Cobblestone Kingdom

Act 1: To The Well

Once upon a time, there was a small kingdom surrounded by forest. This forest was home to a great many magical creatures and humans alike, as fairy tales are wont to have. The king and queen of this land had a son named Hawk who was approaching his thirtieth birthday. In this kingdom, the thirtieth birthday was a rite of passage allowing you to access the magic within your soul- for good or for ill. As such, and also hoping he might find a bride, the king and queen decided to throw a ball.

The issue with throwing a party of that magnitude is that it can attract all sorts of unwanted attention. From evil fairies to trolls to devious spinning wheels; one can never really be sure how a ball will end. But there's something about the magic of reaching thirty that calls to the soul. Or, in the case of impish fairy Cobbles- who lives in this particular kingdom- you can smell it on the air itself.

"Who's there?" Cobbles hisses from his place, hiding in a clearing. 

"No one," a bush rustles in reply. "Why? Who's over there?"

"Nothing but us talking winds," Cobbles replies.

"Talking winds? Whoever heard of such an absurd thing?"

"Well whoever heard of a talking bush?! Now reveal yourself before I sic a toucan on you!" Cobbles says viciously. Of course, they had no power over the devious toucan monkeys of this land (no fairy really does). The toucans are a deadly lot- prone to throwing whatever items they can find with a deadly accuracy. It doesn't do to get on their bad side.

"You don't play fair-" grumbles Nightshade as they step out of their hiding bush. Nightshade is resplendent in several shades of blue and is decked out in many a blue jewel. They look gaudy but so would you if you were barely three feet tall. Cobbles has scrabbled together orange fabric in an outfit that matches their orange skin tone quite splendidly. They are also not very tall but with a nose like an ice pick- who would really notice your height to begin with?

"You aren't King of the Toucans!" Nightshade grumbles accusingly as Cobbles comes out of their hiding bush. Instead of confrontation, Nightshade finds them self on the other side of a deep hug.

"Nightshade! I haven't seen you since the Council of Fairies tried to drown you in the ocean."

"Yes, well, the punishment didn't hold," Nightshade said uneasily, squirming out of Cobbles' vice like grip.

"How?"

"I held my breath for a really long time."

"Or you bribed an oyster."

"Wouldn't be hard to bribe an oyster. It's harder to bribe one's own mother!" They say, finishing the old wise fairy saying in unison.

"But what are you doing here?" Cobbles asks, obviously delighted. "I'll fix us some tea." Cobbles whistles and several stumps and leaves move around, producing tea out of thin air. 

"I can smell the age magic. Hard to resist coming into a universe for that. But you must be the guardian hmm? Any baddies here?"

"Oh-hoh. We have ravens here. And the head guard. She's a real baddie. Out for themselves."

"Ravens! You don't say!" Nightshade says, sounding delighted and plucking themselves up some scones and cream while the tea steeps. 

"We very much do. You had a prince's birthday in your kingdom a few ages back, didn't you?"

"Yes, but it was a terrible hash-" Nightshade says, talking while chewing. "Dragons. Dragons everywhere. Positive gibbons for magic. Humanity in nightmare. Lots of squished people. Do you have any jam?"

"Jam you ask?" Cobbles looks around. "I think somewhere. Oh shush! Do you hear that?"

"Do I hear what?"