Savannah
Huge dinosaurs feed on unfamiliar vegetation, lumbering against a sky red with the glare of active volcanos.
• Based on the dinosaurs, I would have set it at ~100,000,000 BE. However, it seems geologically similar to Nemesis’s Brogmolithic epozz.
Forest Clearing
The perimeter of this grassy clearing is dotted with primitive huts.
• Based on the first migration of modern humans into the area, I would estimate ~30,000 BE if not for Nemesis’s epozzes. Instead, I make a rough interpolation.
a goof‐up of the first order.
ZGI chronologue
Foo is dead! The age of Borphee is begun!
Tales are told of the magical land of Froon.
• Legends of this magical kingdom date back before the reign of Entharion the Wise.
This is one of the oldest and dearest legends in the annals of Quendor. Zilbeetha, a beautiful maiden, somehow angered an evil mage, and was placed under enchantment and turned into a crystal orb on the very day that she was to be wed. The heartbroken groom, who is always depicted holding a fragile bloom, sought help from the wizard’s goodly twin. The good wizard turned the groom to stone, that he might stay young until the day Zilbeetha was returned to him.
Encyclopedia Frobozzica, 882 GUE
• Since it is one of the oldest
legends of Quendor, it probably takes place before or during the legendary reign of Entharion.
Kingdom of Quendor formed when Entharion unites warring city‐states of Galepath and Mareilon.
• Adding GUE
after a year did not become common practice until the latter part of the eighth century. Quendor was not called the Great Underground Empire until Dimwit Flathead renamed it in 770 GUE.
Zork Zero
Zork Zero
Rubble
Time has not yet softened the layers of dirt and rubble obscuring the remains of this plaza.
• Estimate based on interpolating dates of preceding and following steps of Phee hourglass.
ZGI chronologue
St. Yoruk dies, leaving behind a large body of work. His autobiography becomes an instant bestseller.
St. Yoruk is buried beneath Steppinthrax Monastery. Though the rest of his body decomposes and disappears, his skull retains the secrets of Deep Magic.
St. Yoruk asks the Implementors to return him to his friends in the Underworld. When they refuse, he wields his sword and hacks his way from the Ethereal Plane of Atrii back to Hades.
Zork Nemesis journal,
ZGI chronologue
Bizboz: [The Book of] Four Jokes and Learned Essays Upon Them
• Return to Zork: Angus Pugney says Ach, I know that one. Four Jokes and Learned Essays Upon Them. It’s by Bizboz.
It is written in a literary language (like Latin?) that few will be able to read in the distant future of 1647.
Bizboz writes seminal work of Thaumaturgy, On the Presence of Incredibly Weird Stuff Going On, leading to his removal from faculty of Galepath U.
• In Nemesis, the book appears with the incomplete title the Presence of Incredibly Weird Stuff Going On
.
Zork Zero calendar
| 14% | Military |
| 2% | Royal Bureaucracy |
| 18% | Construction of Roads and Bridges |
| 66% | Other |
Zork Zero
…historians disagree about Duncanthrax’s life prior to 659. A petition signed by palace guards in 657, asking for an increase in the mosquito netting allotment, bears a signature that looks suspiciously like
Duncanthrax.Some historians insist that Duncanthrax was general of the Royal Militia. One legend even suggests that Duncanthrax was a demon who assumed human form. Another legend describes him as a former rope salesman.The Great Underground Empire: A History, Froboz Mumbar
Zork Zero
Zork Zero
The Diablo Massacre occurred at the Zorbel Pass in 666 GUE when the invading armies of King Duncanthrax met a native militia of trollish warriors. The invaders were outnumbered but well‐armed; the natives were equipped only with wooden clubs and a large piece of very strong garlic. Military historians consider the routing of the native militia as a key moment in the conquering of the eastlands.
Encyclopedia Frobozzica, 882 GUE
Irondune is a frontier outpost in Duncanthrax the Bellicose’s campaign.
• The Nemesis map places Irondune in the Desert River
Province, in the southern eastlands beyond the Flathead Mountains that line the Frigid River Valley. Zorbel Pass (connecting Fublio Valley on the east to the FRV on the west) would therefore be the logical passage to the Great Sea from this region.
Therefore, Irondune was probably used after Duncanthrax took Zorbel Pass in the Diablo Massacre.
Original FrobozzCo HQ constructed.
A picture captioned Original Headquarters Building Constructed 667
appears on the last page of FrobozzCo’s 778 annual report. However, it is not the FrobozzCo HQ yet. The Frobozz Magic Cave Co., forerunner of FrobozzCo International, will not be formed until 668.
Apologia: Perhaps Duncanthrax gave them a new castle that was originally built for another purpose. See 19 Arch 668.
The names Frobozz Magic Cave Co. and Frobozz Magic Construction Co. are used inconsistently.
The Frobozz Magic Construction Company (the forerunner of the modern industrial giant FrobozzCo International) was formed to undertake this project in 668.
The Great Underground Empire: A History, Froboz Mumbar (896 GUE)
The first of FrobozzCo’s myriad subsidiaries, the Magic Cave Company was formed over a century ago to implement King Duncanthrax’s massive tunneling project.
FrobozzCo International Annual Report, 778 GUE
[FrobozzCo International] can trace its origin to the Frobozz Magic Cave Company, which was formed at the behest of King Duncanthrax in 668 GUE.
Encyclopedia Frobozzica, 882 GUE
King Duncanthrax formed the Frobozz Magic Construction Company in 667 GUE to enlarge the underground caverns of the Eastlands.
Lives of the Twelve Flatheads, Boswell Barwell (804 GUE)
• Note: the year is incorrect.
- Zork Zero: Arch 19 on The Flathead Calendar 883 has the legend
Frobozz Magic Cave Co. founded (668 GUE)
- Zork Zero: the Rockville Estates blueprint (880) and sign both say
Frobozz Magic Construction Company
. - Zork ⅠⅠ: a card in the volcano says
Frobozz Magic Cave Company
. - Zork Nemesis: a plaque dated 668 says
Frobozz Magic Construction Company
.
Apologia: Duncanthrax formed the Frobozz Magic Cave Co. on 19 Arch 668. One division formed shortly thereafter was the Frobozz Magic Construction Co., which built the structures in the newly hollowed caves. Because Frobozz Magic Construction Co. is the Frobozz Magic Cave Co.’s largest division, the names are often used interchangeably (as the former USSR was often called Russia).
FrobozzCo International incorporated.
• International
? Is there any other nation that Duncanthrax hasn’t conquered yet?
Frobozz Magic Construction Co. builds Milo [sic] 735 Southern Highway
at the building site of the Temple of the Ancients.
• Since it’s not GUH‐735, perhaps this predates the Great Underground Highway project.
To King Duncanthrax, My Holy and Exalted Ruler, The King of Kings, The Emperor of All Both Above the Earth and Below, More Bellicose Than Mother Hungus Defending Her Young
A greeting to your lecherous soul. I bear ill news.
Your spy is dead, choked to death on his own villainous bile. He had consumed the sweet, but deadly fruit you so kindly bequeathed to me. You stand alone as a soul of pestilence and putridity, a festering wart on the hindquarters of humanity. Be you assured that I have sealed off the places that you seek, made certain with your tools of choice, with powder and with fire, that you shall never find the places that you seek. I, too, practice more than alchemy.
Nor think you that my secrets are of maps and words alone. In the black darkness of your heart, there is not room enough for the smallest inkling of the knowledge that you seek. Nor will your brilliant scientists avail you. To them, Alchemy is nothing but a principle — the purification and transmutation of base metals into Gold, the search for power. The goal of goals, the Quintessence, pure distillate of Human Spirit, lies well beyond their ken. They have too much in common with your most learned and thoughtful Self; their hearts are black as pitch and bled of any memory of love or empathy. In all due time, their highest honors and diplomas shall follow you on your stately journey into Hell. With men such as you, it is better to let knowledge fallow than curse the world with your brand of benevolence.
With all Humility,
Your Most Insignificant and Smelly Servant,Agrippa
The Eastlands
668 GUE
• 668 GUE
is an anachronism, since the letter was written before Quendor becomes the GUE in 770. The letter is not canon anyway.
Zork Zero calendar
| 33% | Military |
| 8% | Royal Bureaucracy |
| 54% | Construction of Caverns |
| 5% | Other |
Duncanthrax grows withdrawn and decides to construct an underground chamber south of Egreth to house his battle trophies and self‐bestowed awards. A captured Prevaricon and Veritassi are directed to encode the lock sequence in a logic puzzle using gold and silver paint respectively, then executed for complicating matters by painting over their words with black paint.
Dawn of the Scientific Age of Magic.
ZGI chronologue
Vilboz forms first Enchanters Guild in Accardi‐by‐the‐Sea.
