He was a shepherd, known because he was handsome and clever, and because his father was the valley’s sharpest sheep trader. One day, pursuing a lost lamb, a storm forced him to shelter in a cave. But the cave was not empty. A devil lived there in the guise of a man-eating bear. To save his lamb, the shepherd challenged the devil to a game. He won, and magical powers were his prize.

Others didn’t understand when he healed sheep or made food from nothing. They cursed him and chased him with pitchforks. The earth cried to be commanded to swallow them up, but he refused. Weeping at their distrust, he fled.

The shepherd traveled the world. Years later, the shepherd returned leading many people his magic had saved from a great disaster, who needed a home. He hoped his old valley could be their home, but the people there refused. They called him devil-spawn and his people thralls.

Weeping, the shepherd made the earth swallow the evil people of the valley, and his people settled there and named the shepherd their leader in gratitude.

Heart heavy, the shepherd sat down to write the history of the valley.