GREATER BORPHEEBorphee, a large industrial city in the Westlands, is the capital of
the Greater Borphee Province. The city of Borphee itself is the largest
in all of Frobozz. In fact, Borphee Harbor is the busiest port on the
Flathead Ocean. This is only one of the several geographic features
that help make Borphee the single most accessible vacation spot in the
world. From anywhere in the Borphee River valley, travel by ferry is
easy and inexpensive. By land, the Coast Road connects Borphee with the
ancient cities to the north as well as the populous southlands. The
Plains of Borphee begin at the western edge of the capital and stretch
outward from the city of Borphee. The Borphee River Bridge crosses the
Borphee River just north of the city. South of the city are some of the
most beautiful stretches of beach
anywhere on the Flathead Ocean, including the Flathead Beach. Until 966
GUE, Thriff was but a week's travel north of Borphee.
Thanks to the nearby ocean, Borphee has a very moderate climate. The
rainy season lasts most of the winter, and summers tend to be humid.
The city of Borphee is the site of the Double
Fanucci Championships, an annual event since 691 GUE. During the first
week of autumn, the entire province fills up with every Double Fanucci
fanatic in the kingdom. Tickets to each game in the finals costed only
3 zorkmids in 873 GUE, and usually sold out within hours (although
scalpers had commanded as much as 20 zorkmids for a good seat). In late
spring,
G.U.E. Tech holds their annual Spelling Bee, which is free and open to
the public.
Every winter, the hills of Borphee come alive with the
sounds of the most dreadful singers in the land. This event, aptly
named The From Bad to Worst Songfest, happens to coincide to the time
of year when most hillside residents schedule trips abroad. On the
official first day of summer, thousands gather at the Borphee Harbor
for the G.U.E. Festival of Small Ships.
Greater Borphee is nicknamed the Industrial Province. Government in
this region is quite a baffling system. The city of Borphee itself is
run by an elected mayor, while the province is administered by a staff
of part-time volunteer managers, whose decisions are ratified at least
three times a year, but not more than every other week, by a series of
local forums. Those who purport to know say that these forums have
resulted in Greater Borphee County Penal Codes, the recitation of which
could bore a listener to death. At least during the reign of
Pseudo-Duncanthrax in the 660s, Borphee had courts with judges and
juries, where not only
could one seek justice, but win valuable prizes and vacations of a
lifetime and maybe even a dream home.
Those who are not busy volunteering for the local government are
probably involved in one of Borphee's fine educational institutions.
Borphee Business School and G.U.E. Tech both have excellent
reputations. In fact, many G.U.E. Tech graduates have gone on to start
their own magic companies, thus contributing to Borphee's standing as
the center of the spell scroll, potion, and infotater industries. The
city was once the fastest-growing, with its magic scroll and potion
factories leading the way. In
the 9th century GUE, Spellbound and United Thaumaturgy both had
extensive facilities in Borphee, and by 947 GUE FrobozzCo International
had relocated its massive headquarters to Borphee as well. The
prominence of the magic industry in Borphee was undoubtedly related to
the fact that the city was home to the Great Meeting Hall of the
Enchanters' Guild, the site of the Final Conclave in 966 GUE. Other
products originating from the Borphee region include soft Borphean
rubber and tempered Borphean steel (which was able to withstand even
the explosions from the powerful Zork Rocks when mixed with cola).
Borphee nightlife is renowned throughout the Empire, including Studio
Frob and the Blue Whale. Popular lodging includes Motel Spell and The
Borphee Inn; and must-see diners include The Potion Palace and The
Smokestack.
