Winhill

Winhill was founded some time ago by a group of peaceful people who embraced small-town life and scorned the presence of outsiders entering their village. However, many of Winhill's young people found the quiet village life boring and left to seek excitement in the neighboring Deling City.

During the Sorceress War, all of the working men in town were sent off to fight for Galbadia against the nation of Esthar. The only ones left in the village, according to Laguna, were women with children, old people, chocobos, dogs, and cats. As a result, monsters made their way into town from the surrounding wilderness and overran its streets, making it dangerous for children to play outside alone. At some point during this time, Winhill was raided by Estharian troops, capturing young girls to bring to their leader, Sorceress Adel, as candidates for succession. Although the townspeople fought back, the troops succeeded in capturing several children. One child in particular, however, avoided their grasp: Ellone, a girl of two or three with the unique ability to send her conscious back in time. When her parents refused to turn her over to Esthar, they were killed, but the girl escaped and was taken in by her next-door-neighbor, Raine. Following the Esthar raid, a team of Galbadian soldiers were appointed to stand guard at the town's entrance and keep a lookout for Esthar soldiers, but the team did little to address the town's growing monster problem.

Soon after, a Galbadian soldier named Laguna Loire appeared in town, critically injured from a battle with Estharian troops on the Centra continent. Like Ellone, Laguna was also taken in by Raine and nursed back to health. To repay Raine and Winhill for its hospitality, Laguna served the town as a protector, running daily patrols to rid the area of any monsters, mostly made up of Bite Bugs and Caterchipillars. About a year later, Estharian troops raided Winhill once again, specifically in search of Ellone. This time, they succeeded in capturing her and whisking her awa