• The Encyclopedia Frobizzica says that the Enchanter’s Guild can date its roots to the reign of Entharion, over 900 years ago, but we can interpret roots
very loosely.
ZGI chronologue
The deposed Zilbo ⅠⅠⅠ is exiled to a villa where he invents Double Fanucci.
• According to the Encyclopedia Frobozzica, in the late 7th century
. Probably several years before the first championship in 691.
Zork Zero
Bank of Zork’s Frobozz Magic Vault constructed (in Zork ⅠⅠ)
• The 722 GUE
on the vault is an anachronism, since the date was printed before Quendor becomes the GUE in 770.
Dimwit Flathead, son of Mumberthrax, great‐great‐grandson of Duncanthrax, born.
• If Froboz Mumbar is correct, in the Flathead Dynasty, Dimwit is both the 5th generation and the 7th King. Perhaps two of the intermediate kings before Dimwit were sibling successions to the throne.
Zork Ⅰ history
John D. Flathead born.
• 8 Jelly, if he has the same birthday as John D. Rockefeller.
T.J. Stonewall
Flathead born.
• 21 Estuary, if he has the same birthday as Stonewall Jackson.
Johann Sebastian Flathead born.
• 21 Arch, if he has the same birthday as Johann Sebastian Bach.
Thomas Alva Flathead born.
• J. Pierpont and Thomas Alva were both born in 730. Assume they have the same mother (funny how we never hear about the Queens of the Dynasty), Thomas Alva was born at least 9 months after J. Pierpont. Therefore J. Pierpont was born early in the year, and Thomas Alva late in the year.
Lucrezia Flathead born.
• 18 Oracle, if she has the same birthday as Lucrezia Borgia.
Ralph Waldo Flathead born.
• 25 Mage, if he has the same birthday as Ralph Waldo Emerson.
John Paul Flathead born.
• 6 Jelly, if he has the same birthday as John Paul Jones.
Phloid Flathead succeeds Timberthrax Flathead.
• Probably one of the two pre‐Dimwit sibling successions, since Mumberthrax did not take the throne.
As a child, J. Pierpont demonstrated both the flair for capitalism and the resourcefulness which would make him the most successful banker in all of Quendor. The enterprising eight‐year‐old opened a lemonade stand in the center of Egreth Village, using the royal militia to force citizens to buy lemonade. At spearpoint, most people were willing to pay little J. Pierpont’s exorbitant price of 300 zorkmids per glass.
He also used the militia to quash other lemonade stands in the city, and later to shut off all other beverage sources as well. As the prices at his lemonade stand soared into the quadruple digits, J. Pierpont quickly realized the power of monopolies.
Lives of the Twelve Flatheads, Boswell Barwell (804 GUE)
StonewallFlathead’s reputation.
John D. Flathead founds Flathead Industries.
• At age 22
Babe Flathead born.
• 6 Fidooshiary, if he has the same birthday as Babe Ruth.
Thomas Alva Flathead invents the battery‐powered brass lantern.
• The Frobozz Magic Lantern Company exists in 778, so it was invented before then.
Thomas Alva Flathead produces an endless
stream of inventions from his lab,
Froblo Park.
• As an adult
Thomas Alva Flathead invents the phonograph.
• Speculation: The Frigid River Conservatory has a phonograph in Zork Nemesis. In our world, Thomas Alva Edison is credited with inventing the phonograph in 1877.
Thomas Alva Flathead invents movies.
• Speculation: Movies were produced in Quendor (musical about Froon, Beach Blanket Fanucci). Thomas Alva Edison is credited with inventing a motion‐picture apparatus in our world.
Judy Garlic stars in successful movie musical based on L. Frank Fzort’s stories about the land of Froon.
Judy Garlic stars in the musical Yoruk!, based on Yoruk’s autobiography.
• I suppose she doesn’t play the title role, however.
Babe Flathead subsequently captains all the Little League teams thanks to pressure applied by Mayor Fiorello Flathead [of New Zork City? ].
J. Pierpont Flathead also supervises installation of latest magic‐based security techniques.
• The Bank of Zork’s vault is dated 722 GUE, so it’s not one of the latest
techniques.
Leonardo Flathead enrolls in Galepath U.
• Assume age ~18.
FrobozzCo buys Flathead Industries and names it Frobozz Magic Co. Co. John D. Flathead becomes one of FrobozzCo’s 39,000 vice‐presidents.
• Within three years
: 747–750
After Leonardo Flathead leaves Galepath U., he moves from science to art.
• Assume he enrolls in 749 and spends 4 years there.
Ralph Waldo Flathead enrolls in Antharia U. for 11 years.
• Assume age ~18.
Unseen Terror released, then trapped in recess beneath Largoneth.
This legend, written in an ancient tongue, goes something like this: At one time a shapeless and formless manifestation of evil was disturbed from millennia of sleep. It was so powerful that it required the combined wisdom of the leading enchanters of that age to conquer it. The legend tells how the enchanters lured the Terror "to a recess deep within the earth" by placing there a powerful spell scroll. When it had reached the scroll, the enchanters trapped it there with a spell that encased it in the living rock. The Terror was so horrible that none would dare speak of it. A comment at the end of the narration indicates that the story is considered to be quite fanciful; no other chronicles of the age mention the Terror in any form.
• After spell scrolls were invented. It is probably impossible to determine the date, as no other chronicles of the age mention the Terror in any form
.
King Mumberthrax’s Proclamation of 757 decrees Double Fanucci the national sport of Quendor.
[See apologia at 3 Jelly 761.]
Belboz born an orphan near Aragain Falls, eldest of six brothers and sisters.
• The Imps appear to be poking fun at the archaic phrase born an orphan
, which generally meant born fatherless
. This is not sexist, since orphan
refers to children who are bereaved of one or both parents. For example, the prophet Mohammad was born an orphan
. Mohammad’s father died before he was born, but his mother died when he was six years old.
The phrase could also be literally true if Belboz’s mother died giving birth to sextuplets, leaving Belboz motherless and fatherless. Since Belboz is raised by a guardian uncle, assume this is the case.
Dimithio born.
• Dimithio founds the Borphee Guild of Enchanters. Assuming that he in also the Guildmaster, Dimithio is born after Belboz’s birth in 757, because Belboz is the eldest Guildmaster ever. The Borphee Guild Hall must be designed by Frank Lloyd Flathead’s death in 789, so Dimithio founds the guild before then.
Double Fanucci became National Sport of Quendor on 3 Jelly 761, according to 3 Jelly date on 883 Flathead Calendar. However, a footnote on the first page of the calendar says this was decreed by Mumberthrax’s Proclamation of 757. The Encyclopedia Frobozzica agrees with the footnote’s year of 757.
Apologia: The calendar date has the incorrect year. Mumberthrax decreed Double Fanucci the national sport on 3 Jelly 757.
Babe Flathead, at college age, enrolls in MPU and becomes a 43‐letter man.
• Assume age ~18.
Ralph Waldo Flathead leaves Antharia U. after 11 years, 3 doctorates, and a chestful of degrees.
• Assume entry at age ~18.
On the Benefits of Keeping Ears Clean
,Why Doorknobs are Necessary
, andOn the Discoloration of Roadside Slush
(which was fortunately lost before it could be published)
Ralph Waldo Flathead, in his middle years, spends half a decade living in Antharian granola mines. During this period, he writes his longest work, a 60,000 verse epic about the varieties of moss that one finds in granola mines.
• middle years
should mean age 30–40, since life expectancy is 60 for the average person (from Sorcerer magazine), and Ralph dies at age 52. However, they probably mean middle aged by our standards (40–60, or 777–).
Dawn of Industrial Age of Magic.
Zork Zero calendar
Thomas Alva Flathead invents yellowish‐green potion to talk to plants, most famous of his breakthroughs in personally ingested magic.
• After the first potion is invented.
Zork Zero calendar
Zork Zero (encyclopedia),
ZGI chronologue
ZGI chronologue
Belboz tutored by master magician in Borphee Harbor.
• 820 GUE − 30 − 20 = 770 GUE. He would be age 13.
mustydecade of Dimwit Flathead’s rule. All standard ground transport banned to save valuable shoe leather. Royalty travels by hot‐air balloon.
Johann Sebastian Flathead: Flatheadia Overture for Rack and Pendulum
, celebrating dedication of new dungeon.
The Wizard of Frobozz is removed from the Circle of Enchanters for forgetfulness bordering on senility.
• Probably before his move to the Eastlands.
The Wizard of Frobozz becomes official court wizard at Flatheadia.
