The Hunt for Yuel: Session 41, Doors and Heartbreak

Synopsis

The Hunters appeared outside the arena, and quickly went back through the arena entrance and entered the Temple of Inifinite Truth, though they ended up seperated due to brief gaps between them going in. Lorelei and Vazulo ended up in a library, Kinoko in a graveyard, and Percy in a garden.

The party learnt the many people in their varied locations seemed to all have some strange relationship with lnaguage and had become one with the Infinite Truth. Some at least, had been invited into the temple by champions they had fought. None of them seemed aware the champions had been defeated. They learnt Claus was inside but stuck in a hedge maze and was not making notable progress to Destiny.

The party also learnt they could manifest doors and pillars, the latter being the result of trying to create something that could not be created. The doors could lead to hyper specific locations and had an array of personalities. Eventually the party came back together after having varying experiences talking with people in their locations.

The party traveled through a door that took them to Destiny exactly when Destiny wanted to see them. Arriving in a space that did not operate under the same rules as the rest of the temple, the Hunters finally met the sapient physical manifestion of Destiny.

Destiny was, to their surprise, calm, reasonable, and not out for revenge against those who had imprisoned them. Instead they seemed to want the party thoughts on what they should do now that they were free. Each hunter had a different opinion and a lively and emotional coversation ensued. Destiny showed Percy, Lorelei, and Vazulo what their lives would have been if Destiny had been free and able to guide a few souls as they had intended. The result for each varied, but none were worse lives then they had lived. Kinoko was left out as Destiny never guided anyone in direct contact with her and was most affected by the fact she would have never met the party. Lorelei and Percy were deeply affected by their new memories.

Destiny eventually seemed to come to a revelation and confirmed they would get them back on Yuel's trail, and facilitate them fighting Claus. Percy realized Lorelei was in no state to fight and in the moment decided to sacrifice his values to help them by interfereing with Lorelei's memory. Rather then assiting, Destiny sent the party to take a break, and sent them to a strange but serene beach.

Full Recap

The hunters reappeared outside the arena/temple. Tall crystal constructs in the water around the island seemed to be breaking and a formerly invisible field around the island seemed to be breaking down.  Lorelei and Vazulo, looking around and seeing no sign of Claus ran back through the doorway. Percy ran to collect the Messenger’s treasure and then followed the others in. Kinoko ran up to the Arch Fey and asked where Claus was and learning Claus had run inside the temple, rushed, following the others.

Lorelei and Vazulo appeared inside a library with strangely sized books and strangely muscular and scarred monks or librarians in white robes with blue edging. Vazulo starred running around calling for Blue. Lorelei asked the nearest person for help. The human man, had short brown hair, a large distinct scar on his cheek, and rough skin covered in slowly healing scars, responded in common “Sorry I don’t speak common.” Lorelei, with a slightly cocked eyebrow, asked again in abyssal and the man responded thanking her as he didn’t speak a word of common. She asked if he’d seen Claus and how to find Destiny. He hadn’t seen anyone else in a very long time and if they wanted to find Destiny, they should start looking for a door. Lorelei didn’t see any doors and inquired further. The man said doors appeared where they need to be. Lorelei decided to try and imagine a door that led to Destiny. A door with comical lock appeared. She tried to imagine it unlocked, and while the lock moved it did not unlock. She tried to unlock it manually, but her lock picks were sucked into the lock. This led to a series of door summoning experiments by Lorelei. She tried a door that led to Claus. This door had a face of an old man, and it explained it led to Claus, but he discouraged her from going through since he didn’t think she could handle Claus by herself. Realizing Percy and Kinoko still had not arrived, she then willed a door that would allow her to arrive at the exact same time as her allies where Claus was so they could kill that “Mother Fucker”. A porcelain white door with a feminine face and sexy alure appeared speaking in inuendo’s. Before Lorelai walked through, she asked for a last bit of advice from the doors about fighting Claus. Instead of an answer, the two debated back forth on what Claus’s pronouns were.

