Conference Homepage, Participant Bios, Abstracts and Handouts
Between Medusa and Savathûn
Mythic Echoes in the Lore of Destiny 2
Links for Context
Destiny 2: https://www.bungie.net/7/en/Destiny/NewLight
Destinypedia: https://www.destinypedia.com/
Ishtar Collective Lore Compendium: https://www.ishtar-collective.net/categories/book-truth-to-power
Glossary
The Light [Gardener, Sky]: paracausal force which exists to increase the complexity and diversity of entities and to nurture new lifeforms. Associated with the Traveller, and the driving force behind Guardian power and immortality. Diametrically opposed to the Darkness.
The Darkness [Winnower, Deep]: paracausal force which exists to decrease complexity and diversity of entities, chiefly through survival of the fittest. Associated with the Hive, Taken, Scorn, and Pyramids. Diametrically opposed to the Light; intelligent and capable of communication.
Ghosts: small, intelligent machines created by the Traveller to find, resurrect, and protect Guardians.
Guardians [Lightbearers]: Beings who have been resurrected by Ghosts and are now imbued with Light. They are, with few exceptions, immortal and primarily defend the Traveler/Solar System against threats.
Oryx [The Taken King, King of Depths, ]: one of three Hive Gods, whose purview is understanding/complexity. Through communication with the Deep he created the Tablets of Ruin, which enabled him to create Taken.
Taken: beings which have been corrupted by the Darkness and paracausally altered to be a perfect expression of their given purpose; their will is often entirely given over to whomever Took them. The ability was pioneered by Oryx but eventually used by the other Hive Gods.
Savathûn [Taken Queen, The Black Needle, Witch, Scheme-Mother, etc]: one of three Hive Gods, whose purview is cunning/strategy. Current theories postulate that she gains power whenever others attempt to understand her and fail, or rather, when she is more cunning than her adversaries.
Quria, Blade Transform [The Dreaming Mind, Medusa?]: formerly a Vex axis-mind hydra which was manifested by the Vex to understand and conquer Oryx’s realm. Taken by Oryx and then presented to Savathûn for the purpose of study; left with a sliver of free will for this purpose.It is later revealed that Savathûn engineered the creation of Quria to further her own ends.
Medusa [Quria?]: A.I. created for covert operations and intelligence-gathering, also capable of simulating multiple humans at once to further these ends. Whether this A.I. actually existed is unconfirmed, as it may have been a manifestation by the Taken Mind, Quria.
Vex: collective mind described as a “hyperintelligent time-spanning thought-mesh,” composed of component intelligences that manifest according to a set of predetermined robotic archetypes such as hydras, minotaurs, and goblins. Capable of portal-based travel, timeline manipulation and data processing on a godlike-scale, and integrating not only creatures but entire planets into their network. The purpose of their existence is to eliminate and/or subsume everything else.
The Traveler: massive, spherical paracausal entity associated with the Light. Capable of terraforming worlds; created Ghosts and thus Guardians. Acts as a source of Light.
Liv Mariah Yarrow 