Orthe. Where rashaku fly and wirazu scramble. Where four-breasted, long-maned human-like natives live and die by the harur-nilgiri and the harur-nazari--razor-sharp paired blades no ambidextrous Orthean would be without.

Enter Lynne Christie, envoy of Earth Dominion. Her mission: to establish first contact with Orthe's government and evaluate Orthe's readiness for further Dominion relations, a mission delayed mysteriously by her predecessor's untimely death upon the Inner Sea. She discovers she will be scrutinized as the prime exemplar of Dominion behavior by a populace universally hostile towards strangers, change, and alien technology.