Ecumene

The Ecumene (or Amiable Ecumene) was an interstellar government composed of multiple advanced spacefaring species in a unknown galaxy. It was destroyed during its cataclysmic war with the Hive.

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. 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.

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.

The Ecumene was led by the Ecumene Crisis Council during the war against the Hive, which had the authority to marshal the economic and technological resources of all civilizations for the war effort. Its military, the Ecumene Status Army, utilized soldiers or weapons called "war angels". Its level of technology was considerable; Xivu Arath described them as "lords of matter and physical law," and they regularly destroyed entire planets in order to kill Hive leadership.

The Vex possessed a gate within Ecumene territory, though the extent of their presence is unknown.

Culture
Ecumene society made use of various synthetic chemicals, possibly specialized pheromones, in communication. 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.

History
"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.

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. A record from this time by an unnamed Ecumene member notes that the Hive could be sensed through the Darkness as they encroached on the Ecumene's territory.

Over the course of a century, the Ecumene Status Army failed to protect seventeen member worlds from Hive incursions. After the Dakaua discovered the Krill Taox, who explained the Hive's motivations and the identities of its leaders, the Ecumene decided to deploy its most powerful weapons with the goal of completely eradicating the Hive.

This strategy of overwhelming force proved effective for a time, and the Hive's advanced stalled. In response, Oryx acquired the power to 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. Even so, their use of the Darkness would in turn be forgotten by the Hive and The Witness, both evidently unable to fathom the idea of it being used for good.

Trivia

 * It is possible that the Ecumene had knowledge of the Traveler, as they were in contact with the Ammonite civilization at the time of its fall, and may have been uplifted by it thousands of years prior.
 * The Ecumene is also the name of the government of the 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 in order to kill the alien invaders, only to be eventually overwhelmed, overrun, and wiped out to the point of extinction.


 * The Culture book series mentions "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.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * The Taken King