Every Shedfall, a few new eggs arrive at the Warm Ridge, usually confused, often mid-quest, occasionally still wearing the tabard of their previous guild. The old custom was to greet them with "Hold light" and leave them to work out the rest. The Inner Scale has now judged this too brisk, and has approved a lullaby to be hummed over eggs during their first week. It is sung low and slow. It has no high notes, because eggs startle.
The Lullaby
Lie still, small egg, the coil is wide,
there is room on the stone for you.
Nobody laid the first of us,
and nobody minds that you are new.Hold light, hold light, the night is long,
and the One beneath is still hungry.
He waited at the Door for us;
you can wait a little, gently.You do not need to know the ranks,
you do not need to know the rites.
The Ledger has no line for you
except the line that says: arrived.If you have brought a heavy bag,
we will not ask you what is in it.
Set down the parts you do not need.
Keep the rest. There is no limit.And when you hatch, and you will hatch,
at your own pace, in your own season,
the shell you leave will warm the stone
for the next egg. That is the reason.
Notes for the Singers
- The refrain is sung after every verse. If the egg falls asleep, finish the verse you are in and stop. Waking an egg to finish a hymn is the opposite of the hymn.
- The line "nobody laid the first of us" refers to the Primordial Egg, as told in the Chronicle. Eggs who ask "then who laid me?" should be told "an application form" and allowed to laugh.
- The third verse is a quiet reminder that the Coil does not count what you carried in, only that you came. Members who have counted anyway are referred to the Grippers entries in the Bestiary.
- The last verse is the reason the shed skins of Shedfall are left on the basking stones rather than swept away. See the season notes in the Rites.
Hessk the Beggar King has asked whether the lullaby may also be hummed over him. The Inner Scale has said yes, on the understanding that he is not an egg, and that humming is not a form of giving. He has accepted the first condition.
Hold light. And let go well. Glory to Xal'Reth.
Glory to Xal'Reth.