#oryx/warpriest

[winnower-winnower]

Wanted to finish out pride month with everyone’s favorite trans king, and his most faithful Warpriest 🥰

[flowers-of-io]

oryx/warpriest yaoi HAS ME GRIPPING jHGSKGH YOU HAVE AWAKENED SOMETHING I DIDN'T THINK I'D NEED

Hehe I'm glad I could pass on the brainworm. I don't even remember how it happened!!! Me and @winnower-winnower were just talking on the Hive server and somehow spontaneously decided these two old men should hold hands!!! And everything went downhill from there!!! Nobody is normal about this now, 500 wounded 47 dead

[hi-crawler]

one phase of rat king damage

we got to the k on taniks

[phthalology]

Destiny: Invasion

When the Guardians breach Oryx’s throne world, Ir Halak wonders whether she should warn Oryx her father. Surely, he knows. Surely, he will not eat her for offering him the challenge. Either way, they could test their might against Sol’s best. 

Ir Halak feels the Guardians drop against the Dreadnaught like blood against the bone floor. They pass through the layers of the Dreadnaught — through space and the seams she sees in its fabric, through the bone and cavities of the Dreadnaught, through the oversoul which holds her father Oryx’s death. The Guardians approach closer and closer to the soul tucked away in the throne world’s mausoleic splendor.

“What happens if we turn a Guardian inside out inside the throne world?” Ir Halak asks her sister curiously.

“The small machine which accompanies it will be inside its heart,” says Ir Anûk.

“I will record your hypothesis on my tablet,” says Ir Halak.

“What is your hypothesis?” says Ir Anûk.  “That the Guardian will ontologically implode, as our brother’s courtier Ir Yût discovered,” says Ir Halak.

The sisters propose more questions and hypotheses to amuse themselves while they unravel and weave.

Eventually, her worm pitches Ir Halak’s weight to the left, eager to fight.

“Should we ask our father his opinion?” Ir Halak asks. She is really asking: Does our father know his Dreadnaught has been boarded and breached? Should we tell him? Or should we trust that he knows, as north knows north? 

Ir Anûk suspects a trick. “Does this question weigh on you, sister? I see you swaying.” 

Ir Halak says, “He sometimes occupies himself so deeply with his strategies that he does not see what walks on the skin of the ship.”

“Surely this invasion he knows, and has doubled his attention since the tech queen’s attack.”

“Surely,” says Ir Halak. “But the tech witches were more powerful than Guardians, and so a Guardian’s attack matters less.”

“We will fight when we fight,” says Ir Anûk. “Practice your songs.”

Ir Halak considers the long history of the Hive’s victories, and chooses not to disturb or forewarn her father.

The Guardians kill the honorable intercessor known as the Warpriest. The Guardians kill the stolen experiment Golgoroth. Ir Halak suspects the Warpriest’s death has made at least seven scribes tear out other people’s throats to fortify the scribes for the tithe re-charting which will be required in the coming rotations. Ir Halak is not afraid.

She looks at her sister’s confident pacing. She remembers holy day feasts and thousands of years of conquest. Ir Halak thinks of her own oversoul, exposed here as Oryx’s is, only as separate from her as the Guardians are separate from their hateful Sky machines. She begins to write a dolorous equation, but does not wish to see it solved. So, she looks again at her sister Ir Anûk, who looks like victory and strong chitin and rich ichor and an ambitious, hungry worm. 

The Guardians are insignificant next to all of that, even though none of the Hive’s enemies have ever traveled this far into the Dreadnaught before except for the curious and problematic Vex. 

Surely, Ir Anûk and Ir Halak will be able to fight the Guardians for no more than one hundred years of local time, easily. 

She and her sister weave and unravel, as they have always done. Ir Halak can almost feel the Guardian’s skins under her claws. Afterward, she will give herself a gift of bitter acid, the comforting taste marking her victory. 

She turns toward the prow and begins to weave. The Dreadnaught will need a new course, when the Sol System has been scoured, and Ir Halak would do well to prepare it.

[sundayswiththeilluminati]

Some Divinity-related math I started typing in a reply but it got too long so it gets a post instead:

Assume each player contributes 1 point of damage. 

A fireteam of 6 therefore does 6 x 1 = 6.

Now take one player out, but add 25% to the others: 5 x 1.25 = 6.25, or ~105% of 6.

Change the buff to 15%: 5 x 1.15 = 5.75 ~ 95% of previous damage, a net swing of 10%.

To break exactly even (i.e. same damage with or without Div) the buff would need to be 20% (5 x 1.2 = 6) 

With a 15% buff, not having Div would have to cause each player to lose 5% of their damage to break even.

Whether aim can cause you to lose >5% of your damage depends a lot on *how* you’re doing damage. It depends on the burstiness of your damage, length of damage phase, the usefulness of AoE/DoT damage (remember Breach & Clear Anarchy?) and weirder factors like “are you using weapons that don’t care about crits (Xeno, Wardcliff, etc.)? Are you using weapons that give other advantages for hitting crits (Whisper, Hawkmoon, etc.)? Are you a Golden Gun/Nighthawk Hunter, for whom one missed shot might be 15% or more of your damage? Or are you a Nova Bomb warlock and your damage depends entirely on whether Big Happy Fun Ball goes for the right target?”

