Ultima II

By Lord British

Documentation by
Mary Taylor Rollo
 Disclaimer
This document is a word-for-word digital copy of the printed Ultima II manual
that came with the original Ultima 2. It is intended to accompany the Ultima 1-6 CD
compilation. Origin apparently decided that this document was not necessary for
redistribution when putting the CD together. However, there's a wealth of information
about the world of Ultima 2 within the pages of this document. I find the exclusion of
this document from the Ultima 1-6 CD to be an oversight. The game can't be played or
enjoyed to its fullest extent without the information provided here. Thus, the existence of
this document.

I tried to keep the documentation as close to the original as possible. However, I

did take the liberty to correct a few minor grammatical and spelling errors. Millions of
thanks go out to both Brian Reynolds ([email protected]) and Scott Leonard (e-mail:
[email protected], web address: http://members.aol.com/trigonman3/ultima.html)
who provided me with photocopies of their Ultima II documents. Without their help (and
Origin’s), this document wouldn’t exist. Each one was slightly different, due to different
platforms (Apple, Atari, Macintosh, etc.) so I combined the best of each to make this
document. I also took the liberty to change the layout of some topics for easier reading. I
recommend a viewing percentage of 110% with Font-Smoothing from the Plus! Pack.

I scanned in the few graphics that existed in all of the copies, but did not color
them. I would like to color them, but I am all colored-out. These documents have taken
more of my time that I care to admit and am more interested in getting them released
than coloring the graphics. If someone wishes to color the graphics in this document, e-
mail me and I’ll get you the original black and white scan. This document is provided
"as is". No warranty is expressed or implied.

The electronic version of this document is not endorsed or supported by Origin

(OSI). I am not an employee of Origin, and am not affiliated with them in any way. I
just really like Ultima, and wanted to fill in the glaring gap of information Origin
supplied to the owners of the Ultima 1-6 CD. Please do not charge any money for this
document in any shape, manner or form. I charge no money for this, and neither should
you. This whole package is freeware. Please do not make changes to this archive and
then re-distribute it. You may not chunk this file into something smaller, and always be
sure that the contents of this archive is unmodified.

If you have any comments, questions, suggestions or problems, direct them to

[email protected]. In the meantime, please enjoy!

Ultima and Lord British are registered trademarks of Richard Garriott. Avatar, Quest of the
Avatar, Spell Book of the Eight Circles are trademarks of Origin Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 ULTIMA II WELCOME

Welcome to the universe of Ultima II. In your package, besides the

handbook you’re reading, you’ll find a warranty return card, two disks
and three program sides, a player reference card, and a cloth time map
of the world according to Lord British.

THE WARRANTY CARD

Sierra On-Line, Inc. wants your continued business. If you fill out the
enclosed product registration card and return it to us (we have already
paid the postage), you are covered by our warranty. If your disk should
fail within 90 days, return it to your dealer or directly to us, and we will
replace it free. After 90 days, enclose $5 and return the software directly
to us. Sorry, without the registration card you are not covered by the
warranty.

THE HANDBOOK

In this booklet, you will find the instructions for getting along in the
Ultima universe and the story of how it all came about. Now, absolutely
no one expects you to want to read the story, or even all the instructions,
before you take a good look at what you’ve got which means turning on
your computer and taking a look at the disks. So, be kind enough to
read this page and the next; and you’ll be up and playing Ultima II in no
time. The story contains the background and hints you’ll eventually
want to know, but you can worry about them later.

THE TIME MAP

The cloth map that is provided is to be used to guide you through the
corridors of time on Earth.

THE DISKS

In Ultima II, you’ll find friends and monsters, royal courts and musty
dungeons, action and adventure. You’ll be instructed to create your own
player who will run around the Ultima universe for you. Now lets look at
the disks.

DISK 1 SIDE 1: THE ULTIMA II PROGRAM MASTER. This is the disk

that you must use to start the game.
DISK 1 SIDE 2: THE ULTIMA II PLAYER MASTER. The Player Master
contains the prototype seed from which adventurers are grown. Because
a seed can only be nurtured once, NEVER USE THIS DISK TO PLAY THE
GAME! The Player Master is to be copied, once for every adventurer you
would like to create. Be sure not to remove the “write protect” tab on the
upper right side of the disk.
DISK 2 SIDE1: THE GALACTIC DISK. This disk contains in detail all of
outer space and the nine planets of the Solar system.

IBM ADVENTURES

NOTE: This section originally referred to Apple and Atari setup

information. Instead, this section will briefly describe the IBM
version of Ultima II that came with the Ultima 1-6 CD and
patches necessary to play it properly.

