Destcember Day 23: Royalty

Sorry if my writing isn't that great, this is the first stuff that I have ever posted.

Destcember Day #5: A Day Off

A concerned guardian stands in the doorway of their friend's study. Inside, a frazzled looking warlock is scrawling notes with handwriting almost as indecipherable as the Hive language they are studying. The glow of the runes cast a green light on the face of the exo, forming shadowy bags under his eyes. He looks up from his work as his friend begins to speak.

"Ash, you look terrible. When was the last time you took a day off? No, forget that, when was the last time you even slept?"

"Does dying count as sleeping?"

"No."

"In that case, I don't know. I think it was Thursday."

"Today is Wednesday."

From beneath a pile of scrolls, a muffled voice joins the conversation.

"First of all, it wasn't even a Thursday this month. Secondly, could someone please help me out here."

Surprised by the voice of his ghost, the warlock quickly unearths his buried ghost. Now freed, the bemused companion floats up to hover above her guardian's shoulder.

"Sorry Yew. I was wondering where you had gone. How did you end up under there anyway?"

"I fell asleep. Honestly, it's a miracle you haven't collapse yet. The only rest you have gotten in the past week was the time one of your expirements killed you and even that was only for the few seconds until I could resurrect you."

"Technically, exos don't have to sleep. Nor do we have to take days off."

Finally shaken out of their shocked stupor by that statement, the titan calmly walks into the room and proceeds to throw the warlock over their shoulder. They protest weakly as they are carted off before they fall silent. Ignoring their protestations, the titan explains what is going to happen to happen, making it clear that their cargo has no choice in the matter.

"That does it, you are taking a day off. No! You are taking a week off. You may not physically have to sleep, but it is terrible for you mentally. Not to mention the effect that prolonged exposure to all this Hive stuff must be having on you. Don't bother trying to argue, I won't take no for an...

Aaaannd he fell asleep."

Destcember Day #7: Forge Your Destiny

"You ever notice that the best weapons are the ones you make yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well not to insult SUROS, their weapons are fine, but they don't hold a candle to the stuff the Black Armory lets you make. Also, magic doesn't come premade. Thorn, Deathbringer, Bad Juju, we had to put those without more than vague guidance. Anytime we want something good, we have to forge it ourselves."

"Well, you know what they say. If you want it done right, commit the necessary atrocities yourself."

"You know that isn't what they say, right?"

"Ugh, I've been translating too much Hive lore."

Destcember Day 26: Sweet Dreams

Every time I sleep I have the same dream. I doesn't matter if I take a five minute nap or sleep for twelve hours, I dream of this and nothing else. I am standing in the a field of purple millet, stretching as far as I can see. There is a cool breeze at my back, pushing me forward. Behind me is the setting sun. In front of me is a tower, reaching up above the clouds. It is not The Tower, but is somehow just as familiar, even though I have no memory of ever being here while awake. I have to walk towards the tower, because the dream will never end otherwise. I have tried standing still, walking away, and even having Yew wake me up as soon as I fall asleep, but I only wake up once I walk into the tower. After a few minutes of walking, I reach a clearing. Across from me, the ornate doors of the tower stand, both imposing and inviting. But between myself and the doors, there is a massive yew tree, glowing slightly from within. Beneath the shade of its branches, there is a wooden table, two chairs, and a chess board, set just as I left it last time, white for me and black for her. Sitting across the table, reading a book and waiting for me, is the ahamkara Ephialtes. I have never seen her reading the same book twice and I have never found or heard of any of the books while awake, but she assures me they are all real. She doesn't always look the same, but across all her forms she retains her startlingly purple eyes and slightly too sharp teeth. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we play, but always she tries to strike a deal. Usually I refuse, but on a rare occasion, we can come to an agreement. Once we are done or I get tired of talking, I walk through the tower doors and wake up. I used to dream of other things, but I traded that away in our first deal. Hers were the strongest of the bones that I had collected, her whispers invading every waking thought while I was anywhere nearby. But, she was too knowledgeable and powerful, so it would have been an unbearable loss to rid myself of her. So I made her a deal. She would no longer whisper to me without consent and would use her power to suppress the whispers from the rest of my collection, and in return, she could inhabit my dreams, negotiating with me every night, and I wouldn't put her bones inside a silver lined safe and drop it into the Mariana Trench. She agreed and now I dream of this and nothing else. It isn't all bad. My old dreams were not that great and Ephialtes isn't bad company, if a bit manipulative. Enjoy your dreams, if you can. Sweet dreams.

