| Lavinia Garcia Umr Tawil | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
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Homeworld: |
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Gender: |
Female |
| Political and military information | |
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Affiliation: |
The Last City (formerly) |
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Rank: |
Cryptarch |
- "Lavinia's mother told her that on the day of her birth, a witch pronounced her lucky. She will have to trust in that luck now."
- — The Red Box
Lavinia Garcia Umr Tawil was a Cryptarch affiliated with The Last City, until her exile for unauthorized attempts to study the Nine. Lavinia continued her studies despite her exile, venturing into the Reef for answers before being arrested for violating Awoken law. Eventually escaping, Lavinia managed to enter the realm of the Nine and learn the truth about them before being captured by Savathûn, the Witch-Queen.
Biography
The Curious Cryptarch
Laviana, at some point after becoming a Cryptarch, chose to center her profession on learning about the Nine. During her research, she found records of a box of peculiar dust, with maps of planets both inside and beyond the solar system engraved on each mote. Though many suspected it came from the Vex, Lavinia was sure it was related to the Nine. Her confidence led her to seek out Xûr. After getting a Titan to lead her to him, she inquires about the dust, but cannot glean a clear answer from the Agent.
Undeterred, Lavinia uses recordings of Xûr's interactions and marks words he uses commonly. Then, during the second Dawning celebration following the Red War, she sneaks into an archives facility and hacks into it to find any information that will help her, knowing full well the consequences of getting caught. Her queries contain seemingly superfluous information about dark matter, until she comes across a paper theorizing that dark matter could have caused the failure of the City's sensor network before Ghaul's invasion. Before she can dig further, she is cut off by the sound of Rahool, communicating via sensor mite, calling her in.
Later still, despite being put on probation, she tries to regain Rahool's favor by unlocking the secrets of the Nine. Through more research, she learns of a connection between the Nine and the Ahamkara. To this end, she steals an Ahamkara jawbone from the wreckage of the Tower, with the plan of learning of why the Nine needed the wish-granters. Before she can get away with it, she is ambushed by New Monarchy Guardians, who overreact greatly when they see her stolen goods. Before they arrest her, Ikora Rey drives them off, and requests she surrender the bone. Through an act that demands more willpower than expected, she complies. Ikora demands to know her reasons for wanting the bone, and the explains her theory: The Nine were making wishes, but following the Great Ahamkara Hunt, they created Xûr and began getting what they needed from Guardians instead. Ikora warns her that continuing will have consequences she cannot protect her from. She presents a choice to Lavinia: leave and she will overlook the theft, or stay the course and force Ikora to bring her in. Refusing to turn back, Lavinia is brought before a tribunal and exiled from the City.
The Exiled Student
Seeking to earn a way back into her home, Lavinia travels to the Reef, where she meets with a Fallen who served under Master Ives, and safeguarded his records. The Fallen shows her a recording of Skolas before his death in the Prison of Elders. After hearing Skolas' speak of his travels, his release by the Nine after his first capture, and the Queen's connection to them, Lavinia realizes that the Nine are allies of the system. This revelation comes at the same time that an Awoken officer storms in and jails her.
However, her vested interest in the Nine earned her the attention of Paladin Kamala Rior, who had her brought along for one of the Awoken Fleet's "shows of force" against The Leviathan to investigate strange dark matter readings in the area. Using a device designed by Mara Sov for an unrelated purpose, Lavinia is able to pick up on the Nine's presence while they gaze on Emperor Calus. Before she can report her findings to the City, Rior has her sent back to Prison, due to an old edict left by Mara preventing anyone in the Reef disclosing their intel on the Nine to outside factions.
No Turning Back
Eventually, Lavinia escaped from prison, paying a Corsair to break her out, get her to Cocytus, and get her back to the City with whatever she finds. Unfortunately, the Corsair abandoned her near the gate when they were spotted by the Royal Guard, who caught Lavinia and demanded her surrender. Knowing that entering the gates of Cocytus would most likely kill her, but knowing staying would mean a return to jail, Lavinia crossed the threshold to meet the Nine.
Lavinia was transformed into a structure of dark matter, and the Nine spoke to her, showing her their birth, their development into the beings they are, and their activity since the coming of the Traveler. As they explained their division into factions, a being calling herself Nasya called out in warning. Lavinia then saw all of Mara's interactions with the Nine, and how one of them allowed Ghaul to sneak past the City's defensive satellite network.
As Nasya called out to her one more time, Lavinia was suddenly sucked away, annihilated and reconstructed at an unknown location. She found herself in a room with a "clever-looking old lady," apparently the "witch" who had foretold Lavinia's lucky nature at birth, who told her that she had reached a place where her knowledge could be used and appreciated.
Trivia
- Lavinia's name contains several references to the works of H.P. Lovecraft: Lavinia Whateley was a character in The Dunwich Horror, and Umr At-Tawil was a being featured in Through the Gates of the Silver Key.
- When she was "sucked away, annihilated and reconstructed". It's possible she may have been Taken.
List of appearances
- Destiny 2: Joker's Wild (First mentioned)