Long ago, the deep wilds of the Hybrian islands teemed with mysterious tribes of beastgirls, exotic and magical creatures hidden from the world of man. Only a select few known as the shepherds were allowed to venture into that wilderness unharmed. It is said that at a certain time each month, the shepherds would travel from the human city Dustrial over the great ocean bridge and descend into that hidden world, perform secret rites for the beastgirls within, and return to Dustrial with gifts of great magical potency. This arrangement continued peacefully until the time of the Great Plague.
No one knows what birthed the Great Plague, but somewhere deep within Hybria a terrible disease was unleashed, and the once beautiful beastgirls were transformed into monstrous and violent mutants. War erupted, and humans killed beastgirls en masse in a desperate attempt to keep the plague from spreading to Dustrial.
Fearing the destruction of the known world, the shepherds returned to Hybria. Using the esoteric knowledge at their disposal, they were able to cleanse the plague-stricken land, though not without incurring great loss. But when they returned to Dustrial, they were not greeted as heroes - distrusted for their contact with the beastgirls, the shepherds were exiled to Hybria and the great ocean bridge was destroyed.
You will begin your journey years later in a small coastal village nestled between the great ocean and the Hybrian wilderness. You are a shepherd in training, living with your grandfather Skali - a legendary shepherd from the time of the Great Plague Wars - and a war-orphaned beastgirl saved by Skali as a fawn. Your parents and baby sister were casualties of the war, but little by little those painful memories have been washed away by peaceful years of island life. And soon, you will be of age to attempt the shepherd's rite of passage and travel to the place where the beastgirls dwell.
