Spawn of Crota

"Crota's spawn will snuff out the worlds of Light, and Oryx's coming shall be unfettered."

- Osiris

The Spawn of Crota are the direct servants of Crota, Son of Oryx. They are distinguishable by their green and brown colouring.

They are primary force found in the depths of the Hellmouth on the Moon and in Crota's throne world. In the base game, they play a minor role, but serve as the main antagonists of The Dark Below expansion as they prepare their invasion of Earth and the return of Crota.

Ancient Past
"Thus I name you Crota, Eater of Hope."

- Oryx, the Taken King

According to the Books of Sorrow, Oryx, the Taken King had raised Crota to be his champion, naming him his Eater of Hope with the mission to help pursue the Traveler and the civilzations it uplifted. Choosing Omnigul as his consort, Crota progenated his own brood which were to serve as his direct disciples, At some point Omnigul demanded the death of an unnamed Wizard to replenish her strength; only for that Wizard to be raised into Oryx's court. Omnigul is also protected by the Might of Crota, an Ogre of Crota's design that is deemed to be unstoppable even by the likes of the Taken Wizard Kagoor.

Sardon, Fist of Crota became the first spawn of the Hope-Eater's disciples and thus served as the general of his armies for millenia, including command over four Swarm Princes; Banuk, Dakoor, Garok, and Merok, that forged Crota a great sword to destroy his foes with.

Among his servants was the esteemed Deathsinger Ir Yût, one of Crota's most cherished, who attempted to rebuild the Choir who sang the original Deathsong and the Song of Life, but had long since given up. She later became an acclaimed singer of the Deathsong and managed to sing it without dying. It was speculated that she made herself part of the song, and became death incarnate.

One of Crota's spawn was a Thrall whose strength rivalled that of the Hope-Eater's Knights. Acknowledging her exceptional power, Crota named her Hashladûn and saw her power as a detriment to her strength. He then took his daughter out of his throne world and into the chaotic shores of the Sea of Screams, where he left her to be inundated five times by its paracausal but caustic waves. Having barely surviving her ordeal, Crota proudly explained that the parts of Hashladûn that were his were flooded away and only the parts of his father remained; making her Ascendant to the Taken King himself. For this reason, Crota sent Hashladûn on her way to his father's court, knowing he can never see her again.

The Luna War
"The day we set out to retake our Moon, united in a host of thousands, and found ourselves outmatched by one Hive champion of unspeakable power."

- Eriana-3

Under the orders of Oryx, Crota and his spawn conquered many worlds as they pursued the Traveler to destroy it. Eventually they arrived in the Solar System before the Golden Age and quickly embedded themselves deep within the crust of the Moon. Sardon was largely responsible for his part in leading Crota's army of Blades in conquering Luna. Crota's spawn then formed their military foothold near the inactive Pyramid found beneath the surface.

Their presence was first discovered by Humanity during the late Golden Age, where they slaughtered a Human mining expedition for intruding into their territory. Crota also became interested in the space station Cocytus, which contained experimental gates from the Golden Age of Humanity. He established his hold over those gates and made them lead to his realm for unknown reasons. Eventually Omnigul's brood geo-engineered the entire interior of the Moon from the bottom up to create an impregnable fortress called the Hellmouth, with a gateway into Crota's throne world at the very bottom of its abyss. Crota also had his Swarm Princes command the Hidden Swarm, a numberless legion of Hive to serve as their frontline military and auxilliary force while also being the Hellmouth's outermost line of defense. During the early City Age, the Hidden Swarm, acting as the Spawn's vanguard, launched several of their Seeder Ships throughout Earth and engaged the Light-bearing Guardians at the Rusted Lands in the Eastern Flooded Zone; only one surviving Hunter returned to warn the City of the imminent threat. Against overwhelming odds, the Guardians barely succeeded in repealing the Hive at the Battle of Burning Lake, only to fail at their counteroffensive at the Great Disaster on the Moon led by Sardon and his Blades. The Sword Logic proved to be too much for the Guardians as countless heroes fell before Crota's Blades.

These heroes included Gunnvor, the Dawncaller and her companions from the First Pillar Order, and the legendary Titan Wei Ning, who Crota impaled his sword. As a further show of dominance, Crota took one of the Guardian's Ghosts and forged it into a dagger to murder them. His leadership and power of his sword led to a divisive victory as he slaughtered thousands more and drove them away from the moon for more than a century out of sheer fear for Crota.

Due to unforeseen circumstances Crota's plan to conquer humanity was put to a hold when two Knights of Oryx and Xivu Arath engaged in duel. This duel brought major losses for Crota's temples and tributaries as the Knight of Oryx was unable to make his tribute to a champion of Crota. To recover his debts, Crota judged it best to sleep in his throne world while his soul remained tethered to an Ascendant crystal, giving him a quick means to return to the physical world if needed. He entrusted his sword to his four Swarm Princes to guard within the depths of the Hellmouth and let Sardon command the Hive on Earth, where they burrowed beneath Old Russia in secret.

