On the eve of my sixth birthday, my grand-daddy gifted me this here book, a book that would come to dictate my very existence from that day forward. Day in and day out, I would pore over its pages, absorbing every word until they were etched into my very being.

It spoke of a being, neither beast or angel, that descended this here town from the woods to the north, many centuries ago, when it was nothin' more than a handful of small farms out east.

When that beast came, the town changed forever.

It was a regular day for the locals of Farmouth, the hens clucked, fields yielded meagre harvests, and the scant supplies barely sustained the town folk. They were barely gettin' by, but with not a penny to our name, they were content.

Until the beast came.

Terror gripped the hearts of the townsfolk, who fled their farms and fields, some half-ploughed, some never to come back to again. All except one lone old man who stood his ground, unwilling to cower in the face of fear. And in his defiance, the beast chose him.

The creature, looming high above the man, scrutinized him with unblinking eyes as if weighing his worthiness. To the old man's shock, the beast spoke. Tentatively, he mustered up the courage to respond, and in the company of carrion birds, Man and Beast spoke.

The beast wanted to live in the forest in peace, and could only do so if he was left alone by humanity.

And so he made an offer, a bargain too tempting for the man to refuse. In exchange for the man's bravery, the beast promised him infinite knowledge and dominion over the land that surrounded him. Over the fields, the rivers, and the forests, the man would have unparalleled power, everlastin' power, but with one condition.

That beast asked the old man to ensure that the town devoted their lives to him, to worship and appease him with sacrifices as often as the land allowed. If they were to forget about the beast and his promise, he would return, with the wrath of twenty legions behind him.

The old man stood and stared at that beast, and all he could think of was the power. The escape from the final years of labor that his body would barely endure.

With this one promise, his entire life would finally be comfortable. Without hesitation, he agreed to the beast's terms.

And with that, the beast vanished as abruptly as it had come.