Act II: Rites of the Deep

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Next:	Act III: Crossed Blades
Act II: Rites of the Deep
Game:	Episode: Heresy
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Act II: Rites of the Deep is the main quest for Episode: Heresy Act II.

Steps

"And my vanquisher will read that book, seeking the weapon, and they will come to understand me, where I have been and where I was going."The following is a verbatim transcription of an official document for archival reasons. As the original content is transcribed word-for-word, any possible discrepancies and/or errors are included.

Step 1

New horrors abound on the Dreadnaught. Board the vessel and investigate.

• Board the Dreadnaught and investigate the Court of Blades.
  • Court of Blades investigated

"Visit the Court of Blades and do what you do best. Prove sword logic."

— Eris

Step 2

Sloane has received reports of a strange rift accompanied by a woman's voice appearing in the Nether. She's skeptical, but wants it investigated.

• Discover and investigate the strange rift in the Nether.
  • Rift investigated

"Guardian, I've been seeing unsettling reports file in from the Dreadnaught. Every other gun I send in comes back with some horror story about a Hive ritual or some Taken manifestation acting weird.

Normally I wouldn't give any attention to… paranormal occurrences on a Hive ship—we've both seen enough to know the paranormal is normal with them—but the reports cite a woman's voice. Human. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up… so check this out quietly. If it's nothing, or just Toland screwing with us, fine. But if someone's trying to contact us for real, you find them."

---

• Eris Morn: Guardian—my knife—only whisper—you must—I—not—strength—return—

---

• Eris Morn: You must—assemble the—Oryx's power—The Ascendant—

---

• Eris Morn: [grunts in frustration] —meager tear—the sword—seams—path—find it!

---

• Eris Morn: Guardian! My knife, my acolyte. I may only whisper, but you must listen. I do not possess the strength to return. You must find and assemble the shards of Oryx's sword, Willbreaker. It has the power to cut into the Ascendant Plane. [grunts in frustration] What meager tear I have made now seams together. Go! The sword is your path to me. Find it!

Step 3

A Taken Rune of Spite manifests before your eyes.

• Bring the reclaimed shard of Willbreaker back to the Shaping Slab.
  • Shaping Slab visited

---

A Taken Rune of Spite manifests before your eyes.

Step 4

• Sloane: Let’s pick up Willbreaker where you and Eris left off. I want every weapon we can get our hands on against the Deep and the Echo. Drifter’s been working with Ikora’s Hidden to track down the resonant pieces of Oryx’s sword shards.

• Drifter: They wanted me to follow all sorts of protocol. Had to skirt the rules to get the job done.

• Sloane: I don’t need the details. Guardian, deployment posted. You’re up.

---

In order to reforge Willbreaker, you'll need to find its shards spread across the gloam of the Dreadnaught.

• You'll need to find at least three shards of Willbreaker to reforge it. Acquire at least 3 "Willbreaker" quests from the Shaping Slab vendor. Choosing to find additional shards will make it slightly easier to reforge Willbreaker.
  • Willbreaker Shards collected: x/3

Step 5

Deputy Commander Sloane has asked to you continue hunting down shards of Willbreaker, Oryx's blade, so that it may be re-forged and used to free Eris.

Meanwhile, Sloane has requisitioned the hilt of Crota's old sword from the Vanguard archives in order to seat the blade once it is ready.

Drifter is running recon trying to find more shards. Check back in at the Shaping Slab for more leads.

• Collect the shattered remnants of Willbreaker—Oryx's blade—then complete a re-forging ritual at the Court of Blades within the Dreadnaught to fuse the shards back together.
  • Willbreaker Shards collected: x/3

Step 6

• Return to the Dreadnaught, cut through the material plane into the Ascendant one, and free Eris by completing "Mission: Renascence."
  • Mission "Renascence" complete

Step 7

• Enter the rift and reunite with Eris.
  • Vignette Reunited seen

---

• Eris Morn: Guardian. Behold the vast cathedral of my soul. As Hive, I slit Savathûn's throat. In doing so, I made an incision into the Ascendant Plane. This became a world. A throne. It will protect my essence and restore my form. Here, I am resurrected. Here, I am omnipotent.

• Eris Morn: Drifter.

