Oryx, the Taken King: Difference between revisions

Oryx, the Taken King traces his origins to a gas giant named [[Fundament]], where the proto-Hive eked out a harsh existence on floating "continents" comprised of the shards of their shattered homeworld. Oryx was born as Aurash, a proto-Hive female and one of three surviving daughters of the [[Osmium King]], ruler of the continent called the Osmium Court. Aurash's sisters were [[Xivu Arath|Xi Ro]] and [[Savathûn|Sathona]], who together made up the final brood sired by the Osmium King.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/Darkness#Calcified_Fragments:_Insight|Calcified Fragments: Insights]]''</ref>

When the Osmium King was ten years old, a lifetime to the proto-Hive, he succumbed to senility madness, fearing an event called the Syzygy wherein Fundament's fifty-two moons would align and create a massive tidal wave that would destroy all of Fundament's civilizations. [[Taox]], a sterile mother who served as the teacher to the King's daughters, feared the royal heirs were too weak to succeed the King and invited a rival kingdom, the Helium Drinkers of the Helium Court, to invade the Osmium Court, kill the royal family, and allow Taox to rule the Osmium Court as their regent. The Helium Drinkers invaded and slew the Osmium King, but Aurash and her sisters, two years old at the time, escaped on a ship and vowed to return one day for their revenge.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#III:_The_Oath|III: The Oath]]''</ref>

After a year of traveling the sea, the sisters salvaged an ancient, high-tech ship they called "the needle" from the Shvubi Maelstrom. Xi Ro wanted to sell it at the Kaharn Atoll, a gathering place of Fundament's many species, in order to raise enough money to hire a mercenary army, but Aurash wanted to take command of the ship. Sathona sided with Aurash, goaded on by a worm that their father had kept; the worm had washed up on the Osmium Court's shores and was seemingly dead, but Sathona could hear it speak. The sisters spent the next two years reactivating the ship, until Aurash decided to use it to fulfill its intended purpose: she wanted to dive to Fundament's core in the hopes of learning a secret that would prevent the Syzygy.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#VI:_Sisters|VI: Sisters]]''</ref>

As they descended, the sisters encountered a vast creature called the [[Leviathan]], a disciple of the [[Traveler]]. The Leviathan warned the sisters against proceeding further, telling them that they faced a choice between the Sky and the Deep, the Light and the Darkness, the way of life and the way of death. The sisters rejected the Leviathan, unable to accept that allowing their people to suffer was the better way, and instead decided to follow the worm Sathona had saved, which urged them to continue diving.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#VIII:_Leviathan|VIII: Leviathan]]''</ref>

Deep within the Fundament Ocean, the sisters encountered the [[Worm]]s, who drew their power from the [[Darkness]] itself: Yul, the Honest Worm, and Eir, Xol, Ur, and Akka, the Virtuous Worms. The Worm Gods claimed that they had lived and grown in Fundament's depths for millions of years, trapped by the Leviathan and the Traveler. They had called many species to Fundament, hoping one would be tenacious enough to find them. They offered Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash immortality if they would allow themselves to be hosts for the Worms' larvae, with the caveat that if the sisters ceased to obey their natures (Xi Ro's desire to test her strength, Sathona's cunning, Aurash's inquisitiveness), their Worms would consume them. Furthermore, the stronger the sisters became, the greater their Worms' appetites would be.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#IX:_The_Bargain|IX: The Bargain]]''</ref>

The sisters accepted the pact. Xi Ro took the knight morph and became Xivu Arath; Sathona took the mother morph and became Savathûn; and Aurash took the king morph, transforming into a male and becoming Auryx, the king of the Hive. Over the following years, the siblings returned to their people and spread the Worms among them, creating the first Hive and enabling them to first liberate the Osmium Court, then drive Taox and the other fearful species of Fundament to Kaharn Atoll, and finally to build spaceships and break free of Fundament entirely.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#XII:_Out_of_the_Deep|XII: Out of the Deep]]''</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. The lords of the Hive also established their Ascendant realms, with Auryx naming his the High War.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: 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 (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#XXIX:_Carved_in_Ruin|XXIX: Carved in Ruin]]''</ref>