Other locations of interest within the Greater Borphee Province or the city itself, include:
Borphee Civic Center
Borphee Magic School Borphee Royal Palace
Frobozz Magic Magic Equipment Company outlet store
The Smokestack (also see the
Borphee County Fair)
873 GUE PROVINCE STATS
Population: 1,107,810
Land Area: 754 square bloits
HISTORY OF BORPHEE
The Founding of Borphee
Long before the birth of Entharion, the midlands of Quendor were
dominated by Borphee and Pheebor, the two powerful city-states whose
massive conflict is still remembered today as one of the bloodiest and
most prolonged wars ever to scar the face of the world. Every school
child is familiar with the story of Phee and Bor, the abandoned twin
babies suckled at the breast of a babbling brogmoid. The earliest
written version of this story can be found in the pseudo-Fizbozian
narrative history, part of which is reprinted below. Raised by this
caring and, incidentally, terrifically idiotic female brogmoid, the
young twins grew to adulthood on the shores of the two parallel rivers
that now bare their names. When the mother brogmoid finally succumbed
to hunger and lack of blood (she had, according to the sources, been
living off her own flesh for some twenty-three years), the twins, now
young men, decided to set out into the world and seek their fortune.
Stopping along the way to search for food through the occasional pile
of boulders, they came at last to the confluence of the two rivers
between which they had spent their entire life.
It is at this point, apparently, that history was made. The older
brother, Bor, not knowing how to get across the One River, and of
course seeing no other options, announced to his younger twin that he
intended to stop where he was and build a city. Apparently displeased
with his brother's selfishness and lack of consideration, Phee
proclaimed his similar intention, and the disagreement promptly led to
a physical conflict. When it became apparent that Phee had beaten his
brother, Bor turned to leave, but not before handing out a few parting
words. It is here that we turn to the pseudo-Fizboz to describe
the next sequence of events:
“A
curse! A curse upon Phee! A curse upon Phee for that is all he shalt
be! Great
gods, whom my fathers hath rejected so! Grant life so long, to mine
city
below!” So spoke Bor in his anger.
In
answer, fourteen corbies, so giant and so black, overhead they didst
fly.
Fourteen, for the number of Pheebor’s lifetime they did proclaim. And
thus, Bor
went forth, across the One River, he did, out of Phee’s life, forever
and ever
and ever and ever and ever.
Historians are left with no other option other than to
recount this narrative as one possible explanation for the origin of
the cities of Pheebor and Borphee. The only shred of evidence
that allows us to repeat
this myth and still retain our dignity is the archaeological testimony
of the Phee Hourglass. If modern scientists have correctly interpreted
the functioning of the Hourglass, then the earliest settlements on the
Pheebor site date back to roughly 1800 BE. Conveniently enough, this is
almost exactly 14 centuries before the city's ultimate demise, a figure
identical to that predicted by the mysterious flying corbies.
Borphee, today lying within the province of Greater Borphee, is the
oldest surviving city in the entire realm of Quendor. Its breathtaking
marble temples and magnificent coliseums constructed out of dornbeast
tusks have been declared the foundation of modern society. In fact, all
known clusters of modern civilization can be traced back to this
culture. But its prominence did not come undisputed.
The city was built at the end of the great Borphee river, which runs
across the Westland region and empties into the Great Sea. In the early
days of Borphee, the river indirectly provided all the city’s
resources, and is still treated with almost godlike reverence by the
Borpheans. They were an autonomous people, free from interest or
concern about the outside world.
On the other end of the Westlands, at the point where the various
tributaries flow together to form the beginning of the river, was
established the rudiments of what would be known as the city of
Pheebor. In its most primordial state, Pheebor was nothing but a ring
of primitive huts dotted along the perimeter of a glassy clearing.
Incidentally, this city regarded the river with much the same reverence
as the Borpheans. At the time, both cities had called the magnificent
waterway the One River and lived in peace, until in 1077 BE, in a
tragic fit of self-importance, the two groups would simultaneously
decide to rename the river after their own city.
Dispute Over the Naming of the One River (1077 BE)
Over the course of nearly seven centuries, Pheebor had grown from a
ring of huts into a young and arrogant city. It was during these days,
that the entire plaza was filled to capacity with a cheering throng,
addressed by an orator of unknown identity. The only account of this
even survives in the diary of the same peasant who recovered the
Coconut of Quendor from the Ur-grue in 966 GUE. Using the Phee
hourglass, this unknown human travelled to this period and recounted
firsthand the final moments of the event:
I
saw the orator still the throng with a wave of his hand. “Our fathers built
this city at the Place Where the Great Waters Meet,” he cried. “The right to
name the One River belongs to us!” The
throng roared its approval.
