Paradoxical [Destiny/Worm Post-GM]

[WirelessGrapes]

Just found this, probably my favorite thing ever. I love Destiny so much, I love Worm so much, and I love everything you write so much. I love literally everything about this.

 

[Crilltic]

Nice! That looks like a beast of a hand cannon, and very fitting for Taylor's proprioception target trick. What does she rock for a secondary? A sidearm like the house of wolves quest one? She never struck me as a shotty type, except maybe the chaperone which wouldn't make sense from a story perspective.

Edit: also, if anyone here plays D2 what's the opinion on that new update or dlc or whatever it was? Worth? Bungie possible to trust? Bullshit too excessive? I want to still love Destiny but...

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Well, SV does have a discord for Destiny (you can find the link in the Destiny thread) but really only the PC players are still active.

 

[5colouredwalker]

I'm surprised it doesn't fire 2 round bursts.

Anyhow this is really good, I'm glad i found this.

 

[HeuristicKeeper]

Oh boy, Taylor should have interesting things to say about Skolas when he breaks out, I imagine.

 

[Tawsnrrtsyip]

Weaver has a lot of guns. A lot of guns. The weapons she prefers from each type of the D1 secondaries though are a Vestian Dynasty (can't beat the classics), a pretty standard shotgun named "Kindness" and fusion rifle named "The Easy Answer", and an exotic-level sniper rifle called the "Stygian Needle" that'll show up and get its own lore entry eventually.

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Stygian Needle, huh? Lemme take a rough guess at this... I'm getting Borderlands vibes from the name, but that might just be my recent vidya choices... railgun-type shots... void damage... maybe reminiscent of Vex line rifles? Dunno. The intrinsic perk is giving me some trouble. Maybe significantly higher damage when hitting a critpoint, maybe when the enemy doesn't see you, maybe the shot pierces enemies to hit multiple. I'll have to think on this a bit.

Edit: How about this - if the shot kills the enemy, it explodes, and everything within a certain area takes whatever amount of damage you feel like using. Or maybe based on a roll.

 

[Tawsnrrtsyip]

Ooh! Ooh! Here we go!

Stygian Needle
"Give Hades my regards."

Devil's Due (Intrinsic): Critical kills cause the target to explode. Missed shots increase damage on next hit.

EagleEye SLR20: Powerful scope. Long zoom. Greatly increases range. Decreases handling speed.
High-Impact Frame: Slow firing, and high damage. This weapon is more accurate when stationary and aiming down sights.

Last Stand: Improved weapon performance when its wielder is the last living member of a Fireteam.

Hand-Laid Stock: This weapon is optimized for recoil control. Increases Stability.


Seems okay, but this whole thing is ultimately up to you, ensou. That, and I'm no good at grimoire entries.

 

[ensou]

Seems okay, but this whole thing is ultimately up to you, ensou. That, and I'm no good at grimoire entries.

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Haha, I likethat, but I actually have the perks and grimoire entry for it done already, I'm just waiting until it appears in the story, which'll probably be at the Heart of the Black Garden. As a preview though, here's the flavor text:

Have you ever sewn death? Yes? Good. Weave me a fabric of endings.

 

[Tawsnrrtsyip]

Haha, I likethat, but I actually have the perks and grimoire entry for it done already, I'm just waiting until it appears in the story, which'll probably be at the Heart of the Black Garden. As a preview though, here's the flavor text:

Have you ever sewn death? Yes? Good. Weave me a fabric of endings.

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Ooh, that sounds badass and I want it.

Edit: Oh shit I just saw my thing got bookmarked! Dude! Sweet!

 

[ensou]

Petra isn't quite what Kali expected.

Then again, she isn't entirely sure what she expected, so there is that.

What she got was them finding an Awoken woman at a bar, drinking, her outfit looking like she couldn't decide between wearing the clothes that Kali and Weaver had seen during Zachary's (rather extensive, actually) tour of the City, or those more like what was seen in the Reef.