• His move to the Eastlands may have been occasioned by being booted from Enchanters Guild in the Land of Frobozz (in the northern Westlands). Or he may have been Mumberthrax’s court wizard at Egreth, and moved to the new royal castle when Dimwit relocated the capital. Either way, he probably was not in the Eastlands long enough to become known as the Wizard of Flatheadia
before his timely exile.
Zork Zero
Whoops! My bad.
The issue came to a head in the aftermath of the Endless Fire of 773 GUE, so named because it burned for 4 weeks after destroying the city of Mareilon. It was later found to have been started by a civil servant who thought he was casting the ZEMDOR spell (
turn original into triplicate) but who, instead, cast the ZIMBOR spell (turn one really big city into lots of tiny, little ashes).A Brief History of Magic, Gustar Woomax
ZGI
Dawn of the Age of Guilds.
• Assuming Dimithio becomes Guildmaster in the process, he must be born after Belboz in 757. As he is no older than 15 in 773, the Borphee Guild was probably founded nearer to 789.
If he is born in 758, and he founds the Guild in 789, he becomes a Guildmaster at a mere 30 years of age! Shocking! But when you found your own guild, you can probably relax things like age requirements. Perhaps he gained clout for inventing the filfre spell.
Frank Lloyd Flathead designs Great Meeting Hall of Borphee Enchanters Guild.
• After the 773 edicts give Enchanters Guilds official sanction.
Zork ⅠⅠⅠ
Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive proposes Flood Control Dam #3 and volcano hollowing projects to Lord Feepness at Royal Museum site.
Very nice! Very nice! Not enough security, but very nice! Now, Lord Feepness, pay attention! I’ve been thinking and what we need is a dam, a tremendous dam to control the Frigid River, with thousands of gates. Yes! I can see it now. We shall call it … Flood Control Dam #2. No, not quite right. Aha! It will be Flood Control Dam #3.
Pardon me, my Lord, but wouldn’t that be just a tad excessive?
Nonsense! Now, let me tell you my idea for hollowing out volcanoes…
• If the Frobozz Magic Temporizer takes you to the same date of a different year, then he proposes the projects exactly one year before the Royal Museum dedication.
Zork Zero calendar
FrobozzCo dam and volcano projects move into full gear
.
• Even at full gear
, construction doesn’t begin on FCD#3 until 882. Such is bureaucracy, I suppose.
Frobozz Magic Grue Repellent sales triple, due to product improvements, expanded product line with seven new odors, and aggressive marketing like the Free‐Noseplugs‐With‐Every‐Can campaign. Grue‐related deaths drop 31%, with a consequent 31% drop in the grue population.
• In 883, Zork Zero reports that grues haven’t been around for centuries, and are regarded as old wives’ tales. Perhaps there are a few remote corners of the empire where they still lurk. Or perhaps the statistics of grue‐related deaths are fabricated to sell grue repellent. Zero is 31% less than zero. (But there hasn’t been a grue around for centuries!
See how well it works?
)
Frobozz Magic Spell Co. adds 4 new spells to their line, a record and tribute to their famous Magiclab:
- drilbo (strip a floor of yellowed wax),
- borch (put insects to sleep)
• Presumably the all‐purpose espnis wasn’t yet invented.
- gizgum (predict visits by relatives) and
- quelbo (transmute coconuts into gold)
• Inconsistent with United Thaumaturgy’s ad in Popular Enchanting (957),
from the company that developed BLORB and QUELBO
. Perhaps UT accidentally reused one of FrobozzCo’s spell names, and will soon hear from FrobozzCo’s lawyers.
Zork Ⅰ history,
Zork ⅠⅠⅠ annual report
yet mustierdecade of Lord Dimwit Flathead’s rule. Hot‐air balloons banned due to inability to navigate Aragain Falls (and ground transport banned).
| 1% | Military |
| 68% | Royal Bureaucracy |
| 29% | Construction of Dams, etc.
• Construction of FCD#3 doesn’t start until 782, though others may be in construction. |
| 2% | Other |
• Zork Ⅰ dam guidebook: 112 days from ground breaking to dedication
. Zork Zero calendar: 30 Estuary 883 says Flood Control Dam #3 dedicated (783 GUE)
. Therefore, ground was broken 111 days earlier on 11 Ottobur, assuming no leap days in Mumberbur or Dismembur 782, which we would not expect to be a leap year. QED.
Apologia: Perhaps Lord Flathead’s other projects caused him to postpone building the dam he proposed 6 years ago.
Zork Zero calendar
Zork Zero calendar
Zork Zero
Toccata and Fugue and Theme and Variations, Opus No. 69105is performed for the only time in its entirety. Legend has it that several members of the 98,000‐piece royal orchestra, chorus, corps de ballet, artillery battery, fireworks brigade, and smoke effects crew failed to survive the 87‐day ordeal.
The Lord Dimwit Flathead to the People of Quendor: Anyone withholding payment of all taxes decreed before this date shall be killed along with everyone they have ever met.
• Difficult to enforce, since any tax collector who meets one of the tax evaders must be put to death.
• It is unlike Dimwit to use the name Quendor, since he was the one who decreed the name be changed to the Great Underground Empire.
Lucille Flathead, daughter of Lucrezia Flathead, born.
• I wonder if she went on to marry a bongo player named Desi.
Dimwit orders defoliation of Fublio Valley for 9‐bloit statue.
• The statue was completed in 789, so defoliation was probably not long before.
Zork Zero
Frigid River Valley residents riot over the statue of Lord Dimwit Flathead. 3000 of Lord Flathead’s best men are mistaken for marauders because they do not know the password, an Elvis Flathead lyric.
…mission of protecting Lord Dimwit from the riotous residents of the Frigid River Valley, who opposed the giant statue his Royal Excessively Highness was constructing at the expense of their neighborhood. Flathead’s men were told to memorize the last line of the popular Zorkian anthem,
You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hellhound.This signal would distinguish Flathead’s undercover men from the local marauders. But -- everyone forgets a code now and then -- and when it came right down to swordpoint -- who knows the last line to that song, anyways? With his men stammeringYou ain’t nothin’ but a Hellhound,which is the first line, rather than,You ain’t no friend of mine,which is indeed the last, Lord Dimwit lost three thousand of his best men, and vowed to make Elvis Flathead required listening for his troops in the future.The Joy of Encryption
• The statue was built in Fublio Valley, not the FRV.
Furthermore, the whole story is a colorful anachronism. Lord Dimwit Flathead died in 789, long before Elvis Flathead’s debut in 841. It’s like saying the French peasantry stormed the Bastille to the tune of Jailhouse Rock
. Let us charitably say the story is apocryphal.
- Sonnet #87,177
Ode to a Tiny Moist Avocado Pit
- Sonnet #87,178
Ode to Another Tiny Moist Avocado Pit
- Sonnet #87,179
Ode to Two Tiny Moist Avocado Pits
- Sonnet #87,180
Ode to Two Still‐Tiny‐But‐Less‐Moist Avocado Pits
There’s not enough in the royal treasury to build my new continent, Lord Feepness? Then we’ll increase the tax levy! It’s only 98%! That still leaves two percent!
mysteriously. Loowit Flathead ascends.
- John D. Flathead disappears touring Frobozz Magic Snowmaking Co. in Gray Mountains.
- Stonewall Flathead shot by own man in Battle of Ragweed Gulch.
- Johann Sebastian Flathead dies rehearsing
Minuet for Violin and Volcano.
- J. Pierpont Flathead enters vault, never seen again.
- Thomas Alva Flathead dies from severe case of splinters.
- Leonardo Flathead falls in vat of molten granola while working on statue for harbor of Antharia.
- Lucrezia Flathead dies, perhaps self‐induced.
- Ralph Waldo Flathead dies of overdose of avocados.
- John Paul Flathead killed by his nemesis, great white jellyfish.
- Frank Lloyd Flathead dies from carcinogenic blueprint chemicals.
- Babe Flathead dies during shark‐wrestling semifinals at Flathead Stadium.
Spellbound and United Thaumaturgy formed.
• Assume they are formed after FrobozzCo controls all commerce everywhere.
Belboz begins apprenticeship in the Accardi Guild of Enchanters.
• 820 GUE − 30 = 790 GUE
Zork Zero
Frobozz Magic Month Co. buys Fidooshiary, renames it FrobuaryTR.
Now that they’ve run out of companies to buy, it seems they’re finding more abstract things to own.
Frob DayTR becomes a traderune of Frobozz Magic Day Co.
• Assume they buy it at about the same time as Frobozz Magic Month Co. buys Fidooshiary, though it could be any time in 668–883.
Elvis Flathead probably born around now.
• Speculation based on first concert date.
lobal spell (sharpen hearing) and
conbak spell (build strong bodies 12 different ways),
bringing him interprovincial fame.
