The Haul, The Derelict, Unknown Space
The Guardian enters the Nine Realms through the gateway on the Haul to ask the Nine a question: "What is the nature of the Darkness?"
// OPTIONAL
Drifter: Heh, you ready to get paid, Guardian?
Eris Morn: Prepare to expand your mind, Guardian.
Drifter: Hey, at least try to make it sound fun. Or they won't come back. You're killing me, Three Eyes.
Eris Morn: I would love to kill you.
// OPTIONAL
Eris Morn: The Nine can see the weft and weave of fate. Eyes up. There is much to learn from them.
Drifter: Hey, we're just here to see what they have to say about Light and Dark. In and out, got it?
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The Emissary: "What is the Dark?" they ask. "What is its nature?" Why don't they ask the same of the Light?
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The Emissary: Light or Dark — nothing changes. Everything dies.
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If the Guardian is a Hunter
The Emissary: A Hunter and a Dredgen ask a question. You seek to understand the nature of the Dark. We forged an answer.
Drifter: What? Where?
The Emissary: You're standing in it.
// OPTIONAL
If the Guardian is a Warlock
The Emissary: A Warlock and a Dredgen ask a question. You seek to understand the nature of the Dark. We forged an answer.
Drifter: What? Where?
The Emissary: You're standing in it.
// OPTIONAL
If the Guardian is a Titan
The Emissary: A Titan and a Dredgen ask a question.
Drifter: What is the Darkness?
The Emissary: Our answer lies before you. Leave mercy behind.
Heaven/Hell, Nine Realms, Unknown Space
The Guardian seeks the Nine.
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The Emissary: Light and Dark have met in the Sol system before. Perhaps this time, you'll change the outcome.
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The Emissary: You asked a question. Welcome to the answer.
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The Emissary: You ask a question of pure potential. Death is intrinsic to the answer.
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The Emissary: Light and Dark. Heaven or hell. What's the difference?
Drifter: Well, that's our question, you lunatic!
// OPTIONAL
Eris Morn: Guardian, do you read?
Drifter: Eris? I got this. Go back to yelling at that tree on Io.
Eris Morn: You need a handler, rat. And the Guardian needs support.
Drifter: Hmph. Suit yourself, Three Eyes.
The Guardian distributes Motes of Light and Dark to unlock the way. Kell Echo appears. The Guardian pursues the Kell Echo until it disappears.
Phalanx Echo, a part of the Nine's answer to the Guardian's question, appears. The Guardian distributes Motes of Light and Dark. The Guardian defeats the Phalanx Echo.
The Guardian descends to the Wasteland. The Guardian clears the Wasteland of Taken blights and opens the way. The Guardian escapes the Wasteland.
Hexahedron, Nine Realms, Unknown Space
The Guardians enters a room with a black cube. The Guardian distributes Motes of Light and Dark and is teleported throughout the room while symbols of the Nine are engraved onto the Black Cube. Two Centurion Echoes appear. The Guardian defeats both Centurion Echoes and escapes the room.
Heaven/Hell, Nine Realms, Unknown Space
The Guardian returns to the Wasteland. Kell Echo appears. The Guardian pursues the Kell Echo until it disappears and the way opens.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Titan
Drifter: With the black fleet in town, all of my Hive knickknacks have been making… a ruckus.
Eris Morn: The Pyramids call, and so relics of the Dark shall respond.
Drifter: Really creeps me out.
Eris Morn: The Tower is on edge. Distracted. For once, I can work unabated.
Drifter: Yeah, it's a… it's a real good time.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Titan
Eris Morn: Guardian? Where are you? That looks like a slice of Titan.
Drifter: The only things that's missing is the Pyramid that's parked over the arcology. I got eyes on it.
Eris Morn: No. It has eyes on you. It knows what you did on Titan. But… What are the Nine trying to say?
Drifter: Hell if I know. Hey!
Eris Morn: What?
Drifter: What do you mean it knows what I did on Titan? I do a lot of things. Everywhere. Hello?
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Titan
Drifter: I always meant to go back to Titan. Gambit makes a killing out there.
