Once upon a time, in a kingdom now long forgotten, there lived a prince. This prince, aged around 10-14, we can't be too sure, lived in a palace with hundreds of servants. Now you may be wondering where this young prince's parents are and sadly dear reader, I am unsure what happened to them, but for the sake of story telling we can assume they are dead.
One night, during a ferocious storm in the dead of winter, the prince heard a loud knock. The prince, although not expecting company, opened the door to be greeted by a cloaked old man.
"Hello young prince, may I please have shealter from this storm. I am a poor man and have no money, but I have a rose that I will gladly offer as payment.", spoke the old man.
"I don't allow strangers into my home. let alone ugly ones like yourself." The prince grumbled beginning to close the door on the man.
The old man shook his head in a disapproving manner "Young prince, you have made a grave mistake." He said taking off his cloak and revealing himself to be a handsome young man with dusty blond hair.
The prince stared at him in disbelief, "My deepest apologies Sir. Please, do come in. My home is your home." He quickly proclaimed worried.
The man, who's identity is not important, shook his head, "You must be punished for your selfishness.", He said handing him a single white rose, "You will live as a hideous beast. If you can get someone to love you, despite how revolting you look, the curse will be broken and you can live the rest of your life as you do now. If by the time the last peatel of the rose falls and you have failed to find someone to love you, you'll be doomed to live like this for eternity."
The man then left in a puff of white dust leaving the young boy confused on his own doorstep. Although he did not believe the man at first, he did plant the rose in his graden to ensure that he would not die anytime soon, just in case. The prince tended to the slow growing rose bush reassuring himself that the man was a fake. Slowly though, he had begun to change.
It started with the fur. he'd wake up with it all over is body. Then it was the teeth. His once normal set had transformed into canines meant to tear through raw meat. These changes continued, one after the other, for weeks. Eventually, the poor prince had transformed into a terrible beast, forced to live in solitude for what he thought would be forever.
Years past, and many forgot about the prince. A forest had grown around his castle hiding him from the outside and soon, there was no one to remember him. A small democratic town had began to form and florish not 200 miles away from this forest, growing self sustainable, yet simple. And that , my dear reader, is wear our story begins.