Xivu Arath's Horde
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| Xivu Arath's Horde | |
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| Overview | |
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Purpose: |
Serve Xivu Arath |
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Champion(s): |
High Celebrant of Xivu Arath |
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Realm: |
Black Terrace |
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At war with: |
Vanguard |
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Allied with: |
The Witness |
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Encountered: |
Hunt for the Scorn |
Xivu Arath's Horde or Xivu's Brood, is a Hive brood which serves Xivu Arath, God of War. They appear similar to the members of Savathûn's Brood with more muscular and organic morphs compared to other Hive.
History
Scorn Breakout
Two years following the death of her brother Oryx and sometime after the Red War, Xivu Arath began committing her forces to the Solar System, possibly in aid of her sister Savathûn or for her own schemes. An Ogre, Megor, Spawn of Xivu, was imprisoned in the Prison of Elders had seemingly been leading a Hive cult with Ir Yun, Cult of Megor and would later break free from containment during the Scorn's jailbreak.[1]
Curse on the Dreaming City
After the breakout, a substantial force of Hive and Taken had begun to pillage Awoken artifacts for unknown purposes. It would later be revealed that members of Xivu's own brood, Sugroth, Hasaak and Tulkor were sent to both steal the artifacts and keep them out of the Guardian's reach. As the Guardians would cut through Xivu's forces, they would find out that some Taken champions, Crorok and Xaras were apparently obedient to the war goddess with the latter being the commanding force of the Taken and Hive's pillaging schemes.[2]
After the blunder of their artifact theft, members of Xivu's own lineage, An Ragaar, Tir Balok and Xavan, while aided by Ruithe, utilized Blights to block communications with the Oracle Engine from both forces of the Scorn and Guardian alike. However, the Guardians would take relics dropped by Xivu's slain forces to destroy the Blights and gain entry towards the Spine of Keres.[3]
Shadowkeep
One of Xivu's former champions; Jaxx, Claw of Xivu Arath, can be seen manifesting in the form of an Nightmare, however, would be slain by the Guardians.
Season of The Hunt
In a ploy to seize power in the wake of many destinations vanishing, Xivu Arath's influence in the form of her Wrathborn and the High Celebrant of Xivu Arath would appear. The High Celebrant was sent to Luna to wrest free the Swarm from The Witch Queen's plans and instead reform Luna in Xivu's image. A world where all tithes were tribute to her. The High Celebrant would, however, have their plans thwarted by Osiris, who slew the near entirety of the Scarlet Court. Osiris would fall and strain against the sheer will of Xivu Arath's projection resulting in the High Celebrant marking runes around him and preparing him for his death. Despite surviving the loss of his Ghost, Sagira, Osiris was greeted with little respite for the High Celebrant immediately sought off to hunt him only to be thwarted again by The Guardian instead, forcing them to retreat to the Ascendant Plane.
Rise of the Wrathborn
Following the Darkness's arrival, Nokris' fall, and various worlds of the Sol System going dark, the Guardians discover a rise of corrupted Hive activity within the Tangled Shore and the Dreaming City of the Reef. They soon learn that the Hive's God of War, Xivu Arath, has begun to marshal her forces in preparation for the Darkness's next move. This was achieved from her Cryptoliths, organic Hive structures that borrow into the material plane and root themselves, calling out to nearby beings, drawing them closer to transform them into Wrathborn. These Cryptoliths started corrupting Eliksni but quickly spread to Hive and Cabal. Commanded and aided in their spread by the High Celebrant, they would be the Wrathborn's command and Xivu Arath's lead in the system. To combat this threat, the Guardians agree to a partnership with the Spider and to work with a mysterious Lightborn called the Crow, who is, in reality, Uldren Sov revived as a Guardian. In the ensuing weeks Wrathborn of House of Spider, House of Dusk, and the broods of the Hive would be hunted down. As for the corrupted Red Legion, none were encountered, which has concerned Crow.
Fall of Torobatl
- "MY HOME IS WAR. MY VOICE IS A BATTLE SONG. FOR AS LONG AS YOU HAVE WORSHIPED WAR, YOU HAVE WORSHIPED ME. I AM HERE TO CLAIM MY TRIBUTE. IT IS OVERDUE."
