Editing Ecumene

{{Faction infobox
|variant=
|image=
|domain(s)= Galactic
|type= Interstellar government
|functions=
|othernames= Amiable Ecumene<ref name="XXV"/> <br> Habitable World<ref name="Habitable World"/>
|conflicts= [[Hive-Ecumene war]]
|leadership= Ecumene Crisis Council<ref name="XXVII"/>
|notable= Stalled the Hive to near extinction
|war=[[Hive]]
}}
The '''Ecumene''' (or '''Amiable Ecumene''') was an interstellar government composed of multiple advanced spacefaring species in an unknown galaxy. It was destroyed during its cataclysmic [[Hive-Ecumene war|war]] with the [[Hive]].<ref name="XXIX">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''Destiny: The Taken King - Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow, [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow#XXIX: Carved in Ruin|XXIX: Carved in Ruin]]''</ref>

==Overview==
The Ecumene was a peaceful alliance of multiple technologically advanced spacefaring species, such as the [[Dakaua]], and was well over twenty thousand years old by the time the Hive first encountered it.<ref name="XXV">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow|Books of Sorrow]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow#XXV: Dictata ir Dakaua|XXV: Dictata ir Dakaua]]''</ref> Member species were known as "clients" of the Ecumene. They were evidently attuned with the [[Darkness]], if not wielders of it, and their connection to the Darkness appeared to form a central part of their civilization.<ref name="Habitable World">'''Bungie (2023/3/10)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Lightfall]] - [[Lore]]:[[Lore:Inspiral|Inspiral]], [[Lore:Inspiral#The_Habitable_World|The Habitable World]]''</ref>

Prior to the advent of the [[Hive]], the Ecumene maintained contact with the [[Ammonite]] civilization of [[Fundament]] and were aware of its destruction, but not of its cause.<ref name="XXV"/> The [[Vex]] possessed or maintained a gate within Ecumene territory, though the extent of their presence is unknown.<ref name="XLIII">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''Destiny: The Taken King - Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow, [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow#XLIII: End of Failed Timeline|XLIII: End of Failed Timeline]]''</ref>

==History==
===The Ancient Past===
The origins and early history of the Ecumene remain unknown; by the time they encountered the Hive, their dominion had grown to encompass many client species, including the [[Dakaua]],<ref name="XXIX"/> and a significant portion of their local galaxy; at least one whole galactic arm is mentioned ("''spinward frontier''") to be under their banner.<ref name="XXVII"/> The Ecumene is known to have persisted for at least twenty-five thousand, one hundred and forty years.<ref name="XXV"/><ref name="XXVI">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''Destiny: The Taken King - Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow, [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow#XXVI: star by star by star|XXVI: star by star by star]]''</ref>

===War with the Hive===
{{Quote|Sunrise-scents were long fading when I read the first report of strife, though delight lingered sweet on my breath. Buoys offline. Sentinels unresponsive. A first strike. A lingering scent we could not understand, though the Deep indicated familiarity. From the beacons: Aiat. Aiat.|An unnamed Ecumene member recounting the start of the Ecumene's conflict with the Hive.<ref name="Habitable World"/>}}

Approximately twenty-four thousand years after the first Hive destroyed the Ammonite civilization and departed Fundament, the Ecumene's frontier fell under attack by the Hive.<ref name="XXV"/> A record from this time notes that the Hive could be sensed through the Darkness as they encroached on the Ecumene's territory.<ref name="Habitable World"/>

For a century, the Ecumene Status Army failed to protect seventeen member worlds from Hive incursions. After the Dakaua discovered the [[Hive#Origins|Krill]] [[Taox]], who explained the Hive's motivations and the identities of its leaders, the Ecumene decided to deploy its most powerful weapons to completely eradicate the Hive.<ref name="XXV"/>

This strategy of overwhelming force proved effective for a time, and the Hive's advance stalled. In response, [[Oryx, the Taken King|Oryx]] acquired the power to [[Taken|Take]] from the [[Worm]] [[Akka]], the power of the [[Darkness]] itself, and rapidly regained the advantage. The Ecumene Crisis Council met and determined that the Ecumene and its member species faced extinction within two hundred twenty years, and should therefore devote every aspect of its civilization to fighting the Hive. While this bought the Ecumene some time, the Hive's victory was now inevitable. After a century of war, the Ecumene Crisis Council was killed by Oryx at a place called the Fractal Wreath. Forty years after that, Oryx deceived the Dakaua and eliminated them. The Ecumene fled from the galaxy into the intergalactic void but were pursued by the Hive. 

