City Age

Grimoire image

"When did the City Age begin? Perhaps when the bulk of the world's survivors lived beneath the Traveler, rather than in the wilderness. Or when the Titans raised the first wall. Or at Six Fronts, when the City first faced coordinated, overwhelming attack - and repelled it decisively"

— Grimoire Description.

The City Age is an era that began after the Dark Age when the Last City was founded. Survivors of the Collapse began to appear, traveling to the sanctuary which the dormant Traveler protected, and the City started to grow. Looking through various sources on the beginning of the Dark Age - which directly succeeded the Golden Age - as well as comments made by Ghost throughout most of the campaign missions, it can be assumed that the Dark Age and the ages that follow would have lasted for at least four centuries.

History

Founding

• The Last City—survivors of the Collapse, human, Awoken, and Exo, travel from far and wide to the site of the inactive Traveler, and build the Last City beneath its protective aura. The City Age begins.

• The Faction Wars—power struggles between various political factions for the support of the City's refugee masses escalate into a series of violent conflicts. Rezyl Azzir, a great leader and champion during those days, helps unite The Risen, and forms the Guardians, gaining him further fame. Together they end the bloodshed before the City is torn apart by the civil war, and focus on a new encroaching threat: the Fallen.

• The Consensus, a representative body through which the factions could pursue their agendas peacefully, is formed following the Faction Wars to jointly govern the City with the Speaker. New Monarchy coalesces in the wake of the Wars. In the aftermath, the first Titans construct and defend the City's walls.

• Titans raise the City's first wall.

• As the City continues to rise, Rezyl and the swelling numbers of Guardians see near constant action against the enroaching Fallen.

• The Hive begin landing Seeder Ships on Earth in a centuries-long process intended to precede an invasion. Guardians eventually first learn of the Hive's presence at the Rusted Lands, the future site of a Crucible arena.

• Toland, an esteemed and highly respected Warlock, is exiled from the Last City for his obsessive and dangerous studies on the Hive. He continues his work unabated.

• At some point, the first known voyage to the Reef is launched.

• Dead Orbit launches an expedition in the Reef to Ceres where a space station had been discovered. However an Awoken patrol ship spots them and cripples their ship, forcing them to move to the space station. None returns except a Ghost.

Early City Age

• The Battle of the Six Fronts—the first major attack weathered by the City. Four orders of Titans led by the Iron Lords defended six different approaches against an overwhelming enemy force. None of the orders faltered, and what could have been a disastrous defeat would instead become a decisive victory. At this time, the Iron Lords become known for their invincible patrols. Towards the battle's end, two Firebreak commanders including Lord Radegast, lead a march against the Fallen and reclaim five miles of scorched ground beyond the City's walls.

• The Speaker appoints Osiris as Vanguard Commander despite the Concordat's objections and dire claims following the battle of Six Fronts.

• The Iron Lords stumble on an old Clovis Bray research on SIVA, which points to its source, designated Site 6 in the Cosmodrome, Old Russia. There the Iron Lords, having grown to the hundreds (including the Iron Wolves), accidentally awaken the old Warmind Rasputin, who activates his defenses in retaliation, killing all but nine of the Iron Lords, who sacrifice themselves to contain SIVA after it proves uncontrollable to even Rasputin; only Saladin Forge returned to the City.

• The Six Coyotes, a legendary fireteam of Hunters, make the first survey beyond the Cosmodrome wall.

Mid-City Age

• Osiris begins to tire of repetitive strike missions and seemingly unproductive sessions with the Cryptarchs before he is eventually noticed by the Speaker, who makes him his apprentice. Osiris' desire for truth, however, about the purpose of Guardians and the nature of the Darkness seemingly drives him to madness. His subsequent misuse of resources and the diversion of Guardians from their duties would result in the Speaker sending him into exile shortly after the Battle of the Twilight Gap, as the Speaker believed he had become as obsessed with the Vex as Toland had with the Hive. After a bitter argument with the Speaker, Osiris himself left the Tower and vanished.

