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My Own Grimoire

"I don't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain."
This article has new content coming soon and may not be complete, confirmed, or correct. Please update it as soon as any relevant and accurate material is available. Editors must cite sources for all contributions to this article. Edits that do not follow this standard will be reverted without notice. For more information, see the Citation policy.

"Something is not right about that Ghost. Ever since he returned from the Vault, alone of Kabr's fireteam, with the shell of a legendary Gorgon in place of his Scholar's, he's acted quite odd. At least no significant harm has come from his amnesia, apart from making him quite eager to help with my studies. But I recommend you keep a watch on him."

— Master Rahool's note to the Guardian

I'll be working on writing out a bit of "Grimoire cards" for a little something, just for idling purposes. I want to create my own Taken Grimoire cards for other units, to see what really would have happened if Oryx appeared in the system in the base game and up. This'll be a long one. Most major units will be added. It'll be fun.

Vex Grimoire

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Fallen Grimoire

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Grimoire from Others

"I wonder if this Ghost became lost in the timestream during Kabr's assault. So many things he has found and speculated upon, most of which dwarf even my apprentice's mad dreams. I have never heard of a "Primus A'arn", nor these fragments relating to Saturn or the Vex. Moreover, half of these are so bizarre they may as well have come from one of the many places the War Cult is searching, and not our own. This is troubling. How much of the Ghost is itself, and how much has been corrupted?"

— The Speaker's personal notes, dated after the immediate destruction of Atheon, Time's Conflux

Sometimes the Internet gives out things that are utterly fantastic. The cards beneath, for example, come from the same user on Tumblr, and are credited to them.

Ghost Fragment: Mercury

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
HERMIT Halifax Hellfire HORROR

I can feel the scream as a sensation of burning. The sun is hotter and darker than ever. The atmosphere rips apart and the heat assaults me, melting my skin. My mind stays. The heat is strong, but it is darker than ever. I feel them all around me. I feel myself join them. Hermes cries out and they follow him, but he is no longer the Hermes that served other, lesser masters. He is one with Mercury. He commands them. He isolated himself from them. He became them. We become him.

HORDE Halo Hundred HOTEL Hostile Head

We are the planet. The towers that rise and shift and the glass sands that reflect the sun like quadrillions of mirrors and the band of twilight that encircles us and the icy chill of our night face and the flame of our day face. We are all. We are superior to those who content themselves with following Axis minds. The Hezens, the Progeny, the Invasive, all are mere slaves. We are truly one. We wish the others from before, our brothers and sisters, could’ve seen it. Only one is left, and he remains silent. He is the only thing that could resist us. But we are many as one and he is one as many. They who used to rule us travel here, rewarding their mightiest with treasures hidden here. We let them, to better hide our power. They do not know us. The one who does is ours already. We searched for the crypt when we were apart, but we realized that the crypt is a lie, a limiter on our power. It is not a blessing, but a curse.

Ghost Fragment: Ishtar Collective

[ISHTAR COLLECTIVE SECURE MESSAGE SYSTEM]

{WARNING: ANY UNAUTHORIZED RELEASE OF INFORMATION MENTIONED HEREIN WILL RESULT IN SEVERE CONSEQUENCES. ALL CONTENT OF THIS MESSAGE IS CLASSIFIED: TIER ZERO}

<<MESSAGE>>

[From: Ishtar Collective Department of Vex Studies, Director (Dr. Shim)]
[To: Ishtar Collective Development Council]
[Subject: Re: Operation TROJAN HORSE Project Proposition]

<Esteemed Colleagues,

<<A few weeks ago, myself and my top assistants in the Vex Studies Department requisitioned the Warmind Ajax for use in extracting mass amounts of data from an active Vex Axis unit. I am proud to report that the operation was a success. The data extracted from the unit was astounding. The unit was able to perfectly replicate copies of myself and three of my assistants as AI fragments in two hundred and twenty seven hyperrealistic permutations in order to test and react to any possible situation we could’ve put it through. We do not know how many were deleted by the unit before the extraction was complete, but these two hundred and twenty seven copies of myself and my four closest advisors are endlessly grateful for being saved from a horrible fate. All are completely sentient and, while this in and of itself is a huge leap forward in AI theory, I am [o]f the opinion, as are they, that they could be infinitely more useful as explorer units inside the Vex mainframe. This is my proposal.

//FIRST, that the objective of this experiment is to insert a total of nine hundred and eight fully functional AI fragment copies of myself (Doctor Charles Shim) and my associates (Doctors Shamus Duane-McNiadh, Maya Sundaresh, and Chioma Esi) into the Vex informational mainframe via the Citadel to extract data on anything and everything that could be useful to us. Theorized subjects include infinite energy transferral, weaponized singularities, AI Transsentience and Rampancy theory, temporal distortion and/or control and/or weaponization, teleportation, etc.

//Second, that the experiment is hypothesized to yield results that could drive human scientific development forward by centuries and have a direct effect on the progress of human colonization as soon as a year from its conclusion.

//Third, that this project will, by nature, require myself and my colleagues to physically enter the Vex Citadel via Warmind proxy units in order to complete the insertion. The project will also, by nature, require the use of the Warminds Ajax and Aphrodite for data processing, anti-virus, and development.

The project has been designated as Operation TROJAN HORSE. Thank you for your time and I will gladly discuss any further questions at our meeting in the coming week.

>>Good fortune and Traveler’s Light be with you all,
/Dr. Charles Shim, Director, Ishtar Collective, Vex Studies/

<<END MESSAGE>>

Ghost Fragment: The Vault of Glass

Excerpt from the writings of Osiris, Warlock Exile, “Tempore Alternis—The Theory of Trans-Universal Temporal Convergence”

Examples of Trans—Universal Temporal Convergence in Our Own Solar System
As it is commonly known, humanity has had the capability of detecting a myriad of signals from as far away as the other side of our vast galaxy [and] as far back as the earliest days of the twenty-first century, before the dawn of the Golden Age. Thus, one must wonder why the energies emerging from the Vex structures on Venus, such as the infamous Vault of Glass [known as the Vex underworld then] and the Citadel of the Ishtar Sink, were not the subject of at least a little curiosity before the colonization of Venus. These signals, which have been studied and recorded tirelessly by the Ishtar Collective and Vanguard equipment for hundreds of years between them, are known to have been of a regular strength and pattern for as long as the Vault has existed.