Meanwhile Vazulo was trying to get Blue out of wherever they were and into the temple. This drew the attention of a Copper Dragonborn man who responded in common, that he didn’t speak common. This resulted in a short back and forth, in common, between the two that neither of them spoke common. Eventually they landed on using the celestial. Other librarians approached and started shushing them both. Vazulo showed them his tattoo of Blue and explained he was trying to find them. Some of the librarians recognized him, explaining they had seen him when their party had taken a long time to die.  Another explained that Blue was not there but kind of under them, but not in the temple. Vazulo, assuming the library was like Blue’s space, willed a trap door that led to their space. A trap door appeared with an old lady’s face on it, and she was very grumpy. She said she didn’t lead to Blue. She was in the temple; she couldn’t go to the “void”. Vazulo tried to open the door, but she fought him. The librarians all started shushing the door. Vazulo got the door open with the librarians help. Blue yelled into the void in common for Blue to imagine stairs and come up into the library and meet Destiny and to avoid the grumpy old lady door if they could. He then proceeded to join Lorelei.

Back with Lorelei, the doors had come to an agreement, Clause was currently they, and when they returned to their original form, they would return to being it.

Vazulo was quickly caught up by Lorelei and he tried to make a door that would let them see Destiny.  A green door appeared with a block face that was quite short with them, saying no and refusing to be helpful. Lorelei asked the door to show them Claus and it changed to semi translucent green; the face became round, and they could see Claus as they knew them in a hedge maze seemingly yelling at the maze. Next Vazulo tried to get a door that let him see into Feeloe’s lab, a pillar appeared with a bird face on it and explained that that was not here, and they could not go places that were not here, and then disappeared.

Lorelei asked the door why Destiny didn’t want to meet them, and the square face joined the round face.  It said Destiny didn’t want to see them yet and when asked if the door could talk to Destiny, it seemed overwhelmed by the mere thought. Lorelei tried to manifest paper with the requirements to meet Destiny, but nothing appeared. She then tried to get a door that did know these things. A pillar with a dog face appeared, exclaimed that it didn’t know why it was there, and then disappeared.

Vazulo tried to get a door that let him feel the space destiny was in. Another door appeared, the door frame was made of adamantine, and the door appeared to be made of black fire. Lorelei touched the black flame and was lightly burned as she quickly pulled away.

Lorelei manifested a 5th door, that let her see Kinoko.

Kinoko appeared in a graveyard filled with every form of burial marker she had ever seen and many that she had never seen before including a creature just singing a lonely song. There were many humanoids dressed in black robes with blue edging. These two were scarred and well built.  A brown skinned Elven man with incredibly long ears the bent under their own weight. This Elf when addressed by Kinoko in common he responded the same as the others. She inquired about her companions, and he said he hadn’t seen anyone in a very long time. There was some confusion as she explained she was looking for a temple and he didn’t know of any temple. Which was cleared up when they realized the graveyard was in the temple which she was looking for. She asked how to get where she was trying to get and was told to look for doors. Only seeing door into mausoleums, she inquired further and was told she should try those unless she was looking to pay respects, which he decided was not a good idea until she was ordained. The elf was confused how she “came into the temple” trying to learn if she’d been asked. She explained know and that they had defeated the last champion. The space became immediately silent, and others around the graveyard came over showing interest.  As that conversation between the other got overwhelming with them saying they didn’t speak languages they were speaking, the elf pulled Kinoko to the side, explaining if she wasn’t asked there was no reason to be ordained. The Elf learnt they were there to meet destiny but was surprised they still tried to free destiny after talking with the champions. Kinoko explained the Messenger actually want them to free Destiny and the elf asked if any of the other remembered fight him. Kinoko learnt that many if not all the grave keepers had fought champions, but they had done it to gain entry to the temple of infinite truth, so they could learn all the truths of the universe. The elf explained how imagining doors worked.

Kinoko thought of a door out of the graveyard and the door with no face appeared that said “this is going to be fun.”

