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3/27/2024 7:48:31 AM
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The Witness and Guardians - Why It Wanted to Turn Us

Ever since the Shadowkeep expansion, what we knew to be the Darkness at the time has been trying to convince us to forsake the Traveler and the Light and embrace the Darkness. This is a major theme of "The Unveiling", where the Darkness states that Guardians are the gardener's final argument. In its own words, [url=https://www.ishtar-collective.net/entries/the-wager#book-unveiling]"It would mean everything if I could convince you that I am the right and only way."[/url] Taken with Entelechy, the Unveiling can be used to decipher and dissect the Witness' psyche in its entirety. I brought this up in my original post on the Entelechy lore book and the Collector's Edition, specifically its burning hatred for the Traveler and the Light, how it acts to make those touched by the Light suffer rather than destroy us swiftly and efficiently. But what about Guardians? Shadowkeep was an active effort to reach out to the Guardians; Unveiling was sent to us in an attempt to sway Guardians to its side; in [i]Beyond Light[/i], the Witness tempted us by giving us Stasis, a Darkness power. We even learned from Elsie Bray that, in every other timeline she has lived through, the Witness succeeded. A majority of Guardians, particularly Ana Bray and Eris Morn, were "corrupted" by Darkness, by the Witness. A corruption that all signs point towards the Black Heart being responsible for. The Witness and Sol Divisive's attempt at creating an artificial Veil. It might not have worked as intended, but it had enough of an influence that destroying it drastically changed events from how Elsie Bray experienced them. As Eido points out in [i]Entelechy[/i], the Witness did not need to do all those things. It did not need to try and corrupt Guardians and turn us to its side. But it did so because it is motivated by malice: [i]"It must ruin all the Great Machine has touched, from the smallest creature to the greatest planet. Destroy everything the Light has built. Drown hope in bitterness. The Witness would have us all curse the Great Machine, refute its gifts, and betray it, as the Black Fleet tramples us underfoot.".[/i] Guardians are singularly unique. We are the result of the first time the Traveler has taken an active stand against the Witness. We are the first beings in existence to be directly given the power of the Light. If we were convinced the Witness was right; if we abandoned the Light and embraced the Witness' ideology and interpretation of Darkness, then the Traveler's sacrifice was all for nothing, and the Witness is proven "right". To bring ruin to the Traveler's last creations, and prove the Traveler and the Light wrong once and for all. That's why the Traveler always left in past timelines. With the Guardians fallen to Darkness, there'd be no one left to fight alongside it against the Witness, no one left to help it in the event things escalate to the point they have in the lead-up to the Final Shape, no one left to enter the Pale Heart and fight against the Witness. In past timelines, however, the Black Heart stacked the deck in the Witness' favor. The corruption it spread infected Guardians, and the "static" its flawed connection caused weakened the Traveler. With the Black Heart destroyed, events progressed in a far different manner. We learned to wield Darkness without falling to corruption and discovered its true nature. Eris Morn became a Hive God for a time, but wasn't consumed by it and instead used her power to sever Xivu Arath's link to her Throne World. Savathun didn't remain aligned with the Darkness and become Eris' pawn; she instead broke free of her Worm and was blessed with the Light. The Traveler didn't leave, instead choosing to stand and fight against the Witness, with the Guardians by its side. Perhaps it is why the Witness made no bids to try and sway us in Lightfall as it did in the past. It might realize that it cannot sway the Guardians to its side, now. That said, it might make one last attempt within the Pale Heart because if it can convince us then, the Traveler literally has nowhere left to run, nothing left it can do to stop the Final Shape.
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  • Edited by jhermannITJ: 3/27/2024 5:33:44 PM
    "Taken with Entelechy, the Unveiling can be used to decipher and dissect the Witness' psyche in its entirety". How? "Taken with Entelechy...." [b]You should read it. It starts with this per Eido's notes:[/b] [i]"SCRIBE OBSERVATIONS I began my search with the familiar. During the Long Drift, peaceful encounters between Ketches were rare, even when they hailed from the same house. But when such meetings did occur, they would exchange valuable resources, even data. This practice helped the Eliksni navigate that vast and dangerous void, to know who might open fire or which areas had already been stripped of resources. These data exchanges leave traces, and even if the relevant entries are later overwritten, a Scribe can track these traces to their source. Especially a Scribe who grew up with the Hum of a Servitor! I combed the databanks of our Lightships for any mention of the Witness, and followed those paths as they forked through dozens of Ketches. Based on a single mention of records recovered from a “tetrahedral ship”, I was able to track down these transcripts. They were buried in the databanks of a decommissioned House Winter Ketch, the Simiks-Fel, repairing the ship’s generator was quite an adventure - I shall have to tell you about it another time! According to the Simiks-Fel’s collection log, the transcribed records were originally found aboard a derelict ship encountered during the Long Drift. Associated telemetry suggests that this derelict was smaller, but not identical, to the Witness’s fleet of Pyramid ships. An older design, perhaps? The ship was ancient beyond reckoning, and though it was badly damaged and abandoned, some of the data crystals were intact enough to be decrypted. It's a shame that the Simiks-Fel did not bring along any of the physical crystals - I’m sure the Cryptarchy would have liked to have a look! These are the oldest of all the records I have found, by an order of magnitude. When they were originally penned, the species that would go on to become the Ecumene had not even emerged from the primordial ooze. Though my findings are not conclusive, I believe these documents were created by the Witness’s precursors, which revered the Great Machine as the Gardener (see REP # 776-ASHA-WTN). Though they were hardly the only civilization to use a similar title, other elements suggest a possible connection: the tetrahedral structure of the derelict where this record was recovered, and a repeated mention of a concept roughly translated as ‘final shape’".