The Isle of the Beast, long ago, was called the Isle of the Forest. It was a place of woodlands, sparkling ponds, and prolific wildlife. It was used as a playground favoured for jaunty hunts by the royal family and other local sportsmen, and for that reason was left uninhabited. The scenes of this treasured diversion on that beautiful island still decorate local tapestries and paintings.
One night, so the story goes, residents of the other islands could see magical lights around the Isle of the Beast. The next day the king, then King Aliphim, led his guards over to the island to investigate (and, of course, to hunt if all proved well). They found the island much changed. The forest had grown so dense overnight as to prove impenetrable save by a single path blocked by mysterious obstacles. And, most mysteriously of all, the heart-rending cries of some mighty wild beast echoed on and on throughout the forest. It is said that several guards fell into madness immediately at the sound and that King Aliphim himself was haunted to the end of his days by the echo of those cries.
Since that time, the island has taken its new name and has remained unpenetrated, and undisturbed, in the midst of the kingdom's teeming life.