One thousand years later, the Ecumene had been annihilated so utterly that only the Hive and Taox, who had managed to flee, remembered it.<ref name="XXVII">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''Destiny: The Taken King - Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow, [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow#XXVII: Eat the Sky|XXVII: Eat the Sky]]''</ref><ref name="XXIX"/> Despite this, the [[The Witness|Witness]] kept a record of the Ecumene preserved upon its [[Pyramid]], [[Essence]].<ref>'''Bungie (2023/2/28)''', ''Destiny 2: Lightfall - [[Root of Nightmares]]''</ref><ref name="Habitable World"/>

==Culture==
Ecumene society made use of various synthetic chemicals, possibly specialized pheromones, in communication<ref name="XXV"/><ref name="XXVII"/> using the Darkness as a medium.<ref name="Habitable World"/>

Members would "gland" a certain chemical, such as "sixty proof assimilation liquor" or "one hundred twenty proof fight or flight encoding" that would allow them to reinforce the general meaning of a message. Messages were marked with an imperative notice that identified which chemical to gland, as well as what punitive measure would be used ("noncompliance taxation") or what consequence would occur ("certain catastrophic defeat") if the recipient did not comply. Messages were also punctuated with emotional bursts that possibly involved the administration of an additional chemical: "VIGILANCE SPIKE" would likely bring the recipient to a state of increased alertness, while "ENACT IMPULSE" concluded the message and urged the recipient to act on it.<ref name="XXV"/> "RECORD" seems to indicate ordinary writing, "GRIEF IMPULSE" indicates additional emotional flavoring, while "ENACT: REMEMBER" is for permeance, likely by utilizing the Darkness to record things safely.<ref name="Habitable World"/>

Alongside the use of glands, the Ecumene united its disparate client species through use of the Darkness, which joined them to each other in a psychic network of common understanding,<ref name="Habitable World"/> and likely what led them to maintain cohesion up until the Hive completely exterminated them a thousand years after breaking their government apart.<ref name="XXIX"/> This peaceful use of the Darkness was elided from Oryx's narrative of their demise in the Books of Sorrow.

The Ecumene was led by the Ecumene Crisis Council during the war against the Hive, which had the authority to marshal the complete economic and technological resources of all civilizations for the war effort.<ref name="XXVII"/>  Its level of technology was considerable; [[Xivu Arath]] described them as "''lords of matter and physical law'',"<ref name="XXVI"/> and they regularly destroyed entire planets to kill Hive leadership.<ref name="XXVII"/><ref name="XXXIV">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''Destiny: The Taken King - Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow, [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow#XXXIV: More beautiful to know|XXXIV: More beautiful to know]]''</ref> Its military was known as the Ecumene Status Army and utilized soldiers or weapons called "war angels",<ref name="XXVI"/> security assets called "perimeter security units",<ref name="XXV"/> and possessed a hierarchy of military assets from perimeter, militia, to shock fleets to wage war.<ref name="XXVII"/> 

Members of the Ecumene referred to it alternately as the Amiable Ecumene<ref name="XXV"/> or Ecumene<ref name="XXVII"/> if government or the Habitable World if civilian,<ref name="Habitable World"/> while the Hive identified it as merely the Ecumene.<ref name="XXVI"/>

==Trivia==
*It is possible that the Ecumene knew of the [[Traveler]], as they were in contact with the Ammonite civilization at the time of its fall.
*The Ecumene is also the name of the government of the [[Halopedia:Ecumene|Forerunner civilization]] from the ''Halo'' universe, another franchise created by Bungie.
::It should also be noted that the fate of the Ecumene in ''Destiny'' parallels, or is at least similar to, the events that occurred with the Forerunners in ''Halo''. Both civilizations were technologically-advanced spacefaring species, who went to war against an aggressive parasitic alien race. Both went to great lengths to kill the alien invaders, only to be eventually overwhelmed, overrun and wiped out to the point of extinction.
*''[[wikipedia:The_Culture|The Culture]]'' book series mentions "[[wikipedia:The_Culture#Physiology|glanding]]", where certain synthetic chemicals are injected, by conscious command, into a person's body to increase mental acuity or other bodily functions for various everyday activities.
*[[wikipedia:Ursula K. Le Guin|Ursula K. Le Guin's]] ''[[wikipedia:Hainish Cycle|Hainish Cycle]]'' features a spacefaring alliance of human-like civilizations called "the Ekumen", known for diverse client peoples and anti-interventionalist tendencies.

==List of appearances==
*''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]]'' {{Fm}}
*''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Lightfall]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Season of the Deep]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Episode: Heresy]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[The Hidden Dossier]]'' {{Im}}
*''[[Entelechy]]'' {{Mo}}

==References==
<references/>

{{Darkness}}

[[Category:Organizations]]