The Awakening
The Awakening is a story arc that began early in 2012, and is still ongoing as of the time of writing (August 2012). Broadly speaking, this story arc revolved around the political, social, and economic situation in Britannia deteriorating due in large part to lack of leadership from the central government, and foes of Britannia (so far, most notably Exodus) taking advantage of that situation.
The specifics of this story arc differed somewhat shard to shard, due to Event Moderator input, thus attempting to satisfy Ultima Online players' long-standing like of shard-specific content and peculiarities.
Act I
This chapter introduced the deteriorating social, political, and economic situation in Britannia. It started with Publish 74 and it is based on the riots that began across Britannia, specifically in the cities:
In each of these cities (with the exception of Moonglow), you will find a journal of one of the citizens describing the situation. You will also find a Guard Captain stationed on the city center who seeks help against the rioters:
- "The citizenry of Britannia are beginning a rebellion, and we must do what we can to maintain order.
- Many of our poorer brothers and sisters are protesting, because they cannot earn a living in these hard times. Gifts of money, food, and clothing would go far to ease their fears.
- Some of our citizens have begun to riot. They have crossed the line and are causing destruction! There are too many of them for the city guard to handle. Please, take this
rope and use it to arrest the rioters, and return them here.
- The rioters are starting fires and leaving trails of destruction behind them. We desperately need your help putting out the fires. Also, cleaning up the garbage would certainly be appreciated. (To put out a fire or clean up garbage, double-click it.)
- Groups of raiders from other cities have been infiltrating our city and attacking innocent citizens! These vagabonds must be stopped. Use spell and steel, or set your dragons loose on them if need be.
- Slay the raiders if you must. However, you may attempt to subdue and arrest them. If you do so, they must be returned to their home city. Our jails are overflowing!
- Our coffers are empty. The city cannot offer you any reward other than our thanks. Word of your deeds will spread.
- Be wary, though. Britannians are turning against each other. If you try to lend a hand to everyone, all may end up hating you. Right now, your loyalty means as much as your assistance!"
| City | Location of the Guard Captain and the Box of Ropes | |
|---|---|---|
| Coordinates | Description | |
| Britain | 7°54' S, 6°36' E | Just west of the bridge, north of the Cat's Lair. |
| Jhelom | 168°50' N, 4°0' E | At the halfway from the Jhelom Library and the Morning Star Inn |
| Minoc | 95°58' N, 77°29' E | Inside the Town Hall. |
| Moonglow | 50°21' N, 133°1' W | East of the city gates, next to the Moonglow Academy of Arts. |
| New Magincia | 56°41' S, 165°39' E | At the docks. |
| Skara Brae | 51°35' S, 52°52' W | Inside the Town Hall. |
| Trinsic | 100°48' S, 37°7' E | Inside the Jail, just next to the west entrance of the city. |
| Vesper | 70°29' N, 118°15' E | At the docks. |
| Yew | 62°24' N, 65°52' W | South-east of the entrance of the Yew Prison, next to the Court of Truth. |
As the last sentence suggests, you should only help a single city of your choice since helping more than one city will make your loyalty decrease on other cities. A Guardman's Rope will drop into your backpack upon double-clicking on the chest Box of Rope which can be found near the Guard Captain.
- You take a rope from the chest. Use it to arrest rioters and subdued raiders.
Note that the rope has a lifespan of 60 minutes or 3,600 seconds but you can take another rope from the chest even before the time expires. Rioters can be found inside the city, along with flames and garbage. Flames can be put out and the garbage can be cleaned by simply double-clicking on them:
- "... clear a pile of garbage" "... puts out a fire"'
Criminal Angry Rioters can be arrested by using the Guardman's Rope. Returning the rioter to the Guard Captain will make your loyalty towards the city to increase:
- "Thank you for your assistance during these difficult times."
You can calm the innocent Angry Protestors by giving them Gold or Food.
From time to time, groups of 25 Raiders will attack a city. You can either subdue and arrest them or kill them. If arrested, they must be returned to their home city.