The greatest irony is this: that the ancients of our kind were nearer to knowing the truth about Science than those who called themselves Scientists. Science has taught us much and given us new words for old mysteries. But beneath these words are mysteries, and beneath them more mysteries. The pursuit of Magic has given these mysteries meaning and provided for our people great benefits unrealized as yet by Science. One day, perhaps, a great union will be formed between Magic and Science, and the final mysteries will be solved.
I Get By With a Little Hint From My Friends,
Sandy Cave
- Men at Zork:
Down Under
- Billy Troll
- Jefferson Bucket (later renamed Jefferson Balloon)
- Pink Floyd
Zork Nemesis strategy guide
1st Convention of Enchanters and Sorcerers (CES)
• The 115th annual convention is in 957.
Idwit Oogle Flathead succeeds his brother, Barbawit Flathead.
• After only 2 years! I wonder what befell Barbawit.
Zork Nemesis strategy guide
Belboz advances to Sorcerer after a mere 25 years.
• 820 GUE + 25 = 845 GUE
Barsap’s first performance before royalty.
• Idwit Oogle Flathead probably spent lots on entertainment.
Granola Riots.
The granola mines in northern Antharia once supplied seemingly limitless quantities of granola. Since the Granola Riots of 865 GUE, the causes of which are well known, the output of the mines has fallen sharply.
Encyclopedia Frobozzica, 882 GUE
• Labor dispute? Food shortage? Irate consumers? Granola tax backlash? We may never know, since the causes are so well known, nobody considers them noteworthy enough to write down.
ZGI chronologue
A wizard enamels the shell of an enormous turtle with all the colors of the rainbow.
• Enchanter: How do you like my shell? A wizard did that to me about 75 years ago.
• According to the Ruffini Encyclopedia Frobozzica, this turtle was once Mumbo ⅠⅠ’s pet, meaning it is a very, very, very ancient turtle.
Zork Nemesis strategy guide
William Randolph Citizen
Flathead becomes publishing giant.
• Perhaps involved with U.S. News & Dungeon Report or Frobozz Magic … Publishing Co.?
St. Balhu, St. Bovus, St. Quakko, and St. Wiskus each gain sainthood.
• Note that if you look up St. Bovus in the Encyclopedia Frobozzica, you will get the entry for St. Wiskus, and vice versa.
Zork Zero
Belboz, who predicted the fall, says I told you so.
• Maybe the vezza spell (view the future) was one of the ones he perfected.
Krill banished from Accardi Circle of Enchanters.
• Krill’s initial reign of terror
was probably after the fall of the Empire in 883. Belboz the Sorcerer may have participated in banishing him (before or after he became Guildmaster in 910).
- Veldran of Aragain (N)
- BoBo the Somewhat Misguided (U)
- Hobart the Unmerciful (SW)
- Snuffie (E)
making the 72nd year in a row the tournament closed without a confirmed winner, according to Kob on Double Fanucci
, Borphee Digest, vol. MMCXXI, p. 879.
Gustar Woomax enrolls in GUE Tech.
• He’d be age 17.
Thaddeus Kaine marries Lady Elizabeth Kaine, becoming Liege of her family’s ancestral home, Castle Irondune.
• Assume age >~18.
2nd Lt. Colonel Kaine ends barbarian rebellion at Battle of Flood Control Dam #3.
• Assume age >~18.
• Assume Frobar does a 30‐year apprenticeship before becoming a full‐fledged Enchanter.
Magic no longer interests me. The Enchanters Guild now seems concerned only with power and money. Alchemy, the chance to solve the Great Mystery of the universe, is all I can think of now. There is so much suffering, so much pain and death. My father’s science leaves much work to be done; but I will find the Philosopher’s Stone and prove his name within the mocking circles of Science.
mage [sic] 7, 922
Dear Father,
I have investigated all the texts I can and researched extensively your disease. There is no known treatment.
Sartorius
Dismembur 15, 922
Dear Father,
You must accept the death that will come- for all of us- someday. Perhaps your would like to be included in my experimental work- there are certain risks of course.
Sartorius
Augur 5, 923
Dear good doctor,
I find myself getting weaker and I find I have strange fevers which leave me sweating profusely. At nights, I burn as if on fire. I thought I would be ready for death. I have spent my life preparing for the afterlife. But in my heart I am not prepared. I am ready to do experiments, risky as they may be. My mind is open.
Yours truly,
F. Malveaux
General Granted Knighthood
General Thaddeus Kaine, of the Desert River Province, Granted Knighthood, Mumberbur 7, 923
Free Press corp.
Thaddeus Kaine, of Desert River Province, famous for his battle against the barbarian hordes, was granted Knighthood today. In an elaborate ceremony at Syovar’s palatial estate in Aragain, Syovar anointed Thaddeus Kaine to the applause of various well‐wishers, including Sophia Hamilton of the Desert River Branch Conservatory and Francois Malveaux, noted author of
the Brogmoid Fallacies.In thename of the rightful and unified Kingdom of Zork, Syovar thanked General Kaine for his struggle to defeat the barbarian and trollish hordes that have been recently threatening the Kingdom.
• Odd place for the date. Couldn’t Activision get the date up at the top of the clipping?
General Thaddeus Kaine founds Zork Musical Academy for Girls at Frigid River Branch Conservatory. Sophia Hamilton leaves Desert River Branch Conservatory to become Headmistress.
• Sophia is with the Desert River Branch when Kaine is knighted according to the news clipping. Father Malveaux refers to her as Madame Sophia of the Frigid River Branch Conservatory
on 20 Estuary 924.
If Desert River
is not simply a misprint, Kaine founded the Musical Academy
for his young mistress in the intervening 2 months.
Estuary 20, 924
Thank you doctor. You are truly a misunderstood genius. For the first time in many months I have hope of a life without pain. Knowing our need for further apprentices, I spoke to Madame Sophia of the Frigid River Branch Conservatory, I believe she is the perfect person to assist us in our quest.
Francois
Frobuary 12, 924
Dear Sophia,
Dr. Sartorius is a brilliant man. This experiment will be the biggest breakthrough since the beginning of Zork. If you are still interested, make your way to the Temple of Agrippa. But- take great care, and do not speak of it. There are those who misunderstand Alchemy - those who would kill for our secrets, in their search for gold.
Father Malveaux
Kaine and Ellron: Dispute turns to War!
Fight erupts over Border regions lying between Former Aragain and Desert River Province. Mage 20, 924
Free Press corp.
The ever‐increasing tensions between Lord Ellron and Sir General Kaine reached their height yesterday evening, when Lord Ellron declared war on General Kaine. The fight has become even more critical because of Kaine’s rumored creation of Thaddium, the lethal zirratiated ore. Ellron, now aligned with the powerful and political Enchanters Guilds of the Westlands has been rumored to have purchased a lethal scroll from Wizard Bilboz. The results of this never‐ending feud should have a major impact on Syovar and whether his Empire is able to expand and unite the entire Zork lands.
• Odd place for the date. Couldn’t Activision get the date up at the top of the clipping?
Dr. Sartorius tells Father Malveaux they need to recruit two others.
Augur 2, 924
Dear Father,
I am encouraged by your zeal in finding the quintessence. I do not mean to be discouraging but alchemists have searched for ages for the philosophers stone. I have come to see that the quint essentia cannot be created by one person.
There are four elements we must master, and four elements we must purify. Much as we have found each other, we must search out two others who have the will and courage to take on this study.
S.
• Father Malveaux already recruited Madame Sophia and wrote Dr. Sartorius about it.
Mumberbur 20, 924
Sophia,
Dr. Sartorius is a strange but fascinating man. As you know I am not prone to dabbling into strange, self‐indulgent philosophies- or womanish New Age experiments- but there is something to the man, of that there can be no doubt.
And still I wonder-- might the Doctor’s way be the only way of securing power in this perpetually unstable world? I could have great use for him-- and his philosopher’s stone--in my campaign against the Enchanters. I cannot hold them back much longer.
Say nothing-- I will write you of this further.
Kaine
Estuary 29, 925
The Enchanters’ Guild has formed a coalition and I am losing control of the Westlands. Lord Ellron is under their control. I can no longer rely on the magic of the scroll.
-Syovar
Arch 7, 925
General Kaine:
I have been made aware of the presence of Thaddium in your vicinity and of a particular invention which may assist me in my battles. Whatever you require to fund your experiment, I will gladly provide.
-Syovar, Viceregent and General of the Royal Quendorian Army
Mage 15, 925
Dr. Sartorius,
It has been called to our attention that you have been practicing unorthodox and unauthorized magic. As you know, it is in violation of Magic Code #6547 for a non‐guild member to engage in any magical practice. Cease and Desist or we will file for Fudgunctive Relief.
