Xivu Arath, God of War: Difference between revisions

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Xivu Arath was born Xi Ro on the gas giant [[Fundament]] with her sisters [[Oryx, the Taken King|Aurash]] and [[Savathûn, the Witch-Queen|Sathona]]; her father was the [[Osmium King]], ruler of the [[Osmium Court]]. She was a member of a short-lived, proto-[[Hive]] species called "krill" whose original homeworld had crashed into the gas giant millions of years ago. As a young "krill" she was fascinated by her surroundings, attempting daring feats that would have killed lesser beings; she took six of the [[stormjoy]]s' bait-stars because of this. Above all, she wanted to be a warrior, a Knight like her father's warriors.

When her father became mad and raved about the Syzygy, and the [[Helium Drinkers]] invaded at the urging of [[Taox]], Xi Ro used her bait-stars to help her sisters escape and comforted Aurash as they fled their home. Together with her sisters, she swore a blood-oath on the mast of their ship, upon her left eye, to avenge their father and kill Taox. When they salvaged an ancient, high-tech ship from the Shvubi Maelstrom, Xi Ro wanted to sell it to raise an army and kill Taox immediately but was convinced by Sathona that it was worthless.

During their aimless journey at the behest of Sathona (who was guided by their father's worm-familiar), Xi Ro cleaned up the ship and attempted to take her sisters' minds off their task. Eventually, when Sathona fretted they would not be able to avenge their father, and Aurash concluded they would have to dive, Xi Ro was initially afraid but understood. Xi Ro warned them, however, that this was how the crew had died, but Sathona, urged on by the Worm, agreed with Aurash. The sisters took the needle into the deep. They finally reached a point where they could use the ship's sensors on the oceans. To their horror, they discovered that the Syzygy was real and that Fundament's moons had already aligned. Just then, they were encountered by the [[Leviathan (creature)|Leviathan]], a creature long spoken of in proto-Hive myth. The Leviathan warned the sisters that they needed to turn back, or else would unleash disaster upon the universe, saying that they faced a choice between the [[Light]], which offered civilization, and the [[Darkness]], which offered only violence. However, the Leviathan offered no hope to the sisters to avoid the Syzygy. Sathona then revealed the Worm's help to her sisters, and how it urged them to go down. Rejecting the Leviathan's entreaties, the sisters dove into the core.<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#VIII: Leviathan|VIII: Leviathan]]''</ref>

As Auryx and his sisters forced an ultimatum on the remaining proto-Hive to accept the worms or perish, Auryx turned his attention to Fundament's moons, and the [[Ammonite]]s there who had allied with the [[Traveler]] and gave asylum to Taox. Initially, he was willing to negotiate with the Ammonites, but his sister Savathûn, under pressure from the Worms, killed Auryx as punishment. Rather than dying, Auryx's soul instead passed to his [[Ascendant realm]], or throne world, where his soul resided until he returned to the mortal realm. Rebuked, Auryx purged what sympathy and goodwill he had left, becoming a merciless tyrant. He and his sisters warred with and killed one another on a regular basis after the defeat of the Ammonites, as part of their worship of the Sword-Logic and their attempt to become the sharpest blades in the universe, heading to their Ascendant realms when defeated. Their war of revenge against Taox had transformed into a campaign of genocide when they slew the Ammonites and other interstellar civilizations to feed their worms. While Oryx and Savathûn established [[Court of Oryx|courts]] to practice and study the sword logic, Xivu Arath declined, declaring that her court would be everywhere war was found.<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#XXII: The High War|XXII: The High War]]''</ref>

