When Wil Ohmsford was a child, he wanted so desperately to explore the world. Never allowed to leave Shady Vale in fear of ruination and danger, he’d skip rocks in the lakes and climb trees, calling out to his small world consisting of the two-hundred folk in his little village that when he was older, he would become Wil Ohmsford, the explorer! Wil was a quiet child, lost in his own fantasies and daydreams, bullied by the kids in his village and school. He was half-elf, his ears were pointed, and he was constantly ridiculed for his being. He was ‘too elf’ to be a human, and ‘too human’ to be an elf. Wil was in the grey area. He grew lonely, and often reserved.

Socially awkward and shy, Wil was a nightmare as a teenager. Constantly fumbling over his words, he grew more and more self-conscious. He grew his silky blonde hair out, letting it fall to just below his shoulders, where the length and thickness conveniently hid his pointed ears.

Wil focused on getting fit. He worked his body hour after hour, day after day, just as mind as he did his mind. It was shortly after this he started to gain confidence.

And then he learned of his mission, of who he was. And suddenly he was Wil Ohmsford, the explorer. He packs what he can carry and is off into the wilderness, leaving the protected bubble that is Shady Vale for the first time in twenty-one years.