-The Enchanters Guild
Dear Malveaux,
As we discussed, I will bring her to you one week after birth. Do not underestimate the importance of your task. Her spiritual progress and the purification of her soul are essential to the process. She will be a gift to mankind.
Dr. Sartorius
Father Malveaux,
I was much moved by your tale of the orphan child. As a result, in a spirit of good will, I have agreed to grant your request. You may take this baby and raise her until she reaches maturity.
Yoruk be with you,
The Grand inquisitor
Hundreds Dead in Thaddium Explosion!
Free Press corp.
In a blast of heat and fury, Thaddeus Research Facility number 2 disappeared this morning taking much of the idyllic village of Stonehead with it. Company officials continue to deny any connection between the company and the blast, saying,
as you know, it’s been several centuries since we sacrificed a virgin to the fire‐gods. We were due for this one.Critics, on the other hand, point to the smoking remnants of Facility Number One and the strange mineral thaddium, which eyewitnesses claim to have seen smuggled in under the cover of night.
• He went down in history, literally. The date appears on the 883 calendar.
Zork Zero calendar
Jam 16, 929
Darling Thaddeus,
Crushed the barbarian hordes and even the grand Syovar seems content! Congratulations on your recent victories; but take heed upon your return. The battle is far from over.
In your absence, Ellron has discovered a powerful scroll and I am scared. We are deep into the Great Work. If they learn of our secrets, the Enchanters’ Guild, and others, will surely kill us.
Sophia
• Five years ago, the newspapers reported that Ellron was rumored to have bought a lethal scroll
from Bilboz. Perhaps the rumors were false, and he didn’t get his scroll until now.
• General Kaine finally finished the barbarian hordes that he was knighted for battling 6 years ago.
One of the Cubes of Foundation falls briefly into Antharia Jack’s hands.
• Then it seems to take a sudden detour into the future, bypassing its appearance at the Treasury by 966.
Estuary 18, 935
Dearest Malveaux,
I am delighted by Alexandria’s progress. I think that your use of puzzles to sharpen her mind and spirit is working beautifully. And already I can see promise in her music. I will be saving a seat for her in the conservatory.
Yours truly,
Sophia
Augur 14, 935
Sophia,
It is rainy and grim here. The fields are muddy and littered with corpses. I am tired of all this. All I want in the world is to return to my castle. The battle at Flood Control Dam number 678 was more brutal than expected. Ellron, backed by the Enchanters, has discovered some magical scroll which causes weapons to turn to fudge. It is disheartening and sticky.
Liz wrote that she is considering spending the fall at her mother’s villa in Antharia. Say the word and I will further convince her to make the retreat to the restorative island clime. For her health, you know-- and for mine.
Kaine
Father Malveaux sends Alexandria to Madame Sophia.
Ottobur 15, 937
Dear Sophia -
The time has come. I think you will be proud of me when you see her. She is a charming, brilliant child-- and I have grown to care for little Alexandria as if her parenting were my only office.
Her music is unschooled, but I hear in it- somewhere- the harmony of the spheres. It is there for you to distill. I expect much work, and great things, from the both of you.
Fondly,
Malveaux
Mumberbur 14, 940
S-
And so the holidays pass, and still, we are nowhere near each other. Liz and I are fighting again, which does dampen the festivities somewhat. It’s not that she questions my formal loyalties to her and my family-- she knows I will never leave her-- but I suppose I can hardly blame her if she feels my heart is no better than any. How I hate to discuss these matters-- as if I were a gossiping girl. I live where I live, and I love whom I love. Praise Yoruk- that is all there is to say on the subject -
K.
Augur 3, 942
Dear father,
I miss you. Madame Sophia seems to be paying much attention to me. She believes that in my soul, I possess the very power of music, and with practice, I will find the precious notes which are the
Harmony of the Spheres. I’m not so sure. Everyone believes my music is strange. Do you think me strange? I know I am lonely.Always missing you,
Alexandria
Mage 1, 943
Dear father,
I’ve met someone and for the first time in months I feel optimistic. His name is Lucien Kaine, and he is the one person who seems to understand my music. when around him, I don’t have to apologize for who I am or what I believe. I’ve finally found my kindred spirit, as you always promised I would.
Be happy for me!
your Alexandria
Jam 2, 943
Sophia,
You say I seem wrathful- Aye, that and far beyond- I am close to giving up on my son. Lately, Lucien has become suspicious-- nearly paranoid-- searching my room, pilfering my private papers. I am at a loss. He is in love with that girl-- your precious
prodigy,I know-- and nothing I say will stop him. You say to be forceful- and I try- but he is my only son. It is hard for me to deny him that which he wants most. So, what then?K.
Mumberbur 2, 943
Kaine,
I read about Ellron and his alliance with The Enchanter’s Guild, and I wept for you. These are dangerous times, and I will not sleep until all those who mean you harm are put to eternal rest. But I take heart, knowing that we are deciphering more secrets of this magical science with each new day.
Soon, love, we will not worry about power…
Sophia
• Newspapers reported Ellron’s alliance with the Enchanters Guild in 924, almost 20 years ago, and she’s reading about it now? Perhaps it is in the news again for some reason.
Arch 2, 944
Dearest Madame,
I have much unsettling news. It has come to my attention that Lucien Kaine, with his troubled, rebellious spirit- and his strange disposition- has been bothering Alexandria. Under your own roof, Madame! I fear she knows little of the ways of men- who are not monks, that is.
Please - you should know better than I - Alexandria needs to study and perfect her art.
Father Malveaux
Alexandria,
My father wants me to join his army in their fight against the Enchanter’s Guild and Ellron. He’s been our nemesis for so long, I feel I know him intimately. Magic, power and politics, When did they get so complicated and corrupt?
My father says he fights in the name of honor and truth. No truth I know of. Medicine, Education, Law and Religion: they mean nothing to me. My only truth is you and your music.
Lucien
Malveaux,
Our plans may be falling apart. Alexandria has, I believe, fallen in love with Lucien; you remember, Kaine’s son. Nothing we do seems to have any impact on them; as if they were under some strange spell. You must put a stop to it. She has come so far with her music. Act quickly, or it will all have been for nothing…
Sophia
Suspendur 1, 944
My dear girl,
Please do not be upset. Madame Sophia wants only the best for you. You will always be my child, my only family. But you must always remember that you are one of those people for whom life has chosen a special destiny. We all believe in your magical talent. Be pure of heart and spirit, and I shall always be
Your loving father
Dismembur 12, 944
Alexandria-
There is something going on with my father. I thought it was something to do with Thaddium and his battles with Ellron. Now I suspect it is far more dangerous than that. He says little of his latest invention, only that it involves pure lead- and it is very dangerous. My father would not harm us, but I fear he cannot save us either.
You once said you wanted to explore the Empire, voyage across the Great Sea. Come with me.
Lucien
• Since this takes place after his draft, he must intend to desert.
greater spiritual guidancein Thriff.
• Assume he leaves before the screams and stenches of Nemesis’s hauntings in 945, since he doesn’t mention anything of interest in his journal. However, it would be an excellent motivation to leave the soon‐to‐be Forbidden Lands.
Mage 22, 945
Father,
There is something strange going on and I have to get out of here. Lucien wants to marry me. We will come to you at the next full moon. Marry us and give us your blessing for the future. I know your concern for
purity of the spiritbut remember, not all of us are destined to marry Yoruk and live in a Monastery.A.
Lucien,
You are right. Something is going on. We must leave. I wrote Father, telling him everything and asking him to marry us. Father will miss me, but he will understand. We will escape to the Westlands. I’m not frightened, Lucien; I know everything will be all right, if I am with you. Does that sound childish? I’ve never felt more a woman-- and I am, as always,
your Alexandria
Good Doctor,
Since your cure, my son has kept something of his Magic Eye. He still sees things that cannot be seen, and for a fortnight he has wept for you day and night. He begged me to write you a warning.
There is a great evil waiting for you. You will soon be dead, he cries, the Asylum destroyed, your great work unfinished. He fears powers have been disturbed, and the innocent will pay. Good luck, Doctor. May Yoruk be with you.
-S.J.M.
Jam 17, 945
Dr. Sartorius;
I understand you are still perfecting the science of the ritual, but we must act now; if we do not, the quintessence will slip through our fingers. I know he has threatened even you, haunting the asylum. Our work must be completed at the Temple of the Ancients. Write and I will arrange to meet you there.
Soon, Doctor.
Sophia
Madame Sophia,
You are right- we cannot wait any longer. We must take a risk. Meet me at the Temple of Agrippa. I will summon the others. What has begun must take its course. It is our only chance- before we are destroyed-
Sartorius
Descent of Yoruk into Hell.
