The Nest of the Fying Tiger God An entry for the Ancient Wonders category of the second countdown challenges.   High up in the Rakath Mountains, close to the roof of the world, lies the Nest of the Flying Tiger God, a monastery and temple complex devoted to the worship of the deity who is said to have once dwelt in Tiger's Nest Cave. The structure is built above, around, and even in the cave, which is very ancient and filled with the marks of the claws of some giant beast. Numerous experts from the University of Petraea over the centuries have come and explored the scored furrows in the rock, and all agree that they appear to be the marks of very large tiger claws, claws larger than any tiger ever heard of. The experts could not agree about whether such a mighty tiger could have existed, or whether a flying tiger had ever existed (for of course, the only way out of the cave is by flying, since the drop from the cave mouth is a thousand feet or more to the valley floor below). Some suppose that it could have been an extremely large and striped gryphon, but no further evidence supported such a claim. But the inconclusive opinions of the experts have done nothing to quell the fervor of the followers of the Flying Tiger God who tend the shrines, nor quench the ardor of the pilgrims who brave the arduous and often deadly trek up into the highest peaks of Kaliphlin through bandit (and dark beings come south from Nocturnus) infested passes. Some say they have seen the Flying Tiger God far over head as they hike the mountains and heard his voice roaring in their dreams. Fresh claw marks occasionally appear in the cave, and shakes caused by his roars have caused parts of the temples to be rebuilt over the years. It is no wonder that this deity is one of the most popular in eastern Kaliphlin and even beyond.    ____________________ ......................................... Based, of course, on Tiger's Nest Monastery in Bhutan, a real-life place. But it seemed too good to not include in the Guilds somewhere.