Eris Morn: Sloane claims she lets you roam free at the Deep Six refineries.
Drifter: Roam free? I pay her for access to that rig. And I have to sweep Hive just to get in. When I asked to lower said fee, she shoved me into a locker.
Eris Morn: The Vanguard trusts you in ways I will never understand.
Drifter: Hey. Pot, kettle, black.
Eris Morn: It's a trust we can use.
Drifter: Now that we agree on.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Titan
Drifter: Hey. Three Eyes. Shaxx says you sang him a lil' ditty.
Eris Morn: What?
Drifter: Shaxx. Chunky Titan. One horn. Did you sing him a song on the Moon?
Eris Morn: What a senseless question.
Drifter: Yeah. I didn't think so.
Eris Morn: Stay off this channel. Should I need you, I'll call — wait.
Drifter: Uh, I didn't hang up.
Eris Morn: Does that oaf still keep that skull with him?
Drifter: In the Tower? Yeah. Hangs it over his spot. I wouldn't have tangoed with that thing.
Eris Morn: Desperate times. This… 'lil ditty. Did it go… ? [hums]
Drifter: That would be the one. Heh. What is it?
Eris Morn: Savathûn's Song. It's a viral chant. It can never be unheard. Now that Savathûn has announced herself, relics of the Dark across the system have begun to awaken… Tell Shaxx to remove that Skull immediately.
Drifter: Sister, I already tried.
Eris Morn: What did that oaf say?
Drifter: No.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Titan
Eris Morn: This looks like the New Pacific Arcology.
Drifter: On Titan? What's that got to do with the Darkness? Sloane has that neighborhood on lockdown.
Eris Morn: The Hive nest there, in the ruins of the Golden Age. And a leviathan of untold strength has made it her home.
Drifter: I danced with the Dark. The Hive are NOT the Dark.
Eris Morn: The Hive are the children of Darkness. As we are of the Light. I'll speak to Sloane. Maybe she's seen something.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mercury
Drifter: Brother Vance. So sad.
Eris Morn: What?
Drifter: Seeing Mercury makes me think of the cultists who ran around chasing Osiris' coattails. They used to run the Trials. They used to mean something. Be sombodies. No one talks to Vance anymore. I mean, I do. I still don't have some of those guns.
Eris Morn: I have no idea who you're talking about.
Drifter: Yeah. Never mind.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mercury
Eris Morn: It's like they carved a sector of Mercury onto this plane. Saint and Osiris need to hear about this.
Drifter: Yeah, well, make sure you tell 'em both. News travels slow between those two.
Eris Morn: I don't fathom.
Drifter: I told you don't cuss at me.
Eris Morn: What do you mean news travels slow between Saint and Osiris?
Drifter: Well, call me old-fashioned, but if I broke time to save my knight in shining armor, I'd want 'em to stop foolin' around and climb my tower. But, uh, word on the wind is, no one's seen 'em meet in person.
Eris Morn: That doesn't mean they don't.
Drifter: You saying you heard different.
Eris Morn: I know it. What would you do if your loved ones returned?
Drifter: I don't have those. But, if I did… Wouldn't be sittin' here flappin' gums with you.
Eris Morn: Exactly. The pigeon and the phoenix exalt in their own way. Leave them be.
Drifter: Heh. Yeah. Maybe. What would you do if you could get 'em back?
Eris Morn: Who?
Drifter: Your fireteam.
Eris Morn: Wouldn't be sittin' here flappin' gums with you.
Drifter: Yeah. That's fair.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mercury
Eris Morn: This looks like Mercury. But no traces of Osiris's Light. Or Saint's. It's a counterfeit.
Drifter: This is Nine space. They control reality here. And they did this for a reason.
Eris Morn: It must be part of their answer to the question. How insufferable.
Drifter: I'm launching spectral analysis off the Guardian's position… It's not exactly our Mercury. No Tree of Probabilities… no Infinite Forest.
Eris Morn: What do you seek? A means to walk the corridors of time? Haven't you learned from Osiris' mistake?
Drifter: Osiris took the Sundial with him… wherever it is he went. I always wanted to take that thing for a spin.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mercury
Drifter: Let's see. Power on switch here. Signal jammer here. Choose frequency, and… Hey, Orin. You there? Orin!
