Biography: The Early Years

View of the Innsmouth harbor, circa 1917.

While generating the domestic adventures of Dr. Burglar Toad on AI Dungeon, I'm also developing my own backstory for her. GPT-3 knows what she's doing in the stories, and adds details such as giving her a son within a few sentences after meeting her husband. This leaves a lot of "wiggle room" for imagining what her life is like when she's not baking pies or burglarizing seemingly abandoned mansions. In turn, I'm using my fictional biography to fine-tune her character, so the actions she takes in the AI Dungeon stories ring true to life. Well, true to Lovecraft-inspired life that's heavily influenced by my own philosophies, in any event. 

We know how her physical form changes to one that is more amphibious, but until we examine her childhood, we cannot fully appreciate what this means to her, or why the transformation made her so happy. Why was she a burglar? Why was her name Dr. Burglar Toad before the experiment? Honestly, it wasn't, but it was catchy and makes for a fun backstory, so... Behold her official, canonical biography! Written entirely by a human, at least until GPT-3 comes up with something better for me to use.

___________________

Kathryn Marie Burglar was born on December 22, 1912, in Biddeford, Maine to Elena O'Grady and Henry Parkins Burglar. 

Elena, her mother, lost her own parents and an unknown quantity of siblings as a young girl, when the boat that was to take them to America capsized in Saco Bay, off the coast of Old Orchard Beach. Rescued by the O'Gradys, a family of fishermen, Elena recalled her first name and that she was from Galway, Ireland, but the rest of her memory (and, indeed, her family history) lay beneath the waves. They raised her in the Roman Catholic faith, and upon her confirmation she took the name "Stella Maris", in honor of the Virgin Mary and her role as the patron saint of the Apostleship of the Sea. She became quite adept at weaving nets, and her red hair and rosy complexion drew the eye of many a young man. When she was "of an age", she met Henry Burglar while shopping for fish down at the wharf. She soon found herself with child, and they were married.

Henry was a lumper, more tactfully referred to as a "stevedore", but hauling fish and other goods from ships was a rough job in those days, employing rough men. He was a little more refined than others in his profession, with a quick wit and sharp tongue to accompany his fair-haired good looks. True to his surname, however, Kathyrn's father lost job after job, as a few trinkets (sometimes quite valuable) would disappear mysteriously from whatever warehouse he was working in, during the small hours of the night. Eventually, the day came when Henry and Elena were forced to move, as he had taken rather a few more knick-knacks, baubles, and objets d'art than usual to ensure they would have enough money to care for their child when she was born.

The family resided briefly in Biddeford, where Kathryn was born. Due to the vagaries that a man with Henry's name and temperament brought about, they moved up and down the coast of New England, rarely staying in one place for more than a few months. This began to take a toll on Elena's health, and Henry began drinking quite excessively. When Kathyrn was four years old, her father took up a position as a dockworker in the Marsh Cannery in coastal Innsmouth, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, late one night, a combination of alcohol and surname-related activities resulted in a change of Henry's position from "lumper" to "being inside several small cans". 

Elena, of course, was heartbroken. Kathryn understood that she would not see her father again, nor would she ever be allowed to eat any Atlantic-caught fish. Apart from that, she understood the basics of the alphabet and other such things common to four year old girls, and was not unduly surprised when she had a new father a scant two years later. 

Dr. Mordecai Allan Toad, the primary physician/coroner of Innsmouth, had been called to the factory the morning following Henry's death to ascertain whether or not the cannery was at fault. It was determined that while the equipment at the cannery was the method of his death, his interest in the precariously placed company safe and the payroll funds contained within provided the means and motivation. The Marsh Family agreed to pay Elena and her child a small stipend not from kindness, but from a fear that they would leave Innsmouth and speak of the drastically and morbidly unsafe conditions at the cannery.

With no family aside from her daughter (and no prospects elsewhere), Elena decided to stay in Innsmouth and seek employment. The locals had a well-known and pervasive distrust for anyone that could not claim many generations in their town, and the Burglar family definitely had an aura of "other" about them. None of the locals sported auburn hair or fair, spotless skin, and her mother, while pitied, was seen as too different to be employed by any reputable Innsmouth resident. Her only professional skill before marriage, that of net-making, was considered a sacred vocation passed down from mother to daughter, and no one would buy nets made by a profane outsider.

Dr. Toad kept in contact with the family after Henry's death, and grew quite fond of Elena. His family had lived in Innsmouth for nearly a century, tracing his ancestry back to Yarmouth Lea, in Norfolk, England, as did many other prominent locals. At least Elena believed he had said "Yarmouth Lea"; Dr. Toad had the same speech impediment as many others in the area, which made certain words shift and blend in ways that were difficult to understand. He was a kind man, with sallow skin, large eyes, and even larger spectacles, and most importantly was able to look past Elena's obvious differences and see the good woman that she could become. He offered her a position as his assistant, and taught her the basics of first aid and what passed as forensic pathology before 1920. They developed a close friendship, and Elena soon agreed to become his wife.

Thus, young Kathryn Marie Burglar became Kathryn Marie Burglar Toad.