Ouseltomex's Rest

"What sorrow must have afflicted our god to bring Cem to such rest? Our texts tell us this truth, granted firstly through that same sleep Ce lives in now. We are born from sleep, commit to it each day, and make our ends in it. Each occurrence, we are afforded the chance to know Cem and be embraced as Ce drift in the empyrean."

Summary

Since the earliest age of the chimera people, there is the great creation myth of how their god, Ouseltomex, was brought to Cir long, unending sleep that has created chimeras and their nation the Slumbering Home (possibly even the entire globe).

In its most common telling, the god breathed clouds of light and left darkness in Cir steps. Cir tail whipped the chaos of the empyrean, formless matter only a god can travel, into the stars of the night. For time unknown, Ce traveled in this until struck by a growing and bitter feeling. Borne of the empyrean, Ce was puzzled at the very essence's inability to form beings such as Cem. Echoless pleas came from Cir mouth to ask the shapelessness to create something, but nothing came about. Ouseltomex was struck with the realization that Ce was alone, a god to nothing and a child of emptiness. A bitter weight fell, and Ce wept. Ce wept until Cir eyes turned dry and crusty. Exhausted, Ce turned Cir body prone, head to folded arms, and began to sleep. In those dreams, Ce thought of beings which looked like them playing and enjoying each other's company alongside Cem in endless fields. Bubbles of joy filled Cir heart. Ouseltomex continued to sleep and dreamed of more and more of these beings, each looking so much more different from each other. And each one was enraptured in Cem. Together, Ouseltomex and Cir new creations played and rejoiced and laughed. All of these seemed as though chimeras, fleeting dreams of the unattainable, but what sweetness Ce felt just having them. With a pleasant smile about Cir face, Ce woke to find these tiny creatures were no longer dreams: all that Ce had dreamed were real, asleep on Cir arms. Excitement grew, and Ce held the small people, that fit hundreds on just one of Cir fingers, up to the twinkling dome of the empyrean.

However, the skin of the little ones began to rot in the empyrean's entropy. Quickly, Ce returned them to Cir arms where it was safe. Ce wanted nothing more than to create more of these tiny dreams manifest, but there would be nowhere for them all to stay. It took little time for Cem to remember that the tiny ones would be safe so long as they stayed in contact with Cir body. Thus, Ouseltomex made the decision to place the little chimeras on Cir back where the fur would become trees and other plants for Cir children. When they woke, a home was given to them on the form of a slumbering creator. Ouseltomex returned to Cir prone position and continued to dream of new chimeras which would lay upon the spectacular back of a caring, joyous god. The land of the Slumbering Home, then, is the very back of Ouseltomex whose fur and skin became the flora and earth chimeras walk upon.

Historical Basis

While no records of an individual by the name of Ouseltomex or similar exist, the tale likely explains the unique coloration of the chimeras' nation which sets it apart from the continent's other two.

Spread

As this is the creation myth for chimeric society, it has attained massive reach and is taught to all chimeras. The words of the myth imbue chimeras with a sense of purpose. They relish and celebrate knowing they are their god's beloved and that their uniqueness among each other is design by the holy.

Variations & Mutation

During early civilization, a small group of chimeras to the northern regions told of a nearly exact myth but of a major change in its premise. Rather than Ouseltomex waking briefly to find chimeras on Cir arms, Ce became pregnant with the chimeras and had birthed them onto Cir back, fearing they would fall into the harmful empyrean. This variation has since been expunged by the central clergy in Nyphos as blasphemy, as it solidifies Ouseltomex as a bese rather than Cir present universal status. Centuries prior to that, another variation speaks of a voice in the empyrean that spoke to Ouseltomex and told Cem to dream of Cemself. This voice was named Phokos, but has long since been left out of the creation. However, southern cloisters speak of Phokos as the divine medium that allows chimeras to go with their god during sleep.

Cultural Reception

As to be expected, chimeras treat this myth as gospel truth, yet their neighbors see it differently. Moets, stringent in their pursuit of rationality, view this myth with the same quiet skepticism they share towards other myths. For some moets who study cultural events, the chimera creation myth has been posited as a cultural study in "socialized meaning-making". The primary concern of these studies is to determine the patterns of understanding how cultures generate value in the individual and the society. Tales of Ouseltomex resting and creating chimeras from this act are put as evidence that chimeras hold high values of intercommunicative interaction and possessing a national ego. Moet theorists in this field arrive to the conclusion that this works to engage chimeras in times of duress but holds potential to bring them lower. In the face of common issues, reflection on this myth may imbue the chimera subject with energy to persevere ("We are children of a great god; therefore, we can overthrow any inconvenience."). However, as has been tragically witnessed during and after the Illucid Struggle, it can create all-consuming depression. The complete horror of the war left many surviving chimeras questioning their god and self-worth ("If we are children of a great god, why have we been harmed by an unprovoked aggressor? Are we not safe in our own god's presence?"). Scientists of Nukhet continue to study the effects of this socialized meaning-making one century after the war's end.
As to be expected of them, the tetrandrs have a more negative and demeaning outlook on chimeras' precious mythos. During the Struggle, officers and soldiers of the Macheiran armed forces would psychologically brutalize chimera prisoners of war. They mockingly portrayed their torture as a lesson in another kind of dream known as a nightmare. These tactics worked to the effect of tetrandr soldiers maintaining their sense of national-species pride. Chimeras were prideful, set themselves upon a pedestal waiting to be felled by another presence. This is the logic by which the aggressors of old operated. A hundred years have passed, but still a scorn about chimera's creation exists. It is not as hostile as it was during the war, but the general public of Macheir still views this as a point of weakness in chimeras. Northern General Taxos Chimures summarized his nation's belief on this as such:

"Chimeras stand as a coddled breed. They hold solace in the unacting hours of their sleep where they are forever and ever on embraced by an inert deity. That same deity does no thing in action. It creates through dreams (not acting, not shaping; the inert, unmotivated act of dreaming) and creates for a spoiled family of layabouts that prays in waking and still hours of the year. The utter arrogance of them to feel beholden to a land by virtue of 'divine rest' cannot be overstated. The chimeras would recede back into the womb if given the chance. Brothers, we all may be bound to inaction against the chimeras, but let my words be known now that we shall never be given to the depths of entitled depravity that soaks into the feet of our eastern neighbors."

In Literature

Many spiritual and holy texts refer to this moment of religious history. Frequently in novels that center around the nature of chimeras, the tale of Ouseltomex's rest is stated as a way to understand the chimeric condition.

In Art

In the capital city Nyphos, a massive statue is laid about center of the governmental district's plaza. It is made of mixed stones that create a glistening iridescent luster and depicts Ouseltomex prone and resting. It measures 8.01 meters from head to tail, and rises from the ground at 0.42 meters. On the statue's back, flora grows to symbolize both Cir fur and how it became the land of the Slumbering Home. Visitors are encouraged to place miniature figures of themselves and others on the statue's back in order to show the homeliness of Ouseltomex's hide.

Date of Setting

Absolute zero, the very beginning.

Related Species

• Chimera

Related Locations

• The Slumbering Home