I just realized, no one has told Jolyon that Uldren is alive again. Someone need to tell him right now. No, better idea, someone needs to find Jolyon, find Uldren, then drag them together and scream "Now Kiss!"

Proposal for a new type emote: Emotes that let your Ghost emote with you. The possibilities are endless, but include:

Your ghost flying around your head

Sitting with your ghost on your shoulder

Disco ball ghost

Ghost spinning on your finger like a basketball

Ghost scanning you and using their little laser on different spots

Multi-person emotes where you stand around and your ghosts talk

And many, many more.

Down with blade barrage and down with the Last Word quest step 2.

Destcember Day 17: Past Days

People often long for past days. The days before the Collapse, back in the Golden Age. And it makes sense, considering how hectic things have been recently. But for me, past days have never been what I longed for. I can't remember my past, so all I have to long for is the future. And I do believe that the future will be better than the past, even better than the Golden Age. Though we have lost much since then, we have gained much too. We are more diverse than we were, having gained the Awoken, the Ghosts, and hopefully someday the Fallen too. We are more unified than ever before, being joined into one by tragedy. We know we are not alone, that there are others besides ourselves and the Traveller. If we fight for it, the future will be better than the past. So long not for past days and instead work towards future days. May our second Golden Age far outshine our first.

Destcember Day 7: Say My Name

In my studies, I have come across the bones of a number of ahamkara. They whisper to me when I examine them, offering wealth, power, knowledge, or whatever else I wish for. Every one of them has a slightly different manner of tempting, but they all seem to have one thing in common. They never say my name. It's always "oh bearer mine" or the like. I know they can read minds, at least to some extent, as they always try to offer what I want at that moment. Hell, I've even had one try to offer me a bowl of ramen before. But I have never had one say my name. So, the last time one tried to make me an offer, I made them an offer instead. If they could say my name, I'd take their deal. They must have been silent for a full minute before admitting that they couldn't. I must have made it angry, as it hasn't whispered to me since, so whatever knowledge I could have gleaned from it is lost forever. But it was worth it, because it was both hilarious and reassuring that they don't know everything.

Destcember Day 5: Black and White

So many guardians see our fight against our enemies in black and white. We are the heroes, dauntless knights fighting endlessly against the forces of evil, who long only to destroy us solely for the furtherment of evil. But things are never that simple. Every one of our enemies has their own stories and reasons to take up arms against us. The Cabal who so recently destroyed us are merely foot soldiers in a vast empire, knowing not why they attack, just following the orders that were passed down to them from a chain of command that they have no authority to even question. The Vex are fighting against the inevitable, for ever trying to stave of the heat death of the universe, warping time, space, and causality in service to their salvation, their "Pattern". The Fallen are lost nomads, with no home to call their own, their homeworld destroyed by the Darkness that we fight so hard against. Now they chase after their Great Machine, hoping, just like us, for the chance to reclaim their golden age. The Scorn have been corrupted by a force greater than them, using the Darkness in an attempt to free themselves from their dependence on Either and Servitors and to bring back those they lose to the deaths that we so often inflict upon them. The Hive and Taken, servants of the very Darkness itself, have their reasons as well. The Hive are slaves of their own free will, eternally killing and destroying to feed their worms, lest they be consumed themselves. They only chose this path for themselves after being in dire straits, with their choices being to take the worms into themselves and serve the Worm Gods, or have their species wiped out by an approaching disaster. Now they fight to survive, to bring the universe to its "final shape" and live forever by becoming death. The Taken, perhaps most pitiful of all, have no will of their own, being puppets to a will greater than their own, often being forced to fight against their former allies and kill those they once called friend. Even the Darkness may have a reason for their actions, though even I doubt that. To each of them we are the boogeymen, immortal monsters that can slaughter their way through hundreds of valiant warriors, with terrible powers of scorching light and weapons that have been known to kill even gods, before dying, only to return seconds later as if nothing ever happened. So, next time you begin to think in black and white, consider what I have said today and what your enemies think of you.