Welcome to the Widewilds

Beyond the forests stretch enormous open grasslands.

These are the Widewilds.

The grass rolls towards the horizon beneath a sky that seems to go on forever.

Herds of animals travel across the plains.

Rivers twist through the valleys.

And when the wind blows, the grass moves like waves across a golden sea.

But far out on the plains stand enormous shapes.

Ancient stone monuments.

Some rise high above the grass.

Others are almost buried beneath it.

They are so old that nobody remembers who built them.

Owlix has heard many Tales about the stones.

Some say they were meeting places.

Some say they mark something hidden beneath the ground.

And one Tale says they weren’t built by Paimuls at all.

Owlix has never discovered which Tale is true.

And whatever lies beneath those ancient stones…

has remained there for a very long time.

Something Crosses the Widewilds…

The Widewilds are enormous.

Some journeys across the grasslands can take many days.

But every now and then, travellers tell of something moving across the distant plains…

very quickly.

At first, they think it is a horse.

Then it leaps.

Not over a rock.

Not over a stream.

But so high that for a moment…

it seems to disappear against the sky.

Some say they have seen a golden creature with enormous feet.

Others remember a long horn catching the sunlight.

And wherever it goes, strange things sometimes disappear.

A smooth stone beside a river.

A brightly coloured feather.

An unusual seed.

Once, even Owlix searched for something he was certain he’d left beside Greatroot.

Several days later, it mysteriously returned.

Owlix never discovered where it had been.

Although he did notice…

a few golden hairs caught around it.

There is an old Tale of a Paimul who travelled farther across the Widewilds than almost anyone else.

A Paimul who was extremely good at finding things.

And perhaps…

a little too good at keeping them.

What he carried—and why it became important—

is another Tale.