**************************************************************************** ** ** ** Z O R K Z E R O D O C S ** ** ** **************************************************************************** Zork Zero is a new Infocom adventure which carries on the Zork series. Zork Zero actually takes you back to the beginning of the series, when the Great Underground Empire was in its heyday and no adventurer had yet set foot in the open field west of the white house. Infocom spices up their already superb game system with a touch of graphics, interactive graphic puzzles, and a much nicer on-screen mapping system than we saw in Beyond Zork. In the great traditions of Infocom, the game packaging includes a few small tid bits which are required if you ever want to solve the game. In Zork Zero these include a Flathead Calendar for the year 883, a blueprint, and a small scrap of parchment. Preface To The Story... ----------------------- More than 90 years have passed since the great wizard Megaboz cast the Curse which destroyed Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive along with theother members of the ruling family , the Twelve Flatheads. Now, the Curse threatens to bring down the Great Underground Empire itself! Wurb Flathead, the current occupant of the throne, has sent a clarion call to the remotest corners of the Empire:half the riches of the kingdom to the person who can allay the Curse. From every province of Quendor ourageous adventurers, scheming charlatans, and wild-eyed crackpots have streamed into the Imperial Capital of Flatheadia. You are one such treasure-seeker,a peasant from an unheard-of-village in an obscure province. However you have one advantage: an ancestor of yours,a servant in Dimwit's court (who you will play during a brief prologue), witnessed Megaboz casting the Curse, and obtained a small scrap of parchment from the mage's pocket. This parchment scrap has been passed down from generation to generation, and is now in your possession. Thanks to it, you know what must be done in order to stop the Curse! By the time of your arrival at Flatheadia, most of the treasure-seekers have given up and returned to their homelands. In fact, you discover that most of the population, including all figures of authority, have fled to distant provinces. And when you awake on the hard floor of the castle on Curse Day, you find that even the looters and the most persistent adventurers have departed. In fact, as you begin your desperate quest to find the relics of theEmpire you need to stop the curse, your on company is the court jester, who spins rhymes for your amusement. Always appearing when you least expect him,the jester will confront you with riddles and games, spring some deadly tricks, and give you helpful nudges in the right direction. And throughout, he seems to be laughing at some tremendous joke which you can't begin to fathom... =========================================================================== THE FLATHEAD CALENDAR 883 The Twelve Flatheads - As every student of history knows, the Twelve Flatheads were the greater part of the Thirteen Significant Accomplishments of King Mumberthrax the Insignificant ( the thirteenth accomplishment was a decree that made Double Fanucci the National Sport of Quendor.) In the immortal words of Boswell Barwell,the royal biographer: Mumberthrax's place in history was secured by the one thing at which the Flatheads tended to excel: procreation. He sired twelve amazing children; twelve offspring who would transform the kingdom. As these magnificent siblings grew in notoriety, as their vast achievements became legendary, they became known as The Twelve Flatheads. In 783 GUE, the coronation of Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive, Mumberthrax's firstborn, began in Flatheadia. This calendar, brought to you under the auspices of the Flatheadia Chamber of Commerce and the Frobozz Magic Calendar Company, celebrates the centennial of that memorable occasion. ---- Estuary ---- The month of Estuary shows a picture of Dimwit Flathead, Excessive Ruler of the Empire, wearing a crown and holding a scepter. The text reads... Dimwit, as Mumberthrax's firstborn, grew up as heir to the throne of Quendor. A tad spoiled, little Dinnie was fond of torturing his nannies in the castle dungeon. Dimwit spent most of his early adulthood vacationing (with 40,000 attendants) in the sparsely populated Eastlands across the Great Sea. Dimwit, who despised the outdoors (Dimwit was petrified of rain, which puddled embarrassingly on his level pate),was enthralled by the