Zulmak, Instrument of Torment

"And when the 'heroes' come to condemn your proclamation of sovereignty and conquest, I offer this gift—the essence of your fallen champion ... birth a ravager to protect all you hope to build."

- Savathûn, the Witch Queen

Zulmak, Instrument of Torment is a very powerful Hive Knight and a former contender for the Osmium Throne, having been reanimated into a Nightmare hybrid by the Daughters of Crota to serve as their puppet champion. He is encountered as the final boss of Pit of Heresy dungeon.

Seeking the Throne
"In the Pit, Zulmak unleashes a battle cry. He is ready to be done with it all. He is ready to claim his crown. Hashladûn considers him with disgust—he will never be a King, only ever a tool, blunt and brutal. Should he be anointed as a champion of the Pit… Should he be crowned… the Daughters' plots will be threatened before they ever truly begin."

- X: Faith in Bone

Zulmak is a rising champion within the Pit beneath what would become the Scarlet Keep, aspiring to take the Osmium Throne through his own Sword Logic. Zulmak's quest to ascend as the newest Hive Prince pitted him against multiple other Hive combatants in the Pit; many that challenged him in gladiator-style combat and were met with overwhelming slaughter. His triumphs were only met with disappointment from the daughters of the World-Breaker himself, who saw him as a threat to their grandfather's legacy. After winning his third streak within the Pits, he was bifurcated and killed by the Deathsinger Azavath, whose body became possessed by her enraged Knight brother Akrazul in desecration of the Sword-Logic itself. With his body in its final grasps, Zulmak was met with whispers of the Witch-Queen herself, who proceeded to take his dying essence from his broken body and gifted it to her grand-nieces to be raised as a champion bound to their will.

The Pit of Heresy
"It was Kinox who urged her sisters to act. It was Hashladûn who offered the primordial essence of terror as their guide. And it was Besurith and Voshyr who gathered the husk of a shattered champion—a ravager to stand against all who would oppose their rule. A new breed of destroyer."

- Lore text from Heretic.

When the Lunar Pyramid became active and the Nightmares unleashed, Kinox urged her sisters to rally the leaderless Hidden Swarm by reanimating the essence of Zulmak with forbidden Necromancy as their puppet champion. His corpse was recovered by Besurith and Voshyr, with Hashladûn offering the phantasmal essence of the Nightmares as a catalyst to infuse into it, creating the first hybrid of a Hive infused with the power of the Nightmares.

With the deaths of Hashladûn and Besurith at the hands of the Guardians, the remaining daughters went into hiding in the Pit beneath the Scarlet Keep. Out of fear and desperation, the Hive began sacrificing Nightmares en masse and harvesting their dark energy into crystals for a ritual to commune with The Witness. Their actions created seismic activity, however, which drew Eris Morn's attention towards the Pit, prompting her to send a fireteam to investigate.

At the Cradle of Damnation deep in the Pit, the Guardians confronted the reanimating Zulmak, strengthened and protected by the Darkness within the nearby crystal. Zulmak and his champions, the Accursed Swordbearers the Disciples of the Broken Blade, would clash with the Guardians alongside hordes of the Swarm, but would eventually perish at the hands of the fireteam, who killed him and thwarted the Hive's ritual. Eris Morn, however, would remain wary that the Hive would attempt the same ritual again in the future.

Gameplay


Upon entering Zulmak's lair, the encounter will start if the player damages Zulmak or any enemy near him. After this point, Zulmak will be immune to all damage. Throughout the whole encounter, the Instrument of Torment will never leave the plate in the middle of the stage. However, he will circumnavigate the crystal and try to attack the players with a Solar fireball attack, or strike any that come too close with his Cleaver. Zulmak will also spawn Accursed Swordbearers on the outer rim of his plate, which must be killed in order to acquire their Cleavers and deal damage to the Disciples of the Broken Blade. Looking from the where you begin the encounter, the Vanquisher will be to the left, the Wizard will be to the right, and the Shrieker will be straight ahead. Killing a Disciple will drop a Void Orb that can be deposited near Zulmak's center plate, to an extinguish station on each side respectively. It does not matter which station an orb is deposited as long as all three stations are extinguished.

Doing this will grant all players the "Heinous Rite" buff, which allows them to damage Zulmak, but only by players that are standing on the plate with him. Zulmak will continue to attack the players, showcasing more of his sword moves, such as slashing the ground to create a wall of flame that lingers for several seconds, burning and dealing great damage over time. It is highly discouraged to get close to Zulmak, as he can easily launch the players off the stage. After 30 seconds, Zulmak will skewer his sword into the ground and the plate will begin to radiate. Any player left on the plate after a few seconds will be instantly killed by a Fire Blast. This process is repeated until either Zulmak or the fireteam is killed.

Trivia

 * Zulmak bears a striking appearance to that of Urrox, Flame Prince and Kandorak as well as the Swordbearers in Crota's Oversoul Throne.
 * Both Zulmak and Dûl Incaru, the Eternal Return use an unknown crystal during both of their boss encounters. There is also another crystal on Titan that is similar in size and also possesses paracausal abilities comparable to the former two. It is unknown whether these crystals bear any canon importance.
 * Zulmak is the fourth Hive character to possess his own sword that is unique from the Cleavers most Hive are found wielding. Crota being the first, Oryx being the second, Ecthar, Sword of Oryx being the third.
 * Zulmak is the fifth Hive being shown clearly speaking their native tongue instead of roaring unintelligibly. The previous four were Ir Anûk, Deathsinger, Ir Halak, Deathsinger, and two unnamed deathsingers, all collectively singing the Deathsinger's Dirge in the mission Last Rites.

List of appearances

 * Destiny 2
 * Shadowkeep