• The Battle of the Twilight Gap—the House of Kings leads the combined might of the House of Devils and House of Winter in an assault against the City. The battle occurs at the Twilight Gap, just outside the City's walls. Vanguard Commander Saladin Forge coordinates the City's defenses with his students Zavala and Shaxx. Though many Guardians fell in the ensuing battle, the united Fallen Houses are driven off with heavy casualties. In the aftermath of the Guardians' hard-won victory, the outermost sections of the City are evacuated and converted into fortifications, and the Vanguard decides to take a more proactive stance in fighting the forces of the Darkness by deploying strike teams against high value enemy targets.

• The Crusade of Saint-14—after the Battle of the Twilight Gap, the legendary Titan and Exo Saint-14 rallies an army of Guardians to attack the Fallen surrounding the Last City. His campaign is successful and Fallen attacks on the City temporarily abate. During the campaign, he personally fights and kills Solkis, Devil Kell. Shortly thereafter he went in search of Osiris at the behest of the Speaker, heading for Mercury.

• Reef Wars—as the Battle of the Twilight Gap rages on Earth, the Awoken of the Reef, allied with the Nine, subdue the powerful House of Wolves. Battles include the Hildian Campaign and the Raze of Amethyst. After their Kell Virixas is killed, a brutal civil war among the Wolves ensues which sees Skolas emerge as the new Kell. Following Skolas's capture at the Cybele Uprising, the Wolves surrender and swear fealty to the Queen of the Reef rather than be totally destroyed. The Queen seals their nobility in the Prison of Elders and allows the rest to serve as her personal guards and servants.

• Petra Venj is exiled to the Last City to serve as the Queen's Emissary as penance for accidentally killing nine Guardians and their Ghosts because of a miscommunication between the Awoken and the Vanguard. Sometime during this exile she writes a letter to the Queen asking to come home.

• Following the Reef Wars, the Cabal commander Valus Trau'ug attempts to authorize an invasion of the Reef. When he is denied by his superiors, Trau'ug massacres his own officers in an act of mutiny and leads his most loyal soldiers against the Queen. Trau'ug fails utterly as both he and his Broken Legion are interned in the Prison of Elders by unknown means. Their ships end up as part of the Reef graveyard.

• In the aftermath of the Reef Wars and the Twilight Gap, numerous rogues and outcasts of the Fallen houses band together to form the House of Exile on the moon and start to plunder the Hive fortress there.

• The Concordat faction attempts a coup against the Consensus, fighting a battle against the New Monarchy at Bannerfall. In the wake of their defeat, the faction and their founder is ejected from the City. The Vanguard and the Speaker then approve the ascension of the Future War Cult to replace the Concordat.

• The negotiations known as the Faction Accords occurred, approximately 126 years before the SIVA Crisis. Andal Brask was involved in the process.

• Ikora Rey achieved the first recorded 25-match win streak in the Crucible, approximately 126 years before the SIVA Crisis.

• The Centaur planetoid 7066 Nessus re-entered the Solar System after an unexplained delay, approximately 126 years before the SIVA Crisis.

• A fireteam consisting of Praedyth, Pahanin, Kabr, and three unknown Guardians land on Venus and breach the Vault of Glass, hoping to destroy Atheon, along with whatever secrets the Vex have hidden there, and return to the City in glory. The assault is a disaster, as Kabr's team encounter the Templar, whose impregnable shields and powerful weapons force the team deeper into the Vault of Glass. Only Pahanin escapes the Vault. One member, Praedyth is trapped by the Vex and lost in time, and the remaining Guardians are erased from existence. Kabr himself is not killed but instead goes mad, becoming obsessed with the Vex, fashioning armor and weapons from their corpses. In the end Kabr does not die but is assimilated by the Vex. In his last act Kabr creates the Aegis, a weapon capable of piercing the Templar's shields, so that future fireteams will not meet his fate.

Late City Age

• Rezyl Azzir goes to the Moon to "search [for] nightmares", and is "invited" in by Hive Wizard Xyor, the Blessed He kills her consort and takes his chitin as a trophy to adorn the Rose.

• Battle of Burning Lake—the Hive invade Earth and make first contact with the Guardians. Though the Guardians successfully repel the invasion, Shaxx attempts to dissuade the Consensus from ordering a counterattack, arguing that the Hive's power needed to be understood before a proper offensive could be launched. In the years after, he begins developing the lost art of swordsmithing, reverse-engineering the dreaded Hive blades for use by Guardians.

