Arthurian Legends Intro Draft Unearthed

You might remember that we’ve already covered Arthurian Legends in the past. The title was an RPG based on the titular body of literature and Ultima VII’s technology that never saw the light of day, and thankfully we had the chance to learn more about it due to the contributions of ex-Origin Sheri Graner Ray in an interview. We come back to the interesting but ill-fated project again because of an important discovery from the folks at Ultima Codex.

The website’s staff was given a diskette by Joe Garrity, the curator of the Origin Museum, who received it from Sheri Graner Ray. The diskette contained a number of design documents for the project, including a draft of the introductory sequence to the game. I’m going to quote the sample offered by Ultima Codex:

INTRODUCTION

INT – MACSEN’S TAVERN, 20 YEARS AND ONE DAY AFTER THIS GAME TAKES PLACE-NIGHT

A busy, prosperous tavern scene
An elderly man sitting in corner by fire plucking a mandolin.

JOEL THE BARD

So, come again, hast thou? Dost thou wish to hear another tale? Ye youngsters never can get enough of my tales of our good King Arthur can ye? Very well then, tonight I have a special tale. One that began twenty years and a day ago this night. On that particular night, a young fighter, much like thyself, came into this very tavern.

If you’re interested, I also invite you to download the full document at this Origin Gallery link.