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11 The Age of Budding, subtitled The Birth of Civilization, is the fourth and final period Elliot and Faie visit on their backward journey through the four ages. It is the furthest point back in time in Philabieldia's history that the story reaches. Here, at the dawn of civilization, humans use weapons of their own making to keep the beast tribes at bay. There is no magic infrastructure, no established nation: only a small settlement of people trying to survive.
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33 Hitoyori
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66 The earliest confirmed human settlement in Philabieldia is called Hitoyori. Its people are young as a civilization, their defenses built from handmade tools and physical courage rather than any protective spell. Outside the settlement, in the snow field, lives a group that Hitoyori's people regard with deep uncertainty: the Myū tribe.
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88 The Myū Tribe
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10-The Myū are set apart from the beast tribes in a crucial way: they can speak the human language and wield powerful magic. Whether they represent a hope or a threat to humanity is the central drama of the Age of Budding. The settlement's young chief, Kai, sees the Myū as simply another beast tribe, their magic a danger to be feared. Hirk, a Hitoyori woman who has spent years struggling to use magic herself, believes the Myū are the key to Hitoyori's future and seeks to establish relations with them so that the village's children might have a chance to grow to adulthood. The question of their alignment is left unresolved in pre-release materials.
10+The Myū are set apart from the beast tribes in a crucial way: they can speak the human language and wield powerful magic. Whether they represent a hope or a threat to humanity is the central drama of the Age of Budding. The settlement's young chief, Kai, sees the Myū as simply another beast tribe, their magic a danger to be feared. Hirk, a Hitoyori woman who has spent years struggling to use magic herself, believes the Myū are the key to Hitoyori's future and seeks to establish relations with them so that the village's children might have a chance to grow to adulthood. The question of their alignment is left unresolved so far.
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1212 Key Figures
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1414 CharacterRoleStance on the MyūKaiChief of HitoyoriViews the Myū as another beast tribe; a threat to be repelledHirkHitoyori magic-seekerBelieves the Myū and their magic are Hitoyori's best hope; seeks to learn from themLyudmilaA woman of the MyūLives in the snow field; through a certain course of events, comes to teach magic to the humans
1515 Humanity's Greatest Turning Point
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1717 The Age of Budding is described as the moment when humanity faces its greatest turning point in the history of Philabieldia. Whether that turning point is defined by the relationship with the Myū, by the first encounters with beast tribes, or by something else entirely is not yet clear. What is confirmed is that the decisions made in this earliest age eventually shape everything Elliot has witnessed in the later eras. How that chain of cause and consequence unfolds is part of what the journey backward through time is meant to reveal.
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1919 Place in the Journey
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2121 The Age of Budding sits at the far end of the time-travel arc, coming after the Age of Magic and before the story begins its return. It is the end of the backward journey, but also the beginning of Philabieldia's story as a whole. For the full roster of confirmed characters across every era, see the Characters page.