 IMAGE01: Palantirs disappearing in smoke IMAGE02: Bivotar getting the palantirs in submerged room |
The Three Palantirs of Zork are three crystal spheres of legendary power, each shining with an inner light of its own: the first one fiery red, the second glowing blue like a perfect summer sky, and the third one a shimmering white. Gazing into one sphere allowed one to see the surroundings of the next palantir in sequential order. Because of their nature, it was not directly a two-way communication system, nor three-way. It is known that the order can be changed, though how this is done is unknow. At one time the one peering into the white sphere would see the surroundings of the blue; and peering into the blue, the red; and into the red, the white. This sequence later changed to red, to blue, to white, to black, to red (either by the influence of the black crystal sphere or sometime before). These spheres, when combined, also had the power to summon the Warriors of Zork.
Sometime between 783~883 GUE, these spheres were hidden behind a secret wall in the Flood Control Dam #3's maintenance room. According to Ellron, the map to find the three Palantirs was stolen around the beginning of the ninth century. After the fall of the Empire, knowledge of their purpose was found written on the mysterious trophy case in the White House: "Only when the Three Palantirs of Zork are returned to this case can the evil be driven from the land and the Great Underground Empire rise once more." The crisis of Krill's invasion made it essential for Syovar to recover these spheres.
Bivotar and Juranda came across the missing map in the Dungeon of Zork beneath the White House, which helped them uncover the spheres at the Flood Control Dam #3. When Syovar placed the palantirs into the trophy case, spoke the inscription, and then recited a spell, an arc of light leapt between the three spheres and grew to encompass the entire room. The Warriors of Zork were summoned. After the Warriors had defeated the armies of Krill, they disappeared along with the Palantirs, which left behind only piles of black ash. Syovar believed that they had too much power for one mortal to control and were best left for the gods.
Despite the king's ignorant claim that they had served their purpose and existed no more, the three palantirs were transported to chambers elsewhere beneath the White House where in 948 GUE the Second Dungeon Master later came upon them. One account tells us, that the red crystal sphere was found in a secret ledge within the coal slide, the white sphere in a cage in a machine room at the top of a well, and the blue one near the Bank of Zork. A second account tells us that the Second Dungeon Master was able to find the red one in the cage in the machine room, the blue one near a dragon's lair, and the clear one in held in possession of the Wizard of Frobozz in the aquarium of his pet sea serpent.
While the mystery has not yet been fully solved, when the Wizard of Frobozz captured a demon in a black crystal sphere, this sphere, although not a palantir, was somehow linked with the three. Expired adventurers near the crystals sometimes found their soul trapped within one of the palantirs or the black crystal prison sphere, with magical walkways between them. It was the powerful demon who had the ability to return the trapped souls of these adventurers to the world of life, if he thought he might find use of them in gaining his freedom.
When the Second Dungeon Master placed the three palantirs on their respective stands (ruby, diamond, sapphire) in the Wizard of Frobozz's workroom, a low humming noise began. The three spheres began to vibrate faster and faster as the noise became higher and higher. Three puffs of smoke, one red, one blue, one whire, rose up from empty stands. The spheres were gone, but in the center of the triangle formed by the stands was now a black stand of obsidian in which rested the black sphere which held the demon imprisoned. It is uncertain what became of the spheres afterward.