• Drifter: I thought you were gone, I…

• Eris Morn: No. My end… was not bitter. It was sweet. This is my vindication. They were wrong. All of them. I am not sick, I am not mad. And I am no lost cause fit only for self-sacrifice. My throne… is wondrous, and eternal… as am I.

• Drifter: Always were.

• Eris Morn: Guardian. I have not sat idle in this place. I have heard whispers through the wall… Is it true? Has the Taken King returned? I formed my throne with the stroke of a sword… as the Hive gods did long ago. Their tribute and blood coalesced into worlds. You have seen Oryx's throne. His Dreadnaught, his court. What he called the High War. Here, the memory of the Taken King recognises his equal. His killer. His heir. You. But his sisters will come to claim him, as brother and as instrument of power. Xivu Arath was sundered from her throne, as she was sundered from her siblings. She would retake it all and return to their path of death and conquest. While Savathûn in her High Coven, having claimed the Light, wishes to escape. Both the vows made to the worms and the lie that drove the siblings to that bargain. But their designs will be unmade. Their desires, their undoing. I name my throne the High Heresy, formed in opposition to the Hive. Here, I am heresiarch. Here, I am jailer. For my throne will be Oryx's prison.

Step 8

• Gaze into the Shaping Slab.
  • Shaping Slab visited

---

• Eris Morn: Guardian, I am returned, and my throne is magnificent.

• Sloane: It's good to have you back, Eris. And more than that: now we have a foothold on the Ascendant Plane. Your throne world is a strategic advantage we never thought possible. It could turn the tide.

• Eris Morn: Yes. I intend to use it well. We must capture the Echo and bind Oryx to my throne. His sword, Willbreaker, is our key. Its power to evert can drag Oryx from the Echo's hold.

• Sloane: Eris, we have no idea if that's possible. But we do know that the Echo is too dangerous to exist. Willbreaker was the catalyst of the Dreadnaught's superweapon. It contains immense destructive power. Guardian, if we can wield his sword, you can use it to destroy the Echo, and Oryx with it.

• Eris Morn: A waste of potential. The Echo would allow us to travel effortlessly through the Ascendant Plane. We cannot let that slip through our fingers, Deputy Commander.

• Sloane: And if Savathûn or Xivu Arath takes it from us?

• Eris Morn: Oryx's love for his sisters wanes. He may know a means to undermine their threat.

• Sloane: You're relying on the cooperation of the Taken King.

• Eris Morn: I am relying on the strength of the Guardian's will. But as of yet, the sword is not complete, and wielding it in service to me was almost too much for the Guardian to bear. We may neither destroy the Echo nor excise Oryx.

• Sloane: For now, all we can do is hold the line. Guardian, your operations on the Dreadnaught are crucial. Use your power. Strengthen your resolve. We’ll find our footing and strike back.

You, Eris, and Drifter have been reunited. Visit the Shaping Slab in the Last City.

---

• Drifter: Hey, hero. Got an update for ya. Sounds like you and Eris and Sloane have the Taken stuff under control, so I'm headed out on recon duty. Haul's stayin' parked right where it is. This is a short trip, don't you fret. But it's like Sloane said: it got "Hive god" worse around here, and now our backup plans need backup plans. So here's mine. That ain't all the pieces of Oryx’s sword. Not by a long shot. I'm putting some feelers out. Hunting down where those pieces have wandered off to. You never know when you might need a wicked Hive sword. So everything's under control. No need to worry about old Drifter. I'll give you a shout when I've got somethin'.

Step 9

Eris appears to have survived her death at the hands of the Dire Taken Dread. Her Hive ascendancy has gained her a throne world, and all its protections.

• Eris is alive! We should take a moment to celebrate. Await further instructions from Eris.

Step 10

• Complete the quest "Writ: Path of Ambition" from the Shaping Slab to unlock the Path of Ambition.
  • Writ: Path of Ambition

"I won't discount Sloane's experience, but I can only speak from my own. Carry your ambition into the dark, Guardian."

— Eris

Step 11

• Complete the "Trial of Will: Ambition," located at the Shrine of Oryx on the Moon.
  • "Trial of Will: Ambition" completed

---

• Eris Morn: A threat is forming on Luna, our moon. It cannot be left to congeal from mere blight to Eversion Anchor. But where there is threat, hides opportunity. I shall teach another method by which you will strengthen your hold of Taken power, and shatter theirs.