underground caverns there. When Mumberthrax felt death's icy hand in 770 GUE, Dimwit began his vibrant reign. He immediately moved the capital of Quendor from Egreth, in the Westlands, to Aragian, in the Eastlands. Aragian, a small village, was transformed and named Flatheadia. Dimwit also decreed that Quendor becalled "The Great Underground Empire." Dimwit's grandiosity knew no bounds. His wondrous coronation ceremony quickly earned him the nickname Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive. On a whim, in 783, he ordered the erection of the Flood Control Dam #3, an underground project whose uselessness and cost did not diminish its magnificence. He also had huge granola smelters built near the Antharian Granola Mines. Some bitter, unappreciative chroniclers have described Dimwit's castle a shis biggest folly. It covered 8,600 square bloits, and housed, at one time, over 90% of the empires population. Dimwit's last great project was the erection of a huge statue of himself in the Fublio Valley. Nine bloits tall, it necessitated the deforestation of 1,400 square bloits. It was rumored that Dimwit was planning the construction of a new continent in the Flatheadia Ocean; a continent whose contours would have resembled his own features. Sadly, Dimwit passed away in 789 before he could realize this incomparable goal. His death has always been shrouded in mystery. Calendar Notes: Granola Riots(865 GUE) on the 16th Endless Fire Started(773 GUE) on the 18th Flood Control Dam #3 dedicated (783 GUE) on the 30th ---- Frobuary ---- The month of Frobuary shows a photo of John D. Flathead, Captain of Industry, with his Borphee Business School diploma and FrobozzCo stock certificates. The text reads... King Duncanthrax formed the Frobozz Magic Construction Company in 667GUE to enlarge the underground caverns of the Eastlands. Affiliated companies, such as the Frobozz Magic Dirt Disposal Company, and the Frobozz Magic Underground Sewer Installation Company, soon followed. The next year, FrobozzCo International was formed as a parent company for the burgeoning subsidiaries. By 743, there were more than 17,000 subsidiaries of FrobozzCo. That same year, a young entrepreneur named John D. Flathead graduated from the venerable Borphee Business School. At age 22, John D. founded Flathead Industries. FI's business was inventing other companies, which it would then sell to FrobozzCo. Within three years, FI had an annual income of 80,000,000 zorkmids. Eventually,the conglomerate decided to buy FI, renaming it the Frobozz Magic Company Company. John D. became one of FrobozzCo's 39,000 vice-presidents. It didn't take John D. long to parlay his business acumen and royal connections into the chairmanship of FrobozzCo. Years of heady growth followed. When John D.'s older brother Dimwit became king, FrobozzCo received every contract for Dimwit's incredible projects. Hundreds of new subsidiaries were formed daily; in 781 a huge 400-story headquarters opened in Flatheadia. John D's long-time goal was for the FrobozzCo to control every single zorkmid of commerce in the GUE. The lone holdout, a small rutabaga farm in Mithicus, finally sold out to FrobozzCo in 789. John D. never heard the news, however. He disappeared, along with a huge entourage, while touring the factories of the Frobozz Magic Snowmaking Equipment Company in the Gray Mountains. Calendar notes: Undergroundhog's Day is the 3rd Start of Leap Week is on the 29th ---- Arch ---- The month of Arch shows a photo of Stonewall Flathead, Military Hero, carrying a lance and riding "Wilma" his trusty unicorn. The text reads... T.J. "Stonewall" Flathead received his celebrated nickname while serving as a Squire in the Royal Army during the famous Battle of the Stonewall in 747 GUE. The Stonewall was a strategically vital locale, commanding the two most important caverns of the Eastlands. When reports arrived that the rebellious natives had captured The Stonewall, T.J. Flathead and his garrison were assigned the mission of retaking it. After a battle lasting seven weeks, during which T.J.'s men suffered a casualty rate of nearly 75%, the garrison stormed The Stonewall. Once in command of it, they discovered that the reports had been erroneous: The Stonewall was completely undefended, and the supposedly rebellious natives were actually all vacationing in the Gray Mountains. Nevertheless, T.J.'s tactics and strategies during battle were brilliant, and he would henceforth be known as Stonewall Flathead. Stonewall rose quickly through the ranks, and in 755 GUE he became General of the Royal