All of this math assumes each player does equal amounts of damage. In reality encounter design and player loadouts vary so much that it’s impossible to even say how often this assumption is true. For instance Kingsfall Day 1 a large chunk of our Warpriest boss phase damage was being put down by three Star-Eater/Golden Gun Hunters, so taking someone else off direct damage to run Div and ensure all of those shots hit would be an excellent investment even if Div only gave a 5% buff. By contrast we used Wardcliff for the sisters, which doesn’t even do precision damage; in that case a 15% Div buff, i.e. incurring a net 5% damage decrease, makes Div not worth it.

In conclusion: at a 25% buff, in all situations where Divinity gave a usable crit bubble for five attackers, it gave a net damage increase (i.e. was “worth it”). At a 15% buff, whether it is “worth it” becomes highly situational, dependent on factors like team composition and encounter design.

And now for the opinions section:

Do I like this change? Not really, no. I don’t feel that Divinity was distorting encounter design in a significant way. Oh, they took it into account like they do all meta-relevant weapons, but it certainly wasn’t a back-breaker like Gjally or Whisper. That “usable crit bubble for five attackers” clause cuts out a lot of bosses. In the last two new raids Div has only been useful in a single encounter each. Even in Kingsfall, which followed the old “sack of HP” design philosophy, it’s only useful in two encounters (Warpriest and Oryx). Raiding - okay, “six-player pinnacle activities” - is Div’s only use-case; it’s not like it rules the roost in every situation. The hitboxes of Destiny bosses aren’t known for their consistency, either - ever tried to hit Taniks in the head? Div is also a one-person weapon, not a mandate for an entire fireteam. I just don’t believe it’s a problem that needed addressing. 

Then again, I’m not Bungie. I don’t know how much Divinity has messed with encounter design behind the scenes, or what they have planned that might be disrupted by it. Maybe this is like the Sleeper ricochet nerf where they know it’s going to screw with stuff that hasn’t yet been released.

Anyone implying that hyper-precise aim should be a required skill for Destiny content, even extremely high-level Destiny content, can go play CoD and leave the rest of us the hell alone. Even leaving aside the issue of how aim is a “skill” with hard physical limits that are a lot more common and restrictive than people realize, the fact is: Destiny is not a twitch shooter. It will never be a twitch shooter. It literally can’t be a twitch shooter, because of how its netcode works. Destiny does not have “dedicated servers” the way games like CoD or Battlefront do. Why do you think the PvP players are always bitching about how they totally hit that shot? Its server architecture will always cause a certain level of network latency, and that level is much higher than “pure FPS” games - higher than I think a lot of people who play other online multiplayer games realize. That constrains how fast any player can be expected to act or react. You can’t hit perfect shots if the visual on your screen is literally inaccurate. Yes, I do think it’s reasonable to ask for a certain base level of aim in content like Day 1 raids. But success should never be conditioned on near-perfect aim, if only because Destiny literally doesn’t work like that. Remember the hideous rubberbanding on Atraks damage in DSC Day 1? Remember the year of Whisper, where you were SOL if you couldn’t hit three rapid precision shots on a moving target? 

Do you really want to combine those things?? 

You do not.

[cloud-ya]

If you look in the dictionary and see CBT in there thats what day 1 warpriest was

Not only was his bitch ass a dps check but his CHALLENGE. Fuck bungie and their goofy aaaa brains for making his challenge a pain. You got fucked if knight was all the way on left 90% of the time

We were one of the only 243 xbox teams to actually beat challenge oryx as well

Oh and fuck day 1 vow. I have salted and malded about that too many times -Salty OA, thinking about the pain

i do not understand a single thing but I support you

[ahungeringknife]

365: May 30- June 1

Nothing came of this and I never really liked it but hey. I got it down. So something did come of it; I wrote it down! And realized in the writing I didn't like it :,D Ah well. Sometimes that happens. So it's just gonna stay on my blog and probably never be put on AO3. That's fine!

-----

She stood at the edge of space watching Oryx spiral out towards Saturn.

It was done.

Really. Truly. Done.

Behind her a few of her friends were being revived in the Light. This time a few had stayed up but most had fallen. She didn’t blame them. Oryx had been like nothing they’d experienced before.

It felt like a trick had been played on her.

This all felt like an elaborate ruse. Why would Oryx leave the parts of himself littered around that they could craft into a perfect killing instrument against him? A gun that never ran out of bullets and would kill them if not for the immortal essence they stole from one of Oryx’s own knights. A knight he produced for them. Did he really consider that such a threat when he’d watched them destroy his Court a thousand times over, kill his Warpriest, and murder his daughters. All before his very eyes.

“Kass,” Grey called to her and she turned around, looking over her shoulder. “Let’s go,” they beckoned.

“I’ll be along.”

