"A human, with a soul, looks into a mirror and sees herself in her reflection. She knows who and what she is, and where she ends and others begin. She can think about her place in the world, consider the weight of her actions, and choose accordingly in her life, in a way a legfish, a starworm, even a seaswallower cannot." Merwen smiles, faintly. "Though I admit it is not always so easy to discern. There are intelligent animals that can do some of these things. There is an animal on Valan, covered in plumage with a human face. A monkey, I believe it is called. A monkey does not know herself in the way a human does, but she does have an intelligence all her own. Can a creature possess half a soul? Is there a gradient of awareness reaching from the smallest microbe to the soul of a human? I do not know."