Savathûn's Brood

Savathûn's Brood
Overview
Purpose:	Serve Savathûn, the Witch Queen
Champion(s):	Dûl Incaru, the Eternal Return; Nokris, Supplicant to Savathûn; Savathûn's Song
Realm:	Court of Savathûn ; New Pacific Arcology ; Dreaming City
At war with:	Vanguard ; The Reef ; House of Dusk ; Scorn
Allied with:	Taken (formerly/Dreaming City) ; Grasp of Nokris ; Hidden Swarm (formerly) ; Lucent Brood (became or defected)
Encountered:	Red War ; Hunt for the Scorn ; Arrival of the Black Fleet

"...three words, nine word bursts over and over..."This article is based on canon information, but the article title is conjectural, as there is currently no official name for the subject. See the talk page for more information.

This article is about the original Hive servants of Savathûn, the Witch Queen. For the Light-wielding Hive that debuted in The Witch Queen, see Lucent Brood.

Savathûn's Brood was the former personal Hive brood of Savathûn, the Witch Queen, first encountered by the Vanguard within the New Pacific Arcology on Titan and within the Dreaming City. At some point following the Taken War and before the Red War, this brood arrived in the Solar System and infested Titan's long-abandoned Golden Age cities. This infestation came as an unwelcome surprise to the Lightless Guardians who evacuated the Last City in the aftermath of the Red Legion's invasion and fled to Titan with Commander Zavala to regroup.

They originally directly served and worshipped Savathûn, however, after the events of the Season of Arrivals, Savathûn went into hiding without the members of her court knowing after her known betrayal of the Witness during the Arrival of the Black Fleet. This led to many of the Brood's members being subjugated by Xivu Arath, God of War, however those in the Dreaming City continued to fight in her name. Those who remained loyal to the Witch Queen would join her Lucent Brood. The Hive of Savathûn's Brood appear to sport new weapons and morphologies, with its members appearing more muscular and organic, compared to the other sects.

History

Savathûn Sings

The Song of Savathûn calling out to its Master

"You all talk about this 'Savathûn' a lot. I don't think anyone's ever seen her, though. Are you all sure you've got your facts straight?"

— Eva Levante^[1]

During a mission to stabilize the New Pacific Arcology's foundation on Titan, the Guardians discover multiple Hive rituals to sink the Arcology.^[2] Sloane receives intel of a center point for these rituals deep beneath the Arcology and sends in fireteams to investigate, however, all seemingly disappear. Worried, she recruits the Guardians to look for the lost teams and find out what the Hive are up to. Breaching through the Hive defenses, the Guardians make radio contact with a Guardian named Taeko-3, the last surviving member of the previous fireteams, and learn that the Hive were forcibly extracting Void Light from Guardians to create the crystals to power a large Shrieker, Savathun's Song. Taeko-3 sacrifices her life to create a crystal the Guardians can use to access the Shrieker. They were successful in destroying Savathun's Song, avenging the fallen Guardians and preventing the Witch Queen's attempts to get her eyes on Titan.^[3]

On Io, the Guardian is ambushed by the Taken, which surprises Ikora of their return. Ikora is quick to hypothesize that the Taken are following the direction of a new hidden entity.^[4] Evidence suggests that the new Hive broods found on Titan and the Taken on Io swore allegiance to Savathûn, the Witch-Queen.^[5]

The Curse Loop

Dûl Incaru invading the Shattered Throne

"Is my cyclical death not the very engine which brings you here, again and again, in hope of answers? Thus I do own the portion of your mind which you devote to truth's pursuit."

— Dûl Incaru^[6]

As the Taken Curse blighted the Dreaming City, Savathûn entrusted her daughter, Dûl Incaru, the Eternal Return, to take advantage of the curse to plunder the city of its secrets and more importantly, further her mother's scheme of invading the Distributary to reach new bounds of godly strength.^[7] By using Eleusinia as a staging ground and aided by the Taken and Hive sent from her aunt Xivu Arath, Dûl Incaru waged an unending battle against the Awoken. Queen Mara Sov called upon her allies in the Guardians to fight back against the Taken curse. After two weeks of fighting the Taken and Hive, a rift to Eleusinia was opened beneath the Blind Well that allowed the Guardians to battle the Witch-Queen's daughter. Despite the protection of her Fatesmiths, Dûl Incaru was killed by the Guardians.^[8]

