Once upon a time, there lived an wicked sorceress queen called Bavmorda.
From her throne inside the towering fortress of Nockmaar, she wielded
her black magic to conquer the surrounding land and enslave its people. It
seemed that nothing could stop her. Indeed, there was only one thing
Bavmorda feared: the birth of a child with a peculiar birthmark, whom prophecies
foretold would bring about her downfall. In paranoia, the queen imprisoned
all the expecting mothers in the land, and soon enough, the child of the
prophecy was born in her custody; but before Bavmorda could inflict her monstrous
will, the kind midwife escaped from the palace, bringing with her the baby
girl. Realizing that Bavmorda's minions would soon find her, the midwife
put the blessed child on a raft and sent it downstream, trusting fate to
run its course.
The child eventually washed up on shore near a village
inhabited by a race of dwarf-like people called Nelwyns. Willow Ufgood,
the farmer and amateur magician who found the baby, was chosen by the town
council to return the child to the world of the "large people," or Daikini.
The first Daikini Willow came upon in his travels was a renegade warrior
by the name of Madmartigan, who was more than happy to take the baby.
Willow was on his way home when he was attacked by a clan of Brownies, the same clan of that had just stolen the baby from Madmartigan. They tied him up, and took him to see Cherlindrea, the fairy queen of the forest. Cherlindrea explained to Willow the importance of the baby, Elora Danan, and told him that he had been chosen as her guardian. She gave him a magic wand, and told him to find the sorceress Fin Raziel, who would help him on his quest. After finding Raziel, Willow was supposed to take Elora to the castle Tir Asleen, where a good king and queen would protect them from Bavmorda's power. To guide him, Cherlindrea sent along two brownies, Franjean and Rool.
So, the four of them set out toward the island where Fin Raziel had been banished. Along the way, they bumped into Madmartigan, who helped them out of a close call with Sorsha, Bavmorda's daughter. They finally arrived at the island, only to find that Raziel had been turned into a rodent by Bavmorda's magic.
At this point, Sorsha caught up with them. She and her troops took the baby and chained up Madmartigan, Willow, and Raziel, and started the long trek back to Nockmaar castle.
Somewhere in the cold mountains surrounding Nockmaar, the group set up camp for the night. Willow attempted to use the wand to turn Raziel back into her human form, but to their dismay, she was transformed instead into a crow. Meanwhile, Madmartigan and the Brownies had managed to pick the locks that bound them; their escape was complicated when Madmartigan, under the influence of the Brownies' love potion, became infatuated with Sorsha. Nevertheless, after spouting poetry to her, Madmartigan, Willow and the baby fled down the mountain, into a small village at its base.
Sorsha and her troops followed close behind. No longer affected by the love potion, Madmartigan was able to take Sorsha hostage, which bought the group enough time to steal a couple of horses and make a hasty retreat. After a couple of days (during which time Sorsha had escaped), and with Fin Raziel's help, the group found the castle of Tir Asleen.
Unfortunately, the castle had been put under
Bavmorda's spell; all its inhabitants were frozen in ice. Madmartigan,
refusing to give up hope, prepared for Sorsha's inevitable attack while Willow
tried again to make Raziel human. (This time, she turned into a goat.)
Soon enough, Sorsha and her army arrived on the scene. Luckily, the Army of Galladoorn, led by Madmartigan's old friend Airk Thaughbaer, had heard about Willow's quest and arrived on the scene about the same time. In the midst of the ensuing battle, Sorsha, seeing how valiantly Madmartigan fought, and remembering his words of poetry, decided to join his quest. The Nockmaar General Kael, however, did not share Sorsha's change of heart; in the end, he captured Elora and took her back the Nockmaar.
And so Willow, Madmartigan, Sorsha, the Brownies, the goat-sorceress Fin Raziel, and what was left of Airk's army set up camp, and prepared to storm Nockmaar castle in a final attempt to rescue Elora Danan. Willow managed to finally return Raziel to her true form, and the sorceress put a spell on the camp to protect them from Bavmorda's magic.
The next day, the final battle began. During the action, Kael killed Airk, and in turn Madmartigan killed Kael. Meanwhile, just as Bavmorda was finishing up an evil ritual intended to obliterate Elora's soul, Willow snuck into her chamber and tried to steal the baby away. In Bavmorda's rage, she spilled the evil potion on herself, obliterating her own soul.
The next day, Willow was welcomed by the newly freed people of Tir Asleen. Here, he said goodbye to Elora, whom he left in caring arms of Madmartigan and Sorsha, and returned to his village, having learned quite a bit about adventure and magic
COMING SOON: Shadow Moon!.