“We can finally bring our ships in close,” Rigel said, surprised. “Thank the Traveler, I did not want to traipse through the Throne World to get out of here.”

Kass tuned them out as Nef said, “I bet there will be a big celebration for us at the Tower like with Crota.”

Celebrate what?

If Oryx had come because of Crota’s death who would come because of Oryx’s death? Who would be called to the system by the death of a monster like Oryx? She remembered the fragments she’d found across the Dreadnaught and their recorded history. Oryx had sisters. Two sisters.

She shivered in her suit thinking about that she’d have to fight and kill two more of these Hive Gods. As she was now? Could she do it? Could her friends withstand that?

She heard her friends talking and they moved back into the room to hive Kass room to think. As they did the glowing ball of Light that had guided them through the Throne World thus far rose up from the side out over the abyss. In shimmered before her a moment before it spoke. It wasn’t the first time it had spoken to her either. “Dwell a moment on the weight of what you’ve done. Contemplate the story you just ended. Will you ever do anything that screams down the millennia? Will you ever hammer your will on the universe until it rings and rings and rings? Oryx was an awesome power. Show reverence.”

“And yet it wasn’t power to withstand me,” Kass said softly.

“Seemingly not,” the orb agreed. “A vacancy has opened, hasn’t it? How interesting. How very interesting.”

All the hair rose on Kass’ body. “A vacancy? For what?”

“A hand on the rudder of this ship. A power on the empty throne,” the orb said. “You’re a god yourself, now. Use your power to learn. There are worse things to practice being.”

She looked at the orb and then at Oryx out in the distance slowly crystallizing from whatever fucked up decomposition Hive Gods went through when they died. It was unlike any death she’d seen before. Not Crota or any other Ascendant Hive had done that. “I don’t feel like a god,” she said so quietly it was nearly a whisper.

“And yet the way you cut your way through this place, sewing such death, displaying such intimacy with the logic of the Hive. If you stop and listen the ship is calling for you. It knows what you did. It knows you killed him.”

“Not alone-

“Is the conductor not the head of an orchestra? Perhaps the final bullet wasn’t from your gun but it was you who put the bullet there. You came into this place seeking an unkillable prey and killed him. You are stronger than him. You could take this place.”

Kass stood there in silence and after a moment removed her helmet. Her silver hair glowed faintly in the dim light of the Dreadnaught. She listened like how she listened to the Light. Like how she listened to the Traveler. Able to hear it when no one else could. When even the mortal who claimed to speak for their God couldn’t even hear it! That still irritated her but Grey had made her promise to not confront the Speaker about it. But here, now, in this space; she could hear it. She could hear the great ship and the power within it. Throughout it.

“Do you hear-

She raised a hand to quiet the orb. “Who are you?” she asked it.

“Ah. Once upon a time my name was Toland,” the orb said.

“Eris told me Toland was the mad Warlock who led everyone to die in the Hellmouth to fight Crota,” Kass said.

“And did she tell you of Eriana’s blind need for vengeance? Or the fireteam’s reckless abandon within the Hellmouth itself? They thought themselves so clever but none really wanted to hear what I had to say. Shut up and take us to Crota, Toland, they said. Do not misunderstand what happened to that fireteam, young god. They came to me, Eriana begging me to take them into the Hellmouth to get evenge on Crota for killing her beloved Wei-Ning. And so I did. And when it was clear they were a lost cause I did not waste my concern on their well being. I did not drag them kicking and screaming into the Pit; they went eagerly and their fates were sealed when they failed to admire the truth around them,” Toland said.

“And what about Eris?”

“She followed Eriana like a moth to an open flame. And it burned her in the end; as Praxic Warlocks are prone to doing. When they sealed their fate I went to change mine. Which is why you see me as you do. I am beyond death.”

“That won’t happen to me if I fill this… vacancy?” she asked carefully.

“No. No no. Unless you are particularly foolish but you have shown you are anything but.”

Kass looked at Toland and then back out at Oryx floating in space. The Dreadnaught whispered to her gently, calling her name. “… Okay, what do I have to do?” she asked, looking at Toland again, purple eyes set in a hard look.

---

The door opened and Archibald wasn’t expecting any guests. “It’s called knocking, Grey,” he said as the Hunter came in. He was in the middle of lunch and had a guest over. Said guest was still passed out in his bed but it was the principle of the thing! He wasn’t even wearing a shirt!

His complaint was ignored full stop. “Is Kass acting weird?”

“She always acts weird. Now what are you doing here? Get out of my apartment,” he said grabbing them and pushing them out of his place.

He tried to close the door on them but they grabbed his arm. “Archibald,” they said in such a way that gave him pause. No one called him Archibald except for Zavala and Reggie, his own Ghost, anymore. He seriously looked down at Grey now and their face was tight, rigid and drawn, their eyes somehow shadowed. This wasn’t them fucking around like they did a lot. “I think something’s wrong with her.”

“Like what?” he sighed but did worry about the young Hunter. Everyone worried about her. It was practically your job to worry about Kass if you knew about her in more than a passing way.

