House of Winter

"Their greed is as much a threat as their blades."

- Commander Zavala

The House of Winter are a house of the Fallen, distinguishable by their blue and white armor and angled cloaks.

Early history
"House Winter, from the ruins of Caracas. Were they there at the Collapse?!"

- Master Rahool

Prior to arriving in the Solar System, the House of Winter was one of many Fallen Houses struggling to survive in the wake of a cataclysmic event known as The Whirlwind. In the aftermath of the fall, Winter were said to have warred with the House of Scar. There is evidence they were present at Caracas during the Collapse. They eventually settled in on Venus, showing interest in The Archive of the Ishtar Academy, seeking to plunder the Golden Age technology within, as well as towards the nearby Vex Citadel.

Enemy of humanity
"Draksis was a thorn in the City's side during the Twilight Gap. Whether it's for the City or the Reef, taking him out seems like a good strategic move."

- Ghost

Years later, following a message sent by the Kell of Kings calling for a coordinated attack on the City, Draksis, the Kell of Winter, temporarily allied his house with the House of Devils and Kings in order to join the planned assault. In the ensuing carnage, later known as the Battle of Twilight Gap, the united Fallen Houses were eventually forced into a full retreat due to the valiant efforts of the Guardians. Following the failed assault, the House of Winter returned to scavenging the Venusian ruins and came into conflict with the Vex. It is believed that some time after the Battle of Twilight Gap, Winter's Prime Servitor, Simiks Prime was destroyed, though proof of its demise remains elusive. This loss left the leadership of the House in a precarious state. Draksis continued to wage war against the City, raiding jumpship convoys using guerrilla tactics, later causing Cayde-6 of the Vanguard to personally raise the bounty on him.

Broken Leadership
"Draksis... The architect of Winter's strategy. And he still shows his strength on the front line."

- Commander Zavala

A short time before the Wolf Rebellion, Winter staged an assault on The Archive, attempting to plunder Golden Age secrets from the Ishtar Facility. The attack was lead by Grayliks, Winter Baron and further supported by Simiks-3, a Servitor created by Simiks Prime, prior to its disappearance. However, the raid was soon thwarted by Guardians in an operation to secure the Archive for the Vanguard, leaving both Grayliks and Simiks-3 dead. Sometime thereafter, the Vanguard received intel that the Wintership Simiks-Fel, headquarters of the House of Winter's Kell, was on the surface of Venus. A mission was then authorised to assassinate Draksis. Fighting through the Kell's Guard, a Guardian made their way onto the Fallen Ketch and faced Draksis in his throne room, killing him and removing Winter's Leadership. Afterwards, perhaps as an attempt to replace Draksis, Winter enlisted the help of Taniks, the Scarred to break into the Prison of Elders and retrieve Aksor, Archon Priest. However a fireteam of Guardians defeated the fugitive Archon shortly after his arrival on Venus.

Wolf Rebellion
"Skolas managed to win over—well, a substantial number of Winter soldiers have taken up the Wolf banner. He calls himself Kell of Kells now."

- Petra Venj

During the Wolf Rebellion, Skolas, Kell of Wolves journeyed to Venus to take control of the now leaderless House of Winter, assimilating them into his forces and declaring himself as the Kell of Kells. In their hunt for Skolas, Guardians fought against House of Winter troops on Venus, salvaging ship links from them in order to track the Kell's movements, leading The Reef to discover his deployment of the Silent Fang on Earth. Later, Winter forces were present alongside the House of Wolves in aiding Skolas to break into the Vault of Glass and steal the Vex technology within, however they were stopped by The Guardian. Winter forces were also stationed in the The Citadel while Skolas enacted his plan to bring the entire House of Wolves through time. Following the capture of the Kell of Wolves at the hands of the Guardians and the Reef, and his subsequent execution in the Prison of Elders, cooperation between Winter and the Wolves fell apart. As the Wolf Rebellion ended, the House of Winter was once again leaderless.

The Taken War
"Was in talks with Baroness to leave her House. Remember, Guardian. There is always farther to fall."

- Variks, the Loyal

Prior to the onset of the Taken War, Variks, The Loyal was in negotiations with Grayris, a Winter baroness, to leave her house. However, she would later succumb to Oryx's Taken. During the Taken War, the House of Winter managed to take advantage of the Reef's disorganization to break into the Prison of Elders once again and retrieve another Archon Priest. However, the Taken on Venus attacked and scattered their forces, Taking the Archon in the process, and turning him into Nixis, Hunger of Oryx. Guardians managed to destroy Nixis, ending Winter's second attempt to find new leadership.

Withdrawal and Unification
Like the rest of the Fallen Houses, the House of Winter completely abandoned their territories on Venus, and united under the newly formed House of Dusk.

Shortly before the Guardian's arrival in the Tower at the onset of the Red War, the Guardian encountered remnants of the House of Winter in the Reef.

Structure


Unlike other Houses, Winter does not seem interested in creating new leadership from within their own ranks after the death of their Kell, Draksis. The extent of the strength of their current leadership as unknown, due to there being no mention of their House Archon, and the rumors of their Prime, Simiks Prime, being destroyed.

They have made two attempts to recruit outside nobility to join their house, both former Archon Priests, with unknown intentions for their new roles within Winter. In addition, they were the only Fallen House that chose to follow Skolas during the Wolf Rebellion.

Kells

 * Draksis, Winter Kell– Kell
 * Skolas, Kell of Kells– Kell

Prime Servitors

 * Simiks Prime– Prime Servitor

Barons

 * Grayliks, Winter Baron
 * Grayris, Baroness (lost to Taken)

Notable members

 * Aksor, Archon Priest
 * Nixis, Hunger of Oryx
 * Nulsis, Lost to Winter
 * Simiks-3
 * Eoriks
 * Oeriks
 * Yriks

Unique forces

 * Vandal variants
 * Kell's Guard
 * Servitor variants
 * Conflux Watch
 * Minotaur Tracker
 * Walker variants
 * Noble Winter Walker

Trivia

 * The persistent battles between the House of Winter and Vex, led to the Vex creating the Hezen Corrective, with the aim of annihilating the House of Winter's presence on Venus. They also led an invasion of the Winter's Lair in the Winter's Run strike aiming to eliminate Aksor, Archon Priest.
 * According to Master Rahool, the House of Winter seemingly had a presence in Caracas, Venezuela sometime during the Collapse.
 * Winter's Kell Draksis is described by Ghost to have a "thorn" against the City during the Battle of Twilight Gap.
 * The Drifter is an abandoned Ketch located in the Reef, previously belonging to the House of Winter. It is possible that this Ketch was used to free Aksor, Archon Priest as part of the Ketch is decorated in gold.
 * Naksis, Devil Baron is shown to have robes and killcam that indicates him as belonging to the House of Winter despite working with the House of Devils. It is unknown if it was intentional or was a developer oversight.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * House of Wolves
 * The Taken King
 * April Update
 * Destiny 2
 * Warmind
 * Season of the Worthy
 * Season of the Splicer