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Skira, Judge of the Abyss
Biographical information
Other name(s):	Skira, the Watcher The Baleful Eye The Arbiter My Finest Work (by Nezarec) Observer of the Wastes An Inquisitive Whisper Voice of Tribunal
Homeworld:	Kshiral
Species:	Kshiri
Gender:	Female
Height:	25'
Eye color:	Indigo-Violet
Political and military information
Affiliation:	The Polyphony (formerly) Disciples of the Witness Black Fleet Talons of the Watcher
Rank:	Divine Singer (formerly) Disciple
Notable info:	Slaughtered her people in vengeance Disciple of Nezarec, Final God of Pain Haunted the Fallen during their rise

Gameplay (WIP)

Skira, Judge of the Abyss
Biographical information
Rank:	Ultra
Combat information
Mission:	The Tainted Heart
Weapon(s):	Polyphony's Bane Scales of Oblivion
Abilities:	Summon Resonant Censers Summon Fallen Summon Nightmares High Durability Rapid Movement Tremor Debuff Resonant Sun Chromatic Blast Resonant Pinion Baleful Psychosis Limited Hovering Teleportation Pervading Darkness Binding Light

"Every action you have made in this system. Every enemy slain, every ally made, every desperate ploy and plea you have made, every sin against the great work of the Final Shape. I have watched, and I have watched with careful detail. Remember that when judgement is rendered final, little mote. Remember that when I determine your finality in reality's great design. For I am its Watcher. I am its Judge. I. Am. Skira."

— Skira conversing with the Guardian

Skira, Judge of the Abyss is a Disciple of the Witness. Once a member of the Divine Chorus of The Polyphony, after being falsely blamed for a "great discordance", she would destroy her own people with the quaint assistance of Nezarec, who took a great interest in the psionically powerful Kshiri. Little is known about her doings apart from the Witness's fondness for the Kshiri singer, deeming her the judge of the abyss; she is responsible for the destruction of countless worlds she deemed "unworthy" of the Final Shape.

When she encountered the Eliksni, however, she would be assigned to their conversion to the Darkness at the behest of the Witness and sought to personally recruit Israhn if all else failed. However, when she sought to retaliate against the race who neglected her gifts, she would be driven off by the Traveler who scarred her with its powerful Light, forcing her to retreat in shame as she sought to recover her power and remedy her wounds. Though she would fail in this task, she would be instrumental in the scouring of the Fallen, even pursuing much of their kind during the great drift.

While she would continue to remedy her deep wounds throughout the Witness' pursuit of the Traveler and would remain out of the conflict. Following the Witness' death, she would briefly enter a meditative state to find an answer as to how such a powerful being could lose to a bunch of motes of light, only to find a new purpose in the Darkness. With new purpose and intent, she would attempt to rally much of the Witness' remaining forces in order to regroup and grow powerful, calling all of those still loyal to the cause of the Final Shape to her abandoned, but not silent Pyramid on Pluto, as well as a small contingent of Shadow Legion and House of Salvation to a reliquary containing some of her most powerful weapons and ordnance.

Biography

Polyphony's Bane

Divine Chorus

"I was made indispensable to them. I sang with pride and conviction in our Polyphony and I felt as my voice and mind breathed life for our world. I felt my power mend our broken world, purging away the radiation of our chromatic warheads and influence of death thoughts. To them I was... I thought I was the perfect tool. And I was a fool to think so."

— Skira recounting her past

From a young age, Skira and her fellow hatchlings were groomed to be tactful and powerful Divine Singers of the Polyphony. Particularly strong willed and psionically adept, her instructors would take a liking to the young Skira and assigned her to lead many of her peer's mending songs, channeling darkness and light energies to heal their wounded world, as lethal radiation from the wars past was purged and the natural landscapes were reconstructed back to their original shapes in the living memory of the world. Due to her station and the perceptions of her peers and superiors, she became a loyal follower the Polyphony and those that led the design, which was only further stoked by the elites of the Polyphony, gifting her luxuries and rewards of the greatest form, riches, garments, the finest and finely engraved channeling bells and the most extravagant of nests, earning the envy and jealousy of her peers over time.

