Brogmoid Model, c. 766~783 GUE       Another Brogmoid Model (A) / (B)

BROGMOIDISM


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.

Before the rising of the cult of the Great Brogmoid, most Mareilon natives gave praise to the dead, their ancestors who had gone before them; but the Brogmoidist hold this as a fundemental principal.


Rise of Brogmoidism and the Great Zorkquakes
The popularity of the Brogmoidist faith rose since the beginning of the fourth century GUE, and cast more than a little doubt on the credibility of sun-worship, but there was no use arguing with a fair-weather fan of the so-called sun god.

Prior to this time, apart from their method in the Scrolls of Kar'nai, there are no records of anyone have seen the Great Brogmoid. 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 the evil one, 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.


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.


Brogmoidism Criticized by the Planetary Model
Although belief of these brogmoids was the most common thought for many generations, 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.


"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.


Cornelius Agrippa
In 949 GUE, in the depths of the Temple of Agrippa, an ancient contraption was discovered which seems to have been primitive a marriage between the Planetary Model and Brogmoidism -- a representation of the Zorkian universe as conceived by Cornelius Agrippa. This contraption consisted of four concentric hoops of steel mounted on swivels. At the center of the hoops was a flat plate painted green and blue that bore semblance to a squashed globe. A small figurine held the plate in the air, and another small figurine stood on the top of the plate. The small figures were brogmoids, who keep Zork from falling through the void. The two largest hoops hold two small jewels which represent the brightest stars in the sky. The other two held one ring each, silver on the smallest hoop, representing the moon, and gold on the neighboring hoop, representing the sun. (when the sun and moon (gold & silver rings) were both placed at twelve-o-clock on their hoops, the gold ring animated and transformed into a glowing ball—the light from the ball fell on the silver ring, which now appeared spherical, and in turn caused a shadow to fall on the disk.


Brogmoidism 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, 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.


Brogmoidism Worship Decimated
Unfortunately for Brogmoid faithful, the last known worship site, in Flatheadia, was destroyed on Curse Day of 883 GUE. By 949, the cult of Brogmoidism was so deeply out of favor, that the so-called fire-gods (through Zorkastrianism) reaped all the benefits.