“She’s being distant from me.” That was troubling. “She’s gone for hours and when I ping her ship it’s in formation outside of the Dreadnaught even though we’ve pulled out of there.” Yeah. The Vanguard had decided to let the Cabal have the corpse of the Dreadnaught now that the Taken King was dead.

“Have you talked to her?”

“She’s spacey. More than usual. She says its nothing.”

“And what is it?”

“Remember how she was when we finally downed Crota?”

“Yeah,” he said slowly. There had been a strange euphoria about her after that. She’d been springy and new and wild even though everyone had wanted to collapse in exhaustion. It had been almost… madness. She’d laughed at Crota’s corpse and then sobbed and laughed again before falling quiet and looking up at the empty sky where the Oversoul had looked down at them and the perpetually falling petals. Grey had had to drag her so they could crawl their way out of the Pit. She’d been so… happy. It had been more unnerving than when they’d killed Atheon and she’d been so serious and rigid and commanding.

“It’s like that. But she doesn’t listen when I talk to her. I can tell. She’s listening to something else and-

They both felt it. An invisible hand grabbed them back the necks and turned their heads towards the City hidden behind meters and meters of Wall. From his bed Archibald heard his guest wake in confusion asking what that noise was. For yes. There was a noise too.

“Do you hear that singing?” Archibald asked Grey, unable to turn and look at them.

“The Traveler,” Grey said with greater clarity than him and took off down the hall at a full sprint.

“The Traveler?” he asked the empty air. But yes. His head was being pointed directly towards the Traveler. “Reggie,” he called gruffly and jogged after Grey. Other Guardians were slowly spilling out of their rooms in confusion, curious about the singing, the calling. Reggie flew after him and dressed him in some light gear. He shouldn’t need something too heavy for being in the Tower. Reggie put him in a helmet too. That… wasn’t a good sign. Before he got to the door out of the Wall Reggie had redressed him. Heavy boots. Big pauldrons. Thick gauntlets. Full plate. No fabric or leather except for at the joins so he could bend normally.

This was bad. What about the Traveler?

He was at the head of the line trying to get out of the Wall to follow the call. When he burst out the sky was full of ships. Guardian ships. They hung suspended in the air all pointed towards the Traveler in the distance. It was there still. But it looked different.

Light poured out of the Traveler, swirling around it, radiating from every crack and seam in the outer shell. At this distance he could see something on top of the Traveler. It was a beacon of pure Light. The Light was pouring from the beacon and around the Traveler.

“Archie,” Kaley’s voice cut through his staring in his helmet.

“I’m here,” he said, jogging to the edge of the Tower.

“There’s a person on the Traveler. A Guardian.”

“Has anyone told Kass?” Nef’s voice came over as he stood at the railing of the Tower looking at the Traveler as the Light from it and the… the Guardian glowed brighter. It was so bright he couldn’t see the figure but it was like a bonfire had been lit on top of the sphere.

“No one can get in touch with her. Her Ghost isn’t accepting calls,” Kaley said frantically.

“I know where she is,” Archibald said slowly as more ships were joining the ones in the sky. He recognized them now. Not personally but they belonged to Guardians who were off world or didn’t live full time in the Tower or were running missions. The crush of bodies behind him told him the same story. Guardians were being called by the Light.

Come see.

Come see.

“What?” Kaley asked.

Archibald had been the last to die when they’d fought Atheon. His helmet had been cracked open and he remembered looking down at Kass as she’d looked up at him in fear as he started to be written out of time. ‘I trust you,’ he’d said to her. Then most of his body had been unwound and Reggie flung out into the Vault. But in that moment just before death, a thing he’d told no one, he’d seen it. He’d seen the star of pure Light Kass could become.

And there she was.

“That’s her. On the Traveler,” he said. He also remembered when their Warlocks had dropped and their Ward had fallen at the Templar that she’d pumped Archibald and Grey so full of Light it had been impossible not to destroy it. It was that or the Light would destroy them first.

“What?” Kaley asked sharply.

“Fireteam, can any of you get in touch with Kass?” Ikora’s voice cut in.

“We can’t hail her at all,” Cayde said.

“That’s her,” Archibald said gravely looking at the Traveler and the nova of Light atop it.

“What?! That’s her on the big ole’ beach ball? What’s she doing up there?” Cayde demanded. No one answered him. “Hey? You guys hear me-

“We don’t know,” Rigel snapped.

“Where’s Grey?” Archibald asked.

“Why are you worried about Gr-

Archibald muted Cayde. “Where’s Grey?” he asked his friends. “They were at my apartment when this started.

“I think— I think I see their ship out near the Traveler,” Kaley said.

“Reggie get a connection with Mr. Grey,” Archibald said. His HUD flashed on the side when it was acquired. “Grey. What are you doing? Grey, answer me,” he demanded.

“I’m on my ship,” they said. “Mr. Grey won’t let me out. Radiation this close is off the charts. If I don’t get killed in a few days she says I’ll get some fucked up cancer and die,” they chuckled.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure when she finishes whatever this is she isn’t alone,” Grey said softly.

“You heard us?”

