Classic Games Revisited
Ultima VIII: Pagan Walkthrough
7.2. Mythran
7.2.1. Bentic in the Library
From Rhian’s house, follow the road east and then all the way north along the pool of water until the road bends west. Go all the way west and then north to reach the entrance to the library. The gold plaque to the left of the door will announce the name of the building.
[Optional - Story] Enter the library and find Bentic. He can be anywhere in the library, even upstairs. He is garbed in green, making him hard to miss. You can speak to Bentic about a little background about the place, Devon, the necromancers, leaving Pagan, Mythran, and more. Depending on the conversation route you take, you may have to talk to him more than once to squeeze out all stories. To learn about Mythran, speak to him about neighbors, then Devon, followed by possible ways to leave Pagan. Exit the library when you are satisfied.
7.2.2. To the Plateau
From the library, head west to exit East Tenebrae and return to the northern end of Central Tenebrae. Ignore the immediate fork going north to a dead-end. Take the next turn north to the exit flanked by two lamp posts to reach Herdsman’s Valley. This map has a couple of interests but we are not equipped to deal with them yet, so we will go straight to Mythran for now. Follow the dirt track all the way north (it bends north-west a couple of times, past a few buildings) and then west when it bends that way (near a large mushroom-like tree). You may choose to kill or ignore any monsters along the way. This will lead you to a cave that you have to go through to reach the Plateau.
Inside the cave, go all the way west until you can go no further and turn south until you reach a body of water. Welcome to your first stepping stones.
If you are playing the patched game, jumping across is easy. Simply point to the rock you wish to land on and jump. If it’s not within reach, the Avatar will shake his head and refuse to jump. If it is within reach, he will jump accurately. Ignore the ones aligned to the west of the pool and jump across the eastern stones going south.
In the patched version, you can directly jump across the southern-most stone on to the landmass you see initially (after your fifth jump). In the unpatched version, after the fifth jump, you may need to jump to the stone to the northwest then southwest before jumping on to the landmass.
Climb on to the ledge to the south (it is easier to do along the western side of the ledge). Save your game before you attempt this—at least in the patched version, it is possible to wander ‘under’ the ledge and lose sight of the Avatar. If this happens, it is quite difficult to locate an exit out of this invisible labyrinth.
Go south past the electric gate, fighting or ignoring any ghouls you may come across (also ignore the raised platform to the west). Walk west and climb yet another ledge, continuing west past a winch mechanism (you may choose to end the afterlife of a ghoul) and across a wooden bridge into a room full of levers. Ignore the central lever, only the ones along the western wall are of interest. The three southern levers should be switched down, and the three northern levers should be switched up. If from left to right they would be numbered 1-6, you need to double-click levers 2, 4 and 5. The ground will shake once you have oriented them all correctly.
Return east to the winch and hit the lever there. This will lower a fence that barred your exit from this cave until now, though we haven’t seen it yet. Go south (you will pass some pillars that held the fence) and jump down the ledge, south and down another ledge, and south again until you exit the cave. You are now at the Plateau. From the cave exit, you could choose to immediately go for the Bone Crusher, but we’ll visit Mythran first to save ourselves the trudge back after acquiring the magical hammer.
7.2.3. To Mythran’s House
Go directly south from the cave exit until you spot a small building to the west. If you run too fast you might miss it. You should have no impediments on the way but take note anyway to not hit any red mushrooms. Go through the building’s door to enter Mythran’s house. Time your way through the electric gates to reach the other end. If you sustained damage, drink one of the potions conveniently kept on the table before exiting.
7.2.4. Recall Item
Locate Mythran; he could be anywhere in the house. Speak to him for as long as you wish to get some background information. At the end of the conversation, he will give you a red potion and a Recall item (both appear directly in your backpack), which will let you teleport to waypoints from almost anywhere (a few sections of the game don’t allow teleporting). Although Mythran claims that it has a limited number of uses, I have not come across such a limit.
You need to buy a Scroll of Dispelling Magic Portals from Mythran. This is the only scroll he has for sale, so speak to him about buying scrolls and then agree to pay 50 obsidians for it.
[Optional] You could also choose to pay another 50 obsidians for the Confusion Blast spell. This will result in the spell book appearing in your backpack, but you will need to buy reagents from Mythran (Thaumaturgy: Eye of Newt, Bat Wing, Serpent Scale, and Sorcery: Obsidian, Brimstone, totaling 115 obsidians), to be able to activate it. Once activated, you can cast the spell by double-clicking on the book and its charge will be spent (requiring even more reagents). It is not worth the hassle.
7.2.5. Plateau Waypoint & Magical Dagger
After you’ve finished with Mythran, locate the Plateau waypoint in the eastern section of the top floor. Make sure it is activated, then return to the bottom floor. Just east of the staircase is a room with a backpack in it. Mythran has already given you permission to take whatever you wish from his house. If you had attempted to take this backpack or its contents earlier, it would require stealing precautions. You will find a magical dagger, Korghin’s Fang, and some coins, all of which you should take. You may equip the dagger. It actually does lesser overall damage than the axe, but gives +1 AC and improves your chance to hit an enemy by 4. More importantly, it is a magical weapon, so it can damage enemies that are impervious to normal weapons, such as ghosts. There is no point in keeping the axe if you are not going to use it. Pagan has no active economy—or at least you are not welcome to participate in it—so you cannot sell your equipment for money.
Once you’ve taken whatever you wish from Mythran’s house, exit it via the east door on the lower floor. Instead of taking you back to the electric gate room, it will take you out to the Plateau. We are now going to acquire the Bone Crusher.