On the Green Dragon

If a traveler in Faerie dares venture into the Endless Swamps, one will certainly discover, as the sun sets behind the mangroves, that the onset of night is greeted by an amphibious chorus, with tree frogs providing the soprano chirps, bullfrogs the baritone thrum, pig frogs the bass grunts and various unknown species providing intermittent solos. One is less likely to encounter a green dragon partially submerged in the murky shallows, for these creatures have not sought the solitude of the bog simply to bandy words with every passerby, no matter how few and far between they may come. There is only one extant record of a conversation with a green dragon, obtained from a wayward pilgrim, who was rescued in a state of delirium after being lost in the swamps for centuries. Although the reliability of the source is in doubt, the brief conversation is nevertheless reproduced here.

"What are you doing here?" asked the traveler.

"Practicing austerities," replied the dragon.

"To what end?"

"To the only end, to cultivate virtue."

"And what does one do with virtue?"

"A virtuous soul accumulates merit."

"And of what value is such merit?"

To this the dragon replied, "When a body expires on Earth, its physical substance decomposes and returns to the soil nutrients that allow life to flourish. When a body expires in Faerie, its merit dissipates into the atmosphere, providing the energetic sustenance on which the magic of this realm exclusively relies."