[/i] Via a singular source that were not the original data crystals on the Simiks-Fel. [b]Then notes after the Spider info:[/b] [i]"The contents of this beacon proved quite challenging to transcribe. It seems to operate on a similar principle to your sensoriums, but it directly transmits concepts, rather than inducing sensory hallucinations. Some of the concepts showed significant semantic overlap, though whether due to the nature of the data, age-related degradation, or the recorder's emotional state, I cannot say. Now, from the content of this record, I believe we may draw a few conclusions about the Witness's methodology. It is capable of disassembling mind and body, then somehow reassembling them. It did not destroy the Noesis, but unmade and then 'finalized' them".[/i] [b]Then the notes after records from the Cloud Ark respective Rasputin:[/b] [i]"Rasputin seems to have enjoyed abstruse terminology - useful for masking intent, but quite difficult to parse. How do I pronounce CARRHAE? Is it easier without mandibles? Perhaps I should start a dictionary. It would be easiest to ask Ana Bray directly, as she knew the most about Rasputin, but I thought it might be... discourteous, to ask so soon after his passing. According to all the documentation of Rasputin's defense of Sol, even with such extraordinary circumstances allowing him to act beyond his normal limits, Rasputin could not stop the Black Fleet. Had the Great Machine not acted, the Black Fleet would have ground all of Sol into dust. Still, I cannot understand why the Black Fleet would choose to deploy gravitational weapons. If they were totally unharmed by humanity's greatest weapons - if the Witness could disassemble entire fleets with a wave of its hand - why would they need to use such comparatively slow weaponry? Perhaps this was not done out of necessity. But why, then? I feel that I am still missing something".[/i] [b]Then from Ada-1:[/b] [i]"More clues. More pieces of the puzzle. Fire and smoke, poisonous air, earthquakes, cyclones. Why do these things? Why did the Witness cause great tidal waves on Titan (see REP # 904-TITAN-NPA), if it could simply Take the entire planet, as it did later? Neither the Eliksni, nor humanity, were as advanced as the Ecumene or countless other fallen civilizations. It could have overrun either of us without all the... theatrics. Theatrics. As though all of this was mere performance, like those Ghosts who put on masks during the Festival of the Lost and pretend to chase the children of the City. But I cannot think of any other word for it. It appears the Witness has staged a show, but for the Eliksni of Riis and the Humans of Sol as its audiences - even though we should be so far beneath its notice, never mind its concern, that it shouldn't even care about what frightens us… That's it! The Witness is not indifferent to us. It cares about what we think of its performance, though, of course, it does not seek to delight or provoke. No, the Witness has done all it can to spread fear and despair among the people of Sol, as it did the people of Riis. It has chosen the approach that would cause the maximum possible amount of suffering and continued doing so until the very moment it went through that awful portal. I doubt that this is some brilliant tactical ploy to demoralize its enemies. It would have defeated both Humans and Eliksni, with or without its campaign of terror. Indeed, such actions appear to have drawn out its attack on Sol and were a deeply inefficient use of its power. If the Witness's only goal was to corner the Great Machine and to use it to further its plans (whatever those are), then why bother doing anything else? If this performance has affected the Great Machine at all, there is no evidence of such - and, anyways, the worst atrocities of the Whirlwind occurred after the Great Machine left us and could not see its effects. No, I believe this display of cruelty was meant for us. It was done to maximize our torment. I cannot think of any motivation to ascribe to this except malice".[/i] [b]The "keystone" notes reflecting on the Cayde entry:[/b] [i]"I must admit, I almost didn't include this transcript. I am no stranger to the disturbing and distressing; as a Scribe, it is my duty to record and pass on history. Even a history written by the survivors will have its dark corners. Nevertheless, I found this recording difficult to listen to. It echoes the bitter words I've heard countless times before. From Eliksni who suffered the Whirlwind. Who saw the Great Machine leave us and cursed it for abandoning us. But when studying history, discomfort often accompanies the information that is most crucial to understanding. That was what I needed! That discomfort, that echo of Eliksni lamentation. The Witness does not need cruelty to win. It does not need to mutilate the Great Machine's creations. To inspire fear and despair. It does not even need to tempt you to use the Darkness, which it has claimed to be - though we know, from your experiences on Neptune, that the Witness does not hold as complete a dominion as it wishes us to believe. In fact, its cruelty has actively slowed and hindered its purpose. Had the Witness simply overwhelmed humanity and crushed all resistance, there would have been nobody left for the Great Machine to uplift. No Ghosts or Guardians to defy it".[/i] [b]Theatrics that actively worked against the Witness's goals.... "slowed and hindered its purpose".[/b] So why? This is why: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oO_bWEakKM&list=PLS2hBTtCDufRbR1GpuH5Za7CIVh2IVqTl&index=4]"I built this place", Savathun.[/url]

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