The Guardian touches down on the Moon.

• Eris Morn: The Hive twist arcane threads ahead of you. Their spellcraft pulls at the gathering blight here, adulterating Luna's crust beyond the Hive's normal perversions. And I hear… whispers… playing at shapes made real. Shadows of shadows aching to speak words into being. Do not dally.

The Guardian heads towards Archer's Line

• Eris Morn: To be as the Taken are, is not control, but acceptance of your weakness and ambition to seize power — costs be damned. I will pen my own tenet to this mantra: abstain from suffusion, become the Taken will. We will not heed the commands of whatever presence has manifested within their psychic trauma. Make yourself the sole will. Take up the embodiment of a truth so undeniable that they become you — and all barriers fade away.

The Guardian heads towards the Shrine of Oryx.

• Eris Morn: That Ogre is undergoing… the Offering? The Hive do not possess this power… Without Oryx or the Witness, how? I fear another's hand may carve these new Taken into being.

The Guardian defeats the Taken Wizards.

• Eris Morn: They retreat to Oryx's shrine, I assume to seek the Taken King's blessing… The Wizard's ritual has yet to complete. End it here.

The Guardian enters the Shrine of Oryx.

• Eris Morn: Reach into the unknown, and prepare for it to reach back.

• Eris Morn: Guardian! Meet the gaze of the abyss! Steep yourself in suffocating blight. Invite the horror in. Hold it close.

The Guardian defeats the newly-Taken Ogre.

• Eris Morn: Now, Guardian. It is vulnerable.

The Guardian enters the Place of Offering.

• Eris Morn: This place… the Place of Offering, where the Taken submit their weakness to gain strength. There is… something else here… calling… rabid with grief. No! Sever the bindings! Unshape this beast now, Guardian!

The Guardian severs the bindings to the Ogre.

• Eris Morn: Another foul stain scoured from Luna's ailing depths. You reap strength from their defeat. Aiat. Yet… the Taken King is absent from this clash of swords. He offers no substantiation of their ritual. Why here then? The Dreadnaught, the Taken… they are entwined, but their goals do not seem aligned. Perhaps the presence we felt here in the Deep drives them… perhaps there is more to uncover. Search the grounds.

The Guardian discovers a memory of the Hive.

• Eris Morn: Guardian — a remnant etched into the receding Deep. Draw it forth with your newfound power.

• Savathûn: Oryx. The Witness is dead. It lied to you.

• Echo of Navigation: We saw the syzygy, sister, and we dove to avert doom. I followed you to th—

• Savathûn: Let me cut to the truth. The god-wave wasn't the Traveler. We were chosen for Light, and the Witness gave us chains. But I can break us out of this game.

• Echo of Navigation: Deceit is your language!

• Savathûn: We've both been played since the beginning. Look, this is Immaru, my Ghost.

• Echo of Navigation: Light-pawn! Where is my cunning sister? She would never allow such heresy.

• Savathûn: And what do you call what you are now, if not heresy?

• Echo of Navigation: ENOUGH! Does my blade not cut? Its edge is truth. Do tithes not sate my form? Our logic, proved in violence.

• Savathûn: You're an inanimate object, dear brother. Your blade cuts nothing.

• Echo of Navigation: I do not accept this! I will navigate through each manipulation, from the beginning, and I will divine the truth. ALONE!

• Eris Morn: Oryx has shown the flaw in his logic: faith. Now doubt creeps in. He has long been a creature of singular purpose… and boundless curiosity. This revelation could send him reeling, or spell doom should he align with the Witch Queen. We cannot wait for the Echo to decide which avenue to explore. We must act in the face of uncertainty. I will begin preparations and contact you when they are ready for action.

Step 12

• While exploring the Nether, harvest the Flesh of Akka component of the binding ritual proposed by Eris Morn.
  • Harvested Flesh of Akka: x/5

Step 13

• Bring the Flesh of Akka to Eris Morn so that she may initiate the binding of Oryx and seal the Echo within her throne.
  • Eris Morn visited

---

• Eris Morn: Do you feel that, Guardian? The writhing power within you — palpitating. Surrender yourself to the call of entropy. Let it become your blade.

• Sloane: You've got a lot of faith in ancient Taken energy we know nothing about.

