FUDGE MINES
The Fudge Mines of
Flatheadia had definitely begun their clandestine work after the fall
of the
Great Underground Empire in 883, though some say the first extraction
facilities were erected immediately after the turning of the castle’s
west wing to
fudge in 785. If this earlier date is accurate, these may not have
originally
been mines, as many tons of the fudge covered the landscape and washed
lusciously into subterranean streams, and being magic, affected what
ate it. In response, Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive
ordered the west wing to be covered over and a new wing was constructed
upon
the first and declared Flatheadia Fudge (as it became known) illegal.
Despite
the royal ban, Flatheadia Fudge became a black market staple during the
rebuilding period, after several of Dimwit's balloons carrying the
fudge to his Fenshire melting plant was hit. Tons of the sweet
chocolate was squirreled away
in vaults while fresh foundations and tunnels were created throughout
the
valley floor - ostensibly to replace the original west wing. Both
royal and black market mine shafts were dug into the earth. When any of
these regenade distilling operations, which purified the fudge ore back
into edible confections, were found out, their shafts were shutup with
the King's seal. The Flatheadian Fudge reserves were mammoth, and
entire mounds were left beneath the rocky soil. Many of these sealed
entrances, still today, dot the
regions surrounding the White House.
Although Flatheadia had
been reduced into the White House in 883, even during the Second Age of
Magic, the region where the west wing of the castle had once sat, still
emitted a scent like carob or cocoa tea, while the accompanying rivers
and ponds on the surface were still tainted with flows of
chocolate and infested with magical chocolate animals.
During
the Great Monster Uprising, "Detective Softly", as this otherwise
anoynomous man was known, found entrance into the Fudge Mines. As he
was treading ground near the White House, the washed out earth beneath
him gave way to a sinkhole which dropped him into a shaft.
| SOURCE(S):
Zork Zero, Zork: Grand Inquisitor, Legends of Zork (game, personal
correspondence with author of 'A Wizard and His Cocoa' quest) |