MITHICUS

Mithicus is a small, mountainous province in the southlands sandwiched between Gurth and Miznia in the Westlands is said by some to be the birthplace of the Quendoran civilization. The Mithicus Mountains, stretching all the way into the frigid regions beyond the Northlands, separate Quendor from Kovalli, and are home to a thriving settlement of platypi and are a haven for minx hunters.

This province is renowned for its fine artisans, including pottery making, basket weaving, and glurking. The greatest works of art and music have all come from Mithicus. Its cities, having been crafted by rose marble unique to the southern valley area of Mithicus, gleam with fantastic and beautiful structures. These breathtaking sights, combined with numerous other outdoor activities, such as scuba-diving in the Sea of Mithicus (although many say the beaches of Greater Borphee are far superior), have made the entire region a beacon for tourists and vacations. In fact its nickname, along with Gurth, is the Vacation Province. Research has shown that the best place for lodging in Mithicus is the No-Frill Inn.

Mithicus is known for its fine academic establishments, including the Mithican Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Mithicus Province University.

The provinces of Gurth and Mithicus are governed jointly from Gurth City by an informal board of 13,000 citizens that meets three times each day to settle disputes and ratify the provincial budget. The flower of the twin provinces is the Morgia, and their motto is, "Utribiz oomum flaxil zobs" ("Don't eat moldy bread").

IMAGE: An ancient villa on the outskirts of Mithicus.

GURTH & MITHICUS PROVINCE STATS (873 GUE)
Population: 2,883,190
Land Area: 21,545 square bloits


TRIVIA:
Some Mithican creationist legends contend that the founding of the Great Underground Empire itself is the result of one colossal malpractice of High Magic use. Despite that this theory has been disproven, it has not yet been discredited among certain sects of Mithicans.

Blasterberry Street is a well-known street in Mithicus.


HISTORY OF MITHICUS
When the entire world of Zork was judged by the hand of Eru and the Frobeolithic Glacier Epozz was ushered in, the only humans to survive were those which would become known as the Mithicans. Their seed continued to multiply throughout the the next several centuries. Frequently these men were visited by spirits of the Supernatural and Fantastic Wayfarers Association, who tried to convince them that they were holy gods (rarely these spirits did reveal their true evil persona), sharing their names with them and demanding their adoration in exchange for favorable season of crops, or promised victory in war. These pseudo-gods perused those who were most devoted, teaching them how to call upon them by name and how to utilize their supernatural powers. This event was the foundation of evil magic among mortals.

While several of the residual families broke off to different regions, a majority of the humans had congregated in primitive huts along the outskirts of the Miznia Forest, wore vulgar loincloths, and derived entertainment from sitting around bonfires, yelling and hollering at the sky. While many of the developing families after the disaster were duped into following these so-called gods, a remnant who still followed the ways of The One handed down through his messengers, broke away from these deceived tribes, seeking to pitch the rudiments of what would become known as Borphee and Pheebor. It would be many centuries before these two cities would ascend beyond incessant grunting and form the first semblance of society.

It has always been quietly acknowledged by some of the more progressive enchanters that the linguistical root of magic, commonly known as the Old Tongue, is the same language once used by the Mithican tribes. This was quite a scandalous assertion when it first surfaced, during the early ninth century. Many conservative guild members felt that it was blasphemous to attribute such credit to a group of people who had been perceived as savage and culturally inconsequential up to that point, who could not possibly have developed such an enlightened understanding of the universe. But the words of the renowned historian, Ozmar, in 821 GUE, held sway. “The ancients of our kind were nearer to knowing the truth about science than those who we call scientists today.”

Before the guild of anthropologists made their discovery, the Mithican dialect was thought to have survived only by the title of the game, Snarfem, a common source of entertainment along the streets of major cities. All that was known about this mysterious group was that they lived apart from the relatively metropolitan areas of Borphee and Pheebor.

It is now known, however, that the seemingly awkward, runic words used by sorcerers and enchanters to invoke magic spells during the age of thaumaturgy are the same words that were incorporated into every day Mithican life. Magic flowed through the Mithican people with amazing intensity. Virtually everything that was said by a tribesperson had the accidental side effect of invoking some potentially dangerous spell. This is thought to have caused many problems for the Mithicans, and is probably the reason for their disappearance around the time of 800 BE. It is also an excellent demonstration of the perils inherent in magic usage.

In any case it is estimated that around 800 BE, some great disaster fell upon this empire. Most anthropologists today term the disappearance of the Anatian Empire as a “goof-up of the first order.” Some speculate it was the wrath of the pseudo-gods in retribution at the intrusions into their domains. But the one in which almost all historians unanimously agree upon had to do with this Empire being the crown of the Mithican tribes.

Since the Mithican tongue had been formed from the elements of magical incantations, the mysterious disappearance was most likely the accidental side effect invoking some potentially dangerous spell, namely one of transformation. All in one sudden stroke, every member of the ruling family, and large segments of the population as a whole, were transformed without warning into platypi. With the rulers of the kingdom stuck in Mithicus and Antharia in the feeble isolation of newly-born platypi, all form of order and civilization in the lands in between came to a sudden halt. In a matter of minutes, the empire collapsed, only to survive in distant and obscure legends.

Local tradition narrates that the three cities of Gurth, Mithicus and Miznia all lived together in harmony beneath the Anatian Empire. If the Great Platypus Transformation (800 BE) is correct, then some of the inhabitants of the Southlands may be survivors that managed to escape the curse. This would for instance explain why most residents of the Mithicus area suffered for many centuries from acute platypophobia, a fear that culminated in the annual sacrifice of any platypi unfortunate enough to wander down the mountainside. The small remnant of humans multiplied and grew into the modern Quendoran cities, which would be later renamed Mizniaport, Gurth, and Mithicus.

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.

The cities in the Southlands were notoriously poor at chronicling their own histories, and thus the several centuries of time before the invasions of Pseudo-Duncanthrax (early 660s) have generally been lost to the mists of time. After conquering Mauldwood, and merging it into the province of Greater Borphee, one by one, the neighboring principalities of Miznia, Gurth, and Mithicus were brought under Quendoran sway and given new provincial administrations. The forms of local government to be found in the Southlands in the 9th century were in all likelihood direct descendants of the original systems that had been in place for hundreds of years before their incorporation into greater Quendor. In fact, Duncanthrax was well-known for preserving local systems of government in areas that he otherwise felt inclined to destroy entirely.

Following the disaster of the Curse of Megaboz in 883 GUE, 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. The older provinces of the Westlands were characterized by a surprising rebirth of the ancient city-states as divided in the ancient era before Entharion. 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.

One of the many portals leading to the Bozbarland arena was installed during the Great Monster Uprising..