The First Fireteam
"He knew more about the Hive and the 'song' of their Deathsingers than any other. Had Eriana-3 questioned his obsession further before recruiting him to our fireteam, things might have been different."

- Eris Morn referring to Toland

Eriana-3, a survivor of The Great Disaster, sought to end to the Hive Prince after he slain the Warlock's girlfriend Wei Ning. She searched for an means to enact her revenge along with Eris Morn and found possible answers in an unlikely guardian named Toland, the Shattered. The exiled Warlock had insights into the Hive and convinced Eriana to recruit Sai Mota, Omar Agah, and Vell Tarlowe in an bid to raid the Hellmouth and kill Crota.

As they approached the Temple of Crota, they were confronted by Crota's foster brother, Alak-Hul and his consort Verok who killed Tarlowe after inundated him with waves of their Thralls. The remaining five then followed the screams of Omnigul deeper into the Hive stronghold only for the group to be split up and encounter the Hand of Crota and Eyes of Crota. In hopes of learning the secrets of the Deathsong, Toland sought out Ir Yût, the Deathsinger only to be killed by the Song which detached his soul from his body and sent it to the Ascendant Plane.

Shortly after the Heart of Crota captured a injured Omar and stripped his Light to feed unborn Hive. Helpless, Eris watched the torture only for the ritual to fail, allowing Omar to survive. Omnigul then challenged Eriana and Sai at the World's Grave. With their Light siphoned and losing her knives to the Hand of Crota, Sai engaged the Hive matron armed with only the bones of fallen Acolytes. Omnigul tore the Hunter apart forty four times until only wormrot was left on her corpse to devour what remained of the latter's Light and Ghost.

Eriana escaped and made it to the bottom of the Hellmouth, remorseful the death she caused, she valiantly fought the Spawn's of Crota with the little Light that remained. While Eris, clinging onto Toland's Journal, survived after losing her eyes and her Ghost by hiding in the dark tunnels of the Hive. She studied the Hive's dark secrets and emerge from the pit years later as a changed person and sought vengeance for her fallen friends.

The Hive Resurgence
"We always feared the Hive would rise again, harbingers of the Darkness to come. Their presence on Earth demands that we strike their strongholds on the Moon."

- Cayde-6

Victorious in surging out the Luna incursions, the Hive were left undisturbed as Sardon and his troops hid beneath the Cosmodrome to prepare another invasion against Earth and coordinate their masters return.

Their presence soon came to light when a group of Fallen from the House of Devils clashed against them at Skywatch. A newly risen Guardian informed the Speaker of the new resurgence of Hive activity. A scout was sent to investigate the Hellmouth for answers, only for him to be killed. The Guardian would trace the deceased scout's whereabouts to the front of the Temple of Crota and recover his dead Ghost. From probing its memories, they soon got confirmation that the Hive were indeed preparing a second attack on Earth. Upon further investigation at The World's Grave, the Guardian would fully realize the scope of the Hive's plans of seeding the Earth for centuries which they would warn the City of the impending danger.

By then, the Hive had began a ritual draining the Light of the Traveler using a corrupted shard of it, causing the Speaker to issue an emergency broadcast to all Guardians to stop it. The Guardian would answer the call, battling deep through the Hellmouth and into the Chamber of Night where they were successful in stopping the Siphon Witches of their ritual.

Following an old lead from the Warlock Osiris, The Guardians found the fabled Shrine of Oryx set up by the spawns of Crota, to which they destroyed to prevent any of its transmissions. The exact nature of Oryx was unknown, but the name appeared too often in Hive ritual. The Guardians would learn of the shrines used by the Hive to communicate with the Osmium King across the universe.

The Hive created an unstoppable abomination called Phogoth, the Untamed, bred for destruction. Because of his savage nature, Phogoth was kept alive through foul rituals of rebirth and chained up in the Summoning Pits. However, their activity quickly alerted the Vanguard who called a strike team to action, destroying the massive Ogre before the Hive could unleash it upon Earth.

The Dark Below
"Omnigul is the last of Crota's generals. She is the architect of her master's wakening. She'll spawn countless armies to feed his will. As long as she lives... the threat of Crota's return will always haunt this world."

- Eris Morn

To commence the second invasion, Omnigul, Will of Crota departs from the Hellmouth with a plot to sabotage Rasputin and his Warsat defenses at the Seraphim Vault in the Cosmodrome. No longer hiding in the shadows, she encounters the Guardians twice before fleeing; first during the hunt for Sardon, Fist of Crota and second during the breach in Rasputin's bunker, which she failed to destroy.