Of the hauntings and hallucination, this much I can piece together. The Gray Mountains slipped into oblivion first, the inhabitants of Frostham complaining of horrible screams and an inescapable stench that pervaded the area. Reports came from the Desert River next. Merchants and trading caravans that still moved through areas untouched by the war began to report nightmares and visions so powerful that they lingered for weeks in the minds of the victims. Soon the entire sky over that area became covered with distorted faces and figures, prompting Syovar to consider forbidding all access to these desolate provinces. Most of the refugees managed to make it out in time. Those who didn’t are now dead or, from what I have witnessed thus far, wish they were.
Nemesis’ voice diary:
“Last day of the Year of the Misuse
I’ve hidden the sources of their powers away from their control. Without them, they are unable to hold back the very elements they used to keep dominion over.”
• Year of the Misuse
is probably the year of the Great Eclipse. The sequence of the first three voice disks seems to be reversed; they make more sense in the order 3-2-1-4-5-6.
Nemesis’ voice diary:
I live every day with the reminder of the horror I have inflicted on the others. Their crimes were great, and I had to be judge, jury and executioner. Yet, they do not succumb to my torture. Sartorius seems the weakest, but even that bastard will not break his silence.
Nemesis’ voice diary:
I tried to contact Dr. Vexing about the meaning of the alchemy plate symbols. He told me that all symbols have meanings in alchemy, and that everyone is controlled by the orientations of these symbols. He could not, however, tell me more of use. The man is nearly deaf and blind, a condition that I feel describes perfectly my search for answers.
• This disk seems to follow the third disk chrolonologically, since if it were during the same year, FrobuaryTR 3 would be before the Great Eclipse and Nemesis. Since Dr. Sartorius has now broken his silence, the first disk also seems to follow the second disk chronologically.
Nemesis’ voice diary:
I’ve learned of four key steps used in Alchemy: Sublimation, distillation, calcification, and coagulation. Still, I know there is more to be found. Something is missing, some vital step.
Nemesis’ voice diary:
The fortune is nearly gone. I am going in search of answers elsewhere. Rumors speak of riches beyond the hills.
Nemesis’ voice diary:
I have discovered a vast subterranean land filled with magic and mysteries. However, I haven’t found any creature knowledgeable in the black arts. A wizard may be somewhere underground, but I have yet to find him. Other treasure hunters have discovered the ruins, and I’ve had to kill them to protect my belongings.
• A remnant of a subplot edited out of Zork Nemesis. In the original plot, Nemesis became the thief slain by the famous adventurer in Zork Ⅰ. The second Dungeon Master, guilty over killing the thief in self‐defense, then sends an adventurer to the Forbidden Lands to undo this deed.
• If the date is correct, Suspendur seems to have at least 33 days some years, or perhaps this is a different region’s leap week. (Too bad it’s not FrobuaryTR, that would complicate things less.)
- The Great Underground Empire: A History (896)
- G.U.E. On Nine Zorkmids a Day (873)
- FrobozzCo International Annual Report: 778 GUE
Was a certain famous adventurer doing background research for an upcoming journey?
Zork ⅠⅠ travel guide,
Zork ⅠⅠⅠ annual report
In past months, L. Karlok Bivotar performed routine Surveillance Duty at 106th Convention of Enchanters and Sorcerers (CES).
While on his mission? Bivotar’s been in the Forbidden Lands since Dismembur 947, and 947’s convention was the 105th.
• If the Frobozz Magic Temporizer takes you to the same date of a different year, then the Zork trilogy takes place on the same date as the Royal Museum dedication.
FAMED ADVENTURER TO EXPLORE GREAT UNDERGROUND EMPIRE
Our correspondents report that a world‐famous and battle‐hardened adventurer has been seen in the vicinity of the Great Underground Empire. Local grues have been reported sharpening their (slavering) fangs.…
U.S. News and Dungeon Report
• In what land is she an heir to the throne? Let’s assume that it is one of the various regions of Quendor that have reasserted their own sovereignty after the fall of the Empire.
Famous adventurer releases a demon who helps defeat the Wizard of Frobozz, for a price.
• In Zork ⅠⅠ, you must defeat the wizard by having the demon slay him, or take away his magic wand. In Sorcerer, you can cast aimfiz to the Wizard. So according to canon, the adventurer had the demon take away the wizard’s wand. However, the Ruffini Encyclopedia Frobozzica states the adventurer who would eventually become the second Dungeon Master ordered a demon to kill the Wizard
. Nino didn’t know there was a nonviolent solution.
helloto an old and crusty sailor (Odysseus?) in an ancient Viking ship.
Enchanter
• Bivotar spends the interening months traversing the central eastlands to go from the southern Forbidden Lands to the northern Forbidden Lands.
… I ventured into Frostham, and tried to speak of this Temple. None would say that it existed-- but their haunted faces seemed to confirm what their words could not. I found my chance in the gleaming eyes of an old drunk, swilling cheap ale on the side of the road. He had a cousin, who knew a sherpa who needed the money and could take me part of the way. A few Zorkmids later, I found myself shivering on a pack horse, staring up at what appeared to be sheer cliffs of impenetrable rock.
Now, my guide tells me, I am on my own. I shall strike out for the temple tomorrow. I am certain that the end of my journey awaits me there…
• Bivotar’s journal strongly implies the Temple is on top of sheer cliffs in the hyperborean Gray Mountains, no more than three days out of Frostham.
The game, however, indicates that the Temple is in the south. The painting of the Futurelithic Epozz is Return to Zork’s Valley of the Vultures. The hidden temple has a plaque that says Milo 735 Southern Highway
.
(The map in the journal places the temple in the Desert River province, but I do not regard it as authoritative. On the map, the temple appears to be in a mountainless desert, Irondune is along the Frigid River, and FCD#7 is misprinted as FCD#3, which is not on the surface at all.)
Nemesis’ journal:
From their sarcophagi, they will tell me nothing: I have all but ripped their throats out, so that is to be expected. How many threats can you use upon the dead? It sickens me to live here, a Daemon trapped in a temple. But I must finish their work, and fuel my hate with the power of the Quintessence.
The Skull of Yoruk comes into the possession of a gaggle of grues living beneath the legendary white house.
• In the game, Belboz says the skull was stolen by a pack of grues in 948. According to the Chronologue, the skull briefly came into the possession of a gaggle of grues in 950.
Envy breedeth Evil: Queen Alexis caused the simple peasant home of Morning‐Star to burn. The sleeping family perished, all but Morning‐Star, who, being rescued by the Queen’s design, became her daughter, sight restored by Prayer.
(The one true Princess, left behind to fill the vacant cradle, perished too, and never saw her mother.)
The Legend of Wishbringer
• Counting back 17 years.
Nemesis’ journal:
Now that I have stolen the four elements - Earth, Air, Fire, and Water - I have hidden them, in this unholy temple, where they will never be found. I cannot risk their discovery, and have employed a great number of
deadlylively machinations to assure their seclusion. The last intruder, that meddling spy Bivotar, never made it past my Gallery, but at least he was able to take some time out to enjoy the paintings before I bludgeoned him.However, in the Gallery, the flow of time is as circular as the room, and I made the mistake of killing him before he was ever actually born. I shall wait to see if he returns.
Nemesis’ journal:
It is more difficult to forge the four alchemical metals than I first thought. I have learned, through a painful process of trial and error, that it is not safe to keep the elements in their purified form. The four are not so stupid as they look; gaining access to their secret laboratories has been a labored process. I will go drag a hot poker down Malveaux’ rotting belly and see if he cries out something helpful.
Nemesis’ journal:
I am tired of this game. I ransacked Sartorius’ laboratory today, and while blood flowed down the halls, I made little progress in my quest for his tin. I am as impatient as that stupid spy who thought any fistful of dirt, any drop of water - a spark from his fine Accardian cigar, or a mouthful of his foul breath - would constitute an element. I must return to my work with elemental Air. As I rise up to my lab and pass the twinkling star field, the blue reminds me of blue skies, a more peaceable time. But I can remember little of my life before the evil descended. Before my bloody rebirth.
ZGI chronologue
- a first edition of
The Presence of Incredibly Weird Stuff Going On
by Bizboz• The Monastery’s card misleadingly calls it
First Edition: First Known Magic Spell
. This was a seminal academic work about magic. Scrolls and spell books hadn’t even been invented yet.Apologia: Well, perhaps it describes the first known magic spell. Or the brothers in the monastery don’t know any better. Or perhaps it’s a counterfeit relic, since whoever rendered the museum left off the first word in the title
On the Presence of Incredibly Weird Stuff Going On
. - ruby from Yoruk’s shield
- model of Oracle of Bargth (not to scale)
standard issue
magic wand- zemdor scrolls
- the Phee Hourglass
- Crystal Ball, period of Moog
If the
Period of Moog
means the time of the Triax, that will not take place until after Sorcerer. - sacred granola
- Sheath of the [sic] Grueslayer
• Since the Phee Hourglass and Sheath of Grueslayer appear in Beyond Zork, if these are real, they must somehow journey from the eastlands Monastery to the westlands Shoppes by 966.
