JOURNEY TO THE FOREST OF VISION
Somewhere beyond the lands known to man, there is a forest that should not exist.
For years, a small band of friends have gathered around dinner tables, dreaming of an impossible adventure.
Their greatest treasure is an old, weathered map discovered among the belongings of one friend's grandfather after his passing.
Upon it is marked a place no modern map can find.
A forest.
Not merely a forest, but a mysterious land beyond mountains, deserts, rivers and forgotten kingdoms — a place that seems to exist somewhere beyond the edge of the known world.
They talk of going there for years.
They study the map.
They imagine the routes.
They argue over which mountains they would cross and which rivers they would follow.
But it remains nothing more than a dream.
Until one evening…
one of them wins the lottery.
Suddenly, the impossible becomes possible.
With fortunes enough to fund the expedition, the friends gather their supplies, bid farewell to the world they know and set forth upon the greatest journey of their lives.
Their path takes them across magnificent lands they could never have imagined.
They cross towering mountains where the clouds drift beneath their feet.
They follow wild rivers through forgotten valleys.
They cross burning deserts beneath ancient stars.
They pass through strange and wondrous cities filled with languages, customs and peoples they had only ever dreamed of meeting.
And always, they follow the old map.
Until one day…
they reach the forest.
But this is no ordinary forest.
Its trees rise higher than castles, their branches forming vast green cathedrals beneath the sky.
Strange flowers bloom without sunlight.
The air itself seems to shimmer with enchantment.
Rivers flow through the woodland, and when the travellers drink from them, the water tastes like the sweetest flavoured soda they have ever known.
Fruit grows upon magnificent trees, each bite more delicious than anything they have tasted in their lives.
And somewhere beyond the trees live the people of the forest.
Instead of fear, the travellers are met with friendship.
Instead of suspicion, they receive hospitality.
The people welcome them into their homes, share their food and invite them to witness the wonders of their extraordinary world.
It is everything the friends ever dreamed of.
Perhaps even more.
But then they meet a mysterious traveller.
A wandering priest who seems to know far more about them than he should