“The
infidels from the east control the One River’s mouth,” continued the orator. “But
we, who dwell at the joining of the Rivers Phee and Bor, we control the source!”
The
throng whistled.
“As
the daughter takes the name of the father, so shall the One River be known by
the place of its birth!”
“PHEEBOR!”
roared the throng. “Hail the River Pheebor! Phee-bor! Phee-bor!”
“We
have no quarrel with the city to the east,” claimed the orator (amid shouts to
the contrary). “But if they continue to slight our heritage with the wretched
name BORPHEE “ (the crowd hissed), “we shall smite them from the face of the
land!”
The
throng went wild, and carried the orator away on its shoulders, then dispersed.
I
was left alone.
From this account, one could conclude that Borphee was the instigator
of the entire crime of claiming ownership to a once universally used
river. Regardless of who was the true pompous fool who began the entire
tirade, nothing climatic would come of Pheebor’s haughty proclamation
until 396 BE.
The Downfall of Pheebor (396 BE)
Seven centuries of selfishness arguing over the name of the One River
was enough time for Borphee and Pheebor to offend each other to the
point of bloody war. In 396 BE, the forces of Borphee and Pheebor met
in the southern plains of Egreth, roughly halfway between the two
city-states. The Pheeborians, led by the irreversible yet tremendously
incapable, Prince Foo, stood on the northern side of the deep ravine
that contained the One River. The Borpheans, led by the uncommonly
clever General Horteus Shplee, took their place on the southern side.
The general was a shrewd war strategist, well aware of his subtle
tactical advantage. The two armies charged, swords drawn. But the
excitement of the moment was quickly doused when both sides reached the
river and were forced to dive in and paddle awkwardly towards each
other. Instead of meeting in the glorious clash of steel that all had
hoped for, it appeared more like a graceless collision of drowning
fools. The armies splashed frantically at each other, hardly noticing
the effect of the river’s strong current. An effect that General Shplee
had been counting on.
The cluster of bobbing heads drifted rapidly downstream towards
Borphee, where a battalion of Shplee’s men waited with a stockade of
granite rocks. As the soldiers floated by, the battalion tossed the
rocks at the Pheeborian army, apparently enjoying themselves enormously
in the process and not worrying too much about the many Borphean
soldiers that were mixed in with the bunch. This tactic proved quite
successful, and is credited with bringing a very quick end to what
would have likely ended up being a long and pointless war.
The Borpheans assembled and took arms against Pheebor, quickly sacking
and burning the near defenseless city to the ground. Motionless bodies
were strewn about the streets by the bloodthirsty swords, and battle
trenches filled with corpses zigzagged across the city’s plaza like
open wounds.
It was during this final raid that an unnamed peasant from the future
(966 GUE) arrived here after implementing the enchanted Phee Hourglass.
Upon this peasant’s arrival, the magnificent gray stallion of Prince
Foo appeared amid the smoke of the ruined buildings donned with the
Phee Helm. Another stallion, black as night, raced out of the smoke.
Its rider was one of the more zealous (and buoyant) Borphean knights;
his armor gleamed red in the firelight, but this sinister knight’s
regal bearing did not disguise his youth.
“At least we meet, Prince Foo,” snarled the black rider.
Prince Foo regarded him coolly. “Begone, thou eastern fop!” he cried. “Never shall the River Pheebor yield its scared name!”
The black rider drew a gleaming sword from his scabbard and promptly beheaded the prince. The head rolled into a nearby trench.
“The reign of Pheebor is ended!” cried the black knight, galloping off
into the smoke. “Foo is dead! The age of Borphee is begun!”
The gray stallion nudged the prince’s body, and while it whinnied
softly, the peasant drew near to the same open trench where the
prince’s head had fallen. That peasant had no intentions of mingling
within the conflict. At this point, it was impossible to recover the
Phee Helm. It was required for the peasant’s quest in 966 GUE, but
would be buried beneath hard earth for centuries to come with no way to
excavate it until the distant future. In order to lure the peasant’s
new pet minx into locating the position of the Helm and digging deeply
for it in the future when the earth turned softly, a chocolate truffle
(a minx’s favorite food) was preserved in the Pool of Eternal Youth and
then thrown into the trench, where it would wait beside the Helm for
over 2,000 years where it would be dug up by the pet minx. Just as the
deed was completed, a stray arrow struck the prince’s stallion in the
flank. The luckless beast shrieked piteously, stumbled into the trench
and lied still.
