Books of Sorrow

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The Books of Sorrow are a compendium of the Hive's history, stretching back before the dawn of humanity, when the Founders of the Hive still lived as mortals on the Fundament. Excerpts of the book can be recovered by discovering Calcified Fragments aboard the Dreadnaught.

Synopsis

Calcified Fragments: Curiosity

This Verse isn't in the Books proper, and may be considered as a prologue.

It begins with the narrator writing to their sisters, telling them that after two years of its short life they have found the truth of the Fundament: they, and perhaps all of the races living on the gas giant, are immigrants. It describes many nearby known continents as fragments of an ancient world where they once had lived, how how the sea they float on and the atmosphere above them must be two layers of the same gas giant, a massive world.

The narrator then addresses one of their sisters by name, Sathona, and tells her that their philosophy of life—"the Timid Truth", it is called—is completely wrong, and that they were never meant to be prey, but something much more. Then the narrator asks Sathona to tell their father of this discovery, claiming it is the culmination of his whole life, and signs it as "with love[...] your first surviving sister, Aurash". The Verse mentions that this is Sathona's second birthday.

I: Predators

Verse I opens with an introduction, indicating Xi Ro had written this, and meant for it to last. It mentions she is the third surviving sister of a brood that was apparently killed or lost to misfortune. Her father is called the Osmium King.

In this Verse, true to its title, Xi Ro describes seven dangers her species face and her observation of it. She describes a stormjoy as "a living cloud", drifting along currents, with "feeding tentacles" tipped with "bait-stars". This bait-stars apparently use light to attract prey, as Xi Ro describes light as being dangerous. She then records that the aged can choose to be eaten, that a brave knight can cut off the bait-stars without getting killed, and that she herself has six of them.

She describes what happens when her father "uses the engines", that an unwary person can fall off the continent to their death. Then she describes how the currents of the Fundament ocean bring them to other continents, especially the Helium Drinkers of the Helium Court, members of their species. After describing their physical appearance Xi Ro says how they raid them each day, and that they are "bright/evil", and how she wants to become a knight and fight them. She also describes losing ten of her sisters to the Helium Drinker ambassador appetite, calling it "tribute", but resents it.

Xi Ro then describes Mothers, the females of their race. Like much of the Verse this has a happy quality to it. She describes their attributes, that they can fly, live for longer than ten years, and are extremely intelligent. She also warns what happens if anyone tries to harm their eggs, that the Mothers eat them. She then notes that her sister Sathona wants to become a Mother and live longer.

Then she tells of the storms of the Fundament. The rain is often poisonous and can even dissolve flesh, and if lightning strikes a person they are instantly obliterated. She mentions lightning farms, indicating they harness the storms for energy, then finishes by saying it is all deadly. Continuing in this vein Xi Ro then talks about the rest of Fundament, saying it is very large and they are small, and if they don't understand something it is likely to kill them. Her teacher, Taox, says that is why they live so briefly, and why they breed and adapt quickly.

Xi Ro finishes by mentioning "moon waves", saying it is something her sister Aurash is afraid of. Xi Ro doesn't know what they are, and when Aurash returns from a place called Tungsten Monoliths, she'll ask her.

II: The Hateful Verse

This Verse opens with an introduction to the Helium Court, mentioning that it was written both in secret and desperation. The writer introduces herself as Taox, the teacher of the Osmium King's three daughters. She claims she is sterile and a Mother; and because of these two qualities she rose above pettiness to see what she calls "the patterns of survival". Taox mentions having designed the engines used to move their continent, the Osmium Court. Both of these she says she did alone, and now she'll do so again.

Taox writes a plea to the King of the Helium Drinkers. Her King is old—nearing his tenth year—and approaching madness, senility already claimed him. She says he neglects his duties in favor of studying old books, observing "moons above the storm", and wandering his halls muttering about nonsense, talking to a "dead worm". This worm, she mentions, is sealed in glass when he isn't wandering and tends to it.

She laments the King's three surviving daughters, each two years old. She describes Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash's qualities, listing their ages from youngest to eldest. She calls Xi Ro brave for wanting to be a knight, Sathona clever for wanting to be a Mother, and Aurash as simply the "navigator child". (Taox mentions that in the next day Aurash will return from the Tungsten Monoliths, spoken of in previous Verses.) All of these are good qualities, Taox says, but none of them are suitable to protect her home and people. Xi Ro cannot lead, Sathona cannot fight, and Aurash is often distracted by her curious nature. She fears for the survival of all future children.

Taox then begins to close by saying that the King will lock himself away in his Royal Orrery, and will neglect his kingdom again. She calls for the Helium Drinkers to invade, to kill the three heirs, and instal her as regents, offering her services as engine-builder to them. She finishes by saying if she failed, she invokes a curse to be eaten by the Leviathan.

She ends by saying this is a hateful request written in grief, and that she is "neutered to watch". She mentions being the Osmium-mother, indicating she may have birthed the Osmium King.

List of appearances

• Destiny
  • The Taken King (First appearance)