Forum:House of Emperors

"The Age of Exodus has come to its end! No longer shall we chase a false deity, for we will build a new empire from the bones of humanity! The Age of Emperors is upon us!"

- Atrykis, Emperor Kell

The House of Emperors are a vicious Fallen House, distinguishable by their Blood Red armor and dark gray shoulder capes. Initally being antagonistic towards most of the system, they originally proclaimed themselves as rulers of the Eliksni. contesting with The Last City, House of Dusk, House of Lions, and any other Fallen who refuse to bow to their will.

Following Atrykis's death, the House was divided, between Akildis and her Emperor Traditionalists, clinging onto their Emperor's ideals, and Vrylzesk's Emperor Reformists, seeking to rebuild the House with less oppressive morals. Eventually, Vrylzesk's forces triumphed, restoring the Emperors as a more benevolent faction. This lead to them becoming a key member in the Eliksni High Council.

History
"Atrykis was once one of House Lions' Barons...and was one of my closest friends, but he was too caught up with restoring the Eliksni Golden Age in his way, and thought my alliance with you was getting in the way, I was able to defeat him. But now, he has came back...this time with an army, a House! So...as we have been doing a lot, we must take out his lieutenants and operations, and bring the whole House down like a Stack of cards..."

- Joskaa

In the months following the conclusion of the SIVA Crisis and sometime prior to the Red War, Atrykis, once a House of Lions Baron, became obsessed with restoring the Eliksni back to their pre-whirlwind state. After expressing his hatred towards The Last City and the Traveler, he attempted a rebellion against the Joskaa, the Kell of Lions, with the help of his loyalists and some deserters from the House of Gray. However, his revolution was promptly extinguished, and he, along with his remaining followers, were sentenced to the Kell's Dungeon. But, thanks to the efforts of his closest allies, Atrykis was able to break out of prison, and defect from any dens or hideouts belonging to Lions, to avoid the Kell's Wrath.

Atrykis's group eventually found their way to Enceladus, where hidden Fallen remnants from various houses, including the Devils, Gray, Wolves, and Kings were hiding out in an abandoned Golden Age ruin. After conquering their hidden fortress, Atrykis formed the House of Emperors from his inner circle, as well as the remnants of those Houses, and named himself as the Kell of Emperors. The House then began their hidden crusades of stealth raids and scavenging parties, hoping to accumulate as many resources and technology as possible.

The Red War
The Enceladean fortress was then renamed into the Valley of the Emperors, and it was here that the Emperors has began to build up in strength. Unfortunately, due to their small strength and presence, the Emperors were refrained from any direct engagements with the City, Red Legion, and House of Dusk, but occasionally engaging patrols on Enceladus. However, thanks to some of the Devil Splicers defecting, the Emperors were able to get their hands on SIVA, but only in limited quantities due to the destruction of Site 6. Until more SIVA could be produced, the nanites were reserved only for the highest members of the Emperor Splicers.

As imposed by Atrykis and his Archon, Egroskyk, Servitors were no longer revered or worshipped as gods, merely tools to produce Ether. Efforts were also made to obtain Human, Cabal, Awoken, and other different forms of technology. Egroskyk also, at several points, attempted to experiment with Hive technology, but failed.

After the death of Dominus Ghaul and the fragmentation of the Red Legion, the Emperors took advantage and drove the Red Legion off of Enceladus. With the House of Dusk also loosing most of their leadership, many of their forces were assimilated into the newfound House. As the Emperors expanded, Atrykis began to set his sights towards the inner system, more specifically on Earth where he would further expand his new Empire.

Forsaken
"Behold, the Colorado Badlands! No longer must we hide in the outskirts of a dead system! Atop of these desolate ruins, we shall build our new empire from the ground up!"

- Atrykis broadcasting to his followers

Almost a year later, the Emperors had set their sights on new territory, the ruins of what used to be the Old Earth state of Colorado, which at the time was home to a Golden Age Shipyard, with a few remnant colony ships as well as some remnant Cabal and Hive. The Emperors settled in the ruins of Denver, where they begun to transform the abandoned city into their new lair. At the center of the city, the Imperial Citadel was built into a cluster of skyscrapers. The Emperor, Archon, Prime Servitor, and Imperial Court moved in, along with many members of the Emperors.