Eventually, Skira would meet a mate whom would temper her loyalties into independence and love, creating a clutch of eggs in one of her more humble of nests. Only one egg would survive, however, as a jealous rival would smash most of the eggs before being torturously slain by an enraged Skira, hatching a son named Sharath. Although Skira would initially regret the blood spilt during that violent and agonizing bout, she would unknowingly catch the attention of Nezarec, who was scouting the world for the Traveler's influence. Following this event, Skira slowly began to question the integrity of the Polyphony, which was slowly encouraged by the counsel her mate and the loss of most of her children, and would start to see the injustices of the Polyphony as a whole, seeing their great songs merely means for them to squabble over the ravaged lands for their own personal gain.

Betrayal and Tutelage

""I can feel your rage overflowing. It fuels you as much as it does me. (...) I like you. Perhaps we can work on an arrangement."
"Like what?"
"How about revenge?"
"Yeah, perhaps... (...) perhaps that is exactly what I need.""

— Nezarec and Skira conversing years following her exile

Though she would not openly confront the Polyphony on these issues, many in the upper circles began to notice her refutal of bribes and gifts and conspired to eliminate a possible threat to their livelihoods and positions. In the months following, a great disaster claimed a grand mountain range, and was believed to be the result of cascading psionic energy. Being a high singer of the grand chorus, Skira would be framed for invoking the incident and was sentenced to execution. However, her mate would plead for amnesty or a change of the sentence; however, his words would be twisted into contempt and conspiracy by those in the court, and the execution charge would be changed to him. Although Skira would be exiled instead, she would be forced to watch as her mate would be beheaded before her eyes. As she would be cast out into the wilderness, fresh with the murder of her mate in mind and separated from her only child, she would promise vengeance upon all involved, crying out that all will burn for their sins as she would be cast into the irradiated wastes, clipped of wings and deprived of song.

For years, she would stew in the radiation blasted deserts, barely surviving off the vicious wildlife that survived the hostile wastes. Surviving off the spoiled meat of poisoned animals and surviving in cragged caves with broken wings, her rage only further increased, and plan after plan would be mustered for vengeance; all of which she deemed impossible in her eyes, as grief and hopelessness slowly consumed her. One night, the sky would be torn apart by the arrival of an alien ship, drawing her, and a trio of Polyphony hunters' attention. Encountering each other, the hunters would harass the broken survivor of Skira, beating her down, berating and insulting her for her treachery. A breaking point would be reached as one would mention the death of her mate and her son's obedient indoctrination. In a fit of furious rage, Skira would seize one of the hunters' axes before rapidly slaughtering the two others and agonizingly killing the last one, cutting him apart limb from limb, piece by piece. But as she carved apart the remaining screaming hunter, she did not feel remorse as she did when she killed her first victim; now, she felt justice for the pain she endured.

Following the brutal slaughter, she would be confronted by Nezarec, who was impressed with her fit of fury and application of agony and sought to train her in the ways of the Witness. Promised vengeance for the injustices she faced, she eagerly accepted his aid and, in the weeks of training, the resonant power of the Black Fleet and the residual psionic power of the Final God of Pain, Skira would slowly heal from the wounds she gained from her exile. As more and more Polyphony crews investigated the wastes, she would apply her new knowledge bestowed by her new master against them, slaughtering many of them with her appropriated battle-axe, haunting and crushing others with her psionic power and tormenting those of higher status as a form of twisted justice. Slowly but surely, all sense of humanity and compassion for her kind vanished, only replaced by a sinister sense of brutal judgement paired with the knowledge of the Final Shape; those worthy of her respect and mercy are those who could survive and fight to the bitter end.

Subjugation of Kshiral

"--It does not anger you that your world now belongs to us? It does not anger you that the voices of your great choir are silenced for good?--
"Why should I be angry? (...) They got exactly what they deserved; justice for their pride.""

