FLATHEAD DYNASTY
The Flathead Dynasty ruled over
Quendor
for 223 years, from 660 until 883
GUE.
The
flatheads succeeded
the
Entharion Dynasty
when the bloodthirsty tyrant
Duncanthrax
the Bellicose instigated the
New Year's Revolt and
overthrew the former government.
In circa 670 GUE, after ousting the
imposter
Duncanthrax, the king announced to his kingdom
that he was to be the first king of the Flathead Dynasty. This took the
people by surprise, as it was not known to be a part of his title, nor
was it at all indicative of the clearly non-flat shape of his head. He
declared that from then on, the flatness of one’s head was to be
directly correlated with their royal stature, and that he sought the
most flatheaded woman in the land to become his queen. The call went
out across the
Westlands
and in a very short time, Duncanthrax had
found and married a particularly flatheaded and very stunned young lady
from
Mareilon, named
Salestra. They were
married immediately, and
within the year had their first son. The boy was named
Belwit the Flat,
and much to Duncanthrax’s pleasure, his head did indeed have a somewhat
flat shape to it. The descendants of the dynasty continued to grow more
flat at the dynasty progressed.
The pinnacle of the Flathead Dynasty was the reign of
Dimwit Flathead, who
along with his
brothers,
managed to control almost every
bloit
of space and
zorkie of
commerence in the civilized lands of
Zork.
When the king's hand reached out to take hold of the
Fublio Valley, one of
its residents, a powerful magician by the name of
Megaboz
cast a curse upon the dynasty. While Dimwit and his brothers were
immediately slain, the curse was delayed for 94 years. In the year 883
GUE, the effects of the
Curse
of Megaboz were unleashed, and the Flathead Dynasty had its
end. In its place, there was a simultaneous rule of the
Dungeon Masters and the
descendants of
Syovor.
The mysterious round-headed
Dirinthrax was
the rightful descendant and heir to Duncanthrax the Bellicose. Although
Dirinthrax itself is clearly a name of royal origins, exactly which
branch of the hopelessly convoluted Flathead family tree sank into
oblivion to reemerge in the form of Dirinthrax is to this day not
clear. Nevertheless, in the tenth century, this boy took the chance to
proclaim himself ruler of
Egreth
and Lord of Quendor (circa 957~966 GUE). Clearly, in an age dominated
by the might of the guilds and the
ever-growing power of Syovar, very few people would ever notice this
quiet reincarnation of the Flathead dynasty. Dirinthrax and Lia for
their own parts never seem to have made any efforts to enforce their
claims to royal authority. Oral traditions from the Egreth area claim
that the
devastating events of the end of the
Age of Magic
were barely felt by
the castle's owners, and that the last pair of flathead monarchs lived
well into the 11th century, when they finally passed away in silence
and obscurity.
When the
Grand Inquisitor's
tyranny ended in 1067 GUE,
Lucy
Flathead
declared herself the rightful heir to the throne. While she appointed a
Fourth Dungeon Master,
almost nothing else is known of her reign or what became of the
Flatheads (or any ruling family) after that moment.
| SOURCE(S): various
(Zork I, Zork Zero, ZGI: Official Strategy Guide, A History of Quendor,
Lost City of Zork, etc) |