DICE OF GNILBEL
As an enemy of
Bozbik the Face Breaker's father, the mage
Gnilbel
invested a great amount of time and resources into the creation of a
set of dice that were designed to always guide their user to the present
location of the
Spear of Zoz. For example, when the Spear was located in
Fenshire,
one of the die spun through the air and, as if drawn by a magnet,
landed upon Fenshire on a map of the world, where the letter "Z"
briefly flashed on the top of the die before it crumbled into a pile of
ash. But shortly after, when the Spear was taken to the
Jungles of Miznia, all of the current dice fell in a suspiciously linear arrangement, briefly revealing the letters
BJOAJN GP TFMHOVK.
For this mysterious code to be unraveled, one had to do a single letter
shift (B became A, C became B, etc) and then rearrange the letters from
back to front. The final recorded observance of their working,
including a single die which, falling to the ground with a rune of an
arrow pointing in the direction of the spear before crumbling into a
pile of ash.
No one is entirely sure how many of the
dice existed, especially since they
seemed to fade from
reality when used. However, as at least
five people have handled them over history and they never quite seemed
to run
out, some think that the dice may be capable of regenerating and
pulling
themselves back into existence after a time. It
is also slightly possible that the dice had a mind of their own and
were actually fans of Bozbik's bloodline as they had a knack for either
disappearing entirely (such as when Bozbik's father first learned of
their
existence) or gave more helpful information to those who might be more
kindly
disposed to using the Spear of Zoz for more noble goals. These magical relics always seem to have been carried in a leather pouch with the word "Gnilbel" written on the outside.
At some point the dice were eventually hidden at the
Tidal Flats.
A
band of pirates, enemies of Bozbik the Face Breaker's
father, sought the Dice of Gnilbel. They had fully intended
to use the oracular device to lead them to the Spear of Zoz. However,
before they could unbury them, they crashed (allegedly due to
their own problems navigating the Tidal Flats, not through any interference from
adventurers), were captured by
authorities, and sentenced to hang at the gallows. All
that is known beyond this is that the captain was incredibly,
some would say almost supernaturally, skilled with using a bow and
arrows. Upon the crew's death, they became thin, skeletal ghost pirates
upon their very own phatasmal vessel that had crashed and was now
barely sea worthy. Their ghost ship sailed along the Tidal Flats from
time to time, appearing in a cloud of dark, green fog. The captain of
the ship still sought vengeance.
During
the Great Monster Uprising, legends of the Dice of Gnilbel reached the ears of "Detective Softly,"
whose quest to find them brought him to the Tidal Flats and the ghost
ship. When the name of Bozbik was mentioned to the captain, he pulled a
crossbow from
within his coat, took aim and fired. The arrow lodged into a rock,
which when rolled away, revealed a small hole containing the leather
pouch which held the dice. These dice led "Softly" to Fenshire, but
Bozbik nabbed the Spear of Zoz only moments before it could be
acquired. Later, when the Spear had been stolen, the dice led "Softly"
to its present location in the Jungles of Miznia.
| SOURCE(S): Legends of Zork (game, personal correspondence from the author of 'Enter the Face Breaker' quest) |