Taranis

Taranis
Biographical information
Other name(s):	Taranis Rivensmate
Species:	Ahamkara
Gender:	Male
Political and military information
Notable info:	Sacrificed himself to scatter Riven's clutch in order to protect them.

Taranis was an Ahamkara and the mate of Riven.

Biography

Birth and Adolescence

Taranis hatched from an egg in the outer Solar System near the heliopause, in the absence of any sires or dams that created him. His first meal was the shell of the egg he hatched from.

He went on to learn the ways of hunting from the Ahamkara elders, watching them as they granted the wishes of their partners and attempting to sneak past them to steal some of their "food"; as he did so, he discovered that he could not consume his stolen meals, as he found them too "bitter". In the course of observing his elders, he also discovered that he was "plainspoken" by Ahamkara standards.

As he grew, Taranis began his first hunt on Mars by seeking out a Cabal soldier who desired to relax for one day without giving up on her patrol duties. He granted her wish by creating a sandstorm that shrouded the firebase, allowing her to retire to her bunk and relax while reading a novel, while Taranis himself hid in the pipes above her bunk and basked in her satisfaction. Though it didn't fully sate him, Taranis considered it a successful hunt.

At some point, Taranis would follow a faint trail and find a way into the Black Garden where he would make his nest. While he found the place good for teaching himself who he was and for providing sustenance from the possibility of the place when his hunts didn't provide enough, he found his nest lacking. After tasting an itch in his heart knowing his nest is not enough, Taranis begins his hunt for it, eventually leading him to Venus where he would discover the presence of Eliksni scavengers and Lightbearers as they engaged with the Vex and Psions. A lone Lightbearer with a pale lantern sat beneath a willow tree with faint desires. Taranis waited for the Lightbearer to wish but found that he wished for nothing, and so Taranis left.

Meeting Riven in the Dreaming City

Taranis later found his way to the Dreaming City through the Spine of Keres. There he met his future mate, Riven, who pinned him down with a claw and inquired about his presence in her lair. After spending some time bonding with Riven in the Divalian Mists and meeting the Awoken Gwilym, whom Taranis befriended by benignly granting a wish for tea and pastries, Taranis invited her to visit his lair in the Black Garden. She accepted the invitation, and together they began forging a bridge between their lairs. They would later produce a clutch of eggs, with Taranis serving the role of a dam and Riven serving the role of a sire.

When the Great Ahamkara Hunt began, Taranis disobeyed Riven's order to stay out of the Dreaming City and visited Azirim, who warned Taranis of the potential end of their species. Taranis next visited Gwilym, but he betrayed Taranis' trust by calling in a Corsair to catch him, citing an incident where Azirim had tricked and killed a group of Corsairs in the Gardens of Esila. Taranis escaped by changing into a dragonfly. By the end of the Great Hunt, he and Riven were separated physically and became the last of their kind, along with the clutch they produced.

Last Bargain

When Taranis returned to the Dreaming City, he found that Riven had been Taken by Oryx and that their eggs in the Dreaming City had been corrupted with Taken energies. Upon returning to the Black Garden, Taranis decided to sacrifice himself to protect his and Riven's remaining uncorrupted clutch, granting his own wish to scatter the clutch at the cost of his life. He also bequeathed a Bow as the final instruction to ensure the survival of his species: the Wish-Keeper.

Years later, the Guardian discovered Taranis' corpse as they recovered one of the eggs that had been stolen by Akardon, Pitiless Mind to stop Riven from granting the 15th Wish, which would grant access into the Pale Heart of the Traveler to stop the Witness. Riven was shocked upon learning Taranis's fate and instructed the Guardian to keep Wish-Keeper to honor Taranis's legacy to protect their whims from the Witness's attempt to enact the Final Shape. After uncovering the celestial anomalies throughout the Dreaming City and the Black Garden, the Guardian uncovered more of the relationship between Riven and Taranis.

Trivia

• Taranis is named after the god of lightning in Celtic mythology.

Appearance

• Destiny 2: Season of the Wish (First appearance)