In the quaint English village of Wall, practical and dutiful teenager Dunstan Thorn lives a modest life alongside the ancient and mysterious wall of stone that has long separated the mundane human world from the magical realm of Faerie. Every nine years, as regular as clockwork, a fantastical market fair is held in the twilit meadow that lies between the two worlds, a passing juncture between realities where inhabitants from both sides can meet and trade for a single day and night.
It was at one such gathering that young Dunstan, then but a lad of seventeen, first encountered the beautiful slave girl imprisoned by the villainous witch who had cursed her to a life of servitude. Though their time together was brief, the two shared an intimate encounter that would change the course of Dunstan's life forever. For that brief union under the stars produced a child, a son, whom the enslaved maiden secretly sent over the wall to live in the human world shortly after giving birth, entrusting the boy to be raised by his unknowing father.
And so Dunstan raised the child alone in Wall, naming him Tristran, keeping secret his origins beyond the wall. Tristran grew up entirely unaware of his faerie heritage, living a sheltered life in the remote village. That is until he reached adolescence and was struck by the pangs of first love upon meeting Victoria Forester, the haughty object of his affection.
One fateful night, as young Tristran and Victoria gazed at the stars, they witnessed a blazing star fall from the heavens. In a boastful wager, Victoria promised her hand in marriage if Tristran would cross the wall and retrieve the fallen star for her, believing the feat impossible. Determined to prove his love, Tristran confided in his father that he intended to cross through the breach in the ancient wall to find the star beyond in Faerie. It was only then that Dunstan realized his son was destined to return to his rightful home.
Meanwhile, beyond the wall, momentous events were unfolding in the kingdom of Stormhold. The ancient Lord of Stormhold, ruler of the land, had finally passed away, leaving no clear heir to assume the throne. For of his seven sons, only three yet lived: Primus, the eldest and most honorable, Tertius, the brutish and arrogant third brother, and Septimus, the cunning and ruthless seventh son who would stop at nothing to claim the crown.
On his deathbed, the old king made one last decree to determine which son would rule. He threw his priceless royal topaz, emblem of the throne, from his castle window, declaring that whichever son retrieved it would be the rightful new Lord of Stormhold. As fate would have it, the shining gem collided in midair with Yvaine, a young shooting star who had taken earthly form as a woman, knocking her violently off her celestial course down to the lands below.
It was not long after Yvaine's fallen star came to rest in a crater that Tristran stumbled across it on his mission beyond the wall to find the fallen star for his love. To his astonishment, he discovered not a lump of celestial rock but a beautiful young woman glowing with ethereal light. Though stunned by the revelation, Tristran knew he must complete his quest to prove his devotion to Victoria, so he tethered himself to Yvaine with chain so they would not be separated and began the journey back to Wall.
Unbeknownst to Tristran, others had taken keen interest in the fallen star. For high in the mountains dwelt three ancient hags known as the Lilim, the most powerful witches in all Stormhold, who had divined the star's arrival. Consumed with restoring their faded youth and beauty, the wicked sisters conspired to hunt down the star and cut out her heart while it still shone, for consuming it would return their lost powers. Led by Mormo, the eldest and most cunning, the Lilim set out at once to seek their prize.
When Tristran stopped at a village shop to gather supplies for the road ahead, Yvaine seized the chance to slip away unnoticed. But no sooner had she fled into the woods than Tristran himself was given an ominous warning from a fellow traveler that the star was being stalked by a sinister force. Fearing for Yvaine's safety, he rushed off in pursuit to find her before it was too late.
Along the way, Tristran crossed paths with Primus, who offered him a ride on his royal carriage. But this kindness proved a deadly mistake, for when they arrived at the next village's inn, they found it filled with travelers and merchants who were, in fact, specters created by the powerful Mormo to ensnare the star. The clever witch had reached the inn before them and used her magic to fashion it into an elaborate trap for Yvaine. Aware of the deception too late, Tristran watched in horror as Mormo emerged disguised as an old crone and ruthlessly slit the throat of Primus.