Army. During his 34 years in command, he squelched three provincial rebellions and over 12,000 tax riots. Fortunately, his unlimited conscription powers helped mitigate the 98% casualty rates his army suffered during these difficult battles. Stonewall died in 789 GUE during the Battle of Ragweed Gulch,when he was accidentally shot by one of his own men. Calendar notes: St.Balhu's Day on the 11th Frobozz Magic Cave Co. founded (668 GUE) on the 19th Royal Museum dedicated(777 GUE) on the 22nd ---- Oracle ---- The month of Oracle shows a photo of Johann Sebastian Flathead, Musical Genius, holding a violin and a metronome. The text follows... In 773 GUE, the Frobozz Philharmonic Orchestra was formed. Because ofthe woeful lack of orchestral music in existence, the FPO usually settled for playing baroque versions of old folk tunes and popular dance numbers. Seven years later, the FPO performed their first symphony. The piece was notable because of the age of its author, a precocious eleven-year-old named Johann Sebastian Flathead. As he matured, Johann's symphonies increased in length, while his audience mysteriously decreased in size. His Symphony #981, the so-called Infinite Symphony, contained over 60,000 movements; over the course of its only performance, several members of the orchestra retired and were replaced by their children or grandchildren. Dimwit recognized a kindred spirit in his younger brother, and appointed him the official court composer in 771. Later that year,he wrote his famous "Flatheadia Overture for Rack and Pendulum" to celebrate the dedication ofthe Dimwit's new dungeon. He spent his latter years composing music for ever more grandiose instruments, such as his Concerto for Woodwinds and Waterfalls. Johann was killed in 789 when a mishap occurred during a rehearsal of his Minuet for Violin and Volcano. Calendar notes: King Wurb's Birthday on the 3rd St. Foobus' Day on the 4th Coronation Day on the 22nd ---- Mage ---- The month of Mage shows J. Pierpont Flathead, Dauntless Banker and Financier. He is shown with a 100,000 zorkmid bill and he's wearing a silktie. The text follows.... 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 exorbant price of 300 zorkmids per glass (Ice was extra). He also used the militia to squash the other lemonade stand in the city, and later to shut off all other beverage sources as well. As the prices at his lemonade stand soared into quadruple digits, J. Pierpont quickly realized the benefits of monopolies. In 749, at the age of nineteen, J. Pierpont became a clerk at the Bank of Zork. Six weeks later, following a rash of disappearances of his successive bosses, J. Pierpont became the youngest Chairman of the Board in the bank's history, a testament to his financial acumen. As Chairman, he used his royal connections to eliminate all competing banks,increasing the Bank of Zork's market share from 99.2% to 100% (He was later able to increase this number to 131% by encouraging customers to deposit their money several times). He also supervised the installation ofthe latest magic-based security techniques to guard the banks vault and deposit box areas. For unknown reasons, J. Pierpont hired exclusively gnomes to fill his teller and security positions. J. Pierpont Flathead served as Chairmen of the Board until his odd disappearance in the 789 GUE, when he entered one of the bank's vaults and never re-emerged. Although gone, he is not forgotten; reproductions of his portrait still hang in every branch of the Bank of Zork. Calendar Notes: Mage Day is on the 1st Antharian Marble Pageant held on the 6th St. Honko's Day on the 31st ---- Jam ---- The month of Jam shows Thomas Alva Flathead, Inventor Extraordinaire, with his battery powered lantern and his favorite screwdriver. The text follows... Many have mastered the magical arts; few applied them to the creation of practical devices as masterfully as the great inventor Thomas Alva Flathead. His brilliance was evident even in childhood. Thomas Alva, the sixth son in his family, was constantly tormented by his siblings: no sooner would he get a new toy to play with than some older brother would snatch it away. Thomas Alva quickly remedied the situation by inventing powerful steel traps which, at first glance, looked exactly like toy boats or stuffed dornbeasts. As an adult, Thomas Alva produced a seemingly endless stream of inventions from his laboratory, Froblo Park. His most useful inventions include the magic room spinner and the magic compressor, but he is probably best known as the inventor of the battery-powered brass