Loyalty Rating
A city gains Love or Hate for that character based on her/his actions:
| Love | Neutrality | Hate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaining Method |
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None |
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| Secondary Effects |
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None |
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| Decay Rate ‡ |
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‡: If you login once every 40 hours, the decay prevention will prevent cities' Love for you from decaying. Neutrality and Hatred values from cities will always decay.
As you will progress, you will gain a loyalty rating based on your actions:
| Tier | Positive ←Most Positive |
Neutral | Negative Most Negative→ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tier 0 | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tier 1 | Commended | Doubted | Disfavored | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tier 2 | Respected | Esteemed | Distrusted | Disliked | Detested | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tier 3 | Adored | Admired | Honored | Disgraced | Loathed | Despised | Reviled | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tier 4 | Venerated‡ | Revered | Exalted | Lauded | Denigrated | Scorned | Shunned | Vilified | Abhorred | ||||||||||||||||
‡: You can become Venerated immediately by donating 100,000 iron ingots to the City Trade Ministers.
- If the character only performs beneficial actions for one city, the character gains positive ratings
- If the character only performs harmful actions for one city, the character gains negative ratings
- If the character performs a mixture of actions for a city, or performs beneficial actions for multiple cities, the character will tend to gain positive or negative ratings to a lesser degree or will gain distrustful ratings.
Note that you should:
- arrest 4 Angry Rioters or help 16 Angry Protestors for Commended,
- arrest 20 Angry Rioters or help 80 Angry Protestors for Respected,
- arrest 100 Angry Rioters or help 400 Angry Protestors for Adored and
- arrest 500 Angry Rioters or help 2000 Angry Protestors for Venerated.
City Banners
- Main Article: City Banner
If your loyalty rating towards the city is high enough (~ Adored), you can purchase a City Banner from the Guard Captains for 250,000 
gold pieces.
City Titles
You can declare citizenship for a city (which will grant you the title Citizen) from the Rewards section of the Titles Menu which can be accessed from your characters context menu. You can receive further titles for that city if you have:
- the required minimum loyalty rating for the title.
- enough funds in your bank-box to donate for the title.
You can only declare citizenship in a single city and you can renounce your citizenship at any time. However, you need to wait a week before declaring citizenship for another city again.
The title can be aquired via options in the city loyalty menue.
The amount you pay, goes direct into the town treasure.
| Character | ←Lower Loyalty Rating Title Higher Loyalty Rating→ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | Citizen | Dame | Baronetess | Baroness | Viscountess | Countess | Marquise | Duchess |
| Male | Citizen | Knight | Baronet | Baron | Viscount | Earl | Marquis | Duke |
| Gold | - | 10,000 | 100,000 | 1,000,000 | 2,000,000 | 5,000,000 | 10,000,000 | 50,000,000 |
| Loyalty | - | Commended | Esteemed | Respected | Admired | Adored | Revered | Venerated |
Act II
This chapter introduced the potential for a threat to Britannia to emerge from Ilshenar. Some of the groundwork had already been lain by Event Moderators on some Shards. It started on March 1st (April 1st on Siege Perilous) with the fiction The Awakening - Act II and ended with Publish 78. Unlike the other quests which you can see the progress and details from the quest gump or the quest log, it followed classic keyword style.
The Trail of Blood
The quest starts at the blocked passageway to the Exodus Dungeon. You will notice a trail of blood. You should follow it into the Gargoyle city of Ver Lor Reg.
- You can reach the blocked passageway from the Honor moongate in Ilshenar using the tunnel at 84º N, 43º W. From there go to the pass between the desert and the Exodus Dungeon.
- An easier way to reach there was to use a Crystal Portal and speak "Ilshenar Mint" which teleported the players to the bank in Ver Lor Reg. As of Publish 76, Crystal Portal teleports players to the gypsy camp south of the Compassion Moongate
Shirron Argahrok
The trail of blood used to lead to the unconscious Waymaster Harlann and a Shirron of the Juka, Argahrok who can be found inside the Healer's Shop: In-Mani-Lem in Ver Lor Reg. After Exodus plundered the city of Ver Lor Reg, Shirron Argahrok moved to The Mistas Rigsit, at 42° N, 39° W, Ilshenar. Argahrok responds to specific keywords:
- Greetings: I am Shirron Argahrok, and I greet you with Respect and Honor, adventurer. I wonder can you help?
