Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time, before science and television. There were no large cities like there is today and not nearly as many people. There were a few little villages near good places to live. People liked to be friends and help each other with important jobs like building barns for horses and fences to keep the sheep from being eaten by hungry wolves. Sometimes a big village would put build a really big castle and put a king in charge of keeping all the sheep safe from wolves and so no one got confused they would make the king wear a big shiny hat called a crown.

People liked to build warm cozy cottages near rivers and lakes so that the men could go fishing and the women could go swimming and do whatever they wanted. Everyone had to help out back then. There were lots of chores for the children to do, carrying buckets of water and helping grow vegetables. Kids had to help roll bread dough and bake tasty treats with wild berries picked from the forest. But they had to be extra special careful out there because there were monsters in the woods that liked to eat delicious children.

There was a lot of forest once upon a time. In fact the whole world was mostly forest, which was a really good thing because forests have lots of fun things to do. There were many wild creatures that lived there some gentle some not so gentle. Some animals were nice and people made very good friends with furry dogs and purring kitty cats. These animals were special and would protect people from all kinds of mean bears wolves and rats and bats and snakes.But there were some creatures that no dog barking could scare away.
People would huddle together around the fire at night and discuss in whispered tones, thoughts which sunlight kept at bay.
People learned to hide from the darkness in cozy beds with candle lit. Houses huddled together between hills from strong winds and crashing storms. There were cautions that everyone took to prevent themselves from arriving at harm when danger lurked near hidden and immediate. Everyone was as important long ago as they are today, unique talents and talents keep everyone happy and well fed.

The lumber jacks ventured deep inside the old forest in search of strong timber to chop into boards for building nice houses or bridges across streams. There was so much to do but only so much sunlight. The men were strong in the morning but by sunset bellies rumbled and muscles were tired from hard work. The forest was not a safe place at night so the men would pack up their boots and axes and return home to their families in the village to eat super tell stories and sleep, safely.

One brisk spring morning frost crept across lawn and leaf. Only the bravest birds chirped brightly making a small greeting to the warm rays of light. A village slowly stirred in the early morning dawn. It seemed the sun had risen much sooner than usual eventually smoke began to billow from stone chimneys signaling the rise of men. Dogs barked out attendance at each other and chickens clucked as the day’s work began.

There were not very many villages in the world but the men of Dinlan were famous throughout the Kings lands as strong and able pioneers. Border men on the edge of the dominion, etching out a living from the good fertile lands and lush forest. Lumberjacks and farmers with a strong trade in clay pots and timber; a prosperous community devoted to a simple life. The women would harvest clay from the nearby river to mold and sculpt and the men would bring dry tinder to fire the huge oven necessary for transforming mud to stone. The woodsmen would eat a good breakfast of fresh cooked bread and maybe some cheese or berry jelly and swish down a hot cup of herbal tea and it was a long march along the stream to the the wooded glades of the western woods.It was on this ordinary day that something had happened quite apart from the usual routine the dozen men from Dinlan village were expecting.