An ancient Shaivite temple looms over a field of blackened stumps. It has been taken over by the impious Bonfire King, a mighty orangutan whose arms stretch longer than anacondas. Guarded night & day by wary gibbons, the Dynastic Fire flickers in the courtyard, fed hourly on jungle lumber. This wood, & fruit, & martial service are the tribute paid by jungle creatures to the Bonfire King. Peacocks gift him fine earthworms, & even ants carry kindling to his throne. Those defiant species, like the peaceable Bears, have woken to a red glow at midnight, & fled as their homes transformed to Hellfire, then ashes. But guilt glowers too, in the heart of torchbearing Abu on the steps of the temple.
To the northwest lies Agrabah. On his morning walk through the Garden, Jafar caresses a mighty jungle vine curiously. Then he asks: "Interloper, name thyself!" The vine unloops: a great python. "The name's Kaa, of the Jungle of the Bonfire King." Jafar unloops also, rising tree-tall in form of serpent. "You hide from a friend, legless one," says Jafar. "I too am of fire." Kaa replies, with hungry eyes: "I know, the smokeless fire at your fingertips. But I wonder if your mind is of similar strength, or if that is your weakness..." And Jafar gazes back, & wonders also.
To the northeast lies China. 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 east lies Kumandra. Statues of firebearing apes decorate the borderlands. Yet the sneakiest monkeys managed to evade the billowing Druun. They lurk in the Kumandran treetops, waiting for a moment of carelessness in which to steal a shiny object.