Mull introduces most of the main characters and follows the protagonists, Kendra and Seth, as they begin to explore their grandparents’ property in rural Connecticut, called Fablehaven. Neither child is happy about having to spend three weeks with grandparents that they barely know, but their parents are going on vacation and must leave them behind. With their grandmother strangely absent, Kendra and Seth’s grandfather shows them around and lists off the rules they must abide by. Chief among them is a warning not to go into the woods because of the danger of ticks. The children also meet the housekeeper, Lena, a woman who is aging but still mysteriously graceful, and the groundskeeper, a man named Dale. Kendra and Seth are shown to their quarters—they will be staying in a sprawling attic playroom stocked with toys, activities, and a pet chicken named Goldilocks. Seth begins to make a mess as soon as they settle in, while Kendra looks over the room more methodically and counts the days until her parents will return.