Forum:House of Scorpions

"The stench of decay and rot roils from the very bowels of this House. The only thing which sets them apart from the Hive is they brave the light of day."

- Description

House of Scorpions is a unique Fallen House that is distinguishable by their sickly orange cloaks and are known for stealing weapons and merging them with their own to make new superweapons, specifically chemical weapons. They have even mixed chemical weaponry with their endless supply of ether to create a deadly concoction that enhances their physical capabilities.

History
The House of Scorpions is an ancient yet infamous House among the Fallen, even before the Whirlwind that destroyed Fallen civilization. Members of the House are known for their cunning and treachery, so much that they were able to avoid the eye of the House of Judgement, earning a festering hatred from the ancient scribes. After the Whirlwind, the House of Scorpions left their homeworld to find the Traveler and bring themselves to power over all Fallen Houses. In the meantime, they stole and raided from fellow houses to survive, even stealing a large Ketch from the House of Wolves, which the Scorpion Kells use to this day. No matter what the other Fallen Houses could do they could not stop the Scorpions' efforts. For this and their constant thievery, the Scorpions are feared and hated amongst the Fallen and therefore very paranoid about their cargo and ships, becoming close to a ghost story to the Fallen.

The House of Scorpions tended to avoid the Fallen's conflicts with the inhabitants of the Solar System, namely the Guardians of the Last City who have killed so many Kells, Archons and Prime Servitors; and the Awoken of the Reef who once subjugated an entire Fallen House. Knowing how powerful and dangerous their enemies are and aware they are not prepared to engage them, they make sure the Scorpions are not noticed until the time is right. Despite this, the Reef and the City have heard rumors of another Fallen House but could not find any source to prove them. The Scorpions like to call Guardians God-Killers (for killing Prime Servitors), commonly the Lightbourne, and House Destroyers. Despite these names the Scorpions' nobility has a begrudging respect for the Guardians due to their power and "removing" so many rivals. In contrast, they call residents of the Reef Enslavers and have little to no respect for them, especially since they house a member of the House of Judgement, Variks, the Loyal.

The Scorpions made themselves known when they attacked a shipment belonging to the Devil Splicers, which contained tampered experimental SIVA. With the new technology, they begun to experiment on it but only corrupted it to new levels, gaining deadly new abilities with their chemical weapons. However, the Devil Splicers learned of their thievery and declared war on their blasphemy, driving them out into the open. Now exposed, the Scorpions cemented themselves on the farthest side of the Plaguelands, an area contaminated with toxic chemicals, where they continue to fight the Devil Splicers, the Hive and recently the Guardians for the first time.

Season of the Vipers
After the death of their Kell, Lorkxyn, the House of Scorpions were finally broken. But were never seen again before the Red War. Most assume that they had joined the House of Dusk. However there was some evidence of another House, known as the House of Arthropods, whom had some tech and weapons from the Scorpions, even some of their members, but that was the only thing mentioned of them until the events of the Season of the Vipers, where Kalrix, the Kell of the House of Vipers. Attempted to contact the Remnants of the Scorpions, along with other broken Houses. They would be Skeptical at first, but would soon join the Vipers, in their bid of destruction against all who had harmed the Eliksni Civilization, as a means of Vengeance. Thanks to this, the Vipers would have access to the Scorpions’ Chemical Warfare. Using it for their own gains to help in their campaign of vengeance.

The Swordsman's Arrival
"I’m surprised that the House of Scorpions have been holding on for so long, despite them being with the House of Dusk, Arthropods, Vipers, and the Lions.” “Which is why we must stop that from resulting the same with the House of Shadows"

- The Ghost and AJ, the Relentless

After the Season of the Vipers. The Remaining members of the Scorpions that hasn’t join the House of Vipers, took a living over at the Cosmodrome, living amongst the House of Dusk, and picking up any scraps that was left behind, barely of any of the Scorpions, due to many of them either killed or deserting to other Houses. However after the events of the Shadowkeeper Apocalypse, remnants of the Shadowkeepers’ House of Shadows, attempted to negotiate with the Scorpion Remnants to get more soldiers and gain their Chemical Weapons. However the House of Lions would get word of this and sent The Guardian, led by AJ, the Relentless to break in and kill the Shadows’ Ambassador, to save the last remaining Scorpions from being fully assimilated into the Shadows. They would enter the Cosmodrome and enter the Scorpions’ dens, and take out Narviks, Emissary of Kirito, seemingly saving both the Scorpions and the Last City from a potential returning threat, of the Shadow Army’s Fallen. However, it was all for nothing as Kirito and Asuna had already made their messianic return as Nightmares thanks to the Pyramids.

Gameplay
"I thought the Devils and Wolves were horrible. The Scorpions are like a plague given life."

- An unknown Warlock.

The House of Scorpions rely heavily on poison damage, which its effects linger on, to kill their enemies. Each class in the command structure is similar to other Houses but they have a couple of new abilities.

Scorpion Shank
Shanks fire tracking poison bolts that stack the debuff they inflict up to five times. Equipped with a Solar shield and can fly as high as Pit Shanks. In addition, when shot down, the Shanks explode in a flammable toxic gas.

Scorpion Dreg
Dregs now have dual Shock Pistols that fire poison bolts in bursts, each having a Shock Dagger attachment coated with toxins. They can also run significantly faster and jump more often as well as throw Decay Grenades. Similar to the Devil Splicer Dregs, if killed by a critical hit, then a deathseeker orb will erupt from their neck and home in on a nearby Guardian. The orb is slightly weaker compared to the Devil Splicers but its littered with chemicals and if it hits its target then the victim will slowly lose their health.

Scorpion Vandal
Vandals are now able to throw Trip Mines and Web Mines; Web Mines now drain health unless the victim escapes. They can scale walls with incredible speed, remain in a berserker rage for a permanent state, and are armed with dual poison Shock Blades.

Scorpion Captain
Captains are always equipped with dual Scorch Cannons that have poisonous Shock Blade attachments. They are equipped with a Solar shield, can teleport further distances more frequently, and can emit a poison cloud around their bodies.

Scorpion Servitor
Servitors are now equipped with a Void shield, can spew out Decay Grenades, teleport more frequently, and can drain half a Guardian's shield when faced up close. Their blasts now fire faster, have more velocity and range, can track targets, and poison enemies. The downside is that their physical movements is slower than a regular servitor.

Scorpion Stalker
Stalkers are a new weapon the Scorpions have made with their machinery and SIVA. It's appearance is vaguely similar to a Walker, albeit smaller, less armored and fires concentrated Solar cannons, similar to a Vandal's Wire Rifle. The Scorpions use the Stalkers for scouting and patrols, often paired with a set of Shanks for support.

Scorpion Walker
Scorpion Walkers are not that different from the generic standard found among other Fallen Houses; keeping its Shank deployer and Solar Cannon. However, with the recent weapons and chemicals the Scorpions have made some twisted modifications. Instead of an Arc-repeating machine gun, the Scorpion Walker fires Solar grenades at a high rate to keep enemies from taking cover. In addition, when the Walker is damaged it constantly releases a noxious gas that obscures one's vision and if close enough, will slow down enemies and drain their health.