Don’t bother running Ultima II from the CD. Instead, make a directory
on your hard drive (U2 is a good name) and copy the contents of the U2
directory on the CD-ROM to your hard drive. Then (from DOS because
it’s easier) go to the Ultima II directory and type: attrib -r *.* This will
remove the Read-Only attribute from every file.

You can now run UltimaII.Exe, but it will crash with a “Divide by Zero”
error. You have two options. Run MoSlo.Com (moslo /5 ultimaii.exe)
and slow your computer down to the speed of an XT computer.

Or install the U2Fix.Zip which accompanies this archive. It will let you
play Ultima 2 without resorting to MoSlo. Read the documentation that
comes with it and follow the instructions. Of particular importance is to
press and hold the SHIFT key while starting the game with U2.Com. OR,
if you’re adventurous enough, you can patch the game yourself with an
Hex editor and the u2-spdfx.txt file that comes with U2Fix.Zip.

However, now that you can play Ultima II, you’ll quickly discover that
Origin made a big mistake when putting the CD together. Every planet
you go to will look like Earth because Origin used the same names for
the planets as they did for Earth. The game was divided into 3 disks,
and each disks’ filenames were identical. Origin simply copied the
floppies to the CD—overwriting the other planet’s definitions. To fix this,
decompress and install the Ultima II -- The Fixed Version Patch by Mike
Marcelais, The Moonstone Dragon that came with this text file.
(U2Patch.Zip)

Now you can play Ultima II the way it was supposed to be! Good luck,
adventurer!

GETTING STARTED
To enter the world of Ultima II at this time, please refer to your Player
Guide.

CREATE A CHARACTER
Making a friend is what you are doing when you choose “C” (for create a
character) from the main menu. The Player(s) you create is your alter
ego who will negotiate the Ultima II universe at your side. Together you
will find friends and monsters, royal courts and misty dungeons, action
and adventure.

The skeleton of a character sketch will appear on the screen; you have
ninety points to distribute among various physical attributes that give
soul to your character. Once you’ve distributed the points, you get to
choose your character’s physical attributes, sex, race, and its profession.
Finally, you can give it a name.

How you distribute attribute points obviously affects your character; not
so obviously, however, your choice of sex, class, and profession also has
strong effects. Here’s how it all works.

THE ATTRIBUTES

STRENGTH determines the damage you can inflict on a foe in a

fight. Naturally, each foe’s attributes will also influence
the relative success of your attack.

AGILITY influences your skill at wielding a weapon; some

weapons require a considerable amount of agility in
order to use them at all. The higher your points the
more agile you are. Of course, you would never think of
using it this way, good agility also increases your
chances of success at stealing.

STAMINA reflects your ability to defend against attack. Armour

adds to your stamina. Attacks from extremely strong
monsters make it all irrelevant.

CHARISMA governs your success in bargaining with merchants.

Prices are generally lower when you are fun to have
around.

WISDOM is required to cast spells successfully.

INTELLIGENCE is what you need to tell a balron from an angel, until it

hits you. Actually intelligence increases your skills in
bargaining and in casting spells. The more you have,
the better your bargains and spells.

You must allocate at least ten points to each category. Clever players can
increase their attributes up to 99 points apiece during game play.
Figuring out how to obtain the extra points is part of earning them;
they’re costly.
Some extra points come easily. Each race has a strong point that is
reflected in attribute points for your character; and assuming that your
character must have some predilection for its profession, that choice too
alters one of its attributes. When you choose a race, profession and sex
for your character you add to his/her character attributes.

Here’s are the races:

Human +5 Intelligence
Elven +5 Agility
Dwarven +5 Strength
Hobbit +5 Wisdom

Now the professions:

Fighter +10 Strength

Cleric +10 Wisdom
Wizard +10 Intelligence
Thief +10 Agility

Finally, (and you may ponder whether this is not a rather strange
sequence), you must give your character a sexual identity. If you choose
to make it a male, your character will gain strength points because
males are usually stronger. If you choose to make it a female, your
character will gain charisma points.

Male +5 Strength
Female +10 Charisma

All you character needs now is a name, and the only stipulation here is
that the name be no longer than Rumpelstiltskin. If you try to make it
longer, you might upset the program.

Look! You have a new friend. He/she will become your faithful comrade
in arms. He/she will do your bidding, fight your fights and find your
treasures. Ultima II awaits you both of you.

