BELEGUR (The Devil / Satan / The Lord of Lamentation)

High amongst the powers of the universe, Belegur was the Chief Implementer. All the other mighty creators of the many worlds once respected and loved him. He made his mark upon the universe, playing a part in the shaping of the beasts. While other powers rejoiced in the making of the dryads and of the elves, he took pride in the horrible monsters of the underground. The grue he fashioned with his own hands, loving this evil beast above all others. From him also sprang the troll, the hellhound, the dragon. It was in these vicious, angry creatures that he took his pleasure, and for ages basked in the glow of his creations.


THE FALL OF BELEGUR

The heavens will become cold with unease and fear, and the companions of Eru, they who Implement His Desires, will be faced with a great temptation. One of their number will fall victim to his own greed and anger, and he will seek the overthrow of Eru. Know now the name of this evil one. Call him Belegur. Know also that his dreams shall come to naught. He will be cast out of the Timeless Halls, and he will be thrown down to earth. When that day arrives, when Belegur walks the earth, tremble, for the one he seeks out is you!

- The Seventh Scroll of Kar’nai, Book Twelve

The only scripted source of the fall of Belegur originates from the Scrolls of Kar’nai, as much of a valid historical source as a religious text. Writing concurrently of both future and past events, which are interwoven together into a beautiful collage when read as a single unit of literature, the dissection of the text becomes rather difficult at certain points, thus only enabling us to have a shadowy perspective on his fall. Laced together with several traditions of the Supernatural and Fantastic Wayfarers Association, a rather impressive and thorough account of the calamity which coils this fallen Implementor’s wrath is able to be fashioned.

As the years passed, the pride of Belegur grew strong, and he sought to overthrow the One true power. In the process, the Implementors were faced with much temptation, as their chief began to incite them into beholding the beautiful daughters of men and elves that had begun to populate the surface of Zork. Finding them to be comely and pleasing in their sight, many of the Implementors abandoned themselves to their lusts, departing their heavenly homes and having intercourse with any of the females whom they wished to take for themselves.

Within several months, these impious women gave birth to hideous half-human, half-implementor monstrosities. As these aliens grew to full stature, the races of Zork were forced to ally against the deformations in order to protect their very lives. So much chaos and blight did the bastard offspring of the rebel Implementors instill upon Zork that the Control Character was ordered by Eru to cover all of Zork with a worldwide calamity in order to destroy not only all of these aliens, but to eliminate all of the wicked mortals which had been infected by the whims of Belegur and the fallen Implementors. But a couple of each race was to be preserved from the destruction.

Satisfied with the grievous affliction which had already been caused by the outstretching of a single finger, Belegur rose up in challenge against Eru directly, shaking the foundations of the mighty Timeless Halls. Simultaneously, everything within the Ethereal Planes and the surface of Zork were judged. All the unrighteous, both in the Ethereal Planes and on Zork, were cast forth from their dwellings. Belegur was banished from the company of the divine spirits, thrown down to Zork as a flash of lightning from the sky and into lowly physical flesh. All of his godlike abilities had been stripped away. He lost the power of life and death over the human world and was forced to work his way in the body of a mortal—a very powerful mortal known as the Devil, Satan, or the Lord of Lamentation. But Belegur would not be granted the simple honor of a mortal death. He would live in that body, immortal, free to wander the face of the earth for all eternity. In this vessel, Belegur was described as a short and lean man with well-groomed black hair and brown eyes. He commonly wore a simple robe, hands tucked humbly away in the pockets.

In time, Belegur would find that his physical flesh would suit him quite well. It provided previously unknown pleasures to entertain his wicked mind. He gained a new appreciation for the beasts he had once helped to create, discovering what it meant to eat, to take the life of an unwitting animals and then bring the bloody carcass into his own body, consuming it in its entirety.

This ensuing struggle became legendary among those who witnessed it, and was passed down to future generations:

And that great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, who leads astray the whole world; and he was cast down to the earth and with him his angels were cast down.

-The Ninth Scroll of Kar’nai, Book Twelve

THE FOUNDING OF THE SUPERNATURAL AND FANTASTIC WAYFARERS ASSOCIATION
The host of fallen Implementors (with an exception of Belegur) who dared to rebel against the original laws and commands of righteousness as handed down by The One through the spiritual hierarchy were thrown into chains and bound up until the Final Conflagration. Their bastard offspring had been punished in a most extraordinary way. In the Zork-wide calamity, their bodies had been destroyed, yet their disembodied spirits were free to roam. They bore extreme hatred for the One who had condemned them.

