The Mammothants were on the move. The harsh winter conditions of the Cyanos Northern Tundra had driven the herd southwards in search of fresh food.

Food. Their one constant need — shared by all in the herd, except for the little ones who still relied on their mothers for milk. The herd held a mixture of adult females and juveniles. The males, once they reached maturity, had left and formed their own bachelor groups, returning only during the mating season.

Crossing the last exposed reaches of the northern plains, the herd neared the foothills of the mountains. Here, in a crisscrossed maze of valleys, they would find fresh food, trees with bark to strip, and plentiful grasses buried beneath the snow. Most of the valleys also held wide braided rivers that flowed down from the high mountain glaciers.