- — Xivu Arath to the Cabal of Torobatl
Sometime following the Hunt for the Wrathborn, Savathûn sought to undermine the Cabal homeworld of Torobatl by guising as her sister by corrupting Evocate-General Umun'arath into becoming a worshipper of Xivu Arath. Driven by obsession over war, Umun'arath undertook a Hive ritual in the capital city to summon the God of War to their planet, which was accidentally completed when Caiatl, the Princess-Imperial slew Umun'arath, providing the blood and sacrifice needed to open a portal for Xivu Arath to cross through with her armada of War moons and her armies of Hive.[4] As she invaded Torobatl, Xivu Arath declared that the Cabal had been worshipping her for as long as they venerated war and that she had finally come to claim her "overdue" tribute.[5] Her never-ending forces overwhelmed the Cabal's defenses and drove Empress Caiatl to evacuate the remaining population to the remnants of her fleet and retreat to the Sol System.[6]
Hunt for the Witch Queen
Despite the "gift" Savathûn had given to Xivu Arath, the Hive God of War had begun to actively hunt her sister, at the behest of another, following the arrival of the Black Fleet in the Sol System. To save herself from her sister's wrath, Savathûn adopted the form of Osiris after he had become lightless when the High Celebrant killed his Ghost, Sagira. Knowing that her sister would never think to look for her in a place of the Light, Savathûn laid in hiding at the Last City, posing as the legendary Warlock, aiding the Guardians in their efforts against Caiatl's chosen champions and the Endless Night that plagued the Last City. However, after Lakshmi-2's failed conspiracy against the Fallen House of Light that had allied with Guardians, Savathûn fled to the Reef, meeting with the Awoken Queen, Mara Sov. The two queens would come to a bargain, in exchange for excising her worm, the Witch Queen would release Osiris. Further, Mara Sov required the Guardian's assistance in restoring the Dreaming City from the Ascendant Realm's corruption using the dimensional Ley Lines but also wished to prevent Xivu Arath from using the Blind Well and its dimensional properties to her advantage. To solve this and excise the worm in Savathûn, Mara Sov required her coven of Techeuns that once escorted her in the Ascendant Realm which had been lost across the Ley Lines after Xivu Arath and her horde cornered them.
Xivu Arath's Horde, both Hive and Taken, would constantly battle the Guardians within the Blind Well, hoping to claim it for Xivu, as corrupting either the Blind Well or the Ley Lines would allow Xivu Arath to bring an "infection of war", as Mara Sov put it, throughout the universe. Her forces, under the control of one of Mara's Techeuns, were able to infect the Ley Lines within the Shattered Realm which had appeared to be a fractured version of the EDZ.
In the coming weeks, it would later be discovered that forces of the Scorn seemed to have allied with Xivu Arath or forced into submission under her rule. These Scorn would also be sent to infect the Blind Well under the command of Kruutiks, Reefbane. Scorn within the Shattered Realm managed to detain a Techeun within a Fallen Cryopod and kept it under guard through the use of a Scorn Scrapwalker and their region of the Ascendant Plane appeared to be a part of the Tangled Shore.
Xivu's forces would eventually take hold within another part of the Shattered Realm, this time being fractured regions of the Moon under the control of An Xohol, Jaws of Xivu Arath. At the time, Xivu had also sent in her various hordes under Pillager Warbands to stop the Guardian's attempts to locate the Awoken secrets within the Shattered Realm under the guise of Hive, Taken and Scorn.
On the day of the ritual to exorcise Savathûn's worm, Xivu Arath's brood, in a last-ditch effort to capture their master's sister, launched a massive assault on the Dreaming City and attempted to overwhelm the Blind Well. Despite being unsuccessful in preventing the realignment of the Ley Lines, this would allow the Hive army to travel through the Ascendant Plane and begin swarming the Ritual Spire, in which the exorcism was taking place until they were once again pushed back by the Guardians. Desperate to capture Savathûn, Kruutiks, Kholks, and finally Kelgorath, Risen from Bones, forced their way into the Spire, followed by hordes of Xivu's forces, and attacked the ritual, but ultimately failed and were defeated at the hands of the Lightbearers.
Corrupting the Warmind
After failing to capture the Witch Queen, Xivu Arath's Horde would lie low for some time as the Guardians themselves dealt with Savathûn and her newly formed Lucent Brood, who both now wielded the Light. However, as the Witness, the true master of the Black Fleet, drew near, Xivu Arath sought to prepare the system for its invasion and thus began to target the Warmind Rasputin and his formidable Warsat Network. Further, the Witness gave Xivu Arath and her Horde free rein to punish Eramis and her House of Salvation for failing to acquire the Relics of Nezarec, mainly driving many of its members into becoming Wrathborn or killing lieutenants and resurrecting them as Scorn to serve Xivu Arath, such as Praksis.
