Fallen
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- "Listen long enough and you will hear stories of great Eliksni heroes. When the Great Machine was still with us."
- — Variks, the Loyal[1]
The Fallen, known in their language as the Eliksni, are an insectoid alien species, infamous for being notorious scavengers and raiders. The Fallen are remnants of a mighty civilization from the planet of Riis that had been flourishing under the Traveler's grace until the Witness and its Black Fleet caused an apocalyptic event called the Whirlwind, much akin to humanity's Golden Age and Collapse. The Traveler fled, leaving the survivors behind, but after many centuries, the Fallen found her once again in the Sol System. Seeking to reclaim their glory, the Eliksni decided to explore the newly discovered Solar System and start a war against humanity in an attempt to retake control of the "Great Machine".[2] Roving Fallen bands scavenge whatever technology and weapons they can find and rally under the banners of various warring Houses and crime syndicates.
Overview
The Fallen are a nomadic race of pirates and scavengers descended from a once-great civilization. This is evidenced by their social organization into various Houses by the manner of meritocratic nobility, the banners and flags of which are still flown like heraldry.[3] The Fallen search the stars for artifacts of their lost civilization.[4] They first arrived in the Solar System after the Collapse, arriving in their massive Ketches to loot and pillage humanity's former worlds, leaving grief and wreckage in their wake.[5]
The Fallen are antagonistic toward the Cabal, Taken, Hive, and Vex, and are known to be in conflict with the latter two over territory and technology. They have ordinarily avoided the Cabal until the Taken War when the House of Wolves attempted to make their new home on Mars using abandoned Cabal bases. They lack any type of established stronghold such as the Citadel or the Hellmouth, instead preferring to squat in ruins or inside their ketches, going from place to place in search of a potential home.
History
Origins
- "Where is the Great Machine? Where is the Great Machine?"
- — Chelchis, Kell of Stone[6]
The Fallen's name for their own race is "Eliksni".[7] They were once graced by the Traveler, which they named the "Great Machine", and were presumably uplifted by its gifts in the same manner as humanity. Their ubiquitous cloaking technology was originally designed as toys for children. The Eliksni made during their Golden Age twice the advancement in space exploration than Humanity.[8] During this time, they came to control multiple star systems[9] until an event known as the Edge Wars brought infighting among the Houses and later ended by the House of Kings and House of Judgement to usher in a Golden Age.[10] Their homeworld of Riis and civilization would be destroyed by an unforeseen event called the "Whirlwind". In the aftermath, the surviving Fallen became embroiled in a bloody civil war over their civilization's ruins, before achieving a tenuous peace and embarking on a journey into space to locate the Traveler to return to greatness. The Fallen eventually arrived at the Sol System during the Dark Age, and rediscovered the Traveler on Earth.[11]
Early Wars
First Engagements
- "The Fallen cannot be stopped. They do not negotiate. Their bargains are lies. I've watched them burn and pillage whole villages in the Cosmodrome. I've watched Dregs eat children."
- — Saint-14[12]
When the Fallen first arrived in the Sol System, they terrorized humanity, conducting raids and attacks against outposts. Very early into these attacks, they started to meet opposition in the form of Lightbearers, who fought back against them time and time again.[13] The Fallen grew to resent the Guardians, seeing them as an obstacle that prevented them from claiming the "Great Machine", and believed they were dooming them and their people.[2] Eventually, the space below the Traveler turned into the Last City, as more and more people gathered below the Traveler. Thus walls were built to defend them.[13] As time wore on, the Fallen began to understand that if they wanted to take back what was theirs, they would need to do it with force. This was the start of the Hundred Years' Siege.
At some point during the Dark Age, the House of Rain encountered a human settlement protected by Saint-14 on Mercury and proceeded to destroy the settlement and kill the survivors, but were unable to kill Saint-14 who grew to hate the Fallen race after he witnessed Dregs devouring children.[12]
Rezyl Azzir began venturing out from the Last City to combat potential threats which earned him great enmity from the Fallen. Eventually, a Captain of the House of Devils named Eksori ambushed Rezyl in an attempt to kill him to gain glory. However, Rezyl was easily able to fend off the ambush. Later, he teamed up with two other Guardians to kill a Kell whose Ketch was stationed in the Tescan Valley between two mountain peaks.[14]
Six Fronts
- Main article: Six Fronts
- "Whirlwind whisked us to this war-weary world; We galloped the galaxy to grasp the Great Machine. It is not our fate to fail on this field!"
