LITBO MUMBLEHUM

Litbo Mumblehum, noted fourth and fifth century linguist and frobber was one of the hundreds of people One the hundreds of people employed by the Galepath University to organize and study piles of forgotten tomes that had yet to be analyzed and revealed to the world. As Chief Historian of the library, Litbo was responsible for overseeing every research project, and helping everyone, from the Elders of Eru to the youngest college student, find exactly what they needed amidst the piles of dusty manuscripts. While others enjoyed indoors, Litbo basked in the joy of his library. For years Litbo has been a fixture at the library, shuffling slowly down the corridors, occasionally muttering to himself, occasionally misplacing priceless manuscripts, and almost always forgetting to go home. Nighttime visitors to the library could sometimes find Litbo in a dusty corner, cuddled up with a candle and the ninth volume of social treatises by Farn Fzort. Although by 398 GUE many worried about Litbo’s failing memory, very few questioned his qualifications as one of the world’s most learned students of ancient writings.

When most of the youth his age had been off skin diving, and sometimes even glurking, in the far away waters of the sea, little Litbo had chosen to sneak off into the Galepath University Library. As a boy he had listed entranced to his father speak of his work in the archives.

Although 398 GUE put Litbo barely into his middle years, with most of his life ahead of him, it seemed probable that he would spend the rest of his days unmarried, for one simple reason. He did not understand women. Having learned everything he knew about the world from the library’s dusty old manuscripts, the dear little scholar had utterly neglected his education on the ways of the world, and when a beautiful woman crossed his path, he was utterly out of his element.

He knew Bizboz well; he and the librarian had often enjoyed long conversations on all sorts of topics. The youth’s enthusiasm and love of history intrigued Litbo, and he even secretly considered Bizboz to be his one and only protege.

In those days, some of the University’s linguistics professors requested permission to study some particularly obscure religious scrolls in hopes that new translation methods would prove more productive than ones used in the past, and it was Litbo’s job to locate the manuscripts, which was no easy task, and approve their removal from the library.


THE SACRED SCROLLS OF FIZBIN
In 398 GUE, a terrible illness struck Zylon the Aged, instilled by Endeth Belzgar, who had been possessed and controlled by the fallen Implementor Belegur. A minion of this evil being made a successful attempt at stealing the Sacred Scrolls of Fizbin from the library of Galepath University. Dodging the campus security, breaking carefully into the library complex itself, and finding the works of Fizbin, all of these stealthy deeds were pristine. Showing a surprising amount of intelligence and initiative, the thief made way with several other documents to confuse those who would eventually try to pick up the trail and follow it back to Belegur’s lair. These works included Entharion’s “Sleeping Your Way to Power” and the second volume on the life of Mysterion the Brave. It was not until the morning after the poisoning of Zylon the Aged that Litbo Mumblehum, the librarian, discovered that these three works were missing. Litbo’s report of the disappearance of these scrolls was only one of two things that reached the ears of Mayor Spildo that day, for rebellion was beginning in Mareilon.

The regents who had been left in charge of the kingdom could find no way to heal the unconscious Zylon. They realized that if they could locate the Pool of Stasis, the king might be preserved despite the absence of a remedy. Zilbo Throckrod (Zilbo I) and Dinbar sought the Sacred Scrolls of Fizbin at the Galepath University, which they believed contained the hidden location of this pool. When the two arrived, Litbo Mumblehum informed them that the Scrolls had been stolen. Zilbo returned to Largoneth, while Dinbar stayed behind with Litbo to see if there was any more information that could be found elsewhere within the library detailing the location of the Pool of Stasis.

In the meantime, Litbo reread the Scrolls of Kar'nai and realized that all of the signs taking place among the kingdom fit the fulfillment of one of their prophecies: A fallen Implementor meddling in human affairs. Quaking of the earth’s crust. Civil unrest. Mysterious invaders from a long-forgotten empire. And most compelling of all, the sudden illness of an aged king. The Great Brogmoid had given the first sign, shaking the world in warning of the events to come.

Dinbar teleported Litbo to Largoneth to share the information he had discovered. The librarian arrived just prior to the Quendor army's departure, who were marching to stop the rebellion which was taking place in Mareilon. Litbo explained to them the intentions of Belegur that they had discovered in the library books. It was then that they knew that Endeth had been under the power of Belegur. Endeth was ordered to be tracked down, while Zilbo and Litbo marched with General Griffspotter and the army south.

In pursuit of Endeth, General Griffspotter had changed the course of the march of the army many times so that Zilbo and his librarian friend might capture the servant and find their way to Belegur to regain the Scrolls of Fizbin. Their final march ended at the Jerrimore Plains where they found that both the Galepath and Mareilon armies had been destroyed by the Nezgeth tribe from the Kovalli Desert. General Griffspotter was killed by these tribal warriors and the rest of the Largoneth armies retreated at the command of Zilbo, who had been thrust into command of the Quendoran royal army.

Across the small gap that separated the two armies, Ath-gar-nel, the leader of the Nezgeth began spitting out orders at a furious pace. Again and again, several clusters of the Kovalli tribe broke loose and headed towards the royal army. Each time the Warrior held them back. For he knew that to fight again on that day would be unholy, a blasphemy against the gods, to try their patience. Soon the entire Nezgeth force waited peacefully.  Ath-gar-nel walked just within earshot of Zilbo and his company, crying out in a tongue foreign to them, all save Litbo (he had studied a variant of their dialect many years ago). When Litbo conversed with the Nezgeth leader in his own tongue, Ath-gar-nel assumed them to be “The Fathers from the East.”