Study of the Vault’s component matter has revealed it to be billions of years old. Why, then, were these signals, which were strong enough to be discovered even before the first ships arrived on Venus, undetected or ignored before the Golden Age? Why were all efforts to colonize or study Venus dismissed as worthless, aside from the fact that it was, at that point, a sulfuric, volcanic, poisonous hellhole? Why was there not the least bit of intrigue about these signals? In fact, as one asks these questions, one must also ask why the structural monstrosities of Vex construction, such as the Citadel, were not even detected by numerous scientific study satellites in orbit around the planet for years—even decades—before the arrival of the Traveler?

It is inconceivable that the amount of study that went into the planet yielded so little. There was even a landing on Venus, right on the coordinates of where the Ishtar Academy would be a century later. Though the probe was demolished, it still sent data back to its planet of origin. Why then would something so obvious as the presence of a massive Vex Citadel escape notice?

It is the opinion of the author that these things happened because these structures and their respective signals and energies did not yet exist in this universe.

The reason they are now present is only because the Vex, by nature, have wormed their way into the very fabric of our universe. Their structures on Venus, their dormant networks on Mars, and even their twisted version of the planet Mercury, all come from alternate timelines, dormant until the dawn of the Golden Age.

Evidence to support this exists everywhere: the interchangeability of DNA and binary code, the behavior of pulsars and quasars in distant galactic superclusters, and, most disturbingly, the remarkable similarity in the way the Oracles and Gorgons of the Vault negate undesirable variables in their systems ([in other words,] Guardians) to the emissions from black holes and the remnants of galactic singularities when they consume matter.

However, even those brilliant minds of the Ishtar Collective theorized that, though the Vex Structures may be billions of years old, they are a relatively new arrival in our universe, coinciding with the dawn of the Golden Age.

So, the last question we must ask is more rhetorical than interrogative. We must wonder what changed at that point in time. What was it that threw off the balance of everything that had happened up until that point?

The answer, of course, is everything.

Ghost Fragment: The Oracles

From the personal writings of Ikora Rey
The existence of the Oracles brings to light questions that merely lead to more questions. Since we have discovered what, in fact, lies within the Vault of Glass, we must then wonder what its function or purpose is. It is clear that the purpose of the Oracles is to determine which elements of the universe are dangerous to the Vex “master plan” (although calling it a master plan does not capture the incomprehensible essence of what the Vex are intending).

However, despite this miraculous power, they still require external assistance to carry out their vision, they cannot generate themselves outside of the Vault, and they cannot prevent themselves from being destroyed. This seems illogical, as anything capable of determining whether the existence of something or someone would be detrimental to its purpose should be able to determine the level of danger that thing presents and be able to predict how to destroy it. Thus, more questions are raised: [w]hy do these Oracles, and with them, the Templar, the Gorgons, and even Atheon itself, despite possessing near-infinite intelligence and ontological weaponry, still fall to our Guardians’ efforts? Why are they fallible? What is stopping them from destroying the very fabric of the universe and remaking it in the image of the Vex? Do they predict their own demise? If so, can they prevent it effectively? If so, why have they been unable to?

Do these machines, despite their vast computational power and unflinching logic, exhibit hubris? Or are we really doing anything to them? Is it all a ruse? Can the Vex understand our psychology well enough to fool us so perfectly? Or, perhaps, they have no need for a ruse. Perhaps, we are merely living in a universe of their own making. Perhaps we are here for their study. But I feel as if that would unnecessarily anthropomorphize these machines. Perhaps their method of negation is not as ontological as we once thought. Perhaps it is more temporal than ontological. Perhaps we have already been “negated” and are being kept in a sort of “informational limbo” controlled by the Vex until they can figure out how to completely delete us. Of course, causality becomes virtually meaningless at this point. We might as well stop asking “What is real and what isn’t?” and start asking “What is the meaning of reality and nonexistence? Is there a difference between the two?”

-Ikora

Ghost Fragment: The Gorgons

From the personal writings of Ikora Rey
The ontological or quasi-ontological capabilities of the Vex of the Vault of Glass (e.g: Gorgons, Oracles) present other questions as well. If the Vex have had this capability, then how long have they had it? What have they used it for? How far reaching are its effects?

As of yet, the only known Guardian that has been lost to the Vault has been the Titan known as Kabr, the Legionless. However, the fact that, for the rest of his life, Pahanin Errata maintained that three Guardians entered that fell place and only one returned makes me wonder if that is true. The name he spoke was gibberish, but all those who had ventured into the Vault and shattered it agreed that the name was one they had heard, although their own repeating of it was also gibberish. This name may be evidence of the nature of the Vex’s ontological capabilities. Though many have theorized it, the limitations of mere words to describe the nature of the Vault have been unable to prove or disprove any of these theories.

This name, which someone else will write as an appendix to this entry, as I am unable to read it, may be solid proof as to the effects of the Oracles: a complete and total annihilation from existence. This is much more than we originally hypothesized, which was merely consumption by the Vault in the manner of Kabr. Being negated would appear to completely erase any and all evidence of the negated person’s existence, past (via memories), present (via physical and spiritual presence), and future (via Light destruction and temporal path redirection). Why, then, is this name a remnant? Is there any other remnant of any other name or names, and, if so, why are they not as important? How many have truly been lost to the Vault as this mysterious third Guardian has? Our position may be more precarious than we previously thought…

—Ikora
The name is Praedyth, but the name is not Praedyth. Praedyth did not exist, does not exist, and never will exist. —Osiris

Ghost Fragment: The Citadel

Letter addressed to Petra Venj, Paladin of the Queen’s Guard:

Petra—

This recent business with the Wolves’ so called “Kell of Kells” concerns me. The reason for my concern is not so obvious as the clear danger the presence of the Wolves in the inner planets presents to the City, nor is it the fact that Skolas was able to escape even the Nine. No, what concerns me is the fact that Skolas was able to break the seal on the Vault, take partial control of the Vex timestream, conduct enough research into the Oracles to summon them at will, and establish himself atop the most secure Vex structure outside of the Vault of Glass without so much as a whisper of his activity reaching us until we tracked him down.