MOVEMENT COMMANDS FOR IBM ADVENTURERS

On the surface of a planet, the right and left arrows control movement
east and west; the up arrow moves north and the down arrow moves
south. In dungeons and towers, left and right arrows control left and
right turns; the up arrow moves forward and the down arrow retreats.
In space, movement is determined by xeno, yako, and zabo coordinates;
refer to the Ultima II Galactic map for the coordinates for your chosen
destination.
 KEY LETTER COMMANDS

A)ttack Lets you fight someone or something. Must be followed by a

direction unless your in a tower or dungeon. Ex: [A]
[RETURN].
B)oard Lets you get on your horse, climb into a plane, strap into a
rocket, board a ship. (See “Xit” to change your mind.)
C)ast Casts the spell you have ready. (See “Magic.”) You can only
cast spells in dungeons and towers.
D)escend Lets you go down a level (by rope) in a dungeon or tower.
E)nter Enter a town, castle, dungeon or other landmark or read a
sign. You must be standing on the entrance before entering.
F)ire Shoots a ship’s guns once you’ve boarded.
G)et Pick up treasures, weapons, and armour. You must be
standing on the item you wish to get.
H)yperspace Catapults spaceship through space to the coordinates
you specified.
I)gnite Lights a torch.
J)ump Lets you jump up and down which is a good way to release
frustration especially when things are not going well. Often
used in tandem with “Yell.” (See “Yell.”)
K)limb Lets you go up a level (by rope) in a dungeon or tower.
L)aunch Toggles takeoff and landing in a plane or rocket. Landings
must be on /Landgrass. Press any key to touch down rocket.
M)agic Readies a magic spell you know for casting. (See “Cast.”)
N)egate Stops time for all things farther than one square away from
you, giving you a chance to get out of a tight situation.
“Negate” will only work for characters who possess a
particular magic item.
O)ffer Offers money (gold) as payment or bribe. If the non-player
character that you’re offering to has nothing to give in
return, it will accept your offer as a generous gift.
P)ass Allows one game turn to pass without doing anything.
However, others will not pass their turns. Pressing the
spacebar accomplishes the same thing.
Q)uit Saves the game; allows you to continue, or turn off your
computer. When you turn it on again, you’ll pick up where
you left off. “Quit” works only in the countryside on Earth
and you must not be aboard anything.
R)eady Equips you with your choice of any weapons your own.
S)teal Attempts to take items from stores without paying for them.
May or may not work for weapons, armour, food, transport.
Be sure to plan an escape route ahead; townspeople don’t
take kindly to theft.
T)ransact Lets you talk with the people of Ultima’s universe. You must
follow the command by giving the direction toward which
your communication is to take place. Because the
intricacies of winning—and even playing tips—are available
 only from characters in the game, you should “Transact” as
much as possible; don’t skip anyone. You may even meet
someone you know…
U)nlock Open doors—if you have the keys. “Unlock” must be
followed by the direction of the door you wish to unlock.
Incidentally, in the universe according to Lord British, locks
gobble keys, so use them wisely.
V)iew Gives you, if you have a certain magical item, a bird’s eye
view of a town or village, or a satellite’s view of a planet. One
viewing per unit of magic. “View” doesn’t work in dungeons
or towers. W)ear Outfits you in your choice of the armours
that you own.
X)it Exit. It won’t help a bit in the middle of a hairy dungeon,
but it will get you out from or off of anything you can board.
(See “Board.”)
Y)ell Stops everything while you type in anything you feel like
yelling—then gets on with the game. In other words, you
can let out your frustrations, but it won’t affect the game in
the least. Often used in tandem with “Jump.” (See “Jump.”)
Z)tatus Stops everything to display a text screen of your character’s
attributes and possessions. This is also the only command
that affects a complete and open-ended pause in the game.
Space Bar Pass.

MAGIC SPELLS

Only clerics and wizards can use magic. Nine spells fall into three
categories.

SPELLS BOTH CLERICS AND WIZARDS CAN USE:

Light Creates magical illumination, and eliminates the need for a

torch.
Ladder down Teleports you straight down one level in a tower or
dungeon.
Ladder up Teleports you straight up one level in a tower or dungeon.

SPELLS ONLY CLERICS CAN USE:

Passwall Destroys the wall in front of you.

Surface Teleports you immediately to the surface of the planet that
you are on from within a tower or dungeon.
Prayer Calls for divine intervention to destroy your foe. Results
simulate reality.

SPELLS ONLY WIZARDS CAN USE:

Magic Missile Offensive magic weapon with strength geared to the

 level of the caster.
Blink Teleports you randomly anywhere on the same level.
Kill Attempts to obliterate your foe by magic.

In the universe of Ultima, acquiring spells is simple: you simply

purchase them at the appropriate stores. Their cost rises as their power
increases. Casting a spell uses it up even if it fails; so be sure to have
plenty of a spell you plan to count on.

To use a spell you have bought, you must first press [M], for “Magic” and
specify the spell number (according to the list at the beginning of this
section). This readies the spell. Then press [C] for “Cast” to activate the
spell. It will remain your “on-line” spell until you choose another.