Wandering as a vagabond from his rightful abode, Belegur’s hatred fomented, desperately seeking revenge upon Eru and his righteous Implementors. The current inability to return to the Timeless Halls and do battle with the entire host of his enemies aggravated him; he sought to discover the gateway back home. Temporarily, his abode was made in the subterranean underworld, an entire vast kingdom of fire and sulfur and Hell, which he would later name Hades after one of the disembodied spirits.

Unable to use mortal form to reenter the Timeless Halls and confront Eru unassisted, Belegur hoped to pierce him with agony by spearing the One’s creation. The Devil had retained the knowledge of magic and telepathy, and his powers of mind control were nearly incomparable. Anyone who was not on guard, careful, or innocent and pure according to the commandments of Eru, is very susceptible to being magically controlled by Belegur, even from a great distance. Thus he sought the minds of those who would accept him, of those who were weak and willing to subject themselves to him. Many less powerful mortals were forced to succumb to his unique psychic powers of persuasion, aiding him in his ongoing struggle against The One Father of the Implementors. Belegur's presence is revealed even today through the deeds of angry, spiteful men. But as the populations of the races which Eru had chosen to survive the calamity procreated, the Devil did not have the strength to attend to each one concurrently.

Sensing the outrage of the disembodied spirits, the Devil amassed them together as one to rally them against the races. This horde of evil vastly spread across Zork, deceiving the replenishing population by proclaiming themselves ‘Gods’ and professing to have supreme power. Thus many of the mortal minds in Zork were enslaved to do Belegur’s will through these demons.

In order to govern and prevent this tremendous population of reprobate pseudo-gods from corrupting all of creation, the Autoexec and The Powers That Be planned to delete the entire horde. Belegur petitioned the Control Character not to destroy the full number of the spirits, saying, “Let some of them remain under my control, and let them attend to my voice. For if some of them are not left to me, I shall not be able to execute the power of my will over those wicked men that have given themselves over to iniquity. Let these be for corruption and leading astray.”

And the Control Character, acting in accordance with the will of Eru, granted a tenth of these spirits to Belegur, and sent the other nine parts into the place of condemnation. In order to prevent the remaining spirits from destroying Zork prematurely, the Autoexec and The Powers That Be formed for them the Supernatural and Fantastic Wayfarers Association.

In the ages to come, Belegur would continue to assemble both spirits and mortals to his wicked causes, either through deception or by guiding the cords of already charred hearts into his schemes. Evidence of how quickly the Devil’s influence spread throughout the land is found within all the civilizations of antiquity, usually as part of the prayers to the ancients.


THE FALL OF PHEEBOR (396 BE)
396 BE was a historic occassion, when the armies of Borphee slaughtered the Pheeboreans, slew their honorable Prince Foo, and sacked their entire city. But it was not the Borpheans alone who had been victorious that day—for the entire city-state of Pheebor had brought itself to ruin, falling to conflicts generated by the hatred of Belegur, who had worked its way into the hearts of men for countless generations.


ENTHARION THE WISE
At one point in his career, Entharion the Wise took up his legendary blade Grueslayer and nearly eradicated all grues from the face of the world. Although many thought that the entire devilish race was exterminated at his hands, remnants escaped. It was for this reason that Belegur longed to wreck revenge upon Entharion and his entire progeny to be. But it was not upon this generation that the fallen Implementor would be able to unleash a formidable plan.


THE DESCENT OF YORUK INTO HADES (c. 380 GUE)
When Yoruk descended into Hades and defeated the Great Daemon of the Threshold, he did not know that Belegur had been watching his escapades all along, nor did he know that the Devil was actually quite reasonably amused. The Lord of Lamentation emerged from the shadows and brought Yoruk down to his lair, allowing the victorious man to form a warm relationship with him. The two got along splendidly and became very good friends. In time, Belegur imparted his knowledge to Yoruk of certain arcane mystical secrets regarding the nature of the elements, and the forces that bound together the universe. This included the Great Mysterious of the Cosmos and an extended session on the topic of Deep Magic, one of the three kinds of magic that flows through the cosmos, and the one that is commonly linked to the dark ways of those who dwell in the underworld. Yoruk spent the rest of his life making good sense out of Hell. It would not be until sometime before 406 GUE, when he would leave Hades to return to the surface world.