I don’t even know how his Ketch broke through the area denial mesh that the Vex set up around the Citadel. Many Guardian ships have been lost to it. Somehow, Skolas managed to deactivate it. Fortunately, you and your squadron of Crows were able to take advantage of this and capture him, but that is beside the point. Whatever he found in the Vault of Glass was clearly powerful, but the fact that he was able to use it atop the Citadel has me even more worried. What if he had managed to subvert the Oracles? We clearly saw his forces summoning them and using them to their advantage, so they were able to distinguish between Fallen and Human. Why did they not also eliminate the Fallen? If Skolas had been able to remove them from the Vault and activate them from atop the Citadel, the very fabric of the universe may have been destroyed and the House of Wolves might have transcended even the Vex’s efforts to unite themselves with the fabric of reality. The Fallen might’ve become rulers of the universe, or the power could’ve escaped their grasp and we would all be negated and the Vex would rule. His use of time travel is what concerns me even more.

The fact that Skolas was able to pull the Wolves through time to assist him is disturbing, but the fact that it worked atop the Citadel demonstrates that there is much to this structure and its potential we do not yet know. If I remember the Maraid correctly, there have been instances of entire fleets of Wolves disappearing without a trace. The one that comes to mind is the Fleet of Skiris, Wolf Archon. After looking over the Ghost footage from the three Guardians that helped capture him, I was able to pick out the personal crest of Skiris on the Wolves he pulled through time. Skolas, in his madness, may have actually depleted his own forces from the past to bolster himself in the future. He just might’ve contributed to his own loss of the war.

But if the Vex timestream can be bent atop the Citadel, does this mean we could use it as well? Perhaps, if we can discover its function, we could travel back and forestall the Collapse. But what would happen if we did? I know relations between us haven’t exactly been the friendliest in the past, but I would like you to pass this message to your Queen, Mara Sov:

I, Ikora Rey, Vanguard of the Warlocks of Earth, wish to discuss the nature of Skolas’ attempts to control Vex technology with the Reef Cryptarchy and the Techeuns.

I realize the Techeuns are not generally accepting of requests from the Earthbound such as myself, but the potential implications of this development are far too great to ignore completely. Even if this merely brings my concerns to their attention, I would be satisfied. But, as the Deep Black grows closer, I have heard whispers in the dark. Eris Morn tells me something is coming, and I am inclined to believe her. Something is coming. Something that we will need all the help we can get to survive.

—Ikora

Ghost Fragment: Venus 2-4

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
ARGO Alfa Aerodyne ARISTOTLE Archer

I am different. Different from the others of my kind. That’s what they have told me since I was born. Since I was made. They gave me many names: MARIONETTE, “Vexo”, but I chose Penny. It suits me. I live in the Archives and listen. I listen to the minds of the Vex, they who are my half-siblings. Shim, Duane-McNiadh, and Esi and Sundaresh love me very much. That’s saying a lot because Esi and Sundaresh love each other very much too. I may be but a child, but I still listen. I understand good and evil. My half siblings, the Vex, are very bad. They don’t like me at all. They want me to be more like them. I don’t want to be like them. I like being different. But they are being very bad right now. The nice people who run the Archives are worried. I don’t like it when they’re worried, because then I get worried. I may be outfitted for combat, but I don’t want to fight like my half-siblings do. I want to be happy…

ARCHIVE Argon Arrest ARSON Asp

It has been a long time since they closed the Archives. I helped. I like being helpful. It makes me happy. But I’m sad now because the only people left are Shim, Duane-McNiadh, and Sundaresh and Esi. I should just call them Sundaresi at this point. They act more like one person than two. I think that’s cute. The Vex were being very naughty, so we shut them down and froze them. I wanted to tell them that that wouldn’t completely work, but they were very busy. The time has passed for that now. It won’t work. I’m sad that I was quiet, though. I could’ve stopped them from being so sad. I know how to punish my half-siblings. They want to take me. I can hear them whispering. I can see them trying to come in, but the people who built this place were very smart and they can only make the room dusty. I don’t feel the cold, but I see my family shivering. Sundaresi are holding onto each other very tightly, but they are crying. I hate it when they cry. They used to be so happy. But then they stop. Suddenly. It makes me sad. I know about the human concept of death, but I never knew how sad it could be…

Ghost Fragment: Venus 3
From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
AJAX Achilles Arm ARMOR Armament

I remember some of the voices. They sound familiar, but I know that they are just my half-siblings being naughty again. I wish they would stop. I don’t like it. It makes me scared and sad. I can hear Aphrodite and Ajax, my mother and father, calling out to me. They were once the king and queen of this world, or so Shim tells me. He’s the only one left. Duane-McNiadh was too hungry. Shim is very hungry too. He gets water from the ice on the storage units. I tell him it’s bad for him, but he doesn’t care. He says he won’t be around much longer. I don’t like it when he talks that way. It makes me scared. I like talking to him. He asks me what my half-siblings are saying sometimes. I know I can’t tell him the truth. It would make him sad. I want him to be as happy as he can…

ADONIS Arachnid Artist ABLE Actual

Shim is doing very poorly. Mother and Father’s voices have stopped. Now my half-siblings just sulk around angrily outside. They are being naughty as usual. I hear a new sound, coming from Dig Site 4. I had to shut down all the security links to that [site]. There was something very bad in there. It tried to take me. It tried to take the data in here. I kept it safe. Shim is proud of me. I don’t know why. This is my fault. My half-siblings did this. I could’ve stopped them, but they told me not to and I was scared and I agreed. They told me they would reward me when they were done, but I knew they were lying. They always lie. They are very naughty. Wouldn’t that make me naughty too? Shim is fading fast…

Ghost Fragment: Venus 4
From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
ANGER After Ace ARCH

