Behold—the world of Valenoth, vast and beautiful.

Poets have said that Valenoth was born first of silence and then of song. While that certainly has a nice ring to it, it probably isn’t true. No one—not philosophers, not scientists, not magicians nor astronomers in their tall towers of wood and stone, and certainly not poets—knows exactly how the world of Valenoth first came into being.

I have nothing against poets, but they knowingly and unashamedly will aggrandize something if it flows better in their verses and rhyme schemes. Relying on poets for the historical accuracy of world events is most unwise. Keep that in mind.

Perhaps Valenoth really was born first of silence and then of song. Or perhaps it sprang into existence like the worlds dreamed up by storytellers—born first of imagination and then of interest. I’m partial to that explanation, myself, but what do you expect? I’m a storyteller.

Again, no one really knows for sure how Valenoth was first created. Why not? For the simple and rather logical explanation that they were not there. And if Someone were there at the world’s beginning (which is a rather distinct possibility that shouldn’t be lightly dismissed), They didn’t think it necessary to tell anyone else how it was done.

The only thing that can be said with any degree of certainty is that Valenoth was created and still exists to this very day. You can visit it whenever you like in the pages of this book and with your imagination.

The various kingdoms, queendoms, oligarchies, democracies, and other forms of government are scattered across Valenoth’s landscape like the missing pieces from several puzzles of varying age and difficulty levels.

The Riven Sea lies before, behind, beyond, and below the central landmass, and the sun sets quite like it does in our own world. Unlike our world, Valenoth is quite possibly flat. No one really knows for sure. Ships that sail out toward the edges of the map don’t come back (unless they turn around) and they certainly don’t appear on the other side of the map as you’d expect. But mayhaps such ships are simply waylaid by vicious pirates or consumed by creatures of the Deep. That’s probably what happens . . . right?

Conspiracy theorists are rather divided on the issue, but in a world full of magic and monsters out of myth and legend, it really shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to entertain the very real possibility that Valenoth is, in fact, flatter than a watery pancake. (Of course, topographically-speaking, that isn’t true, but you get what I’m saying.)

Whether Valenoth is flat or round really doesn’t matter all that much—seeing as this is a story. And for the sake of avoiding any sort of argument, if you find any gaping holes pertaining to physics or any of the other sciences, just chalk them up to Valenoth being a world in which magic exists.

At the time of our story, many Ages have come and gone, and many races, peoples, and creatures—both magical and non-magical—call Valenoth home: humans, elves, faeries, dwarves, orcs, goblins, trolls, giants, and dragons . . . the list goes on and on.

As this is an introductory, “welcome to a magical world” note at the beginning of a book, I’ll spare you the extensively exhaustive list. Not to mention the fact that I’m not sure I want to try compiling such a thing. I’d hate to leave anyone—or anything—out and cause offense. I really don’t want to get on a magical creature’s bad side.

Suffice it to say, it’s safe to assume that so long as some race or magical creature isn’t the intellectual property of an entity liable to sue a storyteller such as myself for copyright infringement, they probably dwell somewhere in the wide world of Valenoth.

Many stories can be found in Valenoth, just as they can be found in our own world. The particular story you now hold in your hands is about one of the Fair Folke—a leprechaun named Niall. It’s also about a young girl named Leslie, an evil wizard who steals Niall’s rainbow, a wandering knight, and a few other rather important characters. But that’s getting ahead of myself. I wouldn’t want to give everything away all at once.

It’s been said that stories are doorways to other worlds. If that’s true—and I wholeheartedly believe that it is—then as you step into this story, welcome to the world of Valenoth.

Dear Reader, if you’d like to begin, all you have to do is turn the page.