Ultima VI: The False Prophet/Map piece in Trinsic (Dungeon Destard)

Homer said: "Sandy, the ship's cook, went to Trinsic with the first mate."

Sandy the cook
Angus "Sandy" Sandstone (Angus is a first name, Sandstone is a family name) is the cook in the tavern in Trinsic. If asked about the map or the pirates, he will step away mumbling about the magincian pastry. Ask him about the dish, and he will reply with a riddle. If you get the answer right, he will agree to tell you about the pirates map if you bring him a dragon egg. Such ingredient can only be found on the deepest level of Dungeon Destard.

Dungeon Destard
'A dastard person ("destard" is medieval spelling) is a person affected by cowardice. According to the Ultima philosophy, "Dastardness" is the opposite of Valor. The virtue of Valor comes from the principle of Courage, therefore the sin of "dastardness" comes from the anti-principle of Cowardice.'

Getting ready
Destard is probably the hardest dungeon in Ultima VI, because of the large amount of dragons in it. Dragons attack using both magic and physical strength; they are resistant to magic and have high physical endurance.

Casting the lv.6 spell "Negate magic" is a bad strategy: the spell lets the dragon free to attack physically, but prevents the Avatar from healing and supporting the Companions. Instead, the lv.7 Kill spell is very effective against dragons.

Since the Avatar will eventually use up his magic points, it is better to Enchant a yew staff with several Kill spells. This way, any Companion can earn experience in Dungeon Destard. Equip the enchanted staff to the characters with the highest Intelligence. If you followed this walkthrough, you should have already found two staves for free with no Karma penalties.

A character earns 73 experience points upon killing a dragon.

Dungeon entrance
Leave Trinsic from any gate, but do not cross the streams. Instead, follow the stream to the west. Walk westwards between the sources of the two streams, and continue west until you reach the sea. From there, walk north into a mountain valley. There is a fork in the valley: go east. The entrance to Dungeon Destard is at the top of the valley.

Dungeon walkthrough


On the first three floors there are no items to collect, just dragons to fight. From the entrance, you have to follow a tunnel north. At the end of the tunnel, you can take different directions. If you want to get quickly to the second floor, hug the wall to your right; if you want to explore the floor thoroughly, hug the wall to your left. Some tunnels are blocked by lava: refrain from walking through it, because they are all dead ends. There are two ladders down: the west one can be reached by following the walls in either direction, the east one is in the middle of a dome.
 * Floor 1

Whichever stairs you used to get on this floor, it matters little. There are no items here, too. Two holes lead to the third floor: one is close to the west ladder, the other one is in the south-west corner of this area.
 * Floor 2-A

One more floor with no items, but with lots of different paths. Seven ladders lead up, one ladder and one hole lead down. Of the seven ladders up, two (the eastmost and the north-east one) lead back to where you came from; two ladders (the northmost and the southmost) lead to small, empty rooms; the remaining three ladders lead to the area "2-B", where good loot can be obtained.
 * Floor 3

You are back on floor 2, but a completely separated area. Look for a tunnel on the east. An adventurer met his doom there, but the location is full of treasure.
 * Floor 2-B

Backtrack to floor 3, and choose the ladder in the western dead end; if you choose the central hole, you might get surrounded by powerful dragons. Anyway, on floor 4 you should make your way all the way north to the dragon nest, where you should collect at least one dragon eggs. Avoid the hatched ones: they are useless.
 * Floor 4

A dragon egg weighs 8s (50 kg), while a hatched dragon egg weighs just 0.4s (3 kg).

Item summary
Sell the empty honey jar for 7GC to Zeke in Empath Abbey; sell the spool of thread in Paws or Yew; exchange the gold nuggets for 10GC each in Britain.

Bring the dragon egg to Sandy in Trinsic. The cook in Serpent's Hold will ask you a second one, but nothing will happen if you fulfill his request: any further dragon egg will stay in your inventory.

The first mate of the pirate crew
When you bring one dragon egg back to Sandy in Trinsic, he will tell you the whereabouts of the last four pirates:
 * 1) "Well, first, there is one in Serpent's Hold. I cannot recall her name, but she has a piece of the map with her."
 * 2) "Second, there is one on Dagger Isle, a hermit."
 * 3) "Third, I know of a pirate at Empath Abbey, or thereabouts. Nathaniel Moorehead was his name."
 * 4) "The fourth... but then maybe I've said too much already. Before Lord Whitsaber came to Trinsic to be our mayor, he had another job... as first mate to Captain Hawkins himself! His real name is Alastor Gordon.

Find the Lord Mayor and tell him his real name: he will get scared; then, ask him the map, and promise to keep his secret. In the City of Honor, you should definitely honor the secret of a man who changed his way!