Classic Games Revisited
Ultima VIII: Pagan Walkthrough
7.5. The Necromancers
7.5.1. Volunteer to help Vividos
From the Treasure Cove exit (northwest of East Road), walk directly east until you hit the paved road and exit north to the Cemetery. Follow the dirt track (north, east, north, east, north through the fenced gate) to reach the tomb. You will find Vividos either walking outside or somewhere inside. Speak to him in as much depth as you wish, but be sure to volunteer to retrieve the ceremonial dagger that Mordea has taken (“What problems”, “Power mad”, “Get the dagger back”). Teleport to Central Tenebrae.
[Optional] We are on our first proper quest. Take a few minutes to organize your inventory and drop excess items. Apart from your equipped gear, at the very minimum you will require your bedroll, the recall item, keyring, one bag, and the scroll of dispelling magic portals. A few potions will help along the way, not just healing (red, yellow) and mana (orange) potions but also any invisibility (black) and invulnerability (purple) potions you may have found. By now I have 5 bags, a scroll of invisibility, and a few scrolls of trap destruction. If you chose to acquire the necromancy reagents earlier you will need those too.
7.5.2. The Ceremonial Dagger
Walk southeast of the waypoint into the tower and go down the stairs to the kitchen. There is a good chance you will run into Aramina, who is Mordea’s maid (in a white dress). If she isn’t here, leave the castle and sleep for a period or two until you find her here. She is unwilling to speak right now and will ask you to meet her at Bloodwatch in East Tenebrae. You need to wait until Bloodwatch to progress any further. Exit the kitchen to the north and enter the Royal Hall to the west (flanked by two guards). A clock on the table will tell you the time. Double-click your bedroll to sleep as many hours as necessary to get to Bloodwatch (or sleep one period at a time if you are unsure).
To get to Aramina’s house, exit the Royal Hall and walk all the way south to the crossroads (out of the palace, past the wooden bridge and under the stone bridge). Go east to reach East Tenebrae. Here go south, east past one fork, south past the pool of water and east. The first building to the north here is your destination. If it is Bloodwatch, Aramina will be at home. As always, speak to her as much as you wish about Mordea, Salkind and Devon. The important conversation is about the dagger. Persuade her to tell you about it and she will mention that she has a key to the chest in which it is kept. Promise to not tell anyone where you got the key and she will entrust it to you.
Teleport back to the castle, sleep for 1 period, and go downstairs to the kitchen via the southeastern tower. Again, exit the kitchen to the north and enter the Royal Hall to the west. There should be nobody around at this time (that is why we slept for 1 period on the roof—if anyone is here it is more difficult to retrieve a key and you cannot take the dagger if Mordea is sleeping in her chambers). Close the door behind you. On the table under the cushion is a key you need to get into Mordea’s bedroom. Once you’ve got it (add it to your keyring), unlock one or both doors to her room and enter. Unlock the door to the room holding the large chest, then unlock the chest itself. Take the scrolls if you wish; the dagger you want is in the jewelry box.
Now you need to return to Vividos. South all the way out of the palace to the crossroads, east to East Tenebrae, a bit north and generally east to East Road, north all the way along the road and east then north to the cemetery, along the dirt track to the tomb. This time Vividos will definitely be inside, alongside Lothian dying on the altar. Speak to him to hand over the dagger and watch the ritual that unfolds. Once Lothian is killed, Vividos will speak again; agree to become his apprentice and he will ask you to find a couple of reagents. Note that the reagents he requires need to be obtained from specific places otherwise he will not accept them.
7.5.3. Executioner’s Hood
Executioner’s Hood can be found just outside the cemetery, so we’ll go there first (exit the tomb, south past the fenced gate, and west, south, west, south along the dirt track to the exit). Once at East Road, take a few strides south until you come upon a tree just next to the paved road. Travel east through the wooded area until you reach a pit. There will be a few changelings here that are easy to kill. The mound in the center has several executioner’s hoods. You only need one to hand in to Vividos, but take them all. Make two piles: one that you will keep and another separate single mushroom. You’ll see later why.
7.5.4. Deadman’s Elbow (Sticks)
Now we need to make our way to West Tenebrae. Recall yourself to the Central Tenebrae waypoint, exit the castle south (fastest way is to jump over the south wall) to the crossroads, and go west. Continue west in West Tenebrae until the road forks north and south; go north until it turns west again. Ignore the bend and continue north across the grass until you hit the road again.
Go further north leaning a little west until you come upon a dilapidated house. You will be attacked by a horde of ghouls and a ghost. The fight can be a bit overwhelming the first time. Try and separate the monsters so that you end up fighting only one or two at a time. If you wish to avoid the fight, lead them away and quickly grab a single deadman’s elbow (called stick in the unpatched version) from near the base of the tree, or take it after they are all dead. This time you only need one; they are not useful for anything other than this quest.
You could have acquired these reagents much earlier in your travels. I have noted them here for the story to make sense.
7.5.5. First Spells
Now back to Vividos. Teleport to the castle, jump down the south wall, run south to the crossroads and exit east. A bit north and generally east to East Road, all the way north, east and north to the cemetery, along the dirt track to the tomb. Note that this time when you enter East Road, a guard will stop you and ask you about your association with Bentic and Devon. You can be honest. He will also inform you that Bentic has been executed and Devon has been arrested.
At this point you can take a detour to participate in the eventual death of Mordea. We will do it later for continuity sake as well as to cut down some travel. Some people’s dialogs may differ based on whether Mordea is alive or not, but your actual progress will not be affected in any way.
Vividos will still be next to the altar. Before speaking to him, drop your pile of Executioner’s Hoods on the floor and keep only the single on your person; if you don’t Vividos will claim them all for himself. He will now give you the Key of the Caretaker, which is required to craft necromancy spells. You can speak to him further to learn about your quest, how to use the key, etc. Once you are done, pick up the mushrooms you dropped and go upstairs to the library.
Read the books scattered around the library if you wish. In the southwestern room, the book sitting on the eastern table will teach you how to prepare Open Ground and Death Speak spells, both of which you will require very soon. Use the bag on the northwestern table to create your spells. Note that in terms of game progress we have only learnt these two spells, but you are now free to create any necromancy spell you wish.
The bag already has reagents to create 1 Death Speak. Add another blood vial and pile of bone shards to it to create 2. You are eventually expected to have 6 Death Speak though in reality you will only require 3.
Now, using a vial of blood and blackmoor, create one Open Ground (much later in the game you will need 4 more). With another blackmoor and one of the executioner’s hood that you didn’t turn in to Vividos, create one Grant Peace. With the remaining reagents, you can either create Mask of Death (Executioner’s Hood, Wood) or Rock Flesh (Wood, Dirt). I recommend the latter though either will be useful in the long run.
In the large chest at the northern end of the room is a scroll with the recipe for Call Quake.
From now on, you should be grabbing as many reagents as you can find. Some of them will be useful in our immediate journeys, others can be used to create and hoard useful spells like Rock Flesh and Grant Peace. Go ahead and prepare (and use) as many spells as and when you like; I will only point out the ones absolutely necessary to progress the quests.
We are now going to embark on a fairly long journey before we return to Tenebrae.