The Dreaming City

The Dreaming City
Overview
Location:	The Reef/Ascendant Realm
Hostile races:	Scorn Taken Hive Ahamkara (formerly)
Gameplay
Accessibility:	Complete Awakening
Landing zones:	Divalian Mists

"Your Traveler terraformed your planets. But the Awoken terraformed the Dreaming City. It is our creation. It is a reflection of our people - not a false gift from a skittish god."

— Shuro Chi, Pilgrimage: Garden of Esila, View

The Dreaming City is a Destination introduced in Forsaken, featuring many endgame activities, such as the Last Wish Raid, The Shattered Throne Dungeon and Blind Well horde activity. It is the most sacred location of the Reefborn Awoken, and is where they study and meditate on greater paracausal powers through dreaming. It served as the prison of the last known Ahamkara, Riven, before becoming cursed upon her death. It now serves as the backdrop for an endless battle between the Awoken with their Guardian allies and the Taken, Hive, and Scorn. Petra Venj is the world vendor for the city. Previously, to access the city, Guardians had to complete the campaign of Forsaken and embark on a long and difficult questline.

Overview

"A long-hidden stronghold sacred to the Awoken of the Reef."

The Dreaming City is the Reefborn Awoken's most significant stronghold. It was created by Mara Sov after her departure from the Distributary as her personal realm, with the aid of the Ahamkara Riven's wish-magic and the Techeun Coven Mother Illyn.

The Dreaming City is built upon a flat disk, constructed from the remains of at least one unknown rocky celestial body. Its upper surface contains a "silver sea", water from which continually spills off the edge of the disk and is reclaimed by a stabilization ring that also holds the City in place. The entire city is a closed ecosystem, with water being recycled by hydrocapture systems within the bedrock.

A massive ring-shaped structure can be seen in the sky of the Dreaming City, along with what appears to be a gravitational singularity directly overhead. The ring is a portal that controls access to the Dreaming City from the Tangled Shore, and utilizes some form of cloaking technology to seal the Dreaming City off from the outside world. The nature of the singularity is unknown, but Arach Jalaal speculated that it could be the singularity that leads to the Distributary, the Awoken's original homeland.

The City is named after a group of unknown entities known as the Dreaming, who are connected in some way with the will of the Awoken people as a whole.

History

The Dark Age

"This will be a beautiful [City]. But not a safe [City]."

— Riven.

After The Queen and her followers left the Awoken homeland, the Distributary, she created the Dreaming City as her own personal realm. There, she and other Awoken could reside in peace. Uldren Sov desired to bring the Queen a gift and returned with an Ahamkara named Riven, who would stay in the City for the rest of her life.

While Riven was instrumental in the creation of the Dreaming City, she was not the only Ahamkara who visited the Dreaming City. Another wish-dragon, Azirim, was barred from entering the City but still visited the second solstice festival, massacred many Awoken by beguiling them into leaping from the cliffs. Eao, another male Ahamkara, resided in a chamber known as Eao's Nest before he learned the secrets of the Awoken and escaped the City, threatening to reveal them to the Warlocks of the Last City. The Awoken, specififcally Sjur Eido, hunted and killed him for this betrayal, with his bones becoming various powerful items for the Guardians of Earth.

The Taken War

During the onset of the Taken War, Mara Sov ordered the Dreaming City to be evacuated and locked down on the advent of the God-King Oryx and his Hive armadas, leaving Riven behind as its only prisoner. She and the Techeuns sealed off the Watchtower, barring the only known point of entry into the city, and charged The Spider with protecting the tower while turning a blind eye on his illicit dealings.

During the Battle of Saturn however, the Techeuns attempted to escape the death impulse of the superweapon from Oryx's Dreadnaught via emergency selfgates to the Dreaming City as the Awoken fleet was annihilated, but Mara remained behind as part of her gamble with Eris Morn. Unfortunately, Shuro Chi's efforts to save Mara left her selfgate open long enough for the Taken essence of Oryx's death impulse to seep into the Dreaming City, which resulted in the Techeuns becoming Taken by Oryx and causing the Dreaming City to be overwhelmed with Taken forces, which eventually made its way to Riven joining the Taken King.

