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Current project: Black Garden Awoken lore

Jolyon Till

Expedition into the Black Garden

Entering the Garden

"Nobody's ever been inside the Garden. Imagine what we'll find."
"Nameless horrors?"
"They're all nameless when nobody's named them, Jol!"

— Uldren and Jolyon discussing going into the Black Garden

While on a mission with Uldren, the Prince told Jolyon that he wanted to enter the Black Garden with him as the two lay prone and the Crow waited to snipe an unsuspecting target. Jolyon did not divert his attention from his scope but sarcastically replied that he thought the two of them were going to float Saturn in a tub instead. Uldren insisted he was serious, but Jolyon told him he would be dead if he did go to Mars and requested wind information from his spotter. The Prince provided it and insisted that Jolyon had to join him or he would never live it down. Jolyon noted he would not live anything down if he was dead and declared he was ready to take the shot, which Uldren approved. With the target eliminated, Jolyon turned to Uldren as the Prince reminded him that he had joined him on all his previous big adventures and that he needed him. Uldren also worried that a Guardian might beat them to it and that Queen Mara Sov would start using them for work instead of the Crows. Noting that Uldren was manipulative like Mara but smiled more, Jolyon countered Uldren's excitement about what they would find by suggesting it would likely be nameless horrors and that no one had gone in because it was forbidden by Mara. However, Uldren told him that was how they knew it was worth doing. Jolyon agreed to join Uldren, who reassured him their mission and departure would be secret. Jolyon believed the whole city would know they were leaving soon enough and was proven right when a large crowd of admirers turned out to bid them farewell.

Upon reaching the entrance to the Black Garden in the Valley of the Kings, the two Awoken found themselves caught between the Vex and Cabal. Jolyon destroyed a Goblin that pinned Uldren down, but in doing so gave away his position to the Cabal, who began bombarding the area. Finding themselves unable to fight their way into the gateway, Jolyon suggested flying a ship through, but Uldren noted the gate would not be active unless the Vex were tricked and the Cabal could shoot them down. Jolyon noted the only way to trick the Vex would be killing a Gate Lord and stealing its eye, but his Prince stated he had another idea that would require stealth. The two Awoken settled on a plan to rile up the Cabal to the point that they would initiate an orbital bombardment to eliminate them, while at the same time getting close to the gate entrance to draw out a Gate Lord that would open a portal to the Black Garden and use the resulting chaos to slip inside. Jolyon spent the next several hours picking off Cabal, infuriating them, before joining Uldren in crawling towards the gate using active camouflage ponchos. Once close enough, the Vex detected them and deployed a Gate Lord. While Uldren distracted the machine Jolyon fired into the air with his Supremacy rifle to alert the Cabal to their location. As a Cabal cruiser began preparing to bombard the area, the Vex Gate Lord became distracted between the two threats. Jolyon and Uldren sprinted for the gate and used a deflection grenade to protect themselves from both foes as they slid into the entrance of the Black Garden.

Exploring the Garden

"So many secrets… They grew in him, Jolyon. The Garden grew its secrets in him."
"Who gives a rat? Your Highness, we've got to get out of here. Before whatever happened to them happens to us too!"

— Uldren and Jolyon expressing different reactions to the nature of the Black Garden

Having successfully breached the Black Garden, Jolyon and Uldren began exploring the paracausal space and delved into the trenches between the ordered flower fields. Jolyon quickly grew disturbed by the dark reality they found themselves in. As they took shelter beneath a canopy of tongues from the rain, he noted how everything grew in the Garden and directed Uldren to look at his fingernails, which had curved back into a loop that completed at their roots. The Prince was undisturbed and suggested they move on, which Jolyon agreed with. As he pulled himself up with the aid of nearby vines, they quickly coiled around his arm and attempted to bite him. Jerking his arm free, Jolyon responded to Uldren questioning if he was ok by stating he was for the moment. As they explored and discovered more impossible and terrifying things, Jolyon declared that he did not like it there and suggested they return to the surface. Uldren did not respond to his suggestion, instead saying that he had been right earlier about everything growing and that it was life. Jolyon was alarmed as his friend ran ahead laughing and asked what he was looking for, but the Prince stated he did not know and that was what made it incredible.

The two Awoken soon found signs of a battle between Vex and Cabal within the Garden itself. Uldren insisted on following the tracks of a surviving Legionary, but as they entered into a field of woven grasses they began hearing strange whispers on the wind with a musical cadence. Jolyon worried that they might catch a contagious idea and attempted to warn Uldren about brain stain and suggest they turn back, but the Prince ignored him and carried on into a low vale. They found themselves surrounded by Goblins and Minotaurs that were still as statues and covered in moss, but also singing in a faint robotic way. Discovering the wounded Legionary, Jolyon watched as Uldren interrogated him and was horrified when the Cabal killed themselves by removing their pressurized helmet to reveal thousands of tiny seeds embedded into its skull. Seeing the fascination on the Prince's face, Jolyon told him he did not like it, but Uldren began talking about how the Garden grew its secrets on the Cabal. At this, Jolyon snapped and declared he did not care before insisting that they leave to avoid the same horrific fate.

After the Garden

"I said, we should talk about what happened in there."
"Yes! Yes, we've got to record all our observations before they fade. I should've asked you sooner—"
"Uldren, I don't want anyone to know what we saw."

— Jolyon and Uldren, in the aftermath of their expedition

After leaving the Black Garden Jolyon and Uldren returned to the Reef, where Uldren presented Queen Mara an Asphodelia flower. However, the Prince did not mention Jolyon's role in the expedition or even talk to him for days after their return. Jolyon was plagued by nightmares of what he had seen within the Black Garden. Upon encountering the Prince within the armory, Jolyon noted he had not come to the range the other day. The distracted Prince dismissively stated that Jolyon did not need a spotter before trailing off attempting to explain where he had been. Jolyon told him they should talk about the Garden, which caused Uldren to become excited and apologize for not talking to him sooner. The Prince wished to record all that they had seen, but Jolyon cut him off and declared he did not want anyone else to know about it. Uldren promised it would be their shared secrets. Jolyon did not agree, telling the Prince he wished he could not remember any of it, and distractedly dropped the firing pin to his rifle as he inspected it. As the pin rolled across the floor, the Crow made no move to pick it up and reminded Uldren that he did not keep secrets. He then asked if Uldren would join him on the range the next day, but the Prince declined by claiming he had work to do.

Further Service

During the Wolf Rebellion, Jolyon was burned by a Fallen Shrapnel Launcher. Acquiring one of the weapons for himself, he began modifying it for a more directed accurate burst of fire that would work well in the hands of a marksman like himself, vowing that the traitorous House of Wolves would feel its fire for their betrayal.

Several years later, Jolyon was assigned to the strike team sent to bring in Uldren when he surrendered to the Reef. The Prince had been thought lost in the Battle of Saturn, but had recently remerged as the leader of the Scorn, a radical and violent faction of Fallen. As Uldren was placed in chains Jolyon went up to his friend, but found that the Prince could not even recognize him any longer.