The Book of Destiny

comments or critiques. anonymous on. ip off.

You may proceed.

Destiny's globe reflects his realm. The garden of the forking ways.

( snowglobe imagesCollapse )

As an idea rather than an individual, Destiny is omniscient and is knowledgeable of the past, present, and future. He will know a person’s name and he will know bits and pieces about them, depending on how much he has read/is reading of them. However, there have been instances of individuals who lie outside his pages.

Unlike Desire, Destiny rarely opens up old wounds, and most likely won’t mention what he knows. This post is more for the times when he does, which can lead to a little bit of meta gaming on his part considering who he is. To prevent problems in the future, it would be awesome if I could know before hand how much information I’m allowed to play with. Here’s a nice little form to make things a tad easier.

Character Name:
Character LJ:
Permission to draw on character past/present/future: yes/no.
Copy pasta of history/link to app: if yes to previous question, either paste/summarize your character’s history, spam me some wiki links, or just link your SP app so I can peruse your history section for myself.
Anything I should know/you wish to tell me/notes: is there anything in your canon that would stick out to Destiny? Something that might catch his interest?

<b>Character Name</b>: <b>Character LJ</b>: <b>Permission to draw on character past/present/future</b>: <b>Anything I should know/you wish to tell me/notes</b>:

[No words spoken. Only the sound of pages slowly turning. Perhaps Destiny already knows that you wish to speak to him. Maybe he is already listening.]

[Siblings, you know what you must do.]

Player Information

Name: Scrib
Age: 22
AIM SN: scribblecloud
email: i.speak.gnomish @ gmail[dot]com
Have you played in an LJ based game before? da
Bonus: How did you hear about Siren's Pull? Playing taketheearsoff and unziphimdaddy there now.

Character Information

General
Canon Source: DC Comics, The Sandman
Canon Format: graphic novel/comic book
Character's Name: Destiny of the Endless
Character's Age: Older than dirt.
Conditional: If your character is 13 years of age or under, please clarify how they will be played. -

What form will your character's NV take?
The Cosmic Log, Destiny's book.

Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities:
Destiny is one of the seven Endless, beings who are neither gods nor immortals. They are personifications of ideas; entities that rule strictly over their own domains. Of the seven Endless, Destiny is the eldest and when viewed upon by mortal eyes, is also the tallest. It is said the appearance of the Endless varies depending on the viewer, though there are commonalities that run between appearances. For example, Destiny is always in robes and the hood is always drawn so that his eyes are often hidden in its shadow.

Though he is blind, he can see everything. Destiny witnesses the paths that are taken through his garden; he watches as fates weave together, spinning patterns before his blind eyes. And though he is blind, he continues to read from his book which details the destiny of everything. The Cosmic Log (or the Book of Destiny) is a large ancient tome that is chained to Destiny's wrist. The book is literally a story of everything; inside its pages is a record of all that has happened, is happening, and will happen. It details the beginning of the universe to the end, though not all at once. Destiny reads from the pages; it is not his choice to not do so. It is said the way he bears this burden is that all his knowledge lies in the pages and that when he desires, he may read from them and learn of what is to come. Though the book details everything, it may be vague when describing events. For instance, Destiny has been surprised before, only because his book said he would be.

Destiny casts no shadow. He leaves no footprints. He makes no choices.

It is said the Endless are omnipotent in their own realms. Outside of their homes they still retain a great deal of power ranging from manipulating the minds of mortals to creating and destroying as they please. The Endless may teleport wherever they wish through fading away and may be whatever size they wish. They also may call upon each other using the "sigil" (an object that represents a single idea). It's a ritual of sorts ("I am standing in my gallery, holding your sigil..."), though does not always have to occur inside the gallery. The Endless may summon without both sigil and gallery, so long as a variation of the phrase is still uttered (Delirium is a prime example as she often summons her siblings regardless of location).

However, along with these powers, the Endless are bound by ancient rules. These ancient rules govern the Endless and the way they opperate. The rules define them and if they step outside those bounds, chaos often follows. Of the rules, there are two that are most prominent. One of which consists of never killing a family member otherwise the offender is no longer protected from the other personifications. The second and most haunting rule is that an Endless may never fall in love with a mortal (for if they do, the mortal's downfall is assured).

Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them?
For the sake of the roleplay, I'm going to suppress some of Destiny's more godlike abilities that would otherwise make him too, well, godlike. He'll retain his book. Though he has the capabilities of looking into the past, present, or future at any time he wishes; he is not one to often share its secrets and has a tendency to keep his knowledge to himself. In past events he has only deemed it necessary to share when the event in question requires him to do so, or if he deems it minute enough that it wouldn't hurt to do so. He prefers the book to not be an element in its own story.

As an Endless, he possesses both creative and destructive abilities, both of which I'll be limiting down the the size of, say, a hare. And though he may create food for himself, it will only be basic ingredients; raw fruits, vegetables, the works. User assembly required.

Weapons: Destiny carries no weapons.

History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History:
Though it covers all the different branches of Destiny, a brief run-down of Destiny's history can be viewed on the DC wiki over here and on wikipedia over here. Despite his age and how long Destiny has existed, not very much is known about Destiny. He keeps to himself and only turns up for family meetings (and when he is sought out by other members of his family).

However, some key moments have/are/and will happen(ed). The first thing to know about Destiny is that he is the oldest. When the universe was made and sentient life entered the cosmos, Destiny was born and all that followed were constrained and traced into his pages. Next came Death because beings could die before they ever needed to Dream. Then came Destruction followed by the twins, Desire and Despair, and then Delight (now known as Delirium). They are the Endless and though their bodies can die, the idea persists.

There have only been two deaths among the Endless thus far. The first was Despair. When she passed, the rest of the Endless siblings went to the necropolis and on being met with grief, revoked the charter (causing the city to be destroyed) and created a new necropolis, the village of Litharge. The second family death was Dream after the Kindly Ones killed him (he no longer wanted to rule his realm, but did not have the option of abandoning it like his brother, Destruction, had his own). It is in The Wake that Abel explains the death of an Endless only means the death of a point of view, hence why the Endless do not truly die until they are meant to.

Another key event that had happened was when Destruction called a family meeting together to proclaim that he was dropping all responsibilities, closing off his realm, and packing his bags. Though this event did not effect Destiny directly, it swayed his younger siblings. The topic of Destruction's leavings is one that is often mentioned by the younger Endless that were fond of Destruction (mainly Delirium, though secretly Despair wished to see Destruction again as well). It is in Delirium's wishes to find her older brother that she approaches Destiny in hopes that he would point her in the right direction.

Prior to the search for Destruction, another family meeting had been called by Destiny. The Fates had arrived in his garden and future events to begin in Destiny's realm. He did not believe them because paths would weave through his garden, though they rarely began there. The Fates told Destiny that something has to begin somewhere, even in a place of no beginnings. It is after Destiny calls a family meeting that Dream (after taunted by Desire and urged by Death) decides to travel to Hell to free Nada from the hell that Dream had condemned her to due to wounded pride. Once Dream leaves, Destiny ends the meetings stating he had done what he must and important events have been set to motion.

In the end, when the universe is over, Death approaches Destiny. Relieved, he hands her his book and states that he was uncertain if he would ever flip the last page.

Point in Canon:
However, I'm not pulling Destiny from the end of everything. Destiny will be hailing from after The Wake, once Daniel (Dream's "son") takes the place as the new personification of Dream and has met with his new brothers and sisters.

Conditional: Brief summary of previous RP history: -
As an added "bonus", I'd like to pull from the dear_mun post between Destiny and Death, where they converse and contemplate what universe to visit.

Character Personality:
Destiny, much like his other siblings, has a pretty large ego (along with a decent amount of pride to go with it) though he rarely flaunts himself unlike Desire or Dream. He has had his moments of standing high and mighty; where the display of his power has ended in the destruction of large cities (such as the previous necropolis). However, these times are rare. Destiny spends most of his time in solitude; forever walking the paths of his garden and tracing the pages of his book. He reads everything that happens. It is rare for someone to arrive in Destiny's garden, aware of their surrounds (that it is a path they tread and they are in the presence of Destiny) and lucid enough to strike up a conversation with Destiny. The following conversations are usually very short. On the occasion that Destiny decides to follow through with conversation, his responses turn out clipped and often very mysterious. Half the time he reads as he speaks.

Destiny is as dry as dust. He's quiet, but firm. He is also the most formal of his siblings and takes his role as the personification of destiny very seriously. Destiny is a stickler for rules. He often reminds his fellow siblings of what they can and must do; takes it upon himself to keep events going. However, despite his favor for order, he also represents his opposite; freedom. Though a person's fate lies in the pages of his book, it is up to them what paths they take.

