Text of Infocom Memo Distributed November 28, 1984
Once upon a time, in the little kingdom of Infoproduction, good King Brogmus looked out from the window of his castle, across the goldfish-filled moat, and saw that a danger threatened the land â a danger in the form of the terrible dragon Backlog.
So King Brogmus met with his wise men, and his soothsayer cut open a floppy disk and spilled its entrails to get a reading of events to come. Finally, after many days, the king emerged from the catacombs of his castle with a plan.
And the king's heralds went forth throughout the land, stopping at every mailbox and calling for volunteers to slay the dragon. And though Backlog was huge and terrifying, volunteers poured forth from every village and every department to battle the monster.
Good King Brogmus, and his brave knight Sir Eric, led battle after battle against the mighty dragon, and each time they wounded it deeply, but each time it rose to threaten the kingdom again. Then, one day, following the greatest and most tiresome battle of all, after the dragon had suffered sixty thousand wounds (plus another six thousand wounds in its sampler and twenty thousand wounds in its invisiclues), it roared a final bellow of fire and expired. The kingdom was safe at last.
And the people rejoiced, and ate dragon meat, with stuffing and cranberry sauce, while the king consulted with his advisors once again. And the king made a wise decision to halt the battles, for he knew that even though volunteers were still streaming in from every corner of the land, to continue the campaign might only arouse the equally terrifying dragon Overstock.
So the heralds went forth throughout the land, thanking the good people of the kingdom for their help and their courage. And King Brogmus looked out across the moat, content in the knowledge that Backlog would never threaten the kingdom again, and everyone lived happily ever after.
Until the next Christmas season???

This article appeared in
New Zork Times, The
Jan-Mar 1985
These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.