— The Witness discussing Kshiral's suspension in Macrocosm

Soon following the arrival of the Black Fleet, Skira, with the aid of Nezarec, would embark on her crusade of bloody, indiscriminate vengeance, as she put untold billions to the sword. She spared no being in her fury, as Divine Singers, warriors and the innocent alike were slaughtered. In desperation, the Polyphony's masters would attempt to capture and kill the rampant Skira through their psionic power. Initially overwhelmed, Skira would realize that her son was among the Divine singers, and would try to confront and interrogate her about her dark descent. In a moment of immediate clarity as she wrestled with grief and love, she would instead find her rage transform into conviction and acceptance, simply answering that what she does is for justice, for the purity of the universe, for salvation; in an instant following, darkness would overcome the bound Skira, shattering the Divine Singers' grip on her and driving them mad, leaving them helpless to her murderous frenzy. Intercepting her fleeing son and hearing his pleas and regrets, she would only chastise him for begging and his weakness. As he asked for his mother's love one last time, Skira only apologized to her bloodied son, stating that this is for her and his own good and struck him down. Thus, Skira's descent into the Witness' fold was complete, and Kshiral fell, to the Black Fleet, to the Disciples, to Skira's rage.

Skira would be brought before the Witness by Nezarec as the planet would be taken and dissected for its quest against the Traveler. After ruminating and discussing the past with the Witness, it would see her as a perfect arbiter for it's grand crusade, a great tool to subjugate or slaughter species worthy of it's great pursuit of the Final Shape, which would, too, become an obsession for the Kshiri. Shortly thereafter, Skira would be elevated as one of the Witness' disciples and thus granted a Glaive by Rhulk, which she would modify and keep as a sign of her new loyalties; despite that, she would keep on to her appropriated battle-axe, which she would continuously modify with resonant energy, fit with a modified, resonance-empowered channeling bell and name the Polyphony's Bane as a reminder of her dark deeds.

Servitude to the Witness

A Sundered Soul

"You too have suffered under the greed and corruption of your leaders. Many among your kind sought your counsel, your skills, your mentorship. Now they laugh at your new station, cheering on your madness as you kill your fellow peers. I too was once used as a means to an end, used as a tool to elevate those who sought to exploit my power. Like me, you too can slip your chains, young Hazunak. Together, we can make them see. Together, you can be whole again."

— Skira recruiting Hazunak

Skira would put world after world to the torch, utilizing her fleet of ships and constructed resonant bells to blast apart cities and armadas and drive populations to madness. Although many worlds were destroyed swiftly and cruelly, many Skira would try to test against themselves or the other unknowing servants of the Witness, such as the Kaitha and Remnant, both destroyed by weapons of mass destruction and the overwhelming numbers of the Hive respectively. However, Skira would also encounter species worth of joining the Black Fleet; chief among them being the Chithrai and their mutual hosts, the Okhrym, both of which would be merged to form the Immolators years later.

However, Skira would also discover the Athisto and their corrupt military empire. Although the species would be of great interest to the Judge of the Abyss, it would be the actions of a broken gladiator that would catch Skira's attention. A former member of their military hierarchy that was betrayed in a power struggle, Hazunak and his unrelenting fury and loathing would become of great interest to Skira. After communing with the gladiator, she would reassemble his broken mind and aid him in his pursuit of vengeance against the Athisto, empowering him with psionic might and shattering the world into pieces with barrages of psionic energy. Skira would discipline Hazunak in the ways of the Witness and elevate him to discipleship, sending him out on a bloody crusade to bring worlds to heel or bring them to ruin.

The Deceiver

"Enough, deceiver! I've stomached your falsehoods and jests for long enough. I've given you opportunity to serve a higher, grander purpose, to escape the shackles of meaningless cycles and hollow words. I've given you an opportunity because I see your strength among your peers, even as a pariah and exile. Yet, still, you cling to your sharp tongue and insufferable wit! (...) If you will not serve my Witness, then you and your misbegotten kind will be made to serve. This. I. Decree."

