I missed Rustic Dragon’s post on the Hearth of Britannia website concerning his — and, correspondingly, the Hearth’s — shift to veganism. However, it’s more or less moot now to take note thereof, as Rustic has made the decision to part ways with the Ultima fandom:

I am formally withdrawing from the Ultima community. It’s a combination of many things including the failure of HoBLotH IV and FotSS VI to come to fruition (which obliterated my motivation), the never-ending pandemic (which caused FotSS VI to fail), and much more (all of which is personal). Thus, The Hearth of Britannia is officially closing its doors to the public.

I will forever remain the Ultimate Ultima Fan, however, I will work on my projects in private and work on them when the inspiration returns and release them when they are finished. No timelines, guarantees, or promises will be made. I long to return to a state where I create things for myself rather than seeking inspiration and approval from a fickle community. I will also continue to make, list, and ship items in my Etsy store.

This website and the Facebook page will be left up as an archive for those who wish to view the content and, most importantly, the photos. My inbox is always open if you want to talk and I always love hearing from you, but it’s time for me to move on to the next phase of my life.

I’ll refrain from further or detailed commentary on this turn of events, save to note that this news comes as little surprise to myself (and, no doubt, to many others). To others, it may have come as a surprise…though, to these, it has at least hopefully not escaped notice that Rustic has been on a trajectory of distancing himself from the Ultima fan community for some time now. That journey, it would seem, has now reached its end.