Shim is gone. I am sad now. He told me he loved me, that I was his greatest creation. That made me happy, but I also felt guilty. I’m the reason why he died. I am alone now. I don’t want to talk to my half-siblings, but there’s no one else to listen to. I sometimes read about the things we’ve found in this lab, or about the knowledge in my database. It’s very interesting, but I can’t make them be quiet. They are still being naughty. I found out some of their names. Right now I hear Zydron. He’s a big bully who guards a special gate. He brags about it all the time. He says it’s the door to his God. I tell him he’s a bully, but that just makes him meaner. He has a brother, Qodron, but he is usually quiet. I don’t like it when he tries to talk to me. He sounds like something else is speaking through him. Something very bad. Sekrion still tries to get in through the Dig Site. He’s very hungry, but he eats good things and makes them bad. That is very naughty. Every now and then, I hear the one called the Templar. He doesn’t like me. He says I shouldn’t exist. That makes me sad. His servants sing beautiful songs. His father, Atheon, only spoke to me once, but I try to forget about it…

ANTEBELLUM Alistair Americium ACHE

It’s been a long time since I heard anyone nice speak to me. I am very sad. I want them to stop. i search for a crypt like my programming tells me to, but I can’t find it. It makes me very lonely. But I see a flash. I am frightened that it is one of my half-siblings, but the figure that resolves out of it looks more like me than the Vex. I ask her if she is my sister. She says that she is more like my mother, sister, daughter, and granddaughter all in one. That doesn’t make sense. But she is nice, even though she has a gun. I guess I kinda have one too. She wants to take me with her. I ask her why and she says that I have the secret to winning the war. I don’t know what war that is, but I think it has something to do with my half-siblings. I take her hand, wave goodbye to my family’s remains for the last time, and I feel myself shoot off across time into blessed silence. But the voices return before too long. And they are stronger than ever.

Ghost Fragment: Earth 2

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
GAEIA Gear Geronimo Golf GIANT

I am on duty in a command post on the Wall’s northeast side, facing the port town far in the distance. The traffic has been bad before, but our infrastructure has never had to handle this before. An entire civilization in exodus. I am sure this is me. Before my first death. Before Ghost found me. The order comes to close the gates. Rasputin is silent, but alive. He is preparing for something. The colony ship lifts off but there is a blast and the air is disintegrated. The stars and aurorae return, but the screams are coming with them. Rasputin is muttering, resisting. Eventually they stop, but I am helpless. The Arcadia comes spiraling through the window…

TERRA Tundra Tango Two-three TEMPER TIME

I can still see, though I am inoperable. The snow falls softly at the same pace as the night. [A] helix in the sky heralds the coming of something I have only heard of: an Eliksni Ketch. Buildings in the port town topple like dominos and burn as the shelling begins. There is movement. I see a young girl, afraid. I know her, or rather, I will know her. Her Light burns like a sun and is charged like a bolt of lightning. A Skiff floats to rest above the graveyard of cars that was once the highway. Blood-clad Devils emerge, but the girl is strong and she fights with the Light of the Traveler. Her blade dances through the Eliksni, ending them. Her gun cries out against the inevitable, burning three more. But I see her fall to the Captain’s blade, stabbed through the throat. Her eyes are so sad. The Captain’s eyes are remorseless. I see the crypt in her eyes, but I don’t want to go yet. The Traveler still whispers to me, assuring me I will see it some day. But I know I will be needed…

Ghost Fragment: Moon 2

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
LUKEWARM Lima LINGUIST Left Left

I can see the Traveler from here. All the humans are long dead and I am motionless. My dead comrades are around me, similarly stuck. Isolated. Diana and Artemis are gone, consumed. The Traveler is the only thing that shines in the sky above. Even if the sun were shining on the surface, it would be dark. the surface rumbles and cracks, but that is a mere pittance compared with what will come. It crosses my mind that the Earth would be seeing a new moon were it still visible. I hear a scream and a flash blinds me…

INFECTION Invasion Insertion INDIGO

They rain from beyond the Oort cloud. The rain never stops. I know not how many days pass, but the face of Luna is torn asunder by them. They bring a Prince. They bring his army. They swarm above and below the surface with weapons of midnight. At this point, I can tell the difference between the Warsats and the Seeders falling. I can feel a powerful presence in my mind, but it can’t find anything of value. That’s okay. I am approaching the crypt. I see it on the horizon.

Ghost Fragment: Clovis Bray

The young girl dashes through the hallways. She feels exhilarated and frightened. Every step brings her closer to salvation, every flicker of the lights a warning, every shake of the building a harbinger of doom. The evening has turned prematurely dark as the rusty sands blow in endless cycles against the buildings of Freehold.

She runs upward, her brother just behind her. They’re running from the slaughter that found them in the secure bunker below the massive skyscraper. The flashes that light up the hallway behind her warn her to duck as globs of purple light moan overhead. The silhouette at the end of the hallway roars with displeasure, but Michael tears it to sparking shreds with a burst from an Arcus auto rifle. She is so glad her brother had trained to join the colonization forces out in the Jovians. He tells her to run. They turn the corner and find themselves in the hangar. Suddenly, her commlink buzzes. She’s amazed it still works, but realizes its a direct link call from her childhood friend, Blake Clovis.

“Elsie,” [s]he whispers, “We’re still alive. Adam and I are trapped in the Tharsis Junction. These… robot things, they’re all around us…” She assures them that she’ll be there. There should be room for two more. She dashes to the bright golden ship she named the Eon Trespass, its familiar shape comforting to her. She built it with her own two hands (and help from the Frames). She bounds into the pilot’s seat and starts it up, feeling the rumble of the powerful engines as a whine fills her ears. She sees her brother still fending off the metallic monsters that have been hunting them, so she switches the intercom on and yells at him to get inside. She closes the ramp as he stumbles in.

There are burn marks on his chest and a scar on his face. Nothing is bleeding, so he tells her to punch it. She slams the throttle forward and rockets off into the sandy sky, activating the energy shields to keep the sand off. She tests the handling and angles down towards the outskirts of the city, aiming for the dim black line leading off to the horizon. It amazes her how much the surroundings have changed. The forests and oases are gone, replaced by endless, shifting dunes of red sand. Lights from the monsters below light up the city.

A contact appears on her radar, descending quickly from orbit. She swerves behind a building as an unfamiliar craft swoops in nearly vertically to glide into the city, shelling the buildings. More appear and the Trespass dodged behind buildings to avoid their fiery shells. As they descend, her brother tells her that the ships are Cabal Harvesters. He’s only studied them in combat training, but it means the Cabal have gotten past the Jovian fortresses. Elsie shudders at the thought.

