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Tablets of Ruin

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This, then, is the record of the secret power of which Oryx, First Navigator, holds within his hand.

Taken from the carven flesh of his god Akka, used with ontological might against the Ecumene, engraved forever his dominion over the lesser forms of cellular automata save those which know the Deep and the Sky, the Tablets of Ruin are his alone. Worn from his waist, to study and commune with the Deep; embedded within an Ogre, to teach his son Crota, who desired one, the meaning of power; to show the True Nature of the Final Perfect Shape to unworthy creatures, to bend and subvert their will to his own: these are his alone.

Savathûn, Oryx's younger sister, the Witch-Queen, has long sought to steal this power from him. Yet it lies trapped and withheld deep in his throne the High War. After her tribute was crippled she no longer dares openly. She then sought to trick their youngest sister, Xivu Arath, to take by might of the sword and boomer this power; for this foolish attempt was her tribute also poisoned.

Such is the love the Hive triumvirate bear to one another, to test and prove their very selves, to purge out weakness, to refine strength evermore finely. This is the quiddity of the Sword Logic.

After you Guardians penetrated into the Dreadnaught, seat of his throne, and killed the Court of Oryx upon which he depends, and finally prepare to push deeper into his realm, I prepare unto you a gift. No, do not think this a gift as the Hive think of it. For you are lesser beings, servants of the Sky, of the weary Traveler. You do not understand the final shape, the shape of power. You do not understand what drives Oryx to dominate, to subvert. The fabled Books of Sorrow, painstakingly crafted from ancient relics of crystalised dark matter, are but one side of the story. They teach much of the Hive's culture and history, religion—do not think of it as the religions of your battered world. This is a reverence of Nature's ultimate self, perfection incarnate.

Here, then, are the Tablets of Ruin. Taken from Oryx himself as he lay recovering in his throne, weakened by the loss of his echoes and Court, these detail evermore the nature of the Deep—and hint at foes to come. For what you face is but a fraction of the might of Oryx. Some of these Tablets the Bane of Crota has already recovered, but those are fragmentary and reveal only hints of the complete set.

Take them and use them wisely. Bereft of power without Oryx, they are worthless to me; to you, perhaps they can give your tiny minds insight. But beware lest you be surprised and overwhelmed. Knowledge is a dangerous ally.

—Toland

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