However, this seeming failure was all part of Savathûn's greater plans for the Dreaming City. After Dûl Incaru's death at the hands of the Guardians, the Dreaming City reverted to the state it had been in upon first being unsealed by the Guardian, progressing again through the same process of becoming corrupted by the Taken and culminating in another battle between Dûl Incaru and the Guardians. This apparent time-loop, spun by Quria, both furthers Savathûn's long-term goal of amassing tribute for herself through her subordinates committing violence within spaces with looped or dilated time, and also presents the Guardians with a dilemma: they can either repeatedly strike down Dûl Incaru and relive the same series of events, or they can refuse to do so and allow Dûl Incaru to complete her mission.^{[citation needed]}

The Witch's Trap

"Gahlran is a quick learner. His [deceptions] serve him well. He serves [me] in return."

— The Witch, Insidious^[9]

Gahlran, the Sorrow Bearer

During the events of Season of Opulence, Calus had Gahlran, the Sorrow-Bearer wear an ancient Hive artifact known as the Crown of Sorrow in an attempt to command the Hive; only for it to trigger Savathûn's enchantments that were placed on the artifact that would drive Gahlran insane, unleashing the Hive within the Leviathan's Menagerie.^[10]^[11] Gahlran's terror was only short-lived as Calus had him put down by a raid team of Guardians with the aid of Savathûn's magic and the Crown retrieved to be cleansed of the witch's wards.^[12] However, Calus still held onto various prisoners belonging to Savathûn's Brood, such as Arunak, Beloved by Calus.^[13]

Taken Queen Interferes

Nokris in the Court of Savathûn

"Nokris? Oryx's foundling and exiled brother to Crota. He is now bound to Savathûn as a catalyst for her interference."

— Eris Morn

On Io, Eris Morn heeds the call of a Pyramid to learn what she can. Her attempts to hear the Darkness are disrupted by Savathûn, who jams the Pyramid's broadcasts and sends Hive and Taken to intervene. She is slowly overwhelmed, but the Guardian, who was following her on Zavala's orders, manages to save Eris from the Witch-Queen's servants. Though injured, Eris manages to overcome the Witch Queen's power as she finds a tree of Silver Wings, with a seed of dark power at its base. After returning to the Last City, the Vanguard Commander pleads with her not to go any further but Eris leaves anyway, determined to figure out what Savathûn and the Darkness want.^[14] She returns to Io, only to find it swarmed with Savathûn's forces. Eris calls on the Guardians to take back the tree, and when they succeed, she uses the Seed of Silver Wings to receive and interpret the Pyramid's broadcasts.^[15]

During their trek into the Court of Savathûn, the Guardian learns that Oryx's disowned son, Nokris, has returned and is now in service to his aunt and her goals.^[15] It is soon discovered that the former Herald of Xol was abandoned by his god and, looking for a new purpose, used trickery to enter the Ascendant Realm, encountering the Witch Queen doing so. Both wishing to be free from the Darkness, Nokris agreed to a bargain with his scheming aunt. In exchange for teaching his aunt the secrets of Necromancy and interfering with the Pyramid's attempts to communicate with the Guardians, Nokris would take part in Savathûn's plans and learn the power to Take from the "Dreaming Mind".^[16]

After the Arrivals

"The Black Fleet intends to punish Savathûn for interfering with its efforts to communicate with us. No one knows where the Witch Queen is, not even her own court."

— Osiris^[17]

Following the failure of Nokris to interfere with the Guardians' communications with the Black Fleet, Savathûn quickly went into hiding as the Black Fleet branded her as a traitor and had her sister, Xivu Arath, hunt her down in retaliation.^[18]^[19] Now with the Witch Queen nowhere in sight for her court to know, many members of the Brood would either be converted into Wrathborn or be remade in Xivu's image as the case with Kudazad, Bound to Xivu Arath.^[20]^[21] Eventually, those who remained loyal to the Witch Queen joined her Lucent Brood.

Notable members

Hive Pantheon

Savathûn, the Witch Queen
- Balwûr — (Daughter) (formerly)
- Dûl Incaru, the Eternal Return — (Daughter)
- Malok, Pride of Oryx — (Son) (formerly)
- Nokris, Supplicant to Savathûn — (Nephew)

Savathûn's Champions

Savathûn's Envoys