So there i was. Level 28 ready to tackle VoG for the first time. I got a team from these very forums, scouring the corners I never dared to venture before. I was a new face to these forums, having downloaded this app only recently before going on it. I searched for what seemed like an eternity. It didn't take long to find others like myself. Others who wished to delve into the unknown antiquities that lay within the vault. One by one i got them into my party and game. We introduced ourselves one by one. Only one man knew somewhat of what was to occur in the vault. He had only gone once before, but was scarred and came out a different, almost incoherent man. His advice would only take us so far. And so, we set off to beautiful Venus, not knowing how dangerous her fly traps could be. We set down. The taste of plants and sentient metal filled our helmets. We split up into three teams of two, as suggested by our crazed sherpa. The gate, he said, needed a spire to be formed in order to be opened. We stood on the gates and expected company. Heavy company. The dark storm clouds symbolized the Vexs' arrival. They arrived and we opened fire. Countless bullets and supers were being fired away. We died, we killed, we went on. A grueling hour passed, and we finally persevered. The gate opened itself to us. If only we knew the hardest parts were yet to come.... We made our way through Kabr's Trials, taking in the environment. Drab and dead, with nothing hopeful to look forward to. Our light was the only thing that gave us comfort. Perhaps a few laughs. We jumped down, delving deeper until we reached the Templar's Well. A massive arena lay before us. "There are three confluxes. We must defend them, all three, when they show up. Do not let the Vex sacrifice themselves," our sherpa said. "Why?," said another guardian. "You'll be lost to the dark corners of time. So, dead." All was quiet as we split up to hold those confluxes. The Templar was something to behold. He appeared occasionally, firing at us and marking us for negation. We fought hard. We died, we grew stronger, we held our ground. As before, it took a lot of ammunition, power, and time of all things, to get it done. The oracles were no different. We found them after a few tries and began to remember the patterns and amount of rounds. We still had to hold our own against the Vex. Unrelenting, tireless, and merciless, the Vex kept coming. The oracles were destroyed, but our foe was not going to allow us to pass without a fight. I don't remember what i received here.... The Templar was to be summoned by grabbing the Aegis Shield. Our sherpa took it. He was qualified, or atleast we hoped, to handle it. Provide cover. Get cleansed. Fire everything at the Templar once shield was done. Those were our orders. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. The Templar fell, as did a Found Verdict. It wouldn't be the last, nor the first.... After celebrating, our sherpa took us into the infamous spirit bloom chest area. None of us dared to open it, as he said it would reduce our chance to get an exotic. We believed him. We went down and practiced our jump skills. It was fun. We reached the bottom chest, as we did not know about the hidden chest when not allowing the Templar to teleport. We were all excited. I drew a slow breath. I opened the chest. What did i receive? Ahh...The Last Word exotic hand cannon. I was thrilled. Even receiving the class item made me happy. My first exotic weapon! My team was jealous. I still have that one up until this day... The gorgons lair was very fun and fascinating. Having read lots of Greek stories and myths, it drew me into a world of mystery....and a world in which i could be erased. Fascinating. Simply fascinating. We found those hidden chests after such a long time of trying not to be caught. We made it threw with some laughs and ascendant energy and shards. The jumping puzzle. What more can i say? It involved jumping, and puzzles. We laughed at each other's failures. We celebrated when we reached the other side. We even joked around and pushed each other off the sides. But all that was to stop and be left at Atheon's glass room.... We stepped in. Kill the gatekeeper. Step on the pads. Defend it. Go inside. Grab the Aegis Shield. Go to the other side. Repeat. Cleanse. All the while the guardians who held the pads and the center against minotaurs. It was perhaps the toughest part for us all. But it got done. We were exhausted. I received hezen vengeance for my efforts. Hours had been spent getting here.... Atheon. His arrival was magnificent. He stood there and shimmered. His cannon at the ready to destroy the invaders. He rose his hand and took the three guardians furthest from him into the future or the past. Inside, those guardians needed to face the Oracles and cleanse themselves with the Aegis Shield. We'd need that shield. At the same time, the guardians in the present held off exploding harpies and opened the gate after much confusion. The others made it out. "To the center pillar!" The sherpa yelled. The relic holder put the shield down and we fired away at Atheon and his critical zone, feeling powerful with Times Vengeance. However, Atheon could use his infamous splash damage to kill some of us. This weakened our morale after so many attempts. And the unthinkable happened....my teammates left me. How could they? I didn't want to start over, not knowing about checkpoints. Nor did i want to go to sleep after getting so far and burning so much time. What would i do?.... I stood up and went to the forums with invigorating fire. I called upon other guardians to help me with my first completion. They heeded my call. They came in, knowing what to do. They lead me through it all. They had the experience. They had the gear and weapons. I learned from them. Drank it all in. I'd need this later on. We destroyed Atheon. I received Vision of Confluence. The very same i have til this day, along with chatterwhite which i also have til this day. And so, after that day i became the sherpa. I conquered the Vault of Glass time after time. Soon i reached level 30, and did the same with hard mode. It took a bit of getting used to. But nevertheless, it was done. Grinding and rng drops became the norm after a while though. The charm soon withered away. It was all about FateBringer and Vex Mythoclast. I didn't get FB until much later during Crota's era. But i had received the Vex, after receiving it's very first nerf, within 7 or so completions before that time came. That is my story. Long ago, true, and very fun.