After Bori Khan touched his torch to the kindling & burned the Emperor alive, he sent messengers to every village of China & of his conquered lands (in other words to every corner of Asia) saying the Emperor had not been killed. "The Emperor could no longer ignore the will of Heaven & declared Bori Khan his heir. Now he attends higher matters on pilgramage to the Four Mountains." But to me he said, "Return to Venezia, beyond even my grasp. Of every land in this world, listen to its multiple stories, & record that which glows brightest in your heart." And so I have done.

To the west lies Agrabah. Asura Jafar, as he is known to the Khan, forgets the Earth, & his green Garden walls stand lightly guarded. But when the sagittary cavalry breach the East Gate, marvels assail them ex nihilo. King David, young, resists, ringed by slingslain corpses. Fishhooked Leviathan churns the Palace moat. Bow-armed Lazarus is shot down twelve times, but plucks & refires arrows from his own corpse.

To the southwest lies the Jungle. Surprised by the agility & aggression of the Bonfire King's apes, the Hun armies have retreated to the Great Wall, defending it from the Chinese side. Horse archers skirmish against elephant-riding monkeys, while macaques throw stolen gunpowder bombs.

To the south lies Kumandra. A tomb-garrison of stone soldiers stands in formation facing Kumandra. The new Emperor has declared the Dragon River too cursed to conquer. But he does not know the dead have sent their own emissary to Kumandra: Fa Mushu, the Last Dragon.

To the southeast lies Motunui. It is into a hostile environment that Zheng He's expeditionary fleet sailed. The ships of one of the Pacific's most aggressive islands chased him off-course, harassing him until he sought shelter on an uninhabited island. There, the Chinese expedition huddles besieged, blockaded by catamarans eager to steal their jade-inlaid machines.