The Emperors had also set their sights on the Reef, where they had learned of a three way war between Eliksni, Last City Guardians, and the newly arrived Scorn. It was this conflict that the Emperors took advantage of to slip their Ketches and much of their fleet through the Belt undetected. However, a few scavengers raided the Reef discretely, avoiding the likes of the Tangled Shore where most of the conflict took place.

Crusades of the Jackals
Though the Emperors made no appearance around this time, intercepted transmissions show that Atrykis came in contact with Seriviks and her Syndicate. The Emperors were planning on sending emissaries to negotiate a possible alliance between the two factions. However, when she was killed by The Last City Guardians, their plans were called off. However, some of the Syndicate's members were eventually recruited into the Emperors.

Somewhere around this time, Atrykis and Egroskyk began the construction of the Void Array, a massive superweapon which they planed to mount on a Ketch and fire upon the Traveler and the Last City. Syndri was also unleashed around this time, first seen assaulting Red Legion forces in Old Chicago

Season of Arrivals
"Why must we wait? The City cowers from these Pyramids. We should strike now!" "Patience, my dearest. There will be a time to strike. We do not stand a chance against these Pyramids. Let our enemies war amongst eachother. And when the smoke lifts, we shall pillage the survivors."

- Akildis and Atrykis discussing the Arrival.

Following the arrival of the Pyramids in the Solar System, the House of Emperors were amongst the first to know. Thankfully, by the time the first Pyramid arrived at Io, most of the Emperors had retreated to their new lair on Earth, in the Colorado Badlands, though a token force did remain behind in the Valley of the Emperors back on Enceladus. Though the Emperors did launch minor raids on City, Cabal, and Fallen forces alike, they remained mostly obscure and off the radar, avoiding the Pyramids as much as possible.

Rise of the Emperors
The Emperors eventually made their presence known, raiding a secret supply exchange between The Last City and the House of Lions within the vicinity of the Twilight Gap in an attempt to devastate the leadership of both factions. Thankfully, the Emperors were stopped, but soon enough, their efforts to take over The Reef became known when the Emperors assaulted the Lions' Run. The Guardian was sent to help the Lions retake their lair, where they came across Syndri, a genetically engineered Infused Fallen who damaged the Lions' Run greatly and escaped. With the Emperors driven from the Reef, the Vanguard and the Lions would joined forces once again, in an attempt to located and stop the Emperors before they launch a full fledged assault on The Last City.

The Lions and the Guardian were then approached by Vrylzesk, the Illustrious, a former Lion Enforcer who revealed the Emperors' stronghold in the remnants of Colorado. In a joint effort, the Guardian lead the Lions on an invasion of the Colorado Badlands, where they established a small outpost on the outskirts of Denver. Both Vrylzesk and the Lion's General Magnusk tasked the guardians with several missions to drive out the Emperors. However, this invasion also startled a secret sect of Hive who were initially driven out of the city by the Emperors and back to their Seeder Ships. This lead into a three way war within the Colorado Badlands.

During the conflict, the Guardian and the Lions lead an assault on the Emperor's Intelligence Center to learn more about their enemy. It was there where they learned that Atrykis and Egroskyk had developed a Void-based weapon that could destroy the Traveler, and that Syndri was already deployed to the Last City to trigger it. After barely evading the Emperor's ambush at the Intelligence Center, the Guardian quickly made it back to The Last City, just as Syndri detonated the weapon and blew open a hole in the City's wall. Despite this, they were able to corner Syndri in the Ridgeback District and kill him once and for all.

However, it was later revealed that Atrykis had sent a decoy, and that the real weapon was being mounted on his Ketch. With the City's defenses in disarray, Vrylzesk and Magnusk staged a joint assault on the Emperor's Citadel back in the Badlands. 6 Guardians were sent to assault the keep, destroying the Emperors' Land Tank outside the Citadel and killing the Emperor's Guard Commander Tarlysk. Infiltrating the Citadel, the Fireteam also managed to destroy the Prime Servitor Xeliks Prime and wipe out the Imperial Court. However, upon reaching the Throne Room, they found that Atrykis had already vacated the Citadel and left his two children Prerlysk and Afreklyn to delay the Guardians. Both of them were slain in a battle that leveled the Throne Room and heavily damaged the Citadel.