After destroying the [[Taishibethi]], Oryx managed to commune directly with the Deep itself. It explained to Oryx that the Sword Logic was not death for the sake of death, but to create the ultimate form of life that would be able to survive anything in the universe. Fearing that he was becoming a nihilist, Oryx eventually decided to sire his own spawn. The results of this was [[Crota, Son of Oryx]], and the [[Deathsinger]] twins, [[Ir Anûk, Deathsinger|Ir Anûk]] and [[Ir Halak, Deathsinger|Ir Halak]]. One day, the Deathsingers were refining their Deathsongs and came up with the idea of the [[Oversoul]]. Intrigued, Oryx commanded Crota to watch his sisters, so that he might learn something. However, while Oryx was off studying the Deep, Crota was deceived by Savathûn into using his [[Cleaver]] to cut a portal in the High War, allowing the [[Vex]] to enter. For one hundred years the children of Oryx waged war with the Vex, which quickly deduced the Sword-Logic and worship of the Deep as key to attaining power in the High War. However, while the Hive were able to overpower the Vex, they were unable to push them out, as they lost too much of their power when entering the Vex conflux. The situation become so severe that the Worm [[Eir]] Itself demanded that Oryx return and end the war. Quickly returning to the High War, Oryx used his powers to take the Vex and clear his throne world. Angered at his son's imperfection, Oryx threw Crota into the Vex gate network, decreeing that he return "victorious or die forgotten". At first, Crota resented his father for his seeming abandonment, but after time came to understand his father and built temples to Oryx and the Deep, eventually becoming a vital link in Oryx's tithe of death and achieving godhood himself. However, Oryx recognized that the threat of the Vex invading his throne world could not happen again, so he moved the High War into a mighty [[Dreadnaught]] scrimshawed from the remains of Akka.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#XLI:_Dreadnaught|XLI: Dreadnaught]]''</ref>

During the Hive's campaign against the [[Harmony]] and the Vex, [[Quria, Blade Transform]] presented Oryx with a simulation of his former self, Aurash. Oryx looked upon the simulation with amusement, while Aurash looked upon Oryx in horror, demanding to know what he had done to her sisters and her people. In the end, Oryx Took Quria, and presented the Vex and its simulation to Savathûn. When she asked him what proof they had that what they were doing was right, Oryx simply replied that the Hive's existence was proof enough in their convictions to live eternal by the Sword-Logic. Following the war with the Harmony, Savathûn decided that her fleets would enter the black hole that the Harmony lived around, claiming that they would become stronger for it, while Xivu Arath took her fleets away from Oryx's as she felt he constrained her too much.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#XLVI:_The_Gift_Mast|XLVI: The Gift Mast]]''</ref>

The exact nature of Oryx was once unknown to the Guardians, but the name Oryx appeared often enough in Hive rituals that it could not be ignored. [[Shrine of Oryx|Shrines]] dedicated to Oryx, used by the Hive to communicate with Oryx across the universe, were known to exist throughout the Solar System. [[Osiris]] studied the Hive extensively and foretold that the [[Spawn of Crota]] would one day pave the way for Oryx's coming by "snuffing out the worlds of [[Light]]".<ref>'''Bungie (2015-2-26)''', ''[[Destiny]]'': Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Spawn of Crota|Spawn of Crota]]</ref> Members of the [[Blood of Oryx]] Hive sect are thought to be the direct servants of Oryx himself, though it is speculated that he is the master of all other Hive sects as well.<ref name="Grimoire">'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Blood of Oryx|Blood of Oryx]]''</ref><ref name = "PD">[http://planetdestiny.com/taken-king-analysis/ '''Planet Destiny''': The Taken King Trailer Analysis]</ref>

Other potential members of Oryx's family include the three [[Taken Wizard]]s [[Mysik, Daughter of Oryx]], [[Zyrak, Daughter of Oryx]], and [[Thyshik, Matron of Oryx]] as well as [[Urrox, Flame Prince]], who is described as the Scion of Oryx. None of these are mentioned in the [[Grimoire/Enemies/Books of Sorrow|Books of Sorrow]], however, and "Daughter of Oryx", "Matron of Oryx", and "Scion of Oryx" may only be titles.

*The description of Oryx's coming is reminiscent of the [[Darkness]]'s arrival in the Solar system.<ref name = "GrimoireDarkness">'''Bungie (2014-6-12)''', ''[[Destiny]]: Alpha PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Ghost Fragment: Darkness|Ghost Fragment: Darkness]]''</ref> This could imply some sort of connection, as Oryx was said to have been born from [[The Darkness]].