After the Autumnal New Year, the Wanderlores do what they do best—they travel. There are several times of the year where this “traveling” takes place, usually during the change of seasons.
These journeys are more intense than regular vacationing or site-seeing for they are based on ritual, and there are a lot of different formalities that must be adhered to.
These expeditions are not the stuff of recreation, but of deep introspection. These seasonal periods of ritualized wanderings are also considered auspicious times for the formation of new clans* and the dedication of new groves.
It’s at this time of year, during all the rituals and hubbub of autumn, that the prayer for rain begins.
Since the Wanderlores like everyone else in the Creators Realm and Icon Realm, live in worlds of techno-magical construct—which means that they are one hundred percent programmed—I always wondered what these prayers were about.
Were we praying to the weather gods who programmed the weather to deliver us a present as if they were Santas?
If I were praying to the weather gods, I would choose to pray for endless sunny days around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and for the rain to be delivered underground instead of from above, but that’s just me.
I have the feeling, though, that the prayers—like the one for rain—aren’t about the worlds we inhabit now, but the world we left so long ago—Earth.
Many in my Realm—who aren’t Wanderlores—believe that Earth is a legend, one constructed to explain our past.
For me, Earth is real, not only because I’m a Wanderlore, but because I have been there myself.
This is why I know that the prayers for rain and other such rituals are the Wanderlores way of using their magic to restore the Earth, as well as reminding us of what our proper place within its ecosystem should be.
There are some Wanderlores who wish to return once Earth is restored.
There are others who think it should be restored yet be allowed to exist without the influence that humans would exert if they lived there.
I don’t know who is right. What I do know is that the children of the Earth will always seek to have a hand in the place they used to call home.
Earth is special.
It’s the reason we stay connected to the seasons even though the protective orbs and spaces we call home have no need of such divisions of the year.
Eons of ancestral memory have embedded the seasons into our DNA. We are embodiments of our pasts and the Earth’s as well.
The Bards, of which I am one, are charged with re-scripting the Realm where we live. We are also charged completing the restoration of the Earth.
I know this for my kin-clan contains a Moon Bard and an Earth Bard. As the Moon Bard I am called to make a record of the Era of the Bards. The Earth Bard is called to finish the Earth’s restoration, returning it to the way it was before the great dying.
The Earth Bard does this through a series of ancient scripts. These restoration scripts are entered into the Book of Earth, which is a record of Earth’s epochs and extinction events.
All the animals that have ever existed are recorded in this book, as are all the fauna. It’s an Ark of sorts, a journal of preservation, created by the Wanderlores before they joined the Patrons and Creators in the Creators Realm.
This book is hidden until an era of the Bard arrives. When this time comes, the Book of Earth comes into possession of the Bard whose duty it is to keep. At this time, a choice must be made to return to Earth or let the Earth be.
We are at that point now.
The ultimate decision will not be made by the Bards. Everything during the Era of the Bards is made possible by us, but the actual outcome is not in our control.
There are two things the Bards are expected to do. The first duty is to break the old Decorum so that a new way can be chosen.
The other duty is to alert the people and created creatures that the time has come for them to choose what they want their future to be.
Times of choosing are always chaotic. After the old ways have been shattered, few things seem to be controllable or solvable.
This is normal. It is a sign that a new way is arising.
Perhaps this is what our ancient ancestors experienced when faced with the inexplicable cycles of Earth so long ago before science made sense of what they were witnessing.
The Earth was a dangerous place then. It still is. It’s not easy to sustain oneself on such a volatile surface.
Our ancestors survived many times of uncertainty and terror.
We will too.
Maybe now is a good time to close our eyes and pray for the rain.
—Jellybean Reds, Creator of Little Creatures
*My own kin-clan was formed during the week of the Midsummer festival
