Suraya Hawthorne — A Single Thread
The Descent, Derelict Leviathan
Enter the Echo of Calus's Consciousness
"Once I stood out overlooking a vast plain. Wildflowers and nettles blossomed at my feet. The future was full of promise and potential. Yet I upturned an overflowing chalice of shame at my feet, and let it puddle into rot."
Eris Morn: You arrive. Good, yes. We have only a brief window of opportunity. The Darkness is thick here, coalesced inside this effigy of Emperor Calus. It is tethered to his very mind. I have snared that thread. Caught it between my fingers and woven it into a tapestry. One that I can weave you into. Enter Calus's consciousness. Use this opportunity to steal his darkest secrets from him.
The Descent, Mindscape of Calus
Navigate the Mindscape
"...and here, you see, etched on the bell? That is when I attained the title of emperor and began a thousand years of peace."
Eris Morn: What you feel may seem like reality, but it is not the one you know. Your mind now stretches across a vast gulf. Though while this world is born of Calus's thoughts, it is no less dangerous than physical reality.
The Guardian walks down the stairway.
Eris Morn: This... is not what I anticipated. The imprint of Calus's consciousness is... fractured, straining. As if Calus's mind is at war with itself.
Calus: All my history is etched here, from humble beginnings to my rise as emperor. It is an ancient tradition of our people.
Eris Morn: Calus? No, not Calus, but an echo of him. This is a recollection of a time since past.
Calus: My Bell of Conquest is so grand because I have lived a grand life. One day, my daughter, yours will be just as majestic.
Eris Morn: You are experiencing echoes of Calus's personal torment. Glimpses into his past which may provide insight to the future. I must focus to maintain your connection to this mindscape. From here, you must navigate these memories on your own.
The Guardian interacts with the first Memory
Calus: The Praetorate's time has come to an end. Too long have the people of Torobatl languished under their heel. A world that knows only war has no future. We were not always conquerors. We were not always tyrants. If violence carved us into the shape of what we are now, then so shall violence be that shape's undoing!
The Guardian interacts with the second Memory
Calus: Ever since she was born, Caiatl has shown a curiosity for the world beyond. She shares my fascinations. I worry for her, for the galaxy she will grow up in, for the future of our people. But perhaps the time for worries is at an end. My daughter will grow up knowing only celebration, triumph, and peace. This is the world I made.
The Guardian interacts with the third Memory
Calus: [drunkenly] Peace has its detractors, hahaha! I was too kind in my coup against the... [stutters] Praetorate. Drank too deep of the cup of mercy. Now there are long shadows in the night, hands clutching knives, eyes at my back. I hear them, whispering. I hear them. But soon, those whispers will become screams. The Ghost Primus is the answer to this sedition. My Red Legion, anointed in blood... [grunts]
The Guardian passes through a hallway.
Calus: [grunts angrily] Exile? Is the mighty Ghaul too great a coward to kneel down and take my head from my shoulders?
Ghaul: I am as you made me, and I would kill you were it my choice. But it is not. Caiatl stayed my blade. Remember that.
The Guardian interacts with the fourth Memory
Calus: My servants come, but I refuse their succor. I will not feast, I will not drink! I will wither away until there is nothing left. My love has been turned to poison in my veins. They do not appreciate all that I had done for them. My sacrifices! [sighs] All betrayal is inevitable. We are a ring of beasts, feasting upon one another.
Dive Deeper
"Her memory curdles in my chest. Her first laugh, her first steps, her first kill. Poison. Poison. Poison."
The Descent, Mindscape of Calus
Defeat the Nightmare of Gahlran
"You were born only to suffer, because I could not set aside that which I knew was a trap. My curiosity is a poison flowing through my veins, curdling my heart, rotting my mind. And yet, I do nothing to stop it."
Calus: You were bred to be a sorrow-bearer. I seek a Hive commander, but those are not so readily available. So I made you.
The Guardian interacts with the fifth Memory
Calus: At the edge of the universe, I stared into the infinite deep. It stared back, and was pleased. I would become the herald of its victory and bear witness for all creation. The key is to realize the future isn't an enemy to be fought. It is a friend to embrace. A closing of the circle. And when the end comes, I reserve the right... to be last.
Ever Downward, Mindscape of Calus
Navigate the Crypt
"I defiled them. The remains of countless dead. Honored servants of the empire, extended members of my lineage. I ripped their tombs open to harvest their genetic information... to build an army of unquestioning soldiers. What have I become?"
