The Eight Virtues were first established in Ultima 4 as the 8 defining
principles of a good Britannian life. Nobody but the Avatar was ever able
to master all 8 of the virtues. In Ultima Online, the Time Lord told Lord
British of these virtues, and in turn Lord British shared them with the
people. Each Virtue has its own Shrine, Sigil, Mantra, Color, Companion,
City, Counter, and Moon phase.
Each of the 8 virtues is derived from a combination of The Three
Principles of Truth, Love, and Courage. The three
principles also have a Sigil of sorts, as each principle has an object
which embodies its nature. these are: the Candle of Love, housed
at the Empath Abbey in Yew; the Book of Truth, contained within
the walls of the Lyceaum in Moonglow; and the Bell of Courage, stored
safely in Serpents Hold.
Collectively, these virtues and their principles are known as The Virtue System of Infinity
Richard Garriott Explains the System of Infinity
Truth
The objective reality
Color: Blue
Mantra: Ver
Courage
the will to struggle, for beliefs and for others
Color: Red
Mantra: Cor
Love
The empathic bond that unites the self to all others
Color: Yellow
Mantra: Amo
Infinity
Formed by: Truth, Love, Courage
Mantra: Veramocor
Compassion
Formed by: Love
Color: Yellow
Sigil: the Heart of Compassion
City: Britain
Companion: Iolo
Mantra: MU
Counter: Despise
Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish
to relieve it.
Compassion, formed by Love alone is the favored virtue of Bards. The
shrine of Compassion is located Northeast of the city of Britain on the
far side of the Great Mountains. It is in the middle of a desert, and surrounded
by water.
The Dungeon of Despise is located directly north of Castle British through
a small mountain passage. The entrance is in a clearing to the west of
that mountain passage.
Honor
Formed by: Truth and Courage
Color: Purple
Sigil: the Chalice of Honor
City: Trinsic
Companion: Dupre
Mantra: SUMM
Counter: Shame
Nobility of mind; probity.
Honor, the virtue of Paladins, is formed by Truth and Courage. The Shrine
of honor is located on a peninsula in the southernmost portion of the Britannian
continent, southwest of Trinsic.
The dungeon of Shame is located on the west side of the Yew Mountains,
directly north of Skara Brae.
Justice
Formed by: Truth and Love
Color: Green
Sigil: the Quill of Justice
City: Yew
Companion: Jaana
Mantra: BEH
Counter: Wrong
Conformity to truth, fact, or sound reason
Truth and Love form Justice, as demonstrated by the Great Court of Yew.
The Shrine of Justice lies in a seldom traveled area to the northeast of
Yew.
The Dungeon of Wrong is located on the very northernmost portion of
the Britannian continent, generally north of Cove, although one would have
to travel quite a distance from Cove to get there.
Honesty
Formed by: Truth
Color: Blue
Sigil: the Writ of Honesty
City: Moonglow
Companion: Mariah
Mantra: AHM
Counter: Deceit
Truthfulness; sincerity
Honesty is the spawn of Truth. You can find the Shrine of Honesty between
two mountain walls on the south portion of Arctica, the island just north
of Moonglow.
Also located on Arctica is the Dungeon of Deceit, its opening is just
northwest of the shrine of Honesty.
Sacrifice
Formed by: Love and Courage
Color: Orange
Sigil: the Tear of Sacrifice
City: Minoc
Companion: Julia
Mantra: CAH
Counter: Covetous
Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of another person.
Together, Love and Courage create the virtue of Sacrifice. The shrine
of Sacrifice can be found in the northeastern most section of the Britannian
continent, northeast of Vesper.
Sacrifice's counter dungeon, Covetous, is under the mountains to the
northwest of Vesper. The entrance is located on the south face of the mountains.
Humility
Formed by: Abscence of Principle
Color: Black
Sigil: the Crook of Humility
City: Magincia
Companion: Katarina
Mantra: LUM
Counter: Pride/Hythloth
Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit.
Humility is different than the other 7 virtues in that it is not formed
by any Principles. The Abscence of all three principles is actually Pride.
Pride, however, is not a virtue and so its opposite, humility, becomes
one. You may seek the Shrine of Humility on the Southwest section of Fire
Island.
The people of Magincia themselves are Prideful people, they represent
a complete lack of the three principles, and thus Humility has no real
home.
The counter dungeon to Humility is Hythloth, whose entrance faces south
on the southernmost portion of the Fire Island, to the east of the Shrine
of Honesty.
Valor
Formed by: Courage
Color: Red
Sigil: the Dagger of Valor
City: Jhelom
Companion: Geoffery
Mantra: RA
Counter: Destard
To be strong.
Valor comes from single principle of Courage. To the southwest of Serpents
Hold on the southernmost island of all resides the Shrine of Virtue.
Perhaps the most dangerous of all dungeons, Destard is located directly
to the west of Trinsic on the far side of the Skara Brae mountains.
Spirituality
Formed by: Truth, Love, and Courage
Color: White
Sigil: the Ankh of Spirituality
City: Skara Brae
Companion: Shamino
Mantra: OM
Counter: none/The Abyss
Of, concerned with, or affecting the soul.
Spirituality is the "key" to all the virtues, for it is the combination
of all three of the Principles. The shrine of Spirituality is located along
the road between Trinsic and Britain, to the northwest of Trinsic Bay.
The Virtue of Spirituality is representative of the Codex of Ultimate
Wisdom, and the Codex was raised from The Abyss in the cardinal Ultimas,
however in Ultima Online The Abyss has yet to be discovered. Thus, Spirituality
has no opposite dungeon in Ultima Online.
The Virtues and the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom were created by Richard
Garriott for Ultima 4. As morality is a sensitive subject with many people,
the virtues were designed not to be offensive to anybody. As you can see,
most everyone agrees that these virtues are all positive attributes of
mankind.
The circular Symbol you see on each of the Virtue Cards above is the
symbol for the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom. The three circles in the center
represent Truth, Love, and Courage, and each of the lines represents a
virtue. The small circle in the center is Spirituality, and the outer circle
is Humility.
