The Tale of Gauge Quack

Zleiph knelt down beside the basket and peeked through the cracks at Ledah… Ledah ribbitted in response. I don’t know what Ledah said with his noises and croaks, but apparently Zleiph did and his look of relief became a scowl. He reached for his blade again and pointed it at the basket. “Lift it just a bit” his request bothered me, but I obliged.

As I lifted the edge of the basket, Ledah sprang from his confinement and hurried away again. The chase resumed as it had before. Several times I thought I had him within reach, and several times he leapt to safety at the last moment. Up and down the paths I ran… and finally the frog stopped beneath Tree… I tiptoed up and brought my basket down with a heavy thud over Ledah. “Aha!” I scrambled to sit upon it, keeping the mischievous little creature at bay yet again. Nearly muted noises came from within the basket. “Oh hush you”. I sat there for what seemed like an eternity before Zleiph returned.

He knelt down beside the basket and peeked through the weaving… “Good work” he said as he stood back up. Gauge sat, exhausted, beneath the shade of Tree, and Kafuuka returned to his place beside the wall, all clearly satisfied that this poisonous thing had finally been captured, and rested.

Zleiph debated on where the spell had gone wrong, and why it had turned Ledah into a poisonous toad when a most putrid smell filled the air… the woven constructs of the basket nearly melted away… And the Frog jumped towards Gauge! He sat perfectly still, not knowing what to do as it landed in his lap. “Don’t Touch the Frog” Zleiph yelled in panic, and I sat there, not sure of what to do now…

Gauge sat there, still as he possibly could, looking at this threat that had decided to roost upon him. Zleiph, myself, and Kafuuka deliberated over the next course of action… and then I looked at Gauge.

“Zleiph, um… he doesn’t look to good… ”

Gauge had passed out, and when he awoke, he spoke of feeling ill. Zleiph suddenly looked panicked and barked at him “I told you not to touch it!” Gauge shook his head a bit and cringed as his stomach turned and ached for release of its contents. “Oh… “Zleiph realized that Gauge had indeed not touched this poisonous thing, but instead it had saturated his clothing with its venom. Gauge rolled over a bit, letting the accursed thing fall off his lap, and made his way to the wall, the nausea taking over. Again we debated a course of action but this time regarding Gauge’s condition. I darted off to the Gazebo, and dragged Awiiya back to Tree, hoping that one of the archivists would know what to do, or at least have some knowledge of poisons.

Awiiya left to the paper cabin, bringing back a book on poisons when he returned. We waited, on edge, as he scanned the pages…”well… there’s not much here on an antidote…” That was all I could bear to hear, and darted off again, in search of someone who might know. My pleas fell upon the ears of Stormrunner, and he followed me back Tree. He stood there silently and observed situation. Kafuuka suggested that Gauge’s form be altered to accommodate for the poisoning, and to prevent it from harming him further, hopefully rendering him immune, and Gauge obliged, desperate and scared.