- Zork Shroud of Zylon
•
Zork
Shroud of Zylon? He lived long before Zork. I think a Shroud of Berknip would have been a better choice. - Legendary Blade of King Entharion
• Grueslayer, presumably—so why is it not displayed with its sheath? (It seems the graphic artist who drew the museum mistakenly thought
the
Grueslayer was a person, not a sword.) - Stick Frotzed by Vilboz the Great
- the Jewel of Jerrimore
• Could the cursed jewel be partly responsible for Father Malveaux’s fall from grace?
- replica- Yoruk shield
- torch of the Endless Fire
- globe of a Mythical Universe
magic scrolls of Bizboz
• If these are the spell scrolls they appear to be, this is an anachronism. Davmar invented spell scrolls around 755. Bizboz committed suicide in 475.
Apologia: Perhaps these are scrolls about magic in general, not spell scrolls.
Music From The Great Underground Empire
Belboz the Necromancer becomes kingdomwide Secretary of the Guild of Enchanters, a post he holds for 2 or 3 terms.
• Sorcerer gives two conflicting numbers. 2 terms according to the Popular Enchanting article, 3 terms according to the Encyclopedia Frobizzica.
Krill plots to overthrow Circle of Enchanters and enslave that corner of the kingdom. A young novice Enchanter banishes Krill to another plane of existence.
• The original Ruffini Encyclopedia Frobozzica says Krill was banished in 952, between Zork ⅠⅠⅠ and Sorcerer.
Nino mistakenly concluded Enchanter must take place at or after 952 because Belboz leads the Circle of Enchanters, and Nino confused the year Belboz became head of the Circle (910) with the year he will become secretary of the entire Guild (952). When I pointed this out, he redacted his online edition of the encyclopedia to say that Krill was banished during the 940s.
However, the ZGI chronologue compounds the error by using Nino’s original date of 952. So we will take the date as canon and make our apologies.
The 952 date causes some inconsistencies, because Enchanter appears to be contemporaneous with the Zork trilogy:
- In Zork ⅠⅠⅠ, you (as the Adventurer) can use the magic table to go to the Temple and be sacrificed by Krill.
- In Enchanter, you summon the Adventurer, he of the elvish sword of great antiquity.
- According to Nino, the Adventurer killed the Wizard of Frobozz in 948, but the Wizard of Frobozz is alive in Enchanter. (You can try to summon him.) The summoned Adventurer points at the portrait of the Wizard of Frobozz and says
I’ve met him!
The Wizard is still alive in Sorcerer as well, so this is another error.
When Marc Blank and Dave Lebling wrote Enchanter, I think they intended the Adventurer to be the famous Adventurer of Zork ⅠⅠⅠ or a hapless Zork ⅠⅠⅠ player. (The Imps only know how he gets back. I like to think he just typed RESTORE. )
Apologia: Since it would be odd for Enchanter’s adventurer to be doing the same deeds the famous Adventurer completed four years ago, perhaps the magic mirrors reflect a reconstruction of that earlier time, and the young enchanter summons the image of that legendary hero.
ZGI chronologue
• Assuming the Field Guide to the Creatures of Frobozz in the Sorcerer gray‐box packaging is contemporary with the Popular Enchanting magazine.
unqualified disaster.
Grim old Helistar is on her annual two‐week vacation in the southlands, practicing sports (bullfighting, skydiving near the mountains of Gurth, scuba diving in the Sea of Mithicus).
• Beyond Zork’s geography does not include a Sea of Mithicus.
- Articles
- Explosion of spell scroll manufacturers.
In addition to the companies known to be previously established (FrobozzCo, SpellBound, and United Thaumaturgy), there are many more now: Fibbsbozza, Spell Shack, Frotz Users’ Group, Infocom Inc., International Business Magic, Smoothscroll Draughtsmen, Magicland, Spells R Us, Conjurer’s Corner, SoftSpel, Borphee Infotaters Inc.
- Coming shake down of potion manufacturers.
- Explosion of spell scroll manufacturers.
- Advertisements:
- United Thaumaturgy advertises new gaspar spell (provide for your own resurrection).
- GUE Tech’s
Learn‐at‐Home
course-- learn magic in just 12 weeks! - Orkan of Thriff endorses Chevaux spell books.
• According to an editorial letter, Orkan is also selling wand racks.
- (Also, vilstu potion advertised on matchbook covers.)
• The original Sorcerer documentation also had an ad for this year’s
ENCHANTING CMLXIII EXPO
. 963? Oops! The erroneous ad was removed in the later gray box packaging.
Evil Magician Radnor plots to obtain the Amulet of Egreth, powerful artifact of his former master, Thorman the Red‐beard. He casts spells weakening Thorman and causing his daughter and son‐in‐law to die. As his last act, Thorman throws the amulet out a window and casts a spell to convey it to his granddaughter.
• This happens when Lia is five years old. This seems to be at least 10 years before the following events.
A caravan heads south from the northlands. Gurthark the Stout is driving a load of silk coverlets to his brother‐in‐law Mirik the Lean. He’s accompanied by Ryker, a scout, and Acia, a golddigger on her way to the bedside of her ailing grandmother. They are joined by Frobwit the Fair, a magician heading to the CES at Accardi‐by‐the‐Sea with his apprentice Dirin.
The Amulet of Egreth is stolen (by several parties) and briefly falls into Radnor’s hands. At the conclusion of a battle, Thorman’s granddaughter Lia regains the amulet and inherits Thorman’s power. Frobwit traps Radnor’s essence in a crystal ball, which Gurthark unwittingly picks up as treasure.
The spirit of Thorman returns Egreth to its former glory, and reveals Dirin to be Dirinthrax, heir to Duncanthrax and the new Mage of Egreth. Lia and Dirinthrax take the throne as the new rulers of Egreth.
• Assume this all takes place after Sorcerer, since Egreth was still a ruin then.
Fledgling magicians Moog and Slye steal an ancient Zizbit spell book from Althea, Acia’s grandmother, from which they learn how to form the Triax.
Gumboz the Magnificent gives an elfin sword to Frobwit the Fair.
Bragging to Althea at CES, Frobwit the Fair accidentally casts the spell releasing Radnor’s essence from the crystal ball, allowing him to exchange his essence with Ryker’s.
Radnor joins Moog and Slye to complete the Triax. The rivers and sea turn to blood.
Malyon spell backfired; burin accidentally animated. Oops. Zuzvuz.
• Year unspecified; apparently between Sorcerer and Spellbreaker.
Adventurer eaten by stray grues. Resurrected with gaspar. Zuzvuz.
Trolls ravaging village. Applied two‐handed axe; resolved. Felenar.
Some trouble communicating with cyclops. See legend 2001. Zuzvuz.
Adventurer llepsed gaspar. Summoned Implementors. Zuzvuz.
Implementors de‐implemented Zuzvuz. Attempted blorple to Old Quendor. Felenar.
Felenar and Zuzvuz missing. Sent replacement job application to GUE Tech. Sorkin.
GUE Tech gated to Old Quendor. Llepsed golmac might work. Sorkin.
Two words: why me? New support clerk arrives tomorrow. Must train before (after) breaking Sorkin’s time loop. Assuming counterspell exists, if not… Helistar.
• Beyond Zork: Been retired, ah, goin’ on five years.
Sculpture garden built as a shrine to the six Ancient Muses of the Arts: Eoj, Mit, Cire, Mik, Selrach, and Xela.
• Files say it was built around 966
. Clearly it was built before the Great Change.
GUE Tech turn the Mithican Institute of Technology Enchanteers to take first place in the Moss League, winning the Thaumaturgic Decathlon for the third year in row.
• Assume announcement on bulletin board was still news when the school closed in Augur 966.
Mir Yannick expelled from GUE Tech for his inability to master magic.
• Assume Dean’s List on bulletin board was still current when the school closed in Augur 966.
Hot again. Retorts and alembics spoiling! Hate this northern clime
• Orkan writes July and August, which I’ve changed to Jelly and Augur.
Gated Thriff to Miznia, via Atrii. Relief at last! Villagers perplexed but grateful.
Mtn not dormant after all. Yonked a girgol just in nick of time.
Wilderness life stinks. Racoon nest in chimney; guncho took flue and all! Broke last burin warding off Xmas pests. Better off up north?
Borphee tomorrow. Y’Gael must be wrong.
Queen Alexis envies Morning‐Star’s beauty.
