HOW CHRACT'TYTH LEARNED TO DANCE THE SUNBLADES:
Courtesy CD Stone

Annotated by Serres Vennan, Library of Tegn

Long ago, when the world was still green and water sprang from the ground,(1) the Ss’tiss were a rough, uncultured people. They were quarrelsome and fierce, and arguments would often turn into fights, where they would tear at each other with teeth and claws. They fought and quarreled so because they had no art, no adornments nor trinkets nor songs. Nor did they know the Dance.

In those days, Sun and the Great Egg(2) had not yet quarreled. Even though They had their own tracks to follow and rarely spent any time in Each Other’s presence, They had a Messenger that flew between Them to carry tidings from One to the Other. Eventually, They had a fierce argument, and Sky’s face was filled with bright lights and loud sounds.(3) Their quarrel lasted for days, and at last Sun had grown so enraged that He grabbed the Messenger and hurled It from Its track. It screamed and burst into flame at His touch, leaving a trail of fire behind as It plummeted to the ground. When It landed, It bellowed out Its anger and frustration. It had only been doing Its job, after all. Its fury shook the land, and It dug itself a hole and hid away so that neither Sun nor the Great Egg could see It again to punish It further.(4)

Now Chract'tyth(5) was out wandering, as he was wont to do, not liking the fighting that always tended to happen when two or more Ss’tiss got together for any length of time, when he saw the Messenger’s fiery descent. “Now this is trouble,” he said. “If even those as wise and powerful as Sun and the Great Egg quarrel and fight, how can we ever hope to have peace? Maybe I should go talk to the Messenger and see if I can find out what’s wrong.”

So Chract'tyth set out to find the Messenger. Many days he traveled, and all manner of strange sights did he see, but that is not part of this story. Finally, he came to the place where the Messenger had dug his hole. Tearful sounds came from the pit. “Hello!” he called into the dark opening. “It is Chract'tyth, come for a visit!”

“Go away,” the Messenger cried. “I’m in a bad mood.”

“I can see that,” said Chract'tyth. What has happened that Sun has cast you from your place?”

“It was not even My fault!” sobbed the Messenger. “Sun and the Great Egg got in a dispute over whose light was better. Sun said that His light was better, because it provided warmth and life for all in Telgard. The Great Egg maintained that Its light was better because it was gentle, not harsh like Sun’s, and would not kill or blind. Well, soon enough insults were flying, and the argument got worse and worse. And of course, the only way They could talk was through Me, so They both got angrier and angrier with Me as well as Each Other. Finally, after I delivered one particularly scathing insult, Sun took His anger out on Me and cast Me down. So now I hide in this hole I have dug. But it’s even worse than that! When I fell, a piece of Me broke off and in My pain I wedged Myself too tightly into My hole. And now I am stuck and can’t get out!” It burst into tears again.

Chract'tyth was greatly moved by the Messenger’s plight. “I will go talk to Sun and the Great Egg on your behalf. Maybe I can help straighten things out.” The Messenger did not appear to hear him, being preoccupied with Its misery.

Chract'tyth searched the ground around the hole and found the piece that had broken from the Messenger. It actually was two pieces, each half of a circle. He picked up the pieces and tied them to his back with a cord. Then, bidding the Messenger a final, unheard farewell, he set off to climb Ryk’resht’nach.(6)

Again, his journey was filled with wonders and perils that need not be detailed here. At last he reached the top of Ryk’resht’nach and settled in to wait. Now in those days, the whole world was warm all the time, so the fact that it was night didn’t bother Chract'tyth at all. Soon the Great Egg rose over the horizon and made Its climb up Sky. As It neared the peak of Ryk’resht’nach, It spied Chract'tyth sitting there. “Hello, Chract'tyth!” It called. “What brings you up here?”

“Hello, Great Egg!” Chract'tyth replied. “I have come here to speak of Your quarrel with Sun. It is sad that You are no longer on speaking terms. Maybe I can help?”

The Great Egg sniffed disdainfully. “Perhaps. He is the one who has the problem. You will need to talk to Him. You know how hotheaded He can be. But yes, I will speak to you.”

“Thank You,” said Chract'tyth. “We will just wait here, and Sun will be along shortly.”

They waited a bit, and soon enough Sun poked his head above the horizon. “What nonsense is this?” He growled upon seeing Chract'tyth and the Great Egg. “Come to pick a fight, have you?”

On the contrary,” said Chract'tyth. “I have come to settle one. Please, come talk with me. I wish to help You settle Your dispute.”

“There’s nothing to settle!” Sun bellowed. “I am right, and the Great Egg is wrong! It is that simple!”

Chract'tyth clacked his teeth in frustration. This was not going to be an easy task.

For many days did Chract'tyth negotiate between the two Beings. Their arguments went back and forth, and no one knows exactly what was said. But finally, They came to an agreement.

“I apologize,” said the Great Egg. “Without Your light, all life would die. You are indeed the greater.”

“Yes, but without Your light, the nights would be too dark,” conceded Sun. “Everyone would be falling into holes or off cliffs because they couldn’t see. So your light is good as well.”

Sun turned His attention back toward Chract'tyth. “I have wronged the Messenger,” He said. “How can I make amends?”

“The Messenger has dug Itself a deep hole and can’t get out,” Chract'tyth replied. “Perhaps you could free It and restore Its position with You?”

