TYPE: Prespecitve – Jaren Ward Jaren returned to the Tower to an explosion of applause. He didn’t really understand what was going on around him, nor did he care. He walked over to Shin who was jumping up and down and slapping other guardians hands. Shin - Great job Jaren! You really showed him who is the best! Jaren - The point wasn’t to show him who was the best, the point was to show the importance of the Crucible and of strategy. I learned in the Crucible that it isn’t always smart to attack your enemy head-on, often it is best to let them come to you. Jaren walked down to Lord Shaxx. Jaren - The kid is good, but over-confident and too aggressive. Lord Shaxx - A truly impressive display of patience. Jaren walked down to Cayde-6 and noticed Cayde was talking to a Frame. The frame handed Cayde and large stack of Glimmer. Cayde-6 saw Jaren approaching and he pocketed the glimmer. Cayde-6 – Thanks for the walking around money. Jaren – What? Cayde-6 – There was a pretty decent pool of people betting on the match. I picked you. Jaren just stook his head…so much for highlighting the benefits of training in the Crucible. Jaren – May I return to my duties in Palamon? Cayde-6 happily obliged the request. TYPE: Perspective - Dredgen AUTHOR: T-W Dredgen spent the next several days at his home in the City. He reviewed the match a hundred times. How had he lost so easily? Jaren made a FOOL out of him. Dredgen feared going out into the City for provisions, he did not want the ridicule. After several days of nothing to eat, Dredgen finally left his house and ventured to the local bar that tended to be filled with his loyal fans. He entered the bar and it was mostly empty, not a normal occurrence. As he approached the bartender he could hear the laughter and sneers behind him. He ordered a drink and some food and sat quietly. He noticed some of the guardians that had been loyal fans of his and he nodded to them; they turned their backs to him. As he sat and waited for his food the fans stood up, walk past, and mumbled just loud enough for him to hear “well, he’s no Jaren”. The words cut him like knives. So, his worries had been confirmed, he was a joke. After he finished eating, a Guardian approached him. Titan – Dredgen, Lord Shaxx wishes to see you. Please visit the Tower at your earliest convenience. Dredgen - Very well. Dredgen entered the Tower with his head held low. As he walked people stopped talking to each other and stared at him. Their loud conversations became whispers. All he could hear was “he’s no Jaren”. As he approached Lord Shaxx he didn’t know what to say. Lord Shaxx - It was a good match, regardless of outcome. I don’t want this to deter you. You need to get back into the Crucible. Dredgen - But why? Lord Shaxx - Because, it is where you can learn how to beat Jaren. Dredgen looked at Shaxx for a few moments, then walked away. He was right. Dredgen needed to improve himself, get better. But how? He is the best. Was the best. How did Jaren beat him? As Dredgen existed the Tower he noticed an old Frame struggling to stand, beckoning to him. Old Frame - It was that pistol. Dredgen stared at the Frame. It was covered in damage, it looked like it was ready for scrap. It must have been one of the old War Frames that policed the area prior to the rise of the guardians. Dredgen - Excuse me? Old Frame - You are wondering how he beat you. Jaren has The Last Word, a most powerful weapon. It is the only one in existence. Dredgen - My Rose is the only of its kind. Old Frame - Yes, but it was built off the frame of other guns. It is impressive, but hardly special. Dredgen latched onto this idea. Of course, Jaren wasn’t better than him, he had a better weapon. Dredgen - Do you know where I can procure a weapon like Jaren’s? Old Frame – As I said, there is no other. I doubt Banshee or Master Rahool know of an equal. Dredgen walked over to Banshee. Dregen - What do you know of Jaren Ward’s hand cannon? Banshee-44 - I know a bit about it. The Last Word. A hand cannon passed down by Hunter guardians over the last couple centuries. A rudimentary weapon made to tame the wild. Dredgen - Do other hand cannons like it exist? Banshee-44 - There is rumor of another, called Hawkmoon. No idea where it is. Dredgen - And there are no others? Banshee-44 - Weapons like that are uncommon, they are forged using means we no longer understand. Relics of the Golden Age. Dredgen - Who might know more? Banshee-44 – Master Rahool, maybe the Speaker. Dredgen approached Master Rahool but he was even less helpful. The old bat was only good for decrypting items, he never had good information on weaponry. Dredgen approached the Speakers dome and found the Speaker pouring over some documents, a jar of Motes of Light sitting next to him. Speaker - How can I be of assistance guardian? Dredgen - Speaker, I have some questions about advanced weaponry. Speaker - And you came to me? You should visit the gunsmith. Dregen - I did, but my interests are too specialized for Banshee-44. I am looking for a powerful weapon. Speaker - More powerful then your hand cannon? Dredgen - Yes. Speaker - Such things are difficult to find. Once, during the Golden Age, we had the ability to create weapons of great power. Weapons from this time are all but destroyed now. Dredgen - Surely, there must be more. Speaker - When the Darkness descended on us, it was swift and all-consuming. Many of the great weapons of that time were no match for the power the Darkness brought forth. Dredgen - What do you mean by “no match”? Speaker - The weapons utilized by our enemy were unlike anything we encountered before. It is only by the sacrifice of the Traveller that we exist at all. The answer was staring him in the face. He didn’t need a Golden Age gun, or any gun created by man. Dredgen - Speaker, is there any evidence of Guardians wielding the weapons of our enemies? Speaker - A dark question. We are aware of instances where guardians were forced to pickup the weapons of our enemies to survive, but most often the guardians lacked the will required to wield them properly. Dredgen - Did these tend to be Fallen weapons? Speaker - No, they were the weapons of the Hive. The Hive are among our darkest enemies, their ability to infuse the power of the darkness to their weapons is unmatched. We call such weapons the Weapons of Sorrow. Dredgen - Do you know of these weapons? Speaker - No, knowledge of such things tend to fall into the Warlocks domain. Dredgen - Thank you Speaker, this was very helpful. Dredgen left the Speaker. If only the Speaker had known what he had disclosed. Dredgen approached Ikora Rey at the Vanguard Mentor table. Dredgen - Ikora, may I ask you a question? Ikora - Does that count as your question? Dredgen - No. I just came from talking with the Speaker, we were having a conversation about the Weapons of Sorrow. He said if I wanted more information I should speak to the Warlocks. Ikora - And what do you wish to know? Dredgen - What do we know about them? Ikora - Very little, I’m afraid. They are called the Weapons of Sorrow because of their function. They do not simply kill. When we are killed by conventional weapons our Light remains, and if a Ghost is present, they can resurrect us from our Light. Weapons of Sorrow devour our Light, leaving nothing behind. The most well known Weapon of Sorrow is a Hive Knight’s sword. When a Knight cuts a guardian down, it absorbs their Light. Dredgen - How does a weapon like that get created? How could anything absorb our Light? Ikora - We know very little about the Hive’s ability to harness the Darkness. From the little we know, Hive Wizards use their sorcery to infuse certain weapons with this power. We don’t know how they do it. Dredgen - And why don’t guardians attempt to harness these weapons? Ikora - The Hive are not of the Light. A Weapon of Sorrow, while able to destroy the Hive, is no more capable than any other weapon. Their main purpose is to fight guardians. Dredgen - But what if someone could use a weapon like this for good? Ikora - I would imagine that guardian would become a hero amongst guardians. The ability to harness the power of Darkness against itself, to fight fire with fire, is alluring. Only Warlocks speak like this Dredgen. And there it was, what Dredgen needed. A weapon more powerful then Jaren’s The Last Word, and something that would not only reestablish his standing among guardians, but answer once and for all who the best of them was. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/106891427/0/0]Link to other Chapters[/url]