001 : Meet Destiny
Destiny was born on the first harvest day of the year, which in the custom of the Twilight Lagoon Clan symbolises hope. And so she was named Destiny of Hope, which she in time came to appreciate is a very pretty name.
By all accounts, Destiny was unremarkable and she felt it so. In the company of humans, she stood out as having a curious personality, always keen to explore and understand and ask blunt, sometimes rather awkward questions. Yet amongst the clan she was just another Tabaxi. If she was ever destined for anything it seemed to be for normality. How tedious, she would think, gazing at her tail’s reflection in the lagoon on moonlit nights.
This story is about the change.
One day, on her way out to hunt some lunch for herself, Destiny, spotted a firefly. In itself that would not have been odd, but it was the middle of the day, and the firefly was a strange colour too, a deep, icy blue hue that shimmered and glimmered and flashed in the woods. How could she not follow? Of course she did. Curiosity never killed anyone, after all.
The firefly finally landed on a tree. It was a large, old gnarled tree, its roots thick and powerful in their clinging to the earth, its branches weighed down with thousands of icy, shimmering leaves. Snow fell gently from the tree, even though it was summer. Destiny had never seen such a tree before. As she gazed up in wonder at the strangely coloured leaves, a woman stepped from behind it.
The woman was tall - much taller than any human Destiny had ever seen. Her long, shiny, almost-blue black hair tumbled down her shoulders like a waterfall of dark ink. Her skin was pale white, like marble, her lips the colour of mulberry, and her black eyes like a void, a night without stars, radiating power and royalty. She wore a long, dark, flowing dress, and a crown made of twisted wood.
Naturally, Destiny could not stop the questions from tumbling out.
“Who are you? Why are you so tall? Do you live in this tree? How is your hair so shiny? And your eyes so deep? And how are you so beautiful?”
The woman smiled, her canines showing, sharp and deadly like her bottomless gaze. Destiny fell into her eyes and knew she would never want to leave their captivating emptiness again. Human or not (and it wasn’t clear whether this was a human at all), Destiny was in love.
“I am… an angel.” The creature answered all six questions at once.
Destiny fell to her knees, still gazing adoringly into the angel’s eternal eyes. The Twilight Lagoon Clan had not succeeded in many things when it came to her education, but it had taught her to pay her respects to the Celestial beings who occasionally paid the Lagoon a visit.
“Why have you come here?” Destiny asked.
“I’ve come for you. To give you your true Destiny. Your true self.” The angel replied. “Are you ready and willing to embrace the path fate has laid down for you?”
“Anything for you, holy one.”
The angel chuckled.
“It is not enough to be devoted to me, though I do appreciate it, my lovely pet. To follow this path, you will need to give yourself over entirely. I can only really help you, only reveal to you the mystery of your calling, if you surrender completely to my power. Then, I can unlock your own power, in my service and the service of the power that I represent. Are you ready and willing, whatever it may cost you, to welcome this exceptional destiny of yours?”
To her credit, Destiny did pause for a moment to consider this. It seemed like the occasion called for at least a little reflection. In the history of the Twilight Lagoon Clan, as far as she could recall, Celestials had visited the Lagoon a half dozen times. Only once had they interacted with the clan directly. On that occasion, the first, it was to give them a boon. So long as they protected the Lagoon’s beauty, they would always find it welcoming, filled with nourishment of both the physical and spiritual kinds. There was no record of a Celestial ever mistreating one of the Clan in any way, in the five hundred years since they had established themselves here.
It was very unlikely that she would be the first Tabaxi of the Clan to be tricked by a Celestial. And, she had to admit it, in her heart, she wanted to follow this beautiful queen wherever she might lead. If it was a trick, then so be it, she would let herself be tricked, for love, for beauty, for Destiny.
“I am willing. Please let me follow.”
“Then kiss my sword and welcome your calling into your life.”
The angel, now fearsome, her eyes burning with a black fire, and yet still hypnotically beautiful, held out a curved blade of ice that shimmered in the air. Destiny, unhesitating, approached it and touched her lips to it. The cold travelled into her body and seized her, and for a moment her body disappeared into bliss. Lights swirled in her vision which stretched to infinity. Yet even though she seemed no longer to have ears, she could hear the angel’s voice continuing to speak soothingly, each syllable filling her with delicious vibrations that made her want to purr.
“Thank you for your trust in me, little one. As I have promised, it shall be repaid with power and destiny. When you wake up, you will find that new, unique abilities have awoken in you. Know that these… celestial... powers come from me and at my pleasure. Do not ever displease me. I have made a connection with you… through your beautiful tail. Your powers will come through that channel. Protect her with your life. And trust her. When you are in doubt as to what to do next, let your tail be your guide. She will take you to your destiny.
“You are not yet ready to know the great deeds I expect of you, but I have hidden all the information you will need inside your tail. First, you will need companions. I send you now to a town in Faerun called Daggerford. When you wake up, head due East, towards the rising sun. You will arrive there. When you meet your companions, you will know them, because your tail will let you know.
“Now sleep, my servant. When you wake up, your life will have changed forever.”
And when Destiny awoke, she was curled up under an unfamiliar tree, wearing unfamiliar clothing (and a rather stylish leather armour with a crescent moon pin in her lapel), in a land she could not recognise. But to the East, the sun was rising, and beckoning her. Without a moment’s hesitation, she set forth. Nothing could stop her from following herself, her soul, her Destiny.
Special mechanics
Destiny is obsessed with following The Quest, which is whatever she believes her tail is telling her to do.Once per long rest, Destiny may ask her tail what the next step is. The process takes a minute of quiet time, and the answer is always clear, as far as she’s concerned. It’s like a Divination spell with the question always being “what should I do next?” However, certain game mechanics may get in the way of this, and produce unreliable answers… To Be Continued.
When she has the answer from her tail, Destiny will try to get on with it. It is also possible that she may, some days, prefer not to ask her tail anything, for whatever reasons (e.g. she’s afraid of what her tail will tell her to do).
When trying to persuade, intimidate, deceive or trick people into following The Quest, which is whatever she thinks her tail may have suggested (though not necessarily exactly what was suggested), Destiny has advantage on the relevant ability checks, because she’s so motivated.
On the downside, Destiny is unbearably curious. When entering any room, she will roll a DC 10 wisdom saving throw (higher DC if the room is exceptionally interesting). If she fails, she walks up to the most interesting object in the room and tries to pick it up or examine it in some way, without checking for traps or, indeed whether someone might get upset at her taking the object in question. In addition, if there is a non-hostile creature in the room, she will (while picking up an object and looking at it) immediately notice something odd about the creature and ask it an awkward question. These things may of course happen even if she doesn’t fail the saving throw!
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