Bullywugs
Bullywugs were a primitive race of frog-like humanoids found throughout the bogs and marshes of Toril, the self-proclaimed lords of the swamp. Savage and self-destructive, the bullywugs regularly tampered with forces beyond their understanding, threatening the safety of others and their own brutish, noisome, and wet lives.
Bullywug society was savage, primitive, and tribal, one of the most petty-minded and mindlessly destructive of all humanoid organizations.[2][4] Bullywugs had learned to cooperate for the sake of mutual survival and hunting benefit with practically zero infighting,[18][4] but murder was still one of the two primary methods for getting ahead. The killing of one's rivals had to be performed secretly however, since bullywugs who witlessly did away with their opposition were likely to be executed by the others. Bullywug politics were typically more "subtle" than killing whoever was in front on the social ladder.[1]
Aside from their gods, bullywugs only ever showed respect to their leaders, for their organized (or at least semi-organized) societies were socially fascist and so tyrannical as to be totalitarian. Absolute authority was vested to subleaders led by a male chieftain, a self-styled lord of the muck who could treat all his subjects as possessions and freely kill (and eat if he chose) his followers if they did not instantly follow his whims.[1][18][4] Only when the previous leader was too old to rule would the next dominant male kill and usurp (and possibly consume) him.[4]
This foul aristocracy formed the basis of bullywug "etiquette", both amongst themselves and outsiders. Bullywugs introduced themselves with grand titles while groveling and kowtowing before their superiors, ceaselessly competing to win their favor.[1] It was in this sycophantic competition that the bullywug love and hoarding of treasure became important despite its lack of actual use in their societal system.[18] Instead of killing each other, bullywugs could advance by finding treasures and trinkets (including magical items) to present to their lord as tokens of deference or loyalty.[1]
It was for this reason that bullywugs raided caravans and settlements, obtaining baubles and knickknacks to impress and win over their masters. Even if this succeeded and a bullywug got into the good graces of their leaders, the careless abuse and neglect that they so commonly showed their own property invariably meant that the fine items they acquired would become broken and dirty, whereupon the bullywug lord would invariably demand even more. Capturing intruders was favorable to just killing them because they could be dragged before the bullywug kings and their queens and forced to beg for mercy.[1]
Bullywug royals were sneering and demanding, donning robes of leather, rough cloth, and marsh plants[1][21] even as most bullywugs wore no clothes.[4] Through bribery and flattery they could be convinced to release their captive audience, but not before trying to impress them with the majesty of their realm and the grandeur of their treasures.[1] Despite claims of being the masters of the marshes, bullywugs recognized their adverse environmental influence and perceived themselves negatively because of it, and that attitude extended to the bullywug lords.[1][2] Behind their pretensions to nobility and fanciful posturing was a deep inferiority complex, a desperate desire for legitimacy in the eyes of outsiders as beings worthy of not only fear, but respect.[1]
Comments