WHAT YOU SEE

When the playing screen appears, you see your character in the center of
a landscape. Use the movement keys to move around just enough to see
that you’re on a map. Don’t wander very far; your character isn’t apt to
be very strong yet, and you have no weapons or armour.

Do notice the text at the bottom of the screen. It looks something like
this:
CMD: North Hits: 400
CMD: East Food: 398
CMD: Pass Exp: 000
CMD: Gold: 400

Now press [Z] to pause in playing; a text screen will take over showing
your character’s attributes and possessions, but all you want now is its
pause function so no nasty orc will come along and do in your new friend
while you’re learning how to get about.

On the left, Ultima II asks your command, with CMD, and writes out
your full command although you press only one key. In the dungeon, it
responds to direction commands with “forward,” “right,” “left,” and
“back” instead of compass directions.

ENDURANCE OF FIGHT AND FOOD

On the right, the number next to “hits” represents the number of hits
you can take in battle and survive. Monsters vary in strength and
decrease your hits stockpile by various numbers of points accordingly.

The number next to “food” represents just that and works rather like a
fuel supply. A little bit dwindles away with each turn, whether you do
anything or not.
If either hits or food reaches zero, you’re out of luck.

Hits can be replenished, but you must discover how to accomplish that.

Food is pretty easy to replace; all it takes is money to buy it and a store
that sells it. Look for food stands in villages.

WHAT YOU GET

The third line, “experience,” increases as you fight. Every encounter has
the potential to add to your experience and most do; occasionally you’ll
take on a foe who’s a real wimp and get no experience from it though.
The amount of your experience determines your character’s level—it’s
shown at the top of the “ztatus” screen.

“Gold,” the final line, shows (got a guess?) how rich you are. Not very.
You can make more gold by fighting (and winning), in which case you get
whatever your opponent was carrying, and by picking up chests in
dungeons and towers. There are plenty of ways to spend gold, the first is
the one that you need to indulge in now.

FIRST QUEST: ARMS AND ARMOUR

Press any key and the world will magically reappear. Did you notice a
town nearby when you roamed before? Head straight for it and enter.
You need weapons and armour if you are to survive at all. There are
plenty of others eager for a share of your gold, so be on guard against
your appetites; you can’t afford much more than you need.

GETTING TO KNOW THE NATIVES

Did you run into any monsters outside? They don’t care about your
motives, they attack and you must fight them. In town, you may see
some of the same monsters as well as various other people. They seldom
attack in town unless you do something you shouldn’t, but just now
you’re not strong enough.

Instead of fighting, talk to the townspeople. Press [T] for “transact;” the
command line will ask for the direction in which you want to “transact.”
Enter it just as if you were moving that way, and the creature will
respond if it can and chooses to. (Only rare orcs have the power of
speech.) If you attack in town, the guards will come after you.

A lot of people you meet will say whatever is the popular response in
their crowd these days. Now and then, someone will break away from
the crowd and reveal something extremely useful. Without these bits of
information, you won’t get very deep in Ultima II and you certainly won’t
win. So talk to everyone. Put up with the bores to find the gems.

Transacting is also how you communicate with storekeepers to make

purchases. Most such transactions are self-evident, but a few use
abbreviations for products, and you may need clarification. So it’s time
to identify weapons and armour; then lets meet in the pub.

CHOOSE YOUR POISON

The weapons dealer will ask you to choose between 1)DA 2)MA 3)AX
4)BO 5)SW 6)GR 7)LI 8)PH. These represent respectively, dagger, mace,
ax, bow, sword, greatsword, light sword, and phaser. Since that’s too
difficult to read, here’s a table:

Dealer Item Dealer Item

1) DA Dagger 5) SW Sword
2) MA Mace 6) GR Greatsword
3) AX Ax 7) LI Light Sword
4) BO Bow 8) PH Phaser

Each is more effective than the one before it and more expensive too. Be
careful because at first you aren’t apt to be agile enough to wield
anything larger than an ax.

At the armoury, you can buy leather, chain, plate, and the magical
reflect and power armours. You may as well wear your new armour and
ready your new weapon right away; be prepared. There is one weapon
you cannot buy; you must earn it. It is the magical quicksword, Enilno.

Wizards and clerics are probably smarter to wait a few turns before
purchasing spells, because they need armour and weapons too. When
your character can afford them, you can refer to the “Magic Spells” given
with the command list to decipher what’s being offered you in the magic
store.

THE PUB AND ITS PROPRIETOR

Pubs have always been centers for gossip and street wisdom. The
universe of Ultima II is no exception. And, as usual, the barkeep is the
wisest of all. When you talk to bartenders, they’ll ask, 1-BUY, 2-TIP?

