Sidebar: The Sovereign Creation Myth
Chapter I
In the beginning there was the earth, and the earth was Kettenek, and it was good;
But the earth was vast and wide, and there was nothing to fill it;
And so Kettenek brought forth the plants and the animals to fill the breadth of the earth, and the sentient races to dwell in it; and above them He brought forth four beings of His Own divine nature to rule them and teach them to live as He intended;
And they were two sisters and two brothers; and they were called Alirria, Sedellus, Ehkt, and Rikitaru.
As they were brought forth from Kettenek’s divine nature, they were naturally instilled with the Virtues of Kettenek, for they were to be an example to all the sentient races of how Kettenek meant them to live;
And Alirria was tranquil and beautiful, and Ehkt was fearless and vigorous, and Sedellus was clever and wise, and Rikitaru was just and righteous.
And for a time, they were the truest of examples of these Virtues; and all beheld them, and the earth was right and peaceful, and the earth was Kettenek, and it was good.
But after long times of rightness and peace, they began to forget these Virtues;
And Alirria grew wanton and indulged her every desire, and Ehkt grew prideful and became boastful and cruel, and Sedellus grew covetous and sought power for herself.
Among them all, only Rikitaru stayed true to Kettenek’s Virtues, for he remained just and righteous as he had always been.
Chapter II
Now it came to pass that Ehkt had grown in strength and in prowess, and there was no beast he could not slay and there was no mountain he could not climb. And he sang songs of his own praise; and he boasted there was nothing he could not claim if he saw fit;
And in this boast Sedellus saw her opportunity, for though she had grown covetous and power-hungry, she was as clever and wise as always.
So Sedellus sought out her brother Ehkt and kept his company for a season; and during that time, she whispered in his ear, and within him she bestirred a great passion for his sister Alirria, who, though she was wanton, was still beautiful.
So Sedellus whispered to Ehkt of his prowess; and she whispered to him of his strength; and she whispered to him that there was nothing he could not claim if he saw fit; and she preyed upon his ego and she enflamed in him his lust;
And with his thoughts manipulated thusly, Ehkt sought his sister Alirria to claim her as his own.
But when he came to woo her, Alirria laughed at him, for she was used to indulging only in her pleasures, and Ehkt’s bloody and boastful ways did not please her.
But her laughter sent Ehkt into a rage, for he would not stand to be laughed at.
And Ehkt flew into a fury; and in his rage he slew all the attendants who waited upon her; and Alirria turned in fright and tried to flee, but Ehkt chased her down and laid claim to her; and when she sought to flee again, Ehkt seized her and threw her down;
And her head struck upon a rock of the earth, and she lay still, for her brother in his folly had slain her.
And her Father, Kettenek knew great sorrow at her passing; and his tears flowed forth from the rock where she had struck her head until they had flooded all the land;
And the great Sea of the Halmae grew forth from where she had fallen, as Kettenek’s tears flooded the earth.
Chapter III
Now it came to pass that word of Ehkt’s crime reached the ears of Rikitaru, and Rikitaru wept for his sister whom he had loved. And he turned for counsel to his sister Sedellus, for he knew well that she possessed the Virtue of wisdom;
And Sedellus offered counsel, and she whispered in his ear that he must find his brother Ehkt and slay him; she whispered to him of justice; and she whispered to him of righteousness; and she whispered to him of duty.
And Rikitaru saw the truth in her words, and so he wept for the brother whom he had loved.
And so for half a season, Rikitaru pursued his brother Ehkt across the width and breadth of the earth.
Now Rikitaru knew his task to be in vain, for his brother Ehkt was the mightiest warrior to walk the earth; and Rikitaru knew that to hunt his brother was to hunt death. Yet hunt him he did, for the demands of justice cried out that Ehkt must pay for his crimes.
And so it was after half a season that Rikitaru found his brother Ehkt in the green forests of the north;
And from midnight to midnight, brother fought brother; and their fury at each other as they fought was so great that it burned white hot and it laid waste to all the green forests of the north, burning the land into ash and sand;
And in the end, Rikitaru prevailed, for his cause was just and Kettenek’s might was with him; and Rikitaru slew his brother Ehkt whom he had loved.
And Ehkt was at last defeated;
And so were born the great deserts of Ebis as a scar burnt across the earth.
Chapter IV
Now it came to pass that Rikitaru returned home after he had slain his brother;
And his sister Sedellus greeted him as he came home, and she hid well her surprise; for she had not expected Rikitaru to survive the task she had set him on.
She greeted her brother with refreshment and wine, for he was wounded from his journey in both body and heart. She offered the wine to him and bade him drink deep of it.
And Rikitaru raised the cup to his lips, but he did not drink of it; for in his dying breath, his brother Ehkt had confessed to him how their sister Sedellus had kept his company and whispered in his ear; and Rikitaru remembered how Sedellus had offered him her counsel and had whispered in his ear; and he did not drink of the cup for he did not trust his sister, whom he had loved.
Now Sedellus, thinking he had drunk from the cup, smiled, for she had put a poison in the wine to slay her brother Rikitaru, and she thought now her designs complete;
But Rikitaru contrived to distract his sister, and while she was turned away he switched his cup with hers;
Then he bid her raise a toast to their siblings whom they had loved; and Sedellus drank herself from the poisoned cup that Rikitaru had only raised to his lips;
And as she tasted the wine that she herself had poisoned, Sedellus realized what had befallen her.
But it was too late, for the poison was now within her.
And she gasped but once; and then she smiled at the brother who had taken her life;
And then her body crumbled to dust as the poison worked its way within her; and the dust was picked up by the wind and spread across all the earth; and so the covetousness and lust for power of Sedellus was spread to all the sentient races, for this was the last act of Sedellus upon the earth.
And Rikitaru, who was now alone among his siblings, wept.
Chapter V
Now it came to pass that Rikitaru was alone among his siblings;
And he called to himself the leaders of the sentient races to assure them that all was well across the earth and that Kettenek’s Virtues endured;
But many who came had already thrown off Kettenek’s Virtues; for where once Rikitaru and his siblings had been the truest examples of these Virtues, now had been seen the follies of Alirria and Ehkt and Sedellus; and by their ill examples their wickedness had spread;
And those who had fallen prey to this wickedness would not listen to Rikitaru; and so with sadness, he cast them out; and they went forth as heathens who had lost Kettenek’s Virtues;
And to those who stayed true to Kettenek’s Virtues, Rikitaru laid down Kettenek’s Law, for he saw now that Virtue could not be enforced, but that Law could.
And so Rikitaru laid forth the Circle with its structures and its strictures; and he put forth the Laws and the Disciplines that they may be studied and advanced; and he ruled as Kettenek’s Right Hand on the earth for many years;
But after many years, Rikitaru grew weary, for his burden was great and his sorrows ran deep; and so from among those who had adhered to him and adhered to Kettenek’s Sovereignty on earth, he picked the one that best embodied Kettenek’s Virtues;
And he adopted her as his daughter, that she would be descended from Kettenek’s own divine nature; and he bade her take his place as Kettenek’s Right Hand on the earth;
And she took his name to honor him, for he alone among his siblings had held true to Kettenek’s Virtues;
Then Rikitaru went forth across the earth to seek his Father’s breast; and he descended bodily into heaven and was drawn into Kettenek.
And in the end, there was the earth, and Kettenek’s Sovereignty reigned upon the earth, and the earth was Kettenek;
And it was good.
I also find it interesting that parts of the core portfolio of Kettenek in other theologies are part of Rikitaru's portfolio in the Sovereignty.