• Beyond Zork: In the prologue, Y’Gael holds a stone that glows with a violet aura. However, it must be just a frotzed rock or some other magic stone (or possibly Wishbringer visiting from the future), since Morning‐Star is still alive and well according to the magic mirror.
- The 1st knight begs Lord Nimbus to bring rain to the Fields of Frotzen, and is smitten by lightning.
- The 2d knight scales the Matter‐Horn for advice from the spirits, and falls.
- The 3d knight flies with the Wings of Icarus into the maw of Thermofax, a dragon.
- The 4th knight descends into the Mines of Mendon to slay a grue, and is devoured.
- The 5th knight tries to steal the Cocoa‐Nut of Quendor, and chances upon a lair of hungry Implementors.
- The 6th knight spent an evening in an unclean cemetery, and was carried away by eldritch vapors.
• Though a supreme act of denial on the part of Activision will soon bring it back.
• Rebecca Snoot mentions reading about the sculpture garden in this book.
• According to his trading card in Spellbreaker, Barsap is turned into a newt in 972. Obviously an error, since Spellbreaker takes place in 966, and Magic was destroyed.
Apologia: 972
is just a typo for 962
.
• Frobar has given up minimalism in furnishings, and now owns a swank house in Mizniaport. He also frequents a bar in Greater Anthar where he is teased about what a dull fellow he is.
• There was no Great Underground Adventure Ⅰ or ⅠⅠ.
• Unlike the Zork trilogy, the movie features time tunnels, probably because they’re more dramatic than fiddling with a Frobozz Magic Temporizer.
≤ 1050
Many kingdoms after, when the reign of Anatinus was forgotten, and the names of Morning‐Star and Alexis lost in Time, there came unto the Misty Isle a Scholar, who, amid the crumbling tombs of monarchs, chanced upon the mortal relic of the Princess.
The Legend of Wishbringer
• The Ruffini Encyclopedia Frobozzica places all the events of Wishbringer in the distant past, despite Queen Alexis’s cameo in Beyond Zork. The confusion is understandable, since it seems like Y’Gael is holding Wishbringer in the prologue. (Besides, if it did take place in the distant past, Y’Gael would be younger than she is in Wishbringer.)
• Evil One, you think too small! Demand the Coconut!
• Though Y’Gael calls the Evil One her sister, I like to think that the nameless Evil One is really Y’Gael’s shadow, la Spellbreaker. Makes for an interesting perspective on Wishbringer, no?
The Dungeon Master battles the Grand Inquisitor. Dalboz loses his life, while Mir Yannick loses only his hair.
• In 1067, a newsreel states that Dalboz has just been captured, and Yannick tells Antharia Jack that he has just killed Dalboz. Lies.
StubsGurble: Grues: Another Look
A curfew is initiated in Port Foozle, center of the Inquistion.
• The Antharian Leap Week is now observed in the Frigid River Valley.
• She seems to have an exaggerated opinion of her authority, though that may be understandable after living under the Grand Inquisitor’s regime.
• Witch Itah says Trembyle is a lot older than Canuk. Trembyle says my birthday is coming up soon
, but he doesn’t say what date.
• Return to Zork: Witch Itah says Canuk must be about 425 years old by now. And the wizard? He’s got to be a lot older than that!
Evil wizards break last remaining Flying Disc of Frobozz into pieces and build a forge at the shrine to the Ancient Muses of the Arts.
• In Return to Zork, it is said that the evil wizards built the forge in response to the plans for the Great Diffusion, and disguised it as a shrine. However, it also says the moving sculpture was built in 966, hundreds of years before the Great Diffusion was planned.
Apologia: The moving sculptures were built in 966, then fashioned into a forge in 1247.
• Such a lot of trouble to go through, when they could have just stashed a krebf scroll somewhere.
This event caused the end of the Second Age of Magic, in 1247 GUE. All magic and magical devices, whether mechanical or enchanted, were dispersed into the atmosphere with the hope that evil magic would be vanquished forever. Most Wizards and Mages lost their powers in the process.
• In Return to Zork, the Dwarven General speaks of great‐uncle Feebo
, so the discovery was two generations before 1647.
• Assume she receives her diploma at age ~18.
GRUES DAY DISMEMBUR 14, 1635
FEEBO’S FOLLY commonly known as the Cluster is suspected to have been replaced with a fake cluster. The Holy Woman at Bel Naire Temple has expressed concern and asked for an inquiry. IT&L has been contracted to investigate.
E. Shanbar Times
This legendary weapon was last known to be in the possession of Moadikum Moodock after being passed down from generations of simple peasants and adventurers. It is said to have been blessed in every generation by the Holy Women of Bel Naire.
When in good repair, this fabled sword glows blue in the presence of danger. Regardless of its condition, the sword is unbreakable. The Dwarven Miners now claim this sword as their own even though it was formally [sic] owned by elves.
GRUES DAY JAM 21, 1640
REBECCA SNOOT GRADUATES SUEY CUM LOUDLY
Ms. Mavis Peepers stood at attention while her star pupil, Rebecca Snoot, received her diploma. Rebecca plans to continue her anthropological studies and write books. Her father Obediah Snoot ⅠⅤ, noted collector and farmer, looked on proudly.
W. Shanbar Times
FROB DAY AUGUR 13, 1640
HISTORIC INN OF ISENOUGH DISAPPEARS
A frantic Moadikum Moodock discovered that the historic Inn of Isenough has mysteriously disappeared and his wife along with it.
We had just finished breakfast at the Inn and I walked across the street to open my shop. I turned to say something to Molly and the whole block was gone.Moadikum has moved in with his friend and partner Rooper. The Mayor vows recovery.E. Shanbar Times
MUD DAY OTTOBUR 6, 1640 GUE
MOODOCK’S ARMS AND ARMAMENTS DISAPPEARS
The headquarters of IT&L, Inc. and Moodock’s Armory, both located in East Shanbar, are the most recent inexplicable disappearances. They follow on the heels of the disappearance of the Historic Inn of Isenough last month..........
E. Shanbar Times
SAND DAY ARCH 15, 1642
Boos Myller of West Shanbar drove his pickup truck into the river for the tenth time. When questioned at the scene Myller replied,
I was pressing on the brake but a bottle must’ve got wedged between the pedal and the floorboard.Upon hearing of Boos’ latest accident the Mayor remarked,We’ve already revoked his license, now what we need to revoke are his keys.W. Shanbar Times
GRUES DAY MAGE 21, 1642
GENERAL STORE CLOSES AND DISAPPEARS IN SAME DAY.
I can’t take it anymore,says Will Swindle, ex‐proprietor of the General Store. But fate took a hand when, immediately upon tacking up his last notice, the building vanished.It’s just as well,he shrugged philosophically,My clientele has been dwindling steadily.E. Shanbar Times
STAR DAY ORACLE 1, 1643
ANGUS PUGNEY WINS ALL‐VALLEY CATTLE ROUND‐UP BEST OF SHOW.
W. Shanbar Times
WANDS DAY JELLY 18, 1645
MAYOR AND LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR NEW ANTI‐VULTURE WARNING SYSTEM.
The mayor announced at a press conference held on the steps of City Hall.....
W. Shanbar Times
• The Futurelithic
Age, according to the gallery in Zork Nemesis.
Grues Day, Mumberbur 18, 1647 GUE.
Dear Itah,
I’m sorry about the disagreement we had. I miss you very much. I can’t remember what our argument was about, but I’m sure you were right and I was wrong.
I’d like to take you sailing this weekend to make up. Please let me know as soon as possible. In person would be best.
Yours sincerely,
Ben
P.S. In case you are reading this letter and you are NOT Witch Itah, please refer to the Postal Code 115 in the Encyclopedia Frobozzica.
• Since the player can sleep 3 times (and gets points for it), the end of the game is at least 3 days after the writing of Ben Fyshin’s letter. The Mayor’s NIGHTLIFE file is out of date, being for the month of Suspendur 1647 GUE
. Trembyle says my birthday is coming up soon
, but he doesn’t say what date.
Frost
Ages of windblown dust lie hardened upon the frozen earth. The air is touched with an ominous arctic chill.
• No way of knowing how far each step of the Phee Hourglass takes you, but we can make educated guesses.
Glacier
The last traces of the plaza are lost beneath an impenetrable layer of glacial ice.
• The Frobeolithic glacier epozz took at least a million years. Our Earth’s ice age took about 2.5 million.
Highway
Strange mechanisms of metal and glass zoom across a rugged landscape strewn with glacial boulders.
Desolation
Patient centuries have eroded much of the topsoil from the landscape. Loose, charred earth stretches away in every direction.
• Since the player must leave the arch here, assume the fallout has finally died away. That could take 14 billion years. Doesn’t it make you want to cry? Peace on earth.