If you buy, you’ll get a drink at a reasonable price and a comment that
may or may not be useful. If you choose “tip,” the ’keep will ask how
many gold pieces you’re willing to spend, up to nine. Pay up and you’ll
get an important clue about the workings of the game, Ultima II—which,
of course, you may have already heard if you’ve asked the ’keep before.
Bartenders’ information helps you play Ultima II successfully and with
understanding. But only from oracles and sages can you get strategy
hints that enable you to win the game. They are expensive, and they too
can repeat themselves.

IN THE MAELSTROM

Armed and shielded, you’re ready to venture into the countryside.

Chances are, you’ll meet a monster or two in your travels.

Don’t wait, attack! There are no friendly wayfarers in the countryside.

There’s some timing to work on in battle. You may press [A] for “attack”
as soon as you’ve finished your last turn, but don’t press a direction
until you’re asked for it. If you do, the computer will pay attention only
to the last command and try to move in the direction of the monster,
which is, of course, blocked; then you miss your turn in that all you get
for it is the message that you can’t go that way. After a while, you won’t
have to watch the screen; the timing will come.

Keep an eye on your hit points. If you’re getting nervous during a fight,
try to guide the monster toward a time door so you can disappear
through it. Sometimes you can avoid monsters too, although fighting
them and winning are essential for raising experience and cash.
Monsters always make a bee-line for you. Keeping that in mind, you can
often lead them into spots from which they can’t get at you.

Take warning: No matter how strong you become, there will always be
some monsters impervious to your attacks. They may be ferocious
terrible creatures, or they may be ineffective orcs. When you meet an orc
try to “transact” and defend yourself if you must. These lonely individual
creatures are mutants of Minax’s evil, doomed to continue their
miserable lives forever.
 ON THE TOWN

Learn to make your way around the land and then through time. Seek
out towns, villages, and castles and talk to everyone. Pay attention to
the items you get from the monsters you overcome; look at your “ztatus”
often. Learn where to get food and hit points and figure out the best
places and methods for getting the most money.

As you gather tactical information and become reasonably comfortable

with your environment, you’ll begin picking up clues about your quest.
Your purpose is to learn how to fulfill your quest and then do what is
required. The ultimate object of your quest is explained in the story of
Minax.

FAR OUT

Eventually, your travels take you into outer space where you can make
the grand tour of the planets. Space travel is tricky, so be careful. Don’t
forget your special attire. Follow your galactic map well, but don’t be too
chicken to explore.

REINCARNATION

If you are killed either in space or on earth. DON’T DESPAIR; you can be
REBORN, right where you were the last time you saved the game, with
all your attributes, money and belongings.

If you die, turn off your computer. Place your Master Program disk back
in the disk drive. Turn on your computer and continue to play. (IBM
Users—you will have to re-boot the computer and re-start Ultima 2. If
you are playing in a Multi-tasking environment, simply close that DOS
window, open up another and run Ultima 2 to continue playing.)

TIME TRAVEL

No one remembers exactly when in history time doors first appeared,

probably because their very existence renders time relative. Ancient
books show no mention of them prior to the defeat and demise of the evil
Mondain, so well recorded in Ultima.

Strongly convincing scientific theory supports the chronology. Mondain

had gained such power that, upon his death, the physical laws of nature
suffered a great upheaval. When the smoke cleared, all that remained
were corridors in time and space, we commonly call our “time doors.”

Numerous scientists and adventurers have attempted to traverse the

corridors. The few who have returned speak of great confusion and
difficulty in navigating through the corridors, especially during primitive
times.

