ZILBEETHA

This is one of the oldest and dearest legends in the annals of Quendor. Zilbeetha, a beautiful maiden, somehow angered an evil mage, and was placed under enchantment and turned into a crystal orb on the very day that she was to be wed. The heartbroken groom, who is always depicted holding a fragile bloom, sought help from the wizard's goodly twin who dwelt in a cave in the Flathead Mountains just south of the Fjord. The good wizard turned the groom to stone, that he might stay young until the day Zilbeetha was returned to him. The legend also has an ominous note; returning a false orb would result in death (which happened to many seeking to break the curse). A dull gray altar, inscribed with the single word "Zilbeetha," was set in the very center of room before the statue of that young groom. His face showed heartbreak and despair, with a single tear just beginning to slide down his cheek. Grasped in his hands was a frail flower; though made of stone, it was a thing of fragile beauty.

In the year 883 this legend was revealed to be true fact, and was concluded on a happy note. The adventurer who would eventually become the first Dungeon Master was able to find the orb of Zilbeetha deep underground in the Eastlands in a hidden room which had been rent open from a recent zorkquake. After the Mirror Lake had revealed the hidden magical properties of the orb, that it contained a beautiful young maiden in peaceful sleep, he returned it to the groom's statue, in the cave near the Flathead Fjord. When the orb was set on the altar, it glowed deep within, and a gentle chorus of angels began to swell. As the glow brightened to include the entire cave, the statue and orb disappeared, replaced by a young couple in wedding garb, in rapturous embrace. As the singing of the angels reached a crescendo, Zilbeetha and her lover receded from sight toward planes unknown and lived happily ever after, leaving a flower of incomparable fragility and beauty sitting on the altar. This flower, when placed in a vase at the Summer Castle in Fenshire, was able to open a secret passageway.