My tale begins here.  A quiet, peaceful building in the middle of a vast forest.  This is where I was raised.  Here I shall find my master.

I have been gone many seasons, utilizing the training I had learned during my tenure at the academy.  Under the anal retentive instruction of the master.  When the master felt I was ready, he kicked me out of his monestary, forcing me to live on my own, in a world full of danger, peril, and many many trips to the lifestone.

I return now much wiser, more mature, and with a burning desire to prove to my master that I am worthy of his praise.

I enter his pathetic monestary, anxious to see his cold, icey glare of contempt once more.  The twisting and turning of the portal is mirrored by the twisting and churning of my stomach.  I never did care for portal travel.  Why the master couldn't have simply put in a damned door, I'll never know.

I reappear in a strange room, alien to my eyes.  Have I truly been gone so long that I do not recall my childhood home?

No.  No, that is not the case.  It would appear the Master has been doing some remodelling.

I am greeted by one of his servents.  I do not recognize him.

I take in my surroundings, but only for a moment, as I am quite anxious to show my master how far I have come.

The servent seems…  distracted.  I debate whether or not to strike up conversation, but again, I did not come here to converse with the help. I would not be distracted from my cause!

I leave the main hall and head deeper into the monastary.  I recognize none of it.   I begin to wonder if perhaps I've stumbled upon the wrong temple.

As I walk, I begin to sense that something is amiss.  There is an odd feeling about this temple.  It is too… lonely.  The emptiness within these walls is maddening.

As I approach my master's quarters, I see smoke billowing out from the portal leading into his room.  Quickly I stop, drop, and roll into the portal.

I find disaster on the other side.

Quickly I scan through the haze of smoke and flames, trying to find my master.

My mind has but one single thought now.  Save the master.  All else is meaningless.  Despite the unbearable heat, and the choking black air filling the room, I knew in my heart that nothing was more important than ensuring that my Master was safe from harm.

Only the Master mattered.

I found no trace of the Master.  No sign indicating that he had escaped.  No melted corpse burning upon the floor.  Except for my cow, of course.

It was as if the master had never been.

But I knew better.

The master HAD been.  I'd seen him.  He'd raised me in this new land, far from Ispar.

He'd made me the man I was today.

I swore to find him.

I took off in a blind rage, running from one long corridor to another, trying to find any evidence of where my master had gone.

Right after I put on a lovely blue coat I'd found.

Perhaps he'd escaped through this gigantic flaming hole in the wall?

Anything is possible, I suppose.

I pressed on.

Soon however, it became obvious that I was lost.   Just as I was about to admit defeat and burn alive with the rest of the temple…

A tree spoke to me.

Naturally, I was somewhat surprised that a flaming tree would be talking to me.  I mean, ME!  Not a nobleman or a king or…   wait…  I am a King.  I am Frog King.

Anyway, my point stands.

I was surprised.

And so it was that I met the Almighty Lord and Master Mister Burning Tree of Omnipotent Power Sir.

With His supreme intellect and aid, I can now seek out my Master, and get revenge upon those who had done this to his home.

Just as soon as his Superkallalmighty Lordship got over himself, that is.

Sheesh.