The forest that forgot how to play
Under Granite’s rule, The Great Forest became a place of order and restraint. Built in response to fear, The Thicket hangs heavy above the trees, rationing light, movement, and colour. Play is discouraged. Curfews are enforced. Spontaneity is replaced by permission. What was once a lively, unpredictable forest is reshaped into something quieter, greyer, and tightly controlled, safe on the surface, but starved of joy beneath.
Vincent does not arrive quietly. He climbs where he is not meant to climb, paints where colour is forbidden, and asks questions no one else dares to voice. He turns rules into jokes and obedience into play, reminding the forest how good it feels to move, to laugh, and to choose. What begins as mischief spreads quickly. A flicker of defiance becomes a spark, and soon the whole forest starts to remember itself.
Granite has never had his authority questioned before, and he reacts swiftly. Rebel squirrels are sent to The Quiet Place, and Vincent is declared an outlaw, his art branded a threat to order. Forced into hiding, Vincent retreats with his closest friends, where he meets mentors like Silverhop the Conjurer and begins to learn that mischief, when mastered, can become magic.
“Never rush the trick. Let them watch the wrong thing.”
SILVERHOP RABBIT, CONJUROR