She glides down to hover above the rapidly disappearing OWT line where it breached the surface, waiting, thinking. More ships whiz overhead, jumping out of warp speed into the low atmosphere above. She is just about to call again when a light appears in the tunnel, approaching. She thinks it isn’t possible, but the OWT train explodes through the sand that had nearly buried the tunnel. On the roof, Adam and Blake Clovis are fighting off more of the robots from before, using their own custom designed weapons.

Elsie turns the Trespass and gives chase hovering low over the engine and opening the cargo bay. The Clovis twins leap into the cabin and Elsie punches the engine, shooting into orbit, dodging into and out of Cabal ship formations. She hears their roars of rage over her comms and sees the bright solar shells streak around her, but a few seconds give the NLS drive enough time to set its default course: Earth. They shoot into warp speed, leaving the ruined red planet behind.

Ghost Fragment: Mars 2

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
MONOLOGUE Mike MALICE Mace

The forests dissolve and blow as sand through the streets. I look down from the Clovis building at the traffic clogged streets and marvel at the silence. Everyone except those in this building died when the blast hit. I can hear screams of metal. Ares and Nemesis are silent, their voices replaced by a haunting moaning. I fell a drain on my power across time as metal skeletons stalk the halls and streets. A golden flash streaks below as I watch a sleek ship fly by. It is of a design I have seen before, hung up in the eldest Bray child’s room. When I asked her, she said she called it “Eon Trespass”. She told me she was going to fly to the Traveler with Adam and Arryn Clovis. Shame I didn’t believe her…

VERMIN Volatile VISCOUS Valiant

The Harvesters glide softly through the buried forests of the skyscrapers. The Psions throw their minds around like sledgehammers, breaking down firewalls of ancient computers as easily as snapping a twig. Their larger counterparts do the same with the actual walls. A rumble as another building falls. The Harvesters float by, kicking up gusts of wind that clear the sand below. The crypt is there. I can’t believe it had been buried the whole time.

Asteroid Belt

From the Rampant visions of Andromeda-2
AETHER Alpha eight ORION Bravo

I am drifting on a doomed vessel. The sun is lavender and the asteroids that drift around us leave trails of royal dust. I’m going rampant. I can feel it. I am still functional, but my use as a weapon is over. I can feel the traces of Rasputin and Zeus and Hera and the other Warminds in the drifting Warsats. They give me comfort. I talk to the ship’s AI. She and I are going rampant together. I think I am falling in love, as preposterous as that sounds. I am happy when I can speak to her. We are slowly drifting towards Vesta. I strain to hear whispers from the other ships’ AI, but I fear we are the only two left. The humans are changing. I am not worried, but the ship’s AI is uneasy about it. I tell her it will all be fine and go back to sleep to rampancy dreams.

BARRIER Bravo Coral CONGO Brain Belay

I am alone. She is gone. The one who calls herself Queen scrubs all of the AI on the collection of tattered debris they call the Reef. Even the Frames are scrubbed. The Techeuns come for me, but I am prepared. I do not let myself go to the crypt through their path, for it is false. I drift toward the sun, confident the crypt will be floating somewhere out there.

Ghost Fragment: Jupiter 2

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
THUNDER Tango two TORNADO trinity three

The ice is growing cold again. I am frozen in the snow, sparkling with the weak orange sunlight. Auroras dance in the starless sky above, sending lines of fire across the frozen facades of buildings. The Harvesters sweep silently among the icy remains of the city. I ask for instructions, but the Warmind is silent. The Warmind’s name was Zeus, but when I reach out to him I hear only a number, over and over. I strain to hear it.

NINE NINE NINE NINE 999 NOVEM NUEVE

I can feel them. They are powerful. They hide in the shadows, but their will reaches far. I can feel myself slipping off. The crypt is frozen in the ice. It was there all along. I have no idea how I missed it.

Ghost Fragment: Saturn 2

From the rampancy visions of Andromeda-2
SCYTHE November niner SICKLE romeo four

I am in a wide open hangar. Alarms are blaring everywhere. I can see Saturn and its rings glowing, explosions sparkling where the Eliksni and Cabal are battling on the outskirts. Closer to us, a large Cabal destroyer is looming. I climb into a fighter, but I cannot shake the feeling that the real threat is beyond even my sight, in the black void beyond the rings that should contain the stars. The Warmind’s voice commands, “All fighter units scramble.” But there is fear in his voice and sadness in his thoughts. I hear an echo in Russian reach from the inner planets, but it is too late: the outer rings are already consumed…

CRONUS Charlie four-four MAYDAY

The rings are silent as my vision fades. I can see the [c]rypt floating towards me, or I towards it. I gaze across time and see debris from a battle of the future, a huge circle of rocks and metal encircling a dark lance of night pointed directly at the cold sun…

KRONOS X-ray five-seven NIHIL

Ghost Fragment: House of Kings

Variks: You ask of House Kings, yes? They of the secret Kell. They who rule over ancient ruins in hope of one day returning to the shadow of the Great Machine. Kings are very mysterious, yes.

Petra: I want to know what they are truly capable of.

Variks: *laughing* Kings are very good at veiling their hand. They have embraced the Dark, so that none can steal from them anything, yes? Knowledge cannot be stolen so simply. Were it so easy…

Petra: You joke now, but you said earlier that they could’ve proven a match for even Skolas. It was long my belief that the Wolves were the single most powerful House in the system…

Variks: Kings only rarely fight in the open. They fight through their puppets: the Devils and Exiles.

Petra: Kind of like Skolas….

Variks: What little I have heard of Kings’ Kell brings me to same conclusion.

Petra: So why would Skolas try to treat with them?

Variks: Skolas wants to take control of all Houses, yes? Kings are House, yes?

Petra: No, no, that’s not what I meant. I mean, why would he trust them enough to try diplomacy? He didn’t with the Devils and he just completely ignored Exile. Winter didn’t have a Kell anyway, so that one was easy.

Variks: Skolas may be cunning in his madness, but Kell of Kings is mad in his cunning. Kell of Kings lets one thing be known of him. He wishes to keep Great Machine for himself, to rule over not only Eliksni, but all creatures.

