 WEST SHANBAR, 1647 GUE West Shanbar (A) / (B) / (C) / (D) / (E) Art: (1) / (2) / (3) / (4) / (5) / (6) / (7) / (8) Town Hall, Ext. (A) / (B) / (art) Town Hall, Int. (low) / (high) / (art) Town Hall, Filing Cabinet / (art1) / (art2) / (art3) School House, Ext. (A) / (B) / (C) / (art) School House, Int (A-low) / (A-high) / (B) / (art) Rooper's Pawn Shop, Ext. (A) / (B) / (art) Rooper's Pawn Shop, Int. (A1) / (A2) / (high) / (art) Rooper's Pawn Shop, Cash Register (art) Hardware Store, Ext. (low) / (high) / (B) / (art) Hardware Store, Int. (low) / (high) / (art) Hardware Store, Crate Old Mill, Ext. (low) / (high) (see Boos Myller) Under Bridge (low) / (high) / (C) / (D) / (art1) East Shanbar (ruins) (A) / (B) / (artA) / (artB) New West Shanbar (underground): (A-low) / (A-high) / (B) / (art1) / (art2) New Mill, Ext. (A) New Mill, Int. (art) East Shanbar (displaced underground) (A-low) / (A-high) / (B) / (C) / (D) Art: (1) / (2) / (3) / (4) / (5) / (6A) / (6B) / (7) / (8) Boats for Sail Inn of Isenough General Store, Ext. (A) / (art1) / (art2) General Store, Int. (low) / (high) / (artA) / (artB) / (artC) Moodock's Arms and Armaments Blacksmith Shop Ext. (low) / (high) / (artA) / (artB) (before transported under) Int. (low) / (high) / (art) Incinerator (low) / (high) / (art1A) / (art1B) / (art2) Looking south from New Mill (low) / (high) Looking north from Whispering Woods (art) Underground original Keep ruins east of Shanbar (A) / (B) Panarama view from Lighthouse (art1) / (art2) Northern River & Frozen River Terran Map |
The twin cities of East and West Shanbar sprung up in the Valley of the Sparrows by the 980s GUE, as one of the many newly-born settlements which recreated the geography of the east after the collapse of the First Age of Magic in 966. Over time, the cities, which were merely divided by the Northern River, grew and by the 1600s, included the historic Inn of Isenough, a general store, Moodock's Arms and Armaments, a blacksmith's shop, a boat rental, an incinerator, Shanbar Hardware, a pawn/gift shop owned by Rufus Rooper, a city hall, a mill, a locksmith, West Shanbar Public School #1 (part of the Greater Shanbar School District), and IT&L Headquarters Building. Beneath IT&L the part of the village was even developed as West Shanbar Vacation Village Resort.
In the 1640s, Morphius' consciousness grew so powerful that it began to exert a magical effect on the nearby Shanbar villages. One at a time, local buildings and their occupants vanished and reappeard underground in a mysterious subterranean parallel. First went the Inn, then the General Store, then Moodock's Armory and IT&L Headquarters disappeared.
The Road to the South joined West Shanbar with the Northern River Lightouse in the north (which was originally a keep). Prior to the curse of Morphius, most of Shanbar lay closer to the lightouse/keep. But as the entirety of East Shanbar (along with the eastern half of the village bridge) vanished, many of the West Shanbar buildings were dislocated further southward, leaving only a few structures of the western end of the village in their original locations: the Mayor's Office, the Schoolhouse, the Pawn Shop, the Hardware Store, and the Old Mill.
Illumynite lighted the new underworld and the transported people did not seem to mind. And over time, more structures above ground would find their way below. The countless bloits of cavern that had been abandoned and dismissed as legend for almost four hundred years were once again thrown open to colonization and economic development.
Burdened beneath the curse of Morphius, the crops quickly failed and the cattle weakened. People left the once fertile valley. Those who stayed became overweight or skinny, and seemed to lose their spirit. A curse settled in various patches across the valley, which the natives called "Dead Zones"; one such region plagued the Road to the South, caused all who ventured between the lighthouse to instantly perish; another dwelt to the west of the village, and one may also have divided the original village with the discolated one further south, as it appears there was no communication with them. And the introduction of the flocks of vultures which carried people off, and the constant dreams Morphius instilled into the populace caused almost everyone to abandon the valley. Underground, the evil entity had enslaved most of the people from East Shanbar to mine translumynite at the Cliffs of Depression in order to build his new empire.
Although the land was a stronghold of the enemy in 1647, this did not stop activities: Rooper continued taking groups night spelunking in the underground caverns, there was motor boating, nightly dancing at the Vacation Village, group sing-alongs under the moon in the Forest of the Spirits, and a contest at Chuckle's Comedy Club (although the journey thence was a source of great risk).
In Mumberbur of 1647, an unknown Sweepstakes Winner managed to defeat Morphius and pave the way for the Second Great Diffusion. With Morphius and the evil magic scattered, the vultures were removed and the village regained its fertility.
There also seems to be vague references (discovered c. 945 GUE) to a possible South Shanbar.
ZORK PATENTS & COPYRIGHTS FILED BY SHANBAR RESIDENTS, INCLUDES:
- Rooper's Illumynite Batteries
- Canuk's "Orb-it" Interface
- Moodock's TeleOrb Manufacturing Process
- Wizard Wollack's Orbs
- Rebecca Snoot's Illumynite Nail Polish & Lipstick
- Farmer Snoot's Grain-U-Later
- Keeper's Rotating Lighthouse Beamer
- Dwarven Illumynite Helmets
- Dwarven Illumynite Meltdown process.
- "Illumi-nike Sneakers" for joggers.
- Fairydust-Buster (cleaning tool).
- "Knots of Luck" (how-to book by Ben Fyshin) .
- "Female Bog Wrestling" video tape.
- "Skipping Rocks on the Lake of Tears" (poetry).
- Auto Hat Tipper mechanism.
- Illumynite-lites.