Timeline

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This is a detailed timeline of the history of the Destiny universe. Note that nearly all events are not attached to specific dates; they may not be in exact chronological order, and adjacent events in the list may be separated by spans of only a few days or several centuries.

Note that there are infinite number of timelines with their own continuities, but this page focuses on the primary story from start to current. So information from the Dark Future Lore book and the events of Destiny: Rising are not present.

The Ancient Past

First Conflict of Light and Darkness

Year	Date	Event	Information
			Two primordial entities, known respectively as the gardener and the winnower, take on specific diametric opposing roles in the Time before time, with the gardener being described as the one who seeds life whilst the winnower is described as the one who takes life. In the evening, the gardener and the winnower would play the Flower game in the garden before time.
			The winnower describes the rules of the flower game as the following: a living flower with less than two living neighbors is starved and dies; a living flower with two or three living neighbors can survive into the next generation; a living flower with more than three living neighbors is overcrowded and dies; and a dead flower with exactly three living neighbors comes back to life. While the winnower enjoys this inevitable victory, the gardener becomes tired of it.
		The universe is embodied in the clash between Light and Dark	The gardener decides to add both it and the winnower themselves to the rules of the flower game to delay the Final Shape, a philosophy in which nothing that causes pain and suffering should exist. The winnower discovers the first knife, initiating the first conflict between the paracausal forces of Light and Darkness. Light is the paracausal force affecting the physical world while Darkness is the paracausal force affecting the mental world. The conflict begins by bringing down the legendary Tree of Silver Wings. As a result, the universe begins recording time.

The Creation of the Witness

Year	Date	Event	Information
		The Traveler manifests in realspace	The Gardener emerges on the home planet of a humanoid species. The inhabitants exhume the sphere which bestows upon them gifts of knowledge, beginning their Golden Age.
			Eons later, in the absence of guidance from their benefactor, their society began to crave meaning and sought to find something that would bring order and purpose to an otherwise open-ended existence, eventually viewing their Gardener as a force of chaos capable of bringing creation or ruin. Due to this lack of purpose, they begin to desire a "winnower" that would carve out meaning and purpose out the chaos of existence.
			Overtime, the civilization's governing body known as the Consensus would be plagued by tension between different parties, each with their own interpretations of the Final Shape. These parties included the Solipsist, the Nihilists, who were described to be "self-flagellating pessimists" believed that the Final Shape would only be brought upon by their own destruction; and the Penitent who desired to rid the universe of all suffering by any means, and believed that anyone who did not act to do so were complicit in its repetitive cycle.
		Discovery of the Veil	Now capable of interstellar travel as a result of gifts of the Light, this species becomes aware of an object of power antipodal to the Light, one linked to the mind and consciousness rather than the physical world. They called this object: the Veil. In studying the Darkness, they discovered that it held the means to guide the universe into a perfected, eternal form, a "Final Shape" that would last to the end of time and beyond. In this, they found purpose. To achieve their goal, the species schemed to bring the Traveler and the Veil together, which would, according to their research, grant them the ability to alter reality itself. They set off in search of their benefactor's counterpart, eventually finding it and returning it to their homeworld. In response, the Traveler flees to avoid this outcome.
		The Birth of the Witness	Unwilling to abandon their quest, the Consensus (who were now dominated by the Penitent after eliminating the Solipsists and Nihilists) voted to use the Veil to bind their entire species' consciousnesses together, merging themselves into a single, unfathomably powerful entity: the Witness through a ritualistic mass sacrifice, against the will of many members. Empowered by the Darkness and commanding a fleet of pyramidal ships, the Witness left its world behind and began a crusade to find the Traveler and unite it with the Veil, and in doing so bring about the Final Shape.

Emergence of the Proto-Worms

Year	Date	Event	Information
			The species known as the Proto-Worms, lived a peaceful existence on the planet of Fundament.

