Anastas Valley

The last stage of the travellers’ journey meant finally facing Anastas Valley. This valley was the most difficult to traverse not because it was home to dragons, poisonous weeds or fiery pits; indeed the travellers had overcome all of these dangers. It was instead known to be a valley of doors, doors that lean against the round green hills as if they are a part of nature. Each door is unique: some are encased in jewels, some are sheer glass, wooden, steel, some too small to enter, some gigantic, the handles out of reach. Legend has it that a sinister wizard created the Valley by capturing children who then imagined all the doors, all the possibilities of escape. The wizard granted them their wishes in a cruel way, by trapping the children behind their own dreams, distant from reality, never free. No one dares to walk through the Valley for fear of what these children have become as the ages pass by. Villagers say that behind every door there is another valley with more doors. The people trapped inside think they have escaped, yet continually bury themselves in the dimensions beyond. Our travellers must walk through this Valley without envisioning the possibilities of the doors, without wondering what the dreams of the children were, and especially without having dreams of their own. It is well known that he who desires something aside from walking through the Valley becomes a door and loses the ability to distinguish himself from the labyrinth of possibilities.