The sun was high up on the cloudless sky, bathing the land with light and warmth. The people of Vidaerla have been seeing such nice weather and warm temperatures for several weeks now and there were no signs of it spoiling any time soon. Times like these meant the children of the nearby village of Glendar could afford to play outside without the fear of getting lost in fog, heavy rain or getting caught in a thunderstorm. The village was, strangely enough, built away from streams of fresh water and had to have it delivered by oxen carts. However, there was a very good reason for this, otherwise illogical, decision. The ocean near the coast of the village hid many treasures, chief amongst which were the pearls hidden inside shells on the sea floor. They were in shallow waters, on corals, which meant they were easy to collect and fashion into beautiful necklaces, amulets and other jewelry that was aftwards transported to the more prosperous parts of the kingdom, including Odimur.
The roads in the southwestern part of Vidaerla were narrow and not very travelled, especially the ones near forests. People feared the attacks of bandits or creatures of legend that were supposedly hiding in the vast array of tree crowns. Some brushed the talks off as superstition, yet a lot of the populace believed it and thus tried to stay clear of such paths.
Yet one lone traveler could be found on a road just like that. It led further west, most likely an abandoned road used years ago by loggers that attempted to chop down the trees of the Flyraven forest. Many came back saying it was haunted, that they could hear strange, unnatural sounds emanating from there... This person, this young man walked the path without any clear sense of direction. He continued gazing about him, as if looking for directions or anything he could orientate himself by. But, finding nothing, he pressed on, closer to the forest. Wearing nothing but ragged clothes, it seemed as if this man was somehow out of place...