Rise of Rhulk

Year	Date	Event	Information
			The Traveler arrives at Lubrae, a planet orbited by a Sapphiric Sun and an Umbral Sun. It uplifts the Lubraeans living on the planet, enabling them access to technology capable of driving out dangerous flora attacking the people under the Umbral Sun through the Sapphiric Converter. After the Traveler departs from Lubrae, a division occurs with the Lubraeans between the nomadic Wanderers and The Regime settling under the Sapphiric Converter. Rhulk is born under the Wanderers to his father Rhelik, his sister Kheeta, and his mother Vrhuna. He witnesses his father fight the Stalkers sent by the Regime and shares in his hatred of them.
			After witnessing the death of his clan-uncle and Fhent at the hands of the Regime, Rhulk decides to take action. He kills a group of Stalkers and is exiled as a result of his violent behavior's incompatibility with the peaceful culture of the Wanderers. He begins his quest to find his father. He gets captured by the Regime in the process. He learns that his father had defected to the Regime, angering him. He renames the Glaive he had dedicated to the mission of finding his father from Rheliksward to Rheliksbane. He later learns his father has defected back to the Wanderers, angering him further and vowing to kill him.
			He reunites with his clan and family, but they push into the Abyss, a chasm that divides the Wildlands the Wanderers inhabit and the city the Regime inhabit. At the bottom of the Abyss, Rhulk makes contact with a mysterious being that would soon be known to him as "his Witness". At the behest of the Witness, Rhulk uses his Glaive to crack open the planet and use the Upended to destroy the Sapphiric Sun and his home planet. He becomes the last Lubraean and the first Disciple of the Witness. He renames his Glaive to Lubrae's Ruin. Rhulk goes on to appoint new Disciples, most notably Nezarec, Final God of Pain, an entity infamous for the torment he has induced across entire civilizations.
			At some point in time, Nezarec gains the ability to command Nightmares, hypothesized to be an untapped power of the Darkness that he wove into the fabric of his Pyramid to be utilized as a security system. Over time the Final God of Pain's notorious influence would be stained across uncountable races; the most significant being the Psions who would revere him as a deity. Under the orders of the Witness, Nezarec would share with the greatest Psions the truth of the Darkness by displaying to them the immense paracausal power of the Veil.
			The Witness convinces Rhulk to coax the Ahslid into joining its cause. After initial attempts to coerce their kind failed, Rhulk begins grooming the next generation into a fearmongering race fueled by paranoia and terror; one of his most prominent being Uun whom he doted on. His attempt to manipulate the Ahslid backfires as their peaceful way of life turns into warfare, scrubbing their whole planet of life. Uun, being the only survivor of his race, turns away from Rhulk's teachings and is killed by the Lubraean; thus the Ahslid became extinct.
			Rhulk arrives on the gas giant of Fundament and seeks out the Worms, in the process grievously injuring the Leviathan. The Worm Mother Xita is taken by the Disciple as the worms are forced into servitude of the Witness and the Worm Mother to produce implantable worm larvae. He allows its larvae to drift into the oceans of Fundament.

Corruption of the Worm Gods

Year	Date	Event	Information
			The Worm Gods would become seduced by the idea of to kill each other to gain power through the Sword Logic. Six of them, Xita and her children Akka, Eir, Ur, Xol and Yul evolve into the entities known as the Worm Gods.
			Many of the Proto-Worms were killed in the slaughter. The Leviathan, who was a servant of the Traveler, would imprison the Worm Gods deep beneath the oceans of Fundament, where they would remain for billions of years. The Worm Gods would begin to call out other species to Fundament to free them.

