Snowcon Forest

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time there was a village that existed in a magical forest. The villagers were cut off from the world and very few left their secluded home, but they were happy with what they had. This village was ruled by a King, Queen, and their daughter, and while the kingdom was small, it was prosperous.

"That means the village was flourishing kid, it was successful in being a village."

Anyways, the tradition in this kingdom stated that rather than marry someone of noble blood, the heir to the throne would marry someone who had proved that they would be successful in keeping the kingdom and its inhabitants safe from any kind of threats.

Threats like monsters that might attack, crop failure, storms, and general public strife.

"Why? Well it was the kingdom's way of keeping the bloodline free of corruption, or something stupid like that. Now stop interrupting me if you want to hear this story!"

In this village lived a young boy who dreamed of the stars. He was adventurous and curious. He craved knowledge and wished to know how the world around him worked. He questioned everything and explored every nook and cranny of the forest, even the forbidden areas no one dared entered.

As time went on the boy grew older and his thirst for knowledge grew with him. He abandoned stargazing in favour of reading books. Political journals drew his interest and he quickly became immersed in studying the way political systems around the world worked.

"You might find it boring kid, but he loved it, and what did I say about interruptions?!"

But then one day disaster struck. While the boy found his joys in life, the village suffered as the King grew ill and died, leaving just the Queen and young Princess left to rule the kingdom. No one knew how their kind ruler had gotten so ill, or why the Queen and Princess were left unaffected by the deadly illness.

There were rumors though.

Some whispered that the King had grown greedy and corrupted in his position of power and the forest had grown angry, killing the man before he ruined everything around him. Others said that a dark magic had been cast upon him that had taken his life.

And perhaps the most troubling, and rare, rumor of all was that the illness was not actually an illness and that the Queen had grown jealous of the newest royal advisor. A young girl who was born on the edges of the village, poor in the materials that she owned but wise in her knowledge of the village's needs.

These rumors claimed that in a fit of jealousy and rage the Queen poisoned the King because if she could not have him then no one else could.

"Yeah, she was one crazy old lady, kid."

Anyways while the villagers felt sorrow at the news life continued on and the boy continued to learn. He wrote down notes, studied animals and their habits, and learned about the world that existed far beyond the forest that contained his home.

Soon his parents took notice of his studying and quickly questioned the boy.

"Why are you reading all those books?" Both of his parents had asked on different occasions, both extremely curious.

And the boy had responded. "I just wish to learn more about the world."

And then one night during supper his father had asked the question that would change the course of the boy's life.

"Do you wish to help people?"

The boy had stopped eating, surprised by the random question. He looked up at his father, a confusion colouring his face. "What do you mean father?"