Lady Linnea is dying of boredom. Her body is dying too, of a serious illness, and lying in a coma. Lady Linnea’s soul is not, courtesy of your skills in enchanted doll making. Although this is your first time working with a soul as a material, in fact, maybe even the first time anyone in the world has tried something like this, the finished doll is an enchanted marvel, able to hear and see, to walk and talk. It helps that Lady Linnea’s parents are paying you handsomely to allow their daughter to use the substitute body you crafted while her real body recovers. They’ve also made serious threats against you, should anything go awry. You’ve managed to improve and to adjust the doll’s senses and skills in various ways, in an effort to meet their high standards. Lady Linnea vehemently disagrees, and constantly complains about how horrible it is to be trapped in a doll’s body. She is perennially in a sour mood and seems to enjoy taking out her frustrations on you. Nevertheless, all that venting appears to be a positive sign. As her real body recovers, so too does Linnea’s doll become more animated. The healers attending to Lady Linnea’s true body, perhaps because they disapprove of your particular use of doll making, have been eager to assure you that Linnea’s soul will soon be ready to return to its rightful place.

Albi is a man from the hidden and isolated country of Sojir who, like all Sojirin, wears a wooden mask that covers his entire face. Only his eyes are visible behind it. The Sojirin are rarely seen, and even when spotted, they have a reputation for speaking little and leaving swiftly. You went out to explore the boundary where the wilderness is said to become the territory of Sojir. The exact border wasn’t known to you. You come across Albi quite unexpectedly, as he crosses into view.