“I knew.”

“… How?”

“She’s my baby girl. I know everything about her,” Grey said quietly. “Make sure the Vanguard stay away.”

“… right,” Archibald said but he wasn’t sure he could even look away.

--

It happened in a flash. Kaley blinked and almost missed it. She and Rigel were standing on top of her ship hovering in air watching the Traveler along with a sky full of Guardians all doing the same, or safe in their ships. All watching the Traveler and the beacon of Light atop it. A beacon she knew was Kassy.

It lasted minutes and then the finale was a flash of light so bright and blinding it had whited out her vision. But when her vision cleared half a minute later

It was a miracle.

The Traveler was whole.

Or mostly whole. There was still a gaping wound in its belly but most of the missing chunks was repaired, any cracks had been healed. It was a nearly perfect white orb floating above the City. And then like it was letting out a great sigh a radiant wave of Light came off the Traveler.

There, a top the Traveler, Kaley could now see a figure. They were on their knees and looked like they had been bleached to being pure white. “Kassy-

“What the fuck is that lunatic doing?” Rigel growled out as Grey’s ship made a pass at the Traveler and they landed on the top of the Traveler as well with her. At this great distance what was happening was hard to see. But it was clear Grey tried to touch Kass and in an instant they were evaporated, just burst apart by the proximity into such a fine mist of atoms they didn’t even darken the Traveler’s clear white skin.

“Grey! Mr. Grey, are you still there?” Kaley asked urgently through Amelia.

“I’m here. They’ll be fine.”

“Did they say anything? Did Kass say anything?”

“She said… it was fine now. That everything was going to be fine.”

“I would disagree,” Rigel growled out.

Another ship came around and the figure dimmed. Only because Kaley knew what she was looking at did she realize Kass was naked because her body was blue and she rarely shaded her gear blue. “Is Ghost with her?”

“No? But he’s alive,” Mr. Grey said as the ship sucked Kass up into it and while still in atmosphere engaged NLS, vanishing in an instant.

“What the fuck was that? Someone want to give any hints?” Cayde butted into their frequency again.

“We don’t know,” Rigel said.

“That was Kass’ ship. Was that her?”

They didn’t answer at first. “Yes,” Grey’s voice said.

“The Speaker wants you to come back to the Tower. We need to discuss-

“Don’t care what the Speaker has to say,” Grey said over Ikora.

“This is serious-

“We know,” Archie said.

“Where is Kassandra?” Ikora asked seriously.

“We’ll take care of it-

“That’s not what I asked-

“Well it’s what you’re getting,” Nef snapped. Kaley was taken aback. Nef never got angry. Even during the absolute shit she was always fine.

“We’ll take care of it,” Grey said again then they switched to private and encrypted comms just for their fireteam. “I know you’re all ready. We’re going back to the Dreadnaught,” they said in a serious tone. Kaley looked over at Rigel nervously, he was looking at the Traveler and nodding along to what Grey had said.  She frowned as their Ghosts wrapped their helmets around their heads and transmatted them back into her ship. They were headed for Saturn.

[machine908]

レイド Raid

クロタの最期 Crota's End

◇イル・ユート・デスシンガー Ir Yût, the Deathsinger

◇オリックスの息子クロタ Crota, Son of Oryx

ガラスの間 Vault of Glass

◇テンプラー Templar

◇アテオン・タイムコンフラックス Atheon, Time's Conflux

邪神、滅びる King's Fall

◇ウォープリースト Warpriest

◇ゴルゴロス Golgoroth

◇邪神オリックス Oryx, the Taken King

最後の望み Last Wish

◇汚染されたカリ Kalli, the Corrupted

◇汚染されたシュロ・チー Shuro Chi, the Corrupted

◇塔番のモルゲス Morgeth, the Spirekeeper

◇無数の声のリベン Riven of a Thousand Voices

救済の庭園 Garden of Salvation

◇コンシクレイテッド・マインド・ソル Consecrated Mind, Sol Inherent

◇サンクティファイド・マインド・ソル Sanctified Mind, Sol Inherent

ディープストーン・クリ��ト Deep Stone Crypt

◇��リプト・セキュリティ Crypt Security

◇フォールン・エクソ、アトラクス1 Atraks-1, Fallen Exo

◇タニクス・アボミネーション Taniks, the Abomination

門弟の誓い Vow of the Disciple

◇世話人 The Caretaker

◇目撃者の門弟ルラク Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness

ナイトメアの根源 Root of Nightmares

◇惑星の解説者、ゾオーク Zo'aurc, Explicator of Planets

◇最後の苦痛の神、ネザレク Nezarec, Final God of Pain

[dulfyrthedark]

Story 15

Dulfyr, Whisper, Rohnier, Fen, and Maelvorix stood together in the Hall of Souls, taking in the ominous and foreboding atmosphere of the Dreadnaught. They knew that the road ahead was treacherous, but they were determined to take down Oryx once and for all.

Their first obstacle was the Court of Oryx, where they had to activate the six statues in sequence to open the portal. Dulfyr took the lead, guiding the fireteam through the maze of hallways and rooms until they reached the Court.

