The Creation of the Miau, as Sung by N'yairr

(May 31, 2004; written for A Dark Portal)

Wee n'yeegry'iryn. (We begin)

The Dreamer is beyond our ken; let us never forget this. We may experience Its experiences, and see Its sights, but It exists on a level we will never understand, for we are Its dreams. We are here because Its mind believed us good, and we thrive by convincing It that Its decision was correct. How many of us have spent nights staring at the Py'rian River, wondering at our purpose? The river's flow has a beginning, yet no beginning; we can see where it rises from the earth, but it continues far beneath, out of our sight. We can see where it enters the mountains, but its travels do not end there; its terminus is unknown to us, but perhaps it meets the ocean, becoming infinite. So it is with us, through the Dreamer.

Wee is'srtairyndrr. (We stand)

We are not the first people to walk here; though some among us doubt this, it is obvious - the histories of others had covered a thousand parchments before the first Miau was born. Look at Miaun, then examine Ankatavaka; the Mariners' structures clearly predate us, though they spent so long at sea before settling, and they are surely not the only ones. Are we an afterthought? No. We are the closest representation of Purri'gyr-la our world has, I believe, for we are the only ones who can control Its will. To understand this, you must try to understand It.

The Dreamer lives, perhaps as we live, or perhaps not; as we exist only inside Its mind, it is difficult to say. It is not of this world, but this world is of It - our universe began when It fell asleep, and the Seers say we will all cease to be when it is time for It to wake. The first beings and landscapes to appear were the deepest, most visceral concepts within Purri-gyr'la; we may debate their roles forever, but the Wolf-kin may be the savage, Mariners the intrepid, Plainswalkers the free and imaginative. Each mountain, each plain, each stream and bank, these are all parts of the Dreamer's psyche, things below the surface of Its thoughts that emerged as It drifted into the act of creation. Yet things have changed since, and things forever evolve - the Plainswalkers split into Hillmen and Highmen, Wolf-kin seek their civility, Mariners scour the land and sea. And, of course, we the Miau have come.

Wee waioylk. (We walk)

You see, as It dreams, Purri'gyr-la grows more aware of Itself, though it is unconscious still. Each people's changes show Its desire to make our world more than a series of archetypes - the Wolf-kin have refused to be so one-dimensional, and the Mariners refuse to explore forever without reprieve. Yet they are still bound to the essences that followed them into existence; a Wolf will never be truly civil, and a Highman will always hold freedom above all else. And so our race appeared, a true representation of our Dreamer that could not have existed earlier in Its dream, a people of depth and spiritual connectedness no others can understand. Outsiders will think this egotistical, but Outsiders also believe our Creator a myth, or a twisting of their own peculiar Gods, so why should we care?

In some ways, we have always been, for we are our Dreamer's mind; we are balanced, with no undue biases toward any part of Its dream (what other race has no born foes, I ask?), able to master every skill anyone has developed with equal ease because they could not exist if the Dreamer did not understand them. In the Ca'Astarii Valley, we discovered the secret of Manipulation, the ability to change our world by altering the Dreamer's dream - who else has been so able? No one else, because they are only facets of Purri-gyr'la, able to perceive only bits of It without ever seeing the whole. We are humble children, and surely cannot fully understand our lord, but this world is ours to shape, as we have found. We will vanish with everything else when the Dreamer finds Its way back to the waking place where It lies, but we may feel some greater permanance, for we will not simply fall back into Its subconscious mind. We are the Dreamer, and when It walks again, It will feel us close to Its heart.

So we sing on the banks of the River, understanding our natures, understanding our eternity.