GLORIAN OF THE KNOWLEDGE

Glorian of the Knowledge, known also as Glorian the Imginary, and Glorian the Victorious (after his defeat of the corrupted Autoexec) is one of the only known members of the Supernatural and Fantastic Wayfarers Association to have been promoted to the rank of Implementor. Before his ascension, this popular supernatural being was a spirit guide, a kind of mythical helper to adventurers on heroic quests.

Glorian knew full well that he was neither immortal nor eternal. He had lots of useful magical talents such as the ability to spin straw into molybdenum, and the supernatural aide's fine attunement to the movement of the celestial spheres, which always helped him make fairly accurate guesses when it came to telling the time underground. Yet dragons were still a problem for the spirit guide; they were always able to overwhelm his somewhat limited mythological weapons.

His weakness was blue cobalt glass; he was powerless trapped within it. Only three times (including the Autoexec's attempt) had anyone exploited this blue cobalt glass through his entire career. If at any time he remained trapped within the glass for an exntended period of time, he would die a semi-mythical death, beyond resurrection.

There were many conradictory stories of the origins of this great sub-godling, some of them actually denying him the knowledge and power that he had naturally earned for himself through his exploits, wisdom, and cleverness. The only fragmented story of his childhood involves his selling of Byelbog's Balm. He tried to save up enough points to get a rubber glaive once, but never managed to accomplish the task.

Glorian joined the Supernatural and Fantastic Wayfarers Association early in his life for the sake of the publications. Unfortunately, many of the semi-mythical advisors' most valiant achievements had not been recorded in the organization's official bulletin. Though his sense of modesty kept him from writing up each victory in the form of an article for the bulletin, many of his enemies that had always disliked him saw this as an opportunity to remove him entirely from the Association. This vicious group, which included quite a number of influential inhuman geniuses, agitated for his removal from the Association on the ground that he had not truly performed the essential requistie wonders and miracles for his mortal charges over the years.

Glorian had been sent on hundreds of missions on behalf of the Association. Like all supernatural beings, he was either successful in his assignments, or failure, and was rarely happy.


GLORIAN'S APPEARANCE
Glorian did not have actual flesh. As a middle-level supernatural being, he had the ability to change his appearance at will, and this talent had come in very useful on some of the difficult and dangerous quests he had been assigned in the past. He could be young or old, male or female, human or some scungy, roiling, fetid cloud of interdimensional horror.

Some of the appearances which Glorian undertook on near the time of quest to help Mirakles of the Elastic Tendon uncover the Golden Dipped Switch are as follows (his favorite form is #8):

(#1) For the Campbell Award on the day preceeding his guidance to Mirakles, Glorian donned the guise of a modest, friendly, generally charming young man. He looked like any bright young man who wanted to talk to you seriously about buying into a time-share apartment.

(#2) To Mirakles on their first encounter, the non-human shepherd of heroes appeared as a small, round-shouldered old man dressed in a brown leather jacket and brown leather trousers.

(#3) After the encounter with the grues beneath the White House, he morphed into the form of a man at arms, ready to fight against all adversaries– a tall, heavily muscled man with coffee-brown skin, wearing a pair of baggy blue satin harem pants. The giant man was naked from the waist up, and his massive chest was nearly the equal of the most tremendous of barbarians. The seven-foot warrior wore a huge golden earring in one ear, and his skull was shaved completely smooth, except for a single thick lock of black hair that dangled from the very back of a head that held huge black eyes.

(#4) Once Mirakles had died and been taken to Hades, Glorian had a complete set of more appropriate adventurer's clothes in each hand. Now he resembled a man with gray hair in a safari jacket.

(#5) Before entering the house of the kimono dragon, the supernatural guide transformed into an elderly japanese (historians are still uncertain what this word means) gentleman in traditional japanese clothing.

(#6) Upon the defeat of the wicked dragon, Glorian transformed into a tough middle-aged woman, wearing a female version of the rugged khaki outfit he had worn as a man, with a long skirt and sensible shoes.

(#7) The horde of zombies in the Bank of Zork forced Glorian to transform into a tall, hooded masculine figure with strong arms and legs. He looked like an executioner, and the headsman's axe he carried complemented his outfit.There was a sharp spike at the top of the poleaxe. He wore black trousers held up by a wide black leather belt. He was as bare-chested as the prince, but he wore one black leather gauntlet on his right hand.

