…and the vermouth and the olives!
The Doclopedia #249
Altered (United) States: Michigan “The Amphibian State”
Michigan has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds and nobody in the state lives more than six miles from a natural water source. They are also never more than about 85 miles from one of the Great Lakes.
Is it any wonder that the Borgari evolved there?
When the first Native People came into the area we now call Michigan, the glaciers had receded and the area was mostly tundra. Hunting and fishing were excellent, so many nations lived in peace. At a point about 9,000 years ago, something happened that caused some humans to begin slowly changing into an amphibian form. This is similar to the change that created the lion people of South Africa, the parrot people of Brazil and the monkey folk of southeast Asia, among others.
The latest theory says that these changes were caused by some sort of virus, possibly of extraterrestrial origin. Whatever the cause, by about 6,000 B.C., the Borgari “frog people” were fully established throughout both peninsulas and some areas of what are now Wisconsin and Ontario. The Native People accepted these “new people” and traded with them. When the first explorers came from Europe, they were surprised by the Borgari, but not shocked. This is probably due to the many European encounters with other animal folk.
Nowadays, the Borgari are proud citizens of Michigan. Few of them attend formal schools, but they learn quickly at tribal schools. They likewise do not usually hold regular jobs, except for the several hundred who work for the Interior Department. They patrol the waterways of the state and give regular reports on water quality, fish populations, etc. There are also several hundred working for the Michigan Department of Fish & Game. They make excellent game wardens.
The average Borgari stands about 5 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds. They look more human than frog, except for the webbed toes and fingers, the slick skin and the almost total lack of hair. Their eyes are larger than human eyes and their mouths are wider. They generally have deep voices and can croak quite loudly if need be. Females bear live young who are born partially formed, not unlike most marsupials. The Borgari babies live completely in the water for their first 3 months of life and live entirely on their mother’s milk. After that, they can live on land for a couple of hours at a time until they are 5 months old. It should be noted that a 5 month old Borgari is as developed as a three year old human. From 5 months on, the young Borgari can live on land for many hours at a time and is essentially fully developed except for size. Borgari have short childhoods (3-4 years), short adolescences (2-3 years), long adulthoods (60-70 years) and a very short old age (1-2 years).
It is interesting to note that when a Borgari dies of old age (and most do), their body releases an enzyme that causes rapid and hear total breakdown of all cells and bones. Borgari that die from other causes do not release this enzyme.
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