A slack jawed human stood paralyzed, absolutely dumbfounded by the view before him.


    The towering mountain peaks, forests, valleys, rivers and lakes were all pristine and gorgeous. The structures that painted the mountain peaks and down their sides, harboring the lakes and rivers, were all sophisticated and complementary. But things like this were no longer shocking after a visit to the Markets.


    What was short-circuiting Jun’s puny human brain were the residents.


    The uniformed martial practitioners sparring in the fields were dogs, cats, tigers, bears - was that a giraffe swinging his neck at a squirrel? Falcons, sparrows and bats performed mock aerial combat in dizzying formations, and all kinds of crazy things were happening in the water. What was a dolphin in combat uniform for? Why was that a thing?


    Even his patient guide was an upright hippo in golden robes.


    Having come unannounced, this hippo elder was gracious enough to give the father/daughter pair an unplanned tour of the Temple as they waited for the Elder.


    The Personal Domain of Elder Gior Je the Ever Inquisitive was a perfect replica of the Lost Martial Continent, the once Holy Land of the beasts of the Beastworld, now dubbed the Temple. Its recreation and use as the Personal Domain was to honor the memories of the heroes that were lost to the Wave that almost defeated them.


    Ella, who had finally begun to open up after tasting so much freedom and security, had no problem making new furry friends everywhere they went.


    From the exquisitely crafted giant stone coliseums to the grand martial training grounds, Ella befriended cute puppies in tunics, kittens in sweaters, and a tiny garden snake wearing a choker.


    Their small group had finally reached the main peak after hours of hippo history lessons and Ella playing. Jun had questions. As he was about to ask them between hippo facts, a booming laugh interrupted him.


    “Elder Jun! Welcome to the Temple! You honor us with you presence!”


    Seeing a small sparrow in a tan tunic fall from the sudden sonic attack made Jun feel better about his eardrums nearly bursting.


    “Lord, your volume,” the unruffled hippo calmly reminded.


    “Hm hm. Of course, of course!” said the two story tall gorilla in purple robes as he shrank down to match Jun’s height in three strides.


    Gior Je the Ever Inquisitive stepped forward excitedly and enthusiastically welcomed his guests. The elf wench was getting on his nerve about the new elder favoring her stupid treehut. Well, now it was his turn to play host.


    Glancing at the awestruck mortal Elder and his little offspring playing with Master Eternal Wisdom Hare by pulling his ears and thought of all the ways to ensnare him to their circle.


    “Have you been well?” the gorilla, using his inside voice, asked.


    “I- I have been well. Thank you,” Jun replied, still a little shakey. The world was still shaking in his eyes.


    “Elder Gior, I came hoping you could help me with something,” he said, getting to the point.


    “If there is anything this Gior Je can do, don’t hesitate and impose on me all you’d like!” the Elder exclaimed, like he’d won a great prize.


    Not standing on ceremony, Jun unloaded his plans for the Elder’s Gathering he was hosting, wanting an established elder’s perceptive.


    He’d already been to Dogadon’s Forgeworld, a world built into a literal red hot forge, and Lady Cynth’s Tree Fort, a world of eternal night that comprised a single giant pine tree from which all types of haphazardly affixed structures connected. Neither had the aesthetics for a ceremonial gathering.


    Proud of the complement of recognition, Gior Je puffed his chest and explained the history of the gatherings as an introductory event for new Elders and the connections and benefits they could reap. Jun, who was just beginning his journey in a unique path, should meet as many of the elders as he could.


    After a lengthy summary of expectations of decorum and process, the gatherings operated, Gior Je thoughtfully wrote a brief introduction and summary of the 135 Elders.


    “Some are sensitive to excess, while others are offended by modesty, but don’t worry. Everyone is trying to make connections with you, Elder Jun. You are in the position of being impressed by them.” The hairy elder reassured with a pat on the back as they both watched Ella doing a cute little dance on the back of a flying sea turtle in a blue skirt. Huh.


    It was a lot to think about.


    “Elder Gior, how is it that your population matches, um, records of creatures from my world?” Jun finally asked, curiosity scratching at his insides.


    Looking wholly unbothered by the question, the upright beastman brimming with ancient wisdom, patiently explained the spiritual currents that were shared by worlds on the same branch of the World Tree, resulting in certain characteristics becoming fated.


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    “How else would you explain there being so many worlds with humans, elves, and dwarves? All those worlds share the same origin branch.”


    Jun sat and absorbed the new knowledge and had another question.


    “If both our worlds shared the same evolutionary paths, does that mean you all also developed from dinosaurs? And were there any humans in your world?”


    “There are worlds with the same ancient creatures you refer to, but much of what we know of our own past remains lost to history.” Elder Gior Je explained. Leading his small party to a wood railing, he pointed toward a series of giant reliefs carved into a rock-cliff that bordered the lake. Twelve lifelike carvings of humans, males and females, young and old, each wearing distinct ceremonial martial clothing in meditative postures, towered over the water surface like eternal guardians. Hundreds of boats, small ones fit for a single mouse or sparrow to massive skiffs for giant beasts all peacefully floated around the base, their residents in quiet meditation.


