Destcember Day #9: Nine

Destcember Day 23: Royalty

I've noticed that anyone who gives themselves a title of royalty, no matter their title or race, always seem to end of mad or dead. There are examples from every faction and species. The Eliksni have the Kells for royalty. As far as I know, they are all dead. Hopefully Variks and Mithrax will do better. The Cabal have have Emperor Calus, dethroned and probably more than a little mad, and Dominus Ghaul, dead at our hands. The Hive have the Osmium King, lost to the madness of the worms; King Oryx, Prince Crota, Prince Nokris, and the worm god Xol, all dead at our hands; and the worm god Akka, killed by their servant Oryx. The Vex have their pseudo-god the Black Heart, killed by us. Most of the Iron Lords have died horribly. The Hunter Vanguards have a terrible survival rate. Even the Awoken have had royalty follow the pattern, with Queen Mara Sov dying and Prince Uldren Sov both going mad and dying, though death seems to have been a bit more lenient for them. So, you should probably never take a title, as you are almost guaranteed to be a victim of madness, regicide, deicide, or some combination of the the three, probably by one of us guardians. Personally, I plan to follow my own advice and never get roped into ruling anyone.

Destcember Day 13: Theism

I live close to the center of the City, mostly for practical reasons. Any attackers would work inwards and therefore I would have time to pack before and grab a few people before I head into the sewers that are also under my house. Plus, all the best shops are here. However, this also means that I'm almost directly under the Traveler and it attracts the crazies like moths to a flame. As such, there is a temple to it just a few blocks away.

I've never put much stock in worshiping the Traveler. It never asked us to pray to it nor responded to prayers, so why should we. Furthermore, if it was really a god, it wouldn't need our help or praise. Did it kill Crota? Oryx? Guall? Did it beat back the Darkness another dozen times to rebuild the City? No. We did.

Even if it did ask us to pray, should we? It certainly isn't working out for the Hive or the Vex. All they did was join a magic pyramid scheme. "You work hard and give us 99% of what you make and die for us. We will sit here and watch, maybe doing something when we are all about to die." Even their "gods" aren't really gods. I've personally killed two and have the bits to prove it. The Black Heart and Xol went down with enough bullets and I assume the Traveler would too.

Therefore, the only manner of Theism ascribe to Maltheism. Everything that claims to be or looks to be a god is either incompetent or evil. The only good one needed an army and it's own heroic sacrifice to save fraction of one of the numerous species it tried to help. The rest are omnicidal bastards. So, screw the gods, we are better off without them.

...

"Did you really have to tell off those missionaries quite so severely?"

"Yew, the only reason I did it was because you vetoed dropping water balloons on them from the roof."

"Because that would have been cruel and childish. Anyway, you could have just said no to a donation."

"That's what I told them last time and they came right back the next day."

"They were from a different temple!"

"Oh, well now I feel a bit guilty."

Destcember Day 30: New Vistas

Of all the places that I have been, perhaps the one that awed me the most my first time being there was Mara Sov's throne world, specifically the Queen's Court. It was such a beautiful sight, looking out past the edge of the universe and seeing. I stood there for as long as I could, until Mara started less than subtly suggesting that I should leave. It isn't just her Court that is beautiful. While I was Dûl Incaru, what I saw of the rest of her throne world looked like it would be almost as awe inspiring as her Court once the damage Oryx did is repaired. If we ever manage to end all of the wars we are fighting, maybe I will be able to find myself a place with such a view. Perhaps a little home on Pluto, without any light pollution to obscure my view. Or, if I can master enough kinds of magic, I could carve myself out a bit of the ascendant plane. Hell, even the Drifter managed to get himself a slice to store his Taken monsters in, as small and ramshackle as it may be. Yeah, I think I'll look into that. Surely all that killing that I have had to do recently must be good for something.

Imagine if

Uldren somehow manages to make it to the Tower without remembering/being told who he is. When he appears, every guardian stops what they were doing and then they slowly file out until only Lord Shaxx is left. "They want to see you in the Crucible, Guardian."

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.

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

Destcember Day 25: Gift

It took me all year, but I've managed to find the perfect Dawning gift for everyone and today is the day I give them all out. I start in the Tower and work outward. For Ikora, I got a new bond. I had an amazing tailor in the City modify one of Cayde's old capes that I found in one of his caches. For Amanda, I got a new set of wrenches and engine that I salvaged from a Fallen skiff. For Banshee, I got a new gun repair kit and several interesting Dark Age guns from the Drifter. I gave the Drifter a few pieces of the Vex's Black Heart that I have been saving to research, since he is so interested in the Darkness, and a few cookies. I just met Ada recently, so all I could think to get her was as many of the pages from her book as I could reclaim from the Scourge Syndicate. I had gotten Eris a new wrap for eyes, but I guess that it will have to wait until I find her.

