Destcember Day 31: Make A Wish

Destcember Day 28: Ironborn

I was born three times in my life. Once of flesh, once of iron, and once of Light.

My first birth was of flesh. This is the one that I know least about. I know that I was born a human boy, with parents and a family. I likely had a home. All of that is gone now. I cannot remember anyone or anything from that time, not even the way I looked.

My second birth was of iron. Taken from my human body and turned into and exo. I cannot be sure why I did it or how, but I think it was a choice that I made of my own free will. If I did choose it, it would have been to extend my life or to improve myself. That seems like what I would have done, if I were the same person then as I am now, which I am not entirely sure of.

My last birth was of Light. Revived as a guardian to serve humanity and live my third life. Thankfully, this life at least I can remember. Though my life ends almost daily, it never truly does, thanks to the power of the Light and my ghost. Since it is the one that I live now, it is the one that matters most, but if I were given a choice, I would learn all I could about my other two lives.

So, I was born three times. Born, reborn, reborn. Human, Exo, Guardian. Flesh born, Ironborn, Lightborn.

_____________________________________________

Sorry for the brevity and below average quality. I had an extremely busy day today and didn't have much free time to work on this.

Destcember Day 19: Worthy Weapon

One of the hardest parts of being a guardian is finding a worthy weapon to use. Personally, there are only three sources that I trust for consistent quality. The first is Ikelos and Rasputin. They consistently produce high quality weapons with devastating power, but at the cost of being a massive pain to obtain. Among my favorite of their work are the Sleeper Stimulant and the IKELOS_SG_v1.0.1. The second source that I trust is the Drifter and his old, possibly Darkness infused guns. His ancient Dark Age weapons have a brutality that the Vanguard just isn't willing to produce. It took me a long time to get him to hand over his best stock, especially the Breakneck and Malfeasance. The final source is a new addition to my list, Ada-1 and her Black Armory. I haven't managed to get much from her yet, but everything that I have convinced her to give me has been a piece of art, beautiful and deadly. So, if you're in the market for a new weapon, go with one of these three. You won't regret it.

Idea For A New Iron Banner Ghost Shell

A wooden looking shell, studded with metal rivets similar to the Iron Banner guns. The top half of the shell has a constant, flickering flame. If the shell was really creative, the color of the fire would change with the shader.

A possibility for the name and flavor text are "Flickering Shell: For Ghosts who keep the spark of hope alive."

Destcember Day 26: Sweet Dreams

Every time I sleep I have the same dream. I doesn't matter if I take a five minute nap or sleep for twelve hours, I dream of this and nothing else. I am standing in the a field of purple millet, stretching as far as I can see. There is a cool breeze at my back, pushing me forward. Behind me is the setting sun. In front of me is a tower, reaching up above the clouds. It is not The Tower, but is somehow just as familiar, even though I have no memory of ever being here while awake. I have to walk towards the tower, because the dream will never end otherwise. I have tried standing still, walking away, and even having Yew wake me up as soon as I fall asleep, but I only wake up once I walk into the tower. After a few minutes of walking, I reach a clearing. Across from me, the ornate doors of the tower stand, both imposing and inviting. But between myself and the doors, there is a massive yew tree, glowing slightly from within. Beneath the shade of its branches, there is a wooden table, two chairs, and a chess board, set just as I left it last time, white for me and black for her. Sitting across the table, reading a book and waiting for me, is the ahamkara Ephialtes. I have never seen her reading the same book twice and I have never found or heard of any of the books while awake, but she assures me they are all real. She doesn't always look the same, but across all her forms she retains her startlingly purple eyes and slightly too sharp teeth. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we play, but always she tries to strike a deal. Usually I refuse, but on a rare occasion, we can come to an agreement. Once we are done or I get tired of talking, I walk through the tower doors and wake up. I used to dream of other things, but I traded that away in our first deal. Hers were the strongest of the bones that I had collected, her whispers invading every waking thought while I was anywhere nearby. But, she was too knowledgeable and powerful, so it would have been an unbearable loss to rid myself of her. So I made her a deal. She would no longer whisper to me without consent and would use her power to suppress the whispers from the rest of my collection, and in return, she could inhabit my dreams, negotiating with me every night, and I wouldn't put her bones inside a silver lined safe and drop it into the Mariana Trench. She agreed and now I dream of this and nothing else. It isn't all bad. My old dreams were not that great and Ephialtes isn't bad company, if a bit manipulative. Enjoy your dreams, if you can. Sweet dreams.

