Shamino

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Shamino
Shamino as he appears in Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle
Game series	Ultima
First game	Ultima I
Creator(s)	Richard Garriott

Shamino Sallé Dacil, generally referred to only by the first name Shamino, is a fictional character from the Ultima series of computer role-playing games. He is found in most of the cardinal Ultima games, and he is one of the companions of the Avatar in Ultima IV and onward.

Like most of the major Ultima characters, Shamino has a counterpart in reality - Richard Garriott himself. Garriott also appears in the games as Lord British (whom, in-game, Shamino greatly resembles in physical appearance) and sometimes even smaller references. The Shamino character comes from Garriott's activities in Society for Creative Anachronism, though the name was reportedly taken from the Shimano brand of gears in Garriott's bicycle.

In Ultima I, Lord Shamino was a ruler of one of the eight kingdoms of ancient Sosaria, and along with the King of the White Dragon, one of the two rulers in The Lands of Danger and Despair.

Some time after meeting the Stranger and assisting him in his quest to defeat Mondain, he set out to meet his old friend, Lord British. When the Stranger finally defeated Mondain, the cataclysmic changes in the world of Sosaria stranded Lord Shamino on the Lands of Lord British, separated from his beautiful beloved Princess Beatrix and her father, the King of the White Dragon.

In Ultima IV, he is found in city of Skara Brae. By now, he was a Ranger, seeking truths of Spirituality. He was more than happy to assist the Stranger to attain the Avatarhood. In both Ultima V and Ultima VI, he's very familiar with the Avatar and joins his quest at the very beginning.

In Ultima VII, Shamino was living in Britain and in a relationship with an actress named Amber.

In Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle, Shamino accompanied the Avatar to the Serpent Isle, which turned out to be the old Lands of Danger and Despair, and found out what had happened since he left. The Avatar visited Shamino's Castle as part of the game's storyline, where the ghost of Beatrix used traps to try to kill the Avatar's companions. Here, he was also possessed by one of the Banes of Chaos causing him to become Shamino the Anarch for a brief period of time.

In the original plot of the game, the Banes of Chaos possess all three of the companions and cause them to take control of the three respective cities, and the Avatar must free the cities from their control, kill the companions and have them resurrected. In the released version of the game, the possessed companions simply kill most of the population of the three cities, and reside in the King of the White Dragon's castle. Some fan-made patches available for download have restored the original plotline and dialogue using code found in some of the game's files.

After the Avatar visits Shamino's Castle in the game, if at any point Shamino is near death, Beatrix will intervene, forgive Shamino for leaving her before their wedding (since it was unintentional), and save his life. After doing so, she gives him a book of love sonnets she wrote for him and then departs for the void (the afterlife.) The book is Shamino's "personal item" that can be used to track him down when he is a Bane (alternatively Iolo's Lute or Dupre's Shield can be used.)

In Ultima IX, Shamino was trapped in the Spirit Realm by the Guardian. A major portion of the game was spent trying to free him.

The Companions of the Avatar

Traditional 8 Companions

Dupre | Iolo | Geoffrey | Jaana | Julia | Katrina | Mariah | Shamino

Other Companions

Gwenno | Spark | Tseramed | More...