Storytime: The Story of the Heroic Poet

This is a fairytale you can tell your children.

There once was a planet on the edge of the Sirius B star system that was peopled by a gentle, amphibious race of beings. Their skin was coral blue, and their eyes were large and expressive. Each morning they sang to the sunrise and each evening they sang to the sunset. Their voices are unparalleled in this sector in terms of beauty.

We shall call them the Amphores, though that is not what they call themselves.

The Amphores were gentle and kind to all they encountered, and this generally served them well. They were also enthusiastic in their greetings to travelers, much to the amusement and alarm of many races who visited them.

One day, the Amphores were visited by a poet by the name of Umiel from the star Alpharad many lightyears away. This poet was moderately talented, but not renowned. He decided to visit the Amphores to learn more about their songs, hoping to improve his poetry. Though his colleagues didn't think he had much of a chance of learning anything at all from them. Their morning and evening choruses had deafened many a witness unprepared for their loud harmonics.

But Umiel was prepared. He plugged his ears each morning and evening and recorded their songs on a little device so he could listen to their vocals safely later.

"Umak! Arak! Murak!" went the song, in varying pitches and tones.

"Umak! Arak! Murak!"

Umiel broke these sounds down into pieces, and listened carefully to the harmonics of each note. How it varied, and moved the graph up and down in beautiful patterns and mathematical curves. After examining these graphs and sounds, he began to hum them to himself and found poetry flowing from them.

And so Umiel one day wrote,

"Umaku, aranak moniak. Anada ondiel darak."

And so Umiel sang these words, and their harmonics were a thing of beauty. For you see, the poets of Alpharad gauged the success and beauty of their poetry by the harmonics produced by the reading.

Umiel went to the surface one day, and began to teach the Amphores his poem. He wanted to record their voices singing his words. With practice, the Amphores mastered his poem and incorporated his words into their songs. They were so delighted by the results that they greeted every new traveler from that moment onward with Umiel's words. It became the Song of Greeting.

Umiel returned to his planet, though his poem from the Amphores received a mixed reception.

One day, a ship arrived on the little Sirian planet and out stepped the meanest, ugliest, most vile beings ever to visit the Amphores. They had every intention of harvesting the planet and sucking it dry. But when they stepped out of their ship, armed to the teeth and ready to conquer, they were greeting joyously by the Amphores.

"UMAKU, ARANAK MONIAK!" they all cried in unison, with blissful smiles on their faces.

"ANADA ONDIEL DARAK!" they chorused, so loudly the visitors thought their eardrums would burst.

The would be conquerors heard this song, and quailed, for it was the battle cry of their greatest enemy. Dropping their weapons, they turned and fled back into the skies, never to return again.

And in this way, a poet saved a planet from an invasion.


There is another telling of this story, wherein Umiel and the invaders challenged each other to a duel. The same words applied, but during the contest instead.

To this day, we reference this story when one is unintentionally doing great good. Usually with a hint of comedy.


​As told by Seraphel of Erra
​Channeled by Stephanie Fredericks