Ancient Forest

Thousands of years ago, the world as we know it was covered in dark, foreboding forests. Within these Ancient Forests lurked strange and frightening monsters which would become the basis of most of the world's mythology, folklore, and fairy tales.

Within the Ancient Forests hid man-eating beasts, vicious hags, and bogeymen of all shapes and sizes - all of which died long before the modern era. They exist only in the imagination of those who have kept the wisdom of their ancestors alive in song, dance, and written stories.

Yet every now and then, the Ancient Forests return, spiriting people away from their homes or work and trapping them within the twisting nether. These people are presumed "missing" by the world and rarely return, and even when they do, they are often without memory or means of identification.

Within the Ancient Forests these souls walk endlessly, pursued by the many dark forces that lurk within. There is no reason behind these events, no purpose, and no grand design. This, perhaps, is what is most frightening to the modern mind - the idea that even in our so-called age of reason, people can be taken away in the flash of an eye to a realm beyond our own, a realm which refuses to play by our limited notion of "reality."

You can never tell when it will occur or who will be taken next; it is as random as death itself. No search party could find you, no priest or holy man could pray for you. Friends and family would be powerless. This is no fairy tale, but the fate of hundreds every day.

"How," you may ask, "do you protect yourself?" The answer is simple: you don't. Live every moment of every day as if it were your last. Find happiness in the smallest of things and do not be quick to anger, for this world is fleeting, and no one knows what awaits us when our time finally comes.