- — Drifis, the Daring[15]
In an attempt to take the Traveler, the House of Devils staged a coordinated attack on the City in a battle that would later be called Six Fronts. During the battle, four orders of Titans protected the newly constructed walls of The City against six enemy approaches, and not a single front faltered.[16] The Devils faced off against many Guardians who would later become legends, such as Saint-14, Osiris,[17] Zavala and the Iron Lords.[18]
After the Battle of Six Fronts, Saint-14 stepped down from Vanguard Commander to pursue his crusade against the Fallen and nominated Osiris to take his place to protect the city from future assaults. Osiris questioned Saint's motives, having seen the Fallen not too different from them. However, Saint disagreed after fighting representatives from every House and believed it was a joint effort to exterminate them.[19]
At some point, Saint-14 encountered the noble Sekris, Baron of Shanks, whose House settled by the system's edge to avoid human conflict. Sekris recollected Saint's sieges of Boyle Pass and Weapons of Rain but questioned if the Great Machine still communed with him. Saint answered with silence and spared Sekris, causing him to desert his race.[20]
Following the murder of several Guardians at the hands of Taniks, the Scarred, the Speaker dispatched Saint-14 and Osiris to eliminate the deadly Fallen mercenary, but Cayde-6 located Taniks and killed him. This elevated Andal Brask to the vacant seat of the Hunter Vanguard after losing a dare to Cayde over who would kill Taniks. However, it was later revealed that the resilient Fallen had survived the encounter.[21]
Twilight Gap
- Main article: Battle of Twilight Gap
- "The Devil Kell Solkis… is dead. This war is over."
- — Saint-14[22]
Craask, Kell of Kings, manipulating the other Houses, pushed for a united effort against the Last City.[23] Kings, Devils and Winter stood together against the City, with the House of Wolves being the only major House unable to join because of the Reefborn Awoken stopping them en route.[2] The three Houses fought against the City and its Guardians in what would later be known as the Battle of Twilight Gap, with the Devils leading the charge.[24] The Last City managed to push back the united Fallen, with Lord Shaxx leading a counterattack that defeated the Houses.[25] At the end of the war, the legendary Titan Saint-14 led a bloody assault to dislodge the remaining Fallen that directly surrounded the City. In what would become forever known as the "Crusade of Saint-14", the brave Exo fought against Solkis, Kell of Devils, killing him with a headbutt and bringing the Fallen offensive to its final end.[22]
While on a mission, the Hunter Vanguard Andal Brask was murdered by the renegade Fallen mercenary Taniks, the Scarred.[26] This promoted Cayde-6 to assume the role of Hunter Vanguard and attempt to execute Taniks.[citation needed]
The Reef Wars
- Main article: The Reef Wars
- "I am Lord of Wolves. You are an empty thing with two dead souls. This is my House. These are my terms. Surrender and I will only take your ships."
- — Virixas, Kell of Wolves to Queen Mara Sov[27]
The House of Wolves intended to join the Battle of Twilight Gap alongside the other Houses, but were stopped at Ceres when the Awoken intervened. Their Kell, Virixas was killed in the initial clash, along with a massive portion of the house, which would later be called The Scatter. This started a conflict known as the Reef Wars. During the wars, Skolas, the Rabid, through savagery and cunning, rose to the Wolf Kellship.[28] He then turned his full attention towards the Reef, and the two forces clashed bitterly for many years. The wars ended when Variks, a member of the House of Judgment who lived among the Wolves, betrayed Skolas to the Reef resulting in his capture along with most of his House.[11]
Variks went on to crown Queen Mara Sov of the Reef as the new Kell of Wolves, with many Wolves bending the knee to her.[29]
Destiny 1
Weakening of the Houses
- "The House of Wolves and the Awoken tore the Reef apart trying to get a tactical advantage. All the while, we were desperately trying to hold the Walls against the Devils, Kings, and Winter. It was one of the darkest chapters in the City's history."
