A Land of Shrouded Mist

Prologue

The island had always been there. An island surrounded by shrouds of mist, leaving people to wonder what lay beneath it.

Sometimes, the mist would part, revealing the tallest trees the world had seen and beaches of sand as white as snow. Sometimes, passing sailors would tell tall tales of strange figures melting through the undergrowth, or smoke spiralling into the air like dragon wings, but nobody really believed them.

The people of the Land of Shrouded Mist were grateful for that. Because they knew that the outside world would bring them their demise; that was the first thing that mothers and fathers told their children. Stay on the island, or everything you know will be destroyed.

For the islanders owned creatures that the outside world had never seen – creatures that possessed powers that any human would abuse.

They were better off left alone.

Once, a human had ventured onto the island – perhaps a stranded sailor – but the people streamed out of the forest and threatened the human with spears and arrowheads.

Humans – or Outworlders, as the islanders called them – rarely visited their island after that.

And so their lives continued on; they lived simple yet fulfilling lives, and they nurtured their beasts with food and shelter. They were safe – but not forever.