Xivu Arath - Tumblr Posts
Know your place
Songs most listened to: Black August by Kirlian Camera and Deutschland by Rammstein
Star by star by star
XXVI: star by star by star — Verse 3:6 — star by star by star —“I know a way,” King Auryx says. “But it will require great power. More power than any one of us can claim.” —“Then kill me,” says Xivu Arath, “and use that killing logic, the power you prove by killing something as mighty as me.” So King Auryx took up his blade and beheaded Xivu Arath. —“And strangle me,” says Savathûn, holding a blade behind her back. “Use that killing logic, the cunning you prove by killing something as smart as me.” But King Auryx turned with the speed and might of Xivu Arath, and beheaded Savathûn before she could move. King Auryx was the First Navigator, with the map of death. These were true deaths, for they happened in the sword world.
I was inspired by this piece of lore, I think this was before he grew wings so I drew him without them.
Song most listened to: Dead Zone In The Sky by Kirlian Camera
Sloane: It's like tapping into the Taken's comms.... Sometimes I hear... whispers...
Xivu Arath right in my fucking ears: I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!!! CHOKE ON MY SWORD, YOU LITTLE BITCH!!!!!
Thinking about this AU still
story below the cut bc I kinda got out of control
Mazerunner tries to steal Hive magic on Titan to break Bèl’s tithe-lines, but accidentally gets Xivu’s attention personally.
Xivu reads him like a book and chastises him “YOU INVOKE MY NAME AND COURT BUT DAMN THE LOGIC BEHIND IT? YOU DARE COMPARE YOURSELF TO MY BROTHER, OUR FIRST NAVIGATOR?”
She sees a tool in Mazerunner’s ambition. He’s not a trickster like her heretic sister, and he has a LOT of pent-up anger about both Bèl and his other Risen alike.
She swims through the Sea of Screams, untethered to her Throne. She calls to the edges of the Ascendant Plane that border Lower Sol, screaming an order to her loyal Hive below the silvered mirror.
A pack of Wizards hear her, and deep in the Arcology, they lay a Cryptolyph as a trap. The moment Mazerunner tracks it down it springs, releasing the virus spores into the air and filling his lungs.
Xivu speaks again, Mazerunner’s voice as her own- “YOU KNOW OUR TRUTH SO CLOSELY, AND YET YOU REFUSE IT. PROVE YOU ARE WORTHY OF MY LOVE, FOR I AM WAR ITSELF.”
And there he stands, sickening rot stabbing deep into his soul. His helmet’s eyes cloud over, his respirator coughing out a miasma of spores with every staggered breath.
“WHAT ARE YOU?”
Mazerunner, Wrathborn.
I CAN SMELL THIS VIRUS INFECTING MY LUNGS
A SICKENING ROT THAT STABS DEEP INTO MY SOUL
IT ASKS A SIMPLE QUESTION WITH A SIMPLE ANSWER-
“WHAT ARE YOU?”
“WRATHBORN”
AND SO IT ASKS AGAIN
War, Love and Vengeance
Eris vs Xivu
Star by star by star
XXVI: star by star by star — Verse 3:6 — star by star by star —“I know a way,” King Auryx says. “But it will require great power. More power than any one of us can claim.” —“Then kill me,” says Xivu Arath, “and use that killing logic, the power you prove by killing something as mighty as me.” So King Auryx took up his blade and beheaded Xivu Arath. —“And strangle me,” says Savathûn, holding a blade behind her back. “Use that killing logic, the cunning you prove by killing something as smart as me.” But King Auryx turned with the speed and might of Xivu Arath, and beheaded Savathûn before she could move. King Auryx was the First Navigator, with the map of death. These were true deaths, for they happened in the sword world.
I was inspired by this piece of lore, I think this was before he grew wings so I drew him without them.
Soooo, in advance of Xivu Arath potentially getting a bit more screen time/ mentions in the lore this upcoming season, I really wanted to take a stab at drafting a design for her!
I wanted to take some pre-existing hive aesthetics and like, arthropodify them even more. So when I was running through possible influences, I thought stag beetles fit well for her character.
Stag beetles are so fun in this context, mostly because they, like Xivu Arath, are constantly testing their strength. This is her path, from her start as a krill, to the godhood she fought for, died for, and fought for again. She is conflict, she is War, Dominant.