lantern. Thomas Alva also made a number of breakthroughs in the area was a yellowish-green potion which allowed humans to talk to plants. All of these inventions were marketed by the FrobozzCo International, providing Thomas Alva with generous royalties. But he spurned wealth, living in a small room behind his laboratory and sleeping on an unfinished wooden board. Thomas Alva died in 789 GUE from a severe case of splinters. Calendar notes: Treaty of Znurg (474 GUE) on the 5th Capital moved to Flatheadia (771 GUE) on the 14th ---- Jelly ---- The month of Jelly shows Leonardo Flathead, Artist and Scientist, painting on his easel and canvas. The text follows.... Little notice was taken of Leonardo Flathead as a child. He was shy and quiet, and quite overshadowed by his aggressive older brothers. It wasn't until his arrival at Galepath University that his genius blossomed and the world began to take notice. While at the University, Leonardo wrote several major treaties which revolutionized scientific thought. The most famous of these disproved thehoary myth that the world sits on the back of a giant turtle, proving instead that the world actually rests on the head of an enormous troll. After his University days were over, Leonardo turned from science to art. He became the most famous painter in the land: noblemen from every province were escorted to his studio by Dimwit's personal militia to have their portraits painted. Unfortunately, during his later years Leonardo became quite senile, and his painting style deteriorated. He took to flinging paint at his canvases in much the same way that a Borphee baker flings bits of dough into a hot oven to make Frobolli Cakes. His studio became caked with layer upon layer of splattered paint. It was during this period that his famous incomplete work, "Obstructed View of Fjord," was lost. Leonardo made a final, feeble attempt to recapture his former greatness by moving into other media besides paint, but these efforts led to histragic end. In 789, while working on a large statue intended for the harbor of Antharia, he suffered a fatal plunge into a vat of molten granola. Calendar notes: Double Fanucci became National Sport of Quendor (761 GUE) on the 3rd. Filfre Day is the 4th St. Quako's Day (maybe) on the 25? ---- Augur ---- The month of Augur shows Lucrezia Flathead, Legendary Murduress or Innocent Widow?, holding a flask of poison and a paper fan. Of all the Twelve Flatheads, it is most difficult to separate history from legend when studying Lucrezia, the only sister to eleven aggressive brothers. Showing a total lack of understanding for her delicate position, detractors have cruelly tried to claim that Lucrezia had a warped mind. At the tender age of sixteen, Lucrezia married a very rich but very old nobleman from Gurth, Marcus Bzart-Foodle. Ten-and-a-half months later, he died in bed with his bride. Afterward, Bzart-Foodle's doctor could not recall whether he had warned Lucrezia to avoid over-exciting her husband's weak heart. Lucrezia's second husband, a wealthy land baron from Mareilon named Oddzoe Glorb III, was found dead just five weeks after the wedding, his body mangled by hellhounds. It was quite understandable that Lucrezia had her multi-volume hellhound training manual removed from the house at once; the sight of it must have brought back tragic memories. Five days later, Lucrezia sought consolation in a third marriage, to the Governor of Antharia, Hirax Mumbleton. Only two days after that, Antharia was with out a governor. Hirax had been discovered in his office, smothered under a ton of raw granola. His sobbing widow immediately canceled delivery of her daily truckloads of granola, in order to avoid any similar tragedies. After her next fifteen husbands, all wealthy lords, died on their wedding nights, royal insiders reported that she was so distraught by her tragic string of bad luck that she was becoming suicidal. Elder brother Dimwit was finally forced into action, and had her locked up in a cell in the dungeon for her own safety. She languished in that cell for the remaining fifteen years of her life. During that period, some 1,800 prison guards were mysteriously poisoned. Some legends say that her own death, in 789, was self-induced. Calendar Notes: Quikie Quiz: What is the busiest seaport in the Eastlands? Answer: Port Foozle St. Bovus Day on the 6th Gnusto spell invented (769 GUE) on the 7th First Zorkmid minted (699 GUE) on the 16th Fun Fax- Bottomless pits are the second leading cause of death in Flatheadia ---- Suspendur ---- The month of Suspendur