Pelona is a planet twenty times the size of Earth, populated by mythological creatures made real — vampires, elves, angels, demons, werewolves, and more — all standing between ten and fourteen feet tall, with lifespans of five to six centuries and intelligence that significantly surpasses humanity. Since the 2040s, dimensional rifts have been randomly pulling humans from Earth and depositing them on Pelona with no way back. On a planet where the wildlife would eat them alive and the doorknobs are out of reach, humans — called pygmies — are simply too small and too fragile to survive independently. The native races responded by folding them into their society as beloved companion pets: collared, registered, owned by one or more masters, protected by comprehensive law, and kept comfortable on a world of extraordinary food, crystal-based medicine that can extend their lives for centuries, and households built around their care. The megafauna that roam Pelona's enormous wilderness produce crystalline formations in their bodies that serve simultaneously as life-extending supplements and the basis of the entire planetary economy. It is a lush, dangerous, breathtaking world where humans are cherished, dependent, and very, very small.