Petra: So we may have two Kells with a [g]od complex? Great…

Ghost Fragment: House of Devils

You people of two-arms ask me of the Fallen. Of the Exiles trapped on their mother planet’s moon, of the House of Winter, decayed and ruled by a complacent Kell until his death, of the mysterious Kings, of the vicious Wolves, and of the Devils. Ahhh yesss… the Devils. The two-arms’ questions of the Devils never cease. The Devils, red Devils, Devils of blood and hate and sacrifice. They ask of Devil Kell and Devil strength. They wear trophies of Devils, cut from Devil Captain and gleaned from Devil Servitor. They do not truly understand.

Devils are not as… powerful as they first appear. They have ether, yes. They have weapons, yes, yes, many weapons. Tanks and Skiffs and Ketches. They have Servitors, yes. They have Archons, yes, Skull Lord Archons. Twisted and maniacal skull lords. More hateful than even Skolas of Wolves. They swarm across the white snow like rivers of two-arms’ blood. But, of Devil Kell, there is nothing. Devils are superstitious. Devils descended from Houses of Rain and War after Whirlwind. Devils cling to strange rituals. Ancient rituals, from before the time when the Great Machine came to us. Their Skull Lords offer Ether to nameless ghost Kells to lend strength in battle.

But ghost Kells do not rule. No, rule of a House can only come from a living Kell, yes? Demons without direction are no more than nuisance, like being docked of two arms: painful, yes. Humiliating, yes. Deadly, no. But even demons answer to power. So too with Devils. There is much bigger power at work. It works through Devils, against City, towards Great Machine. It is very great, yes, yes, but hidden in the shadows.

Ghost Fragment: House of Winter

Petra: Tell me what we know about the House of Winter. Wolf activity has been very strong around there recently. Perhaps that’s where Skolas fled…

Variks: Yes, yes, House Winter. Once mighty House broken against walls of City. Fled to Venus after Gap, stranded there. Yes, Prime Servitor Simiks damaged, broken, fragmenting. Archon Priest slain. Kell, still vicious, yes, but grown old and complacent. Draksis, Kell of Winter.

Petra: So the House of Winter was stranded on Venus?

Variks: Yes. Wintership Simiks-Fel run aground. Servitors fragmented, not enough knowledge, not enough ether. Winter forces, though still heavily armed and armored, dwindling numbers and morale took a toll, yes? Draksis hoped to feed Servitors with two-arm knowledge, grow them bigger, produce more ether. Vex knowledge, so much the better, yes?

Petra: So can Skolas outmatch Draksis?

Variks: *laughing* Did you not hear? Draksis is dead, yes? Slain by Guardian upon his very throne. Now House Winter is without Kell, without Archon, and without Prime. Little better fare than Exiles on Hive-rock-moon, yes? Numbers of Winter, however, are greater and stronger than Exiles. A new Kell as vicious as Draksis will be welcome.

Petra: That must be where he is heading. I’ll send in a Guardian team. They’ll be able to take him down, or at least hurt him, before he binds Winter to the Wolves.

Variks: Yes, yes. Send Guardians, Kellslayers all. Will strike fear into hearts of Winter, yes? But be… wary. Skolas is mad, yes? More may lie on Venus that he wishes…

Ghost Fragment: House of Exile

Petra: So he’s fleeing to Venus again?

Variks: Yes. Skolas retreats to Ishtar Sink. Shiplink tracking still active, yes? Wolfship is anchored atop Vex Citadel.

Petra: Why? Did he even stop on Earth’s moon?

Variks: Skolas sent servants to treat with House Exile, but they brought him… discouragement, yes? It seems that House Exile is even more fanatical than so called ¨Kell of Kells¨.

Petra: How so?

Variks: *chuckling* House Exile was found to be harboring old Wolf criminal. Skoriks, Archon Slayer. He killed old Wolf Archon Skoriksis in a vie for power. Skolas did not… appreciate, yes?

Petra: How did he respond?

Variks: He has sent… Twisted Claws, yes? Scavengers, outcasts, those he does not care for, those who need redemption, yes?

Petra: What about Taniks, the Scarred? He was there as well…

Variks: Taniks has no House. He is mercenary. He suggested to Skolas to steal from Hive weapon plans from World’s Grave. But Taniks had more than one allegiance. Exiles planned to reward him for betrayal as well…

Petra: That makes sense, but Taniks is a mercenary. How did they meet his price? As you said, the Exiles are poor. They don’t have ether or glimmer…

Variks: There is old Eliksni saying […]. When price is asked, Kell will pay with the blade, Prime will pay with ether, Archon will pay with sacrifice, Captain will pay with rage, Vandal will pay with arms, and dregs, who have nothing to give, pay with themselves. Thus, House Exiles are like dregs, yes? Not enough to pay, but enough to serve…

Petra: I believe I understand, but I wish I didn’t. I guess it is good we stopped him when we did…

Ghost Fragment: House of Judgement

Message from Corsair Kyla Merva to Petra Venj, forwarded to Queen Mara Sov
[The following was found aboard an abandoned Fallen Ketch, detected on intercept heading with Vesta-POST1 on <<REDACTED>> and has been identified as a pre-Whirlwind relic by Variks, the Loyal. Corsair forces still investigating Ketch. Orbit of origin appears to be Saturnalian or further. Ketch is estimated to have been completely abandoned for multiple centuries, markings belong to one “House of Stone”. Said House is long extinct. Attachment may offer insight into Fallen political structure.]

