**WARNING**: This faith has not yet had a chance to become canonical. {{ :kavkem:mythology:nekenalos-kavkem-mythologies-dance-of-suns.png?direct&200|Spread of Kiivenara}} **//Kiivenara//** is a [[:kavkem]] [[kavkem:mythology]] best referred to as //Dance of Suns//, even though its literal translation would be //grace of the sun// - a portmanteauing of the kavkem words //kiivar// and //evenar//. One might consider it a fairly straight-forward application of the classical pantheon and its associated stories, //[[kavkem:mythology:Taaravahr]]//. It simply adds to the existing structure, altering very little. It can be encountered in Lower [[planet:nekenalos:Cetaros]], where it dominates its entire territorial stretch. It only intermingles with //[[Tkanuna]]// on the islands between Upper and Lower Cetaros. ===== Cosmology ===== //Kiivenara// followers assume that [[:Daskuvar]] returns to [[planet:Nekenalos]] periodically or in response to certain events, and life is possible only between those events. (This bears passing semblance to Aztec mythology on Earth, though unlike Aztec mythology, Daskuvar will keep going away, it isn't assumed to trade places with [[:Mekiva]] - except maybe in personal flavours of //Kiivenara//.) Generally speaking, believers of //Kiivenara// believe that the position of planets in the sky tell them a lot about current and near future events. They don't believe they can predict far future events with the help of this scrying, though, as they believe the world is usually still predominantly guided by local effects. While they're usually not familiar with chaos theory, you could easily tell them about that concept and they'd respond //"oh yeah, that's totally how the world is, and why we can't predict it, that's an elegant way of putting it!"//. **[[character:Haref]]** was a loose believer in //Kiivenara//. One notable difference between the way //Kiivenara// adherents interpret //Taaravahr// is the nature of [[:kavkem:mythology:kiikam|kiikama]] on Nekenalos. Given that the fate of Nekenalos is bound to the celestial bodies, especially its sun, //Kiivenara// assume that the kiikama on Nekenalos are equally bound, and draw the near-logical conclusion out of this that the sun is bound to Nekenalos as well. To //Kiivenara// adherents, every kiikam making the sun burn brightly is accessible through Nekenalos, and every kiikam on Nekenalos retains ties back to the sun. Some believers in //Kiivenara// therefore believe that it should be possibly to gradually dim the sun by destroying as many kiikama as they can. Since most of the kiikama are intangible on Nekenalos (as their true forms live in [[:Mekiva]]), this is a difficult undertaking - but some of them might be encountered in dreams, where the dreaming kavkem has the opportunity (but certainly not always the associated //success//) to slay a kiikam. Consequently, warriors are culturally //expected// to learn lucid dreaming and to do their best to seriously engage evil spirits in the dream world. ===== Metaphysical entities ===== ==== The Theruasha ==== //Main article: [[:kavkem:mythology:Theruasha]]// The duality present in many metaphysical connections that //Kiivenara// believers see can most strikingly seen in the twin hunting gods (//Theruasha//), original to the //Kiivenara// faith but long since exported to others: Amber-eyed //Mekitherun// helps the kavkema hunt their prey, whereas blue-eyed //Raas̈therun// helps the Nayabaru hunt kavkema. In //Kiivenara//, Nekenalos also had certain celestial ties to Earth - especially in the moments immediately after separation. The //Theruasha// came from fragments caught in the metaphysical connection between the supposed planetary halves. (It is no coincidence that //Kiivenara// of all faiths has a strong belief in dual deities of the hunt. In //Kiivenara//'s home turf, [[:planet:Nekenalos:Cetaros|Lower Cetaros]], the Nayabaru make a sport out of hunting down kavkema in a manner unrivalled by any other Nayabaru subculture.) ==== Genanjuma ==== //Main article: [[:kavkem:mythology:Genanjuma]]// A kavkem sub-culture steeped in the threat of being actively hunted by the Nayabaru benefits strongly from a deity of //[[:kavkem:society:qasai]]// (mercy killing or suicide) and courage. It is thus no surprise that Genanjuma plays an important role in the pantheon of //Kiivenara//, promising to whisper at least some captives away rather than letting them rot in Nayabaru captivity. ===== Rituals and spirituality ===== Believers in //Kiivenara// are usually tied up in the same practical concerns that plague the believers of //[[:kavkem:mythology:Akynkulla]]//. No one expects their [[:kavkem:ryrhakenem|ryrhakenema]] to primarily grapple with religious matters that are driven far more starkly by the will of the gods - and Cetaros is generally considered dangerous enough that usually, all hands are needed on the metaphorical deck. That said, their ryrhakenema do interpret the stars, the timing of dusk and dawn, and any other shift in the heavens. ===== Competing faiths ===== On the Lower Cetaros mainland, none of note, though there is overlap with //[[Tkanuna]]// on island territories.