Beetle Praata was the single[1] Imperial Courier/Royal Messenger assigned to the Ambassador of the Empire of Nightmaria to the Kingdom of Farrog, Ophal D'Neeth Flatroq. Beetle was presumably a Nightmarian subject.[2]
He wore a scaled leather highway cloak while travelling by horseback and kept a pair of kid-skin gloves on his belt for more formal occasions.[2]
In The Fiends of Nightmaria[]
The previously more or less neutral relationship between Nightmaria and Farrog having become fraught because of the increasingly hostile activities encouraged by the belligerent new king of Farrog, Bauchelain the First,[3] the Emperor of Nightmaria and his Council had decided that there was no choice but to declare war on Farrog. Beetle Praata, posthaste, brought the Imperial Declaration of War back from Nightmaria. His lathered horse collapsed as soon as he reached the embassy and Praata ordered the flustered stabler, Puny Sploor, to brush and feed it despite its condition.[2]
Praata gave the Ambassador Ophal D'Neeth Flatroq the message to deliver to King Bauchelain, which Ophal did that very night.[4][1] When the Ambassador returned from the Royal Palace of Farrog, the Imperial Messenger assured him that the Nightmarian Council and Emperor had wanted the Royal Courier to make it clear to Ophal that they did not deem the Ambassador a failure as they felt that he had done all that was possible to avoid war breaking out between the two neighboring countries.[5]
Sploor was still furious over Praata's orders regarding the dead horse a day later while he, the courier, and ambassador were fleeing a burning Farrog in the wake of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach's hurried departure. Praata's complaint that Sploor had tried to strangle him failed to elicit any sympathy from the irritated ambassador, who commanded the messenger to find them a dank cave where they could spend the night.[6]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 16
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 1
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 3
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 7
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 19
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 30