The Tale Of Toadtown
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: The Tale of Toadtown
Author: Tabitha
This story begins with a young princess, who was spiteful of her fathers strong rule over her.
She was a typical young woman, filling her day with sigh filled dreams of the day when she would at last meet her prince who would rescue her and whisk her away from her dreadful father. She spent many a day strolling thru the forests of Sosaria speaking to the animals that would come along her path.
One day, she chanced upon a toad.
She crouched down to study the peculiar animal as he seemed to be doing the same to her. "What are you starring at so intently I wonder" she questioned to herself and was astounded when the Toad responded.
"In all my time on this earth, I have never seen one so beautiful as you" he replied. "Silly Toad, she giggled, " I've heard the tale of your kind."
"Whatever do you mean Princess? Can you not accept a compliment without doubt? the Toad asked. The Princess giggled again, "Don't tell me you haven't heard the tale of the Frog Prince? she questioned.
"I have no desire to kiss a frog or a toad for that matter" she added.
"Ahhhhhh you are referring to that child's fable of my cousin" the Toad replied. "But I am no Prince, I am however the Mayor of a serene little town not far from here. If you would be so kind as to join me in a stroll, I could take you there and show you. You may well be impressed by the friendliness and the beauty of our little community."
The Princess found herself amused yet intrigued as the toad continued to speak of his little town. She could not deny that she was not curious as to what this talking toad spoke of, so being a curious and spiteful girl, she agreed, knowing this would not meet the approval of her father.
During the stroll, the Toad introduced himself as Nebiros, the only son of a poor blacksmith, whose father sacrificed his life to fight for his continued to speak of his little town. She could not deny that she was not curious as to what this talking toad spoke of, so being a curious and spiteful girl, she agreed, knowing this to continue his story by questioning how he came to be mayor.
"Well let me tell you," the toad grinned again, happy to move on from the sad memories of his past. "My father raised me with the belief that strong will and determination will take you far in this world, along with the courage to fight for what you believe.
As a young toad, I earned my keep making barding deeds for the local swampies, along with some of the finest weapons in sosaria for our fearless warriors. My skill with the hammer soon became legend, and with that there came fame and money. You would think that the story would end here, but alas it does not as ours is a cruel world, driven by malicious intent of some too lazy to acquire things on their own.
With the increasing notoriety of our town, came the attraction of thugs and never do wells, and I myself became the target of many attempts of my life and finances.
This encouraged me to run as Sheriff of Toadtown, swearing to clean up and bring back peace to our humble town. In the years that followed, I then decided to run for mayor, at the request of the towns people...which takes us to where we are today.
"That is indeed quite the tale" the Princess replied, " and you must be very proud and satisfied with your life"
"As happy as I am now, this story has still to come to an end, and cannot be called a happy one until I fulfill the one thing I have been looking for all this time. A man can make build his home and keep it safe, but with no one to return to each night I cannot consider my life complete." The toad continued, admitting that he had been raptured by the Princess' beauty since the first day he spotted her during one of her strolls through the forest, and that he would search out for her each day for the chance of a glimpse of her. It was something about her voice and the peaceful expression that had captured his heart at first glance. He had vowed to himself from that very day that he would find a way to make her his bride.
The Princess giggled with a slight blush on her cheeks, surprised that she could be so flattered by a Toad, but his words seemed so sincere. The two found themselves nearing the outskirts of the small town and as soon as her eyes gazed upon the town, a sense of peacefulness filled her.
" Is there anyone else here but you?" she asked, seeing no one in sight.
"Of course" the toad croaked "but remember the story I told you of the Thugs and Thieves?
Well in order to protect our people. we all learned the trait of hiding and stealth, so we could move about unbeknownst to the scum that used to lurk our streets. But do not think that we hid in fear, for we have some very skilled warriors who would fight for what belonged to us. Finding themselves at a loss, the scourge left to find other less defensive victims to prey upon."
Having said this, Nebiros let out a loud croak calling out to the people to show themselves to their guest. Slowly, one by one; the people began to gather and introduce themselves to the Princess. The Princess had never felt so welcome and happy as she did talking to and laughing with the towns people. As the sun began to set, the Princess stated she had to return home before her father had his men come looking for her. "You could learn to hide like us" one of the younger toads suggested.
"That way you could stay and live with us forever". "That sounds wonderful" the Princess replied, "and maybe one day I will, but for now I must return to my home.
As the days went by, the Princess would find herself now looking to find the Toad so that she could again go and talk to the wonderful people she met that day.
At night she would find herself thinking of the Toad, and as time passed she found that he had indeed warmed himself into her heart.
Then came the day when the King called for the Princess and informed her that she would be wed to the son of the neighboring lands King. She had heard of this boy and knew that he was ruthless and lazy, with few morals or concern for anyone but himself. She would never marry one such as him.
The King laughed and told her there was no option, that the plans had been set and they were to be married the next week. The Princess raced to her room, feigning tears and surrender to her fathers demand. Instead she gathered her most precious possessions and left during the night heading to none other than Toad town.
She knocked quickly on Nebiros' door as he allowed her inside and listened to her story.
"Well it seems like this story will have a happy ending after all." he chuckled as he set out the plans for the Princess. She sat quietly and listened and thanked him for his generosity, but could not hide the sadness in her eyes. "Why so sad?" Nebiros questioned..."don't you want to live here with us?
""Of course I do" she replied, "but I guess this means I wont be a Princess anymore" "No" Nebiros responded softly as he took her hand, " You will no longer be the Princess, but you will however be my Queen.
For the next few weeks, the King had his men searched all over Sosaria relentlessly, leaving only fear and destruction as a path. Like the people of Toad Town, the Princess learned the skill of hiding and stealth and enjoyed her life unknown to many until the death of her father. Today, Queen Toad wants everyone to know of her story.