- Help: My faithful Waymaster, Harlann, has been severely injured during the catastrophe that befell us.
- Catastrophe: I am unsure its cause, but many of our people died. Our nightmares became reality.
- Injured: With my people scattered, I have nobody to face the dangers necessary for the cure she needs.
- Cure: The cure can only be made with certain ingredients... one is found in Blood Dungeon.
- Blood Dungeon: There is a creature in its depths known as a purifying blood elemental... its blood is key.
- Creature: If you can help by bringing a sample of the purified blood from them, I'll reward you.
- Reward: I can show you the ways of climbing and give you equipment to scale the mountain.
- Mountain: I do not know what lies there after the catastrophe... but there must be something left.
You need to kill a Purifying Blood Elemental in Blood Dungeon to get 
Samples of Purified Blood. When you obtained it, return to the Shirron and give him the blood:
- This will aid greatly. As promised seek the famous mountain climber. Tell him the Shirron sent you.
Carl the Mountain Climber
The famous mountain climber Shirron talks about is Carl the Mountain Climber. He can be found at the Gypsy Camp south of Compassion Moongate. He responds to specific keywords:
- Greetings: Did you hear that? I don't know what happened but the blasted mountain nearly collapsed.
- The Shirron sent me: Let me know when you are ready to learn. I am sure the Loremasters await an answer.
- Loremaster: I am sure whatever you find over there would be of interest to the Juka and Meer.
- Juka: The Jukan Loremasters can be found near Mistas.
- Meer: The Meer Loremasters can be found near Lakeshire.
- I'm ready: Let me show you how this is done... a real natural! There is some equipment by the mountain to use.
You will notice a climbing equipment near the mountain side. After you talk to him, say climb at the rocks right behind him. This transports you over the mountain next to the ruins of Lord Blackthorn's castle.
Grave Robbers
If you'll notice, not only is Lord Blackthorn's castle gone, so are the Meer Catacombs. The grave robbers have pilfered from both, and have on their corpses various Jukan and Meer heirlooms:
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Note that all of the heirlooms have the Lifespan property set to 86,400 seconds (24 hours) and they will disappear once the countdown timer has elapsed. The Grave Robbers have a lot of hit points and they also reflect half of the damage dealt every time you hit them.
Loremasters
You should take the heirlooms you recovered from the Grave Robbers to the Jukan and Meer Loremasters. Note that gaining Loyalty for the Meer does not diminish your Loyalty for the Juka, and vice versa. You can also read the books written by other Loremasters and elders about the Jukan and Meer traditions while visiting Lakeshire and Mistas.
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Act III
This chapter brought the role of Exodus into sharper focus. It started on April 10th with the fiction The Awakening - Act III. Like the previous act, it follows classic keyword style.
Slim the Fence
Slim the Fence can be found in the basement of The Salty Dog tavern in east Britain, inside a side room with a locked crate labeled A Box of Loot Recovered from Castle Blackthorn. He responds to specific keywords:
- Greetings': Alloa 'Allia, what 'ave we 'ere? Wha' ken ol' Slim do fer ya?
- Slim: Tha' be ma name, it be. Ya ain' no bleedin' guard, are ya?
- No: Good, Good---Ya buyin' or sellin' then? 'fraid I ain' lookin' fer much, but got plen'y
- Selling: Well, if ya wantin' ta sell, it better be summin' worth ma while, laddie, an' Ah don' see nuthin
- Buying: Now ya talkin', but talkin's easy---an' free. Tell ya wot tho'---listen close, aye?
- Aye: Ya han' over some gol' an Ah'll poin' ya ta what everyone's on abou'. Deal?
- Deal: Well, lad, it'll lead ya ta where ya wan' ta go---but ya got ta pay. *rubs hands together*
Dropping a single gold piece on Slim will unlock the crate:
- "Grammercy, grammercy... Maps in tha box by tha back wall. Ya follow it..."
