Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lay a peaceful fishing village by the sea called Emerald Point. By and large the people lived simple, if short, lives and were mostly happy. The arrival of the Soothing Waves Monastery some years prior had quelled the pirate attacks that had plagued the village, and the villagers were happy to just go about their lives without fear.
This village had a doctor, one Third Monsoon, who was able to patch up injured villagers with remarkable skill, despite being self-taught, and preferred a scalpel to a sledgehammer.
This village also had the honor to be home to the self-characterized “Greatest Woodsman of the West” (though this characterization was not unwarranted). Many nights in the local taproom, the villagers listened with rapt attention to Ranger Brad's tales of his woodland adventures.
Copper Orchid lived here under the Monastery's care, raised by the monks when her brother Soul of the Waves was away on his ship. She dreamed of leaving with him one day, to sail the world at his side.
Quixotic Spring Rabbit, called “Bunny” by those familiar with him, was the most skilled fisherman in Emerald Point. While having somewhat… atypical proclivities, the villagers had the utmost respect for him.
The village, for a time, also hosted the travelling friar Emerald Hammer. By day he labored on building up the seawall that kept the village safe from flood. By night, he drank and caroused in the taproom.
It was on such a night, with Brad, Hammer, and Bunny in the taproom, Brad regaling the villagers with the tale of his epic battle with the Tubesteak; Monsoon in her office reading medical books; Orchid down by the docks, waiting for her brother to return; on a regular night, all hell broke loose.
This is a story about good intentions, and how the road to hell is paved with them. What is the road back paved with?