Naked Frog Club

The lore and frogs behind this gang.

Excerpt from "The Book Of The Naked Frog" by Nazar Buterin

The Naked Frogs are the first frogs to have landed in the world of NewPangea. Specifically, in an area that would one day become known as Frogland. The frogs were originally of earth, but the way they were transported points to aliens. These frogs were immortal so they might still be found hopping around the now lush and exciting Frogland we know and love today.

Unlike the way it is now, when they landed, Frogland was a wasteland - not ideal for a frog. (Wind whooshes and tumbleweed rolls by). Luckily, some of the early settlers were gifted with magical powers. These powers were gained somewhere along the way, between worlds. Perhaps it was a bit of genetic engineering by whoever sent them on this adventure.

With conditions being anything but hospitable, a rift started to develop between the magical frogs and their less gifted travel mates. As if the magical powers weren't enough, these frogs also discovered they were able to communicate non-verbally and inexplicably with a higher force.

The magical frogs begged the rest of the group to follow their exodus from the wasteland. Even the most mundane of the frogs were sentient, and some had capacity to assess and imagine the disaster that would befall them if they didn't do something. Eventually the group decided to trust in the magical leaders. After all, they were thirsty! The bedraggled group set off in a pretty grumpy mood.

Almost immediately conflict and fighting threatened to innervate their scarce stores of energy. On a particularly contentious night, the cultural divide seemed to find a stronghold. It would only ever grow deeper and deeper through the quest to find a place in which they could survive. The term 'hell' was thrown around a lot in the early days.

After what seemed like a lifetime of squabbling, the magical frogs made a discovery that changed everything. As they dragged their sand-scorched feet along another day of endless marching, they came upon a large sand dune. Dunes were nothing new, but this one was different. On the other side was WATER!!!!! A tiny puddle in the middle of the desert, barely large enough to wash a foot in…

The magical frogs took the chance to get a couple of jabs in before the end of the journey. The hike up the dune was filled with snide remarks and put downs. As the first frogs made it over the top of the hill the first frogs saw it. WATER! They screamed and the group went insane.

Sliding down the hill, pushing and knocking each other over in their rush to reach the puddle. Then the fighting started. Each frog knew the pool was too small to share. No frog was safe from the fear that this would be the last water they would ever see. Some feared it was just a cruel trick of the mind brought on by weeks with no water. Desperation filled the air.

One group didn’t race to the water. The magical frogs. They knew this wasn’t merely a puddle so they waited, distanced from the fray, laughing and giggling while they watched the race unfold. One of the fighting frogs was finally thrown off-balance and landed butt-first right in the puddle. The entire puddle splashed out with an almost audible hiss as it hit the hot sand, and instantly evaporated. All the frogs froze. Devastation was on every face as what had just happened sunk in.

The frog on the ground scrambled to his feet and frantically started shouting “it wasn’t my fault!”. He might not be able to die, but even he forgot that under the glare of the masses. Right as he was sure he'd be strangled, there was a gurgling and the pool started to refill with even more water than it originally had. The frogs looked on in disbelief. After a bit more scrapping, everyone got a bit of water and the exhaustion hit. It felt like days they just huddled around the pool drinking water and splashing it on their blistered skin.

After all thirsts were quenched, sanity seemed to return to the group for a moment. Everyone made up, apologizing for their actions once they got past the fear of spending eternity as a fried crisp of a frog. They started wondering where the magical frogs were.

The magical frogs had stayed clear until the group had regained some semblance of intelligent thought. They hopped up after the commotion and informed the frogs that what was on the surface was just a sliver of what they could feel. They told the frogs to dig, and dig they did. It wasn’t long before the little puddle was a small pond.

Over the first few years the frogs kept themselves busy digging the banks of the spring out further and further. It wasn't long before plants started to grow around their little oasis. The pond and spring was enough of a life for some, but others started to wonder about the rest of the world. A group volunteered to see how far the water would go if they started digging a ditch away from the spring. The water flowed easily, but not quickly through the makeshift aqueduct. One frustrated frog dove deep to the bottom of the pond. The pond has grown so big the source hadn't been seen for years. Not to be detoured by the swift current around the source, she started digging and as she dug the current increased. Right as she was sure she couldn't make another attempt at digging, the source seemed to break open.

Every frog looked on as a torrent of water exploded in the air. Onlookers still say the lady frog was doing acrobatics as she was shot out of the pond like a cannonball. The pond became a lake and kept getting bigger and bigger. As the water flowed out, it formed rivers and streams. The frogs that refused to leave the area started underwater communities and others decided to follow the expanding shores so they wouldn't miss out on any big happenings.

After many years the torrent slowed as forests and wetlands popped up throughout the once bleak landscape. The flood waters eventually subsided completely and the lake shrank back into a small paradise with a beautiful blue oasis. The water left in the original pool seemed to swirl with magical energy. The world would never be the same. Frogland was forever transformed into a lush green world. Some frogs believed the paradise was a reward for their faith in the almighty creator, FROD (Frog God). To this day that belief is still strong in some frogs.

Not all the frogs were happy during these days. With their new leases on life and a couple of lifetimes in the bag, swimming around the oasis, they wanted more. That’s when the original divide from the first days on Frogland reappeared. The devout frogs knew that the magical waters held mysteries they had only begun to understand, and were dedicated to researching and unlocking those mysteries.

A sizable group developed and they considered the contentment of the nude frogs to be folly. There was a whole new world to explore and they suspected the magical frogs were just afraid to leave the comfort of their cozy little oasis.

The collective memory of the magical frogs had strengthened over the years, though the trials they endured felt fresh. They knew there would never be complete agreement and decided to help, instead of fight. The clothed frogs' minds were made up, and they felt ready to find their own new world. The nude frogs sent them on their way in hopes they would return one day with stories to share.

They had no idea how long it would be before such a reunion would happen. It was actually so long, the Oasis was forgotten from history. When the first clothed frogs returned to the oasis, none of them remembered their origins, or the discovery of the spring.

That was when the Book of the Naked Frog was created. The frogs of the springs realized their institutional memory was tethered to the magical waters of the spring itself. Their memory was complete; down to the smallest detail. A group memory of every occurrence over the entire primordial age. It would seem this collective consciousness doesn’t travel; it stays within the waters of the magical hot springs.

When the travelers arrived and plunged into the waters, the springs captured and held their new memories, adding to the rich tapestry of frog consciousness.

The curse of the naked frog, became known as THE LEAVING. If they wanted to experience things for themselves, they had to leave the waters and forget the past. Some were happy going back and forth, but a dedicated few decided to devote themselves to being the water-bound historians of Frogland, living vicariously through others, but never experiencing life for themselves. They were acolytes to the creator FROD, with a mission to maintain the running ledger of all wisdom and scientific advancement discovered within Frogland.