Synopsis

Set on planet Series, Mali is a 11 year old girl and she lives in a fairly remote mountain valley village called Monsine, by a river, monsine is high up near the tree line. It's hard there - winters are brutal and long but the community is close and the people are largely free.

The parent society is the nation-state Alder a circa 1700 era early steam punk society.

Monsine has about 240 people and is a lumber settlement with a large amount of pastural livestock - sheep. About a days ride from the nearest next (even smaller) village down the valley, because the river is not more than a stream beyond the village there is nothing further up the valley apart from a small fur trappers hut. In the summer the villagers float rafts of wool, furs and lumber down once a month down river to the town 3 days away Dockton.

Mali is the daughter of a sheep farmer. She is a bit of a tom boy, precocious, intelligent and athletic for her age, at least equal to most boys. When she is 11 a man appears from the high mountain sid of the village in spring, this means he's survived the winter on the moutains tops because he cannot have come from below the valley. He is unable to speak and doesn't look at people in the eye and is very thin and wearing a assembly of dirt rags. He is taken in by one of the village elders and allowed to live in abarn so long as he works to keep his keep. He is unabl to talk but can understand people.

After some months he becomes the talk of the town and people try to steer clear of him but are kind of in awe as to where he may have come from, he is never rude always deferneital abut happy to remain at a distance from society. He wears rags like a tramp but he is in fact bearede with blue eyes but he doesn't smell and is actually rarely anything but very clear under his garments. He keeps himself to himself.

Bored by the game of the girls and silliness of the boys male takes an intrest in this character who has starrted to become known as “mute”