Let's Play Ultima VIII #08: 'Acquiring' Equipment and Intellect

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We've explored most of the city of Tenebrae, met numerous of the inhabitants and been given pointers on who we need to talk to if we want to find a way to leave Pagan. Mythan lives beyond the city walls in seclusion, which means that we'll have to go out into the countryside to get there. I know that I've missed entering and exploring some buildings along with meeting certain NPCs. We're only at the beginning of the game however, so I'm confident that I'll have many opportunities to visit the placed I missed the first time around.

While we're more then ready to head there now - we're likely far stronger then you should be at this point - it never hurts to be as prepared as you can be. That means getting some more armour and a better weapon and while we could buy all that from the blacksmith, there's another way that saves up a lot of money.

...Or all our money. That way is stealing.

It's fair to say that Avatar hasn't been very virtuous so far, taking everything that isn't nailed down and finding a hammer to deal with those pesky nails on the stuff that is. Ultima VII had a way to deter theft coded in with your companions being horrified that the Avatar would take items, eventually leaving your group if you continue. The work-around was putting things in other people's backpacks, taking advantage of how the mechanic was coded to bypass the consequences of theft. In Serpent Isle this was omitted for some reason, though if you stole things and were spotted doing so the guards would try and kill you. Unlike in Ultima VII though, death has no real meaning as you're always saved from death and returned to the world to continue adventuring, with no-one you stole from remembering that you did.

Ultima VIII killed the Avatar if you're caught stealing, but if you take things when no-one's around and the doors to the room are closed you're likely to get away with it. It certainly makes the beginning of the game easier, even if the Avatar will have some difficulty justifying his actions to Lord British and his companions when he manages to return to Britannia... if he ever does manage that.

Speaking of being as ready as we can ever be to leave Tenebrae, we have one more stat that we can raise, intelligence. You can raise it by reading the books scattered throughout Pagan and by casting spells and, much like how you can increase strength and dexterity by attacking the air, there's a way to quickly and effortlessly max out your intelligence right at the start. If you can believe it, this method is even sillier then attacking the air.