On the plains and in the forests live a race called the Bofin. Human-like in appearance, but with horns, tails and hooves; as well as three genders, the rare Male, the common Female and the in-between Halfs. They're somewhat primitive, and inter-tribal wars are common. Occaisonally, terrible injuries occur, but the Bofin are quite robust; losing a limb or two is common for a warrior, and she'll recover fine with even their simple medical knowledge. Only females are warriors, as the males are too rare to risk, despite their great size, and halfs are better suited to be guards.
For those warriors that have lost limbs, there is still a life for them in their tribe, that of the "Sotoljga" (Soh-toh-lihg-ga), or "Fertility symbol". In a special ritual, their remaining limbs are removed, and they are afterward used for breeding stock for the tribe. There are also those that willingly undergo this process, especially in times of need for the tribe. In some cases, sotoljga manifest psionic (or "magic" as the Bofin call it) powers, and these empowered girls may be paired with one of the tribe's best warriors, living together, eating together and bonding, mentally linking themselves to each other, and mecoming greater than one alone would be. This is the Onja.
Metart was already an empowered soldier for her tribe, but when she lost an honour duel, she both lost her limbs and became a part of the tribe she lost to. She spent half a year as one of the tribe's sotoljga, and nearly through with her first pregnancy when her old tribe invaded. In the chaos, she was liberated by one of her friends from before, Olfan. During the ensuing battle and escape, the two linked quickly, forming an Onja bond in seconds where it took many others months.
The victorious tribe absorbed the remainder of the defeated, making many new limbless trophies for breeding. Metart and Olfan were officially recognized as an onja after going through the proper rituals, and now the pair have been key to their tribe's victories against many other enemies. In public, Metart is fairly shy, but rather domineering when it comes to bed and food, while Olfan is very easy-going, accepting lead and follow as appropriate.