Riven: Difference between revisions

|faction= [[The Reef]] {{C|formerly}} <br> [[Blood of Oryx]] <br> [[Savathûn's Brood]] {{C|allied}}

{{article quote|Most of those who bargain with me do not win, O murderer mine.|Riven of a Thousand Voices}}

'''Riven of a Thousand Voices''' was originally considered the last living [[Ahamkara]] after the [[Great Ahamkara Hunt]] before the discovery of an uncorrupted clutch of her eggs; having formerly served [[Mara Sov]] and the [[Awoken]] as their greatest kept secret. She was instrumental in the creation of the [[Dreaming City]] and [[Eleusinia]] until the [[Taken War]], during which she was [[Taken]] by [[Oryx, the Taken King]] before his death and later then conspired with his sister: [[Savathûn, the Witch-Queen]].

Now corrupting the city from its heart, the [[Keep of Voices]], the Taken Ahamkara became the underlying main antagonist of the ''[[Forsaken]]'' expansion. Riven would play a prominent role behind the creation of the [[Scorn]] and worked her way into [[Uldren Sov]]'s mind like a parasite, impersonating his sister and deceiving him into unsealing the [[Dreaming City]] in an attempt to free her from its prison.  

Riven serves as the final boss of the ''[[Last Wish]]'' [[Raid]] when [[Guardian]]s would storm the Keep and slay her at the behest of Queen Mara and [[Petra Venj]]. However, this served as a ploy to draw the attention of the Guardians for them to end her Taken curse by killing her. Despite her physical death, her consciousness persisted and granted the Guardians one final wish: using her wish magic to curse the Dreaming City in a three-week-long temporal loop.

Riven was young during the earliest days of the [[Reef]]. When she encountered [[Uldren Sov]], who was on a mission to find a power that would allow [[Mara Sov]] to build an impregnable [[Awoken]] city, she was drawn to his unfulfilled ambitions and allowed him to present her to [[Mara Sov]]. The Ahamkara took the name Riven, in honor of her host. <ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Lore]]: [[Lore:The_Awoken_of_the_Reef#Telic_I|Telic I]]''</ref><ref name = "Telic II">'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Lore]]: [[Lore:The_Awoken_of_the_Reef#Telic_II|Telic II]]''</ref> <ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Lore]]: [[Lore:The_Dreaming_City#Riven|Riven]]''</ref>  Through the years, she grew and accompanied Mara Sov in her ventures, becoming one of the most significant members of her entourage. Riven's wish-granting faculty played a key role in the construction of the Dreaming City. However, Mara remained wary of Riven's fundamental untrustworthiness and appetite as an Ahamkara. Mara constructed a [[Wall of Wishes]] to make bargaining with Riven safer,<ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Armor_of_the_Great_Hunt_(Titan)#Helm_of_the_Great_Hunt|Helm of the Great Hunt]]''</ref> and made sure to keep her away from Uldren and other potential sources of trouble.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Oracle]]''</ref><ref name = "Telic II"/> Indeed, Riven's work on the Dreaming City included small but deliberate flaws that would make it vulnerable to attack.<ref name="Gauntlets">'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Armor_of_the_Great_Hunt_(Titan)#Gauntlets_of_the_Great_Hunt|Gauntlets of the Great Hunt]]''</ref> She would also construct her own [[Riven's Lair|lair]] hidden away from the Awoken.

When she spotted the Ahamkara known as [[Taranis]] around the [[Spine of Keres]], she pinned him to the ground and questioned him about his presence within her territory.<ref>'''Bungie (2023/12/26)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Wish]], [[Lore]]: [[Lore:Gifts and Bargains#First Gift|First Gift]]''</ref> Despite this prejudgment, Riven decided to give him a tour around the Dreaming City. After some time bonding together at the [[Divalian Mists]], Taranis discovered an Awoken named [[Gwilym]], who wished for sesame pastries soaked in honey. After Taranis grants Gwilym's wish, the Awoken holds out his hand in thanks and is startled when Taranis grows out a thumb to grasp it.

