museum in Britain).

When you reach the edge of the Drylands, turn north and hug the mountains until you findan entrance to this cave. Actually, there are two entrances on opposite sides of the heights.

On the north side, you can find an illusionary wall (nothing beyond it), then a room with a sleeping troll and three chests. North of that room are: a locked door, a secret door (click on the brick in the middle), a magically locked door, and a room with a green dragon. Kill the dragon and take its treasure.

On the south side, a room has the rest of a battle, but also a hidden teleporter in the north-west corner. The destination room has no exit, and you will find the dead body of Denyel, who loved Mythra.

If you get trapped in the room without exit, you can cast the Help spell and get teleported to Castle Britannia, or cast the Recall spell on the orange stone and get teleported to the Shrine of Self-Sacrifice, that is closer to Vesper. From the shrine, just walk west until you see the path in the sand (and a tree full of spiderwebs).


 * Loot:
 * '' Troll room: ham, cheese, mutton, lightning whip, 3 red potions, 2 bandages, 3 bottles
 * North end room: magic armour, 28+34 gold coins, invisibility ring,
 * South corpses: two-handed sword, buckler, leather helm, leather boots, kidney belt, chain coif, scale armour, swamp boots
 * South end room: 25 gold coins, two-handed sword, two-handed hammer, two-handed axe, club, 5 arrows, crossbow, 12 bolts, scale mail, antique armour, plate armour, chain coif, great helm, crested helm, gorget, greaves, plate leggings, swamp boots, 2 gauntlets
 * No-exit room: magic axe, boomerang, 20 bolts

Vesper mine
Before entering the mines, you might visit Vesper first and let the inhabitants prompt you to talk to the miners, following sub-plots.

The mines are north-west from the village. Coming from the north, the path in the desert forks after a spiderweb tree: south to Vesper, west to the mine entrance.


 *  Loot:
 * Room near entrance: 4 bandages, 3 torches, 3 light sources, clothes; mace, two-handed axe, picks; bottles; 3 bread, 2 cheese, carrots, mutton, kithcen utensiles, locked chest (1 gold nugget, 3 empty bags)
 * South room: 8 magic bolts
 * North-west room with magic lock: 4 blackrock fragments, 2 cheese, 4 fish, 4 bread, kitchen items
 * South-west room: 1 gold nugget, pick, bottle
 * South-west room with magic lock: (blackrock mining machine)

East Vesper
Note that, when you reach the edge of the Drylands, the path continues on the sand. It is just less visible, but you might notice a line of footprints and two lines of stones on each side.
 *  Population: 10

All humans live in East Vesper, all gargoyles in West Vesper. The two halves are separated by two oasis; the road passes between them.

Main quest
Talk to Auston the mayor. He usually is in the town hall, in the south-west of East Vesper. He will tell you the next destination of Elizabeth and Abraham, as well as some information about the townsfolk.

Side quests
Yvella informs you that her daughter Catherine "disappears" every day around noon for a few hours, and she is afraid that she goes to the Gargoyle side of town. You can actually find the girl there, learning from For-Lem, a gargish scholar. The game offers you a true role-playing choice: if you tell Yvella about her daughter, you will earn some experience point, but the innocent gargoyle will be killed by racist humans; instead, if you keep quiet, the gargoyle will live, but you will earn no experience from this sub-plot.

Yongi the tavernkeeper starts the sub-quest that involves Blorn, who spends most of his time at the tavern. The latter relays you to Lap-Lem, a gargoyle miner who can obviously be met in the, north-west of town (just follow the desert path). After talking to the two characters a few times, you will solve their problem and earn 50 experience points.

Services

 * Trainer: Zaksam
 * Barkeeper: Yongi
 * Provisioner: Eldroth

Lore
If you spoke with Eldroth the counselor, you probably guessed this already, but Liana will confirm it: Eldroth is a fool.

West Vesper
The inhabitants of West Vesper are all gargoyles. Although the half-town is unrelated to the main quest, it is linked to a few sub-quests and it offers some interesting services.
 *  Population: 7

Side quests
It is wise to do the opposite of what the Guardian suggests. Remember this when you enter the tavern in the north of West Vesper, otherwise Foranamo and Anmanivas will attack you.

For-Lem lives in the south of town. Talk to Yvella to start the sub-plot that involves him.

Services
Wis-Sur offers the best price for the following five spells:
 * Lv.1 Great Douse
 * Lv.4 Mass Curse
 * Lv.4 Reveal
 * Lv.4 Conjure
 * Lv.6 Flame