Dance of the Octopus

And Lirini waved her arms around herself, faster and faster, as the octopus in front of her mimicked her enthusiastically. Finally, it seemed as if Lirin herself had eight arms and the octopus happily laughed of joy. Never had he seen a human dance like this. And Lirini laughed as well, because she was learning a new dance, the dance with the octopus.

The Dance of the Octopus is a tale and an accompanying song about when Lirini, during her travels before she ascended, met the Waving Octopus and how they developed a dance of friendship together. It is an explanation why the peaceful Waving Octopus always greets humans with an enthusiastic waving of all their tentacles. The myth is known in multiple variants all throughout Caramiza and neighbouring regions. They vary in their account of which tribes and creatures Lirini encountered before she met the octopi, but most of them feature at least a human tribe and a pack of wolves.

Summary

Several centuries ago, before she even ascended, Lirini traveled the world to learn of as many rituals as she could, because her thirst for knowledge in this area was deep. One time, she reportedly searched the islands east of what is today known as the Gamian Coast, to learn of cultures living by the sea. With the first tribes she met, she was not very successful. At first, she met some humans living by the coast - but they were so busy with their work, surviving against the harshness of the sea, they did not find time to celebrate and dance. They turned Lirini away and she continued her search. After that, she met a group of animals - wolves in most tellings - who were very curious towards Lirini. She tried to teach them how to dance and sing, but the wolves did not understand. All their efforts were fruitless, and they kept running in circles and barking in chaos. Eventually, Lirini said her farewells to the wolves and continued her search. Finally, Lirini arrived at a beach where octopi were relaxing in the waves. She waved at them in greeting and was elated to see the octopi back with all their arms. The continued waving until it evolved into a fascinating dance, each creature dancing their own way but in some way together. After a while, Lirini parted happily from the octopi, who continued to dance for several days afterward. Some versions of this tale go on to describe, how Lirin returned to the animals and the humans, to teach them the way of dancing like an octopus. Each creature learned their own personal way of the dance, so even the wolves were able to adapt it, and the humans learned how relaxing and celebrating strengthened them for the hardship of life. And to this day, the waving ocotopus greets every human that comes to their beach with an enthusiastic waving of their arms, inviting for a dance, as Lirini once did.

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