 

When Taranis climbed back up to the cliff, Riven expressed her astonishment at how small he was due to his refusal to grasp for more. Taranis claimed that it was enough for his nourishment, which Riven called foolish, something he acknowledged. Following their bonding for some time, Taranis invited her to his lair within the [[Black Garden]], to which she agreed. When they arrived at his nest, the two decided that if Taranis wouldn't let himself grow, they would make something that would. Together, they formed a bridge to each other's lairs and produced Whims, with her as the sire, and Taranis as the dam.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/1/2)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Wish]], [[Lore]]: [[Lore:Gifts and Bargains#Second Gift|Second Gift]]''</ref>

 

However, their prosperity would not come to last as the [[Great Ahamkara Hunt]] was enacted by the [[Vanguard]], with the Reef assisting them. To keep Riven contained, Mara would wish for her to be trapped inside the [[Keep of Voices]] at the heart of the city. Desiring to keep her mate safe, she would warn Taranis about the Hunt and ordered him to stay within his nest. However, believing he could reason with them, Taranis returned to the city, much to Riven's dismay as she roared from her cage. After surviving an encounter with a Corsair, Taranis returned to his lair, telling Riven she was right. Due to their separation, they would whisper to each other from across space, eventually becoming the last of their kind.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/1/9)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Wish]], [[Lore]]: [[Lore:Gifts and Bargains#Third Gift|Third Gift]]''</ref> Riven would remain in the keep for the rest of her life, though the Queen visited her regularly to make bargains.<ref name="Gauntlets"/>

Shortly after the [[Battle of Saturn]], the [[Darkness]] from Oryx's [[Dreadnaught]] Took the Techeuns from the battle, and the Taken invaded the [[Dreaming City]], which was inadvertently revealed, en masse. At the Keep where Riven was kept, Oryx offered to [[Taken|Take]] Riven away, although she knew that Oryx would not let her leave the Dreaming City. Nonetheless, Riven, eager to try bargaining with a king, told Oryx to take whatever he wished, as long as he 'wished' it. Riven and Oryx both knew they were attempting to deceive each other and began laughing together at the irony of their scenario.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Armor_of_the_Great_Hunt_(Warlock)#Hood_of_the_Great_Hunt|Hood of the Great Hunt]]''</ref> Following this, Riven's identity seemed to merge with Oryx's will, being simultaneously the Taken King and Riven.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Armor_of_the_Great_Hunt_(Warlock)#Robes_of_the_Great_Hunt|Robes of the Great Hunt]]''</ref> When Oryx was defeated by [[The Guardian]], Riven felt the Taken King's despair at not being able to avenge his son [[Crota, Son of Oryx|Crota]]. Although her will was partly restored, Riven reflected that she was still trapped within the Dreaming City and could not escape, while also having no one within the City to talk to as the Techeuns, despite also being Taken, did not have free will as she did.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Armor_of_the_Great_Hunt_(Warlock)#Gloves_of_the_Great_Hunt|Gloves of the Great Hunt]]''</ref>

===Witch's Bargain===

Years after Oryx's defeat, [[Savathûn, the Witch-Queen]] infiltrated the Dreaming City and revealed herself to Riven. Without a Taken King, the Taken Riven was directionless, and asked Savathûn to "take up those strings." After this was done, Riven's Taken directive changed again. She became capable of exerting her influence outside the Dreaming City, and through her bond with Savathûn caught a glimpse into her plans. What Riven saw unsettled her.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Armor_of_the_Great_Hunt_(Warlock)#Boots_of_the_Great_Hunt|Boots of the Great Hunt]]''</ref>

