Frog Applause by Teresa Burritt for March 09, 2025

Frog opted for an indirect approach. Rather than hire an air boat across the swamp to the big lake, he traveled down the coast a bit and approached Frogsbane from an entirely different direction. Creeping, turtle-like, through a tightly regimented array of an invasive species of conifer, meant to be used in the assault on Froglandia, many years ago, he pondered the mission’s purpose. Falconry was an important sport in Froglandia, naturally. But the real prize was the falcon itself. It was a Froglandian woodchuck falcon. A recent episode with engineered bird viruses from Frogsbane had reduced their population to dangerously low levels. Intelligence indicated that this bird had a natural immunity, and barely reacted to the virus. Bringing the bird back to Froglandia would help secure the survival of the species. It was fortunate that the bird’s partner had been intending for some time to emigrate to Froglandia, prior to the current restrictions on leaving Frogsbane, which had become a prison for its population. Intelligence had been able to contact this person and arrange their passage to liberty. But the journey was not without dangers. Thus, Lame Frog had been assigned to the job.