Editing Crown of Sorrow

__NOTOC__{{about|the artifact|the raid|Crown of Sorrow (raid)}}

The '''Crown of Sorrow''' is a [[Hive]] artifact which uses [[Darkness]] to psionically connect the wearer's mind to those of all nearby [[Hive]], along with granting them access to Hive magics and arcana. It was originally created by the Hive God [[Savathûn, the Witch-Queen]] as part of a trap for the exiled [[Cabal]] [[Emperor Calus]], and has since been repurposed by Calus and his Loyalists into a means of communing with the [[Witness]], and then by [[Eris Morn]] as a way to trap the essence of [[Nightmare]]s.

The crown was first left on a stray [[War moon]],<ref name="Shadow Greaves">'''Bungie (2019/06/04)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]]'', ''Item Description: [[Shadow of War Suit#Shadow's Greaves|Shadow's Greaves]]''</ref> which was claimed as an [[athenaeum world]] by Calus' [[Loyalist]] [[Cabal]].<ref name="Shadow Gauntlets">'''Bungie (2019/06/04)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]]'', ''Item Description: [[Shadow of War Suit#Shadow's Gauntlets|Shadow's Gauntlets]]''</ref> It was then located by [[Katabasis]], a [[Hunter]]-turned [[Shadows of Calus|Shadow]] who helped find the crown and delivered it to the former emperor.<ref name="Shadow Mask">'''Bungie (2019/06/04)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]]'', ''Item Description: [[Shadow of Silence Suit#Shadow's Mask|Shadow's Mask]]''</ref>  

When it was delivered, the [[Psion]]s studying the crown guessed that it was crafted in imitation of the [[Oryx, the Taken King|Taken King]]'s power to compel wills.<ref name="Shadow Greaves"/> Upon analysis, however, it was discovered that the crown meant to serve as a surveillance device, feeding all sorts of data to the Witch Queen deep within the [[Ascendant Realm|Ascendant Plane]].<ref name="Shadow Gauntlets"/> Calus, wanting a [[Shadow]] to control the [[Hive]] imprisoned within the [[Menagerie]],<ref name="Shadow Gloves">'''Bungie (2019/06/04)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]]'', ''Item Description: [[Shadow of Judgment Suit#Shadow's Gloves|Shadow's Gloves]]''</ref> had bred a [[Ceremonial Bather]] in the Royal Pools of [[The Leviathan|Leviathan]] named [[Gahlran]] to be strong willed and wear the crown as his anointed Sorrow-Bearer.<ref name="Shadow Plate"/>  

Calus met with the newly born Gahlran and had his Psion [[Councilor]]s present the massive, plated helm to him from above. As they lowered the crown, Gahlran heard a litany of voices shouting down at him from inside the artifact as it slowly descended. Despite his protests, Galhran was forced by the Psions to don the Hive artifact, which would allow his mind to see through a hundred billion [[Hive]] eyes throughout the Universe<ref name="Am I to Cast a Shadow?">'''Bungie (2019/06/03)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]]'', ''[[Weblore]]: [[Weblore:Season of Opulence#"Am I to Cast a Shadow?"|"Am I to Cast a Shadow?"]]''</ref> Wearing the crown, however, revealed a more sinister purpose: to subvert the wearer's mind to the Witch Queen's will using Hive glyphs etched into a viral language within the crown's interior.<ref name="Shadow Plate">'''Bungie (2019/06/04)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]]'', ''Item Description: [[Shadow of War Suit#Shadow's Plate|Shadow's Plate]]''</ref>