Guided by the former Lightbearer Eris Morn, The Guardians began to disrupt the Spawn's invasion by killing the Blades of Crota which were summoned across the Moon and Cosmodrome. Additionally, the Swarm Princes were killed with Crota's own sword and their general Sardon fell at The Grottos. Omnigul's attempt to destroy Rasputin was also thwarted despite the presence of the Might of Crota that was killed during the assault.

All of it would prelude for the coming return of the World-Eater himself as his Wakers attempt to bring him back through a summoning ritual of Omnigul's craft in the Chamber of Night. The Guardians prevent this by killing his Wakers and sending the crystal tethered to his Ascendant soul back to his throne world, banishing him from the physical world and thereby preventing his corporeal return.

Without their master's return, the Guardians hunted down the remainder of Crota's disciples, including his Hand, Eyes, and Heart. They were also sullied of their tributes by killing The Forsaken whose eyes were stolen for Eris to harness their darker Hive magics, and slain Urzok, the Hated during a skirmish with the Fallen.



Omnigul, acting as Crota's General after the demise of Sardon and the last of Crota's disciples, would be spotted near the Skywatch attempting to spawn a new army with the aid of the Blood of Oryx. Ultimately her efforts would be for naught as she was pursued by a Strike Fireteam across the area. Despite her efforts at stirring the House of Kings against the Guardians, she was finally cornered at the Jovian Complex and killed, putting an end to her schemes.

Now residing in his Oversoul Throne world, Crota would be challenged by a new fireteam of six of Guardians. They successfully fought off waves of Thralls in the deepest pit of the Hellmouth and get past his Gatekeepers guarding the entrance to his throne. Acting as Crota's last line of defense Ir Yût, the Deathsinger would attempt to eliminate the Guardians by singing her Deathsong only to die at their hands.



Later the Guardians summon Crota from his crystal to engage him at his throne world. While in the past conventional means failed to end Crota, the Guardians turned his own Sword Logic against him with the Cleavers dropped from his Swordbearers. Despite the Hive God's formidable powers and his Oversoul, the battle ended with Crota being slain by the Guardians with his own sword.

Crota's death was felt by the higher echelons of the Hive Pantheon and even by Oryx, the Taken King himself. The Hive were dealt with their first real defeat in the Solar System and the aftermath saw his father seek revenge against the Guardians by unleashing his Taken army and the esteemed Blood of Oryx.

Oryx also fell prey to the Guardians and shortly after the SIVA Crisis, Omnigul would make a surprise return to Skywatch after managing to "undo" her death. She continued her work of rebuilding her army only to be swiftly killed again by the Guardians. Since she was capable of evading permanent death, the Vanguard enforced more strikes against Omnigul to put an end to her for good.

The Last Spawn


"Crota's minions emerge once more. The Hidden Swarm that previously served Crota has banded together once again, leaderless but not purposeless."

- Eris Morn.

Years after the deaths of Crota and Oryx, Crota's remaining spawn and the various broods of the Moon consolidated into the Hidden Swarm, becoming the de facto Hive power. Rallying under Hashladûn, Daughter of Crota and her three sisters Besurith, Kinox, and Voshyr, the Hidden Swarm sought to reclaim their lost power with the last surviving remnants of Crota and Oryx's lineage.

Hashladûn and her sisters aspired to use the Luna Pyramid's power for its connection to the Darkness to enact vengeance against the Guardians for murdering their lineage. They built the massive Scarlet Keep atop of, and utilized forbidden Hive magics to control the Nightmares radiating out from, the Pyramid. However, their resurgence caught the attention of Eris Morn and the Vanguard who sent the Guardians to push back the Hive.

Hashladûn confronted them within the Scarlet Keep, but only to fall in turn. Later her sister Besurith failed to slay the Guardian as well and perished when they stole the Cryptoglyph to reduce the Nightmares' influence by creating armour that shielded against its power. The last of Crota's spawn were survived by Voshyr and Kinox, who went into hiding and sought power from alternate means to preserve their father's legacy, even if it went against Sword Logic.

Over a year later, during the events of Season of the Hunt, Voshyr and Kinox would sire their own sons and daughters and gather with the remaining Nobles of the Scarlet Court with the High Celebrant of Xivu Arath who sought to wrest them from the Witch Queen and have them serve Xivu Arath so that Luna could be reformed in her image. Voshyr along with her two daughters would die from the Phoenix, Osiris as Kinox used her Son and his cohort of Knights to shield her as she fled.

