"Life is really smart, she made something really small, even smaller than us faery. She made it super mutable and adattable. It's the base of every creation that came after. I actually don't really know how to define it, it can't die and it's not really living but, it can think even if it's really simple and pure. This being? Creature? Thing? It's called Elemental Spirit."

-Bee May, the faery of knowledge

"The little block that makes everything"

The village was made under order of the King of the Arthus kingdom, the villagers respected the kingdom and their law but the King himself said to the first village chief.

"The hardwood forest is a precious resource and the mountains to the east are an even more precious one. The village will be placed in the middle of the forest. It will give a safe haven for caravans that will follow the route to the mountains and return to our capital city. The village will respect my ruling, like all my subjects, but I will give you an even more important mission: Survive! The village needs to keep standing. If the route is not secure, then we can work on it. If the village falls, then we won't have any waypoint inside the forest! So do what you need to do to survive and be a safe haven on this really important route!"

The village chief's house is the first house that appeared in the hardwood forest village. On the village chief's door, the word SURVIVE has been sculpted by the King's envoy himself, so that the villagers would always remember it. Most villagers don't know how to read but, even the kids know what that word means.

Thats why there are just three rules inside the village:

First rule, survive;

Second rule, inside the village the village chief's word is law, outside the village the First Hunter's word is law;

Third rule, help each others.

Thats why, when the First Hunter found a danger that the scouts could not track. A threat his hunters could not face without him, he called the council. The various heads were called in to be informed and give advices but, the only person in the council that had any importance was the village chief, it was Robert.

The village chief did his part, he heard of the problem, he let the council talk and it took hours to let them express themselves. Then, Robert took the decision he came to when Sidon brought three droppers inside his house: close the village, let the dropper go back to the mountains, then go back to normal.

The village was pretty big, around a hundred and fifty people total. There were no trees inside the village, the wall that surrounded the village was distant almost two hundred meters from the nearest longhouse. Outside the wall there were no trees for almost five hundred meters, enought distance to see everything from the wall without being in danger to get hit from the woods. The droppers could not surprise the villagers if they stayed inside. If they were inside the woods they would have to keep their heads up all the time and, if a dropper fell on any villager but Sidon or Little Wolf... they would be dead.

A river cut a side of the village, it helped with the survival of the village. The caretakers had an herb garden but it would not feed so many persons, the villagers ate mostly stew made from fish or hares and various herbs and mushrooms. Billy brought some goats with him when he came from the mountains to live within the village so, the villagers could eat milk or cheese from time to time too. Even if the village did not go anymore inside the forest to forage, they could still survive on their own, that was their job and they were good at it!

Tumen the merchant came to the village with the caravan around four years ago. He could smell gold and the village was a gold mine. The village had a secret suporter that gave the villagers steel utensils to work the hardwood, steel! The villagers did not have any coin, they traded pelts for some essentials to the caravans. Tumen became the middle man, he would sell the pelts to the merchant, with the coins he made with the pelts he would then buy what the villagers needed and make a profit for himself as well. If the village's scouts were not patrolling the caravan route and the hunters were not scaring away the threats the caravan would need to bring more guards and that meant more expenses and less money for him.

In the four years he lived in the village Tumen improved the lives of the villagers and forced his way inside the council, he thought his voice would be heard but, the village chief was blinded by the words of the First Hunter, the brute of a man was scared by some animals and wanted to waste his hard work! He had to do something, Tumen had only two bodyguards with him and he could not lose them, he needed to contact his associates, he needed to wait for the caravan then he would act!

The snow was coming in the kingdom of Arthus and the caravan arrived from the capital to the village. The villagers let them inside and found out that the way from the capital to the village was quiet, no bandits or animals attack, it rarely happened but it was still possible. Robert informed the caravan leader of the possible dropper danger, Tumen did his job and bought what was needed so that the village could live in isolation more easily. For the first time from the creation of the village the caravan decided to sleep inside the village for two days, to gather information about the dangers ahead, that was the excuse given to the village chief by the caravan leader.

The snow came and went and the village started a new routine, the scouts and hunters still trained but helped with the daily life of the village more now. The heat was coming and finally the caravan came from the mountains to the village, they were less than what left the village the last snow and they were all in some way or form hurt. They told of wolf howls and goat bleats in the night, the days were eerily quiet but, during the night the caravan was attacked. The caravaneers could not see the attackers but they were smart, the attackers were keeping them awake and prodding their defences, taking their wins when the guards made mistakes from tirediness.

The heat came and went, when the snow was almost at the door the caravan that came back from the capital was four time as big. The guards wore better equipment, almost everyone had iron armors instead of just various pelts and leathers and the guards could take turns guarding the caravan during the nights.

The snow came and went and the caravan that came back was even worse than the one that came the heat before. After that it became even worse, even more people came from the capital. Even the army at one point, the entire hardwood forest became the host of an invisible battle, only heard, the howls and bleats could be heard everywhere inside the forest. Three more snow passed and then... Silence, the forest was quiet, the last heat no one came back from the mountains and the last snow no one came from the capital. The village was completely isolated.