Quenton

Quenton
Quenton, from Ultima VII
Species:	human
Appearances
Ultima VII Location: Skara Brae Ultima: Runes of Virtue Quenton, from Ultima: Runes of Virtue Location: Skara Brae Ultima VI Quenton, from Ultima VI Location: Skara Brae Transcript: Quenton The Ultima 6 Project Quenton, from The Ultima 6 Project Location: Skara Brae

Quenton Delancy is the ghost of a fisherman who has long haunted the city of Skara Brae. The Avatar was able to meet him both in Ultima VI and in Ultima VII.

Description

Age of Enlightenment

Quenton came to the city of Spirituality as a child, around the same time as Gideon, with whom he was close friends growing up. When he came of age, he took a wife named Gwen and together they had a daughter named Marney. Tragically, when their girl was still young, Gwen was kidnapped by a band of pirates. The rogues had mistaken her for a noblewoman and intended to use her as a hostage to deflect the attentions of authorities pursuing them. Once they discovered that she was but a fisherman's wife, however, they raped her and attempted to sell her into prostitution. She died shortly after her abduction, and her body eventually was found on the southern shores of Skara Brae.

Both Gideon and Yorl did their best to help their grief-stricken friend, although misfortune seemed to follow the young man. In the years after her mother's death, Marney grew into a sickly and frail young woman, and Quenton's fishing more often than not proved insufficient to keep her supplied with medicine. Eventually, in desperation, he took out a loan from a local ruffian named Michael. When he was unable to pay the debt, Michael slit his throat near the town well. The local vintager and drunkard, Stivius, mistakenly claimed to have witnessed the attack, making out the culprits to be gargoyles – as a result, the death went un-investigated for some time.

Prior to his demise, Quenton had been appointed as caretaker of the rune of Spirituality, and thus the Avatar had need to look into his affairs when searching after the missing rune. While the hero could meet with Quenton's restless ghost at this time, it was unable to clearly identify the killer, as the poor spirit could not speak directly to the Avatar and could only make its thoughts known through gestures and gusts of wind. Eventually, the hero found the rune hidden in a basket referenced by one of Gwen's poems – and unable to do anything more for the dead man – left the city.

Age of Armageddon

In the years that followed, Marney final succumbed to her illness and died. The pirates who had abducted her mother and her father's killer were eventually brought to justice by the Yewen High Court, but Quenton's spirit still remained on the isle – and was present when once benign alchemist of the city, Horance, transformed himself into a liche that he might gain power over the dead. Following the great fire which razed Skara Brae, Quenton was bound alongside the newly deceased into the necromancer's service and was under his thrall by the time the Avatar returned, some two centuries after the fisherman's murder.

Using the magic of the Seance spell, the Avatar could now speak directly to Quenton and hear his account of his death, the city's fall, and the eventual victory of the liche. In particular, the former fisherman would speak as to his anger over Horance's dark Well of Souls, where the spirits of many of Skara Brae's dead – Marney's included – lay incarcerated that they might fuel the undead mage's magic.

Eventually, the Avatar was able to strip Horance of the powers of lichedom, freeing many of the ghosts of Skara Brae from his grip. It then fell to the hero to find a means of destroying the accursed Well. Doing so, however, would require the willing sacrifice of one of the city's ghosts – an act which would extinguish the conscious soul of whomever undertook it. When the hero asked Quenton if he would volunteer for such a task, the shade refused, fearing that the destruction of the artifact might bring Marney harm. Eventually, the grim errand fell to the former mayor, Forsythe, and following the Well's destruction, Quenton and the other restless spirits of Skara Brae were freed from the fetters that kept them on the lonely isle, and were able to return to the Void.

Runes of Virtue II

Despite Quenton's death before the events of Ultima VI, the deceased fisherman could be found alive and well in Skara Brae during Runes of Virtue II. While previously a simple fisherman, he had somehow achieved the rank of mayor of the island town, and was confident that the Black Knight did not stand a chance against the hero's might. Despite his confidence, Quenton was tricked into traveling to New Magincia by a letter sent from the knight, where he was subsequently captured, along with the New Magincian mayor Antonio. Quenton was imprisoned within the Cavern of Pride, where he was eventually rescued by the hero, whom he awarded with the rune of Spirituality.

Lore

“

This was a sleepy little fishing town, but it hasn't been quite the same since poor old Quenton was murdered. I think that fellow Michael did it. He lives a fair ways outside of town, and mostly keeps to himself. Anyhow, nobody's been able to prove anything, and things have settled down into a routine again — just changed a bit, without Quenton around. I think by now it's best to leave things the way they are, and not go stirring up old wounds. – from The Book of Prophecy (Ultima VI)

“	At first we met and dark clouds gathered, the thunder sounding your approach. Then comes the storm of our hearts pounding and in the end the marney's touch. If I should leave and you are lonely, Remember where my love is kept: Inside a basket made of promise, You'll find my dreams of us have slept., – from Elisabeth's poem for Quenton (Ultima VI)

“	The only other spirits still here are Markham and Paulette, the proprietor and server of the Keg o' Spirits, and Quenton. Of course, Quenton was killed centuries ago, even before Horance went insane, by the despicable scoundrel Michael. – from Key to the Black Gate (Ultima VII)

Trivia

• The name of Quenton's wife is inconsistent throughout the series. In Ultima VI, Gideon refers to her as "Elisabeth," whereas in Ultima VII, both Quenton and Mordra give her name as "Gwen."
• In Ultima VI, Yorl can recount a lengthy anecdote in which he and Quenton went hunting for a "Light Horn" as youths, resulting in a close encounter with a sea serpent.
• In Ultima VII, Markham will comment on some of Quenton's dialog if he is present while the Avatar is speaking to him, elaborating on his retelling of Horance's rise to power and comforting him when he grows upset over Marney's fate.