Previous editions of the Encyclopedia Frobozzica described the Oracle
of Bargth as a silly little legend. It is now known that deep
underground, near the former site of Flatheadia, lies an enormous
serpent's head, with a huge mouth hanging open in an expression of
insatiable hunger. The Oracle has four glowing eyes, and an enormous
ruby in the center of its forehead. In earlier days this Oracle offered bits of wisdom to believers, and even today those who command the power of Bargth can be transported to either Fublio Valley, Antharia, the Frigid River Delta, or the Gray Mountains--the destination is dependant on the amount of eyes which are glowing when entered. At one era of unknown length, the Oracle was inoperable. Its function was restored when the First Dungeon Master replace its giant moby ruby into its forehead on Curse Day of 883 GUE.
Those who have entered the oracle were enveloped with a giant hand swathed in a glove of black velvet. They report feeling disembodied as if there was no up and down, and as if they were standing motionless in time and space where a moment dragged out for a century, or that a century had flown by in a moment. After an immeasurable time, a stabbing pain, swirling lights, and dizziness, the appropriate destination was reached.
Although the number of glowing eyes determines the teleportation destination, to the natural eye, there is no indication of which eyes are glowing, only that they continue to simultaneously blink when another opens (or all four close to reset the sequence). To determine which eyes are active, the oracle is coupled with a strange amulet (which was recovered at the Great Underground Mountain in 883 GUE). This amulet, in the shape of a serpent's head has four eyes, which open or close in correlation with the activity of the oracle. Whenever the state of the oracle changes, the amulet glows deeply within for one brief moment. When the amulet was taken to Mirror Lake, its true magical properties were revealed: its reflection was suffused in a glow of amazing energies, while a vague ghost of a serpent's head floats over it; when a hand reached to touch the amulet, the mirror went blank.
The chamber where the Oracle of Bargth rests is irregularly shaped, hewn out of bedrock by untold ages of trickling waters. The walls are slimy, and shadows dance in the unlit crevices. A stream of slime drips sluggishly down an uneven tunnel which heads roughly upwards.
It may be of interest, that although the Oracle itself was not present, the Steppinthrax Monastery built a model of Bargth (not to scale) for display in their museum. Although the model was removed by 949, the sign was accidentally misplaced upon a model of the Ouroboros.