With Kinox's death unconfirmed and her status ambiguous, it is possible she survived and has become the sole Hive noble of Oryx's dynasty left in Sol. This slaughter would make Kinox not only the final noble of Oryx's lineage, but the sole de-facto leader of the Lunar Hidden Swarm. Just like with her sisters before, she would continue to resurrect Zulmak, however for reasons unknown.

Structure
"They are all here, on Earth, I can feel them. His Eyes, who watch our worlds for him; the Hand whose grasp on Earth must be unbound; the Heart who ceases at nothing to bring Crota back. And Omnigul, his vile Will, the keeper of the worms, the mother of his spawn. Find them, defeat them all—as long as even one of these monsters walks the Earth, the threat of Crota will never fade."

- Eris Morn

The Spawn of Crota is primarily made up of spawns created by their matron, Omnigul, Will of Crota, to serve their Hive God, Crota, Son of Oryx.

The most powerful of the spawn are known as disciples of Crota, which make up the brood's inner circle with Omnigul serving as their leader. The first-born of the disciples is Sardon, Fist of Crota, serving as the general of Crota's legion of broods, including the Swarm Princes of the Hidden Swarm as their acting commander. Among the higher echelons of the disciples is the Deathsinger Ir Yût; one of Crota's most cherished in his court. Others included that act in Crota's name, the Eyes serve as his spymasters, the Hand as his chief enforcer, and the Heart nurturing their newborn Hive. A Knight known as Urzok, the Hated acts as the Chief tributary for Crota by ritualistically sacrificing Ogres deemed The Forsaken to fuel his tribute.

When Crota's soul became tethered to a crystal described as a material cask, the Wakers of Crota were tasked with performing Omnigul's ritual to summon Crota back into the real world from his Ascendant Realm.

Also unique are the infamous Knights known as Blades of Crota, armed with Ascendant Swords that drew power from Crota's own Sword Logic. During The Great Disaster, they were instrumental for causing thousands of Guardian casualties. Later the Hive summon the Blades where they frequently spawn in the Cosmodrome and the Moon. By defeating them they drop their Ascendant Swords which can be wielded by the Guardians.

Within Crota's throne world, Knights known as Swordbearers and Gatekeepers also wield Ascendant Swords and are tasked with safeguarding his domain from intruders.

Finally deep within the recesses of the Hellmouth the Hive develop massive Abominations from The Summoning Pits. One such example is the monstrosity known as Phogoth, the Untamed, which they bred as an instrument of destruction since the Great Disaster and later for their intended invasion of Earth.

Leadership

 * Omnigul, Will of Crota

Disciples of Crota

 * Eyes of Crota
 * Hand of Crota
 * Heart of Crota
 * Sardon, Fist of Crota
 * Ir Yût, the Deathsinger

Hive Champions

 * Phogoth, the Untamed
 * Might of Crota
 * The Forsaken
 * Malgor, the Forsaken
 * Thogar, the Forsaken
 * Hashladûn, Daughter of Crota
 * Urzok, the Hated

Unique forces

 * Thrall variants
 * Servant of the Hand
 * Acolyte variants
 * Servant of the Heart
 * Knight variants
 * Blades of Crota
 * Servant of the Eyes
 * Gatekeepers
 * Swordbearers
 * Wizard variants
 * Waker of Crota
 * Watcher of Crota

Trivia

 * The Spawn of Crota is the first known Hive sect to go extinct as they consolidated into the Hidden Swarm and lack the matron to rebuild their force.

Gallery
 Crota1.jpg|Crota, Son of Oryx Omnigul1.jpg|Omnigul, Will of Crota 10_1_Hive_4_shot.jpg|Phogoth, the Untamed

IrYut.jpg|Ir Yût, Deathsinger Destiny-HiveKnight-Swordbearer-Screen.jpg|A Swordbearer Knight SoC4.jpg|A Spawn of Crota Knights

Wizard (SoC).jpg|A Spawn of Crota Wizard Ogre (SoC).jpg|A Spawn of Crota Ogre Thrall (SoC).jpg|A Spawn of Crota Thrall

Acolyte (SoC).jpg|A Spawn of Crota Acolyte SoC5.jpg|Thralls encountered in Crota's End SoC2.jpg|A Thrall doing the splits

10 1 Hive 3 shot.jpg|Phogoth attacks Destiny-DarkBelow-Omnigul.jpg|Another view of Omnigul SoC3.jpg|Thrall battling the Guardians in Crota's End

CrotasEnd2.jpg|A Swordbearer engaging the Guardians CrotasEnd4.png|Crota's soul in the mission The Wakening CrotasEnd1.jpg|Crota's Chamber and Oversoul

Destiny-TDB-CrotasEnd-Raid-Screen.jpg|Oversoul Throne Destiny-TDB-CrotaSoulCrystal-03.jpg|A closeup of Crota's Soul



List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * The Dark Below
 * The Dawning