When the music was young, O my children, there was born in a faraway land two brothers, the sons of the finest warrior of a mighty tribe. Twins they were, and the one who was born first was named gusnin, and he was fair and winsome. The secondborn was named mankut, and he was dark of hair, born with a tooth, colicky and prone to fits. Their birth was the cause of much rejoicing, for the warrior was without child, despite many years of marriage. The chief of the tribe called a feast in honor of the births for the full moon, and many fat sinmamnal were slaughtered in preparation. At the full moon a fire was lit, and many steaks of sinmamnal flank were roasted upon the fire, and skins of wine were drank. Stories were told, warriors leaping into the night sky full of proudful boasts, telling of the ancestors and of their exploits. Many speeches were given to benefit the newborns, and blessings were called down upon their head. All rejoiced, and the warrior rejoiced most of all. A soothsayer named dimnan arose, and spoke, saying that she had read in the stars that the two boys would be fulfilled in this lifetime. She placed a pinch of resinous scent upon the upper lip of gusnin, who giggled and cooed, and announced, this boy is in love with Life. She placed a pinch upon the upper lip of mankut, who pouted and cried, and proclaimed him the boy in love with Death. The father was pleased at the soothsayer's pronouncement, but the mother grew grave and quiet.

gusnin grew up tall and strong, able to outrun the Anka'nin in the hunt, able to hurl his javelin further than even his mighty father. His brother mankut also grew tall, but took to study, sitting for night following night at the tent of the shaman learning the tales of the elders, the story of the dead ancestors, the fragile records of the World Before. The two brothers remained friends, and were often seen in company together, fishing at the river or playing at a game of lots.

It happened that in this tribe there were two girls, born of different parents on the same day, who were closer even than sisters. One, ister, loved the Boy who loved Death, and the other, taras, loved the Boy who loved Life. The Boy who loved Life loved taras, and the Boy who loved Death loved ister.

It came time that the boys were to leave on their quests to find their inside place. gusnin swore vows of handfasting to taras, and went to the mountains, to find the source of the gods who dwelled there and to finally meet and understand Life. mankut refused to swear vows to ister, telling her that his quest gave him no guarantee of return, for he was bound to the underworld, to meet the gods who dwell there, and finally meet and understand death. The two boys left the camp, going in opposite directions, and taras and ishter watched them leave and wept tears of hope and longing.

gusnin travelled to the north, hunting with skill and relish, and he travelled into cold, past the land of the men who eat men, past the place where yellow water gushes from the earth like blood from the artery of downed prey, past even the alpine forest of the racoon people, into the very peaks of the Spine of the Earth. There on Kirajis, the tallest peak of the Spine, gusnin made himself ready, and ate of the godflesh that his shaman had given him. He sat upon the summit of Kirajis and made himself ready.

First gusnin was visited by the spirit of Kirajis, who blessed his endeavor. Next, the celestial court descended and danced around him, celestial musicians playing harps and flutes, dancers contorting in impossible dances in praise of the gods, jugglers and air-weavers and fantastical beasts no Lanzu has ever seen on this earth. gusnin was filled with delight, and his love of Life expanded and filled his body, and he was not afraid.

A pure tone like the ringing of a gong sounded, and at its sounding the celestial court vanished. In its place was the goddess of fire, and she rose up before gusnin, warming his skin at her slightest touch. She told gusnin the story of the great fire that ended the World Before, and how Life made a covenant with the Lanzu that such a thing would never again transpire on the face of the earth. She kissed the brow of gusnin and vanished.

A chill wind rose up from below, and the god of ice appeared before gusnin. He told of the Expanding and the Contracting, and his part in the cycle that is Life. He who reigns supreme in our age was a tall man, thin, and reflected the light of the sun in a thousand thousands of pinpointed light. He, too, kissed the brow of gusnin, and disappeared in a scintillating burst of light.

In the wake of this light appeared the trickster god, dressed in red and black. He gave gusnin a vision of taras, her vows abandoned, in the arms of another. He showed gusnin that Life was an illusion, that his universe was a dream dreaming itself and that his love of Life was like the love one has for a phantom in a dream, that fades and grows soft upon the awakening. gusnin saw this teaching, and wept bitter tears of sorrow and doubt. The trickster god showed gusnin that despite this, the dream was play, and joy could be derived from it. After this last vision, the trickster vanished.

In his place was the goddess of growing things, the earthmother, and her companion, the god of the rains and the firmament, the skyfather. They showed gusnin a great, expansive vision of the cycle of the seasons, and the continual rebirth of hope and life in the renewing of the cycle. They showed gusnin how the skyfather travels from earth to earth and brings the core of life, which is fine dust, to the earths and implants them within the womb of the earthmother, where life blossoms, complexifies and expands. gusnin was filled with hope and love, and at this the earthmother and skyfather began to blur and break up into a radiant field of white light, in which gusnin basked and in which he found his inside place.

gusnin returned to the peak of Kirajis to discover that night had fallen and the world was back, although still more magical and colorful than he had ever before seen. He sang the Hymn of Thanksgiving, and fell into a deep slumber from which he awoke refreshed. He travelled down the towering peak of Kirajis, out of the Spine of the Earth, past the alpine forest of the racoon people, past the place where yellow water gushes from the earth like blood from the artery of a downed beast, past the land of the men who eat men, and returned home.

