More than 90 years
have passed since the great wizard Megaboz cast the Curse
which destroyed Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive along with
other members of the ruling family, the Twelve Flatheads.
Now, the Curse threatens to bring down the Great Underground
Empire itself!
Wurb Flathead,
the current occupant of the throne, has sent a clarion to
call to the remotest corners of the Empire; half the riches
of the kingdom to the person who can allay the Curse. From
every province of Quendor, courageous adventurers, scheming
charlatans, and wild-eyed crack-pots have streamed into the
Imperial Capital of Flatheadia.
You are one such
treasure-seeker, a peasant from an unhead-of village in an
obscure province. However, you have an important advantage:
an ancector of yours, a servant in Dimwit's court (who you'll
"play" during a brief prologue), witnessed Megaboz
casting the Curse, and obtained a small scrap of wizardly
parchment from the mage's pocket.
This parchment
scrap has been passed down from generation to generation,
and is now in your possession. Thanks to it, you know what
none of the other would-be Cursebusters know; you alone know
what must be done to stop the Curse!
By the time of
your arrival at Flatheadia, most of the treasure-seekers have
given up and returned to their homelands. In fact, you discover
that most of the population, including all figures of authority,
have fled to distant provinces. And when you awake on the
hard floor of the castle on Curse Day, you find that even
the looters and the most persistent adventurers have departed.
In fact, as you
begin your desperate quest to finde the relics of the Empire
you need to stop the Curse, your only company is the court
jester, who spins rhymes for your amusement. Always appearing
when you least expect him, the jester will confront you with
riddles and games,spring some deadly tricks, and give you
helpful nudges in the right direction. And throughout, he
seems to be laughing at some tremendous joke which you can't
begin to fathom...
Zork Zero is the
prequel to the Zork Trilogy, one of the most popular, best-loved
computer games ever written. Zork Zero takes you back to the
age of the Flatheads, where you can glimpse the Great Underground
Empire during its heyday, and witness its monumental fall.
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