Ascension of the Hive

Year	Date	Event	Information
			Hundreds of different species migrate to Fundament due to the Worm Gods call. They become stranded there, living on the shards of their broken worlds which become floating continents. One such species was the proto-Hive known as the Krill, whose homeworld collided with Fundament and shattered. The Krill survive and build a new civilization for themselves on the floating shards of their former homeworld, gradually forgetting their original history. A species of bony six-armed cephalopods named the Ammonites benefit from the Traveler's patronage and build a sophisticated starfaring civilization spanning all of Fundament's fifty-two moons, before eventually coming into contact with the distant Ecumene.
			Upon discovering that the Krill would be claimed by the Traveler, the Witness would seek to prevent this and claim them for itself. A dead Worm larvae which would become known as the Worm Familiar, would wash up on the shores of the Osmium Court. It would begin to whisper to the Osmium King.
			At eight years of age, the Krill Osmium King of the Osmium Court on Fundament sires his final brood of offspring, which includes his three daughters Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash who are tutored by sterile mother Taox. At ten years of age, the Osmium King begins to succumb to senility and madness; becoming consumed with ancient texts and obsessing over the movements of Fundament's moons, and the possibility of a catastrophic alignment called the Syzygy. Unbeknownst to him, the Witness spoke to him through the Worm familiar.
			Fearing for the Osmium Court's future and believing the royal daughters were unsuited to rule, Taox secretly contacts the rival continent's Helium Drinkers of the Helium Court, inviting them to invade, assassinate the royal family, and install her as a subservient regent of the Osmium Court in exchange for engines capable of moving their continent. The Helium Drinkers agree, resulting in the Osmium Court's fall and the death of the Osmium King, but the royal daughters escape and vow to take revenge.
			Three years after losing their kingdom, upon the advice of their father's worm, Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash use a salvaged high-tech ship to dive into Fundament's depths, hoping to discover a secret to stave off the Syzygy, which Aurash had come to believe was imminent. They encounter the Leviathan, but they reject his pleas to turn back and continue their pursuit. Deep within the ocean of Fundament, the sisters encounter the Worm Gods. The Worms offer the sisters immortality and power in exchange for accepting their larvae as parasites and carrying out the will of the Darkness. The sisters agree to the pact and are transformed into the first Hive: Xi Ro takes the Knight Morph becoming Xivu Arath, God of War; Sathona takes the Mother Morph becoming Savathûn, the Witch Queen; and finally, Aurash takes the King Morph, transforming into a Male and becoming Auryx, the King of the Hive.
		Hive-Ammonite war	Xivu Arath, Savathûn, and Auryx return to the surface and share the Worm parasites among the other Krill, becoming the Hive and creating an army that quickly overwhelms Fundament's other species. Taox flees, at first to other continents and then to the Ammonite capital moon where she is granted asylum. Originally, Auryx was willing to negotiate with the Ammonites, however Savathûn following the orders of the Worm Gods kills him as punishment. Instead of dying, Auryx's soul passes to his own Ascendant Realm or throne world, a pocket dimension in the Ascendant Plane where their soul resides after death and the only place where they can truly be killed. Auryx returns, now having purged any sympathy and goodwill that remained in himself, and the Hive continue their war against the Ammonites. Xivu Arath sends her brood to slay the Leviathan and bring the Ammonites to extinction. This leads to a final battle, where the Ammonite champion Chroma-Admiral Rafriit is slain. The Leviathan attempts to flee to the Ammonites' capital moon. With the Leviathan alone, Xivu Arath sends her Knight Ir Uulxal to slay the priest of the Sky; he succeeds tasting its flesh and making it rain upon the Ammonites. Ir Uulxal would be commended, being given the new name of the Leviathan-Eater and the title, Bane of the Ammonites. The Hive continue their assault, bringing the Ammonites to extinction, and forcing the Traveler to abandon Fundament. The Proto-Worm Ahsa escapes the onslaught and flees into space to pursue the Traveler, eventually she learns of the Witness's origins. The Hive colonize and transform Fundament's moons into mobile war-moons, and embark on their purge of the universe in the name of the Darkness. During this time the Worms begin instructing Auryx in the nature of the Sword-Logic.
		Origins of the Qugu	At an unknown period of time, a Pyramid becomes buried on Seht, the homeworld of the bipedal creatures known as the Qugu. With the Pyramid coming to resemble a natural landform after being covered in rock and soil, the Qugu refer to it as the "the Mountain" and revere it as a holy sight. Overtime, the Qugu establish themselves as a spacefaring civilization through their control of five star systems, technological advancements, and powerful attunement to the Darkness.