THE PLAGUE AND GREAT FAMINE (392-04-XX GUE)
Oracle of 392 placed Belegur at the heart of a deadly plague that shook the kingdom of Quendor. Coupled with famine, this was a deadly time. Mareilon groaned under the agony of food riots. The mayor gave a direct order to the city guards to curb the riots, only to find out later that they helped to instigate them. Even though the handful of remaining magicians of Quendor fused their powers together to defeat the plague and pestilence, the resulting tension between the mayor and the guards never successfully healed, and lasted even into the conflicts of 398 GUE.

Although the Great Famine in Quendor had been confidently dealt with by Zylon the Aged, those outside the kingdom, in the Kovalli Desert suffered greatly. This unceasing famine would plague those barren lands for over six years. Throughout the course of languishing under the torture of the drought, the Nezgeth tribe was under the superstition that their gods  had turned away from them, abandoning them to this famine.


BELEGUR SETS THE STAGE
The monks at Kar’nai (c. 300 BE) evidently possessed a very thorough knowledge of how Belegur would manifest itself when the time became right in an attempt to return to the Timeless Halls and challenge Eru. This was that moment.

Since his fall, Belegur had waited patiently for his plans to draw unto the time of fruition. During the last years of Zylon the Aged, he took residency within a secret lair deep beneath the earth, in what is today known as the Griffspotter Caverns, among many other names. The bitterness and frustration built up inside of him. His mind continually smoldered a need to return to his home, to the immortal Timeless Halls. The One had hidden the gateway from him for many ages, and his present physical body was not capable of transcending the route, but the Devil came to realize that the Sacred Scrolls of Fizbin held the knowledge he sought. The time required to prepare the gateway and translation spell were great. In the process, the first kindling of the spell would instantly alert Zylon the Aged to his presence, thus preventing him from completing the spell. Belegur knew that no earthly force could overcome a united Quendor behind King Zylon. Thus Zylon needed to be placed out of commission, and a distraction needed to be formulated to keep the remainder of the kingdom diverted.

The fallen Implementor’s first attempt was Zylon directly. Belegur's mind reached to the king’s many times, proving, searching for an entrance. The king was aware of this, fighting him off, but then forgetting about it—it was a curiosity and nothing more, and he found no need to mention it to anyone.

He knew that he would be unable to kill the king directly without actually breaking into Largoneth, bypassing Darborn’s famous security measures, and greeting Zylon in person with the sharp edge of a blade. It would however be a relatively simple task to search the minds of those in the castle for one weak enough, one who would be willing to do the deed for him.

Instead, Belegur sought out Endeth Belzgar, a man who had served Zylon the Aged for years and was a loyal and true citizen of Quendor. The Devil’s mental powers were great, and he had without much effort secured the services of this weak-willed servant, who easily bent to his machinations. At first when the voices began to talk to Endeth at nights, he had resisted. His thoughts were troubled and his dreams plagued with unspeakable images, but for awhile he retained his own will. Belegur would not give in and eventually Endeth gave way to the tormenting temptation.

Concurrently with the seduction of Endeth’s heart, Belegur sought out others to conspire to his devilish plans. Hoping to acquire the Scrolls of Fizbin at the Galepath University Library, he attempted to lure the librarian Litbo Mumblehum into his will, but he found that his heart was too pure; there were no stray thoughts that existed to feed Belegur who desired to have control over his mind. Instead he sent another minion for that purpose.

The next was the vicious tribe of Kovalli natives, the Nezgeth. He carefully would watch them until the proper moment.

The easiest one to weave into his plot was Zarfil. It was not even required for Belegur to interfere with this man’s wicked desires. As the last and only descent of Prince Argonel of Mareilon, Zarfil from the house of Iligith knew that he was the rightful heir to the seat of power in Mareilon. The last three kings of Quendor were from Galepath, and thus Zarfil believed that no king would ever arise from Mareilon unless it was taken by force. He believed that Entharion had planned this from the beginning to ensure that for centuries to come his city of weaklings could continue to dominate over Mareilon by leading them to believe that they took part in an alliance of equals.

For many years, Zarfil had lived as a rogue, an outlaw, dwelling in the darkest districts of Mareilon, gathering the forces of the street gangs of the city. He planned to seize control of Mareilon, regaining power once held by his long dead ancestors. He had been lying in wait for years, plotting his rise to power. The fallen Implementor planned to place Mareilon under this man’s thumb in order to force a bloody conflict with Zylon. All the provinces of Quendor and even Largoneth would be threatened by this man’s power.

