AV Ch 00. Two Worlds

    “Are we alone?”

    For decades, humankind has wondered.

    Whether they’re alone in the universe; or if there is intelligent life beyond the stars that they one day might make contact with.

    Some wonder on it.

    Others pray for it.

    Some even fear it.

    How narrow-minded the humans have become.

    In the days of old, before they fell in love with their own opinions, human beings were acutely aware they were not alone. They knew that the intelligent life that had captured their imagination lived – quite literally at times – right in their own backyards.

    As the decades, centuries, and generations have gone by, two worlds have developed here on the planet Earth. There’s the Human World: mundane and dull, ruled by technology, convenience, government, and war. Then there’s our world – the “Mythical” World you could call it – one ruled by magic, mysticism, truth, and freedom.

    The beings of stories and fairy tales, the creatures of science fiction, are all more alive now than they’ve ever been. But as time’s gone by, and their science has “proven” our kind false, we’ve decided to fade from prominence into obscurity. Today we mythical beings bond together in secret communities around the world, hiding ourselves from humans and their eventual ruin

    It is in one such place that our story begins.

    On the northern coast of Sicily is the Munti Nèbbrudi, a mountain range that, together with the Madonie and the Peloritani, forms the Sicilian Apennines. The mountains run from the Peloritani on the island’s east to the foothill of the Madonie to the west, facing the Tyrrhenian Sea on the north. Mount Etna, separated by the rivers Alcantara and Simeto, forms the range’s southern border. The highest peak is the Monte Soro, at just over a mile. There are plenty of human towns in the province of Messina, but they’re not important. Our story takes place far from all of those.

    Less than sixty miles west of where Italy’s toe reaches Sicily, with Caronia to the west and Acquedolci to the northeast, is a section of the Parco Naturale del Nèbbrudi forest that humans no longer dare to tread – a place called Foresta di Vecchio. For four hundred years, the eastern seven thousand acres of forest has been called haunted, cursed, or evil. Urban legends say it’s full of ghosts, spirits, and monsters; that no one who goes in will ever come out.

    Well, they’re right about the first part – though “monsters” is a bit harsh.

    The forest itself is quite ordinary, mind you. The majority of the weald is oak and other broadleaf trees mixed with pine woodlands and scrubland areas toward the edges; thinner woodland areas can be found throughout. Many types of smaller shrubs are abound, turned-over trees, boulders, even and uneven ground, and a few caves fill this awed place. The climate is comfortable here. Spring and summer are generally warm, though being so close to the ocean helps to keep the air cool. The winters are very mild, rarely reaching freezing; to see snow would require climbing to the mountain peaks. It’s late August now, and a comfortable seventy-two degrees.

    To the north, you’ll find a beach of soft white sand at the edge of the clear waters of the massive Lago Sophia (Lake Sophia). Uncharted on any human map, it is a very relaxing place to go and have a good time. The border between the beach and the forest consists of a meadow of flowers where roses and lilies grow in abundance, along with a few out of place plants. Rare breeds of apple and cherry trees cultivated in secret long ago also grow in this grassy knoll, along with the native citrus and olive trees and grape vines. There’s even a waterfall not far to the west of the beach, which falls from the top of a three hundred foot cliff.

    Beneath the forest floor is a labyrinth of tunnels that, should you happen to stumble into them, you could easily become lost. Another urban legend says there’s a treasure hidden somewhere in those tunnels, though what credibility there is to this five-hundred-and-some-year-old rumor is debatable.

    Anyway, the forest itself is fairly typical. It’s what’s inside that crosses into the realm of extraordinary. Deep within Foresta di Vecchio is a tiny village called Alberi Ventosi; one of those secret communities where we mythical beings can bond together and live peacefully away from disbelieving human eyes.

    Eight hundred years ago, a nomadic tribe of sylphs known as the Errante Vento came to Foresta di Vecchio. They didn’t intend to stay long, as was their tradition, until they encountered the waldgeister and nymphs that inhabited the forest shortly after their arrival. The two groups quickly found themselves well beyond friendly terms. Before they knew it, the sylph tribe had been there for ninety years and their familiar wanderlust was all but forgotten.

    With the waldgeister’s help, the sylph tribe spent the next ten years constructing the village, a place where the two groups could live together in harmony.

    Three hundred years of peace and tranquility followed, a time when the line between the sylphs and the waldgeister blurred and thinned. They lived as one people, sharing vast amounts of knowledge, constructing a grand library filled with revelations not found in any other realm, mortal or otherwise.

    But then things began to change.

    The sylphs felt it first; an ominous atmosphere ebbed into their forest home. There is no record of what finally caused these groups to stop behaving as one people and abandon Alberi Ventosi, returning the sylphs to their nomadic ways and the waldgeister to their ageless slumber. Whatever happened, it was severe enough that the chief of the sylph tribe ordered all information regarding the village removed from their history, so most documents and maps concerning it were destroyed. What remained was sealed away by the elders, leaving only stories and rumors from outsiders who may have witnessed.

    The village remained a taboo topic amongst the Errante Vento, referred to as the Forbidden Time, for centuries until, twenty years ago, when a young couple by the names of Roberto and Grazia van Uragano became curious about the so-called Forbidden Time. They started asking questions, despite disdain and even threats from the rest of their people. They managed to get their hands of some of the forbidden documents, but the information contained was minimal. They demanded of the tribal elders, the few that had been alive for the Forbidden Time, but no matter what the van Uraganos tried, their leaders were unwavering.

    Roberto and Grazia had a son; a four-year-old named Avyn. They knew that his life in the tribe, who had shunned their family since the Forbidden Time, would be difficult, and it made them desperate. If they could unravel the secret of why their family name had been disgraced then maybe their son, at least, would have a chance to live a life of honor and dignity like they had never known.

    They decided that, if the tribal elders wouldn’t aid them, they had no choice but to return the place of the Forbidden Time, to find Alberi Ventosi, and learn the truth for themselves. Leaving the young Avyn in the care of the tribe’s High Priest, the two set out in search of their people’s lost village.

    They were never heard from again.

    Fourteen years later and tired of waiting, Avyn has decided to continue his parent’s mission and discover the secrets of the village. Joined by his closest friends, Kuinra and Rakugo, the three became the first to set foot in the village of Windy Trees in four hundred years. Avyn’s parents, however, were nowhere to be found.

    Yes, Alberi Ventosi is indeed a secretive and magical place. Mysteries of four hundred years ago still surround the settlement, but a new generation has breathed life into it again, turning it into a place where the denizens of the Mythical World are free to be themselves without persecution and fear from the Human World.

                                It is from here that our story begins…