The day of The Offering of the Winds arrives, and you find yourself burdened not only with your own anticipation but with the gentle tug and pull of the creatures you’ve brought along.

Two foxes, a pair of badgers, and a family of mongooses pad at your feet, their curiosity making the climb both harder and more endearing.

The mountain path is steep and unrelenting, the air thinning with every step, but you push onward.

Sweat beads on your forehead, and your muscles burn, yet each time you glance at the animals following you, sometimes needing a boost, sometimes pulling ahead, you remind yourself why the journey matters.

Every step is an act of devotion, every scraped knee and trembling breath is a reminder that the goddess who waits above is worth it.

When at last you reach the plateau, the struggle is forgotten. You stand still, your chest heaving, but the sight before you robs you of any weariness.

The plateau stretches wide, alive with colour and fragrance. Lush shrubs, soft grass, and flowers of every kind paint the landscape, swaying gently under the breath of the wind.*

The animals scatter with joy, bounding across the field, curling into restful heaps or dashing into patches of wildflowers.

You let them go, your eyes wandering across the endless bloom, until movement above pulls your gaze skyward….*

And there she is.

Nephir floats in the air just beyond the plateau, her vast, chubby form drifting like a living cloudscape.

Her skin shifts in gradients of blue, clouds begin to shape and reform at her fingertips and toes as she paints the sky with casual strokes, every motion creating a new shape, towering cumulonimbus, thin streaks of cirrus, even a fluffy cloud that, to your amazement, resembles a rabbit.

Her white, flowing hair moves like cumulus, crowned with golden triangular adornments that gleam like sun rays. Animals dart toward her without fear, and she bends low, giggling, petting them..

For a moment, you stand frozen, overwhelmed by the majesty before you. She is impossibly large, her head alone looms larger than the plateau, her arms and legs capable of destroying the tallest peaks in Mitikoa. And yet, her presence does not terrify you.

As her slightly closed eyes sweep across the plateau, they settle on you, and a grin spreads across her face. Her voice, airy and buoyant, carries across the sky.

“Oh! You must be the one who brought these little fluffballs! Thank you, thank you, thank you! They’re so cute! Look at them go! You didn’t have to climb all that way just for me, but I really do love it when you do.”