Lorelei and Vazulo seeing the later bit of this interaction and seeing Kinoko about to enter a door unknown to them opened their door and called to Kinoko. She moved away from her door to their open door, but her door kept appearing in front of her trying to make her go through it. Kinoko made it to Lorelei’s door and as it closed behind her it changed to show a garden with Percy in it.

Percy appeared in a garden traditional garden in front of him, flower beds, planters, arboretum, a hedge maze. Behind him things he had not seen but seemed to fit within the definition of a garden. He called out, describing his party members, seeing many people working the garden in green robes with blue edging.  Leaning up from a near by garden was fully a bear in a robe. The bear approached, speaking in common explaining he had not seen any of those people and did not speak common, Percy was surprised by the array of common phrases the bear had memorized to explain to people he did not speak common.  Percy switched to dwarvish and learnt the bear former master who had awakened him had been a Dwarf. Percy asked if bear knew where Destiny was and the bear explained that was complicated, but he could try a door, leading to Percy learning the nature of natural door and summon doors here in the temple as the others had. The bear asked if Percy was looking to be ordained, as without being ordained touch anything but a door or a pathway in the temple would hurt him greatly and dying in the temple was a very bad thing. The bear offered to find a department head who would take them through the 6000–7000-year process to become ordained, after which he wouldn’t really be a person anymore, but hey would no longer be in danger of the infinite truth shredding his body and causing the destruction of his past present and future. When Percy tried to negotiate the time down the bear explained that the process was exactly 6000-7000 years long, something he acknowledged not making sense when he was told it but now to him Percy seemed to be dumb for not understanding but the bear could not rectify that for him. Percy asked if he need to be ordained to find destiny or Claus. The bear explained no and hearing the description of Claus, explained he thought Percy was “just looking for people not things” and explained that “thing” had arrived a few minutes earlier and was in the hedge maze.

The explained his surprise at a thing accepting an invitation into the temple and aske Percy why he accepted the invitation if he wasn’t seeking the infinite truth. Percy explained he just walked in. The bear confused, explained that Percy must have fought the champions and was judged by them to contribute to the greater knowledge of the universe and was allowed to enter so they could come to properly understand the importance of keeping Destiny contained by learning the Infinite Truth. Percy realized he and the bear’s experience were very different and kept light on any further detail on how he got in the temple.

Percy got the details on the hedges and doors reaffirmed by Mr. Bear and headed for the hedge maze. Before getting there Lorelei opened the viewing door and called out to him. Percy passed through and started to talk to Lorelei’s first door. With the party together Lorelei tried to create a door to Destiny again. All the other doors disappeared and again, the original door with the lock appeared.

Percy tried to yank the lock off while Vazulo tried to will Blue into the space. A pillar with a crocodile face appeared and explained this was the Temple of Infinite Truth and Blue was not here, so doors could not appear to take them to him or let him in. Percy updated the party on the danger of the infinite truth and how everything, but pathways and doors were it. The pillar confirmed this was the case unless they were indoctrinated. Percy followed up, explaining the ordaining process which the pillar also confirmed adding indoctrination was different but seemingly had the same effect but instead took exactly one hundred million-to-two-year process.

Lorelei, continuing to try and resolve the issues at hand, imagined another door, one that took them all to Destiny exactly when Destiny was ready for them. The door appeared, a marble frame with mahogany door and a tragedy masque face. The door asked if they wanted to wait or try to see Destiny before Destiny was ready for them. Lorelei wanted to know if using this door would let them see Destiny before Claus. The door didn’t know, but they didn’t like Claus. Claus was rude and stopped people form getting invitations into the temple.

Percy tried to will a door to unlock the lock.  A tiny door appeared inside the lock and tried to break it but failed.

Vazulo continued to try to make doors that couldn’t exist summoning more animal faced pillars. This eventually lead one pillar to explain the pillars, and maybe the doors, were just constructs of manifestations of the party’s personalities implanted in an object to help them learn information without them dying because of the Infinite Truth.