(#8) After getting out of the balloon, Glorian was now in his favorite form: a cheerful young man, tall and slender, with darkly tanned skin over a well-muscled frame. He was wearing a white silken pullover shirt with bloused sleeves, comfortable old blue jeans, sturdy black leather boots, and a sleeveless, many-pocketed canvas vest in camouflage colors. His hair was blond and cut very short, and his eyes were the color of a river after an evening's rain. Now they radiated calmness and confidence.

(#9) A year later, at the next Joseph Campbell Awards, he wore an Elysian Fields tux, which meant that it was pastel pink with matching aqua tie and cummerbund. He had been forced to change his body to fit the tuxedo. When he finished dressing, he was an extremely handsome man.


RELATIONSHIP WITH AMITIA
As an old friend of Glorian's, it was suspected that he was involved in a passionate romantic relationship with the supernatural spirit guide known as Amitia. Some had seen the prophecy given to Glorian by Glarbo, "Boom boom," as confirming this.

Glorian had crossed paths with Amitia many times apart from the Joseph Campbell Awards banquets. In one recorded instance, Glorian had been leading an old woman on some senseless quest, when he met up with Amitia who was traveling with a bright young man and his lecherous uncle. The three of them (Amitia and the man, and uncle) were dragging a missile behind them.


JOSEPH CAMPBELL AWARDS
Prior to his tenth year of attendance at the Joseph Campbell Awards, Glorian had already been nominated nine times before and never won. Though many voted for him, it would not be until his eleventh year that he would not only when the Award for Best Semi-Actual Persona, but also beforehand was promoted to the rank of Implementor.


AID TO MIRAKLES / DEFEAT OF THE AUTOEXEC / IMPLEMENTOR PROMOTION
This event was how Glorian of the Knowledge received the honor to become an Implementors. He had been to the Dungeon of Zork many times in the past, helping adventurers whenever the Association required it of him (though he had only once been in the coal mines). His duty in this quest was to help Mirakles of the Elastic Tendon retrieve the Golden Dipped Switch for an evil scheme of Morgrom the Essence of Evil to go back in time and place himself on the throne of Quendor, as well as help the barbarian recover the Frobozz Magic Hot Key in order to open the Frobozz Magic Scroll Lock on his father's scroll.

It was the combined effort of Glorian's supernatural powers, as well as his Drawer Forwarding and the smearing of Byelbog's Balm upon wounds that would make him a successful aid to Mirakles. While many of the details of Glorian's quest have been reprinted in the respective section of the "History of Zork," the highlights of this quest shall follow.

Ironically, the Golden Dipped Switch was acquired almost at the start of the quest, unbeknown to either Mirakles or Glorian. It had been hidden within a secret compartment of a Frobozz Magic Swiss Army Amulet, which had been gifted to Mirakles by a tortle in exchange for food. Thus, they already carried the switch with them on their expedition of the Dungeon of Zork.

Spike the Protector, son of Lucien Kaine, was one of the first and permanent companions which were added to their company. As a fan of Glorian and the entire Association, this young boy lied to the spirit guide, insisting that he was already a part of the organization. It was only through communication from the Autoexec that Glorian discovered the truth behind Spike.

When Mirakles was killed by a pack of grues (he had blown the whistle of the Swiss Army Amulet in order to summon them to defeat Shugreth the Unenviable) while Glorian and Spike escaped. Mirakles was condemned to eternity in Hades. Morgrom the Essence of Evil had planned this from the beginning as a method to force them to search that infernal region for the Golden Dipped Switch. Glorian and Spike were able to recover Mirakles from Hades and recover him to life so that the quest would go on.

While together the companions freed Ed from imprisonment, encountered Morgrom the Essence of Evil and his wicked companion Narlinia von Glech, defeated the dreaded kimono dragon, and held off hordes of zombies in the Bank of Zork, it was not until they reached the volcano that Mirakles found a screwdriver. Using this, he opened the Swiss Army Amulet's secret compartment, realizing that he had carried the Golden Dipped Switch with him since almost the beginning of the quest.

It was here that the Auotexec sought to deploy his wickedness. Having grown dissatisfied with the Control Character having authority over him, this Upper Echelon decided to usurp his authority. He would use the Frobozz Magic temporizer to go back in time and place himself in the highest place of authority prior to the creation of the Control Character. Thus at the companions' moment of triumph, the Autoexec materialized and imprisoned Glorian in blue cobalt glass. He reached into the glass and snatched both the Golden Dipped Switch and the Hot Key from the paralyzed Glorian’s possessions. Upon thanking Mirakles for an excellent job, the Autoexec left them. Mirakles and Spike hacked away at the enchanted blue glass imprisonment for several hours until they were able to free him.