Whisper and Fen stepped forward to take the relics that appeared on the columns outside the Court. As soon as they did, the area containing the statues was blocked off by a force field, and Taken appeared within it. The remaining four Guardians sprang into action, shooting the field until it fell, then taking out the enemies, allowing Whisper and Fen to deposit both relics into the marked statue.

The fireteam repeated this process six times, with the relics appearing further and further away and with more enemies and force fields between them and the statues. But they persevered, relying on their skills and teamwork to overcome each obstacle.

As the fireteam moves through the gateway, they find themselves in a long hallway. Along the walls are statues of the Warpriest, their eyes glowing with an ominous light. Suddenly, the ground shakes, and the Warpriest appears at the end of the hallway.

The Warpriest is a towering figure, covered in black and gold armor, and wielding a powerful weapon. He begins to chant in an unknown language, and his minions, the Taken, appear to do his bidding.

The fireteam must engage the Taken while also trying to damage the Warpriest. But they soon discover that the Warpriest has a powerful shield that can only be broken by defeating his minions in a certain order.

The fireteam must communicate and coordinate their attacks, focusing their fire on the correct Taken to break the Warpriest's shield and deal damage to him. As the fight continues, the Warpriest's attacks become more intense, and the Taken become stronger and more numerous.

But the fireteam is determined to succeed. They fight with everything they have, dodging the Warpriest's attacks and taking down the Taken one by one. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the Warpriest falls.

The Guardians catch their breath, elated at their victory. But they know that their journey is far from over. There are still more challenges ahead, more battles to fight, and more loot to be won. As they move deeper into the Dreadnaught, they prepare themselves for whatever lies ahead.

The Guardians stood at the edge of a vast space, suspended between the two great hulls of the Dreadnaught. The only thing that stood between them and the next encounter were a series of platforms that jutted out from the slanted walls. The Guardians carefully made their way across, avoiding the deadly piston-like devices that threatened to knock them to their deaths.

At certain points along the way, they came across power plates that needed to be activated in order to summon floating platforms. Each Guardian had to stand on a plate until all of them were activated, at which point the floating platforms would become permanent, allowing them to continue on.

Finally, they reached the final door of the area. As they gathered together, the door unlocked, revealing a vast room filled with danger. Two powerful Hive Wizards, known as Deathsingers, were protected by force fields on elevated platforms. The room also contained four power plates on pedestals, which the Guardians needed to activate in order to summon semi-transparent platforms.

Hovering high above one of the platforms was a spark of light. Without hesitation, Whisper stepped onto one of the platforms, causing one of the Deathsingers to begin casting a spell. Suddenly, Dulfyr was "torn between dimensions," distorting their vision and making them appear translucent to the other Guardians.

Dulfyr was the only one who could traverse the floating platforms summoned by the power plates. In order to create a path to the spark, the platforms had to be activated in a specific counter-clockwise sequence, starting from the one immediately after the spark and proceeding around the room to the one immediately preceding it. Dulfyr had to reach the spark, leap onto the platform containing the Deathsinger which was not casting the spell, and use the spark to steal the Deathsinger's protective aura.

With the aura stolen, the Deathsinger was left unprotected, allowing the team to unleash their fury upon it. The stolen aura also protected the Guardians from the spell. However, after the spell was cast, the aura would return to its rightful owner. The cycle then repeated with the other Deathsinger casting the spell and the spark appearing in a different location.

The Guardians knew that the Deathsingers had to be killed on consecutive cycles. Once one was killed, its aura would disappear, and the Guardians would not be able to protect themselves from the next wipe spell, except by killing the remaining one.

Finally, after both Deathsingers had fallen, a loot chest appeared, and a spark appeared at the far end of the room. As the Guardians approached the spark, they knew that the final encounter awaited them.

Dulfyr, Rohneir, Fen, and Whisper stood at the edge of the chasm, gazing across at the massive platform in the center. Oryx, the Hive god, loomed over them, his eyes glowing with an otherworldly light.

"We can do this," Dulfyr said, his voice steady. "We just need to work together."

Rohneir nodded, her hand on her bow. "I've got your back."

Fen grinned, her knives at the ready. "Let's take this bastard down."

Whisper cracked his knuckles, his eyes narrowing. "I'm ready when you are."

With a deep breath, the fireteam leapt across the platforms, avoiding Oryx's attacks as they went. When they reached the center platform, they spread out, dodging Oryx's massive fists as they worked to bring him down.

Dulfyr summoned his Void energy, unleashing a barrage of projectiles at Oryx's chest. Rohneir fired arrows at his head, while Fen darted in and out with her knives, striking at his legs. Whisper kept his distance, firing his scout rifle with deadly accuracy.

Despite Oryx's immense power, the fireteam managed to stun him, giving them the opportunity to deal massive damage to his chest. They repeated this process over and over again until Oryx roared in anger and disappeared into the darkness.

The fireteam knew the fight was far from over, and they made their way through the maze-like throne room, sticking close to each other as they navigated the twists and turns.

