In an upper-crust tavern far from The Werewolf of Shady Pines, the illustrious Moss family gathers for a lavish reunion. Amid the bustle of the tavern staff, young Gideon Moss is left perched at the bar, his Moss Mother too harried and important to have time for him.
There, Gideon becomes captivated by a brooding young wizard named Ebbo, who tells him about “higher freedoms” he wants to achieve through magic To a boy whose future feels predetermined by duty, Ebbo’s words awaken something in him.
Then in strides Uncle Bigod Moss – the famed adventurer known across these lands as The Thorn in the Moss. He and Ebbo greet each other as old friends, with a shared suspicion of family expectations and a fierce love of their own visions of freedom. Gideon is spellbound between these two giants of defiance.
But the milk between them quicly curdles. Bigod learns that Ebbo has abandoned his wizard training and intends to strike at the Moss gathering by transforming the entire family into wild boars. The two square off. Ebbo unleashes his newly learned spell but Bigod’s shining armor reflects the magic back upon the wizard. Ebbo is knocked unconscious and a gathered crowd cheers.
Moss Mother swoops in to retrieve Gideon, insisting that Bigod is nothing but a drunkard and that the family’s praise is misplaced. Gideon isn’t so sure.
Later, Ebbo awakens in shame and simmering hatred. A single boar’s tusk has sprouted from his cheek, a permanent reminder of his folly, and the beginning of the bitterness that will shape the wizard he becomes.