"Are you Petra Venj?" Weaver asked, seating herself on the stool two seats down.

"Why? Who wants to kn—" Her words stopped suddenly as she turned and saw Weaver's armor, illuminated by the soft glow of her ephemeral helmet. The hand holding Petra's glass whitened. "Is this supposed to be some kind of Guardian joke? Have another laugh at the exiled Awoken? You don't deserve to wear that emblem, City-girl." She turned to face forward. "And you got the colors wrong, besides."

Weaver's spine straightened.

Here we go… Kali thought to herself.

"I'm from the Reef. Not the City," Weaver countered calmly, though Kali could feel the irritation she was suppressing.

Petra snorted. "Oh? Really? Try again, because I'm a century too old for that to work. There are no humans living in the Reef. The Queen doesn't—"

"The Queen does what she wills," Weaver interrupted.

The Awoken woman's expression darkened. "This isn't amusing anymore. You've had your fun. Now leave."

"No."

"No?" Petra echoed.

"I'm one of the Queen's Guard, se—" Weaver was cut off by almost hysterical laughter.

"You. One of the Queen's Guard?" Petra repeated, breathlessly.

'Kali. Left arm please,' Weaver sent, and Kali could feel the restrained frustration and waning patience behind the request.

The Ghost obligingly dematerialized the left arm of her partner's armor, revealing a black and white tattoo that seemed to almost glow underneath the skin. The tattoo started mid-bicep and climbed until it disappeared under Weaver's chest-piece.

Pieces of it moved, twisting and changing at random, while other sections—a crown inside an eight-pointed starburst, a collection of three knives, a shield and spear, and the scarab that Weaver had taken as her icon upon gaining her title, its wings spread wide around her shoulder, in front of a large sword—shifted in other, subtler ways.

Petra's laugh had slowed to a stop until she was staring at the symbols with wide eyes.

"I am Weaver of the Royal Awoken Guard. You will give me the respect such a position merits," Weaver stated harshly. "And I will not accept any more insinuations that I serve our Queen with anything less than the respect and loyalty she deserves."

A blue hand seemed to reach out without conscious thought, the tattoo moving faster, as if agitated, the closer it got.

"…We used to dream about receiving one of these," Petra said softly. "But after Amethyst… I chose the Corsairs. Still, a human…"

Weaver huffed and rolled her eyes, the Awoken woman looking up at her face. "Isn't this a conflict of interest for a Guardian?"

"I'm not a member of the Vanguard. Her Grace found me first," Weaver said. "This is my first visit to Earth since my original death."

"Oh. Well, it's not my preference but perhaps you…?" Petra led.

Weaver shook her head. "The sky's too empty. There's not enough metal around me and the Great Machine just looms overhead."

The Awoken woman laughed. "Yes! Exactly!"

After a minute, Petra schooled herself. "Do you bring news?" And then she straightened. "Am… Am I being recalled?" The hope in her voice was almost palpable.

Kali replaced Weaver's sleeve, her partner adjusting it momentarily. "No major news. I've only been assigned by the Queen to assist in a mission of interest, and that's what led me to the City."

"Ah…" The disappointment was carefully hidden, but still noticeable. "I understand. Anything else then? Any other happenings? I receive so little out here."

Weaver's fingers tapped against the counter-top. "The Houses of Judgment and Wolves have been fully integrated and now serve as part of the forces. There have been a few… minor incidents, but they were ended swiftly."

And of course Weaver neglected to mention that she had played no small part in stopping them so quickly. Kali wanted to sigh.

"Awoken population levels have been slowly rising since the Wars and we've been expanding the infrastructure to match," the Risen woman said. "There was a brief attack on Vesta by a splinter faction of the Cabal a couple decades ago, but that was dealt with without issue. None of the other legions have shown any signs of changing their patterns."

Petra nodded and sipped at her drink.

"Can I get you anything?"

Weaver blinked and looked over at the bartender who'd walked over at some point in the conversation. She turned to Petra. "Anything good?"

