[spoiler]Welcome to LFD! This series is meant to be an easily digestible, simplified, short, and somewhat entertaining lore ‘crash course’ for those who want to learn more without wading through grimoire.[/spoiler] —— *Drifter voice* [b][i][u]VEX ON THE FIELD[/b][/i][/u] You know, I planned to start this with a bunch of robot puns, but I’ll spare you the terror. The Vex can be complicated, but as your [b]trusty guide through the cosmos[/b], I’ll do my best! [b]History[/b] It’s hard to pin down the origins of the Vex due to their time-traveling capabilities. This is the first encounter involving the Vex we know of; it’s a pretty funny story: Back in the Books of Sorrow, [b]Oryx[/b] (the king of the Hive) told his son, [b]Crota[/b], to listen to his sisters, who were making great scientific progress (in death experiments, naturally). Like any primoridial teenager would do in his free time, he cut a massive tear in space-time. This would’ve been fine if 1. It wasn’t literally in his father’s personal throne world 2. The homicidal robots we know as the [b]Vex[/b] didn’t come marching through Oryx was so irritated he chucked Crota into the portal to fight his way out. I’m getting distracted, let’s move on. [b]Vex Behavior[/b] First of all, it’s important to note that the metal part of the Vex are just shells. It’s the white liquid in the center, [b]radiolarian fluid[/b], that controls the ‘robot’. This substance is partly organic in nature, and has a suspicious resemblance to milk. *Be aware, ingestion can cause effects of nausea, vomiting, hallucinations, and spontaneous death.* [spoiler]’Radiolaria’ are actual microscopic organisms in real life. It’s likely a special type of these hangs out in the radiolarian fluid and is the actual ‘Vex’ cell.[/spoiler] Vex have a massive [b]networked intelligence[/b] that allows them to coordinate their actions perfectly. A Vex [b]Mind[/b] controls certain Vex to accomplish a pre-set goal (such as getting coffee for the squad). [spoiler]An example is the Root Mind, who you fight in Curse of Osiris and in the ‘A Garden World’ strike. His goal was to convert Mercury into a Vex machine world.[/spoiler] Vex Minds also can transmit information to other Minds in parallel realities (with the best cellular Vex Unlimited plan available). If one is defeated, they’ll send all the info they’ve acquired to Vex in these realities before death, increasing their chance of winning the battle when it occurs there. You’ve probably noticed their teleportation ability. Apparently, they can teleport entire squads across solar systems (as well as TV remotes that were originally out of reach), or just short-range (like Minotaurs). Another notable ability of the Vex is their extraordinary ability to simulate the world around them, to a frighteningly accurate degree. Remember the [b]Infinite Forest[/b]? Their simulations do have drawbacks, though. The main rule seems to be that paracasual forces, such as the Darkness or the Light, cannot be simulated. Remember this: [u]even the Vex can’t violate Bungie’s copyrights![/u] [b]The Vex’s Goal[/b] Although no Vex has actually told us its master plan, we basically know what it is. For all their ‘unfathomable intelligence’, they suck at keeping secrets. They seek to convert the entire universe into part of themselves. Anything in their way is either reshaped, or destroyed according to their wants. Planets, such as Nessus and Mercury, have been mostly transformed into ‘Machine Worlds’ to further this plan. Our pal Osiris calls the Vex’s end goal the [b]Convergence[/b], where all life exists in the digital world (like today’s youth, probably including you and I). —— You guys wanted homicidal time-traveling robots, and you got homicidal time-traveling robots. I hope you learned something new this time around! [spoiler]I know I didn’t talk about the Black Garden, or the Vault of Glass. I didn’t think they were integral to understanding the Vex as a whole. Might make a post on them later.[/spoiler] [b]Knowledge is power. Kill stuff with it.[/b] —— [i]Additional resources, if you’re still interested[/i]: [url=https://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/the-vex]The Vex[/url] [url=https://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/prohibitive-mind]Vex Minds[/url] [url=https://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-vex]Ghost Fragment: Vex[/url]-a story of researchers of the Ishtar Collective studying a Vex unit. There are 5 fragments in total. [url=https://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/goblin]Goblins[/url] [url=https://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/hobgoblin]Hobgoblins[/url]-note the reference to radiolaria. [url=https://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/harpy]Harpies[/url] [url=https://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/minotaur]Minotaurs[/url] [url=https://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/cyclops]Cyclopes[/url] [spoiler]I hope you guys enjoyed! Please leave a comment on how I did. Remember my goals are to be [b]concise[/b], [b]accurate[/b], and [b]entertaining[/b]. If I failed, or went overboard, on any of these, let me know![/spoiler] [b]Want more? LFD tag[/b] ⤵️