Thinking fast, Tristran lit a Babylon candle he had purchased, which instantly transported both him and Yvaine away from the trap and certain doom. Their narrow escape led them to the realm of the sky pirates, legendary airborne marauders who commanded lightning-fueled ships that flew through Stormhold's stormy skies. Offering their help in exchange for additional crew hands, the eclectic band of skyfaring rogues welcomed Tristran and Yvaine aboard their vessel, where the pair would remain for the next few weeks sailing through the clouds and growing ever closer while being pursued by unknown forces back on land.
For due to the code of succession, Prince Septimus was compelled to seek bloody vengeance for the murder of his brother Primus at the hands of the Lilim witch, though his ambitions remained steadfast on claiming the throne himself. He eventually tracked down the deceitful Mormo. But her cunning outweighed his own, for with a single bite from her viper she left Septimus dead and rotting, his schemes forever unfinished.
After their adventures aboard the sky ship, Tristran and Yvaine disembarked and slowly continued their travel by foot towards Wall and the breach in the great stone barrier where Tristran had first entered Faerie. As they journeyed across the sweeping landscapes of Stormhold, they came upon a traveling witch's caravan and joined her company. Amongst her eclectic collection of magical creatures, she kept a songbird locked in a cage who, in truth, was none other than the enslaved mother of Tristran from that fateful night at the Wall market years ago.
Unaware of the woman's identity, the old witch placed a transformation spell on Tristran to turn him into a mouse, allowing him to ride in her caravan unnoticed while Yvaine walked alongside. After many days of travel, their caravan passed through the wall breach and arrived at the meadows on the other side, where the Wall fair was soon to be held once more. It was there that Tristran regained his human form and returned home to the village to fulfill his promise and present Victoria with the fallen star he had quested so tirelessly to find.
Yet when Tristran returned to her, Victoria's reception was not what he had so idealized. For in his absence, the vain Victoria had foreseen that Tristran might indeed make good on his word, and came to regret making a drunken pledge of betrothal she had not truly meant. She confessed to Tristran that she never had faith that he would cross the wall and retrieve the fallen star, and that while she remained bound by her oath to marry, she rued having made it.
Tristran, meanwhile, had undergone his own inner transformation during the journey. He realized now that his childhood affection for Victoria paled in comparison to the true, profound love that had flourished between himself and Yvaine. Heartened by this wisdom, he gently told Victoria that while he had won her hand, she should only marry where her heart truly lay, and he renounced their betrothal.
Reunited with Yvaine, the two slowly meandered through the bustling Wall fair, waiting for Tristran's return. Under the light of the full moon, Yvaine came face to face with none other than the elderly witch Mormo. But the once terrifying crone was now a weak, powerless shadow of her former self, stripped of her magic and barely clinging to life. Yvaine looked upon her not with fear or anger, but pity for the ruin she had become.
As the fair drew to a close, the period of the witch's enslavement over Tristran's mother at long last came to an end after so many years. Freed at last, she emerged from the caravan as her true self, revealing to the shocked Tristran that she was not just the lone daughter of the Lord of Stormhold, but his mother and only living heir to the throne.
Tristran, as the last remaining son of Stormhold, had a choice to either embrace his birthright as the heir apparent or reject it to remain in Wall and live as he desired. But Yvaine convinced him that his princely blood called out for him to one day return and assume his rightful place. Though that day need not come soon. And so Tristran agreed to ascend the throne when destiny called, but only after spending untold years roaming the lands beyond the wall with Yvaine, his true love. Until that day came, his mother would reign as wise regent over Stormhold.
So Tristran and Yvaine set off to explore together, leaving the world they knew behind and venturing into wondrous unknown, content simply to be in one another's company. Wherever their journey led them, they knew that fate would someday guide them back to Stormhold, where Tristran would at last ascend his father's throne with Yvaine forever at his side to shine her light over the kingdom.