During the war with the [[Ecumene]], Auryx came to realize that the Worm had deceived him and his sisters: their Worms appetites were growing past their ability to feed with death. Meeting with his sisters in his ascendant realm, surrounded by their servants (some of which despised them for showing weakness) they despaired over their dilemma. When his sisters offered their power to help Auryx find a way to save them, Auryx killed them, then used that power to confront his patron god [[Akka, the Worm of Secrets]]. He killed Akka so that he may steal its ability to call upon [[Darkness|the Deep]] and created the Tablets of Ruin, which gave him the power to [[Taken|Take]]. His transformation complete, Auryx was now Oryx, the Taken King. During the subsequent war with the Ecumene, Oryx revived Xivu Arath in an act of war and revived Savathûn in an act of cunning. He then decreed the tithe system: each Hive would kill their enemies, take some to feed their own worm and tithe the rest to their superior. Thralls would tithe to Acolytes, Acolytes would tithe to Knights or Wizards, the Knights and Wizards would tithe to the Ascendant Hive, those who commanded legions of warriors and earned the right to enter the Hive gods' Ascendant realms. All of this violence would eventually reach Oryx, Savathûn, and Xivu Arath, allowing their worms to feed on violence while continuing to invoke their inner natures.<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#XXIX: Carved in Ruin|XXIX: Carved in Ruin]]''</ref>

Following the [[Golden Amputation]], Oryx declared to his sisters that the Hive had conquered its way to the edge of the Deep and that it had granted him a personal audience. <ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Enemies#Books_of_Sorrow/XXX: a golden amputation|XXX: a golden amputation]]''</ref> As Oryx retreated into his throne world to commune with it, Savathûn conspired with Xivu Arath to strand him there and steal his Tablets of Ruin by cutting off the tribute flowing through his tithe system.<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#XXXV: This Love Is War|XXXV: This Love Is War]]''</ref> They were ultimately unsuccessful. On returning, Oryx deceived Xivu Arath and poisoned her own flow of tribute so that she could never try to steal his Tablets again.<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#XXXVI: Eater of Hope|XXXVI: Eater of Hope]]''</ref>

At some point, her sister Savathûn had been secretly working in her name to undermine the Cabal homeworld of [[Torobatl]], corrupting Evocate-General [[Umun'arath]] into becoming a worshipper of Xivu Arath. Driven by obsession over war, Umun'arath undertook a Hive ritual in the capital city to summon the God of War to their planet, which was accidentally completed when [[Empress Caiatl|Caiatl, the Princess-Imperial]] slew Umun'arath, providing the blood and sacrifice needed to open a portal for Xivu Arath to cross through with her armada of [[War moon]]s and armies of Hive.<ref>'''Bungie (2021/2/9)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Chosen]] - [[Lore]]: [[Lore:Empress#CHAPTER_5:_NEW_GODS|Empress CHAPTER 5: NEW GODS]]''</ref> As she invaded Torobatl, Xivu Arath declared that the Cabal had been worshipping her for as long as they venerated war and that she had finally come to claim her "overdue" tribute.<ref>'''Bungie (2021/2/9)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Chosen]] - [[Lore]]: [[Lore:Empress#CHAPTER_6:_BATTLE_SONG|Empress CHAPTER 6: BATTLE SONG]]''</ref> Her forces overwhelmed the Cabal's defenses and drove Empress Caiatl to evacuate the remaining population to the remnants of her fleet and retreat to the Sol System.<ref>'''Bungie (2021/2/9)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Chosen]] - [[Lore]]: [[Lore:Empress#CHAPTER_7:_CORONATION|Empress CHAPTER 7: CORONATION]]''</ref>

Following the [[Arrival of the Black Fleet|second arrival]] of the [[Black Fleet]] in the Sol System and the sudden disappearance of [[Savathûn, the Witch Queen|Savathûn]] from her Court, Xivu Arath began marshaling her forces into the system and making her influence more overt. Her [[High Celebrant of Xivu Arath|High Celebrant]] began spawning [[Cryptolith]]s throughout the system, corrupting [[Hive]], [[Fallen]] and [[Cabal]] alike that came under within range of them into [[Wrathborn]] subjects. Though Xivu Arath's High Celebrant would be hunted down and killed by the Guardians, it was later on revealed that her Wrathborn were not only attacking the Solar System but also spread out across the galaxy. Most notably, the Cabal themselves had been under siege since the fall of their world, prompting the newly coronated [[Empress Caiatl]] to propose an alliance with the Last City to stand against the Hive God of War.

*'''Xivu Arath, God of War'''

**This was shown to be true as Umun'arath was corrupted by a Cryptolith during Season of the Chosen.