Editing Nokris, Supplicant to Savathûn

'''Nokris, Supplicant to Savathûn''' is a [[Hive]] God<ref name="GhostScan">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Ghost scan]]: [[Ghost_scan#Dreadnaught.2C_Rings_of_Saturn|DNT-TRN-3]]''</ref> and the estranged son of [[Oryx, the Taken King]]<ref name="Apocrypha">'''Bungie (2018/4/30)''', ''[[Weblore:Warmind]] - [[Weblore:Warmind#Apocrypha|Apocrypha]]''</ref>. Exiled by Oryx for his heresies, Nokris formed a pact with the Worm God [[Xol, Will of the Thousands]], taking the title '''Herald of Xol''' and leading a new brood of Hive known as the [[Grasp of Nokris]]. Xol, Nokris and their followers would later travel to [[Mars]] during the Collapse, where they were imprisoned in the polar ice by the [[Warmind]] [[Rasputin]]. <ref>[https://www.destinythegame.com/expansion2 '''Destiny the Game''' - ''Expansion Pass 2'']</ref>  

 

Following Xol's abandonment of Nokris in favor of the [[Guardian]]s, Nokris pledged his allegiance to his aunt [[Savathûn, the Witch-Queen]] in a bid to end the Hive's pact to the Worms and the [[The Witness|Witness]]. He served as the final antagonist of the [[Season of Arrivals]], working for Savathûn to subvert the Witness's [[Interference|messages]] until he was defeated by the [[Guardian]]s.

{{Quote|You seek power? I will give you power beyond measure. The power of life renewed.|Xol to Nokris<ref name="Wormgod Caress">'''Bungie (2018/8/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Warmind (expansion)|Warmind]] - Item Description: [[Wormgod Caress]]''</ref>}}

Born to [[Oryx, the Taken King]], Nokris was disfavored by his father for his physical weakness. To make up for this, Nokris instead honed his mind, teaching himself Hive arcana and hoarding knowledge and stories; in doing so, he found a different way of feeding his [[Worm]] through the [[Sword Logic]].  

 

Seeking to gain his father's favor, Nokris attempted to commune with the Worm Gods as Oryx once did, but most of them rejected his entreaties. However, Xol, fearing an imminent attack from [[Yul, the Honest Worm|Yul]], agreed to make a pact with Nokris, who traded his heart for some of Xol's power and the forbidden secret of necromancy. <ref>'''Bungie (2018/8/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Warmind (expansion)|Warmind]] - Item Description: [[Wormhusk Crown]]''</ref><ref name="Wormgod Caress" /><ref name="Apocrypha"/>

Upon learning of his son's actions, Oryx was furious. [[Necromancy]] was considered a heretical violation of the [[Sword Logic]], for it returns life to that which has rightfully been slain, and thus Nokris' actions were sacrilege. For his crimes, Oryx exiled his son and removed all references to him from [[The World's Grave|the World's Grave]] and the [[Books of Sorrow]];<ref name = "Verity's Brow">'''Bungie (2018/8/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Warmind (expansion)|Warmind]] - Item Description: [[Verity's Brow]]''</ref> only a statue within the Dreadnaught remained, bearing Nokris' name but no additional information.<ref name="GhostScan"/>  

Nokris was unperturbed, for in exile he saw freedom and opportunity. He informed Xol that he would claim [[Mars]] in his name, and raised a new brood, the [[Grasp of Nokris]], to conquer the planet.<ref name = "Verity's Brow" /> Upon arriving on Mars during the Collapse, Nokris, Xol and their forces were met with overwhelming resistance from the [[Warmind]] [[Rasputin]], who eventually invoked his SIBERIAN ENTROPY protocol and froze the invaders beneath a layer of ice in Hellas Basin. <ref>[https://youtu.be/qekeXWWdFrU?si=bZVv18-AZbZEJC-b Destiny 2 — Escalation Protocol Level 1 Dialogue]</ref>

Nokris first became known to the [[Guardian]]s when the [[The Guardian|Young Wolf]] found his statue in the [[Dreadnaught]] near the [[Altar of Oryx]]<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Regicide]]''</ref>, alongside similar statues of Crota and Oryx. [[The Guardian]]'s [[Ghost]] inferred Nokris was a Hive god based on the accompanying glyphs, but did not recognize the name.<ref name="GhostScan"/> At [[Eris Morn]]'s request, [[Asher Mir]] scoured his library for references to Nokris, but turned up nothing.<ref>'''Bungie (2017/8/9)''', ''[[Destiny 2]] - Item Description: [[Gensym Knight Armor#Lore|Gensym Knight Cloak / Mark / Bond]]''</ref>.