— Skira punishing Schaozuñe

Coming across the forest world of Naruna, the Witness would task the Watcher with bringing the feline natives, the Gaodrea into its fold as adherents of the Final Shape. For years, she would reach into the minds of the world's denizens and attempt to plant the seeds of the concept of the Final Shape into their minds to little success, as the psionically powerful creatures would steel their minds against a presumed demon. Although she would find trouble and frustration in her deeds, she would encounter an exile among them, Schaozuñe, who would promise to serve and obey her will, and even rally his faithful followers to her cause if she would aid him in a couple of perilous deeds. She would accept this bargain, finally finding purchase and would aid the traitor's ambitions.

At first, she found these deeds an entertaining and necessary distraction from her frustrations in attempting to subvert the Gaodrea; first being hunts and assassinations against Gaodrean officials responsible for Schaozuñe's exile and gathering fragments of power for what was supposedly a weapon of power. Yet as time went on, she found her tasks becoming more and more perilous and exhaustive, from facing some of the most formidable fauna of the world and the sheer weather of the planet's greatest mountain. After nearly dying to the sheer winds of the mountain, she would finally confront her possible disciple only to learn of his ploy to use her as a means to exculpate himself for his past crimes and return as a king. In a fit of rage, she would seize the trickster by his throat and told him that he and his kind will be made to serve the Witness, possibly killed or brainwashed into servitude.

Uplifted Hunter

Presumably succeeding in her deed, she would move on with her crusade against worlds, then encountering the Iphkari. Seeking to avoid her mistakes from the past, she would touch the minds of a few susceptible and powerful candidates across the world, promising power and station among the cosmos, covertly under the promise of the Final Shape. In a bloody spectacle and competition of war and violence, cities and continents among the Iphkari would be torn asunder by weapons of mass destruction and the monstrous deeds of warlords that sought the powers of her Final Shape; those that impressed the Watcher would be empowered by her psionic might via her bells, further encouraging a culture of death and destruction created by the conniving disciple. While many warlords and heroes would arise among their kind, only one caught her attention; a young, bold fledgling among a scattered tribe of peoples named Evaz'zhra.

Communing with the young warrior, the watcher would task the young hunter with great deeds while promising power as a result; an arrangement the brash and young warrior would accept willingly. Gradually giving the hunter much more formidable deeds, eventually Evaz'zhra would become powerful enough to face the tyrants of the world, slaying the Despot King Erun'elkh and becoming a king among his peoples, guiding them towards his mentor's ideal perception of society as unwavering and uncompromising warriors of darkness. However, the Hive would come for the Iphkari in their indiscriminate crusade of death and destruction, besieging the Iphkari homeworld. Despite the Watcher and her apostle's actions, the world would be torn asunder by the magical might of the Hive and the Iphkari, save for Evaz'zhra, would be exterminated. Promising vengeance for his world and the power to achieve his vengeance, she would elevate Evaz'zhra to disciple-hood with the distant aid of Rhulk and joined her on her crusade. Although the actions of the Hive would create a disciple, Skira would hold a grudge against the Hive for the eradication of a possible army of darkness, and would haunt and even destroy the scattered fleets responsible for their destruction, even subjugating the errant prince of Ur, Az Zholgar.

The Eliksni

Wrath of the Watcher

"They feared me. They feared my name, loathed it and gnashed teeth at it's mere inference. It was all too perfect, my Witness. I have turned their fear into mistrust, into paranoia and, in time, they would have revered me as those one-eyed children did Nezarec. (...) They now ignore my doings, and now all I have for them is PURE. HATRED."

— Skira reflecting on her attempt to subjugate the Eliksni

Gallery

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  Skira's Icon as seen throughout Tribunal.

List of Appearances

• Destiny 2
  • Season of the Splicer (First mentioned)
  • Season of the Deep (Mentioned only)
  • Episode: Revenant (Voice only)
  • Episode: Heresy (Mentioned only)
  • Episode: Watcher (First appearance)