Though Xivu Arath and her Horde managed to acquire access to some of Rasputin's defense protocol and entrance to his Submind Vaults through the use of Eramis' House Splicers, the whole of the Network remained out of their reach. To achieve their goals, Xivu Arath directed her forces to target one of the Warmind's chief creators, Clovis Bray I on Europa. However, the Guardians stymied their efforts by routing the Exoscience Labs where Clovis was stationed and brought him into the plan to restore the Warmind and counter Xivu Arath. The Bray patriarch directed the Guardians to gather Rasputin's subminds to aid in Rasputin's restoration, leading them to infiltrate each of the Submind Vaults and slay their defenders, most notably Warwatcher, Eye of Xivu Arath and Kelgorath, who Xivu Arath had restored and made a Darkblade.
However, as the Guardians made progress in restoring Rasputin, the Vanguard's leaders, mainly Mara Sov and Osiris, began to wonder about Xivu Arath's true goals, as she only had her Wrathborn leading the fight, a token force, to stop them, leading the Awoken Queen to believe that seizing the Warsat Network may not be the War God's plan. With deduction and reasoning, Mara concluded that Xivu Arath wants the Guardians to restore Rasputin so the Warmind can use his arsenal to smite her forces in which the resulting conflict and bloodshed would not only feed her worm but also serve as fuel to open a portal to summon the full force of her army onto to Earth. Such an invasion would overwhelm humanity, much like the Cabal experienced on Torobatl.
Reasoning that they can't restore Rasputin and let him use his arsenal yet at the same time, they can't allow Eramis to access the Network, the Vanguard Coalition agreed that they restore Rasputin as planned but refrain from using his Warsats. Thus, they would create a stalemate with Xivu Arath, denying her the requirements she needs for her ritual. Unfortunately, Eramis and her Splicers would manage to gain access to Rasputin's ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE protocol, the order that Rasputin created which would direct the Warsats to target the Traveler in the event it ever began to leave Earth. The Guardians raced to the control hub of the network, the orbital station, Seraph Station, to prevent this but were impeded by Eramis' forces and that of Xivu Arath's Horde, led by Ir Garza, Scourge of Earth. Despite their efforts, Rasputin destroyed the Warsat Network by sacrificing himself to activate his AURORA SACRIFICE protocol, robing Xivu Arath's requirements for her ritual.
With her plans in shambles, Xivu Arath ordered her Horde to withdraw from Earth and Mars but they would continue to cling onto Europa, leading Guardians to continue operations on the frozen moon.
Depths of Titan
Following the Vanguard's attempts to pass through the gateway in the Traveler left by the Witness, they received word of Titan's return and heard a distress call from Deputy Commander Sloane. Ecstatic, Zavala gathered a team involving the Guardian to locate Sloane but as they landed at the New Pacific Arcology, they were swarmed with Xivu Arath's Horde and Taken, even hearing the bellowing voice of Xivu Arath herself. Despite the Horde's efforts, the Guardians were able to locate Sloane but one kilometer down within the moon's methane oceans. Though Sloane was partially afflicted with Taken energies when Titan disappeared, she was saved by a massive aquatic creature named Ahsa who claimed to be an old enemy of The Witness and she had a message for the Guardians regarding The Witness. Agreeing to aid Sloane in deciphering Ahsa's messages using a coral egregore found deep in Titan's depths, battling Xivu Arath's Horde and Taken that sought to stop them.
Ultimately, Ahsa's message involved the origins of The Witness itself but before Ahsa could finish delivering the final part of her message, she became caught in a ritual by Xivu Arath, led by her screams, that would Take her. Scrambling together, the Guardian, Saint-14, Sloane, Zavala and Saladin managed to disrupt the ritual, freeing Ahsa and forcing Xivu Arath's Horde into a full retreat, allowing Sloane to interpret Ahsa's final message.
Clash of the Hive Gods
With the Vanguard forming a bargain with Savathûn's Ghost Immaru, Eris Morn would transform into the Hive God of Vengeance so she would gain enough strength to defeat Xivu Arath.
Xivu Arath would respond to this and send her forces led by her champion the Leviathan-Eater, Bane of the Ammonites, to invade the Court of Savathûn, and steal the tributes hidden in her sister's oubliette. After her forces failed to defeat the Guardian in the Altars of Summoning, she would call upon the Leviathan-Eater to test their capabilities. The champion chooses to withdraw and flee from the battle to prepare for their next battle and to rally the Horde. Later the Ogre Golakh, Befouler would assault Savathûn's Spire, leading an army of Wrathborn Fallen, despite their efforts they would be unable to defeat the Guardians and would fail to gain dominance over the Spire.
