It being Friday, Mythic have wrapped up this week’s examination of the Virtue of Spirituality on the Ultima Forever Facebook page. True to form, they have chosen to focus today’s entry on the dungeon that personifies Spirituality’s anti-virtue: Hythloth.

In its original incarnation, Hythloth spanned a huge portion of Britannia. It had an entrance both on the Isle of the Avatar (near the Shrine of the Codex) and a secret passage from the castle of Lord British. Unlike other dungeons at this time, Hythloth was missing it’s corresponding Virtue Stone – the White Stone of Spirituality.

By Ultima V, Hythloth had been sealed by the Great Council and needed to be re-opened. Once opened, it connected to the portion of the Underworld where the Shard of Cowardice was found. It also contained the Mystic Weapons and Mystic Armor. (Do you remember the Word of Power that re-opened Hythloth?)

In Ultima VI, Hythloth was the last remaining entrance to the underworld, and to the homeland of the Gargoyles. The Avatar would have to travel here in order to learn their language and put a stop to the fighting between Humans and Gargoyles. (Do you remember who taught the Avatar the Gargish language?)

In Ultima VII, Hythloth had become the base of operations for the Fellowship, and housed several followers of the Guardian. It was also home to the Black Gate, where the first part of U7 reached its end.

Finally, in Ultima IX, Hythloth was actually located near New Magincia. The first part was connected to the Sewers underneath Britain. The Glyph in this dungeon was actually associated with Humility, rather than Spirituality.

Exemplifying the Virtue of Spirituality is none other than Shamino the Ranger. Shamino is one of the first companions the Avatar meets, and appears first in Ultima I. It is said that Shamino was the first native to meet Lord British when he arrived in Sosaria.

Learn more about Shamino’s interesting history here! http://bit.ly/13n0H4o

There has been some speculation that the name for the dungeon is derived from the concept of hylotheism, which is a bizarre doctrine that kit-bashes elements of secular materialism with various theistic principles. It posits that the supernatural does not exist, but that the universe is itself God (or a god), and that the distinction between matter and other elements of the universe is a semantic one only.

I don’t know that Richard Garriott has ever actually confirmed where the name “Hythloth” was actually derived from (although I could be mistaken on that point), but at a cursory glance the supposed link to hylotheism could potentially work. Spirituality, in the Ultima context, is the concern with one’s innermost being and one’s dealings in and with the principles of Truth, Love and Courage. More broadly, it also concerns itself with being aware of how one is united, via those principles, to the inner and outer beings of others. Hylotheism, conversely, would posit that the inner being either does not exist or is indistinct from the material components of one’s being, and would likely also posit that Truth, Love, and Courage do not exist (since they aren’t directly observable constituents of the universe), and thus cannot serve as moral touchstones.