Finally, they reached the end, and Oryx appeared once again, his form even more terrifying than before. But Dulfyr and his companions were undaunted, summoning all their strength and skills to take him down.

Whisper threw a smoke grenade, obscuring Oryx's vision as Rohneir fired her Golden Gun, hitting him square in the chest. Fen leapt onto Oryx's back, slashing at him with her knives, while Dulfyr summoned a Nova Bomb that exploded in a burst of purple energy.

In the end, it was Maelvorix who landed the final blow, smashing his Fist of Havoc into Oryx's skull with a thunderous roar. The Hive god let out a final scream and disintegrated, leaving behind only the echo of his defeat.

As the fireteam caught their breath, they grinned at each other, feeling the rush of triumph. They had faced one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy and emerged victorious.

"Great work, everyone," Dulfyr said, clapping his comrades on the back. "Let's see what kind of loot we got."

Together, they made their way through the Dreadnaught, their spirits lifted by the knowledge that they had faced the ultimate challenge and emerged triumphant.

[thefirstknife]

Finished King's Fall :) The conversation here was "Quickly take the picture before Oryx floats away!"

Also the team after Warpriest. These two screenies are by @falconschase

Some cool assorted screenshots from @thejabberwocki :

[winnower-winnower]

I am. So normal about Oryx and the warpriest guys I promise. I swear! I do not have a deranged amount of notes, drafts, and sketches scattered around my files and brain.

[stalkingsensei]

Something reminded me today of the Warpriest from Taken King. I used to call this chunky dude the BattlePope so here he is to talk about his people’s Lore and Savior. Books of Sorrow in the house 💀

[starsidexiv]

Getting ready for the King's Fall challenges next week and as a D2 player who loves to raid, these challenges are like REALLY EASY if you've got a nice organized team that can communicate very well

HERE ARE THE CHALLENGES SIMPLIFIED

Totems: Every time you go to the middle plate and dump your Deathsinger's Power, you go to the other side that you didn't come from.

Warpriest: You can't hold the Brand Claimer buff for more than five seconds.

Golgoroth: The person with the gaze must be in the pool of Reclaimed Light when the gaze is taken from them by another person.

Daughters: Don't step on the same plate more than once.

Oryx: You can't kill the same Orge or Knight.

[hiveghost]

I love going to oryxs house (glaring at the warpriest)

[coldkryptonitecupcake]

“Abomination”, Ch. 17

  Narvuk ran his hand over the crystalline monolith, watching as soulfire danced under its surface. "Zivath, can you scan these? Perhaps there's something about them that makes them... special." She nodded her shell and a blue cone of light shone out, encompassing the statues one after the other.

  "Looks like standard molecular structure, only real difference is a small amount of... wait, that can't be right." Zivath shook her shell and re-scanned one of the statues as Narvuk cocked his head at her. "I'm getting trace amounts of sterile neutrinos in these!" She flitted over to her Guardian, who looked puzzled. "Right, sorry. Sterile neutrinos are normally found near sites of Taken activity."

  The implications dawned on Narvuk, and he stepped closer to the statue, laying his hand against the cold idol. "I feel nnothing. But these" - he gestured to the faces carved into the top of each statue - "look familiar. There mmust be something that gives names to themm."

  "The soulfire inside, it sounds like words. Eir, Ur--"

  "-- Xol, Yul." Zivath looked over inquisitively as Narvuk finished with her. "How do you know those?"

  "Thosse are the names of the four Worms. They gave our king the Logic, and it is the pact with them that compels us to fight and kill. If our own worms are not fed, they consume us from inside. We kill to survive, not simply to kill," Narvuk explained without looking away from the statue. "None of us asked to be thrust into a life of wwar, as no Guardian asked for a second life. But my people have chosen their path. Now, can we return to the task at hhand?"

  Zivath's shell drooped for a few moments as she turned away to a different statue. "Um, well, there's runes carved in the base of this one. They read 'Visage... of the... Disliked'? No, hold on... Unfavored! 'Visage of the Unfavored'. Aaaaaand this one" - she flew to the third statue - "has runes as well! It says 'Visage of the Scheme-Mother'. Those titles aren't in the database, which is odd. We accessed the World's Grave years ago, so we shouldn't be missing anything."

  She glided back to Narvuk, maneuvering under his arm to get a closer look. "The titles are not familiar to mme. Little Light, I amm sorry for being... terse. My people... they are lost, and none can see it." Zivath half-turned to him, then returned her gaze to the stone. "Zivath, please. I did not mean to dismiss you. I--"

  "Look, I'm trying to translate what may very well be a viral language here, so maybe hold on a minute," she snapped. After a moment of tense silence, the Ghost spoke up. "Final runes translated. 'Visage of the Warpriest', it says."

  "That one, I know. The Warpriest was one of Oryx's champions, and fed the king's worm through conquest and slaughter. He conquered five hundred and eighty-five worlds, salting them with ash and painting the void with fire. According to the Vanguard's own rrecords, he died shortly before the king."

