GREAT BROGMOID

The planet of Zork is supported on the shoulder and upper back of one of many Great Brogmoids, and this particular Great Brogmoid keeps us from falling into the Great Void. And far below, its feet rested upon another world of things so incredible and dangerous that few have returned in even a sane enough state to faithfully describe what they had seen. Not only is Zork supported by one of these Great Brogmoids, but the feet of another rests upon Zork itself -- one foot stablized upon the top of Mount Foobia, while the other possibly upon Mount Matter-horn -- who supports one of the other worlds upon its own shoulders.

Though fairly ordinary for a brogmoid, a rough estimate puts these creatures at a zillion times larger than any ever seen on the surface of Zork -- tremendous beyond description. The mere shoulder hairs are like mighty trees; the pores like deep craters. As the First Dungeon Master discovered, the thickness of the hair-trees provided an opportunity to climb up the neck to an ear, whose wide-channel was blocked by a virtual forest of ear fungi, and further inside, by the eardrum itself. The membrane of the eardrum is tougher than most walls. And even though inside the interior of the ear, the brogmoid could no more hear the shouting of a human than a human could hear the shouting of a bacterium.

A majority of the shakings, known as Zorkquakes, are caused by the restlessness of the Great Brogmoid that holds up our world.


HISTORY
According to the Scrolls of Kar'nai, when the rudiments of the universe containing Zork was manifested, Eru the true God who rules the Timeless Halls, conceived from his own belly, the Great Brogmoids to hold up each of the planets created by the Implementors--each supports one world upon his shoulders to keep it from falling into the Great Void, while each Brogmoid itself stands secure atop of another world below.


BROGMOLITHIC VOLCANO EPOZZ
Some speculate that the Brogmolithic Volcano Epozz was named after an unknown event related to the Great Brogmoid.


BROGMOIDISM & ZORKQUAKES
The tenets of the religion of Brogmoidism originated sometime during the fourth century GUE. Before its founding, many, especially the followers of Eru, believed that the world is supported on the shoulder and upper back of a Great Brogmoid and that this Great Brogmoid keeps us from falling into the Great Void. But this cult was composed of those who delved into tremendous error--those who delved into idolatry by worshipping the mammoth beast itself. (Today, however, the term Brogmoidism is used interchangeably to identify both those who believe in the existance of the Great Brogmoids, as well as the cult of Brogmoidists who worship and revere the creature.)

With the popularity of the Brogmoidist faith rising since the beginning of the fourth century GUE, the devout Brogmoidists were growing restless to worship it. Although no one knew how it could be reached, many embarked on pilgrimages in attempts to see it at the bottom of the world. All were in vain.

In the days before the close of the fourth century, these words, along with the advent of Belegur, were fulfilled:


For in the Great Brogmoid that held up this world grew sporadically restless. And by the time the year 398 GUE drew near, it shook the world nearly half a dozen times within several weeks, a sign of the great changes to come. Many among the Mareilon populace were left homeless and in terrible debt by his destructive movements. A relief agency was formed solely to find those who were facing the worst of those difficulties, confiscate their property, sell its assets for the city’s profit, and then slam the victims into debtor’s prison. This was only one more burning cause for a revolution that was slowly cresting above the horizon.

The Scrolls of Kar'nai began to take on a very real meaning. The fallen Implementor meddling in human affairs (Belegur). Quaking of the zork's crust. Civil unrest (Zarfil and his followers). Mysterious invaders from a long-forgotten empire (the Nezgeth). And most compelling of all, the sudden illness of an aged king (Zylon the Aged). The Great Brogmoid had given the first sign, shaking the world in warning of the events to come.


OPPOSITION FROM THE PLANETARY MODEL
For many generations, the Scrolls of Kar'nai were held authoritive and there was a general concenses amongst all the Zorkians that the great brogmoids were real, despite that there were no records or reports of anyone having actually seen one. Many took pilgrimmages to discover them, but all were without success. Thus, with no evidence of their existence, and no records anywhere of eye-witness accounts, both the Great Brogmoids and the Scrolls of Kar'nai (which contained the traditions regarding the brogmoids) fell into heavy disrepute. And thus,other vulgar theories were aroused.

The primary emnity against the Brogmoid was the Planetary Model, which had already been in existence in its primitive form prior to the formation Brogmoidism, and had long been contentious with those who merely believed in the existence of the Great Brogmoid. But the more complex planetary model involved multiple revolving planets and other celestial bodies.

While those who believe in the existence of the Great Brogmoids (including Brogmoidists and those who worship Eru) do not deny the existence of other planets, others have elaborated by believing each of these celestial boides to be held up by a series of brogmoids. This sequence of alternating brogmoids and planes exactly parallels basic dimensional physics if it is hypothesized that the first brogmoid stands upon the plane held up by the last brogmoid (forming a massive “daisy-chain”, or circle of bodies).