Glorian, having never suspected that the Autoexec was an enemy, realized that he had been seduced by the dark side of the Switch. He was determined to track him down and put an end to the conspiracy. Glorian Drawer Forwarded a note to his colleagues in the Association detailing all that had happened in regardless to the Autoexec’s treachery. Savitri, the current pseudo-president, replied with a letter telling Glorian to seek Phretys on the shore of the Flathead Ocean at the western edge of the Shadowlands. She told him to guard the Switch once he had acquired it and to deliver it directly to the Control Character only. Glorian also learned that the Autoexec’s only weakness was absolute darkness, and that the quest did not end with the recovery of the Switch. For this was Glorian’s quest and it went beyond Mirakles’.

The Land of Shadow intimidated even Glorian, who had been hardened over the centuries to most normal, everyday horrors. This was not a part of the Great Underground Empire that he ever visited voluntarily. In fact, it was only the second time that he had  been through it. Generally speaking, Glorian preferred  to avoid this part  of  the  Empire altogether. During his travel through this land, he figured a method that would possibly defeat the Autoexec. The Land of Shadow was filled with darkness. Using the Drawer Forwarding service, he packed his hotel room at the Valhalla Hilton with it, stuffing in as much as he could, hoping that no one would open the room’s door before he had to face the Autoexec. He planned to act as a quasi-human siphon in that inevitable battle.

Once Glorian had reunited with his companions, the three set out for the Scenic Vista. Behind them, the Autoexec marched in with an entire army of mundanes. The battle began, the three adventurers fending off hordes of these un-undead. During the course of the battle the Autoexec attempted to hurl lightning-like bolts of energy at Glorian, but Mirakles was successful at guarding the supernatural guide with Redthirst. In a feint to distract Mirakles so that his magical powers could penetrate through the defenses, the Autoexec hurled the Hot Key at the prince. Shocked, Mirakles lowered his guard, bending down to acquire it. Seeing victory now at hand, the Autoexec released the energy at Glorian once again, but he countered with powers of darkness. The Autoexec was surprised that Glorian knew of his weakness, but the battle continued onward. The next maneuver consisted of simultaneous hurling of both lightning and a cobalt blue glass knife at Glorian. The force was enough to send the blade deep into Glorian’s thigh. Spike quickly removed the dagger from the wound and healed it with an anointing of Byelbog’s Balm. The final round began when both Glorian and the Autoexec augmented their supernatural powers in unison. But it was Glorian who had the upper-hand, for he unleashed the darkness that had been stored up in the hotel room. The defeated Autoexec discorporated.

Princess Melithiel, whom Mirakles had previously rescued from the kimono dragon, returned with her chariot pulled by Rex the Wonder Unicorn. The winged creature lifted the chariot into the air, carrying them up to the ceiling of the underground chamber that contained the lake. Through high passages they were carried out of the underground and landed at the White House.

Knowing that Mirakles could not break his oath to return the Golden Dipped Switch to Morgrom, despite his plans to use it for evil, the companions sought an alternative plan. Spike the Protect robbed the Frobozz Magic Temporizer of the Copper and Silver Dipped Switches. At this time, was a moment in the entire history of Zork in which nothing else of the sort has been recorded: the Control Character descended to Zork into the White House. Morgrom's pending judgment was finally carried out as the Control Character deleted him from existence. Glorian, obeying the wishes of the Control Character handed the two stolen switches to Spike who replaced them in the time machine, and took the common Zork leaflet from a safe in the living room. These were in preparation for yet another small quest, for Glorian to go to the year 948 GUE and place the leaflet into the mailbox for the Second Dungeon Master to find before his descent into the Dungeon of Zork. The Control Character also informed Glorian that not just as he had been acting as the prince's Supernatural Guide, Spike had been acting as Glorian's. Glorian was also promoted to the rank of Implementor.

As Spike had been rewarded with being enrolled as a Neophyte Probationary in the Supernatural and Fantastic Wayfarers Association, Glorian took on the task of sponsoring the Protector. And by the Joseph Campbells Awards of the following year, Glorian was nominated and finally received the Award for Semi-Best Actual Persona. Glorian's tasks as an Implementor and deeds following this event are still shrouded in mystery.

TRIVA
Glorian is not a big beer-drinker
Glorian was writing a book entitled, "A Guardian Spirit Speaks to Troubled Teens." It is uncertain if it was published.
Glroain had had a few memorable lunches with Loki.