Forsaken

Three years following the Taken War, the Dreaming City remained infested by Oryx's leftover Taken unaware from the outside until Uldren Sov was manipulated by Riven into unsealing the City using a shard of the Traveler and the Taken-tainted Darkness within himself, unleashing an agent of hers which promptly devoured Uldren. The Guardian quickly killed the Taken Chimera and fulfilled their vengeance for Cayde-6. The Scorn that accompanied Uldren and the Fanatic remained in the city to exact revenge for their deaths and were met with opposition by the Taken.

Petra Venj, investigating the source of Uldren's corruption, gave the Guardian an Awoken talisman that could grant them both entry into the City. Having returned for the first time to the Dreaming City since the Taken War, Petra surmised Riven as the cause of the Taken and Uldren's corruption after having made contact with Queen Mara Sov at the Oracle Engine. At the Queen's behest, Petra enlisted the support from the Vanguard to have Riven killed and her heart cleansed of her Taken essence.

Two weeks later, a Guardian Raid team was quickly formed and breached their way into the Keep of Voices located at the heart of the city; In the process they freed the Techeuns Kalli and Shuro Chi from their Taken corruption. While the Taken Riven baited the Guardians into killing her, they inadvertently made a single collective wish, allowing Riven to alter the rules of ascendancy within the Dreaming City according to Toland. In ending the Taken Ahamkara, Riven's wish cursed the city; warping it in-between physical reality and the Ascendant Plane with Taken energies having saturated and engulfed huge portions of the city. Soon enough, the entire realm was plunged into an unending battle between the Guardians and Awoken Corsairs against the armies of Taken and Hive sent under Savathûn and Xivu Arath with remnants of Scorn in between crossfires.

Meanwhile, Petra would provide tactical support for a Vanguard strike team to free the last Techeun Sedia of her Taken corruption. The Drifter would also temporarily set up his Gambit within the Cathedral of Scars and brought Vex and Cabal to compete in through unknown means, following the events of Beyond Light, the map would become unavailable.

As the curse continued to blight the Dreaming City for three weeks, Petra was able to identify the true source of the city's Taken curse: Dûl Incaru, a daughter of the Witch-Queen and the mastermind behind her mother's scheme to access the Distributary using the Awoken secrets found within the City, commanding the curse from Mara's desecrated throne-world of Eleusinia. With the curse now at its peak, the Techeuns used the Blind Well (which was kept charged with Light by the Guardians) and open a rift into Eleusinia, where the Guardians could confront the Witch and her Darkblade bodyguards.

However, upon the death of Dûl Incaru, the Dreaming City reverted back to the state just after Riven's death, when the curse was first unleashed. The curse then spread in the same manner it had previously, with it being revealed that the curse trapped the Dreaming City within a time loop that resets upon Dûl Incaru's defeat. Through messages left by an unknown sender, it is revealed that the loop was made possible through the wish Riven granted upon her "death", and modeled upon Vex simulations overseen by the Taken Vex Mind Quria. With the curse looping every three weeks, there is currently no known way to permanently rid the city of the curse despite the efforts of both Rasputin and Osiris. Following every reset, the Guardian made reports to Mara Sov using the Oracle Engine, occasionally visiting her personally within her new throne world.

Season of the Hunt

Two years after the Taken Curse first settled on the Dreaming City, Xivu Arath turned her attention back on the city, following the Witch Queen's disappearance. Unburdened by the bond of siblinghood, the Hive God of War had her High Celebrant establish at least three Cryptoliths in the Awoken city, creating powerful Wrathborn from the local Hive including Dul Arath, Retainer of Xivu Arath and Xillox, Oppression of Xivu Arath. Ultimately, the High Celebrant was also lured and taken down in the city after a long hunt by the Guardian and the Crow.

