Comicon. You actually managed to hit it right on the head. There is actually a great deal of real-world influence and inspiration within the Ultima series, including our very own Ultima Online.
- Britannia is the name used by the Ancient Romans to refer to Great Britain.
- The map of Britannia (Trammel/Felucca) is actually an inverted representation of England and Scotland.
- The King was known as Lord Cantabrigan British. Richard Garriot actually look this from "Cambridge" (a city in England), and his nickname when growing up ("British"); refering to his English accent.
- Skara Brae is the name of a neolithic settlement discovered in Scotland. In the Ultima Online Renaissance guidebook, Skara Brae is refered to as a "renaissance village in the medieval Scottish highland."
- Vesper derives from the Greek Hesperus, the name for the morning star. Interesting trivia question, the Roman name for Hesperus was actually Lucifer.
- Occlo derives from Mama Occlo, a fertility goddess from Incan Mythology.
- Yew is the name of a certain type of tree.
- Papua probably refers to Papua New Guinea. Its fitting, considering the jungle atmosphere.
- The Virtues are largely based off real world religions and philosophies, such as Christianity and Hinduism. The main source of their inspiration largely comes from Buddhim, though. Their is the eightfold path, and eight virtues in Ultima. They correspond to the sixteen ways of purification that lead to Avatarhood in Hinduism. Om, the mantra for the Spirituality shrine, is actually the mantra that is practiced by Buddhist monks when meditating. I remember one of my religious studies teachers mentioning that Buddhists believe that "Om" is the sound that the universe makes.
- Mantra is clearly words, sounds, and prayers that are repeated by eastern religious practitioners during meditation.
- The Principles are actually based off the Wizard of Oz. The Scarecrow represents Truth, the Woodsman represents Love, and the Cowardly Lion represents Courage. You can actually find the Wizard of Oz in one of the Ultima games, with the King commenting that it is his favorite book.
- The Avatar is essentially inspired by messianic figures, such as Christ (Christianity), Mitra/Mithras (Zoroastrianism/Mithraism), the Madhi (Islam), and Maitreya (Buddhism).
- Saduj is Judas spelled backwards; one of the Companions of the Avatar that eventually betrayed him. I believe this character has been mentioned in the recent "Warriors of Destiny" storyline.
- Sircarii is the name of an ancient order of Jewish assassins that existed somewhere around the first century. They were actually tied to the Zealot faction; and some modern religious scholars believe that "Iscariot" is derived from Sicarii (suggesting that Judas Iscariot was an assassin). I wouldn't be suprised if the storywriter behind Ultima actually came across this, considering the above reference to Judas.
- The Molech is mentioned in the Bible, as some Canaanite deity that the native peoples sacrificed their children to. The multiple arms and blue skin may be representative of Shiva, the Hindu deity of "Creative Destruction" and Fertility.
- Many of the daemons have names that reference the monsters of folklore (El Chupacabra), Egyptian deities (Nyarlathotep), Canaanite deities (Ba'al), Babylonian deities (Astaroth), demons (Be'elzubub), and fallen angels (Azrael).
- The famous login tune, Stones, was actually a real composed song that exists out there somewhere. I believe that the real-world inspiration for Iolo and Gwenno were the actual composers. Gwenno's (IRL) passing was the reason behind Gwenno's memorial tomb in Ilshenar.
- Nu'Jelm actually has its own Sultan.
- Druids obviously derive from the Celtic peoples that inhabited ancient Europe. As a matter of fact, the depiction of Ultima Druids as keepers of the law, is far more in line with the ancient Gaelic Priest-Judges than with the tree-hugging, vegan druids found in most modern fantasy games.
- Paladin comes from the Palataine Hill; one of the hills that Rome was built upon. The name gradually became a title, and was used to refer to the Twelve Peers of Charlemanges Court (the Holy Roman Empires equivalent to the Knights of the Round Table).
- The Ankh is the Egyptian symbol representing immortality.
- Akalabeth (the name of Britannia prior to the crowning of Lord British) actually derives from book one of the Simarillion, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
- If my memory serves correct, Mandrake Root can be used as an aphrodisiac.
- I took a quick look through Wikipedia, and Melisande may refer to Melisande, Queen of Jerusalem. She was one of the monarchs during the Crusading era.
- The Labyrinth comes from the Labyrinth of Minos; a complex maze designed by Daedalus to contain the Minotaur.
- Khaldun refers to Ibn Khaldun, a famous North African philosopher of the fourteenth century. Khal Ankur, the name of the undead king that sacrificed his servants, may refer to the Hindi Ankur, which means "the Seedling."
- Bedlam is the former name of the Bethlehem Royal Hospital, which specialized in treating the mentally ill. This goes along with the Bedlam dungeon being located in the Healer Shop within Umbra.
- Casca refers to Servilius Casca, one of the individuals responsible for the assassination of Julius Caesar. This probably would suggest that Casca is responsible for the assassination of Lord Francesco.
This is from the Ultima Online: Renaissance Guidebook:
- Britain: "For its size, Britain is a clean city, very much like an English city at the end of the Medieval era, just on the cusp of the Renaissance."
- Jhelom: "Jhelom is very much like a frontier town."
- Minoc: "Minoc is essentially a rough-and-tumble frontier mining town. Furs are common, given the cold climate. It has very much the feel of a communitarian place, like an old Gold Rush city."
- Moonglow: "In many ways, the city looks like one large campus, with the Lycaeum as the central college." (It sounds alot like the English university system).
- Occlo: "The civilization of Ocllo lies hidden deep in the mountains on the island south of Magincia. Their knowledge of what lies beyond their mountains is fairly limited, and to them, everything in the region is part of Huansuytin, the World. The Ocllo build terraces along the mountains upon which they grow their crops: corn and potatoes and other staples do well enough up here, but lack of available fresh water is a problem for them." The text goes on to talk about their reed boats and their stony, often cramped building style.
- Papua: "The city is best known as 'Swamp City' because large regions of Papua are covered with swamps. Although this may sound unappealing, young couples will find the Just Inn the perfect haven to spend their honeymoon."
- Serpents Hold: "The walls are of large stone set with mortar, similar to a generic French keep of the Middle Ages."
I am sure that there are many more that I am forgetting, but there are the ones that I know of. There are also quite a few pop culture references that I've noticed.
- Iyona Kondo is quite literally, "I own a Condo." She was one of the major characters in the pre-Samurai Empire storyline.
- Inu might be a reference to Inuyasha. "Inu" means dog in Japanese.
- There were a couple of characters inspired by Rurouni Kenshin. In the Inu storyarc, there is "Ken" (Kentarou; a young man skilled with a sword) and Tomoe. This was a clear reference to Kenshin and Tomoe, lovers from the prequel to Rurouni Kenshin.
- Based on all the above anime references, I wouldn't be suprised if Casca is also a reference to one of the main characters from the manga Berserk. She is one of the lovers of the main character, Guts.
- The Boomstick is a clear reference to Army of Darkness, where the main character raises his shotgun (to scare the medieval villagers), shouting "This is my BOOMSTICK!"
