EQ TLP - Mischief (Free Trade / Random Loot)

From Pond to Paladin or
The Origins of Froglok and Man
By Glupurp Stoneskipper, Paladin of Marr

My noble kinsman, I bring to you the knowledge of our origins, as well as the origins of Man, that have been bestowed upon me by the scholars of the City of New Tanaan, and those who have visited the Halls of Honor, home of our Lord Mithaniel Marr. I am but a humble Paladin of Mithaniel Marr, born like many of our kind in the swamps of Southern Antonica. I deserve no adulation for penning these words. This work is in honor of all Froglok, current, past and yet to come.
In the early ages of Norrath, before the arrival of Man, the Marr Twins did walk the face of Norrath. The children of a God of Power, Tarrew Marr the Water Lord, the Marr Twins searched for a cause to champion amongst the mortals of Norrath. The Gods of Nature puzzled over the Marr Twins' absence of divine purpose, and the Gods of Influence scoffed at the Twins for seeking such a purpose amongst the mortals. The most malicious of the gods, Innoruuk and Cazic-Thule, sought to corrupt the young Twins. Such an accomplishment would greatly strengthen the forces of Hatred and Fear.
Innoruuk, the twisted God of Hatred and Spite, sent his mortal followers to Tarrew's daughter, Erollisi Marr, to seduce her into the darkness. With the wisdom imparted to Erollisi by her father, she saw through the Teir'Dals' deceptions; their wickedness was more visible to her eyes than even their physical forms. So it came to pass that Erollisi journeyed to the lands of Tunare's fair elves, to escape the sickening advances of the Teir'Dal. It was in the early kingdoms of the elves that Erollisi did find warmth, peace and beauty in the harsh realm of the mortals. It was here that she embraced, and was in return embraced, by a most mortal of traits: Love.
While Erollisi fended off the advances of Innoruuk's mortal agents, the forces of Cazic-Thule beset her twin brother, Mithaniel Marr. Serpents, phantoms and all manner of frightful creatures conjured and commanded by Cazic-Thule's mortal minions came to Mithaniel to assault his body and mind. But Mithaniel was no mortal, and his will was strong; the minions of Thule could not instill within him the fear of their dark lord. They did succeed, however, in luring the brave Mithaniel to the swamps of Norrath, the deadly, dank lands where the creatures of Cazic-Thule were the strongest and most numerous. An army of trolls, lizard folk and forgotten creatures of unspeakable horror beset Mithaniel Marr, and so it came to pass that he became a captive to the minions of the Lord of Fear.
Mithaniel, imprisoned in magical bonds provided to his captors by Cazic-Thule and tortured by relentless monstrosities, prayed to his father day and night for forgiveness and salvation. The prayers continued unanswered until the brave god, weary from torture and weakened by the dark magic of Cazic-Thule, fell into a deep slumber.
It was then that Terris-Thule visited the slumbering god to infect his sleep with nightmares more horrible than the events he had endured at the hands of his captors during his waking hours. However, at the beseeching of her father, Cazic-Thule, Terris was not permitted to inflict such terror onto Mithaniel Marr until after she first deceived him through his dreams to steal the gift of life from his body. So Terris did as her father commanded and the slumbering horrors began.
Morell-Thule, the forsaken son of Cazic, and brother of Terris, took notice of Terris' manipulations of the slumbering God, for while Terris is the Queen of Nightmares, Morell is the King of Dreams. For reasons unknown, perhaps simply to foil the plans of his wicked father and sister, Morell-Thule stole the gift of life that had been taken from the slumbering Mithaniel and escaped into his Demi-Plane of Dreams. Knowing that his enraged family would soon visit his home, Morell divided Mithaniels Gift of Life, scattering one half across all the swamps of Norrath, the sacred lands of his father, Cazic-Thule.
Where Mithaniel's Gift of Life fell upon the swamps of Norrath, the first Froglok Tads were born. Those first Tads had the hardest trials of our people. Until that point, the swamps belonged only to the foul and destructive creatures of the dark gods. Fortunately the gift of life that had brought our first ancestors into being also empowered them with the bravery and valor Mithaniel Marr had exhibited during his trials in the mortal realms.
Once the swamps had been seeded with the first of our kind, the Lord of Dreams, Morell-Thule, visited Mithaniel Marr's twin sister, Erollisi Marr. While the Goddess of Love blissfully rested in the lands of the fair elves, Morell-Thule entered her dreams and gave to her the second half of Mithaniel's Gift of Life. It was soon to be evident to the fair elves that their visiting daughter of the gods was with child and they took her to an uninhabited region of the frozen northlands of Antonica, where they could tend to and guard her in seclusion.
While the elves watched after Erollisi, the first of our ancestors grew from Tads into adult Frogloks, and Morell-Thule gifted them with dreams of the imprisoned Mithaniel Marr, and visions of a means to free the brave son of Tarrew. So it came to pass that from all the swamps of Norrath, the first Frogloks rose in arms against the minions of Cazic-Thule, fighting valiantly to the site of Mithaniel Marr's imprisonment, guided by visions from the Lord of Dreams.
For uncounted years the Frogloks battled the evil inhabitants of Norraths swamplands, learning the lessons of both victory and defeat. Alas, Cazic-Thule is an ancient and powerful god, and his minions are numerous and diverse. Try as they might, the ancestor Frogloks could not reach their imprisoned god, but never did they cease their efforts, despite the daunting odds.
Then, after some time, a small army arrived on the borders of the swamp that was Mithaniel Marr's prison. Not an army of Frogloks, but an army of Northmen, the children of Erollisi Marr. They, too, had been guided by visions and dreams of the imprisoned god from whose life they were conceived. Seeking justice for the imprisonment of their father, the Northmen joined with the Froglok armies and the alliance of Froglok and Man succeeded in freeing their father Mithaniel Marr. The minions of Cazic-Thule and the Avatar of Fear himself fell before the unity and valor of the children of Marr. For the first time in the history of Norrath, the swamps were not safe for the evil creations of the dark gods.
It was in the brave and selfless actions of the ancestor Frogloks and Northmen that Mithaniel Marr discovered the mortal trait of Valor, and because of Morell-Thule's honorable delivering of the truth of our origins to our ancestors in visions and dream, Mithaniel also chose to champion the virtues of honesty as well as valor.
Such is the tale of my Lord Mithaniel Marr, of the origins of my fellow Frogloks, and of our distant brethren, the race of Men. It is a shame that so many of our kind, as well as many of the race of men, have strayed from the virtues of our ancestors. May Mithaniel Marr bless us, his faithful servants, with the powers to redeem our fallen kin from the clutches of evil