The Awakening

	Hear Ye, Hear Ye! This article contains information about an ongoing event. Content may change dramatically as the event unfolds.

The Awakening is a story arc that began early in 2012, and is still ongoing as of the time of writing (July 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:

Guard Captain of Vesper near a Box of Ropes.

"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!"

An Angry Rioter in Vesper.

City	Location of the Guard Captain and the Box of Ropes
City	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.

Raiders in Vesper.

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:

^‡ : Your loyalty rating will not decay if you log in daily anytime after maintenance.

	Love	Neutrality	Hate
Gaining Method	Performing beneficial acts in a city: Arresting Angry Rioters or Raiders by using a Guardman's Rope. (100x) Helping Angry Protestors by giving them 1,000 Gold or the same amount of worth Food or Clothing. (25x) Putting out fires and cleaning garbage. (2x)	-	Performing negative acts in a city: Killing Angry Rioters. (-400x)
Secondary Effects	A small fraction of the city's Hate for that character is converted into Neutrality. All other cities will convert some of their Love for that character into Neutrality.	-	A small fraction of the city's Love for that character is converted into Hate.
Decay Rate ^‡	Moderate	Rapid	Slowest

As you will progress, you will gain a loyalty rating based on your actions:

Tier	Positive ←Most Positive						Neutral	Negative Most Negative→
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

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.

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

The trail of blood leading to Ver Lor Reg.

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. Unlike the other quests which you can see the progress and details from the quest gump or the quest log, it follows 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 waiting inside the Healer's Shop in Ver Lor Reg.

Shirron Argahrok

The trail of blood eventually leads to the unconscious Waymaster Harlann and a Shirron of the Juka, Argahrok. They can be found inside the Healer's Shop: In-Mani-Lem in Ver Lor Reg. 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 at the Gypsy Camp.

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:

Meer Heirlooms
	Ancient Meer Armor (can not be equipped)
	Ruined Meer Tomes
	Charred Meer Historical Scroll
	Meer Heirloom Vase
	Meer Bones
	Keg of Meer Ale
	Keg of Meer Wine
	Meer Urn
	Meer Tapestry
	Ancient Meer Eternal Staff (can not be equipped)

Jukan Heirlooms
	Ancient Jukan Armor (can not be equipped)
	Ruined Jukan Tome
	Charred Jukan Historical Scroll
	Jukan Heirloom Vase
	Jukan Bones
	Keg of Jukan Mead
	Keg of Jukan Wine
	Jukan Urn
	Jukan Tapestry
	Ancient Jukan Waymaster Bo (can not be equipped)

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.

Adair the Loremaster

The Meer Loremaster Adair can be found in Lakeshire, north of the Sacrifice moongate in Ilshenar. He responds to specific keywords:

Greetings: Greetings traveler, these are most uncertain times for the Meer.
Uncertain times: In an instant, our people all had the same nightmare, a great war with the Juka.
Great war: Our forest was burned to the ground, many of our brothers and sisters died.
Forest: I had a vision of a forest on the other side of the mountain. Many of our Heirlooms were lost.
Heirlooms: I fear they may be lost forever. Should find any and return them I shall reward thee.
Reward: Place them in the storage chest. Prove your loyalty and you can claim a token of your devotion.

Take the Meer heirlooms to Adair the Loremaster and put them in the chest next to him marked "Heirlooms". Put the Meer heirlooms in here to garner 50 Meer Loyalty for each. You can purchase a Meer Mage Statuette for 5,000 Loyalty points and a Meer Warrior Statuette for 10,000 Loyalty points.

Erksine the Loremaster

The Jukan Loremaster Erksine can be found inside the guard hall outside the gates to Mistas (easiest to get here from the Honesty moongate). It's the left turn on the bridge across the moat on the way in. He responds to specific keywords:

Greetings: I am the Juka Loremaster and I greet you with Respect and Honor.
Loremaster: These are most uncertain times for the Juka.
Uncertain times: In an instant, our people all had the same nightmare, a great war with the Meer.
Great war: Our fortress was destroyed, where it once stood is now a crater.
Fortress: There was a great flash and the ground shook. In an instant all our Heirlooms were destroyed.
Heirlooms: Should find any and return them I shall reward thee.
Reward: Place them in the storage chest. Prove your loyalty and you can claim a token of your devotion.

Take the Jukan heirlooms to Erksine the Loremaster and put them in the chest next to him marked "Heirlooms". Put the Jukan heirlooms in here to garner 50 Juka Loyalty for each. You can purchase a Juka Mage Statuette for 5,000 Loyalty points and a Juka Warrior Statuette for 10,000 Loyalty points.

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 standing in front of A Box of Loot Recovered from Castle Blackthorn

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

A Rope across to a large, black hole in the mountain side of 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

A journal next to a Keypunch Reader inside the 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*

Left: An inactive Nexus inside the Exodus Dungeon. Right: A reward Nexus placed inside a house.

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 on 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.png 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 standing near the entrance of Ver Lor Reg.

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 on 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!"

A desert bloodworm: "You sift for a while and disturb the underground lair of a sleeping creature!".

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.

Meer Heirlooms
	Ancient Meer Armor ^‡
	Ruined Meer Tomes
	Charred Meer Historical Scroll ^‡
	Meer Heirloom Vase
	Meer Bones
	Keg of Meer Ale ^‡
	Keg of Meer Wine ^‡
	Meer Urn
	Meer Tapestry
	Ancient Meer Eternal Staff (can be imbued)

Jukan Heirlooms
	Ancient Jukan Armor ^‡
	Ruined Jukan Tome
	Charred Jukan Historical Scroll ^‡
	Jukan Heirloom Vase
	Jukan Bones
	Keg of Jukan Mead ^‡
	Keg of Jukan Wine ^‡
	Jukan Urn
	Jukan Tapestry
	Ancient Jukan Waymaster Bo (can be imbued)

Act V

Lord Dupre addressing the crowd before the siege of Ver Lor Reg.

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.

References