mankut travelled to the south, into heat, past the end of the steppe where the Anka'nin prance and frolic, through the scrub forest where the people live in tents made of earth and scratch at the earth, past the blasted lands where the water is brackish and nothing grows. He hunted where he could, and dried meat for the journey ahead. Farther he travelled, into the desert of black sands, and came to the base of the mountain Sivajis, where there was a cave of great age and depth. Into the cave he went, past the murals of a time past, with great soaring rectangles and birds which flew with people in their bellies, to the ancient burial chamber. There, surrounded by skulls and the mouldering remnants of the World Before, he prepared himself, and ate of the godsflesh that his shaman had given him. He sat in the darkness and silence and waited.

A keening dirge was heard, and the spirit of Sivajis was upon mankut, who writhed upon the floor of the cave in the ecstacy of possession. Having thus blessed the endeavor the spirit of Sivajis left, and in his place rose the spirits of the dead. Around and around they gibbered and capered, now dancing, now writhing, in joy and in torment, each telling of their life to mankut, and of their manner of death. mankut felt joy, and was not afraid. The spirits of the dead danced and danced, and then was heard a rising, whistling noise, and the dead vanished.

In their place was the god of time, grey and diaphanous. He told mankut of the story of the beginning, when the universe was pure energy and light, and of how it evolved into life and coolness. He told mankut of the future, when the sun would shine no longer and all would be cold and still. He kissed the brow of mankut, and was gone.

Next was the goddess of decay, her flesh falling from her body and her eyesockets with coal-red points blazing forth. She told mankut of the renewal of life through death, of the loam from which life is born and to which life returns. She told of her numberless armies of infinitesimal servants, who cause the bad smell of death and who eat everything in the end. She leaned over and kissed his brow, and dissolved into a skeleton upon the floor of the cave. Then even this too was gone.

The trickster god appeared, in red and white. He gave mankut a vision of ister, greatly aged, hunched and stooped, dying from the death that eats from the inside, alone. He told mankut that his love of Death was morbid and empty, that the romance of death is an illusion of life, and that the spirit dies with the body. mankut was stunned, and wept bitter tears. The trikster told mankut that despite this, serenity may be found in acceptance of one's single lifespan, and Death may be seen as release from the cares of life. At this the trikster vanished.

At last mankut was visited by the mother of chaos and her lover the father of order. They showed him the universe as a great dance between order and chaos, the mother now yielding to the control of the father, then slipping from this control to ride untrammeled across the universe. The father told of death as the natural order, the ending of things that new things may be. The mother told of death as a chaotic function, striking at random, now taking, now passing over. The mother told of the death of the universe, the inevitable evening out of heat and matter, the great blanket of sameness in chaos that is the child of the mother and father, the child called entropy who lives, mindless, at the end of time. With this vision, the mother and father kissed the brow of mankut, and dissolved into a great Void, without feeling, without mind, consisting of nothing and returning to nothing.

mankut returned to the cave, refreshed and with new purpose. He sang the Hymn of Thanksgiving, and after breaking his fast he fell into a deep sleep. He travelled out of the ancient cave full of eldrich artifacts and old bones, out of the heart of Sivajis. He travelled through the desert of black sands, through the blasted lands where the water is brackish and nothing grows. He stayed for a fortnight in the scrub forest, where the people live in tents of mud and scratch at the earth. He travellled through the steppe where the Anka'nin frolic and play, and returned to his home.

gusnin arrived first, and went straight to the shaman to give thanks. Then he went to taras, and found her handfasted to another. He wept bitter tears of loss, and went to his tent in shame and lonliness.

mankut arrived last, and he too went to the tent of the shaman to give thanks. Then he went to ister, and found her still young and beautiful. But his eyes were filled with the vision of her dying from the death that eats from the inside. He told her that he loved her, but said he had to leave for a faraway land. She wept for what she was losing, and he went to his tent to begin the preparations.

When gusnin heard that mankut was leaving, he went to his brother and asked to leave with him. mankut considered this request, and agreed to it. They packed for a long journey, and left before the sun lightened the sky.

taras and ister met together that night and talked of what they would do. ister still desired to be the wife of mankut, and taras, too, regretted her hasty handfasting to another, which she did only because the trickster god came to her in a dream and showed her gusnin's death. They agreed that they would try to talk the two brothers into leaving the tribe together with them, that they might form a new tribe and together be mighty and strong.

When taras and ister awoke to find their men gone, they packed immediatly and followed on the trail of gusnin and mankut. For a fortnight they followed, until, by the bank of a river, they were reunited. gusnin forgave taras, for he was torn apart by his loss of her. mankut put aside his reservations and united with ister.

The brothers went on to become the two chiefs of a mighty tribe, rich in horses and culture. gusnin ruled in the summer, and mankut in the winter. gusnin fathered many children, and his eldest son became the tribal ruler after him. mankut and ister were childless, and mankut was killed one day on the hunt when a spear went awry. ister died much later of the death that eats from the inside. It is said that gusnin and taras were carried away to the heavenly lands, by a chariot driven by a god wearing black and red.