Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away… (:mrgreen:)
Alien scientists were experimenting with mystic energy. They had an ambitious plan that involved pumping mystic energy into a black hole to study its properties. (Why they were doing this exactly is still up for debate. The aliens were so advanced we could simply declare that their reasons are beyond our comprehension.) They were a highly advanced society, and found a way to pump in energy fast enough to reach the black hole’s maximum rate of absorbency. As more and more energy was absorbed, the black hole suddenly became unstable and exploded outward in an ultimately powerful way – even more powerful than a hypernova – resulting in an ultranova. The mystic energy fundamentally altered the space-time geometry of the black hole, resulting in our universe’s big bang.
In a very real sense, our universe is the remnants of the original shattered galaxy. Furthermore, it is possible that our universe is recursive – that at the center of the universe is a shattered galaxy whose central black hole is a portal into our own universe, like a hall of mirrors.
The Destiny Force
When an object with a large mass, such as a planet or star, has enough mystic energy drawn into it, that energy reaches a point of equilibrium and becomes self-sustaining. The stronger the gravitational force, the more mystic energy is needed to reach equilibrium, but the stronger the mystic effect will be on that world. It is on this principle that the humans have begun seeding colonies with mystic energy.
Another interesting thing that happens is that after a time, the mystic world gains consciousness and awakens, becoming a powerful psionic lifeform. In Gaia’s case, the mystic energy was some of that pumped into the black hole by the aliens. The initial big bang spread around the mystic energy throughout the universe, and it naturally gravitated towards objects with significant gravity. The Earth "got lucky" so to speak in that a lot of the ambient mystic energy found its way there, and Gaia was born. Another example of the phenomenon is Dragonstar, created by the dragons 65 million years ago, and awakening within a few decades. Dragonstar was twice as powerful as Gaia until she fused with Emmanuel – a powerful extradimensional entity – so the Caretaker’s power now matches that of Dragonstar.
Now imagine the power and intelligence of an entity created if a black hole were seeded with enough energy to saturate its rate of absorbency. It is truly unfathomable. I mean, in the Pax Artificium campaign, I couldn’t begin to imagine what would be going on in the head of an entity as powerful as Emmanuel. But this entity born of the alien experiment that created our universe… damn. That level of consciousness is what the Destiny Force represents.
The Destiny Force is omnipresent in our universe. However, since a black hole in a relativistic sense represents an inexorable pull toward the future, with the end of time at its center, the Destiny Force in some sense dwells at the end of time. Certainly it knows the future (or at least the possible paths of the future), and it can reach out its tendrils and affect the past if it wants, but fundamentally the Destiny Force is the future. It is Destiny itself.
The Destroyer
The explosion annihilated the aliens’ galaxy. But something truly bizarre happened: the mystic shockwave from the explosion absorbed the final thoughts and emotions of the aliens, and coalesced into a malevolent entity known as the Destroyer. It represents a concentrated need to destroy all mystic energy (since it was this energy that many aliens blamed for the cataclysm during their final moments of life).
The Destroyer is not sentient nor alive exactly – it is a terrifying force of nature composed of terror and malice. But it possesses a kind of feral cunning in its behavior in that it attacks anything in the universe with a powerful psionic signature. As a result, throughout the existence of our universe it has systematically eliminated all mystically infused worlds, except for two.
See the Fearful page for information about an alien race hit by the Destroyer who then turned against mystic energy completely, destroying their own remaining mystic world before "the demon" could "punish" them further.
The other world, of course, is the Earth. The Dragons page explains how the dragons distracted the Destroyer, drawing it away from Gaia, even though she was left crippled. Eventually, Earth’s mystic energy was sealed away and Gaia fell into a deep slumber, which caused the Destroyer to lose interest. But now that magic has been unsealed again, Dragonstar is once again the only thing protecting Earth from the Destroyer. And now that Gaia has merged with Emmanuel, and the Caretaker’s power rivals that of Dragonstar itself, the Destroyer has begun to take notice of our region of space…
However, there is one entity the Destroyer craves to eliminate more even than the Caretaker or Glaurung: the Destiny Force itself. As time pulls onward, the Destroyer grows closer to its goal, but it yearns to destroy the Destiny Force now. Whenever the Destiny Force puts forth tendrils into the past, the Destroyer has an opportunity to attack. Hence, the Destiny Force only interferes with the workings of the universe when there is grave need.
In general, the Destiny Force is so far above the creatures of our universe that it takes no action to affect change one way or the other. However, the Destroyer is a pain within it – a bundle of negative emotions that is constantly causing it harm. The pain is psychological in additional to physical: the Destiny Force feels remorse that its creation resulted in the deaths of so many, and it does not wish further destruction on a widespread scale. The Destiny Force would like to eliminate the Destroyer, and is prepared to put events into motions to assure that it happens. That is why the Destiny Force acted to help the Terrans unseal magic 265 years ago. That is why it has granted Andy’s character the ability to draw power directly from it, despite the risk. And that is why it will help them as much as it can during the Deus campaign: it has chosen a destiny for Earth, to be instrumental in the downfall of the Destroyer.
Lastly, note that should the Destroyer be destroyed, everything it removed from existence will return, according to the will of the Destiny Force. What the Destroyer does when it annihilates something is move that thing from "someplace" to "no place." Once it is gone, the Destiny Force can undo its work (providing another incentive for the PCs to fulfill their destinies).