I definitely think she’d have beetle wings too btw
Rad as hell!!
I should prb write something here but I have no strength no brain power for it now...
the fact that Xivu can so easily possess Sloane even if only temporarily is interesting and im curious will ever be brought up and used either in lore or direct plot
also was it just me or was that whole speech she gave to Sloane kinda sound like a weirs love letter.in a Hivey sorta way? 👀
It was so good. It's actually been showed directly before, with what happened to Osiris in Immolant so Sloane's experience was them bringing it up again, in a way! He got compelled by Xivu as well, with a very similar vibe of her speaking to him and driving him to violence. With Sloane it was more direct at the end, so maybe we have yet to see more of that power being used, though it may have something to do with Sloane being half-Taken. Osiris just heard Xivu's voice and got pushed into a sort of a trance of violence.
Osiris peers into the Hive protrusion. Metallic flecks shimmer, and he sees a long and empty road. Meandering. He wishes to plant a great banner over it, so that all may see. A beacon, alight with Phoenix flame. Looming in the nascent flamelight hangs the terrace of blades. The terrace dominates the road; its precipice at his throat. He raises the Dawnblade to meet them. Rupturing cacophony ravages his senses.
I AM THE WAR YOU CRAVE. PURPOSE ETERNAL. A LEGACY IN BLOOD.
"It's full of soulfire veins." Sagira's voice is wind to Osiris. She nudges him.
WHEN YOU DRAW BLADES, YOU DRAW ME.
"Do you hear the whispers?" Osiris's words slur.
YOU CANNOT RESIST WITHOUT INVOKING MY BANNER.
"You're hearing something?" Sagira floats near him.
EMBRACE ME, LIGHTBEARER, AND BE A GOD OF DEATH.
"Whispers." His mind clouds.
Note how he had visions, including a vision of a terrace of blades, the earliest reference to the Black Terrace of Xivu Arath. He was completely taken over by her and her beaming voice in his head. After, he slaughters every legionary that was entranced by the cryptolith.
The Cabal trundles forward. Osiris billows incineration. The blaze cooks the interior of the pod. Kneeling Cabal break free of their trance and stand in the scalding air. Of the remaining seven, two fall immediately to a hail of celestial firebolts. Osiris grounds himself and unleashes a cascade of Arc across the mass of lumbering Legionaries. Lightning bends inward against the pod's magnetic shielding. He holds the storm on them until pressure gel hisses and spits from their suits.
Osiris exhales. Their smoldering bodies invade his nostrils. The scene clarifies. Horror, scorch, and char.
This is a lot more clear now that we've also seen what Sloane had to deal with. It's chilling. Osiris was the first to get caught by this, before he knew it was Xivu. His investigation into this incident is what led him to the Moon. It was an intense experience that he couldn't even properly remember:
"You ready to tell me what that was all about?" Sagira asks. She hovers just above the jumpship's control deck, piloting.
"I wish I could. I remember tracking Caiatl's emissary. Finding the Cabal. The night sky. Then… flame and rage. It took everything in me to push those thoughts from my mind." Osiris slumps in his seat. "There is one clear memory. I felt the Dark whisper that we've been chasing. Like a needle in my spine. It must be at the root of all this."
In-game it's definitely more of a horrifying experience and meant to be that way, by Xivu who seeks to warp minds and push them into war, to tithe her and bind them to her and not so much a weird love letter, even by Hive standards.
I really love how Sloane had 6 weeks worth of people surrounding her and grounding her and helping her cope with trauma and being the shield between her and Xivu. Osiris ran into this out of nowhere, just him and Sagira, before anyone knew of the danger. He never stood a chance. With Sloane, we could prepare and help her. I imagine that Saint's insisting on helping her was motivated by what happened to Osiris. He couldn't save him, but he will do everything to save someone else.
Though personally, outside of the context of the game, I wouldn't object. Xivu, you can beam your thoughts to me, for free.
“The sky is mortally wounded, bleeding out. Yet, a part of me longs for the comfort of the gardens. Of your stories. Of sister’s.”
Eris vs Xivu
Destiny + text posts part 19/?