		Hive-Qugu war	The Hive forces led by Savathûn launch an invasion of the Qugu system of Se'Un after opening a rift between the Ascendant Plane and space to bring out their warships. Arriving to the system after it had gone silent, a Qugu fleet led by the Seht Warden, Te'Qal engages with the Hive fleet at Se'Un. to Seht to gather reinforcements. After being overwhelmed by the Hive Tombships, Te'Qal's fleet retreat to Seht with the Hive pursuing them. Launching their assault on Seht, Savathûn's ship launches an explosion of Soulfire at the Mountain, causing it to crack open and revealing its true nature as a Pyramid, which rises to meet the Hive ships. With the Qugu Empire being eradicated, the remaining members of the Seht Armada led by Te'Qal retreat to their final system of Se'Otan and attempt to escape through Se'Otan's gate. However, they were deceived by Savathûn, who tampered with the gate so that it would take them into the Ascendant Plane where her forces and the Pyramid were waiting. As one of Oryx's ships arrived into the battle and destroyed Savathûn's flagship, the remaining Qugu would take advantage of this opportunity to draw upon their fury and grief to destroy the Pyramid before being killed by the Resonance released from its destruction in the process.
			The Hive eradicate hundreds of intelligent species over a span of twenty thousand years. During this time they grow and expand their kingdoms, refining and deepening their knowledge of the Sword Logic. Auryx makes war upon Savathûn out of both revenge and love, with Xivu Arath fighting them together.
		Hive-Ecumene war	Approximately twenty-four thousand years after the fall of the Ammonites, the Hive reached the frontier of the Ecumene and invaded seventeen worlds for over a century. The Dakaua, a client species of the Ecumene, discover Taox in cryo-stasis aboard an ancient ship. Taox shares her knowledge of the Hive's leaders and motivations with the Dakaua, and the Ecumene unleashes its most powerful weapons against the Hive, who immediately suffer setbacks. The Hive suffer many defeats against the Ecumene. Auryx summons Savathûn and Xivu Arath to his Throne World, realizing that their Worms' hunger was growing faster than their ability to feed it. Seeking the power necessary to allow the Hive to continue their crusade, Auryx slays his sisters and then his Patron Worm God, Akka, creating the Tablets of Ruin, Auryx harnesses the ability to Take, and renames himself Oryx, the Taken King; he uses his newfound power to create the Taken, Darkness-corrupted entities bent to his will, and unleashes them upon the Ecumene. During his war, Oryx revives Xivu Arath through an act of war, and Savathûn through an act of cunning. For one thousand, one hundred and forty years the resurgent Hive triumvirate annihilated the species of the Ecumene so utterly that no trace of them remains. Taox escapes yet again, however, and the Hive resume their pursuit, ravaging the universe along the way.
		Creation of the Tithing System	To grow quicker and more effectively in power, Oryx creates the tithing system. In this system, all Hive take some tribute to feed their Worm and tithe the rest to their superiors. Thralls tithe to Acolytes, Acolytes tithe to Knights or Wizards, and Knights and Wizards tithe to Ascendant Hive, until all this tribute reaches the Hive Gods.
			Rhulk stations his Pyramid within Savathûn's throne world on the orders of the Witness to mentor her for potential discipleship. He constructs the Harvest to produce Worm larvae for the armies of the Hive.
		Golden Amputation	Ten thousand years later, after destroying the Taishibethi, Oryx communes with a voice in the Darkness, which tells him the purpose of the Sword Logic is to bring about the Final Shape. He decides to produce children, and sires two sons and twin daughters: Crota, Nokris, Ir Anûk, and Ir Halak.
			Unfavored and looked down upon by his father, Nokris sought to impress Oryx by communing with the Worm Gods. He would succeed but all of them would reject him, except for Xol, the weakest of his kin who was fearing an attack from Yul. Xol and Nokris would strike a bargain: Nokris would trade Xol his heart in exchange for learning Necromancy, the power to revive others from the dead, a practice considered by Oryx and his brood to be heresy to the Sword Logic. Oryx would learn about Nokris's act and was outraged. Nokris and his brood were exiled with Xol fleeing alongside them, and all mentions of the disfavored son were removed from The World's Grave and Books of Sorrow.
		Vex Discovery of the Sword-Logic Creation of the Dreadnaught	While Oryx is absent from his court to observe the Darkness destroy an ancient fortress world, Crota, after being tricked by his aunt Savathûn, inadvertently opens a portal to a place containing Vex while experimenting within the Ascendant Realm. The Vex, unable to comprehend the physics of Oryx's throne world, manifest Quria, Blade Transform, who begins experimenting with the Hive, learning to worship the Darkness, and continue to plague Oryx's realm for a hundred years. The Worm God Eir finally calls Oryx home to deal with the problem after the Vex come close to conquering the High War. Oryx Takes many of the Vex, dividing them against one another, before finally expelling the cybernetic machines from his realm. Oryx comes to consider the Vex a worthy rival, and resolves to follow the Darkness and document the destruction it wreaks in a "grave of worlds", so that he may learn from it and use this knowledge to succeed in his crusade against the universe. With his Ascendant Realm having been compromised by the Vex incursion, Oryx builds the Dreadnaught from Akka's corpse and houses his realm within it. This takes place before Earth's formation (at least 4.54 billion years ago