The Awoken woman shook her head. "No Reef wine, no Vestian sugar-spirits, no Pallasian raki, no firewater, not even any bloody simple rebaijiu."

Weaver just stared for a moment before turning to the bartender. "I'm guessing it's too much to ask for you to have any ether at all for mixed drinks."

The bartender just slowly shook his head, eyes wide.

"Sherbavos," Weaver sighed. "Fine. Just… just bring me a gin and tonic then. Hard to get that wrong."

The man nodded and quickly left.

"Probably not even worth it without the ether-water," Weaver muttered.

"Where'd you get a taste for that, anyways?" Petra asked.

Weaver just looked at her. "Drinking with the Eliksni in my squad for twenty years."

Petra nodded. "That would do it."

"You used to work with the Techeun Order, right?" Weaver questioned.

"Mmm," Petra hummed after another sip. "Yes. I grew up among them. Why?"

"How willing would they be to share their augmentations with someone outside the order?"

Petra gave a slight frown. "Just the augments? I… cannot see them being too unwilling, especially if it were a matter of health or importance. Why?"

Weaver reached up and pointed at the golden strands around her head as the bartender returned with a glass and placed it in front of her. "I have an… innate ability that I don't have much control over that I only regained recently."

"And you think the Techeun's augmentations could help you?" Petra asked incredulously.

Weaver took a sip of her drink and sighed in mild disappointment before looking back at Petra. "It's not from the Sky or the Deep. I have an entire extra region in my brain, what… thirty-five, forty percent, Kali?" The Ghost bobbed in affirmation. "A whole additional cortex, essentially, that normal humans don't have, mostly centered in my parietal lobe, but it stretches through my entire brain."

Petra nodded from where she was drinking, motioning to go on.

"It's what lets me have control over my ability, or… it used to." Weaver winced. "Somebody… changed it, but what I gained in strength I lost in control, among other things. So I need something that'll help with my control. Right now it's either on… or blocked," Weaver said, motioning at the tracery helmet. "And it's a physical issue, so no amount of meditation's going to help me."

"What's so bad that you have to lock it up like that?" Petra asked. "One of the first things we were taught with the Techeun was to not suppress our abilities."

Weaver eyed her, and then took a long drink. "I control people."

Petra blinked. "What?"

"I control people," Weaver repeated. "Fifteen point nine-eight feet. If someone's within that distance, they are mine. They can't move, can't react, can't breathe unless I will it. Unless I do it for them."

"Oh. I see. Yes. Well." Petra cleared her throat. "I can see how that might be a problem."

Weaver simply gave her a look, and Kali couldn't blame her.

"I think that in a case such as yours, they would be willing to assist you. Especially as one of the Guard," Petra told her.

Kali's partner nodded. "Good."

They fell into silence for a few minutes, each drinking slowly.

"What do you do here?"

Petra looked over at Weaver. "I… well, my official position is as our Queen's emissary. But… there's not exactly much need for one when there's no communication between the Reef and this City, is there?" The blue skinned woman sighed. "In the beginning I tried to collect information for the Queen, but the people here, I tried to connect with them, to understand them and the way they live but…"

"They aren't the Awoken," Weaver finished.

"No, no they are not," Petra agreed, taking a drink. "And so here I am, official 'emissary', unable to act in any other capacity, and with nothing to do each year but wait for something to change."

Talk about punishment.

The Queen never did do things half-way.

"I am lucky the Queen mercifully provides me with enough funds to make do each year. I shudder to think about the position I'd be in otherwise."

Weaver hummed in sympathy. She looked at her glass, took a large drink, and then sighed. "I'll be here at least through the end of the week," she said, an open-ended statement if Kali ever heard one.

Petra just nodded in acknowledgment.

After a few silent minutes, Petra looked at Weaver.

"So tell me about the ships they've got you flying these days…"

 

[Unseelie]

What did she do to get punished this way?