Cries of “Foo is dead! The war is over!” drifted through the smoke.
The last thing the peasant saw before returning to 966 GUE, were
tattered men racing past and soon all was still as death. But it would
be a few days before every nock and cranny of the city was completely
raided. So thorough was the Borphean army’s gleeful ransacking of
Pheebor, that the entire body of knowledge accumulated by this once
great people was completely wiped out.
The revered circle of wizards known as the Zizbits were destroyed in
the sacking along with their fabled magic spells and paraphernalia,
save a few scattered relics, including a spellbook that would be passed
on throughout the centuries. Before the city fell, they guarded their
high plateau temple with a protective spell that would not be broken
until the tenth century.
All that was left after one night of devastation was a few scattered
ruins and a number of unanswered questions, but it would take many
centuries before time would soften the layers of dirt and rubble in
order to obscure the remains of the plaza. Hence, the people of Pheebor
are still regarded with a sense of curious wonder today.
After the pillage and razing of Pheebor, the river became the Borphee
River, a very good name. There was one other besides the Borpheans who
had been victorious that day—for the entire city-state of Pheebor had
brought itself to ruin, falling to conflicts generated by the hatred of
Belegur, who had worked its way into the hearts of men for countless
generations.
The Exploration of Other Lands (after 396 BE)
In the ensuing vanity following Pheebor’s defeat in 396 BE, the
Borpheans became rather excited about the notion of conquering new
lands. After countless humbly uninquisitive generations, the population
had flourished and the people were suddenly curious about what else lay
beyond their borders.
The first wave of settlers discovered the struggling remnants of the
two cardinal villages of the Mithican tribes. The settlers utilized the
villages and named them Gurth and Mithicus. Since then, the two
provinces have become a haven for artisans, and the colorless Fields of
Frotzen, located within Gurth, are renowned for their incredible
agricultural capacity. Seeds that are planted within the fields often
ripen within days. This attribute has made it the second most abundant
agricultural region in the Westlands.
A short time later, a second expedition by the Borpheans made an
incredible discovery that would permanently change both the economic
and culinary structure of the Westlands. Sir Thaddeus Galepath and
Mareilon would break off from Borphee and form the city-states of
Galepath and Mareilon and write the Mashed Potato Wars into the pages of history.
Borphee and Mauldwood
Although the names of the original provinces are long since lost to us,
several pre-Flathead maps have survived that show the original
provincial boundaries. For the sake of convenience, each of these
provinces are referred to by the names of their chief cities, with one
exception: Galepath, Mareilon, Quendor, Znurg, Vriminax, Bozbar and
Borphee. The province surrounding the capital at Largoneth was referred
to as Frobozz, although no record of a city by the same name has
survived to the present day. What has usually made the history of the
ancient provinces most confusing is the existence of this mysterious
“half province,” usually mentioned without any accompanying word of
explanation.
The truth about the Incomplete Province, as it was so often called in
old Quendoran records, lies in the peculiar circumstances surrounding
Entharion’s invasion and occupation of part of the Kingdom of Borphee.
Thanks in part to the decadent state of the current ruling dynasty of
Borphee and the shabby quality of their military forces, the Quendoran
Royal Army quickly gained control over a large section of the Borphee
peninsula, including the massive port city itself. However, due to
internal conflicts back home, the court at Largoneth was unable to
press home its advantage during that campaigning season, and utterly
failed to field an army the following year.
Counting its blessings and nursings its wounds, the ruling family of
Borphee, driven from its capital, retreated to the security of
Mauldwood. Unable to muster any serious counter-offensive against the
Quendoran forces, the exiled rulers focused their efforts on rebuilding
their kingdom. With a new southern focus, their domains stretched from
Mauldwood on the coast inland past the old territories of Pheebor to
the mountains, and south as far as the borders of Gurth, including
Accardi-by-the-Sea. This rump Kingdom of Borphee was approximately half
the size of the former state, leading the following generation of kings
at Largoneth to refer to the unconquered territories as “the
half-province that is Ours by right.”
