A brief history of the village of Forest's Edge, the neighbouring town of Genos that it protects, and the castle-bound elites ruling over them all.
A war burns down the "black forest", a peaceful place where fruit was plentiful. The forest's inhabitants are displaced and forced to flee their native Southern Kingdom (Jagar). After travelling to the Western Kingdom (Selva), they reach the city of Genos, which subsists on trade and agriculture. Genos offers the refugees a deal:
- Nearby land at the base of Mount Morga will be given to the refugees.
- In return, they will hunt the predatory "giba" of that area, preventing the giba from ravaging Genos' fields.
- The refugees will not eat anything from the mountain (to keep giba from wandering off it looking for food). They are permitted only what grows in the jungle at the base of Mount Morga, as well as anything they can hunt or buy from the city. Nobody else, including citizens of Genos, is allowed to gather from that jungle.
- Each dead kiba will be rewarded with a bounty: hunters can trade its tusks and horns for coins in Genos.
- The refugees will abandon their previous god and pledge themselves to the god of the West, Selva.
The refugees have little choice but to accept this deal. They know that it is exploitative but do not care, because they got what they wanted and the opinions of Genos people mean little to them.
The refugees settle in a valley that would later be named Forest's Edge, beneath Mount Morga and a half-day's walk from Genos. They begin to define themselves as hunters note .
Over five hundred people die in the first years of settlement, more than half of the settlers. Men are killed by giba, and any women and children relying on them die of starvation. The Gaaze and Reema clans disband. The Suun and Ruu clans rise to lead Forest's Edge.
Eventually, the villagers learn how to survive. They hunt giba daily, developing distinctive strength and athleticism. They gather herbs, fortify buildings, and learn how to outwit Morga's many predators. Life in Forest's Edge is still desperate, but needless deaths have become less common and the strongest/luckiest clans can live in some degree of comfort.
With this new knowledge, the culture of Forest's Edge shifts dramatically. What used to be a passive, content people has become a hardened, proudly martial tribe that almost enjoys the risk of hunting. Honor becomes a matter of life and death for them, and they have little appreciation for 'feminine' skills or the fruits of civilization (which they conflate with their oppressors in Genos). They retain their ancestors' isolationism, only venturing into Genos to buy weapons and vegetables. Bigotry grows on both sides: Genos people are considered weak and cowardly, and Forest's Edge people are considered gullible savages ("giba-eaters").
The rampant poverty of Forest's Edge is worsened by this honor, because many widowed or sick families are too proud to ask for help when they need it. People unable to hunt giba must still depend on those who can.
The Suun clan, now led by Zattsu, becomes corrupt. They stop hunting giba and commit many crimes against the people of Genos and Forest's Edge. Most notably, they murder a woman about to marry into the Ruu clan, and several merchants from a trading caravan. Everyone knows the Suun are responsible, but Genos' leaders refuse to bring them to justice, and the Ruu clan also does nothing because they don't want the village to descend into civil war. This pisses off the common folk in Genos, even those who weren't already racist. They have no way of knowing that most villagers do not sanction the Suun's actions.
The Ruu's leader offers to protect Ai Fa by marrying her to one of his sons, Darumu. Ai refuses, because such a marriage would mean that her clan name died out, and because the Ruu wouldn't let her live the archetypally 'male' lifestyle she prefers. As a matter of pride, she is also determined that she can live on without needing the Ruu's protection.
The Suun clan force everyone they can to ostracize Ai Fa, threatening anyone seen helping or talking to her. Ai Fa lives on in isolation for about 2 years, hunting for herself.
As thanks, Asuta offers to cook Ai something nice. Ai is skeptical, because he seems mentally ill and only townsfolk care much about cooking (or "manning the stove", as villagers put it), but tries the result and is very impressed. She explains her situation with the Suun, but Asuta agrees to stay with her anyway because he has nowhere else to go. The two teenagers become... friends.
Over the coming days, Ai teaches Asuta about the land of Amusehorn, and he teaches her the butchery techniques that were common in his native land. Most importantly, he shows her how to bloodlet giba, which turns their meat from disgusting to delicious. He is certain that such meat could be sold in Genos, although its citizens have only tasted the putrid, unprepared version. They realize that bloodletting improves all parts of a giba carcass, even sections that were traditionally considered inedible.
Ai Fa adopts Asuta into her clan, making him the first foreigner ever to join Forest's Edge.
Local busybody Rimee Ruu sees one of Asuta's meals and asks to try it, beginning a long chain of events in which all of Forest's Edge learns about bloodletting. Some clans remain uninterested, but the Ruu clan is impressed with the results and asks Asuta to cater several events for them. Along the way, several women of Forest's Edge learn Asuta's techniques, enabling them to waste less meat than ever before and become more comfortable talking to outsiders.
Several months later, Asuta opens a food stall in Genos that sells giba hamburgers. To help him with it, he employs a few of the village's hearth-tenders, who have never had official jobs before. They have to deal with discrimination, but eventually manage to convince several Genos residents that giba meat is worth buying. This makes Forest's Edge much more prosperous, because now both tusks and meat can be exchanged for money, and crippled or frail villagers have more places they can find work.