- Follow: *grins crookedly* Follow it an ya migh' jus' come out richer'n when ya first came 'ere.
Opening the crate will drop 
A Plainly Drawn Treasure Map into your backpack with a lifespan of 60 seconds, pointing to the northwest corner of Ver Lor Reg.
Ver Lor Reg
You should find the location on the map in the Gargoyle city of Ver Lor Reg.
- You can reach Ver Lor Reg by using the Honor moongate in Ilshenar and entering the tunnel at 84º N, 43º W.
You will notice that there are Exodus Overseers spawning just inside the city. Go to the blacksmith shop Agra-Char-In-Lem located in the northwest corner of the city and climb the stairs in the northwest corner inside, up to the roof. You will see a 
rope across to a large, black hole in the mountain a few tiles to the southwest. Use the rope to enter the Exodus Dungeon.
Exodus Dungeon
The first thing you will see inside is a bizarre machine with a Cracked Viewing Crystal surrounded by Shattered Glass, and covered in Spattered Coolant. Next to it is a set of tinker's tools marked Callie's Toolkit next to a pile of bones with a book titled 
A Journal:
- Its been what seems like weeks since I have seen daylight. I can no longer stand the isolation of this dark place, but my work here is paramount. If what the fence says is true, there are untold riches to be uncovered from the machines with this mechanical citadel. My time has not been without peril, as I dodge attack daily from all manner of mechanical beast. I think though, I may have made a breakthrough! These bizarre tripods seem to be in a state of disrepair. I was able to fashion some tools from the corpse of one of the metallic behemoths. Luck would have it these instruments allowed me to interact with these strange tripods! Upon further examination it seems the intricacy of the circuitry varies but the outcome is always the same - when the correct circuit is connected the machine whirs to life and a small card is ejected. For days I pondered the use of such an item until I discovered a likely recipient for such a thing. I began feeding cards into the receiver, but to no avail, until without warning, I fed a card into the machine as I'd done previously and it came to life! What I am to do with the result of such a task is yet unclear, but it would seem...*the rest of the journal has rotted away*
You should kill Exodus Minions for a chance to receive a 
Mechanical Component which can be used to make an 
Exotic Toolkit by Tinkers who have 80.0 or more skill points in Tinkering. Note that the Mechanical Component has a lifespan of three days while the Exotic Toolkit has a lifespan of a week.
An Exotic Toolkit can be used on one of the large fixtures in between the rooms of the dungeon called a Nexus. This opens up a jewel-based puzzle mini-game which is nearly identical to those found in the Puzzle Room in the Underworld. Once the puzzle is solved, a random hued 
Punch Card will drop into your backpack along with the message:
- You repair the mysterious Nexus! As it whirs to life, it spits out a punch card.
- Beep! Bop! Boop!
You need to feed a total of 50 Punch Cards into the 
Keypunch Reader that is located near the journal to receive a 
Nexus Deed:
- As you feed the punch card into the machine it turns on!
Act IV
This chapter enabled players to collect pieces of the long-lost history of Ilshenar. It started on April 30th with the fiction The Awakening - Act IV and it is based on the catastrophe in Act II.
Alec the Provisioner
Alec the Provisioner (or a provisioner with a different name) can be found standing near the entrance of Ver Lor Reg in Ilshenar:
- "Greetings Traveler! It is fine provisions you seek? Then look no further!
- For the modest fee of 1000 gold I will provide you with usable sifting tray!
- This sifting tray will no doubt allow you to uncover untold riches in the shifting sands of this desert!
- Before you get too excited you should know these sands can be treacherous and sifting should be done with care!
- Of most valuable interest are the antiquity fragments settled here from the recent catastrophe that befell the Juka and Meer. You'd be wise to search only in this area, as it is where most of the debris is concentrated. Happy Hunting!
