Bozbarland was a magical futuristic fantasy amusement park,
oft referred to as the entertainment capital of the
Great Underground
Empire. The lower classes usually called it simply "Zorky Park".
Located next door to
Bozbarbo Village at the western end of the
Great Underground Highway #2, Bozbarland was open all year around. The
admission price from 873~957
GUE was only 1
zorkmid, with a choice of
over 200 different rides, games and exhibits, including: Soakem' Flume,
Rollar Coaster with Pinwheels, gourmet snack bars, and much much more
for the whole family. Bozbarland was run by
gnomes dressed in flashy
attire, who only permitted paying customers to pass through the park's
invisible barrier; and by amusement park as well as casino
nymphs.
Neighboring sights include the ancient
Egreth Castle as well as
the
Glass Maze. Bozbarland offerred great off-season discounts.
Sometime bewteen 945~949,
J. Lemmo headlined with his act - "Curse of
the
Forbidden Lands" - at the Bozbarland and
Port Foozle Casinos.
As of 957 GUE, Bozbarland was no more than a run-down amusement park, no longer gaudy with lights and glitter.
MAJOR ATTRACTIONS AND MAIN AREAS OF THE PARKIMAGE:
two rotating ridesMIDWAY:The
square
bloit midway was filled with garish lights and honky-tonk music
contained games of chance and skill, such as
"Throwing-Balls-at-Cans", "Throwing-Hoops-Over-stalagmites", or
"Dodging-the-Creature-That's-Trying-To-Disembowel-You", as well as as
well
as refreshment stands that sold cotton candy,
dragon burgers and
fried
glurz.
THE ARCADE (IMAGE):The
arcade is a huge tent filled with hectic noise, blinking
lights, the smell of frying food, and game booths lined with
prizes including magic scrolls. One such game involved bashing cute
little mechanical bunnies with a rubber ball as they hop around a
little artificial meadow. The only known method to win this rigged
game, as ones like it, was to use magical cheats, such as consuming a
FOOBLE potion (increase muscular coordination). Another was a game to pierce balloons with darts.
SOAKEM' FLUME (IMAGE):Constructed
by the Frobozz Magic Flume Company, this splash-filled log boat ride
was the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. The advertizements
claimed that after riding this fast-moving flume that "You'll never
trust a water vehcile again!"
As one enters the log boat, it
lurches away from the platform and is carried swiftly away by the
current of the flume. The beginning of the flume is wide and straight
as an arrow, providing quite a relaxing ride, until entering a stretch
of sharp, winding curves enough to spray dashes in the passenger's
faces as they are tossed about the log boat. The twists and turns are
left behind to wind through the dark tunnels of
G.U.E. Coal Mine #502, whose walls are black as
coal. After emerging from the tunnel, the log boat passes through a
series of rapids, shooting straight toward jagged rocks and then
veering away at the last moment. Once past, the flume magically flows
uphill until reaching the crest of the final drop. The log boat plunges
down into the swirling waters at the base of the slope, spraying huge
splashes of water in every direction, yet keeping the passengers dry as
they float serenly around a final turn and pull up to the boarding
platform.
THE ROLLAR COASTER WITH PINWHEELS (IMAGE):Constructed
by the
Frobozz Magic Roller Coaster Company, this huge Bozbarland
roller coaster sprawled above and around the park in all directions.
Riders were told to "hold onto your glorbs!" Magic and engineering
combined to create the most thrilling roller coaster experience
imaginable, promising that its passengers would travel faster than they
had ever travelled before.
As one enters the car, it rolls
away from the platform in a gentle curve. Propelled by some unseen
force, it rolls up a huge incline as the crest grows tantalizingly
close. At the crest, the entire park can be seen laid out like a map
(the lights of the midway, the booths of the arcade, the sparkling blue
ribbon of water that is the flume, and even beyond the bounds of the
park, a wide crater). The car begins diving, seemingly straight
downward, but at the last moment, it sings upward to zig through a
series of wild turns and sharp drops. The next section of the track is
shaped like a corkscrew. Then the car shoots into a rapid climb, which
gets progressively slow and steeper as the track begins to swing back
to enter into a giant loop. At the highest point of the loop,
passengers hang completely upside-down for a brief moment before being
hurtled down the far side of the loop with breakneck speed. The roller
coaster speeds out of the loop and into a tunnel which runs through the
middle of the haunted house which wispy ghosts and ghoulish skeletons
brush past. As the car zooms out of the haunted house, it glides to a
stop.
THE HAUNTED HOUSE (IMAGE):The
Bozbarland haunted house is the only authentic haunted house with
imported ghost, goblins, spooks, spirits and apparitions from all over
the Kingdom. It was reputed that one who entered the haunted house
would never forget their walk through,
if
they managed to get out alive. Something unexplainable in the house
seemed to soak up all the light, so that even with a
BLORT potion, the
place was quite dark. Surviving visitors told of cold breathes on their
shoulders, slimy things brushing across their faces and slithering
across their feet, strange shivers in their chests as though something
passed through their body; coupled with creaking doors, rattling
chains, deep-throated chuckles, and piercing screams.
THE BOZBARLAND CASINO (IMAGE): Run
by casino nymphs, the Bozbarland Casino has been reported to have every
single game of chance available in the entire Empire, including
roulette,
double fanucci,
burfle, and blackjack. Jackpots were as high
as one million
zorkmids (it has been said that those who have won this
jackpot did not live to claim the prize, as they were buried to death
by an unbelievable torrent of zorkmids coins that poured out of the
machine--far more than the machine could possibly contain)
HISTORY OF BOZBARLAND (IMAGE:
Bozbarland Arena (
B))
The proprietors of the amusement Bozbarland set up a magical
arena during the Great Monster Uprising to take advantage of the fact that in those days the former Great Underground Empire was
crawling with heavily-armed adventurers. Anyone was able to challenge a fellow explorer
once per day and the two would be instantly transported to a magical arena. The
challenger even had a chance to earn a few zorkmids with a wager on the side.
Arena combat could be tough but all wounds were magically healed at the end of the
battle and both combatants were whisked back to where they had originally come from. This
process rarely went awry, but some claimed that the unfortunate Feziboz was
transported back from a battle right into the stomach of the dragon he had
previously been fighting. It was upgraded after the fact and subsequentally much safer.
Those who won against other adventurers received double the zorkmids
that they wagered. The combat experience was worth it, but much less
than when fighting against monsters in the field. But the most
important thing was the increase of fame. Each win came with a certain
amount of fame, but fame could also be lost when other adventurers
challenged and won. Throughout the course of the Great Monster
Uprising, adventurers would continuously battle.
Entrances to this magical arena are recorded to have once been in the
following regions: The White House, Port Foozle, Frostham, Antharia,
Borphee, Gurth, Mizniaport, Grubbo-by-the-Sea, G.U.E. Tech,
Mithicus, Bozbarbo Village, Galepath, and Castle Irondune.
Throughout
the course of the Great Monster Uprising, Bozbarland also held the weekly
Magnificent Bozbarland Zorkmid Lottery, the best and only lottery in
the land during that era.
TRIVIA:- Bozbarland is the subject of the popular Christmas carol, "Winter Bozbarland."
SOURCE(S): Zork II (Bozbarland advertizement), Sorcerer, Beyond Zork (allusion), Zork Nemesis (design material), Legends of Zork |