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Virtues of Ultima
The Ultima series of computer role-playing gamesfeatured a Virtuesystem that the player was required to follow in the game as the Avatar. These Virtues were inspired in part by the codes of chivalryand the Eightfold Pathof Buddhism, and were created specifically for Ultima.
Strangely enough, The Wizard of Oz also played a part in the creation of the virtues, with designer Richard Garriottstating at one time that the three companions of Dorothy Galecould be linked to the three principles — Scarecrow(Truth), Tin Woodsman(Love) and Cowardly Lion(Courage).
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- 1 The Three Principles
- 2 The Eight Virtues
- 3 Lord Blackthorn's Code of Virtues
- 4 The Principles of the Shadowlords
- 5 The Virtues of Mandrake
- 6 The Gargoyle Virtues
- 7 The Ophidian Virtues
- 8 Triad of Inner Strength
- 9 Killorn Keep
- 10 See also
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The Three Principles
The Eight Virtues explored in Ultima are based on Three Principles:
| Principle
| Place associated
| Item
|
| Truth
| Lycaeum
| Book
|
| Love
| Empath Abbey
| Candle
|
| Courage
| Serpent's Hold
| Bell
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These Principles are themselves derived from the Axiom of Infinity, which is represented in Castle Britannia.
The Eight Virtues
The Principles are combined to form the following Eight Virtues:
| Virtue
| Principles
| Towns associated
| Mantra
| Player Class
| Dungeon
| Color
| Symbol
|
| Honesty
| Pure Truth
| Moonglow
| Ahm
| Mage
| Deceit
| Blue
| Open hand
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| Compassion
| Pure Love
| Britain¹, Cove
| Mu
| Bard
| Despise
| Yellow
| Heart
|
| Valor
| Pure Courage
| Jhelom
| Ra
| Fighter
| Destard
| Red
| Sword
|
| Justice
| Truth, Love
| Yew
| Beh
| Druid
| Wrong
| Green
| Scales
|
| Sacrifice
| Love, Courage
| Minoc
| Cah
| Tinker
| Covetous
| Orange
| Tear
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| Honor
| Truth, Courage
| Trinsic
| Summ
| Paladin
| Shame
| Purple
| Chalice
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| Spirituality
| Truth, Love, and Courage
| Skara Brae
| Om
| Ranger
| The Great Stygian Abyss
| White
| Ankh
|
| Humility
| Beyond the three principles
| New Magincia²
| Lum
| Shepherd
| Hythloth
| Black
| Shepherd staff
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Notes:
- Britain is the original town of Compassion, Cove is nearest the shrine.
- Magincia was destroyed by demons for its Pride (Pride's mantra is Mul). New Magincia, built in its ruins, was founded on Humility.
The Embodiment of the Virtues in the game is the Avatar, the character who the player is roleplaying. He (or she) is commonly seen with an Ankhwhich represents life and luck.
Image:Codex colored.png
The relationship between the Principles and Virtues is often explained this way:
- Honesty is respect for Truth
- Compassion is Love of others
- Valor is Courage to stand up against risks
- Justice is Truth, tempered by Love
- Sacrifice is Courage to give oneself in name of Love
- Honor is Courage to seek and uphold the Truth
- Spirituality is to seek Truth, Love and Courage from one's own self and the world around
- Humility is the opposite of Pride - the absence of Truth, Love or Courage
Humility is the most difficult Virtue to describe, as it cannot really be understood without its Anti-Virtue, Pride. Pride merely has nothing to do with Truth, Love and Courage; Humility is similar, but it rather than being a complete antithesis, it exists independently of the Principles and acts as their foundation.
See also The Codex Symbol, which explains the relationships between the virtues through colors.
For a similar model applied in contemporary psychology, see Robert Sternberg's triangular theory of love.
Lord Blackthorn's Code of Virtues
In Ultima V, Lord Blackthorn, the tyrant who ruled in Lord British's absence, codified the Britannian Virtues into a set of draconianlaws.
| Virtue
| Law
|
| Honesty
| Thou shalt not lie, or thou shalt lose thy tongue.
|
| Compassion
| Thou shalt help those in need, or thou shalt suffer the same need.
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| Valor
| Thou shalt fight to the death if challenged, or thou shalt be banished as a coward.
|
| Justice
| Thou shalt confess to thy crime and suffer its just punishment, or thou shalt be put to death.
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| Sacrifice
| Thou shalt donate half of thy income to charity, or thou shalt have no income.
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| Honor
| If thou dost lose thine own honour, thou shalt take thine own life.
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| Spirituality
| Thou shalt enforce the laws of virtue, or thou shalt die as a heretic.
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| Humility
| Thou shalt humble thyself to thy superiors, or thou shalt suffer their wrath.
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Blackthorn's Code is a good illustration of the fact that the Virtues always come from one's own self rather than the norms of society; codifying ethics into law doesn't automatically make evil people good. Further, unethical lawmakers can take the Virtues and turn them into something that is quite contrary to what Virtues actually stand for.