The Emissary: The Dredgen speaks.
Drifter: I noticed you all stopped tryin' to… boil my brain lately. And I know you love tryin' to spook me. So, what's the deal? You scared, now that Savathûn's rode into town?
The Emissary: The Witch Queen is yet another piece on the board. She has agency. But the board has not changed.
Drifter: So, the Nine still need you out there?
The Emissary: The Nine are inextricable from each other, and their Emissary.
Drifter: Yeah, that's what I thought.
Eris Morn: Were you saying something, rat? My channel cut out.
Drifter: Just yellin' at the wind, Three Eyes.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mercury
The Emissary: Dredgen.
Drifter: That's a first. What's up, you lunatic?
The Emissary: The Forgotten Blade. She has been asking about our benefactor. Orin.
Drifter: You mean Eris? Yeah, I guess she did know Orin back in the day. What'd you say?
The Emissary: Do you trust this Blade?
Drifter: I trust no one, you psychopath.
The Emissary: What does "Orin" mean to the Blade?
Drifter: Well, hell if I know. I don't understand people like them.
The Emissary: Lightbearers?
Drifter: Friends.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mercury
The Emissary: Dredgen. Let's play a game. Your kind reveals so much in the choices you make.
Drifter: What the hell does that mean? You know what - okay, I'll bite.
The Emissary: Your feet find purchase in shifting sands.
Drifter: Okay, why is it getting hot? Do you feel that, Guardian? I can't… I can't see anything.
The Emissary: The night has enveloped you. This is a world full of Dark. No sparks.
Drifter: What's that smell?
The Emissary: The stench of the dead.
Drifter: Am I dead? I hope so, because what I'm smelling, I don't want to be touching.
The Emissary: You stand atop a dead world. A collapse.
Drifter: Get me outta here.
The Emissary: Very well. Your feet find purchase in shifting sands.
Drifter: Holy hell, what're you doing now? It's too bright!
The Emissary: The sun is blinding. This is a world is full of Light. No shadows. A creature runs into you in its blindness; it nearly bowls you over.
Drifter: [grunts] Hey, watch it! What was that? That's not funny.
The Emissary: It has lived here all its life. Too long. It is very old. But if you could see, you would see it appears young.
Drifter: Okay, when I said "get me outta here," I meant I'm done with your bull-
The Emissary: It grabs your hand.
Drifter: Don't touch me.
The Emissary: It begs. It begs you for help.
Drifter: You call this a game?
The Emissary: It begs you for death. On this world, ruled by full Light, it cannot die. It has companions that are as long-lived. It hates them, and they hate it. It will never end. It will never die.
Drifter: Get me outta here, Orin! It won't let go. I can smell it rotting!
The Emissary: And it smells you! You won't help it?
Drifter: I said I'm done!
The Emissary: Very well.
Drifter: What the hell is wrong with you, you lunatic?
The Emissary: You asked about Light and Dark. Come find us again any time, Dredgen. Guardian.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Io
Eris Morn: Rat.
Drifter: What's up, Three Eyes?
Eris Morn: What do you seek here, in this oubliette of the Nine?
Drifter: For the last time, I'm just helping the Vanguard out on a consultation basis.
Eris Morn: Does Zavala know you're here:
Drifter: What Zavala doesn't know he won't have to worry about.
The Emissary: The Dredgen never changes.
Drifter: You stay outta this, lunatic!
Eris Morn: You watch the Emissary. And vice versa. What do the Nine want with you?
Drifter: Nothin'. Drifter's just… passin' through.
Eris Morn: With a slice of the Nine Realms attached to your cargo bay.
Drifter: Well.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Io
Eris Morn: This reminds me of the Quarry near Asher's lab.
Drifter: On Io? That's where that Pyramid parked. Right over the Tree of Silver Wings.
Eris Morn: This is the last place the Traveler touched in our solar system. Perhaps the Darkness wishes to undo the work of the Traveler. What are the Nine trying to say with this? Is this their answer to the question?