With Eris Morn beginning her final tithing ritual in the Altar of the Sword, the Leviathan-Eater and his forces would arrive through a portal in the altar to confront the Guardian once again. Despite his power, the Guardian would slay him, and Eris Morn would kill the newly resurrected Savathûn to gain enough power to banish Xivu Arath from her Throne World, the Black Terrace. Even with Xivu Arath's banishment from her Throne World, her Brood would continue their assault. Arok'tha, Sworn to Xivu Arath and its forces would arrive through the Altar of the Sword to confront the Guardians, however, they would be no match for the Lightbearers' power and would be slain in battle.
Hunt for Riven's Clutch
With Xivu Arath's banishment, many Taken would become directionless with no commanding will. However, some Taken would remain under the God of War's influence through her Celebrants. Roln'gur, Blade-bound to the Terrace and its forces would invade Riven's Lair in an attempt to corrupt one of the eggs. Although they succeeded in corrupting it, their plan would be foiled by the Guardian, who would slay them and cleanse the egg of its corruption.
Ascendant Regrouping
During the operation to stop the Witness and prevent them from completing the Final Shape, the Guardian would help Micah-10 to do what they could to heal the Traveler and helping to locate several lost Ghosts. One of these missions involved finding and saving Akasha, a Ghost that had been systemically scanning Awoken territory for years and whose last known location was the Dreaming City. Together with Crow and Glint, the Guardian would traverse the portion of the Ascendant Realm where Priests of Incaru communed in the realm and finally locate Akasha, thus recovering her data. Mara Sov, Micah and Crow would deduce from the movements across the Ley Lines, that, as Xivu Arath didn't join the Witness in its invasion of the Pale Heart, she was playing to turn the forces of the Black Fleet and the Coalition against each other to gain an advantage. Xivu Arath would continue to move the Hive forces from her brood through the Ascendant Plane en masse, while Mara was focused on holding back the Final Shape and couldn't keep an eye on her city's Ley Lines, cutting her losses from her previous master and gathering her strength for the war that would follow the War against the Witness[7].
Another of these missions involved finding and saving Citrine, a Ghost obsessed with Warmind hardware and whose last known location was Mars. Here the Guardian and Micah would traverse the unpredictable, ghostly time rifts that cursed the planet and sometimes would snap into focus and present a moment out of time as real as any other, despite not allowing the Guardian from actually affecting the past through time. Exploring further, Mara would have alerted them that as the Final Shape was pressed into reality the already fragile time rifts were tearing apart Mars, bringing portions of the Warmind facility from the past and making them operate in and out of their time. Micah would also detect Xivu Arath's Hive forces sent back to the planet to investigate the time anomalies and the team would confront and kill Kelgorath, Risen from Bones, manifested from when he was trying to conquer the location, to prevent Xivu Arath from retrieving any functional Warmind tech while Mara would dispatch her Techeuns to seal the rift even if temporarily[8].
Notable members
Hive Pantheon
- Xivu Arath, God of War
- An Ragaar, Son of Xivu Arath (Son)
- Scoroboth, Son of Xivu Arath (Son)
- Tir Balok, Daughter of Xivu Arath (Daughter)
- Xavan, Daughter of Xivu Arath (Daughter)
Ascendant Hive
Unique forces
Hive
Dread
Taken
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Gallery
The High Celebrant of Xivu Arath
Kelgorath, Risen from Bones
Leviathan Eater, Bane of the Ammonites
An Xohol, Jaws of Xivu Arath
Xaras, Greed of Xivu Arath
Kholks, Taken Ogre under Xivu
Ruithe, Sworn to Xivu Arath
Taken Daughter of Xivu Arath, Xavan
Taken Daughter of Xivu Arath, Tir Balok
Taken Son of Xivu Arath, An Ragaar
Spawn of Xivu, Megor
List of appearances
References
- ^ Bungie (2018/9/4), Destiny 2: Forsaken, Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, Last Call
- ^ Bungie (2018/9/4), Destiny 2: Forsaken, Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, Broken Courier
- ^ Bungie (2018/9/4), Destiny 2: Forsaken, Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, The Oracle Engine
- ^ Bungie (2021/2/9), Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen - Lore: Empress CHAPTER 5: NEW GODS
- ^ Bungie (2021/2/9), Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen - Lore: Empress CHAPTER 6: BATTLE SONG
- ^ Bungie (2021/2/9), Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen - Lore: Empress CHAPTER 7: CORONATION
- ^ Bungie (2024/6/4), Destiny 2: The Final Shape - The Ascendant
- ^ Bungie (2024/6/4), Destiny 2: The Final Shape - The Past
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