A Hainish field ethnologist studies the people of Eleven-Soro for many years, settling into daily life with her two children, Serenity (“Ren”) and Borny. She learns about the culture through her children. They bring back stories, history, and cautionary tales about magic. Only women and children live in the auntring – or village – and men live on their own; the men and women only meet for reproduction. When boys in the auntring show signs of puberty, they must leave to join the boygroups, where they fight and only the strongest survive. As Borny starts showing signs of puberty, Ren’s mother wants to leave and rejoin the ship in order to protect him. Borny convinces her to stay and let him go and bring back information for her report. Over a year and a half passes, when Borny shows up and wants to return to the ship, as he does not want the future offered to him as a man on Eleven-Soro. Ren does not want to leave. Once on the ship, Ren refuses to speak the Sorovian language or share their songs and stories, though her mother says the knowledge is owed to her people. Ren answers that she has no people: she is a person. Borny and their mother want to go to the planet Hain, but Ren makes a stand, saying she is no longer a child and will not go. She says she needs to finish her soul by living on Eleven-Soro. Once back, Ren settles into their old home. She meets and couples with the Red Stone Man for a time, but then chooses to leave and travel on her own for four years. When she returns to the auntring, she builds a house a little further out from the other houses and settles into daily life. She couples with another man, giving birth to a daughter and a son. She calls the ship and adds her story and knowledge to her mother’s report.