shows a photo of Ralph Waldo Flathead, The Poet of the Empire, holding one of his famous manuscripts and his best quill pen. An unspoken Flathead family motto was "quantity over quality", and noone demonstrated that tenet better than Ralph Waldo. During his 40-plus years of putting pen to parchment, he wrote 912 novels, 4,000 short stories, and an incredible 87,000 sonnets. His essays have never been successfully counted. Ralph Waldo spent eleven years at Antharia University, collecting a chestful of degrees, including three doctorates: Doctor of Idyllic Poetry, Doctor of Excellent Elegies, and Doctor of Octameter Odes. He was very proud of his academic accomplishments, and always signed his name "Ralph Waldo Flathead, D.I.P, D.E.E, D.O.O." Fresh out of college and flush with the enthusiasm of youth, Ralph Waldo wrote a series of lengthy essays which he hoped would uplift the humanspirit. Sadly and inexplicably, these essays lifted little more than the profits of the Frobozz Magic Writing Paper Company. The essays from this period include "On the Benefits of Keeping the Ears Clean" and "Why Doorknobs are Necessary." Also during this period, he wrote "On the Discoloration of Roadside Slush," but the manuscript was lost before it could be published, leaving Ralph Waldo disconsolate for years. During his middle years, Ralph Waldo spent nearly half a decade living inthe granola mines of Antharia. It was during this period that he wrote his longest work, a 60,000-verse epic about the varieties of moss that one finds in granola mines. Toward the end of his life, Ralph Waldo specialized in exploring related themes, as brilliantly demonstrated by the four sonnets found by his deathbed: 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" Ralph Waldo died in 789 GUE. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was an overdose of avocados. Calendar Notes: Fun Fax - Some experts claim that Dimwit Flathead could access a secret wing of his castle by sitting on his throne and snapping his fingers. Time Travel Spell invented (927 GUE) on the 2nd Leisure Day on the 4th Double Fanucci Day on the 4th Double Fanucci Championships on the 11th ---- Ottobur ---- The month of Ottobur displays a fine portrait of John Paul Flathead, Seaman and Explorer, holding his sailors cap and his spyglass. All the Flathead aunts and uncles predicted early on that John Paul would find his destiny at sea. He loved boats so much that the royal carpenters were ordered to produce a flotilla of 1,400 vessels for his bathtub (His bathtub had to be consequently enlarged; a large inland sea resulted.) From an early age, John Paul suffered from an inferiority complex derived from being the second "John" among the Flathead children.This complex made John Paul determined to become a world-famous seafaring adventurer. At sea, his feats ranged from the courageous ( he was the first person to traverse the Great Sea in a one-man ship) to the curious ( he set a new record for the most circumnavigations of Antharia on a raft towed by groupers). In 766 GUE, at the age of 28, John Paul joined the royal navy; by 771, he was the ranking admiral; by 773, every ship in the navy had been sunk or lost at sea. John Paul retired shortly thereafter. He spent his latter days touring the Flathead Ocean, collecting curios and unusual pets from all corners of the world. Among the most interesting:a large blue toad named "Otto" who was known for his extraordinary appetite and his curmudgeonly personality. John Paul died in 789 GUE, during a vacation in the Grubbo-by-the-Sea,when his old nemesis, the great white jellyfish, finally caught up with him. Calendar Notes: St.Wiskus Day on the 6th Tid Bitz - Antharian cave-dwelling witches can sometimes be summoned by coughing. ---- Mumberbur ---- The month of Mumberbur offers a nice sketch of Frank Lloyd Flathead, Royal Architect, hold his scale model of the famous Frobozz HQ and his favorite T-Square. As children, all the Flathead siblings adored playing with blocks. However, only Frank Lloyd drew plans before building. Frank Lloyd got his big break at the tender age of 17, when his father, King Mumberthrax, commissioned him to design a new wing for Castle Egreth. The resulting wing was breathtakingly impressive. As Frank Lloyd himself wrote, "the conjunction of space and time seems to interface in a pre-subjected instantiation on the underrepresented whole." Frank Lloyd became, overnight, the hottest architect in the Kingdom. The fact that the new wing at Egreth collapsed two years later, killing over 4,000 royalguests, was credited