The Principles of the Shadowlords
In Ultima V, each of the Shadowlords opposed one of the three Principles.
| Principle
| Opposing principle
| Shadowlord
|
| Cowardice
| Courage
| Nosfentor
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| Hatred
| Love
| Astaroth
|
| Falsehood
| Truth
| Faulinei
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The Virtues of Mandrake
The joyful Mandrake the bard, in Ultima VI, has his own set of three Principles, which also form eight Virtues.
| Principle
|
| Wine
|
| Women
|
| Song
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Eight of the virtues are derived from these three principles:
| Virtue
| Principle
|
| Drunkenness
| Wine
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| Sensuality
| Women
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| Harmony
| Song
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| Lust
| Wine, Women
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| Laziness
| Wine, Song
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| Dance
| Women, Song
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| Indulgence
| Wine, Women, Song
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| Happiness
| Absence of Wine, Women, Song
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The relationships between the Virtues and Principles isn't explained in the game, but the one presented in the table is the only logical deduction that has been made.
Presumably Happiness, just like Humility is to Pride, is the opposite of Sadness.
Somewhat related to this, in Ultima V it is explained that the mantra of eating is "yum".
The Gargoyle Virtues
The Virtues of the Gargoyles were first explored in detail in Ultima VI.
The Gargoyles have three principles based on Order, and its opposite, Chaos.
| Principle
| Mantra
| Embodiment
| Dungeon
|
| Control
| UN
| Mondain
| Shrine of Control
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| Passion
| OR
| Minax
| Shrine of Passion
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| Diligence
| US
| Exodus
| Shrine of Diligence
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The Gargoyles have eight virtues based on their three principles.
| Virtue
| Principles
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| Direction
| Control
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| Feeling
| Passion
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| Persistence
| Diligence
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| Balance
| Control, Passion
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| Achievement
| Passion, Diligence
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| Precision
| Control, Diligence
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| Order
| Absence of Control, Passion, Diligence
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| Singularity
| Control, Passion, Diligence
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The Ophidian Virtues
The Virtue system of the Ophidians, in Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle, is formed around the following three Principles:
| Principle
| Embodiment
| Symbols
|
| Order
| Blue Serpent of Order
| Diamond, Ice
|
| Chaos
| Red Serpent of Chaos
| Ruby, Fire
|
| Balance
| Great Earth Serpent
| Earth
|
In the Ophidian symbology, the Great Earth Serpent is the keeper of Balance, and lies around "in a vertical plane"; the opposing serpents of Chaos and Order wrap themselves around the Great Earth Serpent, each spiralling in a different direction.
The Ophidian system is comprised of six Forces, three from Order and three from Chaos; the Forces of Order are Ethicality, Discipline and Logic, while the Forces of Chaos are Tolerance, Enthusiasm and Emotion. Their descriptions are as follow:
| Force
| Description
| Symbols
|
| Ethicality
| The belief that there is great value in abiding by rules of conduct.
| A torch
|
| Discipline
| The drive to complete a task and avoid the distractions that will prevent its completion.
| A dagger
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| Logic
| Clear, reasoned thought, free from any instinctual biases.
| The abacus
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| Tolerance
| That which encourages the acceptance of all things.
| A chain
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| Enthusiasm
| The energy that allows one to perform great tasks.
| A rose
|
| Emotion
| The ability to perceive those feelings that come from the heart, as opposed to coming from the mind.
| A heart
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When combined by pairs, these Forces form the Three Principles of Balance (not to be confused with the three Principles of Order, Balance and Chaos above). The Principles of Balance, their descriptions and relations to the Forces of Order and Chaos are illustrated in the table below:
| Principle of Balance
| Arises from
| Description
|
| Harmony
| Ethicality and Tolerance
| The ability to be at peace with the self, the individual and the world.
|
| Dedication
| Discipline and Enthusiasm
| That which permits one to surmount obstacles and lead others.
|
| Rationality
| Logic and Emotion
| The ability to comprehend life and understand the world around us.
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There also exists Anti-Forces associated to the Forces of Order and Balance. These Anti-Forces arise from Imbalance between the Forces, and are essentialy perversions of their corresponding Forces. The Anti-Forces also manifest themselves as a kind of malevolent spiritual being, collectively called the Banes of Order and the Banes of Chaos.
The Anti-Forces (and Banes) are:
| Anti-Force
| Arises from
| Description
|
| Prejudice
| Ethicality without Tolerance
| Disrespect for the beliefs and rights of others.
|
| Apathy
| Discipline without Enthusiasm
| A spirit of hopelessness which retards positive action.
|
| Ruthlessness
| Logic without Emotion
| Taking self-advancing actions without regard to the wants or needs of others.
|
| Anarchy
| Tolerance without Ethicality
| A lack of standards of conduct.
|
| Wantonness
| Enthusiasm without Discipline
| Acting without self-restraint.
|
| Insanity
| Emotion without Logic
| An inability to overcome emotional impulses with rational thoughts.
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Triad of Inner Strength
The Fellowship, in Ultima VII, followed the Triad of Inner Strength, consisting of three rules:
- Strive For Unity
- Trust Thy Brother
- Worthiness Precedes Reward
Killorn Keep
In Ultima Underworld II, the inhabitants of Killorn Keep -- a parallel universe to Britannia -- observe the Guardian's eight virtues:
- Sobriety
- Punctuality
- Obedience
- Vigilance
- Conformity
- Efficiency
- Silence
- Diligence
See also
- Ultima
- Britannia
- Virtue
- Virtue ethicsfr:Vertu (Ultima)
Categories: Ultima| Virtue| Ethics
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtues+of+Ultima Wikipedia article Virtues of Ultima.
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