Sifting
Dropping 1,000 gold pieces on Alec will drop 
A Sifting Tray into your backpack with 41 - 46 uses and you can also get more than one Sifting Tray at a time. Use it on the desert around the entrance to discover 
Antiquity Fragments:
- *shake shake shake*
- "You sift for a while and discover an antiquity fragment!"
Note that you cant sift while mounted, hidden, flying, in animal form or fighting. Also, while sifting there is a chance to disturb an underground lair of a sleeping creature: A Desert Scorpion, Rotworm or Bloodworm. They can also spawn in Paragon form. According to Crowen, there is 1 in 3 chance to disturb a random creature while about 1 in 20 to 40 chance to recover an Antiquity Fragment.
Antiquity Fragments can be combined just like the ore pieces. You need to combine 10 Antiquity Fragments to get a random heirloom, the same heirlooms recovered from Grave Robbers in Act II but without the lifespan property:
‡ : not reported so far.
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Act V
During this act, Ver Lor Reg was first attacked and then fully re-occupied by Exodus, who had held it many years ago. The Call to Arms event for this act is run only once per shard between June 22 - 25, 2012. The time and date for the running of the event on each shard was publicized on the Ultima Online website via a published schedule.
A mysterious plague began to appear in Ter Mur among the Gargoyles there, following the retreat of the Ver Lor Reg Gargoyles into Ter Mur to escape the oncoming Exodus onslaught. Official fiction (BNN: The Awakening - Act V) posted on June 11, 2012 indicated that the plague was carried to Ter Mur by the Ver Lor Reg gargoyles; the latter were immune to it, the former unfortunately was not. The plague carriers were isolated by Queen Zhah in the Fishing Village northwest of the Royal City.
Call to Arms
- Main article: Call To Arms
Ver Lor Reg was then was re-rescued by the players led by Dupre during the Call to Arms event. Exodus, after over ten years of being a mysterious villain at the fringes of the game, finally was killed. 
Scrolls of Valiant Commendation were awarded to some players participating in the destruction of Exodus during the event.
This act concluded with the mysterious and worrying fracturing of the Honor Moongate in Ilshenar following the defeat of Exodus and the discovery of the mysterious tome known as 
A Weathered Journal.
Act VI
This act began on June 2nd with the fiction The Awakening - Act VI and ended on August 13th with a controversial reward distribution. It was based on finding a cure for the plague that appeared among the Gargoyles in Ter Mur.
The Mysterious Healer
A mysterious healer could be found standing near the Fishing Village northwest of the Royal City, at 124º S, 48º W, in Ter Mur. Double-clicking on him dropped the books Laboratory Procedure and A Plea for Help in your backpack:
- "These documents should explain everything. Now, though, I must tend the sick. Their fate is in your hands.
- You've got all the documentation you need. Return and hand me the cure when you have finished preparing it!"
A Plea for Help
"Greetings Traveler!
I am overjoyed at your willingness to assist these afflicted gargoyles. It is without question that your actions are virtuous and I commend thee. Fortunately I have been able to work out the basic reagents needed in the preparation of the cure. Firstly you will require the 
Cuticle Sac of a Terathan as a binding agent. These can be found on Terathan creatures within their Keep on the outskirts of Papua. Secondly, to combat the foul taste of the preparation you will require 
vanilla. Vanilla can be found on various paragon creatures in Ilshenar, or for those with a green thumb the raw plant can be cultivated from seeds found on creatures deep within the Exodus dungeon. Third, in order to create the necessary solvent to dissolve the healing attributes of the cure you will require 
Raw Yeast. Raw Yeast is often carried by Orcs asa common cooking ingredient in their foul tasting breads! Fourth as sustenance for the Raw Yeast you shall require 
Sugar. Sugar can also be found on paragon creatures in Ilshenar. For the horticulturist, raw sugar cane can be cultivated from seeds found on Juka Mage, Kappa, or Plague Beasts. Finally, you will require 
Blightborn Slime as a means of building immunity to this horrible blight. My research indicates the slimes occur naturally within the depths of the Britain Sewers. Once you've collected the reagents your task is to assist in preparing the cure. While the reagents necessary will always be the same, the combination in which they are to be used changes with each attempt at the reaction. Succeed in determining the combination and your reaction will yield the Cure! Turn your prepared Cure in to me so that I can see that it is deliveredto those afflicted. For your assistance in this matter Queen Zhah has authorized unlocking the Royal Vault and as such should you be among those who turn in the most cures you shall be eligible for reward. I thank thee again for your assistance. Only together and united shall our efforts result in success, so that we may see the end of this horrid Blight!"