Years after Riven's corporeal death, which freed her from her Taken curse, the Guardians and the Vanguard Coalition, following various conflicts and unnerving revelations, would be forced to raise the Last Ahamkara's spirit so she can perform the 15th wish, the "one we would cherish" as she once spoke, which turned out to be the Witch Queen's wish before her demise and being made a Lightbearer. Using the Wall of Wishes once more and Queen Mara's Techuens performing a spell to awaken Riven's spirit with her heart and tooth, the Guardians and Mara ask for the Wish for a new pathway. Riven's spirit, though diminished yet still strong enough to perform one more wish, awakens as planned but to the Awoken Queen's surprise and frustration, the Ahamkara refuses to grant them their wish.<ref>'''Bungie (2023/11/28)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Wish]] - [[Final Wish (mission)|Final Wish]]''</ref> In a private conversation with Mara, Riven states she has no reason to grant it as she is dead along with the rest of her kind. Riven recounts how it wasn't enough for the Awoken Queen to send the Guardians to slay her, but also have her forces destroy her eggs. Or so Mara thought, as one was found within [[Savathûn's Spire]]. Riven admits that she hid some of her eggs within the bowels of her lair to protect them from Mara's wrath and if she were to ensure their safety, then the Ahamkara would perform the final wish. Despite the risk of allowing the Ahamkara species to thrive and terrorize the Sol System once again yet desperate for the means to follow [[The Witness]], the Awoken Queen agrees to Riven's bargain.

Though the bargain angers many, [[Petra Venj]] and Crow among them, Mara believes there is little choice and thus instructs the Guardians to descend into [[Riven's Lair]] to find her clutch of eggs, slaying [[Sol Divisive]] Vex and rampant Taken throughout the way. However, after reaching the end and opening the vault, they find it empty, angering Riven. Mara voices her innocence before ordering Petra and her Techuens to find out what happened. In time, Petra uncovers that somehow, Riven's eggs were cast into the Ascendant Plane, leaving them to orbit the material plane like comets to a sun. However, Petra believes that they can employ the same strategy of using the Ley Lines in the Dreaming City to "catch" them, similar to how the Queen's Techuens were lost in the Ascendant Plane. The plan succeeds in catching one egg, bringing it to a secure location before the Vex could capture or destroy it themselves. During the whole mission, Riven continually taunts the group alongside thinly veiled threats to them should her clutch of eggs come to harm, promising they will get nothing from her if such an event occurs.

Later, Riven would target her taunts and mocking towards Crow as he works with Petra, Mara and the Guardian in modifying the Oracle Engine within the Dreaming City to help them guide Riven's clutch towards them. Crow tries to ignore Riven as much as possible but her words but he nonetheless becomes angered by the fact that they have to work with the Ahamkara that played a large part in his fall from grace and eventual death. Fortunately, Mara and Petra convince Crow to stay the course as the Guardian succeeds in acquiring another egg. Riven would later actually confide with the Guardian on the natures of humans and Ahamkara, wondering about the possibility that more of the Ahamkara could have survived the Great Hunt had they acted more "human" but sadly concluded that such a bargain was simply not part of their nature.

 

 

 

 

After the Guardian collected the last egg before the Scorn could claim it, Mara, Petra, Crow and the Guardian made the final preparations for the 15th Wish. Returning to the Wall of Wishes once again, the Guardian enacts the final wish for Riven to grant, creating a portal for Crow to pass through. With the wish complete, Riven's essence became spent and begins to slowly fade away. She bids farewell to Mara who has taken responsibility for the Great Hunt by deciding to look after Riven's Clutch as they grow. However, when Crow finally arrived within the Pale Heart, Riven's last wish had one final twist. As Crow took the plunge through the portal, he thought about [[Cayde-6]] staring up at him without a Ghost or Light, fearlessly aiming his gun at him. As a result, Riven's wish brought Cayde back to life as a construct of pure Light energy.

==Personality and traits==

*Riven is believed to be the second largest [[Raid]] boss in ''[[Destiny]]'' history, surpassing [[Argos, Planetary Core]] and [[Oryx, the Taken King]]. She is eclipsed only by [[The Witness]].

*''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]]'' {{1st}}