Drifter: Must be. Too bad I don't speak lunatic.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Io
Drifter: Hey, Three Eyes. You spending all your time on Io now?
Eris Morn: Or the Moon. Depending on the weather.
Drifter: What do you think of all this?
Eris Morn: All of what?
Drifter: The black fleet. The end of the line. End of the Light.
Eris Morn: It hasn't come to that. Not yet.
Drifter: How do you know?
Eris: It hasn't been dark enough.
Drifter: Look at the sky. Nightfall's comin'.
Eris Morn: We'll live in the night if we have to. I've been there before. So have you. So has the Guardian.
Drifter: It ain't pleasant.
Eris Morn: No. But necessary. For what follows.
Drifter: And what's that?
Eris Morn: Dawn.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Io
Drifter: Hey, Three Eyes. Check this out.
Eris Morn: What is it now?
Drifter: I finally opened my Dawning gift from Eva Levante. She got me this bulldozer of a book from the Golden Age. It's full of definitions of words! Never seen anything like it. Heh, must've had a lotta time back then.
Eris Morn: The City scholars publish a new dictionary every couple of years…
Drifter: So, uh, I went and looked up one of those nicknames you gave me: "meretricious rogue."
Eris Morn: Uh huh.
Drifter: Listen, Moondust. Hand to my heart, I am flattered. But Drifter ain't got time for all that! Let's keep this businesslike.
Eris Morn: I'm surprised you can read.
Drifter: Yeah. I'm better at math, though.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Io
Drifter: Hey, Moondust. You're no Vanguard. Why do you hang with them?
Eris Morn: Ikora and Zavala are dear friends. Even if we don't always see eye to eye… to eye.
Drifter: You should take it easy. Learn to relax. You're Ghostless now. Go live your life. Vanguard business won't end well for you.
Eris Morn: Ghostless or not, my objectives would not change.
Drifter: I've known Ghostless all my lives. Trust me. Live it while you can. No one gets a happy ending.
Eris Morn: And you think those with Ghosts do?
Drifter: Actually, no. Guess I don't.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mars
Drifter: This is Mars… one of the old man's many homes. I always wondered if his bite was as bad as his bark. But he went down like a punk. Heh.
Eris Morn: Rasputin?
Drifter: That's his name. Osiris was bankin' on him. Kicked down that old Russian's door and threatened him with a gun to get him to help. He didn't know I was watching. And laughing. Heh.
Eris Morn: There's no humor in that. Rasputin murdered the Iron Lords. Stayed in the shadows to save himself as humankind burned.
Drifter: Well, yeah. When you put it that way, it doesn't sound funny at all, Three Eyes!
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mars
Eris Morn: Darkness has encroached Mars.
Drifter: Yeah, so what? We knew THAT the second the Pyramids jumped into the system and punched Rasputin in the head.
Eris Morn: Ana's working on bringing the Warmind back online. Have faith.
Drifter: Yeah, well, the old man went down like a sack full'a Ghosts. Maybe Ana can find a sturdier case to put him in. Like a… vending machine or something.
Eris Morn: The two of you think alike. Her plan might surprise you.
Drifter: If she wants to impress me, she should get a job — Hunter Vanguard, for instance.
Eris Morn: She doesn't want to impress you. No one does.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mars
Drifter: Mars. Home of the oldest earthling in the system. Now, what're y'all trying to say with this?
Eris Morn: Perhaps it's Ana Bray they're watching.
Drifter: Yeah, they're not the only ones — I been waiting on her to take that seat. Why haven't you numbskulls filled it?
Eris Morn: What seat?
Drifter: Cayde-6's personal toilet. Hunter Vanguard seat.
Eris Morn: [laughs] Look at the Hunters, rat. Your question answers itself.
Drifter: Yeah, guess I wouldn't want to be stuck herding cats and doing paperwork either. Shaxx would do it just to spite y'all.
Eris Morn: He is welcome to try.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mars
Eris Morn: Rat!
Drifter: Hey. How you living, Moondust?
Eris Morn: Rasputin prevented an extinction-level event when he smashed the Almighty above the City.