Nevertheless, the existence of the time doors has changed irretrievably

all that is and all that ever was. When—no, where—there were no time
doors, what was done was done no second chances existed; there was no
reaching into another time to find a cause, negate it, and thus remove its
effect from all time.
Now, of course, it is possible in all times.
THE TIME MAP
The few returning time travelers tell us that the time corridors are
connected with five distinct time periods, but not one of them has been
able to determine, with a semblance of precision, exactly when or how it
happened. Their experiences do appear to confirm the existence of
intelligent life forms in many eras previously thought to be supporting of
primitive life only, or no life at all.
One period, reported by two independent travelers, if only vaguely,
appears to have no equivalent in early scientific thought. It is what it
appears to be, it is the period about which the most has been written.
Until now, the period was believed to be theological at best, purely
imaginary, it is a time we know only through mythology: the time of
Legends.
Here are the five time periods accessible through the time corridors.
LEGENDS The time before time, peopled by creatures of myth and
lore. Whether the time of Legends is ruled by good or evil
affects all other times and places. It is believed that the
power of the enchantress Minax, the authoress of our
worst troubles, is greatest at this time.
PANGEA The time when Earth is still forming. Before volcanic
upheavals separate the seven continents and set the great
continental drift in motion, earth is one great continent
surrounded by a gigantic ocean. There appears to be
abundant, if sparse, life and some civilization, although the
origins are so far inexplicable.
B.C. The time just before the dawn of civilization as history
records it. According to the time travelers, an advanced
civilization already exists in B.C., apparently the progeny
of the beginning civilization of Pangea. The old twentieth
century “crack pots” theorized that civilization developed
from a few human beings left behind by a prior advanced
civilization that for some reason moved on into space.
A.D. The present—if we can still call it that. Specifically, 1990.
It is, but apparently now not as it was to have been, a
rather perilous time of planetary egocentricism leading to
an overemphasis on dangerously shaky interplanetary
jealousies and greed. The times
reflect the people who suffer stress with a sense of urgency
that encourages pragmatism over reason, dulls an
awareness of values and leads weaker souls to lives of
crime.

AFTERMATH The post devastation period once though of as the future.

Much of life and all known civilization has ceased to exist.
As we learn more of the enchantress Minax, we become
more and more convinced of her single-handed
perpetration of the entire devastation itself
and all that led to it. Note that much of the land mass has
been wiped out, especially the key centers and most
troublesome hotspots of the great Sino-Russo-American
Era.

The time doors of all time periods are shown on a map of the world as it
is in A.D. Accurate maps of most other times do not yet exist. You will
have to extrapolate the location of other time period doors as they would
appear in their own time periods. Because Legends is pre time, or extra
time, its map would not resemble that of Earth in any reasonable way.
Therefore, Legends is represented by its four known time doors grouped
at the bottom of the map where Antarctica would appear if any “time
doors” were to appear in Antarctica.

Time doors appear randomly but they always appear at a set interval.
When they appear, they rise silently looking rather like a blue mist that
takes on the form of a door. Very soon they dissipate. To enter a time
corridor, simply step into a time door while it’s visible. Caution: Do not
position yourself where a time door was and wait for it to reappear. It
will not, so long as you are on its spot. The consequences of upsetting
the sequence of time doors are unknown but scientists speculate that
they could be disastrous.

The symbols and lines of the map represent the best possible
extrapolation and compilation of sketchy information given by those few
returned time travelers. Each time door is represented on the map by
two symbols. The first is the symbol of the time period in which that
door will appear; the second is the symbol of the time period to which it
is believed that time door will transport the traveler. A direct line from
the time door shows where on Earth you will find yourself in the new
time. Where more than one line leads from one time door, the line
representing the door’s destination is the one that leads to another time
door that has the destination time symbol as its first marker.

Try following this example on the map: Suppose you’re in the time of the
aftermath and you wish to travel to the present. Look for a door
represented first by the aftermath symbol followed by the A.D. symbol.
Find it? It’s in Alaska with numerous lines extending from it. Look for
the line that leads to a time door where the first symbol is A.D. Got it?
Try Argentina.
 THE NATIVES OF ULTIMA II
EVERYWHERE

ORC
More pest than peril, the not-bright orc is the prolific product of
a foolish experimental genetic mating of human and boar.

THIEF
An ordinary human pickpocket, the thief would rather snitch
than fight. He may take something very important from you.
Always check your inventory (Z) after being confronted by a
thief.

FIGHTER
Humanoid and strong, fighters carry something you need.

CLERIC
Men of the cloth carry their crosses and proselytize but are not
always good or wise.

WIZARD
With magical staff in hand, wizards enjoy throwing magic
missiles that do powerful damage.

DAEMON
It looks like it’s shrugging, this creature of minor hells, but it’s
pleasure is to stop you in your tracks by magic. A certain
magical item can thwart the daemon—sometimes.

DEVIL
Complementing the daemon, the devil stays in your arms. A
different possession deals with this baby.

BALRON
Awesomely recognizable from its great leathery wings, the
wretchedly evil balron ensures the success of its Herculean
strength by using a sleep spell to render its victims helpless.
Some have hypothesized that the spell is not real—that the
fetid, putrid breath of the creature is so horrible that humans
cannot resist the urge to escape it immediately through sleep.
 SEA MONSTER
If it weren’t so big it might be a swan—until it takes after your
frigate. It will also attack you while you are on land if you are
near water.

IN TOWNS, VILLAGES, AND CASTLES

GUARDS
Chosen for their brawn, guards are mindlessly loyal to their
governments; they’re generally harmless unless you break the
rules—they’re extremely strong.

MERCHANTS
Unarmed and mild, the grassroots of Ultima II, merchants
rarely fight.

