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[Shard Lore] Prohibition in Ultima Online.

WarderDragon

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Shard Lore - Prohibition in Ultima Online.

I came upon this last evening while wandering the shops and stalls of Luna. A Liquor Smugglers Cache containing 16 Bottles of Serpents Cross Lager.



You can read more about the smuggled liquor here.

Notice something?

Why would Merchants and Pirates need to smuggle liquor on the High Seas? Shouldn't alcohol be legal?

While the IC implications might not have been considered when the Developers implemented the latest publish; game mechanics dictate that the 'smuggled' liquor is not available in Britannian (NPC) Taverns and Pubs. It is produced outside Britannia and is - for some unexplained reason - neither sold nor exchanged within the Britannian Empire. It has to be Smuggled.

We do however have our own IC Interactions as the basis for an Explanation. When the Golden Brew Tavern - and the corresponding Distillery - were being reestablished in Spring 2010, one of the major IC stumbling blocks for Brytt Heathard and the Proprietors were the current laws and tax codes meant to keep Yewish Wine and Ale - the unlabeled Brew we are accustomed to seeing in NPC Taverns - as the sole drink that would ever meet a Britannian lip.

Yew possesses a Crown-mandated monopoly on liquor.

If we assume the above clues are a valid basis upon which we can weave our tale then we can conclude that the product being smuggled on the High Seas - Golden Brew Single Malt; Kazoola's Treetop Wine; Serpents Cross Lager - is considered illegal in Britannia.

How does this impact IC Interactions?

We've discussed the Trading Co. We've met the Captain of the up and coming Dread Pirate Fleet. So would the IC Taverns of the Alliance and of Baja be interested in turning this into the basis of a Ongoing Subplot? Would those Taverns and Establishments allow themselves to be forced to trade with one of these Groups - Bootleggers and Moonshiners who themselves might come to blows in their own High Seas Mafia War - in exchange for the alcohol both will soon be capturing from NPC Ships and Merchant Vessels?

Discuss.
 
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