• The Great Disaster—the Guardians launch an audacious offensive to reclaim the Moon from the Hive. The Hive Prince Crota, the son of their God-King Oryx, brutally repels the attack, personally leading the Hive's forces and killing scores of Guardians with his fabled sword. Humbled, the Vanguard orders a full retreat and declares the Moon off-limits, hoping that the Hive will lose interest and refrain from invading Earth.

• Seeking to avenge their lost allies, Eriana-3 leads a fireteam of Guardians consisting of Eris Morn, Vell Tarlowe, Omar Agah, Sai Mota, and Toland, the Shattered to the Moon to hunt down Crota. Though they succeed in destroying Crota's physical form, the Hive catch and preserve his soul. As the Guardians try to flee, they are killed one by one until only Eris remains. Eris survives in the Hive's tunnels for years before escaping and later becoming one of Ikora Rey's Hidden.

• The Great Ahamkara Hunt—the Ahamkara are made extinct by order of the Vanguard to prevent Guardians from self-destruction. The Warlocks preserve some Ahamkara bones and fossils for study, and a few Hunters adorn their armor with scales.

• Andal Brask, the Hunter Vanguard, falls in battle with the vicious Fallen mercenary Taniks. Cayde-6 reluctantly assumes Brask's post in memory of his deceased friend.

• Holborn's Host investigates the Dust Palace on Mars, seeking a Warmind. While preparing for their assault on the Dust Palace, Holborn discovers a lost Ghost and attempts to communicate with it before inviting it to join them on their mission. The "sick" Ghost then wanders off, and Holborn continues on his quest.

• Rezyl Azzir becomes Dredgen Yor, corrupted by the Hive trophies he has collected, and begins his campaign of destruction, murdering fellow Guardians and civilians alike. His victims include the Crucible champion Thalor and the Hunters Pahanin and Jaren Ward. Yor is finally killed by Jaren Ward's adopted son, Shin Malphur and his handgun The Last Word after a fateful duel. All information relating to Rezyl becoming Dregen Yor is redacted by the Vanguard for fear of a demoralization. Only Shin and the Vanguard knew the truth.

• Fireteam Tuyet traverses the Ishtar Sink in search of Vex secrets. Unfortunately the Vex find them first and Tuyet is lost in a last stand on the Shattered Coast. The intel they recover though is later used to forge Pocket Infinity.

• An unknown Hunter recons the Ishtar ruins searching for the Fallen House of Winter's Kellship. She is ambushed by Fallen troops before finally locating their Ketch. Rather than assaulting it herself, the Hunter instructs her Ghost to alert the Vanguard that Draksis, Winter Kell is at the Cinders.

Events of Destiny

Centuries after the collapse, a Ghost scouring the ruins outside of the old Cosmodrome finds its Guardian among the ancient remains and resurrects them just as a band of Fallen begin encroaching on their position. Ghost leads the Guardian through The Wall in search of a Jumpship before helping them return to the Last City. At the Tower the Guardian is acquainted with the merchants and Guardians who reside there. The Guardian then returns to the Cosmodrome in order to find a Warp Drive which will allow them to join the fight beyond Earth. After finding one in Fallen hands, the Guardian defeats the Devil's Archon and gains an audience with the Speaker who confides in them that the Darkness is returning. Wanting to help, the Guardian is tasked to join the other Guardians in pushing back the Darkness until a cure for the Traveler can be found.

The Guardian ventures back to the Cosmodrome at the request of the Speaker who wants to know what the Fallen are protecting in the old Skywatch, but after infiltrating the Lunar Complex, the Guardian quickly discovers the Hive locked within before confronting the Wizard Gotra.

Soon after, the Vanguard reports Fallen crews tearing into machines all over the Cosmodrome. Convinced they are not just looting, Ghost prompts the Guardian to investigate. The Guardian discovers the Warmind Rasputin survived the Collapse and is keeping the Fallen from accessing the Array. In an effort to raise this array, the Guardian tracks down access codes held by members of a lost Dead Orbit team. After fighting off the Hive, the Guardian reactivates the Array and Rasputin swiftly takes control, connecting with defense constructs across the system.