Atrykis took advantage of the ensuing Chaos and had his Ketch make a burn for The Last City. However, the Ketch was intercepted on the way there by Skiffs from the House of Lions and the Claw of Vrylzesk. Meanwhile, the original Fireteam, having stolen a Skiff from the Emperors, used it to board Xeliks-Fel. There they faced many members of the Emperor's Wrath, and eventually managed to track down Atrykis to the weapon chamber.

When he realized guns alone would not stop the Guardians, the Emperor Kell began to siphon energy from the weapon itself and use it against his assailants. However, his overuse of the weapon and the damaged he sustained in the fight, caused it to overload. Atrykis ignored the warnings and aimed to ram Xeliks-Fel into the Traveler itself in a kamikaze run. Thankfully, the Guardians managed to disarm the weapon beforehand, which caused a feedback loop that killed Atrykis and heavily damaged the Ketch. The Guardians just barely managed to escape via Skiff as Xeliks-Fel collided into a mountain pass and burst into a cascade of flames, thus ending the Emperors' Threat on the Last City

The Swordsman's Arrival
Some time after the events of Beyond Light and The Witch Queen, both sides of the House of Emperors came under attack by the Shadowkeepers. Though the Reformists and Vrylzesk were able to resist the Shadow King's influence, the remaining Traditionalists were not so lucky as the Shadowkeepers themselves eventually descended upon the Colorado Badlands. Following a close encounter with Kirito and Asuna, Egroskyk and Akildis were forced to evacuate the Imperial Citadel. Following their retreat, the Emperor Traditionalists abandoned the Badlands, with only ancient ruins remaining of their former Empire.

Neither faction disappeared entirely, however, as Vrylzesk had his Emperors offer refuge for those escaping Kirito's onslaught. On the other hand, Akildis became rather relentless in her raids assaulting both Shadowkeeper and Last City personnel in the Jovians. After Kirito's death and the end of the Apocalypse, Traditionalist Raids beyond the Reef only increased in intensity, as they had begun forming pacts with other remnant Fallen who opposed the formation of the Solar Coalition

Heralds of the Void
Some time after the defeat of Kirito and Asuna and their armies of Shadowkeepers, Akildis was approached by an emissary of the Sanctum Heralds. She was promised the chance to reform the Eliksni Empire, and the opportunity to resurrect Atrykis. Unknowing of the Heralds' true intention, Akildis and her Traditionalists swore loyalty to the Void and set up her lair in the Decrepit Wastes, ready to serve amongst the Heralds.

However, her presence did not go unnoticed. Not too long after, Vrylzesk intercepted a mysterious signal coming from Old Earth Vancouver. Initially, he only believed that the Traditionalists were seeking to scavenge the city for new weaponry. However, as he learned more, he eventually came to the revelations of the Sanctum Heralds, and their discovery of the Veilgate beneath the Wastes. Positioning his Ketch in orbit above Earth, he alerted both the Vanguard and Eternal Brotherhood about the Heralds and the location of the Wastes before deploying his own forces.

A New Dawn
"The Fallen of the House of Emperors have lived in fear for the majority of our lives, built on the backs of lies fabricated by my father himself. That changes on this day. The Reformists will no longer be a simple movement. On this day, I officially declare the reconstitution of the House of Emperors!"

- Vrylzesk, during the foundation ceremony.

By the end of the Void Crisis, the entirety of the Traditionalists' leadership was wiped out along with Akildis herself, and the remaining members were either assimilated, annexed, or wiped out. Following this, Vrylzesk named himself the new Emperor Kell and officially declared the foundation of the reconstituted House of Emperors. With the help from the Lions, the Emperors returned to their old lair in Colorado and began to rebuild their civilization along with help from the Solar Coalition.

