The Crystal Book

Now Witnessa the sacred record of Wima the Illiper, scribe to the court of King Filbin, defender of the Illiper Realm.

Hear me, while I tell of a Golden Age when all Grundo prospered, a time of great discovery and understanding. Illipers lived in peace with their great neighbors in the Hard-to-find City. Safe inside the Hard-to-find City were it's peaceful inhabitants. Well protected were they from the menace from the north, safe in the arms of the mighty Wall of Ying. Then, in the history of our people came the greatest achievement of our time; the six crystals of Grundo, and those who gaze upon them should know this: only the pure of spirit may find the treasure of knowledge therein.

Now continues the written record of Wima the Illiper, humble scribe to the court of King Filbin, defender of the Illiper Realm. In the twentieth year of King Filbin's reign we journeyed to the Hard-to-find City seeking aid from an older civilization. A great drought had stripped our land of crops. King Filbin offered tribute and begged for help to save his subjects from starvation. We were overwhelmed by the kindness of the inhabitants of that place. They revealed to us the wonders of their city and the power of their amazing crystals. They constructed vast underground aquaducts to carry water. Our kingdom was saved by the knowledge of the Kind Ones, for that is how we called them. And when the Kind Ones ran out of farmland of their own, they did not make war upon their neighbors, but developed underwater farming techniques and grew food at the bottom of Leekee Lake. They gladly shared their surplus food with their lesser neighbors. Thus it was that the peanut and a leafy green called "Lake Lettuce" became staple food throughout Grundo. The seventh crystal made it possible for the Kind Ones to store knowledge in the Memory Library. In it the acheivements of this great civilization were recorded.

But desolation and depair have swept the land. The dreaded Gutang warriors have captured the Hard-to-find City. Even now the Kind Ones are escaping. Some head north; the remainder go south with Theodore the Wise, leader of the city. The seventh crystal has been stolen; the six others are already in the hands of the Gutangs, but Theodore holds the key. Without his half of the medallion, the Gutangs will never gain the power of the crystals.

Now I must flee. Farewell on your southern journey, Theodore. I will always remember your words: Only the pure of spirit may find the treasure of knowledge; those words that are the heart and soul of the great Illiop civilization.