{{Quote|Rasputin was not the only thing to awaken on Mars.|[[Zavala]]<ref>'''Bungie (2018/5/8)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Warmind (expansion)|Warmind]] - [[Pilgrimage]]''</ref>}}

After the deaths of Oryx and Crota and the end of the [[Red War]], Nokris and his master were released when the ice in Hellas Basin began to melt, an effect of the [[Light]] released by the Traveler's reawakening. Together, Nokris and Xol sought retribution for their imprisonment and engaged once more with the Warmind.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/5/8)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Warmind (expansion)|Warmind]]''</ref>

 

However, interference came in the form of the Guardian working with [[Ana Bray]], who tried to lure Xol into the open using a small shard of the Traveler as bait. Nokris arrived to fight the intruders, but after a fierce battle he was slain by the Guardians.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/5/8)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Warmind (expansion)|Warmind]] - [[Strange Terrain]]''</ref>

{{Quote|My life is spent: servitude to those who cast me away. Our blood is all that remains of the old pact.|Nokris to Savathûn<ref name="FALSE IDOLS">'''Bungie (2020/6/1)''', ''[[Weblore:Season of Arrivals]] - [[Weblore:Season of Arrivals#False Idols|FALSE IDOLS]]''</ref>}}

Nokris managed to evade permanent death following Xol's defeat, only to be left abandoned within the crust of Mars. His attempts to reconnect with the Worm God were rebuffed, as it had already found more worth in [[Whisper of the Worm|his slayers]]. Dejected, Nokris sought entry into the [[Ascendant Realm|Ascendant Plane]], which was previously denied to him due to his rejection of the Sword Logic, using a fragment of Xol's remains to force open a gate. He lured fireteams of Guardians under the pretence of resurrecting Xol into slaughtering him and his revenant Hive, gaining enough power from their acts of violence to feed Xol's remains enough to use it to pierce a tiny hole into the Sea of Screams through which his soul could slip into.<ref name="FALSE IDOLS"/>

However, the trickery he used attracted the attention of his aunt, Savathûn. Although expecting to be used as nothing more than a simple pawn, Nokris struck a bargain with her after Savathûn offered him a place in her Court and acknowledged his value in being able to overturn the Sword Logic and those bound by it. As Savathûn sought to free herself from the Witness, who was bound in servitude by her pact with the Worms, she desired Nokris's knowledge of Necromancy. In exchange for his secrets, she would grant him access to the [[Quria, Blade Transform|Dreaming Mind]] so that he could learn how to [[Taken|Take]]. Savathûn also foresaw the arrival of the Black Fleet in Sol, and so she instructed him to interfere in any of their attempts to communicate with the Guardians.<ref name="FALSE IDOLS"/>

Two years after his initial defeat on Mars, Nokris would resurface as the Supplicant to the Witch-Queen herself, playing his role as a catalyst to intervene with the Witness's messages at the [[Tree of Silver Wings (Io)|Tree of Silver Wings]] on [[Io]]. Armed with massive [[Shrieker]]s belonging to Savathûn, called: [[Savathûn's Witness]]es, the Supplicant would shroud [[The Cradle|the Cradle]] with the Witch Queen's influence and even lay a trap out for Eris Morn and the Guardian; threatening the life of the former and pulling the latter into a counterfeit [[Court of Savathûn (Io)|version]] of the Witch Queen's [[Court of Savathûn|throne world]] within the Ascendant Plane. Eris barely survives her encounter and in turn saves the Guardian from the full force of the Shriekers.<ref>'''Bungie (2020/6/9)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Arrivals]] - [[A Shadow Overhead]]''</ref>

 

For a period of eighteen weeks, Nokris commands armies of Hive and the Taken to swarm the Tree and shroud it in Savathûn's influence with one of her Shriekers, barring the Witness's messages directly with Eris and the Guardians. Each week, the Guardians would face one of the massive Shriekers at the Cradle before they are summoned back to the Ascendant Plane, to which Nokris mocks them in whispers and even insults their Ghost at one point, drawing comparisons to a Worm. Nonetheless, the Guardian's efforts were proven successful at destroying the massive Shriekers and allowing Eris to briefly interpret the Black Fleet's messages with the [[Seed of Silver Wings]].<ref>'''Bungie (2020/6/9)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Arrivals]] - [[Interference]] [https://www.ishtar-collective.net/transcripts/quest-interference-means-to-an-end-week-1#interference Week 1]''</ref>