Drifter: Why does everybody say it like that? "Extinction-level event." We're down to one city! I could cause an extinction-level event.
Eris Morn: And for now the Warmind is gone. What will we do the next time the clock strikes midnight?
The Witch Queen waits to strike. The emperor of the Cabal has yet to act in the face of the paracausal fleet. The end could come at any time.
Drifter: Sister, I've had a bug-out bag since the Dark Age. I'll be all right.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mars
Drifter: You've changed since the last time I saw you, Three Eyes. I mean, since you were Two Eyes way back when. Not that we called you that. [laughs]
Eris Morn: That Eris perished in the tunnels under the Moon, along with her Ghost and her friends. She died not knowing whether anything in this universe could bring hope against the likes of Crota and the Hive. She had the Light. And it was not enough.
Drifter: Nope. It still ain't.
Eris Morn: She died with hope in her grasp. With that hope came one last life.
Drifter: Some people might envy just one last life.
Eris Morn: Some people are fools.
// OPTIONAL
The Guardian approaches the Emissary of the Nine at Mars
Drifter: If this were authentic Mars, Ana Bray's setup would be a short walk from away. That sister needs to get her head out of the past. She could be so much more.
Eris Morn: She should learn from you?
Drifter: Shouldn't everyone?
Singularity, Nine Relams, Unknown Space
The Guardian traverses the "sea". The Guardian eventually enters a room with a structure that appears similar to the one in the Queen's Court, where the Guardian previously met with Mara Sov.
Three iterations of the Kell Echo, a part of the Nine's answer to the Guardian's question, appear. The Guardian distributes Motes of Light and Dark. The Guardian casts away the iterations of the Kell Echo. Devoured Ogre appears. The Guardian defeats Devoured Ogre and descends to another room filled with dark entropy. The Kell Echo appears. The Guardian battles the Kell Echo as dark entropy grows.
// OPTIONAL
If the Guardian does not defeat the Kell Echo before it flees the room with dark entropy
The Kell Echo flees the room. The Guardian sinks back into the arena. Three iterations of the Kell Echo appears. The Guardian distributes Motes of Light and Dark. The Guardian casts away the iterations of the Kell Echo. Devoured Ogre appears. The Guardian defeats Devoured Ogre and descends to another room filled with dark entropy. The Kell Echo appears.
The Guardian defeats the Kell Echo and is teleported into a room with the Emissary of the Nine and Nine floating lights.
// OPTIONAL
The Emissary: The Nine have spoken! Their answer is complete.
Eris Morn: Then we learned nothing.
Drifter: I wouldn't say that. Clearly, the Nine pass no judgment on Dark or Light. And they love passing judgment. Trust. That means in their eyes, the two are the same.
Eris Morn: Zavala will disagree.
// OPTIONAL
Drifter: That's some bloodlust, Hero. It hit me when you were tearing that last pack of Taken apart. What the Nine are trying to say: Light. Dark. It don't matter.
Eris Morn: Light and Dark are not the same.
Drifter: Didn't say the same. Just - the difference don't matter.
// OPTIONAL
The Emissary: And so the Nine have spoken.
Eris Morn: That's your answer? That's incomprehensible.
Drifter: I mean, that's just your opinion, man. Nah, I think this made sense.
Eris Morn: Which part?
Drifter: Well… we got paid, didn't we?
Eris Morn: We have research to conduct, rat. You drag the Guardian into another mess like this, and I'll push you through an airlock.
// OPTIONAL
The Emissary: The Nine have given you their answer. We hope it sates your curiosity. You've certainly taught us much.
Drifter: Uh… you're welcome. Let us know if there's anything else we can do.
Eris Morn: Rat. You're useless.
Drifter: Relax, Moondust. We got what we came for. Let's leave the giant head alone.
// OPTIONAL
The Emissary: The answer is complete. You survived. Well done.
Eris Morn: So you do understand the stakes of this reality. And you allowed the rat to lead the Guardian into dire straits. The person you were would never have allowed this to come to pass.
The Emissary: "Orin" is longer here.
Eris Morn: If that's true, I would have you pass a word to the Nine.
The Emissary: And what word is that?
Eris Morn: Run.