The five ingredients below were needed in order to prepare a cure:
- Vanilla (found as loot on Paragon creatures or as a resource from Vanilla plants)
- Sack of Sugar (found as loot on Paragon creatures or as a resource from Sugar Canes)
- Raw Yeast (found as loot on Orcs)
- Blightborn Slime (found as loot on Blightborn Slimes)
- Terathan Cuticle Sac (found as loot on Terathan Avengers and Terathan Matriarchs)
Laboratory Procedure
"Once you have collected the necessary reagents you may attempt to decipher the combination of each reagent necessary for the cure. To begin your work visit the makeshift laboratories setup in the buildings here. There, you will find a laboratory bench. Of particular note are the Flask, Heating Stand, and Tongs. To add reagents, double click the flask. You may add up to three of each reagent, and must add at least one of each reagent. To empty the flask and get back the reagents added, double click the tongs. When you are ready to test your combination use the heating stand. You will begin heating the contents and the number of correct reagents will be returned to you. With each guess the reaction will become increasingly unstable, until ultimately if you do not succeed at preparing the cure, the reaction will catastrophically fail. The combination of reagents changes with each success, and each catastrophic failure."
This quest was basically a Mastermind game which you had to guess the correct amount of all five ingredients. The correct amount of each ingredient could be any number between one and three which made a total of 243 (35) possible solutions. A good way of preparing the cures while using the least amount of ingredients was to add a single one of each ingredient to the Flask at first. Even when a stack of ingredients was targeted, the flask would only add one. A message indicating the number of correct reagents displayed when the Heating Stand was double-clicked:
- "N of the reagents slowly fizz but the reaction fails."
If N was less than three, you could double-click on the Tongs to empty the Flask and get back the reagents. Moving away from the table displayed the message:
- "It is unsafe to leave an experiment unattended. As a matter of courtesy, you discard the contents of the flask and secured the apparatus."
which reset the solution so that it could be tried again (You should NOT move away from the table unless you already got your reagents back by double-clicking on the Tongs). Once the correct amount of each ingredient were added inside the Flask, a 
Cure for the Great Gargish Blight dropped in player's backpack:
- "The reaction is successful and you prepare the cure!"
The cure could then be turned in to The Mysterious Healer to assist with saving the infected gargoyles:
- "Your efforts are appreciated, we mustn't cease though, only N days remain before the Cure must be administered to the population!"
Rewards
The puzzle could be completed as many times as the player wish. There were four rewards available in both human and gargoyle versions and the type of reward the players received was based on the race of the player who turned in the preparations. While it was possible to get more than one reward (and even all four rewards) for the top contributors, it was also possible to not receive any reward at all if the respective contributions were not on par with the distribution of other contributors.
A Deed titled "A Commendation from Queen Zhah Presented to Player" is dropped on players' backpack when they returned to The Mysterious Healer. The rewards were divided into four Tiers:
- Tier 1 – Member of the Gargish Healers Order
- a sash recognizing your achievement - Tier 2 – Asclepius
- When equipped during a complete healing cycle, the staff will provide a 20% bonus to damage healed using bandages. - Tier 3 – Hygieia's Amulet
- When equipped Hygieia's Amulet gives a 15% bonus to Alchemy. - Tier 4 – Bracers of Alchemical Devastation
- Occupy the Sleeve Armor slot
- Hit Fireball 40% damage based on Wrestling or Anatomy & Evaluating Intelligence
- Mana Regeneration 5
- Faster Cast Recovery 3
- Physical Resist 15%
- Fire Resist 10%
- Cold Resist 10%
- Poison Resist 10%
- Energy Resist 10%