    “Our two worlds share close roots, thus exhibit many similarities. Humans once ruled our world, and like the animals of yours, we too were once without wisdom. But one day they disappeared.”


    Jun looked at his storyteller with surprise while Ella was playing on the head of an elephant in orange pants.


    “Their complete disappearance remains a core mystery of our world. We assume a curse was at play, because all that remained of a vast empire were the spirits of the twelve powerful practitioners.” The ancient gorilla sighed, like an old man reminiscing an old friend as he gazed at their image.


    “Did you know them personally?” Jun wondered, not surprised at anything anymore.


    The Elder looked longingly towards a particular effigy depicting an elegant old woman kneeling in layers of embroidered dress.


    “The spirits existed for centuries by constant recitation of their Daos, rebelliously resisting the final pulls of death. This anchored their souls to the material plane, even as their bodies whithered to dust. It was this chanting of the dead that awakened the first beasts to the dao and opened their wisdom, their teachings orally preserved through generations of awakened beasts who have each further paved the Dao.”


    “Wooow.” Jun admired. He felt like he could spend a lot of time delving into their history. It was all so interesting.


    They stood in comfortable silence as Jun digested, watching Ella running around with her arms filled with baby animals in cute, colorful clothing.


    “It’s good to see the elderly being so lively. I haven’t seen them so energetic in centuries. Your daughter brings sunshines to our humble Temple.” The contented gorilla sage chuckled.


    “Eldery?” Jun asked as his daughter jumped headfirst into a pile of yipping puppies.


    “In order to control the dissipation of their lifeforce, members of our most senior generations often assume smaller, less energy consuming forms.”


    “Huh,” Jun said, not knowing what to say to that. It kind of put a different spin on things.


    Ella was tossing a small ball into the air and cheering for the little creatures who chased after it. A heroic last-minute dive from a cute little baby otter had a baby monkey wailing in tears, the ball snatched from within its very grasp.


    “That’s my grandpappy.”


    “I think we’re gonna go.”


    “I understand.”


    ——


    A small human stood on a mountain peak and looked down at a sea of clouds that captured the best parts of the sun’s light and considered a few different ideas.


    A lifetime deprived of the sky made such a view irresistible to Jun’s creative eye. The sky was a central theme, no matter what.


    Jun was bursting with inspiration and was planning on getting most of the work done before Ella woke from her afternoon nap in her floating bed of cool, tangible clouds.


    To the little one, their bond was born a day ago, everything still so new and interesting, but Jun had spent half a year within suspended time in the Great Starfall Array. He missed the crazy out of her.


    This pure and tortured soul came into his life when he felt alone and abandoned, and found sharing his affection numbed the pain of both their wounds.


    Thinking about what his little girl would like and letting inspiration take control, Jun formed a complex rune in the sky the size of a sports-field with giant strokes. Once formed, it shimmered in consolidation, and delved into the sea of clouds with giant fluffy waves, emerging as a cloud whale the size of mountains. It arched overhead and blotted out the sun before diving far out of eyesight.


    Another rune flashed and dove out of sight as more and more runes covered the sky. Massive cloud birds rose from the fluff and flew with the stars. Giant fluffy bunnies and cute foxes scampered about while herds of titanic giraffes and horses cast massive shadows along the seascape.


    Thousands of giant runes birthed thousands of giant white fluffy animals, and mythical beasts to fill all the surroundings cloudscape.


    Satisfied, Jun began to focus on the venue.


    There were 135 official guests, each with their own entourages. Most would arrive separately, but some Elders were known to travel in groups.


    The scale of the guests varied from small to enormous. There was an Elder from a hamster lineage as well as a literal giant.


    Some were composed of volatile elements while others were so dense in sheer mass that they had their own gravity, despite being the size of a person.


    With so much to consider, Jun felt it was seriously fortunate that he asked Elder Gior for help. What if he hadn’t? Jun shivered at the thought.


    With a thought, the mountain was flattened. Standing in the center of the now generous flat space, he demarcated 136 positions around the circle. Going through the list he’d been given, Jun began to manipulate the environments of each to correspond to the different Elders’ preference.


    He didn’t care what the gorilla said. Every demigod in the known multiverse was coming for a house call. As a puny mortal, Jun knew the importance of setting a good impression.


    Once he’d gone through the list, he turned each of the unique environments and detached them from the ground as floating platforms. They were then split in half, one portion floating up and out as they tripled in area to form a larger floating ring of platforms that looked down on the first from above the sea of clouds. One for the Elder and one for the add ons.


    This made the entire mountain peak the central discussion table with elevated seating, a dome of majestic blue over a sea of white clouds.


    Stepping on a manifested cloud platform, Jun rose to the elevated height of the viewing ring and looked down.


    He was currently a few stories up, and looked at the carved peak, saw an opportunity.


    This was an event to introduce not only himself but also to represent his people and the world that birthed them. Jun wanted to share the spirit of his species that saw them through a literal apocalypse and rise up again with grit and perseverance.


    For this, he wanted something more than a manifestation.


    Entrusting Ella with Babysitter Sophie, Jun stepped out.