GREMLIN
The gremlin is mischievous and mechanically oriented, with a specific
interest in aircraft. Many airmen claim that the gremlins were
responsible for sabotaging their dirigibles and hot-air balloons.
Gremlins are members of the
Supernatural and Fantastic Wayfarers
Association.
GREMLIN INVASION OF THE GREAT MONSTER UPRISING
The
Great Monster Uprising of the
Second Age of Magic saw the most infamous of all gremlin invasions. On one
Birthday, a horde of gremlins originating from
Gurth
infiltrated the domains of the Implementors, where they began to tinker
with the great machines that the Implementors used to run our world.
Parameters were tweaked and the behavior of monsters were altered. The
Implementors
were the first to notice these anomalies when abominable snowmen were
seen wandering the hottest deserts, mucusoids were drying out, and
grues were spotted sunbathing. While these were fixed quickly, the
massive amount of changes needed to be reverted was massive. The
Implementors were overburdened with trying to fix all of the damage
caused by these sneaky villains. (Some historians have speculated the
the Implementors purposefully knew about the gremlins and allowed them
to roam their domain in order to be entertained by the random
calamities which befall the mortals on the surface below.)
Almost
every day for two weeks, the gremlins would change things subtlely
enough that many of them went unnoticed by the Implementors. Thus these
demi-gods hired any adventurer that would heed their call to find them.
Knowing that they would be required to explore every corner of
Zork
to uncover these disturbances, the Implementors handed out tremendous
magical rewards that granted temporary endurance so that they could go
out and find more. All located gremlins were flattened with an insanely
oversized mallet.
On that first Birthday, one gremlin was
responsible for the disabling of traps, mazes, and puzzles from many
regions all across Zork, with an exception of most dungeons and
underground locations. As the lack of these snares was favorable to all
adventurers of the time, there was much cursing and lamenting
throughout all the world when this gremlin was smitten by the
Implementors. The other had the profound effect of causing
snow wights,
Christmas tree monsters, and
abominable snowmen to tread the
White Cliffs Beach without melting (and additionally to prey upon the other monsters present in the region).
The next day (
Frob Day), the influence of the gremlins had caused rebel
nymphs to overrun the
Dark Forest and a band of
dryads to steal
Terazarg. By
Star Day,
the Implementors, following the leads of adventurers, found where
the dryads had hid their big shiny weapon and confiscated it. The
survivors armed themselves with painted sticks and tree trunks. But in
the meantime, new gremlins were unleashed on the world which inspired
dragons to leave their territory and migrate into the
Granola Mines, while
Yoruk's First of Fury began to spout fire.
It
took the next two days and heavy work to route the dragon infestation
out of the mines. But new gremlins were on the loose that
Mud Day. The
Port Foozle Drunk was infused with a temporal ability to teach two alternate skills,
“Houdouken”
instead of “Dutch Courage” and “Falcon Punch” instead of “Headbutt.” The age restriction was dropped in the Port Foozle Casino, allowing minors to enter.
By Grues Day
morning, the Drunk had been told off for teaching people these
forbidden skills, and the underage visitors of the casino were forced
out. But in the city of Borphee, a powerful gremlin ousted the Witch
from her home for the remainder of the day, where it instead taught new
magical tricks in her place. Elsewhere, invasive species were seen at
the Flathead Fjord: dragons, quelbees, corbies, giant toads and giant crocodiles
were predators to several of the following species, rendering them extinct until
they could be replaced by the Implementors the following day: apemen, cyclops, dornbeasts, hellhounds, horrors, mucusoids, giant slugs, ogres, nymphs.
(Possibly unrelated to the gremlins, lucksuckers were thought to have
permanently moved into the Port Foozle Casino on this same day, but
they were only seen there temporarily.)
A new pair of gremlins ran around causing havoc on Wands Day.
The functions of certain offensive spells were changed (the names of least five were once
recorded down). A gremlin who took pleasure in lurking underground was
responsible for alerting the authorities to the whereabouts of the
infamous pirate, Long Jim Zorkmid, who was then quickly detained and imprisoned in the Antharian Caves for his crimes against Anatharian shipping. He cleverly escaped the following day.
Late
of the night the second Birthday of the infestation, the gremlins of
the previous day were safely removed, but two fresh villians were
running around waiting to be discovered. Rocs were morphed into big
birds while the FrobozzCo Premium Nametag was altered into the
FrobozzCo Premium Gremlin.
The second Frob Day, the occupations of various adventurers were altered, while cyclops
were suddenly inspired with a rare notion of politeness -- the signs
they carried about read "Pardon?" instead of "I can't hear you!"
These gremlins were not located until Sand Day.
Reports of
gremlins abounded on Sand Day. Snow wights, Christmas tree monsters,
and abominable snowmen were once again enhanced with the ability to
tread warm climates without melting. They settled in the Peltoid Valley
for the day. It was discovered elsewhere that Gurth was a source of
gremlins for all the land. While this source was clogged and the
gremlin infestation ended, the final two gremlins were not detected
until Mud Day. These two creeping pests distributed candy canes to
nymphs and defamed the Magnificent Bozbarland Zorkmid Lottery. When the two were detected and caught, the invasion had ended. The machines were completely restored and all aberrancies were mended.
| SOURCE(S): The Zork Chronicles, Legends of Zork |