However, not all of the Traditionalists met their end. It was no secret that Egroskyk himself, the former Archon Priest under Atrykis's rule, was nowhere to be found, and seemed to have dissapeared entirely following the Shadowkeeper Apocalypse. Further intelligence on behalf of the Emperor Reformists and the House of Lions showed that Splicership Dreksor-Syn, the current flagship of the Emperors, was spotted near Saturn, with traces of SIVA and Blight aboard. However, the ship fled the system before it could be intercepted.

Egroskyk himself was later confirmed to be aboard the Ketch, along with remnants from the Jackal Splicers, as well as the Houses of Salvation and Vipers. Oddly enough, the body of Atrykis was also reported to have been kept in cyrostasis aboard the same Ketch. Egroskyk's current location, and motives, are currently unknown.

Structure
The Emperors maintain a similar structure to most Fallen houses, having a Kell, an Archon, and a Prime Servitor. However, in similar fashion to the House of Lions, they also have a female second-in-command, referred to as the Baron Empress, or just Empress. Though not officially stated to be a Fallen Queen, the holder of this position acts near identically. However, no new Empress has been crown on either side since Akildis became Kell.

Servitors in the Emperors are not seen as Gods or companions, but as tools, and are promptly programed as such. In the Reformists, however, this practice has mostly been abandoned, and Servitors are treated as loyal companions.

The Emperor's Chosen is a title held exclusively by the Emperors. Though the bearer of Emperor's Chosen is more honorary, a Chosen can often be seen as a head Enforcer or General in the House, answering only to the Kell himself. There have only been three Emperor's Chosen.

The Imperial Court, an Emperor exclusive group, consists of at least 12 veteran Barons close to the Emperor that carry out his will and judge the accused. Their Court Arbiters function similar to the Wolf Enforcers, enforcing loyalty throughout the House and bringing in any criminals for trial. Following the Court's demise, two new ones were formed, one for Traditionalists, another for Reformists, that both act very similarly.

The Emperor Splicers function similarly to the Devil Splicers, though due to a shortage of SIVA, they do not venerate it as their predecessors, and also focus more on engineering other Fallen and Cabal technology. The Imperius Mecha are a splinter group of the Splicers that focus on the Emperors' Shanks, Walkers, and other robotics. Both groups are lead by the Archon. Despite most Traditionalist members of the Splicers being wiped out in the Decrepit wastes, elements of the Splicers and Mecha may remain with Egroskyk following his disappearance.

The Emperor's Guard are elite variants of genetically modified Kell's Guards that consist of the Emperor's strongest guardsman, many of them SIVA modified and brainwashed in similar fashion to the Wolves' Guard. They vehemently guard the Emperor's Kell and Citadel from any and all threats. The Emperor's Hand is an elite sect of the Guard, consisting Atrykis's closest allies, most of which are former Lion members that served Atrykis during his attempted revolt. The current Emperor's Hand now consists of members of the Claw of Vrylzesk who rebelled against Atrykis alongside Vrylzesk.

Kells

 * Atrykis, Emperor Kell
 * Akildis, Empress Kell (traditionalists)
 * Vrylzesk, Kell of Emperors (reformists)
 * Egroskyk, Emperor Archon (presumably)

Archons

 * Egroskyk, Emperor Archon (formerly)
 * Yithriks, Emperor Archon (reformists)

Prime Servitors

 * Xeliks Prime
 * Xiliks Reborn, Vrylzesk's Favoured (reformists)

Emperor's Chosen

 * Syndri, Emperor's Chosen
 * Egroskyk, Emperor Archon (briefly, traditionalists)
 * Brayden-4, Emperor's Hand (reformists)

Imperial Court

 * Sorysk, Imperial Judicator
 * Ykotrisk, Imperial Magistrate
 * Zaltrysk, Imperial Magistrate

Notable Members

 * Prerlysk, Emperor Prince
 * Afreklyn, Emperor Princess
 * Kriltrosk, Emperor Baron
 * Mecher Xeliks-16
 * Tarlysk, Guard Commander
 * Ryvriks, the Escapist
 * Zeyiks, Factory Operator

