The Word of Passage is a specific word that was needed to enter the chamber of the Shrine of Singularity where the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom was located.
The word itself is VERAMOCOR, which is made up of three syllables, each corresponding to one of the Three Principles:
After using the Key of Three Parts at the Shrine's entrance, a voice asked the Word of Passage. After saying it, someone on the Quest of the Avatar had to answer several questions about the Eight Virtues and the Three Principles, before being granted access to the Codex itself.
History[]
It is not known who created this word, or who put it as a ward before the Codex. But as the Codex was put in the Shrine of Singularity by the Gargoyles, it could be assumed that they had some part in it. Otherwise, the Codex may have itself created the word.
During Ultima IV, the Stranger, trying to complete the Quest of the Avatar, was able to learn about the three syllables after some hints from Zair the Wise and his brother, Brother Zair. They told the hero that the three kings of the castles of the Three Principles knew each one part of the word. The Stranger talked to Robert Frasier of the Lycaeum, who knew the syllable "VER"; then the hero obtained the syllable "AMO" from Lord Robert from Empath Abbey; and lastly, the Stranger talked to Sentri, who gave the hero the last syllable, "COR". It is not explained how these three lords obtained the syllables.
After reaching the Codex chamber, the Stranger was able to successfully use the word to access the Codex.
In Ultima V, the same word of passage was needed as a Word of Power to unseal the dungeon Doom. The Codex itself told this to the Avatar, after the hero had completed the quests ordained by the eight Shrines. It is not explained how the word of passage for the Codex was related to the unsealing of Doom.
Trivia[]
Each of the three words Ver-Amo-Cor is the beginning of the corresponding word translated in ancient Latin (analogous to the Words of Power) or in a neo-Latin language.
The following table lists the translation of Truth-Love-Courage in Latin and all the official neo-Latin languages.
| Language | VER | AMO | COR |
|---|---|---|---|
| English (for comparison) | Truth | Love | Courage |
| Ancient Latin | Veritas | Amor | Fortitudo |
| Spanish | Verdad | Amor | Coraje |
| Portuguese | Verdade | Amor | Coragem |
| Italian | Verità | Amore | Coraggio |
| Catalan (official in Andorra and Spain) | Veritat | Amor | Coratge |
| French | Vérité | Amour | Courage |
| Romanian | Adevar | Amor | Curaj |
| Romansch (official in Switzerland) | Vardad | Amur | Curaschi |