The human-dominated League of Allied Systems and the bear-like Bulrazi have had a complicated relationship, ever since a hostile first contact led to a series of short but violent wars. Those conflicts ended in decisive defeat for the Bulrazi, but even decades after the signing of the Treaty of Triconeran V, tensions in the sector remain high. As part of an effort to forge a better relationship between the two spacefaring species, sociologist Marion McDougal has come to Bulrazar to learn more about the warlike and enigmatic "bears." Her family history has given her a particular insight into humanity's former enemy, but Marion and her colleagues find themselves caught up in a mystery in the harsh mountains above Spireclaw Hold, one that may force the humans and the Bulrazi to confront another legacy they had thought well-buried in their past.