The Crown would drive the unwilling Gahlran insane as he took control over the imprisoned Hive, creating a [[Kingdom of Sorrow]] within the depths of Calus' treasure vaults until his death at the hands of a six-manned fireteam of [[Guardians]], rendering the helm inert without a bearer.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/06/04)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]]'', ''Raid: [[Crown of Sorrow (raid)|Crown of Sorrow]]''</ref> It was then recovered by [[The Guardian]] after the raid and presented to either [[Benedict 99-40]] or [[Werner 99-40]].<ref name="Crown of Sorrow Completion">'''Bungie (2019/06/04)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]]'', ''[https://www.ishtar-collective.net/interactions/werner-99-40-crown-of-sorrow-raid-complete Crown of Sorrow Completion]''</ref> While the Crown of Sorrow was back in the Cabal's possession, Calus had his Psions continue to telepathically analyze it for additional traps.<ref name="Shadow Grips">'''Bungie (2019/06/04)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]]'', ''Item Description: [[Shadow of Silence Suit#Shadow's Grips|Shadow's Grips]]''</ref>

Gahlran's usage of the crown would have an unintended consequence of splitting the seams of reality aboard the Leviathan, forming a tear into the [[Ascendant Realm]] at the [[Tribute Hall]].<ref>'''Bungie (2019/07/09)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]]'', ''[https://www.ishtar-collective.net/interactions/visage-of-calus-pest-control Pest Control]''</ref>

Following the [[Arrival of the Black Fleet]], Calus had his [[Psion]] [[Councilor]]s psychically alter the Crown from its original purpose. Now gilded with gold from the Castellum, the exiled emperor sought to use the Crown on captive, undead [[Scorn]] as vessels to commune with the [[Witness|Voice in the Darkness]].<ref name="ENTRY 6">'''Bungie (2019/02/09)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Chosen]]'', ''Lore:[[Lore:Captain's Log#ENTRY 6 - Excess of Avarice|ENTRY 6 - Excess of Avarice]]''</ref>. Now with suitable test subjects, Calus introduced mycelial [[egregore]] spores to the Crown.<ref name="Duality Memory 8">'''Bungie (2022/05/24)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Haunted]]'', ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OIcERTaGz4 Duality | Eighth Repressed Memory]''</ref> Instead of controlling the mind of the bearer, it would now meld the collective consciousnesses of the undead Scorn into the Crown and broadcast their collective thoughts through the [[Darkness]] across dimensions.<ref name="Presage Final">'''Bungie (2019/02/09)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Chosen]]'', ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K8TWaIUwGY Presage | The Crown of Sorrow]''</ref>

The Crown was shipped aboard the ''[[Glykon Volatus]]'' along with Calus's scribe [[Amsot]], numerous Psion Councilors and [[Katabasis]] in preparation for its grand experiment, which was to happen at the planet-sized Darkness anomaly located where [[Mars]] once was. Once the Glykon reached the anomaly, the councilors placed their hands on the Crown and focused their cognition through it. They pried open the Scorn's collective synaptic pathways and sewed them into the fabric of the anomaly's memetic sphere. The first communion was initially a failure, as Calus' call was unanswered.<ref name="ENTRY 6"/> Further experimentation was subject to repeat failure, with the Scorn exposed to the anomaly died of brain death and the Crown infested by fully grown Egregore fungi, having burrowed its way into the crown's precious metal adornments since the last communion attempt.<ref>https://commons.ishtar-collective.net/t/quest-a-voice-on-the-other-side-presage/3818</ref> The final attempt, however, saw the current [[Locus of Communion|bearer]] of the Crown making contact with the Witness and its whispers commanding the Scorn aboard the ship all of a sudden.<ref name="ENTRY 9">'''Bungie (2019/02/09)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Chosen]]'', ''Lore:[[Lore:Captain's Log#ENTRY 9 - Heretical Flesh|ENTRY 9 - Heretical Flesh]]''</ref> The Psion councilors were immediately incinerated at the Crown's touch, as the Glykon was suddenly pulled in a downward descent beyond the anomaly's event horizon before it impacted and ran adrift between dimensions.<ref name="ENTRY 8">'''Bungie (2019/02/09)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Chosen]]'', ''Lore:[[Lore:Captain's Log#ENTRY 8 - Acheron's Wall|ENTRY 8 - Acheron's Wall]]''</ref> Calus could hear the Witness's cacophony of thoughts calling through the Crown of Sorrow, beckoning him to the anomaly in [[Mercury|Mercury's]] absence,<ref name="Duality Memory 9">'''Bungie (2022/05/24)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Haunted]]'', ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEu2P6kwWZY Duality | Ninth Repressed Memory]''</ref> before he himself had left the ship.<ref name="ENTRY 8"/>  