“No, I cannot do that,” Sun said sadly. “I cannot pull It back up here. But perhaps there is a way I can unstick it.” And so Sun turned the Messenger into the first of the Mek’tiss(7), and It burrowed happily away into the dirt.

“We both thank you for your help in settling Our dispute,” Sun said, and the Great Egg agreed. “What can We do for you to show Our appreciation?”

“The Ss’tiss are unhappy,” said Chract'tyth. We have no joy and no art, so all we do is fight. How can we learn to be happy?”

“When I created everything, I taught it all to dance. Everything has its own, special Dance. I even gave your people a Dance, but you have forgotten it.” Sun shook His head sadly. “I cannot teach you your Dance again; you must find it on your own. But I can do something else.” Sun took the two pieces of the Messenger from Chract'tyth and cupped them in His hands. He held them out for the Great Egg to blow on, then blew on them Himself and pressed His hands together. When he opened them, something new lay shining in His palms. He placed them on the ground before Chract'tyth.

“This is Our gift to you,” Sun said. “They bear the curved shape that the Great Egg takes for a few nights out of every month, and they bear My name. They are Sunblades.” Chract'tyth reverently picked them up and strapped them onto his back. “With them you will be able to learn to dance again. Watch all the things of the world carefully and you can learn to dance as they do. Perhaps, in time, you will even remember your own special Dance.”

Chract'tyth was overjoyed. “Thank you, Sun!” he cried. “You have given us a great gift indeed.”

Sun smiled at Chract'tyth and then turned his attention to the Great Egg. “We have settled our argument. Come, let us embrace,” he said. The Great Egg moved to him and they clasped each other tightly. The light dimmed to show its respect, and a great golden glow shone around them. Sky’s face blushed a deep purple at the show of love between two who had so recently been at odds.(8) At last the two parted. “From now on, We will do without a Messenger. We will greet Each Other when We pass close by, but I think that talking through another has garbled Our words.”

“That sounds fair to Me,” said the Great Egg, who immediately set off once more on Its track.

Chract'tyth bid Them both a farewell and left Ryk’resht’nach.

Chract'tyth spent the next few years watching and learning. He learned how to dance like a bird, how to dance like a fish, how to dance like a cloud, how to dance like many different things. Every creature or thing he found, he learned from. Some were jealous of their Dances, and wouldn’t let him learn. Some he could not find to learn from. But in the end, his head full of knowledge, he returned to his people and began to teach them the Dances he had learned. Slowly, the knowledge began to spread, until everyone knew, if not how to Dance themselves, at least that the beauty of the Dance existed. With this knowledge came happiness and peace, and the Ss’tiss learned many new arts, and grew to become the people we know now.

But Chract'tyth was never able to find the Dance of the Ss’tiss. Nor has anyone to this day. Perhaps we have not learned enough. Perhaps there are more things we need to learn from, so that our Dance will return to us from its long absence. Perhaps one day, one of us will find it, and the Ss’tiss will be complete.

Perhaps that Ss’tiss will be you.

Footnotes

1. Many of the tales of the Ss'tiss begin in this, or similar, fashion. Historical research has been unable to determine whether the area now known as the Sarin desert was once as fertile as the plains of Korresh, or whether the Ss'tiss might have migrated there from some more lush land, or whether it is merely a fantasy, a desire for something they have never had.

2. Dargotten's Eye. The Ss'tiss believe that, although Sun created them, something else created Him, the moons and the world. No stories give or even hint at the identity of this original creator, but several claim that before it left this world to go create another, it laid the Great Egg. It is said that when the Great Egg hatches, Telgard will be destroyed.

3. Possibly a reference to a battle between powerful Wizards. This may have been the root event behind the Ss'tiss' great dislike for and mistrust of magic.

4. Obviously, this describes the fall of a meteorite.

5. Chract'tyth is an archetypal hero figure in Ss'tiss legendry. He is credited with many impossible feats, such as moving rivers, building mountain ranges, and even organizing the animals of the desert and forest to play a prank on the entire Elven nation. It is unlikely that Chract'tyth ever actually existed, as he is present in tales ranging from some of the earliest myths of the Ss'tiss to some as recent as the Scourge.

6. Literally, "the tallest mountain in the world."

7. Dwarves. Literally, "ground people."

8. An eclipse, although the reference to the purple sky is a bit odd. Astrologers have calculated that, if Mother's Harp were in the proper position in the sky at the time of the eclipse, the light reflected off it from both the sun and Dargotten's eye could be sufficient to make the darkened sky seem to take on a purple hue. However, their calculations show that the last time such a positioning occurred during an eclipse was over seven thousand years ago. Plainly, this bit of detail must have just been for effect.

A Comment from the Annotator:

This story is one told to young Ss’tiss who are being taught the use of the Sunblades. It is very apocryphal and metaphorical, and the casual reader should pay close attention to the footnotes, which explain some of the more obscure or dubious passages in better detail. It is an excellent example of how discrete stories can easily get blended together into one when an oral tradition is used to pass them down rather than a written one. We can see how the story of the Sunblades has been mixed with several different origin myths, and a few primitive descriptions of various astronomical events have been thrown in, likely to add more flavor to an otherwise tedious tale. Regardless, in its current form, it does provide an entertaining read.

--Serres Vennan, Library of Tegn