 

[Twei]

What did she do to get punished this way?

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Drop an airstrike on a team of allied Guardians either during or after the Reef War, IIRC.

 

[ensou]

What did she do to get punished this way?

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Here you go:

[...]

I know now that it was my willful pride that brought me low.

My lady, I offer again the only explanation I can: I did not know the Guardians would act as they did. All I had known, all I had ever known, were the ways of the Awoken.

The Wolves were entrenched in that valley. The approaches were blocked, all sight lines covered. An assault on their position was madness. We would have spent precious Awoken lives. For nothing. I saw the Guardians, knew they were on the move, but I assumed they saw the situation as we did. That it was folly to call in the Crows.

Prince Uldren's fighter wing did a masterful job. The blast was pinpoint precise. The blasts tore apart the Wolves, and the Guardians, and their Ghosts. Three strike teams of Guardians, gone in an instant, on my order. The City's anger, the Speaker's condemnation—all earned. All fair.

[...]

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[Mother Nyx]

In other words, bad communication. What it came down to is that there was no troop tactics intergration. Lives were lost and she was punished for it.

 

[tenchifew]

Very interesting chapter.

 

[Twei]

The Awoken woman laughed. "Yes! Exactly!" Petra sighed. "Do you bring news?" And then she straightened. "Am… Am I being recalled?" The hope in her voice was almost palpable.

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I feel like this paragraph is a bit... I'm not sure. It jumps between her expressions/emotions in a really sudden and slightly jarring way?

Petra snorted. "Oh? Really? Try again, because I'm a century too old for that to work. There are no humans living in the Reef. The Queen doesn't—"

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"No, no they are not," Petra agreed, taking a drink. "And so here I am, official 'emissary', unable to act in any other capacity, and with nothing to do each year but wait for something to change."

Talk about punishment.

The Queen never did do things half-way.

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Reminder that being pre-House of Wolves Petra is suffering. I think this sums up the chapter pretty well: Petra's life is suffering and she really deserves a drinking buddy. (Also Techeun stuff, but nothing actionable until Taylor visits the Reef again, I'd assume.)

"There was a brief attack on Vesta by a splinter faction of the Cabal a couple decades ago, but that was dealt with without issue. None of the other legions have shown any signs of changing their patterns."

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Taylor shilling herself without missing a beat

"I am lucky the Queen mercifully provides me with enough funds to make do each year; otherwise, I shudder to think about what the position I'd be in."

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(not the only way you could grammar that/those sentence(s), but definitely they need to be changed

 

[PlazmaStryke]

There's always been a lot of bad blood and miscommunication between the City and the Reef. Only the recent machinations of Mara Sov and the player's own efforts have really made any changes to the relationship that's stayed that way for centuries. Sad things like Petra's situation are what only ever made things worse. Not that it wasn't deserved entirely, just sad overall.

 

[deadcrystal]

"Banshee… uh, 44?"

Weaver's eyes widened. "Forty four? I thought Exos could only go through up to twenty wipes!"

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Yeah, well. It kind of uh, shows. That he's had that many wipes. He's a genius when it comes to guns but other than that he's...kind of erratic.

Fairly sure he's the highest numbered Exo we know of, with Lakshmi-2 being the lowest. (Future War Cult 4 lyfe. (D2 kind of proves them right)) (Never made clear whether Exo start as 1 or 2.)

Zachary nodded. "They do all the weird stuff with Light and try to figure new things out."

She looked at him oddly. "You have access to power that literally defies physics and logic and you don't try to figure out everything it can do?"

The Titan shrugged. "What I have works."

"That's…" Weaver just shook her head. "Whatever."

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Yeah, banal uninterest in having what are essentially magic powers would have her biting her fingers off. Imagine she'd find Warlocks less annoying in that regard.

"The Great Machine." Her voice was quiet as she stared up. "The one that created the Ghosts. …There are so many stories about it. Legends." Weaver looked at Zachary. "There aren't many happy endings."

