The Dreven Creation Story (and an Update)

I feel like I've been saying this since January, but I'm nearly done editing book 2 of Kitsune-Ken! I have found a new editor and if everything goes according to plan, I should have it in her hands by this time next week. Then I can focus on Inktober, starting to edit book 3 and planning book 4 to write during Nanowrimo in November (for perhaps as long as a week before she gets it back to me). It's my hope that by November I will have the edits finished entirely and I can spend all my spare time that month doing the business end of getting the novel out to all of you... getting the cover made and released, the book formatted, proofread, and all of that fun stuff. Now we'll move onto the meat of today's post; the Dreven's creation story. 

Deckard is the main follower of this religion in my Kitsune-Ken series, though all of the Dreven people worship these deities. Even Isashi's Dreven father worships them and made sure that Isashi grew up knowing their religion, though, in the end, she chose to follow her mother's deities. 

The Dreven believe that the world was created when the creator force split into twins; the goddess Kittin and the god Kitaran. The two loved each other but fell to arguing over whether the universe was too empty. Kitaran wanted much more than the emptiness they inhabited, but Kittin was afraid and wanted the universe to stay the same. Kitaran promised to not create anything but eventually his loneliness could not be denied. To create the first island, Kitaran cut off his own hand. When Kittin discovered his betrayal, she slaughtered him and fell into a great depression for centuries when she realized that she'd destroyed the one she loved. 

Eventually, a noise broke through her self-absorption and she realized that Kitaran's body had not simply ceased to exist, but had transformed into an entire planet. While she loved it as she had loved him, she was horrified to find beings like themselves living upon it. Believing they were defiling Kitaran's legacy, she began a slaughter of all she could find. When only seven remained, better at hiding than the rest, she began destroying the world, determined to leave them no place to hide. One goddess came to her, begging that she stop before she destroyed Kitaran a second time. While she hesitated, the goddess brought down upon him the gift of prophecy. In her first moments of Kitaran's final gift to him, she realized that she had been destroying their children, created with his blood and her energy. 

A photo composite I made of Direnai begging Kittin to stop his destruction. 

Kittin realized her error and offered Direnai and her sibling's true godhood, promising never to hunt them again. They accepted though all but Direnai refused to believe in her sudden altruism, thinking that her apologies came too late. When one of the Seven created humans out of a new metal alloy and the began to multiply on their own, they expected Kittin to start destroying everything again. Fortunately, she had learned her lesson and instead blessed the new ones with wisdom she had never had. The humans began to worship her for this gift. The Seven still hide from Kittin, allowing humans to worship them only if they promise to never tell Kittin where they hide. In return for their favour and gifts, the Dreven refer to all seven as a single deity, the Secret, though they are taught the ways to show their reverence for each of the seven. 

Kittin is the only major deity, though most non-Dreven think of Direnai as a close second, not realizing that she is only the face the others hide behind, the one that is willing to be seen. Kittin rules over Divination and Wisdom, hard-won after all of her mistakes, though no Dreven forgets her lesson that without wisdom they will destroy everything they love. The other seven deities are Direnai, goddess of healing, Tormu, god of innocence, and five others whose portfolio's consist of Fire, Sailing, Weaponry, Victory, and Sorcery. Direnai is the deity that Deckard believes has granted him his blessed status. He loves and hates her for it.

And that will be all for today! In the coming weeks, I'll try to keep you guys up to date with where my novel is, how Inktober is going, and of course, more about the Dreven religion.