Thus all of the pawns were in place for Belegur’s plan to regain entry to the Timeless Halls and challenge the Implementors that had wrongly banished him.


BELEGUR'S SCHEMES PLAY OUT
A few well-placed suggestions and a mental nudge in the right direction, and the king’s servant Endeth was now serving Belegur. The attempt to poison King Zylon the Aged in 398 GUE was successful. Endeth slipped Zylon a slice of bread with enough poison to kill off a dozen normal mortals. But the king’s body was not a normal one, and it had fought off many sicknesses far worse than that. While the poison did not kill Zylon, it did weaken him significantly and he lost unconsciousness. In the meantime, Endeth’s mind had been so futilely unprepared for contact with Belegur that it began to kill him.

As the illness struck Zylon, one of Belegur’s minions made a successful attempt at stealing the Scrolls of Fizbin from the library of Galepath University. Dodging the campus security, breaking carefully into the library complex itself, and finding the works of Fizbin, all of these stealthy deeds were pristine. Showing a surprising amount of intelligence and initiative, the thief made way with several other documents to confuse those who would eventually try to pick up the trail and follow it back to Belegur’s lair. These works included Entharion’s “Sleeping Your Way to Power” and the second volume on the life of Mysterion the Brave. It was not until the morning after the poisoning of Zylon the Aged that Litbo Mumblehum, the librarian, discovered that these three works were missing.

Belegur, at his secret lair in the Griffspotter Caverns, poured over the precious Scrolls of Fizbin. He confirmed his presumptions that the magical procedures, the ceremony that would be necessary to allow his return to the Timeless Halls, would be an extremely time consuming one. Weeks of focusing all his mystical energy and putting it to use in the way described by the Scrolls would send huge ripples, psychic shock waves raging throughout the world. Such disturbances would surely not go unnoticed, even by the petty amateur magicians surrounding Zylon at Largoneth. And as long as Zylon still lived, even unconsciously, Belegur felt the possibility for failure still existed.

Providing specific instructions to the castle servant, Belegur gave Endeth knowledge of the secret underground caverns that had become his dwelling place. If the servant proved unequal to the task of killing the king, he would be useful here, with him and his gathering army of mortals.

Though Belegur had incited the Nezgeth warriors on their slaughter, he had not anticipated how perfect the timing of the invasion would turn out to be. Already, several villages in the Southlands had lay devastated by the onrushing swarm of desert soldiers, and even now they were heading on a course that would be very beneficial to Belegur. It was only a matter of time before they stumbled upon the boiling violence in Mareilon. Manipulate the conflict in just the right way, and the Nezgeth would pose a very real threat to the Kingdom of Quendor. Even if this “Prince” Zarfil failed him, and even if the king remained alive, the Nezgeth would march on inexorably to the north and east, until their odd sense of religious penance had been satisfied. In fact, Belegur planned to become the Nezgeth’s chief deity and they would be his to command.

His pursuing of the Scrolls also revealed the locations of the Cubes of Foundation. As he sent his servants out across the land, it became clear that several of the cubes were no longer in their recorded resting places. One, long hidden in the Eastland’s powerful peaks, had been found by a daring adventurer and carried back across the sea, leaving an easily discernible trail of rumor and legend. Belegur had followed the tales concerning this cube with great care until all news had run out at the base of the Mithicus Mountains. Now, he was pleased to discover, it seemed that after hundreds of years of travel, after barter and thievery and all sorts of improbable deeds, the cube in question had wound up in the unopened sacred pouch of an obscure Kovalli chieftain. And now, that pouch was in the hands Ath-gar-nel.

The greed and manipulation of Galepath’s mayor would play well against the rising fortunes of Zarfil, the renegade descendant of royalty. And most intriguing were the possible future lives of this General Darborn Griffspotter, and the webs of manipulation that stemmed outward from his great temptation to possess the throne.

The forces of Galepath and Mareilon clashed together in a violent bloodshed at the Jerrimore Plains. Both nations were crushed by the Nezgeth Tribes which arrived from the west. When General Griffspotter arrived with Zilbo Throckrod and Litbo Mumblehum and the the Lingolf Garrison, he was the only casualty to the Kovalli men. Unfortunately for Belegur, the Nezgeth Tribe joined with the forces of Lingolf from Largoneth and marched for the lair of the fallen Implementor.