Notable Groups

 * Emperor's Guard
 * Emperor's Hand
 * Imperius Mecha
 * Emperor Splicers
 * Court Arbiters
 * Claw of Vrylzesk

Former Emperors

 * Vyldri, Imperial Reject
 * Felkrees

Unique Forces

 * Dreg variants
 * Emperor Thrall
 * Pike Rider, House Emperors
 * Skiff Dreg, House Emperors
 * Court Arbiters
 * Emperor Saboteur
 * Infused Helot
 * Emperor's Guard Vassal
 * Dreg, Emperor Reformists
 * Wretch Variants
 * Supply Guard
 * Infused Watchman
 * Kell's Guard, House Emperors
 * Emperor's Guard Sentinel
 * Wretch, Emperor Reformists
 * Marauder Variants
 * Emperor's Guard Shadow
 * Marauder, Emperor's Hand
 * Infused Flayer
 * Supply Guard
 * Marauder, Emperor Reformists
 * Vandal variants
 * Court Arbiters
 * Pike Leader, House Emperors
 * Pike Commander, House Emperors
 * Skiff Vandal, House Emperors
 * Emperor Sharpshooter
 * Emperor Watchman
 * Infused Infestor
 * Emperor's Guard Trooper
 * Vandal, Emperor's Hand
 * Vandal, Emperor Reformists
 * Captain variants
 * Skiff Captain, House Emperors
 * Emperor's Guard Enforcer
 * Emperor's Guard Commander
 * Splicer Captain, House Emperors
 * Shock Captain
 * Scorch Captain
 * Null Captain
 * Perfected Captain
 * Artillery Chief
 * Infused Monstrosity
 * Captain, Emperor's Hand
 * Captain, Emperor Reformists
 * Enkindled Captain, Emperor Traditionalists
 * Servitor variants
 * Implement Servitor, House Emperors
 * Skiff Servitor, House Emperors
 * Emperor's Guard Servitor
 * Splicer Servitor, House Emperors
 * Perfected Servitor
 * Scorch Servitor
 * Shock Servitor
 * Null Servitor
 * Infused Amalgamation
 * Servitor, Emperor's Hand
 * Servitor, Emperor Reformists
 * Shank variants
 * Heavy Shank
 * Splicer Heavy Shank, House Emperors
 * Shank, Emperor's Hand
 * Splicer Shank, House Emperors
 * Tracer Shank
 * Artillery Coordinator
 * Shank, Emperor Reformists
 * Heavy Shank, Emperor Reformists
 * Walker variants
 * Emperor Walker
 * Assault Walker, House Emperors
 * Guard Walker
 * Splicer Walker
 * Infused Splicer Walker
 * Artillery Walker
 * Baron's Walker
 * Walker, Emperor Reformists
 * Security Turret Variants
 * Supply Guard
 * Splicer Turret
 * Brig Variants
 * Guard Brig
 * Reformist Brig
 * Fury of Akildis

Vehicles

 * Emperorship Xeliks-Fel - the original flagship Ketch of the House of Emperors, destroyed at the hands of the Guardian.
 * Emperorship Xiliks-Fel - originally a scouting vessel, later utilized by Vrylzesk and his new Emperors.
 * Ketch of Akildis - an unnamed Ketch, belonging to Akildis, Baron Empress, destroyed during the Void Crisis
 * Splicership Dreksor-Syn - salvaged from the Jackal Splicers, current location unknown
 * Emperor Juggernaut - a prototype battleship based off of Ketch and Colony ship parts, intended for interstellar travel
 * Pikes
 * Heavy Pikes
 * Skiffs
 * Splicer Skiffs
 * Harvesters
 * Threshers
 * Siege Engines
 * Galliots

Trivia

 * They are the first house in Destiny to be initially antagonistic before becoming allied with the Last City.
 * However, some of those who are Emperor Reformists has the same appearance to the Claw of Vrylzesk. Most specifically their Servitors and Walkers.

List of Appearances

 * Destiny 2
 * Rise of the Emperors
 * Season of Elders
 * Season of the Vipers
 * Paradox
 * The Void Within