Cabal: Difference between revisions

After a time of reclusion in understanding the Nightmares, Eris returns to inform the Guardian that the best solution to defeat the Nightmares is not through denial but through acceptance. Taking another chance at the severance ritual with Crow, the Guardian repeats the process to prepare the ritual as Crow stood firm against his Nightmare's taunts. As the ritual begins, the Nightmare of the Fanatic reappears, forcing the Guardian to battle it as Crow finally accepts his past life and decides to learn from his mistakes. As Eris hoped, the ritual this time works, transforming the Nightmare of Uldren Sov into the Memory of Uldren Sov, which causes the Pyramid's connection to the Leviathan to fray.

After a time, Zavala finally came to understand what he needed to do and with Eris's guidance, prepares to partake in the severance ritual once more. Despite the Nightmare of Safiyah condemning Zavala for valuing his duty and his "god" over their family, Zavala remains resolute, refusing to acknowledge the Traveler as his god. After setting up the amplifiers and reaching the ritual location, Zavala begins the severance which brings the Nightmare of Kethiks once more. Despite the Nightmare's strength, the Guardian prevails and Zavala finally manages to reach a measure of forgiveness for himself, turning the Nightmare of Safiyah into the Memory of Safiyah, completing the ritual. Though Eris commends Zavala and the Guardian, she can't help but wonder what plan Calus is planning as they severed two of his connections to the Lunar Pyramid, leaving only one, and yet the former emperor hasn't made a single move against them. She does notice however that as they remove each connection, the remaining grow stronger, which only necessitates the need to complete the last ritual for if they fail, then the Nightmares will flood from the Leviathan and spread across the system.

In short time, Caiatl would be forced to hear the Nightmare of Ghaul's taunts, who condemns her for showing weakness by making an armistice with the Last City, as the Guardians continue exploring the Leviathan and containing the Nightmares. When it becomes time for Caiatl to partake in the severance ritual, she goes against Eris's advice by not taking part in their ritual that bounded them, instead issuing a challenge to the Nightmare of Dominus Ghaul and forbidding the Guardian from aiding her. Seeing this as folly, Eris has the Guardian follow Caiatl to the ritual location. The empress, angered that the Guardians are following her, allows them to fight alongside her forces against Calus's Loyalists but forbids them from interfering with the ritual. During all of this, the Nightmare of Ghaul continues to taunt Caiatl on her supposed weakness and failures as a leader. Upon reaching the ritual site, Caiatl begins the severance but like Crow and Zavala before her, Caiatl struggles against the Nightmare who then summons the Nightmare of Dominus Ghaul, forcing the Guardian to fight it. Though the Guardian slays the Nightmare, the ritual fails with the Nightmare denouncing Caiatl as not the one he had trained when he first rose to power.

Despite this failure and Caiatl still refusing to take part in the binding ritual, Eris instead looks for a new way forward and finds a clue to one on the moon. Tasking the Guardians to investigate, they reach a lost sector that forces them to battle with the Nightmare of Arguth the Tormented near a relic belonging to Calus. After slaying the Nightmare and destroying the relic, Eris had discovered a call to the Pyramid in the dying screams of the Nightmare. Eris surmises that in lieu to the severed connections to the Pyramid, Calus had used the Hive's rituals and relics unearthed on the moon to restore them. Now, Eris directs the Guardian to the Lunar Pyramid and there they discover Calus's Loyalists deceased and covered in egregore. Eris then understands that Calus forfeited their lives to ferry his mind across a great distance and hasten ingress to the Pyramid. Concluding that Calus is now desperate, that their plan is working, Eris seeks to speak with Caiatl. Speaking with the Guardian, Eris understood Calus knew exactly what he was doing, goading his daughter to recklessly to strike out on her own. Nonetheless, with the recent discovery found near the Pyramid, Eris is able to figure out that Calus is seeking to become one with the Lunar Pyramid and claim its power. Worse, Eris believes Calus is doing this at the behest of The Witness in bringing about a second Collapse.