I’ve yet to even encounter a frog in Fallen London and so I think I might as well write a short story about something I’ve yet to see. Enjoy!
Being a frog is hard in Fallen London. Despite the fact that there are plenty of frost-moths to feed off and the marshes of Fallen London are just perfect for amphibian life, there are simply too many predators for there to be a free feed at any time of day. As a result, the frogs of Fallen London must be sure to take to the most extreme of caution when leaving their frog dens in the marshes. Darting their tongues out to catch a frost-moth may leave them dangling helplessly by their tongue in a frog-trap the next moment. Sorrow-spiders are also a dangerous from of prey, for they live in massive nests and it’s hard to catch them off guard.
The Zee-monsters will eat them on sight if they venture too far out of the marshes. The rats of Fallen London, particularly the Rattus Faber- also known as the L.B.s – are known for hunting the frog population on various occasions. The L.B.s can often kill a dozen at a time during their raids on the marshes, using their dynamites and pickaxes to fight against the frogs. The large rats that live in the marshes are renowned for eating frogs whole.
But perhaps the worst of all is the Londoners themselves, or rather a particular group of them. The rooftop-urchins often hunt for frogs if there are not enough pickings for the day. The scientists are constantly requiring new samples of frogs for dissection, despite the fact that they already have live people for use; but then again, not everyone is capable of lying very still while a pair of tweezers are poking around their innards…
Rumor has it that frog is a delicacy among the tomb-colonists. Frog legs fried in fresh sauce and whatnot. Some say that Mr Wines adds frog blood to his wines for the extra ‘kick’. Others say that the rat-catchers and anarchists use frogs for target practice. Mudlarkers can sometimes find frogs washed upon the shores of the Stolen River and end up taking them home for frog broth or selling them to others; such as Mr Wines and the urchins.
“Ah… What’s this then?” A fairly rounded zailor asked his companion.
His companion knelt down as studied the object. “It’s one of them blasted frogs again.”
“Well,” the round zailor said, belching as the effects of wine reached his mouth, “get it off the d_ _m ship. The cargo mustn’t be tampered with.”
His companion stood up to his full height and aimed a kick at the frog, sending it sailing over the gunwale and overboard, only to be snatched out of the air by a zee-monster.
edited by K00 on 7/2/2019
RIBBIT
Ah…
Interesting…
I take it that these don’t live in the marshes?
[quote=K00]Ah…
Interesting…
I take it that these don’t live in the marshes?[/quote]
Actually knot-oracle spawn live in Bugsby’s Marshes. You can hunt them during De Gustibus, so yeah, life’s pretty hard for a frog.
[quote=Psyche Labyrinth]
Actually knot-oracle spawn live in Bugsby’s Marshes. You can hunt them during De Gustibus, so yeah, life’s pretty hard for a frog.[/quote]
It’s not that easy being green :)
Edit: Which i guess technically means oracles have it easy
Oh sorry, and I forgot to say, K00, I liked your story-passage very much. It reminds me of a Bestiary entry. More of those for the Zee’s wondrous creatures would be very cool…hint… set to forum writers…hint… :)
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edited by Charlotte_de_Witte on 1/23/2016