Not all kingdoms are born through conquest.

Some come into being far more humbly.

With a few stones.

A few ideas.

A great deal of patience.

And one curious conviction: that every traveler deserves to be welcomed as though they had long been expected.

The Kingdom of Gif-mania was not built overnight.

It grew slowly.

At the pace of the artisans who kept perfecting their craft.

Of the guards who watched over the ramparts.

Of the travelers who arrived from every corner of the world.

And of mistakes as well.

For no kingdom learns without discovering a few cracks in its walls.

Chroniclers often tell of victories.

They forget the hesitations.

The artisans, however, know that hesitation often teaches the greatest lessons.

That is why this manuscript is unlike any other.

Its first pages tell the story as it was lived.

The pages that follow quietly reveal how the works were truly built.

The hurried reader may simply enjoy the Chronicles.

The curious artisan will also open the Registers.

Each will find exactly what they came to seek.

If, throughout these pages, you happen to meet a temperamental witch, an archivist who never forgets anything, a brother who foresees disasters before anyone else, or an old caretaker handing baskets to travelers...

...do not be surprised.

In this kingdom, every legend is true.

They have merely chosen to bear another name.