- — Commander Zavala[30]
In the wake of Twilight Gap, the House of Devils was ruled by Riksis, Devil Archon. Riksis met a sudden and unexpected end at the hands of a newly risen Guardian while attempting to track down a missing warp drive.[31] With the Devils' Archon dead, this opened up the way for a fireteam of Guardians to attack the The Devils' Lair and destroy their Prime Servitor Sepiks Prime. With Sepiks' destruction, the Devils were now effectively leaderless.[32]
During a mission in the Hellmouth on the Moon, Guardians were caught in the middle of a House of Exile raid against the Hive. Leading the raid was Frigoris, Exiled Baron, who became a priority target due to his station in the Exiles, and was dispatched by the Guardian.[33]
The Vanguard received word that Wintership Simiks-Fel was on the surface of Venus, and began a mission to assassinate Draksis, Winter Kell of the House of Winter. Fighting through Draksis' Kell's Guard, a Guardian made their way onto the Fallen Ketch and faced Draksis in his throne room, killing him and beheading Winter's Leadership.[34] Afterward, perhaps as an attempt to replace Draksis, Winter enlisted Taniks, the Scarred to break into the Prison of Elders and retrieve Aksor, Archon Priest. However, a fireteam of Guardians quickly ended him and the Fallen which broke him out, leaving them leaderless.[35]
Later, the Hive general Omnigul would lead a fireteam of Guardians through House of Kings Territory in an attempt to stop them from hunting her. Phyksin, King Baron personally attempted to stop the Guardians, but was killed in the resulting battle.[36]
The Wolf Rebellion
- Main article: Wolf Rebellion
- "Remember the hope that brought us here. Remember the age before the Whirlwind, when ether ran free, when we ruled ourselves and our futures as kings. We wanted more than glimmer and glints and herealways. Always remember that we came to this star in hope. And remember that we were denied!"
- — Skolas, Kell of Kells[2]
Initiated by the return of Skolas, now calling himself the Kell of Kells, the House of Wolves rebelled against the Awoken.[2] The Wolf Rebellion started with an assassination attempt on Mara and a mass prison break from the Prison of Elders where most of the former Wolf nobility was being held.[37]The Queen opened the Reef to Guardians of the City, with the intent of recruiting them to put an end to the rebellion.[38] The Guardians tracked Skolas to Venus, but were unable to capture Skolas or stop him from gaining a number of the Winter's allegiance.[39]
Traveling to Earth, Skolas sought to gain the allegiance of the House of Devils and the House of Kings. While he set loose the Silent Fang to kill off the Devils remaining leaders[40], he sent one of his Barons, Yavek to negotiate with the Kell of Kings. However, the Guardians intervened as they killed a large number of Silent Fang assassins and killed Yavek and two King Barons, Paskin and Vekis.[41] Skolas returned to Venus once more, where the Guardian encountered him attempting to wield stolen Vex tech to pull the House of Wolves through time, only to be subdued and captured.[42]
The Queen then began placing bounties on Wolf nobility such as Beltrik, the Veiled and Drevis, Wolf Baroness. The Wolves also hired Taniks to plunder the Hellmouth and steal from the dark. However, a fireteam of Guardians arrived to kill him, pursuing the mercenary through his Ketch before meeting his end.[43] Later, on the order of Mara, Skolas was sent to the Prison of Elders, where he was pitted against the same Guardians who captured him and was executed, effectively ending the Wolf Rebellion.[44]
The Taken War
- "Taken will not rest. Will claim every house. Consume every banner. You must stand, Guardian, yes? Or all shall fall."
- — Variks, the Loyal[45]
Every Fallen house was devastated by Oryx's arrival, with great numbers of Eliksni being Taken and made to serve Oryx. The House of Devils and House of Kings' presence in the Cosmodrome diminished as their strongholds the Devil's Spire and Kings' Watch became lairs for Shades of Oryx.[46][47] Variks, at some point, was in negotiations with Grayris, Baroness to leave her house. However, she would succumb to Oryx and become his Taken Champion alongside Lhoks, Exile Baron, Irxori, Lost to Oryx and Keksis, the Betrayed.[48] The Wolves also suffered a loss in the form of Driviks, the Chosen, which forced the Guardians to re-enter the Traitor's Ketch and eliminate the swarm of Taken.[45]
As the Taken War progressed, the House of Winter managed to take advantage of the Reef's disorganization to break into the Prison of Elders and retrieve another Archon Priest. However, the Taken on Venus attacked and scattered their forces, Taking the Archon in the process, turning him into Nixis, Hunger of Oryx. Guardians managed to destroy Nixis, ending Winter's second raid on the Prison as easily as the first.[</