Sleep for now, brave friend. When you wake, we will be there right next to you to welcome you back. We're coming soon. Sleep well.

see you space cowboy

Destcember Day #5: A Day Off

A concerned guardian stands in the doorway of their friend's study. Inside, a frazzled looking warlock is scrawling notes with handwriting almost as indecipherable as the Hive language they are studying. The glow of the runes cast a green light on the face of the exo, forming shadowy bags under his eyes. He looks up from his work as his friend begins to speak.

"Ash, you look terrible. When was the last time you took a day off? No, forget that, when was the last time you even slept?"

"Does dying count as sleeping?"

"No."

"In that case, I don't know. I think it was Thursday."

"Today is Wednesday."

From beneath a pile of scrolls, a muffled voice joins the conversation.

"First of all, it wasn't even a Thursday this month. Secondly, could someone please help me out here."

Surprised by the voice of his ghost, the warlock quickly unearths his buried ghost. Now freed, the bemused companion floats up to hover above her guardian's shoulder.

"Sorry Yew. I was wondering where you had gone. How did you end up under there anyway?"

"I fell asleep. Honestly, it's a miracle you haven't collapse yet. The only rest you have gotten in the past week was the time one of your expirements killed you and even that was only for the few seconds until I could resurrect you."

"Technically, exos don't have to sleep. Nor do we have to take days off."

Finally shaken out of their shocked stupor by that statement, the titan calmly walks into the room and proceeds to throw the warlock over their shoulder. They protest weakly as they are carted off before they fall silent. Ignoring their protestations, the titan explains what is going to happen to happen, making it clear that their cargo has no choice in the matter.

"That does it, you are taking a day off. No! You are taking a week off. You may not physically have to sleep, but it is terrible for you mentally. Not to mention the effect that prolonged exposure to all this Hive stuff must be having on you. Don't bother trying to argue, I won't take no for an...

Aaaannd he fell asleep."

Destcember Day 25: Gift

It took me all year, but I've managed to find the perfect Dawning gift for everyone and today is the day I give them all out. I start in the Tower and work outward. For Ikora, I got a new bond. I had an amazing tailor in the City modify one of Cayde's old capes that I found in one of his caches. For Amanda, I got a new set of wrenches and engine that I salvaged from a Fallen skiff. For Banshee, I got a new gun repair kit and several interesting Dark Age guns from the Drifter. I gave the Drifter a few pieces of the Vex's Black Heart that I have been saving to research, since he is so interested in the Darkness, and a few cookies. I just met Ada recently, so all I could think to get her was as many of the pages from her book as I could reclaim from the Scourge Syndicate. I had gotten Eris a new wrap for eyes, but I guess that it will have to wait until I find her.

From there, I went out into the rest of the system. For Devrim, I got an assortment of rare teas from the City and the Reef. For Asher, I got him a sleeve for his human arm and metal polish mixed with a slight anaesthetic for his Vex arm. I also got him the core of Panoptes, which I managed to take before the simulation collapsed. Hopefully it will help with his research on a cure for his corruption. For the Spider, I found a number of the most ancient and interesting human artifacts that I could find and an intact ghost shell that I bought off the black market in the City. For Mithrax, I got the mantle of a Kell, in hopes that he will grow into it. I got Petra a fance eyepatch, a brand new knife, and panoramic picture of Mara's throne world. For Mara, and as a favor to Lord Shaxx, I brought her the bow that Shaxx bought her and his note, I found her several books of Shakespeare, including a new copy of the Tempest, and gave her my personal promise to do everything within my power to protect her reborn brother.