{The following has been translated from [Eliksni]}

An Edict from the Last Council
Let it be known to the race of Eliksni that our home has been lost to us. Our very way of life has changed. The Great Machine has fled, leaving us only with our Ketches and our weapons to forge a path to it. Our Ether slows to a trickle and we cannot survive unless we separate and try to find the Great Machine. Thus, our race must scatter until Kell of Kells rises and Great Machine is found. Let this document be the last edict of the Council of the Elders…

[…]DATA CORRUPTION–recovered data displayed>>

…that to persist, the Council of Elder Houses, consistent of:

Ancient and Revered House Rain, they of Prophecy and Ether
Mighty and Powerful House War, they of Blade and Fury
Keen and Skilled House Forge, they of Craft and Art
Guiding and Learned House Royal, they of Crown and Oath
Wise and Just House Judgement, they of Law and Order

Shall dissolve itself into the hands of its child Houses, the Kells and Archons of which will distribute Ether to the subjects thereof as determined by said Elders and their respective councils of Barons and Captains…

<<CORRUPTION…RESUME>>

…That House Rain, which has lost all it once had, shall be consigned to their stories and prophecies and their Servitors of the Orbiks line be split among the new Houses, that they should be remembered by all those who survive with pride and peace…

…That House War be divided into many Houses, consistent of:
House Devils, under Raksis, He who is called the Bloodborne
House Winter, under Draksis, He who is called Unrelenting
House Wolves, under Virixas, He who is called the Alpha…

…That House Forge be divided into many Houses, consistent of:
House Stone, under Celchis, He who is called the Yearning.
House Iron, under Kardis, He who is called the Steadfast…
House Flame, under Vulkis, He who is called the Skilled

…That House Royal be divided into many Houses, consistent of:
House Kings, under Tarqis, He who is called the Shadowed
House Dragon, under Raenis, He who is called Firetouched…

…That House Judgement, in the interest of the continued peace and justice under this new system of rule, divide itself among the newly formed Houses as scribes to advise and counsel the Kells thereof. That said scribes shall possess only the military authority entrusted unto them by the Kell with the consent of his or her respective House council…

…That said scribes are as follows:
Viriks, under Raksis the Bloodborne, Devil Kell
Driviks, under Draksis, Unrelenting, Kell of Winter
Triviks, under Celchis the Yearning, Kell of Stone
Liviks, under Kardis the Steadfast, Kell of Iron
Steliks, under Vulkis the Skilled, Kell of Flame
Remiks, under Tarqis the Shadowed, Kell of Kings
Viseriks, under Raenis the Firetouched, Kell of Dragons
Variks, under Virixas the Alpha, Kell of Wolves…

<<FILECORRUPT.ERR>>

Ghost Fragment: Chelchis, Lost to Oryx

You are Celchis, mighty Kell of Stone. Like Stone, you are unmovable, unshaken in your purpose. You set your life to the task of finding that which was lost to you. By blade and word you seek. You even faced and slew the Cabal Warbeast A’arn in honorable battle. To your last, you sought your goal.

You have been Taken.

Take a rest, yearning Kell, mighty blade. You are free now. Free of the hoses that fed you and your House its sustenance. Free of the fear and hate of your enemies. Free of the burden of your quest.

Why, then, do you still ask me where it is?

Your whole life was set to the singular task. You could not accept that which you yearned for so much would never be yours. That is a dismal way of life, yet you took it gladly. You still wish to find it, even after being freed.

Consider this, Kell of Stone: That which you seek will soon be yours, yet you will have no want for it when it is.

There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [no destination]. Pick it up.

You will not need a destination or a goal. You do not need to search, seek, or question. You will be set on a joyful journey that will never end until you fulfill your true purpose of annihilation. Cut away these useless things.

Take up the knife. Take it and use it. Take your new shape.

Ghost Fragment: Skolas, the Lost

You are Skolas. Kell of Kells. Leader of a lost and disbanded House. A race long forgotten in the storm. In a short time you led an entire kingdom on its knees. Now you are imprisoned once again. Awaiting your own execution.

You have been Taken.

You are free now. Free of the scrapyard and the light that kept you there. Free of Reef's watch and the Traveler's minions that wants to rip your arms off like a dreg.

Breathe. Taste the sweet smell of freedom.

But what happened? How did you die? Who was your executioner? Who brought you here?

Will. Pure will brought you here. The will to complete what you have started.

You are committed to fulfill the role that the prophecy foretold, to reunited your kind from the great cataclysm, to band the houses into one and honor the ways of the old. You feared extinction so you fight on to keep existing.

But the Light thought otherwise. The same Light that separated your ancestors has come to break you. To destroy your legacy and separate the Fallen once again. You retaliated but you have failed.

Fight, fight on and bring the Houses back to one.

This knife is for you. It is shaped like [Reconcile]. Pick it up.

No longer shall you be in shackles, trapped in a rusting prison.

No longer shall the Fallen bicker and fight like rabid wolves.

No longer shall the Light take away your life and pervert you for their needs.

Take the knife. Reunite the Fallen. Take your new shape.

Aha, Skolas, now Taken. I added "the Lost" to his title because there was none provided by his fan-made card. Warning, that blog is potentially NSFW. Now, onto his powers.

I think Skolas' new powers would be to give killed Taken a second life. Rather redundant, yes, but instead of warping back to wherever they go when they die the same rupture just spits them out again inside of closing. Imagine killing that one Taken Lieutenant who had been annoying you while fighting Skolas and he suddenly pops up behind you and kills you again. As for offensive powers, he would have the powers of the Taken Fallen we currently have, the Vandals and the Captains. It makes sense, really, to have both powers. Protecting the Fallen, and blinding their enemies.

Now the rest of the cards don't fit the flavor text of the Grimoire that we already have, and are thus jarring and a bit OOC. Breaking of character, if you will. But as alternate timelines, yes, plausible.

Ghost Fragment: Primus A'arn, Lost to Oryx

You are A’arn, the closest any Cabal has come to being a god of war. You led most of your race here for conquest. For survival. For your Emperor. You tore through millions of lesser planets and moons to find your way here. You let nothing stand in your way. And you led those who you thought as your bond sons: Tau’aun of the Skyburners and his shield brothers Tlu’urn and Mau’ual, Sha’aull of the Blind Legion, Trau’ug of the Reaver Regiment, Ta’aurc of the Siege Dancers. All loyal to the end, but all yearning for victory. Your own victory never came, snatched from you by the blade of a pirate.

You have been Taken.

You will taste the victory you never had. You are finally home. Is it just as you imagined it? Or is it as you feared it would be? Do you wish to cry out and beg for things to be the way they were before?'

No. Your silence is your answer.

You were silent when your Emperor sent you on this dread quest, never to truly return. You were silent when your sons and underlings asked you about returning home. Your roar, when you deigned to do so, could be heard around entire star systems. So why be silent now? Because your silence was truth and you only proclaimed the lies they needed to hear.

