The Infernal Hunger Chapter 3 - The Froglodytes
By itchingmyknee
As with all myths, there lies a grain of truth in the tale of the Froglodytes. It is said that the race was wiped out, but human genes are stronger than anyone had ever imagined. When the great mushroom cloud erupted into the sky, people gasped in amazement at its magnitude. And in the weeks that passed before salvage teams could examine the area, the survivors had crawled from the razed laboratory and secreted themselves in the brush.
These survivors, ruled by instincts foreign to those of man, eked out an existence in the depleted wilds, surviving on the meagre stock of vegetation that the earth could yield. Part amphibian, part human, they were able to breathe underwater and conceal themselves from man. As the generations passed, inbreeding strengthened the race, bringing clarity to the chaotic dichotomy of their minds. They evolved much like the cavemen of their namesake. They took up tools and set about cultivating the land. They used their dung to fertilise the barren ground while the humans burnt theirs for fuel. They supplemented their diet by shedding their skin weekly, and eating the slough. They lacked much of the leg-power of their anuran ancestors, but were able to run and swim with inhuman speed. Their large, bulging eyes were framed by long eyelashes, and their webbed feet and hands sported fragile nails. In a parody of long-forgotten human customs, the chief females of the tribe would grow their nails long as a symbol of their status. The female also secreted poison from glands at the back of her neck. Darts dipped in this venom were used to silence humans who glimpsed the unwary froglodyte, or freshly-hatched pollywog. The poison was not deadly, but affected the motor neurones. The victims would be unable to tell what they had seen and, incapacitated, would soon be eaten under the Oracle’s law.
The female froglodytes are larger than the males, and less mobile. The males are aggressive and sexually frenetic. Due to limited food supplies, most females spawn only once before the womb shuts down. The males continue to mate with the sterile females, and the lesser males who are rejected and unable to mate usually become mentally unstable and are cast out. Out of all the eggs laid, only a few survive. Some do not hatch at all, some are born with mutations and die quickly, while others are born insane and have to be executed.
To Be Continued...
Check out the previous chapters:
The Infernal Hunger Chapter 2 - Sylvia
The Infernal Hunger
As with all myths, there lies a grain of truth in the tale of the Froglodytes. It is said that the race was wiped out, but human genes are stronger than anyone had ever imagined. When the great mushroom cloud erupted into the sky, people gasped in amazement at its magnitude. And in the weeks that passed before salvage teams could examine the area, the survivors had crawled from the razed laboratory and secreted themselves in the brush.
These survivors, ruled by instincts foreign to those of man, eked out an existence in the depleted wilds, surviving on the meagre stock of vegetation that the earth could yield. Part amphibian, part human, they were able to breathe underwater and conceal themselves from man. As the generations passed, inbreeding strengthened the race, bringing clarity to the chaotic dichotomy of their minds. They evolved much like the cavemen of their namesake. They took up tools and set about cultivating the land. They used their dung to fertilise the barren ground while the humans burnt theirs for fuel. They supplemented their diet by shedding their skin weekly, and eating the slough. They lacked much of the leg-power of their anuran ancestors, but were able to run and swim with inhuman speed. Their large, bulging eyes were framed by long eyelashes, and their webbed feet and hands sported fragile nails. In a parody of long-forgotten human customs, the chief females of the tribe would grow their nails long as a symbol of their status. The female also secreted poison from glands at the back of her neck. Darts dipped in this venom were used to silence humans who glimpsed the unwary froglodyte, or freshly-hatched pollywog. The poison was not deadly, but affected the motor neurones. The victims would be unable to tell what they had seen and, incapacitated, would soon be eaten under the Oracle’s law.
The female froglodytes are larger than the males, and less mobile. The males are aggressive and sexually frenetic. Due to limited food supplies, most females spawn only once before the womb shuts down. The males continue to mate with the sterile females, and the lesser males who are rejected and unable to mate usually become mentally unstable and are cast out. Out of all the eggs laid, only a few survive. Some do not hatch at all, some are born with mutations and die quickly, while others are born insane and have to be executed.
To Be Continued...
Check out the previous chapters:
posted by bitingmylip at 6:40 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home