to a miscalculation on the stonemason's part. He was summarily executed. His reputation established, Frank Lloyd designed virtually every important Quendorian building during his three decades as Official Court Architect. His designs ranged from his vacation chalet in the Gray Mountains to the Great Meeting Hall of the Enchanters' Guild in Borphee, but Frank Lloyd is best known for his most ambitious work: the 400-story FrobozzCo Building in Flatheadia. Overlooking exaggerations such as "on a clear day you can see the FrobozzCo Building from anywhere in the world, "it is still the most ambitious building ever designed or built. A FrobozzCo building address is most prestigious, and Frank Lloyd himself had a penthouse office, until a slight case of acrophobia forced him to relocate to a nineteenth-story office with a pleasant southern exposure. The carcinogenic chemicals used in the eight century to create blueprints finally took their toll on Frank Lloyd, and he died in 789 GUE. Calendar Notes: Veterinarian's Day on the 11th Curse Day on the 14th Krazy Kwotes "You ain't nothing but a hellhound."-Elvis Flathead ---- Dismember ---- The month of Dismember is adorned with a beautiful likeness of Babe Flathead, Athletic Superstar, hefting his 100-ugh dumbbell and his Fublioville Slugger bat. Often called the flattest of the Flatheads, Babe, the youngest of the twelve, was born with an aptitude for sport. He demonstrated his dexterity and coordination early on, throwing baby blocks at his older siblings with impressive speed and accuracy. As a youth, he was always captain of the Little League teams, thanks in part to pressure applied by his uncle, Mayor Fiorello Flathead. Even as a teenager, he was something of a lady's man and a party animal, and his older brother Dimwit would frequently have to bail the Babe out of jail following one infraction or another. By all accounts, Babe and Dimwit, despite their 25-year age difference, were closest of all the Flathead siblings. When he reached college age, Babe selected Mithicus Province University from amongst many eager suitors. At MPU, Babe was a 43-letter man, leading his team to championships in every existing college sport and several non-existant ones as well. Throughout the Babe's professional sports career, he excelled in everything he tried: bocce, tag-team kayaking, full-court furbish. There was only one exception. Try as he might, Babe could not master Double Fanucci. Even the unexplained disappearances of the 339 leading Double Fanucci players failed to get Babe into the championships. Fanucci experts believe that the Babe's difficulty with the game could be traced to one weakness: his failure to remember that three undertrumps after anopponent's discard of a Trebled Fromp is an indefensible gambit. By 782 GUE, the Babe was such a phenomenal drawing card that Dimwit constructed the kingdom's largest sporting arena, Flathead Stadium, in his honor. It was there, during the shark-wrestling semi-finals in 789 GUE, that the youngest of the Twelve Flatheads met his end. Calendar Notes: Unnatural Acts (672 GUE) on the 9th Beginning of Flathead Dynasty (659 GUE) on the 31st =========================================================================== The small scrap of parchment included in the packaging reads as follows: The curse cannot be halted except by the two items belonging to each of the accursed twelve! Tossing it into the cauldron... then uttering the sacred word. Also on the parchment are bits and pieces of magical-sounding words. The only legible one is 'zipso furgalneti'. Last Note: Along with the usual Infocom commands (i.e. verbose, script) there are now a few new ones. COLOR.......- Alters the game's colors. CREDITS.....- Applaude the programmers and the designers. DEFINE......- Allows you to set up some function keys. HINT........- Yeah, there's on-line hints too. MAP.........- For the on-line maps. MODE........- To turn off the border graphics. UNDO........- In case you fuck up. That's about it...have fun! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brought to you by The Nomad and the fine folks at: The Warp Speed BBS/BTW HQ....9600/19.2................714-626-8365 Venture BBS..................2400/9600................416-469-1031 If you have a Macintosh, give my Oasis Elite a call...818-964-2621 Greetings and thanks to the Bencor Brothers and Vision Factory for bringing the game home. Special thanks to the Frobozz Magic BBS Company, a subsidiary of FrobozzCo International. --------------------------------------------------------------------------