 Wall of Illusion, unbroken (low) / (high) / (art) Wall of Illusion, broken (A) / (B) Citadel of Zork (art) Citadel Gates (A) / (B) / (high) / (art1) / (art2) Looking East from Citadel (art1) / (art2) Reception Hall (A) / (B) / (C) / (D) / (high) / (art1) / (art2) Room of Doors (A) / (art1) / (art2) / (art3) / (art4) / (art5) Orc Leader Room (A) / (B) / (art1) / (art2) Circular Pit Room (A) / (B) / (C) Circular Pit Room (A) / (B) / (C) / (high) / (art) Hall of Stone and Transformation Room: (A) / (B) / (C) / (high) / (art) / (D) half-orc guard half-orc leader Morphius' shriek shakes the Halls Citadel of Zork destroyed, 1647 GUE (art1) / (art2) / (art3) |
The Citadel of Zork was the first structure built by Canuk for Morphius with illumynite and translumynite in the seventeenth century. It was, in fact, an incubator for the Cluster. Here, the vultures delivered the stolen chunks of illumynite, which were absorbed into the structure housing the Cluster. Energy then was drawn in large quantities to speed up the mutation of the Cluster.
Hordes of half-orcs were gathered as sentries for the Citadel. When the inspired Canuk had completed its construction, he sealed it with a Wall of Illusion. The Citadel was only known to his possessed personality. The other Canuk was unaware of the construction, only brief glimpses of the project were left in the untouched portion of his mind. Morphius feared that the pieces of the last Flying Disc of Frobozz would be recovered and reforged and his illusionary shield would be shattered. Thus his minions sought the manual for the forge and destroyed it.
The main entrance to the Citadel consisted of a large gate with a giant hand above it. One was required to "BOW to the hand of Morphius" to gain entry. This was in fact a grisly pun; one had to fire an arrow from a bow into the palm of the hand in order to trigger the gate mechanism. Those who did venture inside quickly were met by Morphius' half-orc guards, which were lead by a leader, more giant than them all.
Beyond the reception halls and hordes of half-orcs was the Citadel Bridge over a pit of boiling oil. This was the only route to Morphius' private research laboratory and incubator. The only way to cross the bridge was by loading it with enough weight to sink it, so that a sturdy parallel bridge would rise from the pit as from a pully.
The Hall of the Stoned and Transformation Room, also known as the research laboratory, was the dwelling place of the unbelievably hideous Morphius. It was here where the vultures brought his petrified subjects to be analyzed and used to decorate and entertain the halls of the Citadel. The unknown Sweepstakes Winner, having raided the Citadel, had the final mano a mano here with Morphius in a game of Survivor in 1647 GUE.
When this nameless hero defeated Morphius at Survivor, he was furious, releasing a terrible shriek of anguish that echoed through the Citadel of Zork, shaking its very foundations. Keeping his subjects as statues was very taxing. Unable to concentrate on more than one thing at a time, Morphius lost grasp of his confining spell. The followers of good magic cast long forgotten spells to scatter Morphius into the atmosphere. Along with him, the spell that kept the Citadel walls up collapsed and the entire structure was destroyed.
| SOURCE(S): Return to Zork |