Amphibian Pets

The keepers of frogs are patient people, for a frog does nothing in a hurry and a toad does nothing at all. They are docile in a fight and slippery to hold, and there is a good deal of magic in them, which nobody expected.

The tadpole of the keepers is a tadpole all its days. It hatches from what they call a frog egg, and it never becomes a frog; it stays as it is, the smallest of pets and the most defenceless, and the wise find more magic in it than in almost anything that hatches. The newt and the salamander heal of their own hurts, and the salamander is said to have a tongue of flame.

Details

• Commonest to rarest, with their young: Toad (tadpole), Frog (tadpole), Tadpole (frog egg), Newt (hatchling newt), Chameleon (hatchling chameleon), Salamander (hatchling).
• Their eggs are slimy and green. They are found in treasure, the rarer ones seldom at low levels; and Lillobee in New Tarsonis gives a toad's or a hamster's egg to whoever brings her a pet adoption form.
• Most of the tricks an amphibian can be taught are magical ones. The tadpole learns no others.
• 'help chameleon' is about the bard's spell of that name.