Prelude

“There once was a peasant boy who lived in a great city. His parents loved him, but his life was one of great difficulty. Night after night, after all his family had gone to sleep, the boy would wake up. He would quietly creep to a window and stare out at the city, lit softly by the moon or the lanterns in the streets. He found himself drawn to those shadows, and he would quietly wish he could be a part of them.

“One night, the shadows whispered back. They told the boy he could join them if only he would agree to it. Scared at first, the boy said no. As the years drew on, the boy grew into a man, his parents passed from this world into the next, and life became even more difficult. The shadows continued to give the man their offer. One night, after a particularly rough time in the man’s life, the man finally decided to say yes to the shadows. A figure shrouded in darkness strode forth from the shadowed void and handed the man this mask. The man donned the mask, and left his home to join the shadows.”