A while back, Dominus Dragon — now the caretaker of what remains of The Origin Museum — dropped an interesting ZIP archive onto the #ultima-8-exult channel on the Ultima Dragons Discord server…a snapshot of usecode for Ultima 8: The Lost Vale (the storied, never-released expansion for Ultima 8). It should be stressed that this is not the complete The Lost Vale, nor is it working source code; this is just a saved snapshot of some of the work Sheri Graner-Ray was doing on the expansion, the diskette for which ended up in Joe Garrity’s basement (and, later, Dominus’ home).

Another user on the Discord server, Armitage, decided to dive into the usecode to see what could be gleaned about Origin Systems’ plans for The Lost Vale. The findings, to say the least, were interesting:

…this is really great! answers a lot of questions and really gives us an idea of what it would be like; there’s a lot of new points like the Passage Stone, Rite of Passage, “special” root, Key to the Clouds, “strange skull” which looks like a letter from the LV gods to the ones you previously met…

we even have Tiny Tar – it was a potion!

there’s even the LB ‘message’ there

Avatar, I have found a portal through which I can speak, yet I can neither see nor hear thee. Nystul, my magiciain and trusted friend, has managed to pierce the Guardian’s dark veil to locate thee and send this message. Yet the tether that binds to this world grows threadbare and I fear my time here is short. Seek the counsel of the wise man known as Mythran. I feel that he is near thee and can offer much help. Ask him of the race that once thrived upon the land that is now your prison. Through him thou canst find the ancient race and earn their help, for Pagan is now their prison too. Journey with great haste to Mythran. Only with his aid canst thou escape. Farewell, Avatar and please hurry. Britannia is in great need of thee..

all of the NPCs dialogue is over there, that I can remember…

plus 2 new NPCs, Ragnar and Tjorvi
First Zealan community = Clan Hoskuld
Second Zealan community = Clan Gunnar
Cliffs of Insanity = Cloud Cliffs(edited)

usecode for major events as well – Passage Test (PLNTST) Moot/Shield Restoration (SHADES)

we’re missing the Mythran dialogue and the events at the end, it seems

As you can see, the above thoughts are….scattered, offered up as posts on Discord as Armitage was working through the files in the archive. Happily, Armitage offered a summary of the overall storyline of The Lost Vale a short while later:

1. Receive LB message.
2. Talk to Mythran, learn of LV and how to open double doors.
3. Find key, enter Elemental Dungeon.
4. Collect the 4 ‘tokens’, open way to LV.
5. Meet the Zealans; they refuse to talk to you until you pass the ‘Rite of Passage’ and have the Zealan mark. You need to find the ‘Passage Stone’ first, though.
6. Neither clan has it and claims the other clan has stolen it.
7. Avatar talks to Ragnar (Clan Hoskuld), who says a young woman got the stone to take the test, went to the lake and was killed by the Gunnars, and the stone was never found. Gives the Avatar a bag that he found.
8. <speculation> Bag contains some sort of key. Avatar goes to that place, which is full of water zombies. Uses the key, finds the stone.
9. Avatar takes the Passage Test with the stone. Gets poisoned. Goes to Thordis and Atli who give him the mark and tell him to seek Ezrekal.
10. Ezrekal talks to Avatar, now that he has the mark. Tells story of clans and LV. Says she cannot cure the Avatar, but the Zealan gods can. Gods are at Cloud City, but Avatar needs to climb the Cloud Cliffs. Way is blocked and needs to be unlocked with the ‘Key to the Clouds’.
11. Ezrekal does not have the Key to the Clouds. Tyorvis has the key, but won’t give it to the Avatar. Says he has nightmares.
12. Avatar asks Ezrekal for potion to stop Tyorvis nightmares, she says she needs a special root.
13. <presumably> Avatar finds the root, gets the potion, gives it to Tyorvis, gets the Key.
14. Avatar uses the key to get to Cloud City, finds the broken shield halves but no gods.
15. Avatar returns to Ezrekal with the findings, tells Avatar to meet at Sacred Circle.
16. Ritual is performed, shield is restored, clans are reconciled, Avatar is cured of poison, but still needs to talk to gods to be completely healed.
17. Gods are at the Ancient Temple.
18. Hrodny has Tiny Tar potions that allow Avatar to enter the Temple, but has lost the key to the chest that has them.
19. <presumably> Avatar finds the key, opens the chest and gets the potions.
20. Potions allow Avatar to enter the Temple.
21. Avatar puts restored shield on altar, talks to gods, gets bag of reagents, end.

Much of this comports with the design & plot documentation that previously emerged from The Origin Museum, but it is still interesting to see how it would have been implemented had The Lost Vale ever seen the light of day.