In turn, the Borphee successor state to the south refused to recognize
the Quendoran conquest of their former territories, and although they
never again took up arms against the enemy, they showed their
opposition in other, more devious ways. Year after year, generation
after generation, the exiled royalty would issue edicts from their
Mauldwood fortress and distribute them to their former territories as
truly sovereign law. Further, the governors sent from Mauldwood to
administer the lands that were no longer theirs were very often
accepted by the city governments in the Quendoran lands. This was a
very peculiar situation, one in which Borphee Province was claimed and
occupied by Quendor but governed by officials from the Kingdom of
Borphee, a land that Quendor also claimed, but did not have the power
to occupy or govern. Needless to say, this entire situation
accomplished nothing but granting immense trouble and anxiety to many
generations of two different royal families until the reign of
Duncanthrax.
This “half province” set aside, the rule of Entharion the Wise brought
a semblance of peace to a war-torn land and began a dynasty that
reigned over the Kingdom of Quendor and its seven and a half provinces
for almost seven hundred years, spanning the majestic reigns of
fourteen benevolent monarchs.
Pseudo-Duncanthrax (660 GUE)
Drespo Molmocker had intended to impersonate Zilbo III, but trying to
replicate a thousand little queer personality quirks would have easily
tripped him up. Since Duncanthrax’s reign of less than a day was too
short to make his character widely known, it would not be suspected
that the Duncanthrax sitting on the throne was but a fraud. To ensure
his odd behavior was not detected, on the second day of what everyone
knew to be the new king’s reign, Pseudo-Duncanthrax began the task of
rounding up everyone that the real Duncanthrax had ever known. His
soldiers also seized all of the waifs and orphans, all the homeless who
lived on the streets, all the vagrants with no employment, and had them
enrolled in his prisons at Borphee. In the meantime, Pseudo-Duncanthrax
sought to additionally capture Zilbo III. Unable to escape from Borphee
due to the heavily guarded gates and streets that had been flooded
with the king’s soldiers since the coronation, Zilbo III went into
hiding behind the vast city walls until 665.
Forming of the Greater Borphee Province (660~2 GUE)
Quendor at the time of Zilbo III's removal from power was relatively
small, encompassing seven-and-a-half provinces divided along rather
arbitrary and outdated boundary lines dating from the time of Entharion
the Wise. These were Galepath, Mareilon, Quendor, Znurg, Vriminax,
Bozbar, Frobozz, and Borphee (which had remained divided since the
formation of the kingdom, ignored as too difficult to be worth the
trouble). In those days, the major products of this agrarian land were
rope and mosquito netting.
In the year 660 GUE, Pseudo-Duncanthrax raised a tremendous army to
wage a systematic conquest of the neighboring kingdoms, quickly reaping
a reputation for cruelty, bloodthirstiness and aggressiveness, thus
forever earning the nickname “The Bellicose King.” This vile ruler
moved swiftly and brutally against the southern half of Borphee and put
an end to the tottering and defenseless dynasty of Mauldwood. Finally
accomplishing the merger of the two halves, Pseudo-Duncanthrax called
the resulting territory Greater Borphee Province. This move began a
trend; one by one, the neighboring principalities of Miznia, Gurth, and
Mithicus were brought under Quendoran sway and given new provincial
administrations. Thus within three years, Pseudo-Duncanthrax ruled an
empire that controlled virtually all the land between the Great Sea and
the Kovalli Desert.
Gathering of Enchanters at Borphee (662~665 GUE)
Berknip, the famous necromancer of the seventh, eighth, ninth, and
tenth centuries who led a life designed to confound all attempts at
explanation, was born in the year 662 GUE. By the age of three, this
mere child had already given the world five new spells. Most wizards
had only dreamed of finding one, and already he was at par with the
great Bizboz. Although many scrolls had been passed down from the early
days of the Entharion Dynasty, there were few who still retained the
knowledge on how to compose such a magical document. The magicians of
these days primarily thrived upon these surviving scrolls and the works
of Bizboz and Dinbar.