With the Emperor having fled from the anomaly, Katabasis and his Loyalist crew were left behind to fend for themselves against the rampant Scorn as the interior of the Glykon was heavily infested with Egregore fungi and constantly shifting liminal spaces within the anomaly. His Psion cohort [[Qinziq]] had formulated a plan to return the Glykon out of the anomaly by severing the Crown's connection to the Scorn. Katabasis, along with Qinziq, [[Bahr'Toran]] and fifteen of their soldiers stormed the ship's bridge where they made their last stand against waves of Scorn. Qinzig attemped to sever the connection with the Egregore-infested Crown, only to cry out in agony as she was engulfed in black flames and subsequently perishes on the spot.<ref name="ENTRY 10">'''Bungie (2019/02/09)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Chosen]]'', ''Lore:[[Lore:Captain's Log#ENTRY 10 - Blood in the Barrel|ENTRY 10 - Blood in the Barrel]]''</ref> The remainder of the Loyalists would all die at the hands of the [[Locus of Communion]], with Katabasis killing his [[Ghost]] [[Gilgamesh]] before his final death.<ref name="ENTRY 12">'''Bungie (2019/02/09)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Chosen]]'', ''Lore:[[Lore:Captain's Log#ENTRY 12 - Debtor's Knife|ENTRY 12 - Debtor's Knife]]''</ref>

[[The Guardian]] would locate the Crown of Sorrow in a secret compartment beneath the derelict Glykon's bridge after several weeks of expeditions. It was recovered and relocated to the [[Last City]] at the behest of [[Osiris]] (whom [[Savathûn, the Witch Queen]] was posing at the time).<ref name="Presage Final"/>

[[File:Crown_of_Sorrow_HELM.jpg|thumb|The Crown of Sorrow in the H.E.L.M.]]

{{Quote|The Crown of Sorrow was once forged by Savathûn's hand, designed as a psychic prison, binding the mind of its bearer to her will. Now it serves a new witch.|Eris Morn after her binding ritual.}}

After the Leviathan returned in the orbit of the [[Moon]], the Crown of Sorrow was employed in the operations to disrupt Calus. Eris managed to sneak the Crown onboard the H.E.L.M. using a Hive [[Tombship]], and around its docking area on the [[H.E.L.M.]] the Quarantine Wing was established. Eris would use the Crown as part of the binding ritual for [[Zavala]], [[Crow]] and [[Caiatl]], creating the [[Nightmare Harvester]], to aid them in combating the Nightmares that had been drawn to the Derelict Leviathan. Further, she used the Crown in the Guardians' [[Nightmare Containment|Nightmare Harvests]], providing it as a physical prison for the Nightmares the Guardians reap aboard the Leviathan. During the course of the operations, she would use the Crown to communicate with the Guardian and provide mission updates.

*When Gahlran, the Sorrow-Bearer is killed, the Crown of Sorrow crashes on the ground and the player can crouch walk under it and see the Hive runes that allow Savathûn, the Witch-Queen to control the wearer. Central among them is what could possibly be the insignia of Savathûn;<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyLore/comments/byzf5k/hive_runes_inside_the_crown_of_sorrow/</ref> though the symbol provided with the announcement of ''[[The Witch Queen]]'' is most likely the sigil of the Queen, and it does not align with the Crown of Sorrow rune (though they are similar).

*''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]]'' {{1st}}