Enchanted Forest

Misthaven, commonly known as the Enchanted Forest is a large woodland area that makes up most of the fairytale land that was, and was home to many fairytale characters. However, after the curse hit, all of these characters were lifted from this land and the Enchanted Forest became once again unsafe, riddled with ogres and other deadly threats that the remaining residents must now avoid at all costs.

Before the Curse
A poor man named Malcolm spends his life conning money out of people. Once losing all of his earnings, he leaves his son, Rumplestiltskin, to live with two spinsters until he finds work. The spinsters give Rumple a magic bean that he uses to take himself and his father to Neverland, but he ends up returning back to the spinsters alone, having been abandoned by his father who has now taken the alias of Peter Pan. The Sorcerer's Apprentice protects the magical hat from being stolen by the Dark One of the time, Zoso. Years pass and Rumple marries a woman named Milah. He is recruited for the ongoing Ogre Wars, and when there, meets a Seer, who tells him his wife is pregnant and his actions on the battlefield the following day would leave her unborn son fatherless. Wanting to prevent this fate, he injures his leg so he's sent home, but having earned the reputation of being a coward, Milah is unable to see him as anything more, thus wreaking havoc on their marriage. Captain Liam Jones, captain of the Jewel of the Realm, invites his younger brother Killian on an expedition to the far-off land of Neverland to find a plant with magical healing powers. Once returning home, Liam dies due to the magical waters he drank that kept him alive after being poisoned by the very same plant that they were searching for. Killian takes over his brother's ship, renaming it the Jolly Roger, and seeing Liam's death as the king's betrayal, Killian and the rest of the crew begin a new life of piracy. An unhappily married Milah later meets Killian in a bar where she ends up falling in love with him, finally leaving Rumple to join the pirate on the Jolly Roger. Believing her to have been kidnapped, Rumple begs Killian to set her free. The pirate offers to let Rumple win her back through a duel, but Rumple being the coward he is, refuses. Rumple's son, Baelfire, grows to be the age fourteen, thus meaning he will have to join the Ogres War. Wanting to protect his son from having to do so, Rumplestiltskin breaks into the Duke's castle and steals the magic dagger and kills the current Dark One, Zoso, thus becoming his replacement.

Rumplestiltskin uses his new powers to make peace between the ogres and humans, thus ending the war. Now being the Dark One, Rumple makes many enemies, and wanting to protect his son, Baelfire, he forbids him from leaving their hovel. He returns home one day, however, to find he is gone. He follows Bae's trail to the town of Hamelin where he discovers all the townspeople's boys around Bae's age have gone missing. He tracks down the culprit, and finds it to be his own father, Peter Pan, disguised as a pied piper who has been gathering boys to keep him company in Neverland. Rumple finds Bae and takes him home. Distraught over the magical corruption of his father, Bae makes a deal with Rumple that if he can find a way to relieve the Dark One's powers without killing him then he'll do what it takes to make his son happy. Bae seeks out Reul Ghorm, a fairy who gives him a magic bean that will take him and Rumple to the Land Without Magic, thus blocking out Rumple's powers. As the portal opens, however, Rumple goes back on his word, and Bae falls through alone. The Dark One instantly regrets his actions and learns from the Blue Fairy that if he wants to be reunited with his son, then there is a powerful curse capable of bringing him to the new world. Time passes, and Rumple meets up with William Smee in a pub, prepared to exchange a magic bean for eternal life. By chance, Rumple catches a glimpse of Killian Jones and challenges him to a duel. As he is about to kill the pirate, Milah shows up to stop him. Rumple learns the cold truth that she went with Jones willingly. She holds William Smee hostage and wants to exchange the bean for both herself and Jones' freedom from harm. Aboard Jones' ship, a heated argument erupts between Rumple and Milah that results in the Dark One murdering her. Killian Jones tricks Rumple and does not give him the magic bean, but does lose his left hand, thus having to later replace it with a hook Instead, he uses it for himself and opens a portal to Neverland. Rumple meets up with the Seer again, furious that she didn't tell him everything he needed to know. He threatens her into seeing into the future again, but she is at her power's limit and offers to grant him future sight. He absorbs the seer's powers. As she lays dying, the seer speaks one last prophecy of a young boy who will lead him to his son, but will also be his undoing.