The Whirlwind, Kali thought. The shape-stealers. The wish dragons. The Mast.

Stories and dark legends the Eliksni had brought with them from the stars. Warnings, of just what horrors were possible in the galaxy, the kind that the Traveler inadvertently pulled in its wake.

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Kind of heavily implied that what happened to the Elliksni would have happened to Humanity if not for Rasputin attacking the Traveller to stop it from running away.

Also wow, she knows secrets. Some of those references didn't come up in-game until mentioned in the Books of Sorrow.

It was different from the Reef. In the Reef, people saw Weaver as something good. Someone who protected them, someone to look up to, to emulate. The kind of person that children shyly ran up to to say hello in the streets and plazas.

(Kali had laughed at how off-balance Weaver had been the first time it had happened.)

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Yeah, even without memories I think enough of Taylor survived in her that positive reaction like that would weird her out.

Both Cayde and Zachary stared at her. "I'm almost afraid to ask what you call it, now."

"Its name is Final Mercy," she said, holding out her hand, with the Exo placing the gun in her palm. A few seconds later and the cartridge was back in place and the weapon strapped to her thigh.

"Okay then. Well. …You know, I really don't know how to respond from that," Cayde said. "I am now both morbidly fascinated and afraid to know more."

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Meh. Only a 3/10 on the Eris Morn scale of Creepiness.

Weaver gave Cayde a pointed look. "Your Last City does not have a monopoly on suffering or need of help," she said forcefully. "And I believe that I do more good at my Queen's side than I would in a place that already has enough who can help them." She went back to her soup.

Kali wanted to laugh. Weaver was channeling the Queen so much right now. She didn't even think her partner was aware of it, but to Kali, who was with her all the time, it was glaringly obvious. The way Weaver's speech became more refined, the way she talked about the Reef.

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I do really appreciate how even having regained her memories she's loyal to the Queen and respects her utterly. Sign she's in a better place and found something she can put her trust in.

The Ghost obligingly dematerialized the left arm of her partner's armor, revealing a black and white tattoo that seemed to almost glow underneath the skin. The tattoo started mid-bicep and climbed until it disappeared under Weaver's chest-piece.

Pieces of it moved, twisting and changing at random, while other sections—a crown inside an eight-pointed starburst, a collection of three knives, a shield and spear, and the scarab that Weaver had taken as her icon upon gaining her title, its wings spread wide around her shoulder, in front of a large sword—shifted in other, subtler ways.

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Sudden tattoo envy. Fuck but that's cool.

Weaver shook her head. "The sky's too empty. There's not enough metal around me and the Great Machine just looms overhead."

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Funny what you can get used to

The Awoken woman laughed. "Yes! Exactly!"

After a minute, Petra schooled herself. "Do you bring news?" And then she straightened. "Am… Am I being recalled?" The hope in her voice was almost palpable.

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This convo comes across almost like a government official talking to an unwilling ex-pat shoehorned into a garbage posting. Probably because that's basically exactly what it is.

Weaver took a sip of her drink and sighed in mild disappointment before looking back at Petra. "It's not from the Sky or the Deep.

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I do appreciate her use of Elliksni/Older terms. They're honestly more accurate than the ones the Vanguard use.

Petra looked over at Weaver. "I… well, my official position is as our Queen's emissary. But… there's not exactly much need for one when there's no communication between the Reef and this City, is there?" The blue skinned woman sighed.

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Yeah that's a shit punishment posting.

 

[Mizu]

I do appreciate her use of Elliksni/Older terms. They're honestly more accurate than the ones the Vanguard use.

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What terms do the Vanguard use for Sky/Deep? Actually, what are those two in the first place? Planets and Space?

 

[deadcrystal]

What terms do the Vanguard use for Sky/Deep? Actually, what are those two in the first place? Planets and Space?

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Sky refers to the Traveller/Light, the Deep refers to the Darkness/Hive Worm Gods.

