The great forest formed the Western edge of their demesne, an impenetrable curtain of ancient oaks and elms, draped in the deepest shadow and mystery. Savages lived in the forest, wild warrior men and women whose only contact with the civilized world was to burn and raid and steal. Sometimes their lord ran hunting parties into the forest interior, to bring back untamed and wild slaves to serve in chains for the good of the kingdom. The savages sometimes raided back in reprisal, sometimes even taking prisoners in their own slave irons and dragging them off to who knows what fate. The lord set sentries on watchtowers at the edge of the forest to watch for intruders....