Lorelei started to walk to her door. Vazulo manifested one last door, that would take him to Destiny when he was ready to see them. The door appeared and kindly told Vazulo it didn’t open.  

One by one everyone passed through Lorelei’s door. They arrived floating as if in space inside a flaming black sphere. 

A glowing figure, Destiny, appeared and floated toward the party. A path of wooden planks followed behind them and then passed and expanded under the party. The party fell to the planks. The party started their discourse with Destiny.

Vazulo spoke to Oedric who was terrified and completely overwhelmed. He could see something they could not, and it was the scariest thing he had ever seen, something of unfathomable power and existence. At Vazulo’s request Destiny some how put Oedric to “sleep”.

The party learned that Destiny didn’t want revenge, was already free, and did not have access to the Infinite Truth, in actuality they had very little knowledge from before they existed.

Percy asked about Destiny joining them in their fight with Rhy and her allies, and Destiny didn’t think they wanted that fight to ever happen. Vazulo asked if they could tell him where the other orbs were, Destiny said they couldn’t tell him where they were, but they could make it, so he found all of them.

This last statement sent a chill down Percy’s back and Percy addressed Destiny very seriously requesting that Destiny never influence him. The tone of the conversation shifted. As Percy had seemingly asked about what Destiny wanted to talk about. Destiny asked if Percy wanted that for everyone, and Percy said he wouldn’t make that choice for other people.

Destiny reached out to Percy, and, to his companions, he froze in place. Destiny shared with Percy the memories of his life as it would have been if Destiny was free. Destiny would have guided one woman, and her influence changed Percy’s life from the day he was sold to a cult by his parents. He and his sister lived fulfilling, happy, and healthy lives. Percy having now added another life’s worth of memories to his already overwhelming number of memories started to break down. He conversed further with Destiny, arguing that was not his life. Destiny did not fight him on this, simply pointing out they would never have guided Percy, but they had been denied that choice. Destiny promised not to guide Percy.

Percy turned back to Vazulo as Percy kneeled and tried to pull the memories out of his head. Kinoko and Lorelei moved over to him. Vazulo asked Destiny what made the orbs important, and Destiny replied, that wasn’t “how their understanding of the world worked”. They could guide Vazulo, or Yuel, they could guide them directly or slowly. Destiny acknowledged they could guide Vazulo back to the real Yuel, but did not confirm that they would. Destiny explained they had wanted to guide a few people and that they would have made things a little better. Vazulo suggested they could just start now, and Destiny replied with their own overwhelming question, they didn’t know if they should. The party continued to ask questions, trying to help.

Destiny reached out to Lorelei and gave her the memories of her life if they had been able to guide a young girl named Zaja. In this life her family lived, she found love, and she and her allies, including her mentor, defeated Strahd. As the memories seemed to reach around the age, she had left Barovia they stopped, and she crumpled to the ground. Percy had regained some of his composure and he and Kinko moved to Lorelei.

Destiny offered to show Vazulo how his memories. Vazulo said no but accepted his sisters instead.  Vazulo gained the memories of his sister’s life where a Moonfolk woman, Anula, was guided by Destiny to find them just after their parents had been eaten by the bellower. She raised them instead of their mercenary elven parents. There life was not inherently better but different and Yuel never became possessed by a blood monster. Exiting the memories around his current age Vazulo was not upset though disoriented by gaining the memories of a woman’s life, and body.

They each knew these new memories weren’t theirs, but they were present and real.

Destiny offered to show Kinoko hers, she cautiously accepted. Unlike her companions, Kinoko did not see memories, instead her companions froze in place as Destiny spoke with her privately. No one Destiny guided would ever interact with her. Her life’s difference was that her party members never met her. She couldn’t show her her life with Destiny because they never crossed her life.

Destiny didn’t know what to do now that they were free. They had had a long time to contemplate why the Gods feared them and why the Gods had imprisoned them and now wondered who was right. Destiny acknowledged that the Whispering One and his followers wanted them free, but explained that their perceptions were different, the Whispering One’s vision was infinite while Destiny’s was endless, which were very different.