Finally, and most importantly, I made a brand new shell for Yew. That one was probably the most difficult one of all. To make sure that it would be a surprise, I convinced her to go on several tedious errands, taking messages for me all across the City and Tower. While she was gone, I payed Ada a small fortune in Glimmer, Shards, and favors in order to forge a nearly indistructable shell shielded by fine Black Armory metal. Then, I convinced Tess to help me make the shell aesthetically perfect and suited to Yew's tastes. It was more than worth all of the effort and cost to see her expression and happiness when I gave it to her.

I love the Dawning.

If Mara Sov's shade of morality had a hexadecimal code, I'd say it would be around #383838. Not evil, but definitely not good. Mara Sov: committing pretty evil acts for the Greater Good*

*Terms and restrictions may apply

Destcember Day 23: Royalty

I've noticed that anyone who gives themselves a title of royalty, no matter their title or race, always seem to end of mad or dead. There are examples from every faction and species. The Eliksni have the Kells for royalty. As far as I know, they are all dead. Hopefully Variks and Mithrax will do better. The Cabal have have Emperor Calus, dethroned and probably more than a little mad, and Dominus Ghaul, dead at our hands. The Hive have the Osmium King, lost to the madness of the worms; King Oryx, Prince Crota, Prince Nokris, and the worm god Xol, all dead at our hands; and the worm god Akka, killed by their servant Oryx. The Vex have their pseudo-god the Black Heart, killed by us. Most of the Iron Lords have died horribly. The Hunter Vanguards have a terrible survival rate. Even the Awoken have had royalty follow the pattern, with Queen Mara Sov dying and Prince Uldren Sov both going mad and dying, though death seems to have been a bit more lenient for them. So, you should probably never take a title, as you are almost guaranteed to be a victim of madness, regicide, deicide, or some combination of the the three, probably by one of us guardians. Personally, I plan to follow my own advice and never get roped into ruling anyone.

Destcember Day 5: Black and White

So many guardians see our fight against our enemies in black and white. We are the heroes, dauntless knights fighting endlessly against the forces of evil, who long only to destroy us solely for the furtherment of evil. But things are never that simple. Every one of our enemies has their own stories and reasons to take up arms against us. The Cabal who so recently destroyed us are merely foot soldiers in a vast empire, knowing not why they attack, just following the orders that were passed down to them from a chain of command that they have no authority to even question. The Vex are fighting against the inevitable, for ever trying to stave of the heat death of the universe, warping time, space, and causality in service to their salvation, their "Pattern". The Fallen are lost nomads, with no home to call their own, their homeworld destroyed by the Darkness that we fight so hard against. Now they chase after their Great Machine, hoping, just like us, for the chance to reclaim their golden age. The Scorn have been corrupted by a force greater than them, using the Darkness in an attempt to free themselves from their dependence on Either and Servitors and to bring back those they lose to the deaths that we so often inflict upon them. The Hive and Taken, servants of the very Darkness itself, have their reasons as well. The Hive are slaves of their own free will, eternally killing and destroying to feed their worms, lest they be consumed themselves. They only chose this path for themselves after being in dire straits, with their choices being to take the worms into themselves and serve the Worm Gods, or have their species wiped out by an approaching disaster. Now they fight to survive, to bring the universe to its "final shape" and live forever by becoming death. The Taken, perhaps most pitiful of all, have no will of their own, being puppets to a will greater than their own, often being forced to fight against their former allies and kill those they once called friend. Even the Darkness may have a reason for their actions, though even I doubt that. To each of them we are the boogeymen, immortal monsters that can slaughter their way through hundreds of valiant warriors, with terrible powers of scorching light and weapons that have been known to kill even gods, before dying, only to return seconds later as if nothing ever happened. So, next time you begin to think in black and white, consider what I have said today and what your enemies think of you.