Calus: There was a time I would have gladly laid in death beside you, here in these crypts. But we were both different then.
The Guardian interacts with the sixth Memory
Calus: The Light is a fascinating thing, and in my ignorant youth, I may have seen it as aspirational. Like Ghaul. I see this force for what it truly is. Eternal life after death is a trick of the Light. An illusion! Nothing is forever. But these Guardians entertain me. I will use their ignorance. Shower them with lavish gifts, with praise. I will watch them dance into the grave of creation for my amusement.
The Guardian slides down into the next room.
Calus: No one of honor will be interred here. The dead are raw materials, and nothing more.
The Guardian interacts with the seventh Memory
Calus: Savathûn, Savathûn. She nearly had me. Had I not birthed Gahlran, had he not donned the Crown, I would be lost. The Voice warned me of her, but I did not heed it, and the Voice is so... silent now. The promised end is at hand as worlds are swallowed into nothing, and I... I hear nothing. Excruciating silence. Perhaps I have displeased it. Or perhaps... I am not listening hard enough.
Find the Way
"I should have killed every member of the old guard when I had the chance. Mercy was my greatest failing, and they used mercy's edge to cut me down to my knees."
The Guardian enters the statue room.
Calus: Shadows were cast here. History made.
The Guardian interacts with the eighth Memory
Calus: In my haste to find a suitable bearer for the Crown of Sorrow, I failed to see a more elegant solution. The Hive were not those who could most elegantly bear the Crow. My Shadow, Katabasis, found the alternative. Mindless corpses of Fallen, risen through an Ahamkara's wish magic, fuelled by Darkness-infused Ether... the Scorn. The only component that was missing was a connective tissue, and this, the Egregore spores would provide.
Unlock the Vault
"I beg you, don't do this."
The Guardian opens the Vault
Enter the Vault
"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts."
The Vault, Mindscape of Calus
Navigate the Vault
"Cut it away. A knife through memory's flesh. Peel back what I was and replace it with scalding gold. I do not want this. I do not want this. I do not want this."
The Guardian fights the Nightmare of Ka'hok, Sworn of Umun'arath.
Calus: Do not open doors you cannot close!
The Guardian fights the Nightmare of Emonut, Sworn of Moli Imoli.
Calus: Stop. Stop! I command you!
The Guardian fights the Nightmare of Uroa, Sworn of Shayotet.
Calus: Please! No, please! Don't do this!
The Guardian defeats the last enemy.
Calus: No...
The Guardian interacts with the ninth Memory
Calus: Through the Crown of Sorrow, the Voice in the Darkness called out to me, beckoning me to the absence of Mercury. At first, I feared the Leviathan would not survive the journey, as the Glykon had been rent asunder by a similar journey. But my Leviathan, it is strong. Its heart beats anew, and as it pierced the veil of creation... the Voice greeted me. There were such sights to behold.
The Depths, Mindscape of Calus
Enter the Dark Shrine
"For once in my life, I do not feel shame. I feel the caress of a thousand hands, hear the comforting hush of a thousand voices. 'Do not be afraid,' it whispers. 'We are your salvation.' Yes. Please. Save me from myself."
The Guardian interacts with the tenth Memory
Calus: There, in that gravity shadow, I was truly seen. There, I understood my role in the closing of the circle. The Witness opened its mind to me, and I saw my darkest desire made reality. I would be the last. It is my right. I am the herald. I am the end.
The Guardian interacts with the eleventh Memory
Calus: The Witness's voice is so strong now. I hear it clearer than my own. I understand now what true paracausality is. The Light and the Dark are threads on a loom, woven into the tapestry of the universe by those who wield it. The Witness would see things differently. The gaps between those threads. Freedom from the greater design. Freedom... for all.
The Guardian heads to the Dark Shrine.
Calus: She is more beautiful than any star I have ever beheld. I name her Caiatl, for the brightest star in our sky. May she outshine it always.
The Guardian interacts with the twelfth Memory
Calus: I have reached the limits of what this crumbling body can offer, and yet there is so much more that I must do. I must shed my remaining attachments to this flesh, and ascend. The others have, and a path is laid before me. There is fear in this. Fear of losing myself. But there is no other way. I must prove my loyalty, or wither. To understand the final shape, I must become more than myself.
The Dark Shrine, Mindscape of Calus
Defeat the Nightmare of Princess Caiatl
"Is this what I have done? Once, she looked at me with adoring eyes. I was her world, and she my stars. How have I made her into this? Have I been so blind? So selfish? What have I done?"
Calus: My star…my…betrayer.