You prepped your packs the night before. You had one final dinner with your parents before heading to bed.
“We’ll be glad to see you back with the sacred sword,” your father says.
“This quest is different from the others my dear. You’re entering territory of the other crowd. Stay focused. If you fail to retrieve the sword, don’t bother returning home. The shame would be too much. ” chimes your mother.
“Don’t worry,” you say. “I’ve been training my whole life for this. It will be my greatest honor to take down a Fae.”
you assure her, though you’re not convinced it will be so easy.
The truth is you’re tired. Quest after quest, they all feel the same. You fall into bed and sleep hard. There’s a feeling of disappointment when you wake up just before dawn. You were hoping to wake up in someone else’s body, someone else’s family, with someone else’s responsibility. You need to shake off the pit in your stomach. Before you leave you:
Do a quick workout
Take time to pray
You ask the Heavens to give you the strength to complete this quest. You ask that you bring honor to your family name. You ask for whatever it takes to receive your parent’s approval. You wrap up your prayer.
You double check your supplies and head off to the Eastern edge of the Great Forest.
As you approach the group, you hear a Royal Guards voice rise into the misty morning air.
Next
Your heart pounds in your chest as you finish your last set. You drink some water from the well and splash your face. It’s time to go.
You double check your supplies and head off to the Eastern edge of the Great Forest.
As you approach the group, you hear a Royal Guards voice rise into the misty morning air.
Next
“Good gentleman, here begins your quest. We have reason to believe the Fae have stolen this artifact from our good Queen. Do not fear, the kingdom trusts in its good people to retrieve it from these vagrants. Show no mercy, and remember:
Never eat anything a fairy offers you.
Never give a fairy your name.
Never turn your back on still water.”
The crowd murmurs. There had been whispers that the Fae were behind this, but no one had known for sure. This changed things. The Fae were old, ancient even. They dwelled mostly in the Great Forests and beyond, into wild and unknown lands called the Wilds. It was rare to even see a Fae, and rarer still to survive. Men by the dozens slowly make their way back to the village, while the guard looks on in disgust. Within minutes, everyone is gone but four.
Four men remain, despite the involvement of the Fae.
The Guard scoffs. “While there are many more cowards than not, four men will have to do. Hopefully the next county has more honor and dedication to the crown.”
“Good luck brethren, may you survive.”
He pulls up on his grazing horse's reins and thunders away along the edge of the trees.
You look around, three other men linger around the border of the forest with you. One stands lazily, chewing on a piece of grass and staring at the forest with what one might interpret as amusement. He did not look like he was to be trusted. The other was quite young, with large eyes and a leather pack with papers sticking out of the top. Poor chap. The last looked familiar, but not like you’d met him before, just in that he looked like every other gentleman in your town. He carried with him only a small satchel on his hip.
“Well, let’s get this thing over with,” you mutter to yourself as you make headway into the forest.
Into Fae Territory.
Into The Wilds.