Taking Back the Dreaming City

After the destruction of Quria, Blade Transform and the Vex invasion of the Last City, the Vanguard tracked the lightless Warlock Osiris to the Dreaming City, where he was revealed to have been impersonated by Savathûn, the Witch Queen since he lost his Light. Encased in a crystal of Stasis, the Witch Queen had struck a deal with the returned Queen Mara Sov, who agreed to rid the Hive God of her Worm in exchange for getting Osiris back, with the intention of killing her as she came out of the crystal.

In the following months, the Queen would enlist the help of Guardians to protect the Blind Well from Scorn and Taken forces under the command of Xivu Arath, God of War, to establish an Astral Alignment in preparation of this ritual, as well as the recovery of her Techeun Coven from the Shattered Realms of the Ascendant Plane. For this, Mara Sov's Chambers were connected to the H.E.L.M. via portal, allowing the Vanguard to easily coordinate with the Awoken.

Eventually, the alignment would complete, and the Exorcism would take place as Xivu Arath's Horde began its final assault. The Guardians protected the Awoken Queen from this onslaught, and she completed the exorcism, hoping to have a clear shot at a weakened Savathûn after its end. However, The Witch Queen had prepared a contingent spell that had her switch places with Osiris as her worm was removed, returning the Warlock as promised, albeit comatose.

Gameplay

The Dreaming City Destination area consists of three main public zones, each with a Lost Sector, five private zones explorable in Patrol, and a few more accessible in Missions, including parts of the Ascendant Realm. The only landing zone is in the Divalian Mists. The main enemy factions are the Taken, Hive and Scorn. The Scorn are hostile to the Hive and Taken in this destination.

The Dreaming City is stuck in a three week loop in time since the events of the Taken Curse Campaign. Depending the week, different Public Events can take place in the zone, and combatant patrols are different. Petra Venj, the Destination Vendor, also changes location to one of the public zones, offering a different Story Mission Bounty.

The Blind Well Permanent Public Event takes place in this destination.

When Enemies move against each other, they become Elites and Majors after very few waves.

The planetary resource consists of Baryonic Branches. Dark Fragments are also obtained from several activities in the zone.

Locations

Divalian Mists (Landing Zone) Bay of Drowned Wishes (Lost Sector) Agonarch Abyss Tower of Opened Eyes The First Spire Keep of Voices Hall of Two Souls Queenswalk Spine of Keres Queen's Court Shattered Ruins Font of Starlight The Confluence Erebus The Descent Eleusinia Ley Line, Pallas Spire Traverse Ritual Spire Ley Line, Vesta Ley Line, Ceres

Rheasilvia Chamber of Starlight (Lost Sector) Cimmerian Garrison Harbinger's Seclude Keep of Honed Edges Temple of Illyn The Adytum The Strand Aphelion's Rest (Lost Sector) Ouroborea Gardens of Esila Forfeit Shrine Mara Sov's Chambers Caliburn Gatehouse Dozmary Vault Cathedral of Scars (Gambit map) The Citadel (Crucible map)

Gallery

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Trivia

• The Divalian Mists and Rheasilvia share names with features on the asteroid 4 Vesta, the equatorial trough Divalia Fossa and the impact crater Rheasilvia, suggesting that the Dreaming City was built on it. In Destiny, 4 Vesta was said to be the heart of the Awoken civilization.
• The city was originally going to be a standard location, initially explored through story missions, then finally unlock access to the expansion's raid. In November 2017, this was changed to being a location that players could explore in its entirety at will, with the raid unlocked immediately alongside the location.
• An album of changes to the Dreaming City across the three-week cycle can be found here.

List of appearances

• Destiny 2
  • Forsaken (First appearance)
  • Season of Dawn (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Hunt
  • Season of the Lost