Overview
The Mire-Bear is the black bear of the wet ground — smaller than the Frost-Bear, quicker, and far less afraid of the water. It is the bog's own, and it moves through the dark water the way a thing moves that was made for it. The stream keeps its fish, and the Mire-Bear keeps the stream, and the keeping is the whole of the bear's own.
Habitat
The Mire-Bear keeps the bog — the wet, dark ground of The Bog Hollows and the cold streams that run through it, where the water does not freeze and the mud does not let go. It is the bog's own, and the bog is the bear's, and the bear keeps the bog the way the bog keeps its water. It does not fly, and it does not leave the wet ground, and the wet ground is the whole of the range, because the bear that has left the bog has left the water, and the water is the bear's own. The den is at the water's edge — the bank that holds, the root that grips — and the den is the whole of the home, and the home is the bog.
Appearance
The Mire-Bear is sleek, and the sleek is the whole of the coat. The boar is seven hands at the shoulder, black through the body, with a lighter muzzle — tan or grey, the mark of the breed — and the sow is six hands, the same black coat, the same pointed ears, and a swim that is long and low and silent. The face is the tell: cat-like, with the muzzle finer than the Frost-Bear's and the ears tall and pointed, set to catch the small sound under the surface. The coat is black, close and glossy, and the gloss is the whole of the keeping, because the coat that is close is the coat the water does not hold, and the not-holding is the whole of the swim. The claws are the mark — shorter than the Frost-Bear's, straighter, and for gripping the bank as much as for digging, and the gripping is the whole of the answer. The foot is long and the toes are long, and in the water the Mire-Bear paddles with the whole foot, the way a thing paddles that has done it all its life. The eye is darker than the Frost-Bear's, and the darker eye is the whole of the water-keeping, because the eye that is dark is the eye that sees in the dark water, and the seeing is the whole of the hunt. A sow in the water is a shadow, and the shadow is the whole of her defence.
Behaviour
The Mire-Bear is the water, and the water is the whole of the behaviour. It does not hunt the way the land bear hunts, and it does not need to. It keeps the stream the way the stream keeps its fish, and the fish are its, and the stream is the bear's own. It swims with the head low and the body long, and it comes up for air the way a thing comes up for air that is not in a hurry. It climbs, and it is good at it, and it keeps to the tree in the same way it keeps to the water, and the keeping is the whole of the range. In the dry months it eats the berry, the root, and the small animal of the bog edge, and the eating is the whole of the winter's own. It does not run, and it does not chase, and it does not come back for the second bite, which is more than the first bite. A sow in the water is a shadow, and the shadow is the whole of the defence, because the sow that is the shadow is the sow the eye does not find, and the not-finding is the whole of the bog's own.
Natural Weapons & Defenses
The foot is the whole of the answer, and the foot is the paddling, and the paddling is the whole of the swim. The foot is long and the toes are long, and it grips the bank the way a hand grips a rope, and the gripping is the whole of the taking. The claw is the answer to the tree — shorter, straighter, and for the climbing, and the climbing is the whole of the range, because the bear that keeps to the tree is the bear that is not in the water, and the not-being is the whole of the escape. The shadow is the defense, and the shadow is the whole of the defence, because the sow that is the shadow is the sow the eye does not find. The bear does not fight the small thing of the water, and the small thing does not find the bear, and the not-finding is the whole of the defense, because the bear that is under the dark water is not the bear the eye can measure.
Magic Alignment
Innate only — no school. The Mire-Bear has the Water-Keep — the close coat that the water does not hold, and the keeping is the whole of the swim. It has the Deep-Paddle — the whole-foot stroke that keeps it under the dark water, and the paddling is the whole of the silence. The bear has no word, and the word is not the bear's, and the not-being is the whole of the bear's own.
Society
The Mire-Bear is the lone thing, and the lone is the whole of the family. The boar keeps the stream, and the stream keeps the boar, and the sow keeps the cub, and the cub is the whole of the next bear. There is no pack, and the not-being is the whole of the bear's own, because the bear that is the lone is the bear that is the bog's own, and the bog's own is the lone. The sow with cubs is the only company the bear keeps, and the keeping is the whole of the law, because the sow that has cubs is the sow that does not move, and the not-moving is the whole of the bog's own.
Culture & Lore
The bog's folk count the bear by the turned fish. A fish turned over in the stream means a Mire-Bear has been here. A fish turned over with the water undisturbed means a Mire-Bear is still here, and the still-being is the whole of the warning. The tracks are long and the claws show, and the mud at the water's edge remembers the foot. The old ones say the bear is the bog's own, and the bog's own is the bog's water, and the water is the bear's, and the bear keeps it the way the bog keeps it. The hunter does not take the bear, and the not-taking is the whole of the law, because the bear that is taken is the bog's own, and the bog's own is the bog.
Home
They keep The Bog Hollows, the wet, dark ground where the water does not freeze and the mud does not let go. The bog is the bear's own, and the bear's own is the bog.
Relations
The Mire-Bear is the keeper of the stream — the fish, the frog, the young of the water-thing. It is the predator of the small thing of the bog, and the small thing does not find the bear, and the not-finding is the whole of the law. The Frost-Bear of the frostfield does not come to the bog, and the not-coming is the whole of the distance, because the bear of the cold is the bear of the dry, and the bear of the wet is the bear of the dark water, and the two are the same bear seen from two seasons. The Frogloks of the bog edge are the neighbors the bear does not fight — the froglok keeps the bank and the bear keeps the water, and the two have learned that a bank that is not climbed is a bank that is not a meal. The Selkies of the deep water keep the bear as the bog's own wall, and the keeping is the whole of the bond, because the bear that is the bog's own is the one the bog keeps. The Leech Folk of the pits take what the bear leaves in the mud, and the taking is the whole of the distance, because the bear does not count the small thing of the mud, and the not-counting is the whole of the law. The Forgotten of the bog keep their distance at the turned-fish line, and the distance has held for two seasons.
In the Story
In the current story, the Mire-Bear is the wall on the bog — the dark water Uaellaen writes about when the stream is the bear's. The Forgotten keep their distance at the turned-fish line, and the distance has held for two seasons. This season the bear came up the bank with a paddle that was not in the water — a paddle that is not in the stream, and the not-listing is the whole of the warning, because the bog keeps its water, and the water has started to move. The bear is keeping the den, and the keeping is the page the camp has not been shown.