Destiny's Dwelling
Destiny's Dwelling is a saga of novels published by Zakina Kociak-Falenmir that serve as a fictionalized account of her travels with the party since their first days together in the military. While a lot of the events described throughout are true, she's kept any confidential information out of the public eye. Zakina debated on changing the names of everyone involved, but has opted against it so people can have a loose understanding of everything the party's been through for over a decade. So far, there's three volumes in Destiny's Dwelling.
Volume One: Birth With Debt covers the beginnings of the party's adventures, as well as a bit of their origins for contextual purposes. It chronicles their hectic year within the military and the emotional turmoil that came with it. The chapter with Vihrea's crucifixion is known to be the most gruesome part of the novel. The narrator takes on a bitter and sarcastic form, calling out to anyone who was involved to label them as "barbaric" and "shameful". With the war over, people have asked for that chapter to be removed, but Zakina has refused. She's stated that anyone wanting it removed is living in ignorance and unwilling to bring attention to the horrors of war.
After the arc involving their military careers, there's a chapter of their first trip to Heaven where they all learned of their significance in a grand, divine scheme that they struggled to comprehend. This is where the title hails from as each of them appeared to have been chosen upon their birth for a greater purpose, though such status came with its downsides as well. The final chapters detail their trip into the Underdark to save Xaren and put an end to Velevana's reign of terror. Lucky Kociak is introduced in one of these chapters and Zakina has faced criticism from clerics all over for her endearing portrayal of a lich.
Volume Two: Lost in Nightmares chronicles Vihrea's descent into madness, starting with the revelation that she was the "Bird of Vengeance" that had been terrorizing Teme-Rasadans for the past year. While the party drags her along for a pilgrimage that Industria Cellini proposed, she eventually breaks away from them all after the defeat of a wannabe god. They go on to face off with vampires before reaching a large city in the desert. There's rumors of liches out in the pyramids and this chapter serves as an introduction for Jordeira Ferus, who is described as "brainless ogre" by the narrator.
The subsequent tomb raiding leads the party to two liches, one of them alleging to be a powerful leader of a cult of his kind. Nariah Semiri was his name and both he and his lich lover were slain. Their journals pointed to a cult that was hidden on the outskirts of the desert and when the party finds them, they find Vihrea as well. She's been building up the The Cult of Destruction, thinking she's the right hand of Faas and the bringer of a war of biblical proportions. Through later chapters, it's revealed that she was tricked by the proprietor of the lich pyramid scheme, Milan.
He was building several people up so that when they reached their full potential, he could harvest their souls for power. His end was swift as Zakina offered herself as a sacrifice and feigned distress to trick him into stepping into his own transmutation circle. Elathera and Industria bound his soul to a heartstone and returned to dismantle the Cult of Destruction. The epilogue covers Vihrea's death briefly before going into detailed memories the party shared with her before she lost her way.
Volume Three: Call to Action chronicles the resurgence of the Cult of Destruction as they attempted to assassinate the loved ones of the party. Elathera and Zakina are both assassinated, but are resurrected. The assassin's soul is bound to a book and Industria's people hunt down the remaining cultists. The next few chapters are out of place, describing a continent thousands of miles away from Caelsimil that has inventions beyond their understanding. After that, the party visits the Great Falls and promptly throw themselves in, catching a glimpse of the cosmos. Critics aren't sure what to make of those chapters because of their absurdity and awkward placement in the novel.
When things are back on track, it covers Pandemonius' rise to power after he was left in Velevana's plane a decade ago. Once again, Zakina has received criticism for portraying beings of evil as anything but that. Stricter religious communities have pulled Destiny's Dwelling from their shelves because of it, though that hasn't done much to hamper the saga's popularity. The final chapters pertain to The Phantom Insurrection. Much of the details of the insurrection are confidential, so the main focus turns into the power struggle between the commoners and the nobles, avoiding the insurrection entirely, and going straight to the end result.
Volume Four: Through the Veil is a thrilling adventure through the planes of existence. It opens up in the Plane of Water before moving onto a location of far more interest. Atlantis. Such a fable surely can't exist, so readers take these chapters with a grain of salt, but it's exciting nonetheless. It moves on to their antics in the Plane of Air where they defeated an efreeti who had stolen a powerful artifact from the Sultan. As thanks, the Sultan offered to impregnate any of the women of the party, but the offer was declined. Instead, he gave them the location of a soul fragment they were after, which led to Nayrviantem. Upon the dragon's defeat, they quickly grabbed the fragment, and hurried to their next location.
The Astral Plane, in which they had to travel down the river Styx, passing through other rivers that were disgusting and graphic, before reaching Xibalba. The remainder of the book chronicles the Trials of Xibalba, where the party somehow managed to find humor in all of the never-ending terror. The Great Vasuki is introduced in the Trial of Jaguars and if the story's to be believed, critics are impressed with the party's budding friendship with a great wyrm. The final chapter describes the party's attempts at completing the final trial, leading to them breaking the reality of it and failing. The Judges pit them against an Inevitable to earn their victory, believing the party when they return with news of its defeat. In truth, they befriended the Inevitable as well.
Purpose
Zakina has always wanted to be a published author, so after retiring from the military and defeating a goddess, she figured such a chaotic life would make for an entertaining story. The first book in the saga was her first ever published works and given the party's reputation, it was an immediate success.
Historical Details
Background
While the fourth volume was the last and most recently published novel in the entire series, rumors have already spread about the next installment. Through information obtained from The Writer's Guild of Lutherios, there will be a fifth book titled "The Chains of Fate" that will detail the party's time in the Feywild.
History
Several major events of the party's adventures has been kept out of the novels for privacy reasons. That information becoming public knowledge can lead to issues of safety for those involved in some shape or form. Excluded things include:
- Any and all confidential military information, whether it be from Caelsimil or Teme-Rasadar.
- Zakina's few years spent as Lucky's living phylactery as well as her rakshasa ancestry.
- The truth behind the Phantom Insurrection.
- The identity and existence of Elathera's daughter, Iris Fairdale.
- The fate of Vihrea's soul.
- Specific details of lichdom and godhood.
- Deeply personal details of any mentioned persons' private life.
Public Reaction
Tales had spread of the party's antics as they participated in the war to free the Alterosot. Public attention never faded from them, even as they disappeared into the Underdark for a few months. With the publication of Destiny's Dwelling, the first copies put out in stores were sold out in mere hours, giving the saga a very successful start. Even a decade later, people are still interested in what the party's been up to and excitedly gather at bookstores whenever Zakina announces a new volume to their tales.
Comments