There once was a peasant girl named Aliya in an old, long forgotten kingdom that loved stories. She loved hearing them told to her, she loved reading them between the crisp pages of a leather bound book, and one day she wanted to tell them. However, her parents were bakers and being illiterate, had no special attachment to stories. They constantly tried to shy her away from it, telling her of the dangers attached to a lone, young girl traveling from town to town getting by on the few coins people could spare. She stopped speaking about it, but she tucked her dream in the back of her mind.

Then one day a band of mercenaries came into town. The townspeople cowered in their homes wondering why they would come to a kingdom not at war, but the mercenaries paid them no attention and remained in town. Aliya decided to speak to one of them when she found him with a book but he admitted that it was a gift and he couldn’t read. She offered to read it for him and soon she met him every day to tell him stories until finally, she told him about her dream of being a storyteller. The bodyguard whose name was Elar, offered to be her bodyguard so she began to turn him down saying she couldn’t possibly make enough for herself and pay him as well but then he said he was headed to the capital anyway and she could tag along and see whether she could really make it on her own with just her stories. She grew excited and went to tell her parents but they were horrified and were certain the mercenaries planned to sell or use her for money. She decided to go anyway, certain she would never get another opportunity and left at night along with the group of five men.

At first aside from Elar, they were cautious and unwilling to take a girl along, but they soon warmed up to her after hearing her tales. As they traveled, Aliya gained more admirers and stories until finally when they reached the palace, she was called to an audience by the King’s table of advisors. She trembled nervously as she stood before them wondering what kind of story she could tell that could possibly impress them. The king finally stood and began to tell a story about a princess that had been locked away for years by a monster who would only let her go in return for three stories he’d never heard of before. The beast was very fond of the old tales and didn’t care at all for any of the new, poorly made up tales that the knights that went to defeat him had told. After he had finished speaking, the king sat back down and Aliya looked around. She complimented the king and told him he had told a great tale but she didn’t understand what he wanted from her. The king grew angry and started yelling until the queen quieted him and he left the room. She then explained that the story was true and it was the king’s own sister that the beast had kidnapped. They needed a talented storyteller who would be willing to face the monster. Aliya bowed and stated that surely there were better storytellers than her but the queen shook her head and said that they all had failed and offered that the prize was a stage in the royal city to spin tales and the title of “royal storyteller.” It was then that Aliya decided she had to do it so asked the queen where she could find the monster’s lair. The queen apologized saying no one new except a fairly odd girl who was constantly stuck daydreaming and that no one had seen her for ten years since the last person had tried. Aliya promised to find the daydreamer and set out to save the princess with the help of the mercenaries. She saved the princess and won the title and that was how she became known as the storyteller of Mavis.