Swamp Goddess

Bog of Eternal Stench

Once upon a time, there lived a handsome and very charming Prince. He had just turned 18 and his mother, the Queen, had arranged a royal ball so that the Prince could meet the daughters of  preeminent aristocratic families in all the towns and villages in the Kingdom.

The Queen had hundreds of royal invitations sent to many different parts of the world including inaccessible realms to humans where the Gods once lived. Only divine winged horses could reach those realms and the Queen had been given one such mythical creature as a gift from Nebulous, the God of the Sky. His daughter Cloudia was divinely beautiful.  She wore her hair in a puff that looked like cotton candy and had dyed it bubble gum pink to be up to date with the latest trends. She of course had been invited to the royal gala and she knew she would be the first contender for the role of Princess. Cloudia had been waiting a very long time for the moment where she would be allowed to take up human form in order to meet the Prince. Since the moment she set eyes on him, Cloudia had been following him and hovering over his head as his own "personal cloud shadow" (this is what the villagers called this strange phenomena). When the Prince looked at others girls, Cloudia would rain over him. So the Prince mostly stayed in doors.  

The daughters of all seven Gods were invited except for one: The Goddess of the Swamp. The Queen did not think it appropriate to invite her because she smelled so strongly of rotten eggs and decomposition. It didn't seem to matter to the Queen that a marriage between her son and the Swamp Goddess would be in the Kingdom's best interest for whoever could tame and control the Swamp would secure the protection from all seven Gods, preventing wars and attacks by other nations. The powers of the Swamp were unrivaled but this was of no concern to the Queen as she was mainly worried about appearances and of course smelly odors.

When the Swamp Goddess caught wind of the royal ball and found out that she was not invited, she became enraged and thought that it was time to teach the Queen a lesson in diplomacy.

But before I get to how the Swamp Goddess got her revenge, I must say something about the prince for he was the drop that made the swamp flood...

The prince had a reputation for being a Dom Juan and for preferring wealth, fun and leisure over duty. When the Queen was away, the prince would throw extravagant parties where he would invite some of the most beautiful women in the Kingdom no matter their rank in society. Everyone longed to be invited to these parties and the lucky ones that were had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to get in. Little was known about what went on inside the palace walls during these lavish spectacles but it was rumored that there ten feet tall pyramids made of champagne glasses. The Prince knew he could have any girl he desired and so he would play a little game to make things more exciting. He would select the most beautiful women at the ball and ask each one to climb up a latter and remove one glass of champagne at a time like a game of Jenga. The last the girl to leave the crystal pyramid standing would be invited to spend an entire day with the Prince. The parties took place mainly indoors because they would enrage Cloudia and she would send the Prince severe bolts of lightning.

The prince's first minister, a wise old man who had served the Queen when she was a young little brat had an even tougher time advising the prince for stubbornness ran deep in their blood.

" Your Highness, the Queen has given me strict orders to chop off your ponytail," said the first minister as he approached the prince with scissors.

" Put those down, Bram and don't come any closer," said the prince as he slid a chair between the two. "I'll have to have a word with my mother. Someone has to put some sense into that woman!"

" Pardon me your Highness but I have to agree on this one with the Queen. The royal ball is four days away and it's not a look you want to have now that you've become a man.You've just simply outgrown your ponytail."