Ultima 6 Day 2 - A casual stroll

I arrived home from work to the sound of demanding children and a look from the wife that seemed to say, "oh good, they're yours now."

She gathered her things and left to care for her horses and I settled into Joshua's bean bag chair. Josh pulled up a large stuffed animal and his sister, Isabella, made a small nest on his bed and settled in for some intense iPad poking. I took stock of what we needed for this adventure.

• Notebook - check
• Pen - check
• Map… todo
• Pink panther theme song - todo, todo, todo todo todo todo todooooooo todo do do - check.

I was a bit apprehensive as we started started to play, the slow pace of the game is my greatest fear for Josh to lose interest. But, as we strolled around the courtroom, looting the bodies of the creatures that had followed our party during the escape, he got excited to see what conversation was like. Once again, I narrated, reading the painfully old-fashioned dialog.

Side note: Imagine learning English using games like this. This used to happen! Might still be happening! Gradilla Dragon, a frequent contributor to SSSH, an Ultima Podcast, once talked about the influence of rpgs on his understanding of English growing up in Mexico. Too cool.

We spoke to Lord British, and his court, learned about these monsters known as Gargoyles, and received a key to the castle and a bed chamber. After searching the castle, Joshua insisted we take the potions off of the shelf. I'm pretty sure we took a hit to our karma there. I can't remember all of the consequences, but the game does get significantly harder if you do that too much. Wandering about town and learning about the shops, he perked up again in alarm,
"What's happening?"
"What do you-"
"Are we going BLIND!?"
"Wha-" He was seeing the dark and black shading that simulated night-time and dark places, "No, buddy it's just nightfall."
I kid you not, "A knight FELL?"
I lost my ability to speak, not laughing mind you, just unsure of how to respond.

He eventually got the idea and we decided to head back to the castle and sleep for the night. Unfortunately, this is where I lost him. His attention was fully breaking as I tried to use the bed and only got errors and a message stating I had to do that in the wilderness. Luckily, the return of the wife and dinner prep signaled a stopping point.

I need to figure out how to use a bed, of all things, I should know this one. My mother believes me to be an expert in that department. Can't let her down.

     - Dear Joshua,
I know you were getting antsy, the plan is to head into the wilderness and get to the action ASAP!

BROOK JOHNSON, is about to show his might!

With Love,
Dad

     - Dear Izzy
You were quiet, well behaved, and didn't interrupt our game once. Are you TRYING to get me killed by your mother?!

With Love,
Dad