Zulmak, Instrument of Torment: Difference between revisions

'''Zulmak, Instrument of Torment''' is a very powerful [[Hive]] [[Knight]] and a former contender for the Osmium Throne, having been reanimated by the surviving Daughters of [[Crota]] to serve as a [[Nightmare]] hybrid for the Hive and a puppet champion to rally the [[Hidden Swarm]]. He is encountered as the final boss of [[Pit of Heresy]] dungeon within the [[Cradle of Damnation]], accompanied by several Hive, many of his great lieutenants, under the rally of Zulmak.

Zulmak was a rising champion within the Pit beneath what would become the [[Scarlet Keep]], aspiring to take the Osmium Throne through his own Sword Logic. Zulmak's quest to [[Ascendant Hive|ascend]] as the newest Hive [[Prince]] pitted him against multiple other Hive combatants in the Pit; many that challenged him in gladiator-style combat and were met with overwhelming slaughter.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''',''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]], Lore: [[Lore:Inquisition of the Damned#III: Ritualistic Circle Pit|III: Ritualistic Circle Pit]]''</ref> His triumphs were only met with disappointment from the daughters of the [[Crota, Son of Oryx|World-Breaker]] himself, who saw him as a threat to their [[Oryx, the Taken King|grandfather's]] legacy.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''',''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]], Lore: [[Lore:Inquisition of the Damned#X: Faith in Bone|X: Faith in Bone]]''</ref>

After winning his third streak within the Pits, he was bifurcated and killed by the [[Deathsinger]] [[Ir Airâm, Deathsinger|Azavath]], whose body became possessed by her enraged [[Knight]] brother [[Akrazul, the Severed|Akrazul]] in desecration of the Sword-Logic itself.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''',''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]], Lore: [[Lore:Inquisition of the Damned#XI: The Anti-Logic|XI: The Anti-Logic]]''</ref> With his body in dying grasp, Zulmak was met with whispers of the [[Savathûn, the Witch-Queen|Witch-Queen]] herself, who proceeded to take his dying essence from his broken body and gifted it to her grand-nieces to be raised as a champion yet bound to their will.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/29)''',''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]], Lore: [[Lore:Inquisition of the Damned#XI.X: Apocrypha|XI.X: Apocrypha]]''</ref>

{{Quote|Their grandfather would not approve—cunning and deception were the path of [[Savathûn, the Witch Queen|another]]—but the Daughters were alone, and the Swarm was flailing. It was Kinox who urged her sisters to act. It was Hashladûn who offered the primordial essence of terror as their guide. And it was Besurith and Voshyr who gathered the husk of a shattered champion—a ravager to stand against all who would oppose their rule. A new breed of destroyer.|Lore text from [[Heretic]].}}<ref name= Heretic>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''',''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]], Lore: [[Heretic]]''</ref>

When the Daughters' efforts at resurrecting Crota and Oryx proved in vain, [[Kinox]] saw an opportunity to rally the leaderless [[Hidden Swarm]] by reanimating the deceased Zulmak as their puppet champion, with Hashladûn offering the phantasmal essence of the [[Nightmares]] as a catalyst to infuse into Zulmak's husk recovered by Besurith and Voshyr, creating the first hybrid of a Hive infused with the power of the Nightmares.<ref name= Heretic></ref>

With the deaths of [[Hashladûn, Daughter of Crota|Hashladûn]] and [[Besurith, Daughter of Crota|Besurith]] at the hands of the [[Guardian]]s, the remaining daughters, [[Kinox]] and [[Voshyr]], went into hiding in the Pit beneath the [[Scarlet Keep]]. Out of desperation, the Hive began [[Altars of Sorrow|sacrificing]] [[Nightmare]]s to harvest their phantasmal essence into a crystal to empower Zulmak with its [[Darkness]] and face the Guardians. Their actions created seismic activity however, that drew the [[Guardian]]s' attention into the Pit, where they confronted the undead Zulmak. Though he was met with death a second time, Kinox and Voshyr would remain at large to continue reviving the fallen Zulmak in their heretical rejection of the [[Sword Logic]].