gliding over the thermals issuing from a great volcano, sustaining themselves on a diet of flying insects. Their wings keep growing after the rest of their bodies has stopped, such that they end up disproportionately long. The Birds' limited range threatens their survival, as does their method of reproduction: every three years, a single, enormous egg is laid, containing many embryos. However, the volcano's fumes will naturally make the eggs "ill", such that they will hatch as Black Birds. Only a nearby indigenous tribe, the Ovo-volahos, knows how to "cure" the eggs to make them hatch as White Birds. Most Amerzonians believe the White Birds to merely be a fanciful myth. Characters The journalist: The player character; a faceless, nameless, silent protagonist. Has virtually no identity: all that is known is they were assigned by their employer, Mondial Magazine, to interview Valembois about the Amerzone. Alexandre Valembois (voiced by Michel Barbey): Born in 1904, studied natural history in Paris. Fascinated by the biology of Amerzone, he goes on a scientific expedition there from 1932 to 1934. There, he encounters and becomes enamored with the White Birds, and finds love in a native girl called Yékoumani. When he brings back one of the White Birds' eggs, the scientific establishment laughs it off. After World War II, he gets a career as a lycée professor. When the player character meets him in 1998, he is exhausted and tormented by his past mistakes, and can only think of returning the egg to Amerzone. Antonio Alvarez (voiced by Marc Moro): An Amerzone native who befriends Valembois in 1929 while studying law. A lover of his native land, he accompanies Valembois on his expedition, and stays behind after his friend returns to Europe. Wishing to modernize the country, Alvarez spearheads a coup d'état. The patriot turns into a cynical dictator, corrupted by power and leading his once-beloved country into ruin. David Mackowski (voiced by Luc Gentil): A Jesuit who also accompanies Valembois to Amerzone, being equally fascinated by the place. Unwisely attempts to convert the Amerzone natives to Catholicism. Like Valembois, by 1998 he is filled with regret and sadness over his mistakes and what has become of Amerzone under Alvarez's rule. Plot The game proper begins in 1998 with the journalist's interview of Valembois, but much of the plot is backstory about Valembois's 1932 expedition. 1932–1934: the Valembois expedition Alexandre Valembois, a zoology buff