Cryptolith



"There's a... new strange presence here. It grows as an organic technology, like a small tower. There were Cabal gathered around it, enraptured by something I could not perceive. Perhaps their own desperation — or madness."

- Osiris's report upon discovering a Cryptolith

Cryptoliths are Hive structures created and utilized by Xivu Arath, the Hive God of War, in order to corrupt the enemies of the Last City and turn them into mindless and enraged champions for her army known as the Wrathborn. They are present on the Moon, Tangled Shore, and deep within the Dreaming City.

Overview
Like most Hive architecture, Cryptoliths are partially biological, growing like plants wherever they are seeded, and gristly living tissue as lubrication for its metal internals When dormant, they lie still and are mostly hidden below ground; when activated, they rise up and begin glowing, and various pieces of their outer shell begins to move. They are considered hard to remove, such as with a Cryptolith at the Reef that attempting to do so would destroy the Tangled Shore. Cryptoliths each also possess the ability to open up and reveal a portal to the Ascendant Realm, presumably even Xivu Arath's throne world.

According to Osiris and Ana Bray, Cryptoliths are able to incite conflict in both mind and mechanism, able to cause technology and computer protocols to turn on each other and try and cannibalise the other, and make even the sturdiest of blades to bend at Xivu Arath's will. According to Clovis Bray I, files corrupted by Xivu Arath contain traces of a virus that contain code patterns reminiscent of biological encoding structures.

Fall of Torobatl
"MY HOME IS WAR. MY VOICE IS A BATTLE SONG. FOR AS LONG AS YOU HAVE WORSHIPPED WAR, YOU HAVE WORSHIPPED ME. I AM HERE TO CLAIM MY TRIBUTE. IT IS OVERDUE."

- Xivu Arath to the Cabal of Torobatl

At an unknown point in time, the Cryptoliths were utilized by Xivu Arath in her invasion of the Cabal capital world of Torobatl after Umun'arath summoned her through a Hive ritual. As the Cabal attempted to repel the incoming Hive army, the city was overtaken as the Cryptoliths emerged began infecting the area.

Gallery
Inactive

List of appearances

 * Destiny 2
 * Season of the Hunt
 * Season of the Chosen
 * Season of the Seraph