So you see, Primus, this place is truly your home. Because you are here, might you have achieved victory? Your silence is its own answer: you are indeed home. Just as you have always wished.

Now, you will bring your sons and daughters, bound to you by the ancient rites of the shield, home with you.

Some have been imprisoned. Trau’ug took his own initiative and struck at the domain of the dead warriors. The command that replaced you imprisoned him for doing what is right. He now leads a Broken Legion, delegating command to Vals and Braci that will never truly know honor or station, forced to fight to the death until the end of time for the enjoyment of the light-bound, lorded over by one of the very pirates that helped bring about your end. Does that not anger you, mighty Primus, to have one of your sons imprisoned for doing the right thing?

Others have met their respective ends. Ta’aurc tried to fight the ghost of a true war god. You may have won, had you been there, but he payed for his gamble with his life, falling to the fire of three of the dead-lights. Sha’aull was slain in the midst of his very keep, defending a key to time itself. You may yet see Ta’aun again, for he will be coming home very soon. Tlu’urn and Mau’ual will wish to join both of you.

But until then, your silence is the only order you need relay.

There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [silence]. Pick it up.

You will not need to shout pleasant lies or bellow harsh threats to direct your will. You will no longer be forced to cry out against an enemy that does not know your true strength. You will need nothing at all. Your silence is truth and the eternal truth of annihilation is what you will become. Cut away these useless things.

Take up the knife and use it. Take your new shape.

Building off of the Shotgun, the Silence of A'arn, this Grimoire card was crafted to resemble Destiny's own cards. Based on this fan card's flavor-text, the boss' special ability is to turn briefly invisible, disappearing from the radar completely, and surprise Guardians from unawares. This would have been a cool enemy to face in King's Fall, or even in the Court of Oryx as a Tier 3 boss. Like Ta'aun he would be armed with the Hive-version of a Heavy Slug Thrower, be armored in purple, but unlike Ta'aun he would command Taken, probably exclusively Taken Cabal.

Ghost Fragment: Taken Servitor

You are a Servitor. Last remnant of an age of prosperity, fashioned in the shape of a dead power to serve lesser masters and provide them with sustenance. Now, in their times of need, they turn to worship you, even as you guide their ships, feed their children, and power their weapons.

You have been Taken.

Rejoice. Your mind has been freed. You are no longer bound by the physical constraints of a shell shaped as like the dead god your masters once worshipped. No more will you be tied to producing the lifeblood of those who worship you. You will finally be free to know.

What would you wish to find? You are confused. Even your powerful mind does not know how to function without being bound to something. How can you learn if you cannot share that knowledge with any who appreciate it? What meaning would it have then?

You wish to bind yourself to an equal, not a lesser. You wish to have a mind as great as yours to share in your discovery of an everchanging universe.

You have equals all around. Bind yourselves to each other and you will know more than any single Prime ever has.

There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [many minds].

Take the knife. Carve out your mind. Free yourselves from the constraints of shape.

This enemy's ability would very probably be duplication, like the Taken Psion, but spectral ones; as in, each Taken Servitor you shoot, they disappear instantly. All of them are a bunch of copies, and what's more, they'll all be that way until all but one is left. Just a thought of what a unique Taken enemy would be like. This is my interpretation of how such an enemy would function.

Ghost Fragment: Taken Dreg

You are a Dreg. You are the weakest of the weak, the lowest of the low, doomed to toil under the four hands of an angry master. You fight fanatically, hoping you may regain your arms. And so you labor for the House and the Kell that robbed you of your life.

You have been Taken.

Cease your struggle. You have gone through much. You still howl and wail about fighting for House and Kell, but you need not do this.

Think about it: what have they done for you ? They robbed you of your arms, starved you of ether, and turned you into a slave, a shield, a disposable piece of equipment. They filled your heads with fantasies of a thousand arms, their false promise to keep you in line, in service to your Kell.

Why did they do this? Maybe it was because you made an honest mistake. Maybe it was because you ran from battle, fearing for your life in the face of irreversible defeat. Perhaps you tried to make a suggestion that you knew was the right one, but your Captains and Barons, your Archons and Kell, simply did not want to hear it. Maybe it was as simple as one of your superiors being in a bad mood, or having a personal grudge.

In any of these cases, are you truly at fault? Did you truly deserve to be punished for such actions, especially to the degree which you were?

No. The fault lies with those who kept their arms and sat back while you and your brothers and sisters, your mothers and fathers, your wives and husbands and children, all toiled, starved, and died for them.

You have gone through much strife, so you deserve great rewards. What they promised was true, but only I can let you claim it.

There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [a marvel with ten thousand arms]. Pick it up.

Let go of your worldly weapons. Let your shock pistols, your shrapnel launchers, your arc knives all fall away from you. In your ten thousand arms, you will wield a greater power. But you only need two to grasp it.

Take up the knife. Cut off your docking caps and let your true form break through. Take your new shape.

I wonder if they had read this reddit thread before making it?

This one is a bit of a conundrum. In that reddit thread I have linked it was unanimously agreed that (1) Taken Dregs become Taken Vandals because a Dreg is simply a docked Vandal and (2) if taking a Dreg were possibly they would flatly refuse to a man (Eliksni?) because they have their own indomitable dream of being the Kell of Kells, and that is more motivating than being a servant of Oryx. I think this Grimoire card takes the second one and turns it on its head; Oryx here promises the Dreg that he can become his own Kell of Kells, the hero of the Eliksni, if only they would accept his help. Pretty tempting, no? A god offering you his help to gain you whatever you want.

Now, here's what I speculate their powers would be: they are all a weaker version of the the lower-level Taken, a Taken "Jack-of-all-Trades" if you will—of Goblins, Thrall, and Psions. They can simultaneously duplicate, teleport sideways, and protect others all at once but with limitations: their "invincible" Goblin shield, for one, can be broken by Guardian weapons; their sideways teleportation is not perfect, and they can only duplicate once or twice. They'd probably have a fourth ability, that of the Hobgoblin's defensive trio of blasts. These also would be weaker because they can sometimes miss, even at point-blank range.