Editing Nokris, Supplicant to Savathûn

'''Nokris, Supplicant to Savathûn''', previously known as '''Nokris, Herald of Xol''', is a [[Hive]] God<ref name="GhostScan">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], [[Ghost]]: [http://www.ishtar-collective.net/transcripts/ghost-scan-nokris Ghost Scan: Nokris]''</ref>, the estranged second son of [[Oryx, the Taken King]]<ref name="Apocrypha">'''Bungie (2018/4/30)''', ''[[Weblore:Warmind]] - [[Weblore:Warmind#Apocrypha|Apocrypha]]''</ref> and the former herald of the [[Worm]] God, [[Xol, Will of the Thousands]]. Exiled by Oryx for his heresies, Nokris later traveled to [[Mars]] and was imprisoned in the polar ice by the [[Warmind]] [[Rasputin]]. <ref>[https://www.destinythegame.com/expansion2 '''Destiny the Game''' - ''Expansion Pass 2'']</ref> Following Xol abandoning Nokris in favor of the [[Guardian]]s, the former herald 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 met his potential end 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]], [[Wormgod Caress]]''</ref>}}

Brother of [[Crota, Son of Oryx]], Nokris was disfavored by his father for his physical weakness. To make up for that weakness, Nokris instead honed his mind, learning magic and hoarding knowledge and stories as a different form of Sword Logic to feed his Worm. He devised a plan to prove himself to Oryx by communing with the Worm Gods as he once did; however, while he succeeded, most of the worms rejected the disfavored son. Only Xol remained to grant him an audience. Fearing an attack from [[Yul, the Honest Worm]], Xol made a pact with the forgotten child. Nokris traded his heart for some of Xol's power and the secret of necromancy. <ref>'''Bungie (2018/8/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Warmind (expansion)|Warmind]], [[Wormhusk Crown]]''</ref><ref name="Wormgod Caress" /><ref name="Apocrypha"/>

Oryx soon learned about his son's activities and was furious. Nokris's actions were sacrilege, and [[Necromancy]] was considered a heretical violation of the [[Sword Logic]], for it disrupts the means of survival of the fittest. For his crimes, the King of the Hive exiled him and removed all references of his disowned son 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]], [[Verity's Brow]]''</ref> Only a statue remained.<ref name="GhostScan"/>  

Nokris was unperturbed. In exile he saw freedom and opportunity. He informed Xol that he would conquer the planet [[Mars]] in his name. After arriving, the two were met with overwhelming resistance from the [[Warmind]] [[Rasputin]], who they fought until he had them frozen beneath the ice of [[Hellas Basin]] along with the rest of their brood.<ref name = "Verity's Brow" />

The only reference to Nokris known to the [[Guardian]]s prior to his awakening on Mars was a statue found in the [[Dreadnaught]] near the [[Altar of Oryx]]<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], [[Regicide]]''</ref>, beside similar statues of Crota and Oryx. [[The Guardian]]'s [[Ghost]] infers it is a Hive god from the accompanying Hive glyphs but couldn't recognize the symbol.<ref name="GhostScan"/> At [[Eris Morn]]'s request, [[Asher Mir]] scoured his library for references to Nokris but found none.<ref>'''Bungie (2017/8/9)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Gensym Knight Armor]]''</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 awakened when their entrapping ice began to melt; an effect of [[The Traveler|the Traveler]]'s waking. Together, they sought the destruction of the Rasputin for their imprisonment and engaged once more with the Warmind. However, interference came in the form of the Guardian working with [[Ana Bray]]. Nokris encountered the Guardian during their mission of using a small shard of the Traveler as bait to lure Xol out and destroy him. However, Nokris faced them instead and fought the Guardian in a fierce battle. Despite his power, Nokris was incinerated by the Guardian, having failed to protect Xol from its destruction.

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 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 pretense 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.

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 [[Quria, Blade Transform|the 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]], [https://www.ishtar-collective.net/transcripts/a-shadow-overhead 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 insult 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]], [https://www.ishtar-collective.net/transcripts/quest-interference-means-to-an-end-week-1#interference Interference, Means to an End]''</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]], [https://www.ishtar-collective.net/transcripts/quest-interference-means-to-an-end-final-week#interference Interference, Means to an End (Final Week)]''</ref>