Humans have been struggling to live on Frogmore for almost five centuries, adapting themselves to punishing gravity and the deadly mistflowers that dominate its ecology. Financier Inez Gauthier, patron of the arts and daughter of the general commanding the planets occupation forces, dreams of eliminating the mistflowers that make exploitation of the planets natural wealth so difficult and impede her father's efforts to crush the native insurgency. Fascinated by the new art-form of waterdancing created by Solstice Balalzalar celebrating the planets indigenous lifeforms, Inez assumes that her patronage will be enough to sustain Solstices art even as she ruthlessly pursues windfall profits at the expense of all that has made waterdancing possible.