On the final week, Eris had successfully identified Nokris as the source of the interference just as the Supplicant would summon the Guardian into a new area of the Court, where he would face them directly once more near the backdrop of a massive Taken [[Blight]] the size of a star. Throughout the fight, Nokris addresses them as a mere pawn tied to the everlasting struggle between [[Light]] and [[Darkness]], to which he offered to have them free of in eternal servitude to Savathûn. However, the Hive heretic's offers would only fall on deaf ears as the Guardian destroyed him for seemingly a final time, diminishing the Witch-Queen's influence considerably and allowing the Witness' final message to reach the Guardian. <ref>'''Bungie (2020/10/6)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Arrivals]] - [[Interference]] [https://www.ishtar-collective.net/transcripts/quest-interference-means-to-an-end-final-week#interference Final Week]''</ref>

Despite his death at the hands of the Guardians, Nokris would leave a legacy on the future of the Hive. His knowledge of Necromancy would influence the creation of the [[Lucent Brood]], which his own Hive would eventually pledge themselves fully to Savathûn and join the ranks of.<ref>'''Bungie (2022/12/6)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Seraph]] - [[Anastasia Bray|Ana Bray]]: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhwWmzxHB_s "These Hive Don't Belong to Nokris."]''</ref><ref>'''Bungie (2023/5/26)''', [[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Deep]] - [[Ghosts of the Deep]]</ref><ref>'''Bungie (2023/8/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Witch]] - [[Immaru]]: [https://youtu.be/1yGeWGpQG54?si=sfJAVomVDdRvZ59W "She wanted to see if they were anything like Nokris's necromancy."]''</ref>

Nokris is the boss of the [[Strange Terrain]] mission and is encountered at Xol's feeding grounds. He fights primarily by firing Solar blasts at the player and occasionally summoning Hive to assist him. For the very third of his health depleted, Nokris will break two of the pillars in the arena and retreat to the gate at the front of the battlefield. Nokris will proceed to shield himself with an immunity shield. To break the shield, the player must find the large green crystal that came out of one of the two pillars Nokris broke, find the recently resurrected [[Ugul Gar Knight]]s, kill them, and throw the dropped relic at one of the crystals and then the next to stun Nokris and take down his shield. In the [[Strike]] version of the mission, two crystals will spawn every phase. During the first immunity phase, he will stand still while summoning Hive, during his second phase, he will begin firing darkness blasts in rapid succession, and at his last phase, he will begin moving around the arena, using his Dying Star ability.

In [[Interference]], there are a few changes to Nokris's mechanics from Strange Terrain, aside from a change in environment. During his first two immunity phases, one crystal will spawn on one of two floating islands located behind the arena, guarded by Taken enemies. Two [[Envoy of Savathûn|Envoys of Savathûn]] will also spawn before Ugul Gar Knights can appear. This starts with the Wizard variant, then the Knight and Ogre variants in the second and final immunity phases respectively. Additionally in the final phase, two crystals will spawn hidden behind walls on new floating islands, which players must bypass by climbing up to the islands while carrying their relics in order to destroy them.

The disowned son appears to look down on his father, brother, and later Xol after his god had abandoned him, stating to the Guardian that they were all gods with gods. But like his father Nokris has a hunger for knowledge and secrets, he would bargain with the Worms, Xol to learn and gain some of his power, including the secret of Necromancy. He would later bargain with his aunt Savathûn to learn how to Take by gaining access to Quria. Like his aunt, he is willing to use cunning and trickery, tricking fireteams of Guardians into slaughtering Hive so he could gain enough power to penetrate a hole into the Sea of Screams.  

After Xol's excommunication from the brood, Nokris began to hold a disgust for the Sword Logic, he viewed it as a lie and was willing to turn away from the logic that most Hive served without question. He believed that the Light and Darkness as forces that had strengths and weaknesses, stating that the Sky was vast but shallow, and the Deep was boundless but suffocating, and that there was another way.

*Whispers from Nokris could be heard throughout the various interference weekly missions, where he taunted the player.