Krepkit, one of the primary enchanters of the days, believed that
Berknip could potentially give magic back to the world. Not mere
tricks, like the tying of shoelaces, or even kindling a fire, but truly
magnificent magic. Krepkit summoned many others from all across the
Westlands to gather with him at Borphee in anticipation of this great
revival. In those days, this was the only place in all of Zork where a
group of wizards and enchanters had dared to come together to share
studies and do research. It was the only guild of its kind anywhere.
(This guild is not to be confused with the official Enchanters Guilds
which would not be formed until 680s, and the Borphee branch not
founded until the reign of Dimwit Flathead.) For the most part, it was
because wizards of those days were notoriously uncooperative, stingy
and private characters. Most of them would rather have given their
mothers the flu than to give away the secrets of a spell. Krepkit
helped design and build the Borphee guild hall. His dream was for
wizards’ guilds all over Quendor. But the schemes of Pseudo-Duncanthrax
were soon to place these academic achievements on hold.
Retaliation Against Antharia (665 GUE)
Fumed that the Antharia would dare to lay hold of his Empire by
assaulting Fort Griffspotter, Pseudo-Duncanthrax set his mind not only
to staging a counterstrike against the Antharian Armada, but an
invasion of the entire island-nation. But the king had a plan which
required both a vast navy, magical might, and a few sneaky tricks. He
put his best engineers to the task of creating a fleet of ships that
could overwhelm the Antharians. Those of the recently established
Borphee Guild of Wizards refused to be used as his weapons for
conquering Antharia. Knowing that the child Berknip was the heart and
soul of their guild, Pseudo-Duncanthrax took him prisoner. His ransom
for the return of their precious magician was their cooperation in the
upcoming battle against Antharia. Though they did not like
Pseudo-Duncanthrax any more than any other ruthless king, but while he
held Berknip hostage, he commanded their loyalty.
Perturbed by any notion of failure, Pseudo-Duncanthrax still feared
that the ones whom he had imprisoned because of their proximity to the
real Duncanthrax would spark rumors or escape to spread news of the odd
behavior of the king. To solve this anticipated dilemma, his dungeons
were emptied, and all captives found themselves chained to oars as
slaves for warships that would soon be bound for Antharia. But more men
were needed. Concurrently while his fleet was being hastily
constructed, Pseudo-Duncanthrax in collaboration with the man that he
appointed to be the Gatekeeper of Borphee, sat down to author a
compendium of new laws for the kingdom that were “written against
everything but picking your nose, and that will be illegal tomorrow.”
What follows are a few of the thousands of edicts:
Honor thy father and
thy mother, that they may remember you in their wills.
Thou shalt not commit adultery with ugly women, nor with ugly men, nor with
ugly combinations thereof. Neither shalt thou fornicate with farm animals, nor
with fundamentalist religious practitioners lest they multiply beyond their
number.
Thou shalt not steal unless thy income be already in the upper tenth
percentile.
It was made certain that the least infraction of any of these countless
city ordinances would result in dire consequences. It seemed that there
was not a single resident of Borphee that was not exempt from at least
a hundred of these laws. The finalized version was put into effect
during spring of 665. This edict was followed by more soldiers,
commonplace house-to-house searches, and a tremendous disappearance of
the populace as they were tossed upon his warships as needed. The great
metropolis was no longer the party place of Quendor that it had been in
the past, as whichever citizens the king elected, were arrested and
added to his ships’ crews.