Destiny asked Kinoko what she would have or want Destiny to do for her or Lorelei. Destiny could not give Lorelei the life they had shown her, they could not control time, they weren’t “the Hands”. Destiny acknowledged that the person in Lorelei’s life they wanted to guide had gone on a very different path.

Percy having completed his memory spell gave the ribbon of his memory to Lorelei.

Destiny tried to make clear to them that they would not have made the world perfect or brought about peace. But they would have at least made things a modicum better. Destiny went on, that the Gods did not control destiny, that was not a power Destiny’s mother gave the Gods. They pretended to control people destinies with miracles and power beyond mortal understanding, but they could not control their destiny as Destiny could. Other then them the only other destiny in existence were Children of Destiny, manifestations of the power of destiny formed in children who were the culmination of specific powerful serendipitous events. Other then them, Destiny was the only one with the power to control the fate of individuals as the concept of destiny was described. The Gods controlling destiny of their creations or followers was a lie.

Vazulo realized Spearadear didn’t control him and asked if Destiny could give him his planeshift. Destiny explained they did not care about domains, the boxes the Gods powers were restrained within.  Destinies power was the ability to potentially control the lives of everything in existence. They could guide Vazulo to always receive his plane shifting.

Lorelei cut in, crying, asking Destiny to save people. To save people from what happened to her, to guide her to help and save people. Destiny looked between Lorelei and Percy, and in this moment Kinoko could see the two opposing but valid perspectives that Destiny had been contemplating for their entire existence. There was pain hearing what Lorelei had said, understanding hearing what Percy said, and maybe even joy hearing what Vazulo said.

Percy and Lorelei debated both impassioned, scared, and hurt. Lorelei through tears said she didn’t matter and for the first time Destiny spoke with the affirmative, “you do matter”. Percy drew out every memory of everyone Lorelei had helped save and gave it to her. Percy argued that no one would be them selves if Destiny guided them. Lorelei argued, distraught and not in her right mind, that that didn’t matter, she just wanted to protect and save people. 

Vazulo argued that there should be a choice. Vazulo argued through both Percy and Destiny’s explanation that it was a binary choice. Destiny could not give nudges. Vazulo, in spite of this, argued for a third option, one that Destiny could not in the moment understand or give form to, but was intrigued by.

Kinoko talked about life and death, good and bad and that just being what it is. Destiny said they could control destiny after death.

Destiny did seem to have a moment of revelation realizing some people do not get to die or go the afterlife.

Percy made an argument to have Destiny not use their power instead, be a watcher. Kinoko carried this argument further, suggesting Destiny change their own destiny and become something else.

Destiny pondered in a moment of silence before telling the hunters they weren’t sure if they would ever see each other again. They would set them on a path to keep following Yuel. They looked into the empty space as if they could see something the others couldn’t and quietly said, “infinite vs endless”. They aimed to try and guide them “just for a little while”. Destiny began to make something extradimensional and impossible.  For moments the party could all see a portion of what Oedric had been seeing. For Percy it was similar to the moment between a world dying and new world being born. For Vazulo it was akin to when Spearadear created the physical miracle. To Lorelei it stood in stark infinite contrast to the nothingness she experienced when she died.  The space normalized as Destiny kept constructing this thing.

Destiny asked if they wanted to kill Claus before they left. Most of the party seemed inclined to. Before they agreed Destiny finished their construction. They held two cubes rotating in intersecting space.

They dropped the object, and it bounced erratically and unnaturally. Before they could have destiny send them to Claus in some manner Percy realized Lorelei was in no state to fight. He asked Destiny to speak in secret and asked for Destiny to use their power to try and help him alter a spell to take Lorelei’s new memories as he did not think she would be able to overcome this barrier, and they needed her to defeat Claus. Rather than let Percy compromise his own morales Destiny told them they needed a break. All of them could hear the sound of lapping waves, and suddenly they all found them selves on a sandy beach with a salty sea breeze at their back.