JESTERS
Bouncing about in eternal jumping jacks, jesters are usually
the buffoons you’d expect—but occasionally the buffoonery
masks great wisdom.

KINGS AND QUEENS

Larger-than life humans, but smaller than guards,
royal persons do little other than sit on thrones and
bestow.

MINAX
?

GETTING AROUND IN ULTIMA II

Traveling on foot will take you far in Ultima II—but not everywhere. You
can purchase, overtake, or steal more efficient forms of transportation.

HORSES
Riding horseback is slightly faster than walking, and horses are
cheap.

FRIGATES
 When a frigate docks near you, you can commandeer it—if the crew
will accept you as a seasoned sailor—if you have a certain item.
Otherwise, they’ll turn the broadsides on you.

PLANES
No jets in Ultima II, but these little singe prop jobbies are just
the ticket for hotfooting it around the world and through time—
if you’re prepared.

ROCKETS
Probably by the time you find one, surely by the time you figure
out how to procure one, you won’t need a manual to deal with
the situation. It takes proper armour to launch one and
survive.

ULTIMA II TERRAIN

Throughout the Ultima II universe, five natural terrains and two created
terrains exist. Then there are five kinds of population centers, so to
speak.

WATER
No one in Ultima II knows how to swim except the sea
monsters, so you can only cross water with a frigate—or pass
over it by air.

GRASS
No problems moving on grass, but don’t expect grass to save
you from starvation. Your character’s assumed to be
humanoid, not bovine.

SWAMP
You’ll have no trouble making through the swamp, unless
you’re low on hit points. You lost hit points with every step.

FOREST
Sometimes there are monsters in forests lurking behind trees.
But they’re pretty trees and give nice shade.

MOUNTAINS
No way! Are you a goat?
COBBLESTONES
No more concrete jungles. The streets and sidewalks of Ultima
II are paved exclusively with cobblestones—past, present, and
future.

WALLS
Impenetrable. If you’re flying and so much as touch
one, the Great Mover of Ultima II assumes you want to
get out of town and escorts you there.

VILLAGES
In Countryside villages live the simple folk, selling their simple
wares to wayfarers and sharing their lore.

TOWNS
With the greater sophistication of a cosmopolitan atmosphere
come the products of human innovation; the sword, the mail,
and the tankard of ale.

CASTLES
Castles, seats of government, contain prisons and cathedrals,
private vaults and private chambers. Explore as you will, but
note that the guards in castles are the cream of the crop.

DUNGEONS
Apparently the breeding grounds for all the evil creatures in
Ultima II’s universe, leading—who knows?—to hell itself, the
dungeons are full of hidden passages and twisty, diabolical
mazes. They’re also full of treasure and vicious monsters.

TOWERS
Perhaps the world of evil became overcrowded, for its forces
began building dungeons skyward; towers are upside down
dungeons. Watch for secret messages in unlikely places.
 ULTIMA II GALACTIC MAP OF KNOWN SPACE

Xeno Yako Zabo Life Terrain

* Sun 4 4 4 N None
A Mercury 5 4 5 ? Water, swamp
B Venus 3 3 4 N Water, swamp, grass
C Earth 6 6 6 Y All varieties
D Mars 6 2 3 Y Mountains
E Jupiter 1 3 4 ? Water, grass
F Saturn 2 8 5 N Water, grass
G Uranus 9 4 6 Y Forest, grass
H Neptune 4 0 5 ? Grass
I Pluto 0 1 4 Y Mountains

Space travel continues, and the courageous and creative

space explorer may discover unknown planets to add to this
map.
 THE STORY OF MINAX

When the archevil Mondain was finally overcome by a gallant knight (was
it you?), rumors abounded. The most fearful one was that, at the time of
his demise, Mondain had been training an apprentice, a protegee with
amazing powerful, natural, magical abilities. The rumor was squelched
when colleagues of his conqueror entered his castle and found no sign of
anyone.

Life during Mondain’s time of power was terrible; never had a prince of
darkness wielded so brutal a stick. Mondain was a disease on the
landscape; he reigned over all the evils ever known, and more; he
brought them all to fruition on Earth and its environs at once. He
enjoyed seeing Earth’s well meaning humanoids squirm. With the
destruction of Mondain and his all-powerful gem of evil, those horrors
ceased.

When nothing came of the rumor of a potential successor to this cancer,

people were only too eager to accept its falsehood and throw off their
cloaks of fear. The evils of the past were gone with their creator and
perpetrator. At last, the world was beautiful again, and life was to be
enjoyed, savored.

So it was for several years, long enough for a child to grow to adulthood.
They were exciting years, for the strange appearance of the time doors
opened a great era of new learning, a renaissance of timelessness.
Creativity burst forth and new works proliferated. No one wanted to
notice when the disease began again.