Frobozz Magic Company Founded (668-03-19 GUE)
History tells us that with all Zork in his grasp and nothing left to
conquer, Pseudo-Duncanthrax founded the Frobozz Magic Construction
Company (the forerunner of the modern industrial giant FrobozzCo
International) to undertake his Great Underground Empire project this
project on Arch 19, 668 GUE. Pseudo-Duncanthrax required the energy of
the seven most powerful wizards of the Borphee Guild in unison with
every living being to complete his mammoth vision. In order to maintain
control of the Krepkit and the other six most powerful wizards, the
king continued to hold Berknip hostage, although he relocated the child
to Antharia, thereby manipulating them to use their powerful KATPIL
spells to move earth wherever he wished. The king coaxed the remainder
of the Borphean populace into laboring for the highways with a cache of
VAXUM scrolls. With both the wizards and almost every citizen of the
empire employed for the project, work quickly started on the new
underground tunnels and Pseudo-Duncanthrax began expanding downward in
both the eastern and western lands. The natural caverns in the eastern
lands would be expanded tremendously, and new caverns and passages
would be dug in the western lands, chiefly in the vicinity of Egreth
Castle and Borphee. This outset of this entire underground project
would later become known as the Great Labor.
The Guild Revolts (c. 873 GUE)
The last years of the reign of Idwit Oogle Flathead is a sad story
indeed. Due to an unexplainable disease that he had obtained, the king
made his home deep in the underground caverns to the north of the
Flathead Fjord, hoping desperately that the subterraneous hotsprings
there would be enough to nurse his unhealthy body back to life. Idwit
himself had never left the Eastlands to visit his older, more civilized
provinces, and for the last seven years of his reign, neither did any
of his public officials. The forces of government in the east became
increasingly concerned with nursing the health of the king and
preserving the safety of the eastern cities. When the Guild Revolts of
Borphee and Accardi erupted in 873, no troops were sent to quell the
violence. The naval garrison at Anthar had been given deployment
orders, but unbeknownst to the royal government, the soldiers there had
already risen in mutiny and seized the western half of the island.
The Revitalized City-States (883 GUE)
Following the disaster of Curse Day, entropy quickly took hold of the
surface world. Lands were torn by violence and discord. Faced with the
fact that Quendor was well past its prime, the once-great cities on
both continents became dens of misery and confusion; lands were torn by
violence and discord. With the final collapse of the Quendoran state in
the older provinces of the Westlands, the initial political evolution
of the area was characterized by a surprising rebirth of the ancient
city-states. Dating back over nine centuries from the ancient era
before Entharion, the cities of Quendor, Galepath, Mareilon and Borphee
all re-emerged as independent powers. Although Quendor would long
remain a neutral power, and Borphee itself would soon be reabsorbed by
the Quendoran Empire's successor state, Syovar’s Kingdom of Zork,
Mareilon and Galepath were to enjoy several generations of independent
power.
The old families of nobility that had long controlled Vriminax wasted
no time in solidifying an alliance with Quendor, its nearest neighbor
and the most ancient of the northern cities. By 884, the combined
militias of the two cities had occupied the western half of the former
Frobozz Province, under the notion that taking the territory would
provide a solid defensive zone between themselves and the already
growing tensions of Galepath and Mareilon. Borphee, in close
communication with Accardi, and more concerned with its mercantile
interests in Miznia and Gurth to the south, discarded the bulk of the
ruined empire to the north, creating an immense territorial vacuum
between Borphee and Mareilon.
After the Collapse of the First Age of Magic
Following the Collapse of the First Age of Magic in 966 GUE, the massive Borphee, emerging at the height of guild power in the
10th century as the new Quendoran capital, saw over the next one
hundred years a sudden and violent decline in population and
prosperity, the reasons for which still remain a mystery today.
OTHER INFO/TRIVIA:
The languages of Borphee and Pheebor share the same roots. In the
original dialect, only three different syllables were used, of which
Bor and Phee are two. Common etiquette forbade the same syllable from
being used more than once in any word. So the thousands of different
expressions came entirely out of the inflection that was used to speak
the 15 possible word combinations.
A Borphean song, originated during or before the Great Monster Uprising of the Second Age of Magic:
"Borphee's path lays over the ocean,
and some of it lays under the sea,
but while the river Borphee's still flowing,
it won't bring back
Borphee to me."
A Borphee baker makes Frobolli Cakes by flinging bits of dough into a hot oven.
The flower of Borphee is the compass rose.
The Borphee motto ("Borphee - fixum rixa poo nastic.") translates to "Borphee - better than you think."
Another motto, printed frequently on T-shirts, is "Borphee is for lovers."
Borphee had its own Surgeon General.
Borphee Ten-Frobizzit Run