Everywhere, Lord British’s subjects were happy and prosperous. A great cancer had been exorcised from the world body. The People were cleansed again, and there was much rejoicing in the towns. Even the Orcs had disappeared from sight after the fall of Minax’s castle, as chronicled in Ultima II. Twenty years of peace lasted. Twenty years is also the time needed for an infant to become a person.
From the ruins of Minax’s castle has come several fragments of a manuscript which hints at a dark secret. There appears to have been an unholy alliance between Mondain and his young apprentice, Minax. Something had fructified from that union, but whether that something was of Man, Monster, or Daemon, the manuscript fragments were eerily silent about. What had become of the hell-born prodigy? No clues existed.
Time passed, and the omens began to be troubled. Comets clashed across the sky and rumbles were heard deep in the ground. Then one day, in a fiery birth of molten lava, an island rose up in the middle of the ocean. None could approach it; the fire and steam were too great. Some drunken sailors claimed to have had a glimpse of the island when the steam was momentarily blown away by a strong wind. They swore that a castle existed in the middle of that inferno, but thou knows how reliable is the word of a drunken sailor.
Then, the sweet flowing rhythm of country life was shattered. Orc drums began to pulsate through the hills and mountains, and the horrible raids began. The outlying settlements all moved into the safety of the village fortresses. Shortly thereafter, a Pirate Fleet appeared suddenly, and commerce was swept from the seas. An evil power was rising in the West, and all the earth groaned to its flexing. When tales emerged that the Great Earth Serpent had risen from its long slumber at the bottom of the ocean, people began to cry that the End of the World was at hand.
Lord British sent his most trusted and talented advisor out to uncover the facts behind these wild rumors. Weeks passed, then a shattered man was found wandering in the groves outside the castle. Some terrible sight had blasted his reasoning. He just kept repeating, “From the depth of Hell... He comes for vengeance.”
What he/she/it was, remained unclear. The spread of its evil powers, however, was very clear. Lord British sent out a Call for all of the Heroes of the People to rally. That is why thou art here today. Thou heard the Call and answered it.
Thy task before thee is not easy. Evil walks the land openly, attacking all travelers. Thou and thy companions will need to grow stronger rapidly if thy Party is to survive. Seek among the ancient paths for long-forgotten Truths and Powers.
One possible clue as to the identity of thy nemesis has been discovered. A derelict merchant ship was recently towed into port. No crewmen were aboard, alive or dead. Everyone had vanished, as if plucked by some evil force off the boat. The one thing found was a word written in blood on the deck: E X O D U S.
