From the introduction: Who can say how the island begins? Even spirits who were there are not good at telling time, nor setting events in order, or even agreeing what happened. Know then, that many generations ago, the Dahan people settled Spirit Island and though they expected nature to be full of spirits, they were astonished at how many, how powerful, how frequently manifest the spirits were, and many worshipped them as gods. And the Dahan brought their livestock and agriculture, and did graze and farm and cut down the great forests, creating Blight that injured and weakened the spirits. Roused to anger, the spirits’ wrath was terrible and in the First Reckoning the Dahan swiftly surrendered. Their crops and livestock were altered to be more harmonious with the nature of the island, and the Dahani themselves adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle.