The girl, The Wizard, the Unicorn and the Dragon

Prologue: The Fog That Brought War

145 years ago

It was first seen rolling down the mountains to the North. The great thick pale green clouds of smoke and fog seemed to swallow up everything leaving naught but silence and death. The people of Plancenia saw it roll over the mountain and swallow up a third of the enchanted forest within an hour. Within two, half had been taken. Soon after, the king, terrified for his people and his life ordered everyone who owned windmills to face then towards the fog and spin them as fast as possible in an attempt to stop the onslaught of death.

This, however was nearly impossible as the fog merely spilt and snaked around the windmills, seeping through the cracks in floors, the holes in the roofs and gaps in the walls. It choked the millers and the people helping them and left rotting corpses and silenced screams.

That was the third hour.

The fourth saw the annihilation of the smaller villages littered a few miles from the border of the forest and the castle to the south. Now paranoid, the King ordered for his wife and two daughters to be sent to his brothers kingdom in the south with the order to warn his brother of the impending doom. They were sent with 100 soldiers and the rest of the townsfolk whilst the king, his best soldiers and the wizards of Plancenia gathered in the Royal strategy hall to discuss what to do next.

"I say we abandon the castle and make our way towards your brothers King your majesty" said the strategic commander of the 45th battalion.

The king did not reply but instead leaned on his knuckles peering at the map of the kingdom. To the south west, there was the castle they were currently seated in along with several small houses which represented villages and small people armed with swords, bows, axes and maces dotted about. Most of the rest of the map except for the south east and mid west had been swept clear of any buildings, trees, troops or animals (which represented hunting grounds). These had been replaced with wooden clouds painted green to represent the fog.

"your majesty, " began the royal chief advisor, "may i suggest that we order our people to the east and north to retreat to the castle with everything they own? We can send out our remaining wagons to them to help them cart what they need along with horses and carriages? That way, we can save some people at least?"

The King's expression changed from fearful to thoughtful as he considered it.

With a curt nod of his head, the king beckoned his page.
"Send word to those in the far reaches north and east, tell them to pack up on the carts, carriages and horses we send, and tell them to move to the castle."

The page nodded, saluted and set off with a somber look on his face to find two messengers and get the provisions ready for the journey.

"My king, where are we going to house the people? We cannot surely keep so many people alive in one castle at one time?" piped up the voice of the chief of the farmers guild.

"that is a fair point which is what I wanted to discuss." The King  began"This castle along with all other older human castles, was built on what is known as a 'spell pocket' where magic was used in excess back in the times of elves, orcs, dwarves, goblins and other creatures. When Man was but an infant race compared to the giants like elves with their plant magic, dwarves with their gems and goblins with their dark and twisted faiths. But we survived the wars that came with this world. We survived because the kings of old that set up camps and settled down scattered across the lands built underground networks between each other in case of disasters. That is how any member of the royal family, not wishing to travel above ground can get too and from different castles without seeing anything or anyone other than his guards. These passages also served as trade routes for prosperous merchants and merchants who were willing to delve into the black market. They were also used as long term food storages in the event of a siege. If the food ran out to a certain point, the king could take some food from the passages and ration it out between the citizens. If worst came to worst and the food from above ground ran out completely then the below ground passages and chambers had been designed to sustain all of the kingdom at the time it was built and compensate for the increasing population. Obviously, we have had to expand the passages and lay down tracks for the new horseless wagons. This is to make it easier to get from one area to another quicker. "