As they drew close to the lair, Belegur completed the first stage of the gateway to the Timeless Halls. From the very center of the bowels of the Griffspotter Caverns, a shimmering tunnel of blue light stemmed up and outward from a flickering gem that resonated with the magic forces filling the room. The pillar itself flattened out vertically as it approached the cavern’s ceiling, disappearing into the earth above only to reappear as a vision in the night sky. Above ground, south of the confederate armies, they saw the massive, impenetrable column arising, just over the top of the nearest hill. It soared with a crackling glow from the ground, surging upwards towards the heavens in one continuous strand of light. It had the circumference of a fair-sized lake.

Endeth began to feel the call of Belegur once again. In a massive spasm of strength, he threw away the arms of the careless Nezgeth captors and broke into a run. He entered a dank, hidden hole leading into the side of the hill.

The Lingolf garrison remained behind to guard the tunnel’s entrance while the Nezgeth followed Zilbo and the librarian boldly into the tunnel in search of what lay within. Deep and deeper they went, into the inky blackness of Belegur’s tunnels. They came to junction after junction, and each stretch of passageway was filled with side corridors and nearby rooms, as the explorers entered a more and more complex, self-contained universe. Eventually they spilled into a mammoth cavern filled with the same blue glow as the column. Amid the chaos of the underground, was scattered reading material and piles of fading scrolls and massive tomes, as well as an ornamental knife. And at the center was Belegur.

Litbo, keeping safely behind Belegur’s range of vision crossed to the middle of the chamber in an attempt to recover the Scrolls of Fizbin, but the fallen Implementor was not blinded by his advance. But at that distraction, Ath-gar-nel and the entire Nezgeth tribe struck in unison at Belegur. This further distraction broke his spell. Now locked in combat against the Nezgeth—one dark magician against an entire tribe—Litbo grabbed the Scrolls of Fizbin along with the other two missing manuscripts.

Though Belegur was able to hold them off alone, his efforts were divided. The blue column began to grow weak, flickering shakily with each further release of energy. In the process, not only was the Implementor successful at slaying Ath-gar-nel with a fabricated bloody axe, but Endeth was able to sneak up behind Belegur with the sacrificial knife in hand. Bringing it down, the single stab destroyed the current mortal vessel used by Belegur. With him, the crackling pillar of light shattered, and a shower of blue fireworks tumbled to the cavern floor. The gateway to the Timeless Halls had closed and vanished.

Immediately upon the defeat of Belegur, Zylon the Aged was instantly cured. He simply woke up and got out of bed and went right about his daily business as though he had never ailed.

When the fallen angel, the Beast, walks among the mortal lords, tempting and buying their souls, his vile actions will give rise to a great battle in his underground lair. Defeated by the desert tribes and the servant of a dead king, he will lie for centuries, smoldering in wait.

-The Third Scroll of Kar’nai, Book Nine

THE FLATHEAD DYNASTY
Although the name of Belegur virtually disappeared from all texts after this point, the effects of this evil entity in the world show that he lived on. If the Scrolls of Kar'nai are to be trusted, then Duncanthrax (it is uncertain if this refers to both, or just the Pseudo-Duncanthrax) was used heavily by the fallen Implementor to bathe the world with much bloodshed in the 660s GUE.

Hundreds of years to pass and the dead king’s dynasty will have perished. A new empire shall have risen on the site of the great battle at the sea, and the new king will be noticed by the sire of the Beast. He will be owned by the devil and known as a warlike evil. A great price will be set upon each victory of the new empire. Behold, this proud and fearful age will have a number set upon its days, and its name shall be confusion.

-The Third Scroll of Kar’nai, Book Nine

OTHER INSTANCES OF BELEGUR IN HISTORY
While it can only be vainly speculated upon, several historians notice the obvious similarities between the account of this ur-grue and Belegur, the Devil – both were fallen Implementors who had taken upon themselves temporary vessels and bore animosity towards the other demi-gods. As it cannot be proven with certainty if more than one Implementor has fallen, there is not enough evidence at the present to bring reconciliation to this conjecture.

What can be said, is that in 1066 GUE, Belegur, who was referred to as Satan, was still in control of vast hordes of little demons, which he used to control many timed occurrences in various underground regions of Zork (although his powers were most likely not limited to these zones).

SOURCE(S): A History of Quendor, Zylon the Aged, The Zork Chronicles, Zork:Nemesis, Zork:Grand Inquisitor, Zork:The Undiscovered Underground, Beyond Zork