Still others have speculated less conservative approaches, including that the apparent movement of each of the planets around the sun is due to the perambulations of the brogmoids holding each of them up from one massive central plane below that supports all eight. The one holding up the sun is especially stoic. The moon was not found to be detailed in this hypothesis.


THE YORUK CONTRAVERSY
By 425 GUE, the Books of Yoruk were completed; their pages filled with many dark revelations. While they are most often cited as the source of the Great Brogmoid theory, one of the great many things he learned under the Devil’s tutelage, this is pure deception, as it is a well-known fact that the Great Brogmoid had been known about even before the beginning of the Kingdom of Quendor. Because of this, the Brogmoidists, in particular, hotly denied the truth of these stories, fearing that the tale of Yoruk contradicted the fundamentals of their religion. However, the modern historical community seems to have reached a general consensus that, while details of the story might have been changed over the centuries, the bulk of the legends surrounding Saint Yoruk are in fact historically accurate.


"ON THE HORRIBLE FLATNESS OF THE WORLD"
In his crucial “On the Horrible Flatness of the World”, Bizboz proved once and for all that the world was not in fact spherical but was instead nothing more than a round, flat disc. This work, when published in 468 GUE, put Bizboz in great trouble with the Brogmoidist Church, until Bizboz pointed out that a flat world would actually be easier for the Great Brogmoid to hold, allowing him to take a break and stretch his arms without the world simply rolling off his head.


THE GREAT BROGMOID CRITICIZED BY ZORBIUS BLATTUS
The Brogmoid Hypothesis was exposed to much ridicule by detractors, particularly by Zorbius Blattus, a great philosopher from the ninth century GUE. As a popular debunker of Brogmoidism, he was often asked, "If a giant Brogmoid were holding up the world, where would he stand?" Because of the prevalence of questions such as these, Brogmoidism lost most of its adherents by the ninth century GUE, in favor of the Planetary Model, or either the Turtle Theorgy, the Troll Postulate (although no scholar today seriously considers either of the latter).

Blattus' argument, while philosophically sound, does have one flaw: he is completely and one hundred percent wrong. On Curse Day of 883 GUE, the unknown man who would later become the First Dungeon Master explored the depths of the caverns beneath Flatheadia (which could not be passed through until the grues were cleared on the day), and actually came out on the underside of Zork, proving not only that the world was flat, but also that it was in fact help up by a Great Brogmoid that was tremendous beyond description. A rough estimate puts this Great Brogmoid at a zillion times larger than any brogmoid ever seen before. Its mere shoulder hairs were like mighty trees. On the same day as this remarkable discovery, he also hiked to the top of Mount Foobia and discovered the foot of another Great Brogmoid. Apparently, not only does a brogmoid hold up the world, but upon the world is standing another brogmoid, which can only be presumed to support yet another world.

Chroniclers of history have always been puzzled by the fact that the Brogmoid Hypothesis has traditionally been given less credit than the so-called Turtle Theory, and the Troll Postulate, both of which were the subject of some research by Leonardo Flathead.


THE GREAT BROGMOID TODAY
Despite all the evidence in support of the authenticity of Scrolls of Kar’nai and that the Great Brogmoids themselves may be seen on display at their respective locations today, there are still those who would adamantly remain skeptics and instead cling to the Planetary Model, which arose from questions such as, “If there really were a brogmoid holding up a world above ours, where is its shadow when the sun passes by?”, and, “On which surface does the bottommost brogmoid stand?” A more modern outright denier of the Great Brogmoids, wishing to foolishly and stubbornly disprove anything with even the most minute semblance to the holy writings, actually went down the tunnels beneath the world. There this professor truthfully stated, “I see nothing here that would prompt me to believe that a brogmoid of any size was in any way holding up this planet, nor do I see anything that would even stimulate a question of doubt in my mind that Zork is spherical. Here I stand and deny those deceitful writings of Kar’nai.” But what he did not tell those of the planetary school of thought was that prior to gazing out of the mouth of the tunnel, he had purposefully closed his eyes, and when he emerged, set his back to the obvious brogmoid standing before him.


THE FINAL CONFLAGRATION
The few researchers brave enough to travel ahead as far as 3800 GUE have reported a devastated and ruined landscape. All chronicles referring to this desolate era have called it the Final Conflagration, a deliberate reference to various ancient prophecies that predict all kinds of zorkquakes and fires on the day that the Great Brogmoid finally lies down to sleep. Although most brogmoidists throughout history have been hesitant to predict an exact date for this event, claiming that doing so infringes upon the freewill of the great being, the best guesses of temporal scholars have placed the date at some point immediately before 3800.


TRIVIA:
In 883 GUE, there was a large family of fungi living within the eardrum of the Great Brogmoid that supports Zork upon its shoulder and upper back, these included Barnaby,  Seymour, Sherman, Irving, Sammy, Myron, Boris, Melvin, Lester, Julius, Ricardo, and Omar.