Realm of the Fallen King

Part 1

Once upon a time, there was a wandering soul. The soul was found lost in the realm of our kingdom.

     "Papa, Papa!" A young girl barrelled through the streets, a piece of parchment held high above her head. She slipped through the masses of people crowding the streets easily, thanks to her small stature. Just earlier that morning, a messenger had pinned a notice on the "message-board." The "message board" was actually just a tall stone post set in the middle of the town square. The notice read:

WOODCRAFT FAIRE - ANYONE WISHING TO PARTICIPATE MUST BRING AN ORIGINAL WORK,  NO LARGER THAN 4'x4'x4'. MORE INFORMATION AT FAIRE GROUNDS UNDER STOIC OVERLOOK.

     The Stoic Overlook was an old, abandoned castle perched on a large cliff nestled deep in the woods outside of the city. The castle had towers that climbed up into the sky. The high cobbled walls were described as being draped with a cloak of ivy, and, even though the girl had never been there herself, the stories her father told made it feel like she'd been there a million times. It was surrounded by thick woods and had a magnificent view of the Diamond Spray Falls. Annual events gathered in the clearing below the cliff with a lake fed by the waters of the Diamond Spray.
     The young girl turned down a narrow street and ducked into a dusty alley. It was one of the many shortcuts scattered around the city. She emerged at another street with market stalls lining the walls of other, more permanent shops. Lines of laundry danced in a light breeze that swirled through the streets of the small city. This street was also crowded and the girl had to slow down as she tried to force her way through.
     "Papa!" The father turned from his work table to look at his daughter as she entered the small cottage. Her tunic was spotted with dirt stains and her face was flushed red. She was panting and her short cropped hair was sticking out in all directions.
"Ven'risie! You look like you just ran to the stars and back!" He exclaimed.
     "Look at what the messenger pinned on the board this week!"
     "I can't see if you keep waving it around like it's on fire, Ven'risie." Ven'risie's father stood up from his stool, brushing wood shavings off his apron and onto the stone floor to be cleaned up later. He took the paper his daughter held out towards him and read it. "Well. It looks like I have to head into the forest to get some choice pieces of wood tomorrow. Do you want to come with me this time?"
Ven'risie nodded vigorously. She was finally old enough to go outside of the city. Not by herself of course, but now that she was 15, her mother said that she had permission to ask her papa if she could go with him when he went to out to run errands or fetch wood for his craft.
     "Pack up anything you'll need." Her father told her as he turned back to the table with his latest commission resting on it. "We'll be gone for most of the day tomorrow."