Unlike some of his other siblings, Destiny prefers to remain in the background. He is more of a presence than an assertive force, always watching. Always listening. It is only when things get out of hand that he'll interject or attempt to calm (as seen with Delirium during a family meeting. She was shouting that she knew of paths that even Destiny was unaware of in his garden. He said, "Calm yourself, sister."). Destiny is often very somber, his realm a reflection of his tastes. He is unchanging, as seen with his garden; 300 years and his palace kept the same appearance, filled with gothic architecture and large open halls.

It's rare for Destiny to smile or crack a [dry] joke. Both are usually a result of an event only Destiny knows of. He enjoys irony, even when it applies to himself (especially when it applies to himself).

Conditional: Personality development in previous game: -

Character Plans:
Destiny will find the town interesting; interesting in that it can pull him from his own realm. Interesting in that he has no power to leave. Like Dream, when he was encased and locked away for a near good hundred years, Destiny will bide his time until the pull is weak enough so that he may return to his duties as a personification. Destiny will find the Pull's own rules to be of interest. In between, he'll most likely take up a job at the library. His sister, Death, has been pulled by the core as well, so he will most likely share an apartment with her for the time being. Adapting will be tricky, but he will manage.

Destiny will come to Siren's Port because Death 'planted' the idea. Often he is not one for change, but there are still forces in the universe that trump even Destiny and perhaps the Core is one of them. He will be entirely aware of his position, but will not act on it. Adapting will be tricky, but he will manage. It will be interesting to see how the rules of both the Endless and of the mortals mixes; to level him on the same playing field as the rest of the cast.

Appearance/PB: Userpics
Though Destiny's appearance is subject to the viewer's own belief of how Destiny should appear; there are many times that he may choose his own looks. Destiny wears a long gray (sometimes brown, sometimes blue) cloak with a cowl that shadows his eyes. His skin is pale and his eyes are pale blue. Destiny has silver hair, though it is usually hidden in his hood (head canon belief is that it is in a low ponytail and hidden from view. I believe this because of an image of a younger Destiny who had shoulder length silver hair that peeked out from the folds of his cowl). He is always seen with his book as it is chained to his right wrist. The tome itself is massive and leather bound.

He is barefoot, though the robes of his cloak often conceal his feet. On arriving to Siren's Port he'll conjure himself a pair of Roman sandals.

Writing Samples

First Person Sample
[The audio turns on and an older male voice feeds through. Those with video will typically see a tall figure robed from head to foot...his head bowed and lips drawn into a tight line. He is silent for a moment, as if to collect his thoughts.]

I walked through my garden and had found myself in a place I had never stepped foot in before (nor seen the likes of in my pages).

[A silence lapses. He turns to the next page. He reads as he speaks, or perhaps it is the other way around; the words taking root in his book, tracing themselves into the old parchment beneath his hand.]

I am Potmos and I know that what must happen will happen and that all things happen with a purpose.

Third Person Sample
Destiny reads to himself, fingers tracing the words as he goes. He keeps his place, keeps his pace; weaves through the streets, a shadow among shadows. The sun rolls behind clouds, dipping further to the west. Destiny doesn't bother to look up. He knows what is coming. Of course he knows. Still he continues on. This place was similar to his garden. In essence, every place was.

The streets were clearing out. Destiny stands at the gates of the orchard. He knows what lies inside. It's a path he must take. His dry lips part and he whispers to the air. "I walk into the orchard. The sun drops beneath the horizon. Leaves crunch beneath my feet like brittle glass..."

The sirens sound. Even Destiny could feel a chill down his spine.

"I breathe in and realize that something is amiss."

A dawning realization brings him to the fact that this is no longer his realm. He is outside his element. Almost as vulnerable as any mortal.

"Perhaps this is the place where I will face my new found mortality."

Destiny folds the book closed, the chain around his wrist rattles. He runs his hand along the cover, hard leather weathered with age. It is a familiar feeling. It ought to be, a piece of himself rested in that book. The words come to him, the paragraph he had left off at.

"This is where I will meet my sister. This is where I will meet Death." His voice drops low and quietly. "This is what I muse to myself were I to remain here, but it is not the case. The creatures will come and all they will find is a brown autumn leaf resting in the dirt.

It is not my time yet."

And he is gone, already standing in the darkness proofed safety of his apartment. The only evidence of his trip to the orchard was a single crumpled leaf; ready to crumble to dust.