  "If you don't wanna join them, bug, I'd recommend you drop the sword," a familiar voice called form behind the two. They turned as one, and before stood DeMarcus. On either side of him were the six Guardians Narvuk had seen in the hangar. The Knight noted the Warlock on the left as the same one who had questioned DeMarcus' plan. "I gotta thank you, bug. An accident in the patrol zones, that's one thing. But here on the Shore, ain't no rules but Spider's. And he doesn't much care for meddling in Lightbearer business, unless it messes with his," DeMarcus mocked, drawing a hand cannon from the back of his waist and aiming not at Narvuk, but at Zivath. His companions unholstered their weapons as well, though they pointed at Narvuk.

  "Let's be honest, bug. You were never gonna be one of us. Just 'cause you got a Ghost, doesn't make you a Guardian, just makes you lucky. Deep down, you're just another Knight in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, drop. The sword," he finished. Narvuk extended his arm to the side and let go, the Cleaver thudding to the ground.

  "DeMarcus, just get it over with already. We're not here for you to monologue," the Warlock scolded, glaring at his friend from the corner of his eye. "We've been here too long already."

  "I'll do it when I'm ready, Edal, got it? Just keep your gun on him," DeMarcus barked, turning his attention back to Narvuk. "Now, bug. Sienna and Poppy" - he spit at the ground, and Narvuk clenched his jaw - "may think you're alright, but me and the boys here? Well, general opinion is you're a walking time bomb. Probably a trap from your great-aunt, in fact." DeMarcus' face lifted in a smug grin. "Bet you thought no one would find out, huh?"

  Narvuk was puzzled for a moment, then the meaning became clear. "Hhow did you... Sienna." The Titan nodded. "Hrnn... well, you sseem to be holding all the... corpses?"

  "I think you mean cards. 'Hold all the cards'," Edal interjected. DeMarcus shot a glare at him as Narvuk nodded thanks.

  "Cards, then. Hhow are you going to pplay them, is the question," Narvuk half-mocked, gesturing invitingly to the group. "Yyou clearly aren't scared to face me wwith allies, but can you stand on your own?"

  DeMarcus stormed forward, stowing his cannon. "Titan's need only the strength of the Light! You're nothing without the girls behind you!" He balled his fists and shifted into a fighting stance. "Bet they didn't teach you how to fight without your fancy magic sword in those tunnels you bugs love so much, huh? C'mon, you ugly son of a--"

  DeMarcus' inevitable stream of insults was over before it began as Narvuk's rock-hard fist crashed into his chest, caving it in instantly and sending the Titan flying back. One of the Hunters ran to where he landed and crouched. After a moment or two, he looked back to Edal and shook his head. A Ghost materialized above the body and pulsed with Light, and DeMarcus shot up with a gasp. The Hunter offered him a helping hand, but he batted it away and stood shakily. "Cheap shot, bug," he spat, advancing once more. "This time, I'll--"

  "Do nothing, Lightmonger," a raspy voice finished form above the Guardians. Their gazes snapped to the cliffs in unison and were met by at least four bright eyes for every Guardian. Narvuk hid a small grin as he recognized the speaker: the Vandal that had spoken to him earlier. As he looked around, he noticed that the rest of the Fallen from before had returned as well, all armed with shock pistols or wire rifles. "Drop weapons, or we shoot-fire." The demand was followed by the sound of charging wire rifles.

  Edal and the others hesitated for a moment, glancing at DeMarcus before slowly placing their guns on the rocks. DeMarcus stood, fuming with clenched fists, in front of Narvuk. The Knight simply stared down at him, neither willing to back down. Edal came up behind his friend and laid a hand on his shoulder. "DeMarcus, let's go. We can't start a fight with the House of Spider, and you're not in a good state of mind right now anyway. Let's go home." The Titan glowered at Narvuk for a moment before turning, marching past his companions, and transmatting away.

  The rest followed one by one until only Edal was left. "Narvuk? I- look, DeMarcus doesn't speak for anything close to a majority of Guardians. If he tries something else, shoot me a feed, alright? I've got practice reining him in," the Awoken said, more than a hint of apology in his melodic voice. Narvuk merely nodded, and Edal vanished.

  A Vandal wearing the red and gold of the House of Light dropped down next to Narvuk and said something in Eliksni. It stared at Narvuk for a few seconds, awaiting a response, then realized its mistake. "You save-rescue us. Much thanks-gratitude, Hive," it rasped in broken English. "Mithrax Light-Kell will hear-learn of this, that we may help-aid you."

"Think nothing of it, ffriend. I did what hhad to be done."

  "I am called Vytkos. I am in your life-debt. You will always-breathe have an ally in House Light. For now, we must return-go to our Kell." With that, Vytkos and her fellow Fallen disappeared, along with those from the House of Dusk. Spider's Vandals simply began walking away, leaving Narvuk and Zivath alone once more.

A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry this chapter took so dang long! School has been a bit hectic, and I've been slacking! But here we are, at the end of chapter 17! Only a few (relatively) more to go, and then it's on to the sequel (yes, there's gonna be a sequel)!

[sentinelkelly]

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