But so it did. First there was the single lost orc a farmer stumbled upon.
What was it? Whence came it? Scientists knew in their secret hearts
that the orc was the work of a sorcerer, and had that sorcerer been a
benevolent one who had created the orc by accident, he would have come
forward. But they didn’t want to know it, so they put it aside.

The orc was too sick and hurt to fight when it was first found. When it
was sufficiently recovered and it had begun to assert its learned wrathful
ways, it discovered a conundrum in its weak little head. These creatures
had saved its life—it grasped that much—and it didn’t want to hurt
them. Because the little lone orc had never been missed, it was not
controlled by magical influences. It persisted with a pleasant
benevolence.

All the good orcs we see in towns and villages today have descended from
this one unusual orc. But the good people of Earth should have realized
its import those years ago.
More and more, the evils of darkness began to show Earth. By the time
the people acknowledged it, the evil was too powerful, too widespread to
be overcome directly. Already, its perpetrator was stronger and more
wretched than any previous prince of darkness and had grown too proud
to keep silent.

Thus was the name of Minax, “enchantress of evil,” made known. She
was a master of moving objects spiritually from the age of three and
proudly apprenticed to Mondain at age eleven; she had acceded to many
times his power. The world she created made Mondain’s reign look
prosperous and carefree.

For Minax was not content to spread evil among the good, causing
misery and pain; she preferred to sow seeds of evil in the good, and thus
set the good against good leaving no person untouched. Destruction
abounded and guilt and self-hatred tainted the Earth.

The climax was the devastation of 2111, Minax’s greatest triumph to

date, when ancient civilizations, born to love of beauty, of wisdom and
reason, turned upon one another and, in their vicious anger and hate,
destroyed almost all of the very Earth that had nurtured them.

If it were not for the time doors, you would not be here now. Only the
ability to move in time enabled any living thing to survive, as far as is
known.

Since that awful day, survivors have devoted themselves to grasping the
meaning of the event and to rethinking the concept of time and its
dimensions. This dedicated group has researched, experimented and
hypothesized in the hope of finding some means of using the time doors
to reverse time or to change a cause and reverse its effect.

Throughout their studies, two complementary theories persisted. One

was that evil was derived from a single, overpowering source which was
Minax; the other was that the total elimination of the root cause could
reverse its effects from all time, as if all immediacy was the present and
all else was the future.

That group which Lord British chairs extends its deepest respect and
admiration to you for heroically volunteering for this extremely
dangerous expedition into time. Know before you go that, whether you
succeed or fail, you have their gratitude and love.

And, if—no, when—you succeed, you will return to the present as it

might have and should have been. Those in this small group assure you
that they will never forget your great deed. But you should be aware that
by the very nature of your success, that future generations prospering in
the sunlit glory of the universe that you have made, are apt to forget.
Your satisfaction must be self-sufficient.

If you understand all this and are still willing to venture forth, then go
now with their abundant well wishes and the knowledge that their
thoughts will be with you ceaselessly until you return.

Farewell. May the force of good surround you throughout your trek.

WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?

What kind of adventurer are you anyway, that you’re still sitting here
reading this legend instead of entering Ultima II?
Begone—and boot!
CREDITS

Lord British acknowledges a special debt of gratitude to friends and

colleagues in the noted areas:

Programming:
Kenneth Arnold
Richard Garriott
Keith Zabalaoui

Atari Conversion:
Chuckles

Game Design:
Helen Garriott
Owen Garriott
Howard Makler
Mary Taylor Rollo

Inspiration:
Susan Davis
Debra Del Nero
Linda Garriott
Christine Hanson
Sherri McAdams

Special thanks to all personalities found within Ultima II.

Author’s Note:

I spent more than 14 months creating the Ultima II universe. If

you have half the fun playing Ultima as I had writing it, my time
was well spent. Wishing you wonderful weeks of fantasy.

Lord British
Ultima II © 1983, Lord British and Sierra On-Line, Inc.
 Ultima II™ Quick Reference
KEY LETTER COMMANDS
A)ttack J)ump S)teal P)ass Y)ell
B)oard K)limb T)ransact Q)uit Z)tatus
C)ast L)aunch/Land U)nlock R)eady
D)escend M)agic V)iew G)et
E)nter N)egate W)ear H)yperspace
F)ire O)ffer X)it I)gnite

MAGIC SPELLS
Clerics and Wizards Clerics Spells
Wizards Spells
1. Light 4. Passwall 7. Magic Missile
2. Ladder Down 5. Surface 8. Blink
3. Ladder Up 6. Prayer 9. Kill