Ofal Hazak

Ofal Hazak is the territory of the mountain clans, defined by local authority over land and hunting as well as by the ecological knowledge that sustains life there. The surrounding mountain country is not merely a backdrop: its seasonal routes and animal habits shape livelihoods, while its boundaries mark political distinctions that imperial rule does not erase.

Territory and Local Authority

Ofal Hazak belongs to the mountain peoples, and outsiders could be punished for hunting there without permission. The rule placed access to game under local authority rather than treating the land as open to anyone. Makokan recalled that mountain hunters and Kinma Handlers sometimes dressed and divided their catch together in the yard behind the clan chief’s hall, evidence that regulated access coexisted with practical cooperation between groups.

The territory also carries a history of contact among peoples of the Yukata region. Makokan’s father had told him that the Ahfal Oma, the Ofal Oma, and the Yusula Oma were once a single people. The Yusula Oma were a small group serving the Ahfal Oma, close enough in appearance that outsiders might confuse them, though the Ahfal Oma would resent the mistake. Hohsalle reasoned that, after the Ahfal Oma were driven from the plains, Kinma Handlers might have taken refuge among the mountain clans. Makokan could not confirm that account; he knew neither whether they had sought refuge nor whether they were living with his clan when the disease first appeared.

Animals, Seasons, and Local Knowledge

The wider mountain setting is bound to the movements and needs of pyuika. In fall, Tsupi’s behavior reflected the mating season: the scent of a bull elk had put her in heat, and she wandered in search of him. Pyuika could interbreed with elk, and Van’s clansmen sometimes deliberately paired them to produce larger stock. Their behavior also shaped how people searched for them: frightened pyuika leaked urine, and Van’s clansmen used that scent to train dogs to track them.

Pyuika were difficult to manage as ordinary livestock. They were more independent than reindeer and resisted restraint, so Van advised allowing them to roam free once spring arrived. Their movements were more limited than those of deer that traveled long distances through deep snow, and local familiarity with their habits helped herders anticipate where they would be. A bond formed when a pyuika was young could last for life; a bonded animal would return to a human companion’s whistle. Pyuika also bore twins, and Van remembered his father’s rule for choosing one to train: “The weak one to the mother, the strong one to me.”

Practical control depended on knowing what pyuika avoided as well as what attracted them. Mohoki, a lichen growing on old trees, kept pyuika away; dried strands could be braided into ropes around a fence to contain them. Without it, they might escape or decline when penned. Since pyuika grazed, they were better off roaming by day and being enclosed only at night when wolves were active. Their broad, loosely defined herds and habitual migration paths meant that strategically placed mohoki could guide movement without confining them continuously.

Seasonal care required further adjustments. During mating season and pregnancy, pyuika herders gathered ashimi, a green lichen that grew even under frost and seemed particularly important to does bearing young. Collecting it meant digging through deep snow, but feeding it to the animals was part of preparing them to produce strong calves. The mountain people’s ability to recognize these needs came from close observation: children stayed with adults in the forest, learning pyuika habits and how to train the young.

Conquest, Displacement, and Memory

Ofal Hazak’s mountain communities were caught in the political transformation of Aquafa. Toga, at the western edge of Aquafa, was the last region to be absorbed by Zolian forces. The clans had fought to protect Aquafa’s borders from incursions by Mukonia, but they were not treated as Aquafaese under the new regime. Before conquest, they had been regarded as independent under the King of Aquafa, with loose autonomy in return for allegiance. After Aquafa became a province, Zol refused to recognize the mountain peoples as citizens.

That exclusion carried concrete consequences. Zolian policy relocated lower-caste populations to other conquered territories, so the clans risked losing their homeland and being forced to make a life elsewhere. The Gansa leaders therefore considered feigning resistance: a display of determined fighting might persuade Zol that the mountain clans could serve as useful allies and protect the empire’s western frontier. The Lone Antlers, a band of warriors pledged to shield the clan, made this strategy conceivable. Repeated epidemics and conflict had also drawn men who had lost their families into the band, swelling its ranks.

The empire’s later frontier settlement policy brought another layer of migration. Poor farmers and herders from the edges of the Zolian realm were ordered to settle conquered lands, establish Zolian-style communities, raise familiar crops and livestock, and mingle with local people. Lower taxes and ownership of cleared farmland could benefit settlers, but they were still made to leave their native homes, and many carried lasting grief over that loss. In the mountains, this broader policy met older divisions of clan, ancestry, and local belonging rather than dissolving them.

Disease and Uncertain Connections

Ofal Hazak’s past also enters the investigation of disease through unresolved questions about who lived where and when. Makokan remembered the shared hunting of the mountain clans and Kinma Handlers, but he did not know whether Kinma families had joined his people after the Ahfal Oma were displaced from the plains. He therefore could not say whether they were present when the first case occurred. Hohsalle cautioned him that their purpose in returning was not to convict anyone, framing the inquiry as an effort to understand connections rather than assign guilt.

The search for people in remote regions depended in part on Zol’s administrative records. Yotalu explained that tax officers collected detailed information even about nomadic groups in the Oki Valley and Toga Mountains, including the number and ages of residents. Some people hid in the woods during visits, which could account for the difficulty of finding Van, but Yotalu believed the records remained broadly accurate. The same system that classified and governed distant populations could thus supply information for tracing them, even as local mobility and concealment left gaps.

Ofal Hazak emerges as both a lived territory and a contested category: a place where hunting rights, intergroup cooperation, animal knowledge, imperial population management, and uncertain memories all meet. Its boundaries regulate access and express local sovereignty, while the movement of settlers, displaced clans, and possible refugees makes those boundaries part of an unfinished history.