• Eris Morn: Such is the nature of faith. A belief in our ability to subsume the primordial. Faith is curiosity. Not fear.

• Sloane: Fear's natural. It's a warning. Respect for what this power's capable of. This is a weapon because I contain it. It’s not a part of me; it's a tool.

• Eris Morn: I recognize the color of grief within you. You have yet to embrace it.

• Sloane: I never will… Power is control. Without control, you have nothing.

• Eris Morn: Not nothing. Potential.

Step 14

• Report in at the Shaping Slab in the Last City.
  • Shaping Slab visited

---

• Eris Morn: Oryx seeks a path to Fundament. The Witch Queen, in delivering truth, has set her brother's mind. Savathûn did not expect this reaction from him. Her misstep has created a new complication. We cannot allow Oryx to escape. We must force a confrontation. With the flesh of Akka, I may do so. But the deputy commander’s doubt… Hm. She tells me my methods are based on faith. Faith, the same flaw in Oryx's logic. I did not challenge the word; an argument here would only divide our cause further. But when it is faith, it is faith in you. And when it is not… it is ambition. Binding the Echo of the Navigator to my throne will require immense power and the precise application of will. Together, we possess both. Then we may discover a way to excise Oryx's foul essence. Only a being infused with Taken power may wield Willbreaker. Sloane and I will guide you to that becoming. Keep the faith, my knife. My acolyte. We must not be stymied by an adherence to order in pursuit of safety. This is the Deep. This is the Taken. There is no safety.

Eris intends to bind Oryx to her throne world, but to do so, she'll need your help to occupy Xivu Arath and Savathûn's forces.

Step 15

Eris is preparing a ritual to bind the Echo Oryx to her throne world. In the meantime, you should engage Xivu Arath and Savathûn's forces to distract them.

• As Eris prepares the ritual to bind the Echo of Oryx, engage the Hive forces of Xivu Arath and Savathûn to distract them.

Step 16

• Find Eris in the Nether of Dreadnaught and help her complete the ritual to bind Oryx.
  • Ritual completed

"The living flesh of Akka, once a piece of Oryx's own throne world, now serves as a tether to mine. Much like the Taken bound to The Offering, so too shall the Echo of Navigation be bound to my realm."

— Eris

Step 17

• Check in with Sloane in the Last City.
  • Sloane briefed

---

• Sloane: Guardian. We have him. Eris' mission was a success. I can't say I'm not impressed. Eris and I have never been afraid to do what needed to be done, regardless of the risk. And now we've captured the Taken King himself. I told Eris that fear is a warning. Correctly deployed, we can send that warning to our enemies. Now the Taken — and the Dread — hear it loud and clear. You know I was against bringing him here. Eris' throne world was our tactical advantage. But we had to move fast. That's what Eris did. She reacted, and now we have to adapt. This is an opportunity. We've got Oryx pinned. Hold him, Guardian.

Step 18

• Oryx is contained, for now. Gaze into the Shaping Slab and reflect on your path.
  • Shaping Slab visited

---

• Eris Morn: Guardian. We are triumphant. With the Echo of the Navigator as our prisoner, we have gained ground against those who would subdue us.

• Sloane: We still have to deal with Oryx's sisters. Eris' actions have galvanised them. But the Echo is secured, for now. We have our shot at finishing this.

• Eris Morn: We must not destroy him! He is a rich source of knowledge, as Echo and King. Bound, we may interrogate him—

• Sloane: And how long until you lose control?

• Eris Morn: I cannot hold him indefinitely. Keeping the Echo of the Navigator in my throne world consumed my focus.

• Sloane: If the Echo escapes, or his sisters are successful, it'll punch a hole through your throne world and straight into the Dreadnaught. The Last City would be in extreme danger.

• Eris Morn: I will not allow it.

• Sloane: Of course you won't. But Oryx would. We can't let our ambition outstrip our ability.

• Eris Morn: Quite.

• Sloane: Guardian, we need you back on the Dreadnaught. You're our line of defense. Keep the Echo out of Xivu Arath and Savathûn's hands. Assert control.

• Eris Morn: I will learn what I can from the Echo. But by force or ritual… they will move to reclaim their stolen sibling.

"I'll say it again for good measure. I don't like this. We're putting humanity at risk." —Sloane

Appearance

• Destiny 2: Episode: Heresy (First appearance)