On the Moon, the Guardian picks up the trail of another Guardian who went dark searching for a way into the Hive Fortress. After hacking a Golden Age colony base, the Guardian travels to the Temple of Crota where they fight off Exiled Fallen as well as Hive forces led by Vurok, Eir Spawn. Unable to save the Guardian, Ghost recovers his Ghost's memories and learns that the Hive are raising an army to invade Earth.

In an attempt to uncover what the Hive are planning, the Guardian infiltrates the The World's Grave and kills Kranox, the Graven. The Guardian's Ghost then steals as much data as possible before the two return to warn the City. Returning to the Moon, the Guardian infiltrates the Hellmouth once more and claims the Sword of Crota. With its makers slain, the Sword shatters. While inside the Hellmouth, the Guardian follows a lead from the vanished Warlock Osiris, seeking the fabled Shrine of Oryx. After killing Frigoris, Exiled Baron and his Fallen crew, the Guardian defeats Sardok, Eye of Oryx and destroys the Shrine.

After successfully decrypting the information from the World's Grave alongside the Cryptarchs, the Speaker broadcasts an urgent transmission to all Guardians claiming that a Hive ritual is draining the Traveler's Light. The Guardian then returns once more to the Hive temple and after receiving a message from the Exo Stranger, inviting them to come find her if they are successful, kills the Siphon Witches, effectively preventing them from stealing any more of the Light.

Following the Stranger's coordinates, the Guardian finally travels to Venus where they are ambushed by the evil robots known as Vex. After defeating the Vex forces in the vicinity, the Guardian meets with the Exo Stranger, who tells them that they must find the Black Garden and rip out its heart in order for the Traveler to heal. Before the Guardian can ask anymore questions, the Exo Stranger is contacted by an unknown entity before dissolving. With the only ones who know the location of the Garden being the Awoken, the Guardian seeks an audience with the Queen of the Reef and is informed that they must obtain the eye of a Vex Gate Lord in order to infiltrate the Black Garden. The Queen then reminds the Guardian that they owe her in exchange for her information.

To find a Gate Lord, the Guardian travels to an old research station of the Ishtar Collective, and analyzes a Vex mind core, giving them vital intel on the nature of the Vex as well as the means with which to summon the Gate Lord. While at the Ishtar Academy, the Guardian kills Grayliks, Winter Baron and secures an ancient Golden Age Archive for the Cryptarchs. Armed with this new intel, the Guardian reaches the Endless Steps, summoning and slaying Zydron. Returning to the Reef, the Guardian brings the Gate Lord's head before the Queen, who gifts its eye to them in sympathy for their Traveler. Uldren then gives them the coordinates to the Black Garden including a way to repower the Gate Lord's dead eye.

On Mars, the Guardian infiltrates a Cabal survey post and secures their research into the Vex Spire. The Guardian clears out the Cabal occupying the ruins of Freehold and explores what remains. Battling their way through a Cabal hardpoint, the Guardian reaches the Garden's Spire and kills Primus Sha'aul. While en route to the Garden, the Guardian also shuts down a series of Vex gates beneath the subway tunnels of Freehold, and discovers that the Vex are being summoned to protect the place where they were born. Succefully recharging Zydron's Eye, the Guardian is transported to the Black Garden.

Within the Black Garden, the Guardian confronts the Sol Progeny and defeats them, destroying the Black Heart in the process. Returned to Mars upon the Heart's destruction, the Guardian is summoned back to the Tower, where the Speaker gives a victory speech. Meanwhile, the Exo Stranger converses with the Guardian inside the Hangar and gifts them with her Rifle before leaving abruptly again. The Guardian then repowers their ship and takes off into orbit as they prepare for their next mission.

Red War and reclamation of the Last City

The Last City would temporarily be invaded and conquered by the Red Legion, after the Cabal forces in the Solar System relayed an emergency request for help to the Empire. However, after the death of Ghaul and liberation of the Last City, the age of the Last City would continue on as usual.

List of appearances

• Destiny (First appearance)
• Destiny 2
• Destiny: Fall of Osiris
• Destiny: Warmind (comic)
• Destiny: Cayde's Six