The city of Wall was a small, quiet town. It was full of normal people who did normal things. There was a baker, a bookseller, two tailors, a school, a grocer, and a small smithing shack. Citizens were born, raised, and died without ever really amounting to much. The only remarkable thing about the town itself was its namesake, the all. For generations, the wall, a not-so-very tall stone wall bordering the horizon, had been guarded by one family and one man. The Keeper of the Wall was a withered, old man, who would likely keel over any minute if his family had a say in the matter. Day and night the old man sat on his stool next to a portion of the wall that had deteriorated over time. There were stories of young, idiot children attempting to cross the wall, but they were always caught and sent home with their tails between their legs.

    You may be wondering then, what was so interesting about this wall? Well, nothing really. It was just an old wall, built brick by stone brick by ancestors long ago. The interesting part was what lied beyond the wall. Tales of kings and queens, magic wizards and witches, faeries, unicorns and creatures untold were carried by somber summer night winds, drifting from over the wall and into the city of Wall. No one had actually been over the wall. No one had ever seen any of these thrills that lied beyond. Most people just brushed the stories off as wives’ tales and children’s fairytales and paid no mind to the existence of the wall, never questioning its purpose. However, that was all about to change because of on boy, soon to become a man.