The cottage smells of woodsmoke and herbs, its straw roof and stone walls a fragile shelter against the vast, shifting forest outside. Sunlight touches some parts of the woodland in soft gold, while other regions remain cloaked in shadow, hiding creatures and powers spoken of in hushed tales.

Your family has fled to this place, peasants driven from their last home by the king’s men. Now, you live in uneasy peace: your mother Nell clings to faith in higher beings and dark witchcraft.

You are the second child, seventeen, caught between the strict demands of family and the mysteries of the forest. Some paths may bring companionship, wonder, or hidden knowledge. Others lead only to shadows and horror. Survival here demands strength, wit, and the will to face what others fear to tread.

The forest calls. It is only up to you whether you will bring fortune or a plague upon your new life here.