From the introduction: Over a hundred years ago, a wealthy noblewoman from Minkai named Minasako Himiju was a prominent member of an organization known as the Way of the Kirin. She administrated the Way’s interests in her homeland. But in 7106 ic (4606 ar), the vast empire of Lung Wa collapsed, and Minasako saw many members of the Way of the Kirin killed or subsumed by other groups in the ensuing chaos. She maintained her personal wealth and influence from Minkai, which remained relatively stable through Lung Wa’s collapse. With so many of her allies and colleagues unable to continue carrying out the Way’s work, she quietly obsessed over rebuilding the organization, whose tenets of social and economic justice she so believed in. Her dedication to this goal was so consuming that it drove her to the point of madness.