From there, I went out into the rest of the system. For Devrim, I got an assortment of rare teas from the City and the Reef. For Asher, I got him a sleeve for his human arm and metal polish mixed with a slight anaesthetic for his Vex arm. I also got him the core of Panoptes, which I managed to take before the simulation collapsed. Hopefully it will help with his research on a cure for his corruption. For the Spider, I found a number of the most ancient and interesting human artifacts that I could find and an intact ghost shell that I bought off the black market in the City. For Mithrax, I got the mantle of a Kell, in hopes that he will grow into it. I got Petra a fance eyepatch, a brand new knife, and panoramic picture of Mara's throne world. For Mara, and as a favor to Lord Shaxx, I brought her the bow that Shaxx bought her and his note, I found her several books of Shakespeare, including a new copy of the Tempest, and gave her my personal promise to do everything within my power to protect her reborn brother.

Finally, and most importantly, I made a brand new shell for Yew. That one was probably the most difficult one of all. To make sure that it would be a surprise, I convinced her to go on several tedious errands, taking messages for me all across the City and Tower. While she was gone, I payed Ada a small fortune in Glimmer, Shards, and favors in order to forge a nearly indistructable shell shielded by fine Black Armory metal. Then, I convinced Tess to help me make the shell aesthetically perfect and suited to Yew's tastes. It was more than worth all of the effort and cost to see her expression and happiness when I gave it to her.

I love the Dawning.

Destcember Day 20: Where Is My Warmind

I've never been sure if we could trust Rasputin. I'm not like Zavala, thinking that we should just abandon attempting to gain his help completely, but he does seem erratic. He helped us to fight off Xol on Mars, but that was more out of self interest. He has abandoned us so many times in the past, despite his reason for creation being to help us. Where was he during the the Collapse and the Dark Age, when he could have been fighting off the Eliksni or helping us rebuild? Where was he during the Taken War, when he could have been helping us fight off Oryx? Where was he during the Red War, when the last bastion of humanity was being destroyed and the Light being snuffed out? I want to trust him, I really do, but where was he? Where was my Warmind?

Destcember Day #2: A Glimmer of Hope

In a cluttered study tucked away deep in the Last City, an exo bangs his head on the table. The slight force imbalances several stacks of notes and books, sending a cascade of work into the floor. Nearby, a ghost floats, watching with mild amusement. Still with their head down, the exo mutters to his ghost.

"Yew, do we have any more ideas on how to break the curse on the Dreaming City."

"Well, there was the one about singlehandedly killing Dûl Incaru while empowered with a massive quantity of Light."

"Didn't we decide not to try because it was likely a trap or trick to waste our time in addition to being nearly impossible?"

"Yes, but I only mention it because someone reportedly just did it. It apparently took weeks of constant work and preparation. Quite impressive."

The exo's head shoots up in surprise, looking hopefully at his ghost.

"Really?! Did it work? Please tell me it did"

"No. Furthermore, there seem to be reports from guardians about hearing strange laughter and experiencing memory loss following the attempt."

Wordlessly, the exo stands and walks to one of the many displays flowing through the room. While the rest are cluttered with notes, this one has just two words and numerous tallies. One side reads "Guardians" and lies empty. The other side reads "Savathûn" and has far too many tallies for comfort. With a sigh, he adds one more to the count. The ghost snickers.

Destcember Day 16: Who Guards The Guardians?

A lone guardian falls to the ground, finally succumbing to their numerous wounds, inflicted by the Red Legion invaders. The ground around them is carpeted with the bodies of their fallen foes, having taken down dozens before falling to the endless tide. Though they still live, they are unable to so much as lift their head, weakened as they are from their wounds and the loss of their Light. A Cabal Gladiator approaches, flanked by several Legionnaires, moving confidently now that their prey is weak. The guardian can only watch as the Gladiator approaches, hoping that their resistance has bought the civilians they were protecting enough time to escape. The Gladiator chuckles as it saunters up to the guardian, raising its sword to strike the final blow. But before the sword can fall, the Gladiators helmet and head are crushed by a massive chunk of debris, thrown from above. As the body of their comrade crumples to the ground, the Legionairs look up in shock, only to suffer a similar fate. From the roofs, a number of citizens look on, satisfied with their grim work. From an alleyway, two more emerge, each gently slinging one of the Guardian's arms over their shoulders and carrying them away. Just as the Guardain had guarded them, now they would guard the Guardian.