Using Mumblehum as a willing intermediary, Zilbo managed to convince the Nezgeth Warrior to abandon his worship and join in conversation. Convinced he stood in the presence of the physical incarnation of generations of tribal legend, the Ath-gar-nel introduced himself haltingly and begged forgiveness for the ignorant attacks against the sacred Fathers from the East. Zilbo was more than willing to oblige. At first the Nezgeth had been hesitant to help in the work, almost none of their dead being counted in the number. However, Ath-gar-nel had insisted; they had slain the holy men from the east, and to dig their graves would be only fitting recompense for the misdeed. During the process, the Nezgeth captured Endeth.

Ancient prophecies told the Nezgeth that their goal lay deep underground, in caverns near the coast. Litbo realized that these Nezgeth were the ones who had been spoken in the Scrolls of Kar’nai and that Belegur could not be defeated without the help of a ‘desert tribe.’ He also realized that this prophecy describing Belegur’s lair as “a deep underground cavern where a river spills to the sea” matches with what the Nezgeth spoke about the cavern. The captain of the Lingolf Garrison, well versed in the geography of Quendor’s outlying areas, informed Zilbo of a fairly significant river that flowed to the sea not far to the south of the Jerrimore Estates, just a few day’s journey away. Satisfied, Zilbo turned to east, in the direction of the Great Sea, and began the march.

After days of hiking over proud hills and through ancient forests, the two armies finally reached the Griffspotter Caverns. It was then that Belegur completed the first stage of the gateway to the Timeless Halls. It soared with a crackling glow from the ground, surging upwards towards the heavens in one continuous strand of light.

Nearly half an hour later, the party found themselves at the base of the strange column of light. The mysterious river referred to in Litbo’s prophecies had been no more than a few hundred yards away from the campsite. Endeth began to feel the call of Belegur once again. In a massive spasm of strength, he threw away the arms of the careless Nezgeth captors and broke into a run. He entered a dank, hidden hole leading into the side of the hill.

The Lingolf garrison remained behind to guard the tunnel’s entrance while the Nezgeth followed Zilbo and the librarian boldly into the tunnel in search of what lay within. Deep and deeper they went, into the inky blackness of Belegur’s tunnels. They came to junction after junction, and each stretch of passageway was filled with side corridors and nearby rooms, as the explorers entered a more and more complex, self-contained universe. Litbo remarked that, “the caverns were undoubtedly natural, hollowed out by unknown centuries of tides, coastal winds, and the flow of the nearby river.” Although his analyses of other events are surely beyond reproach, his skill as a natural historian must be called into doubt. Eventually they spilled into a mammoth cavern filled with the same blue glow as the column. Amid the chaos of the underground, was scattered reading material and piles of fading scrolls and massive tomes, as well as an ornamental knife. And at the center was Belegur.

Litbo, keeping safely behind Belegur’s range of vision crossed to the middle of the chamber in an attempt to recover the Scrolls of Fizbin, but the fallen Implementor was not blinded by his advance. But at that distraction, Ath-gar-nel and the entire Nezgeth tribe struck in unison at Belegur. This further distraction broke his spell. Now locked in combat against the Nezgeth—one dark magician against an entire tribe—Litbo grabbed the Scrolls of Fizbin along with the other two missing manuscripts.

Though Belegur was able to hold them off alone, his efforts were divided. The blue column began to grow weak, flickering shakily with each further release of energy. In the process, not only was the Implementor successful at slaying Ath-gar-nel with a fabricated bloody axe, but Endeth was able to sneak up behind Belegur and destroy the current mortal vessel used by the Devil with a simple sacrificial knife. With him, the crackling pillar of light shattered, and a shower of blue fireworks tumbled to the cavern floor. The gateway to the Timeless Halls had closed and vanished. And so Litbo and Zilbo inched their way back to Quendor’s capital.

Immediately upon the defeat of Belegur, Zylon the Aged was instantly cured. He simply woke up and got out of bed and went right about his daily business as though he had never ailed.

Nearly two weeks later, Zylon the Aged, having read much in the Scrolls of Fizbin, completed constructing the gateway to the Timeless Halls. The suddenly blue beam of light that snapped into the night sky from the southwestern tower easily caught the gaze of Zilbo, Litbo, and Dinbar who were near the base of Signal Mount. When the trio arrived at Zylon’s room, they found the king laying motionless on the bed with his back resting comfortably on the soft blankets. His eyes were closed and his arms rested easily at his side, save the beginnings of the blue tunnel that sprang from his forehead. The spirit of Zylon rose out of and hovered above his body; it mirrored the likeness of the real king in every way, down to identical clothing and the smallest insignificant facial features. And with wordless smile, the spirit of Zylon the Aged moved into the stream of blue light and was gone, leaving only a motionless body. On a scrap of parchment, Zylon declared Zilbo the First as the Lord and Protector of Quendor.

Three months after Zilbo ascended to the throne, Litbo Mumblehum resigned his post at the Galepath University to accept at Zilbo’s request the position of royal advisor of Quendor. Before moving to Largoneth, the librarian passed on his estimable store of knowledge to an up-and-coming scholar of the mystic arts known to history as Bizboz of Galepath, who had already been enrolled at the university. Thus, due to a certain amount of instinct, good luck, and his own personal librarian, Zilbo was able to continue the work of the departed king Zylon, ensuring the long life of the Entharion dynasty and of Quendor itself.

Litbo Mumblehum is the author of several books, including "On the History of Language" (written sometime before 398 GUE), and "Prophet of the Northlands" (c. 400 GUE).