 

[PlazmaStryke]

Yeah, well. It kind of uh, shows. That he's had that many wipes. He's a genius when it comes to guns but other than that he's...kind of erratic.

Fairly sure he's the highest numbered Exo we know of, with Lakshmi-2 being the lowest. (Future War Cult 4 lyfe. (D2 kind of proves them right)) (Never made clear whether Exo start as 1 or 2.)



Yeah, banal uninterest in having what are essentially magic powers would have her biting her fingers off. Imagine she'd find Warlocks less annoying in that regard.



Kind of heavily implied that what happened to the Elliksni would have happened to Humanity if not for Rasputin attacking the Traveller to stop it from running away.

Also wow, she knows secrets. Some of those references didn't come up in-game until mentioned in the Books of Sorrow.



Yeah, even without memories I think enough of Taylor survived in her that positive reaction like that would weird her out.



Meh. Only a 3/10 on the Eris Morn scale of Creepiness.



I do really appreciate how even having regained her memories she's loyal to the Queen and respects her utterly. Sign she's in a better place and found something she can put her trust in.



Sudden tattoo envy. Fuck but that's cool.



Funny what you can get used to



This convo comes across almost like a government official talking to an unwilling ex-pat shoehorned into a garbage posting. Probably because that's basically exactly what it is.



I do appreciate her use of Elliksni/Older terms. They're honestly more accurate than the ones the Vanguard use.



Yeah that's a shit punishment posting.

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Very insightful comments. After learning some more bg of FWC, I feel like I can say their methods are creepy as hell, but of the three, they're still my favorite faction of the City.

Banshee is a boss. The only thing that irritates me about him is that he's always holding that crappy ass Suros, and likes to give me them as rewards/level loot. Honestly, it's like he refuses to see the superiority of Hakke.

Otherwise, question: Book of Sorrows??? I feel ignorant, which as a Destiny vet, makes me scared and ashamed.

 

[deadcrystal]

Otherwise, question: Book of Sorrows??? I feel ignorant, which as a Destiny vet, makes me scared and ashamed.

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I added an unnecessary 's' on checking. So Sorrow, not Sorrows.

Anyway it's a piece of Grimoire lore you find all over the Dreadnought in D1.

It's...sort of a cross between a bible and Oryx's autobiography?

It has a bunch of reveals about the history of the Hive, about the Worm Gods, and about the Darkness.

 

[PlazmaStryke]

I added an unnecessary 's' on checking. So Sorrow, not Sorrows.

Anyway it's a piece of Grimoire lore you find all over the Dreadnought in D1.

It's...sort of a cross between a bible and Oryx's autobiography?

It has a bunch of reveals about the history of the Hive, about the Worm Gods, and about the Darkness.

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Ah, thank you. I remember finding a lot of the Dreadnought's ghosts, but I never read them. My friend pointed out to me that that was Bungie's big failing with the D1 lore: none of it was actually in game. At this point, I totally agree. If the Grimoire was IG, I think a lot of people would have found D1 a lot awesomer than they might've. It would've helped me out, at least, which I can totally get behind


Edit:
What if we used that idea for Stygian Needle, and instead used it for a weapon more like "Orpheus' Well-Wishes" or something similar?

 

[Schielman]

Sky or the Deep.

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Where did she learn those terms? The only people I remember referring to those concepts by those names were the Hive, which then begs the question of how Taylor found out about them. The Hive don't exactly have a public library.

 

[The MMR]

Kind of heavily implied that what happened to the Elliksni would have happened to Humanity if not for Rasputin attacking the Traveller to stop it from running away.

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Rasputin did not attack the Traveller. He was fighting back against Nokris and Xol. Please don't make me go digging through r/destinylore to find the relevant quotes.

 

[Twei]

Rasputin did not attack the Traveller. He was fighting back against Nokris and Xol. Please don't make me go digging through r/destinylore to find the relevant quotes.

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OBJECTION.

he might not have attacked the Traveler, but it sure sounds like he was prepared to do so