Traveler (Destiny)
The Traveler is an entity that features in Destiny.
Contents |
History
The Traveler was a mysterious entity of unknown origins that had existed in the universe and was the source of a power called the Light.
It had travelled from one star system to the next where it aided in the growth of civilizations where it made its presence known only to complete this task after which it simply departed those worlds. According to Saint-14, there was some suggestion that the being had previously visited other species. The Traveler once looked to uplift the Krill but the Witness reacted first and corrupted the species to become its followers known as the Hive. One particular race was the Elskini who once hosted the Traveler who referred to it as the Great Machine. It brought a glorious age to their civilization until it departed during a time known as the Whirlwind. Its departure led to the fall of their society leading to them departing their home and in search for the Great Machine. Other species touched by the Traveler included the civilizations of the Ammonites and Harmony with the Cabal becoming aware of the entity. At some point, the Traveler headed towards the Solar System where according to the Dreams of Alpha Lupi it was said that it chose Earth and humanity for a reason.
According to one account, the Traveler came to sense something from the sun in the Sol system which gave it hope and headed to the planet Earth. It first came to the attention of mankind when it appeared around Jupiter and began terraforming two of its moons. It came to be referred to as Moon X and quickly became the subject of international attention on Earth. After completing its work on Jupiter, it vanished for 14 months and reappeared at Mercury where it began to terraform the world. It then vanished once again for 7 months only to appear at Venus and similarly terraforming the planet. Many questions came about the nature of Moon X with cults forming among humans that worshipped it some of whom ended up in conflict. Some of these cults even called for the unification of Earth's governments. The Traveler later approached the inner world of Mars with mankind quickly launching a mission to intercept it. This saw Project Catamaran being renamed as Ares One where astronauts encountered the entity which they named the Traveler who created the first rains to fall on the planet. Through this encounter, mankind began to develop new science and technologies as it embarked in the start of the Golden Age as the power of the Traveler helped them expand across the Solar System. It had helped in the transformation of numerous worlds in the system across the years where it eventually moved to Io to terraform that planetoid. After many years, the period of the Golden Age came to an end when the Traveler's enemy namely the Darkness arrived in pursuit of its quarry and sought to destroy humanity in an event known as the Collapse. The Traveler decided to lend its aid and stand with mankind in fighting the Darkness as it abandoned its work on Io to rescue its charges. The war that was fought brought about the end of the Golden Age with the Traveler nearly sacrificing itself to protect humanity where its body came to reside over a barren region on Earth. A fragment of the entity broke from it with this Shard of the Traveler falling onto the Blackened Forest of the European Dead Zone with this piece noted for being corrupted. By this point, the crippled entity came to become dormant where it had lost much of its senses and flesh by the Darkness where it remained unaware of the world around it. By this point, the devastated remains of humanity struggled to rebuild where they built the Last City beneath the floating Traveler who had gifted its power and protection to humans. Thus, man came to persevere and survive where they attempted to re-explore the Solar System that now came to be dominated by a number of extraterrestrial species. With its last breath, the Traveler had also created the Ghosts to seek out someone worthy among the dead of Earth and imbue them with the power of the Light. This led to a number of beings getting resurrected and becoming Guardians that were charged with protecting humanity now that the Traveler could no longer accomplish this task.
Thus, the emergence of Lightbearers came on Earth though unfortunately many of these individuals became warlords where they began to subjugate the survivors of the Collapse in the Dark Age. This proved to be a dark period for mankind who faced the general hardships of survival, the tyranny of the warlords and predation from alien races in the solar system. Bands of Lightbearers with integrity came to band together where they stood up against the warlords leading to the formation of groups such as the Iron Lords and Pilgrim Guard. The remnants of humanity came to find a refuge beneath the resting place of the Traveler where they began construction of the Last City. This site was safe from attack by the various alien races and the now declining warlords. Within the shadow of the Traveler, the City became the last bastion of humanity and existed within its protective aura thus beginning the City Age.
Two years later, the Solar System came under attack from reinforcements from the Cabal Empire with this consisting of the Red Legion led by Dominus Ghaul who had struck at Earth in order to claim the power of the Traveler for himself. This saw him destroy the City where he used a machine called the Traveler's Cage to cut its Light from the Guardian's who were forced to flee and regroup elsewhere. The Speaker was captured in this time with Ghaul interrogating him in an attempt to find a means of claiming the Light for himself as he desired to be chosen by the Traveler. Thus, he focused all efforts into finding a means of contacting the Traveler with this causing tensions with his Consul. Around this time, a single Guardian managed to re-connect with the Light through the Shard of the Traveler whereupon he came to unite the Vanguard thus bringing the Guardians together as they sought to liberate the Solar System before it was destroyed by the Red Legion using their superweapon known as the Almighty. Around this time, Ghaul attempted to use the Cage to forcibly imbue himself with the Light culminating in a battle with the Guardian. Ghaul's physical form was destroyed and he transitioned into a being made of Light where he thought himself as a god only for his form to be destroyed along with the Cage as the Traveler came to be reborn. The Traveler's Light thus spread out across the cosmos where it restored its power to the ranks of the Guardian's. The energy spread forth from Earth across the Solar System and beyond with it even going outside the Milky Way Galaxy where it came to be registered by an unknown force that made its way to towards the Traveler.
n time, following the Almighty's destruction, a massive fleet of Pyramid vessels descended upon the Sol System, confirming the Vanguard's fears that the Traveler's counterpart has returned. However, as the Guardians work in deciphering what the Darkness wants, the Traveler continues to hang motionless over the Last City, even as the Pyramids touch down on various worlds. Even Zavala noted that the Traveler appeared to do nothing to combat its ancient enemy. Nonetheless, the Guardians continue to work diligently on figuring out the purposes in the messages the Darkness is sending while protecting their holdouts in the system. As the Pyramids approached and consumed Io, Mars, Mercury and Titan, the Traveler, in an event which saw all fireteams return to the Last City to witness it, gathered light in order to repair the damage which had been caused by the events of the Red War. The Traveler later called out to the Crow, sending him dreams of flying over the European Dead Zone and other areas he had previously visited. When the Guardian went to investigate the locations featured in these dreams, they discovered paracausal feathers at each site. Later, the Crow and the Guardian went to a region of the EDZ featured in these dreams, and were led by a spectral hawk made of Light to a previously-undiscovered shard of the Traveler. On top of the shard lay an effigy of the Hand Cannon Hawkmoon, crafted out of the material of the Traveler's outer shell. Afterwards, a dying Witch Queen came near the Traveler where she died after losing her worm. However, the Traveler came to revive Savathûn who was chosen as a Guardian and gained a Ghost allowing her to wield the light. She then began to experiment with the light and imbued it into her followers thus creating the Lucent Brood. As a method of protecting the Traveler from destruction, the Light-bearing Savathûn attempted a ritual to bring the Traveler into her throne world, after which she would seal off entry for all beings. Despite succeeding in drawing the Traveler in, Savathûn was defeated at her own game and the spell came to be broken, causing the Traveler to return to the Last City's sky.
Overview
In appearance, the Traveler appeared as a massive spherical entity that was larger than spacecraft and similar in size to a small moon.
Its outer surface was made of Neutronium and electroweak matter.
According to one account, there existed a place called the Womb that as described as being a cosmos inside a bottle or an "infinite space enclosed within a celestial egg. It was said that there were trillions of star-like souls orbitd each other in a complex weave. A Ghost came to claim that this was where all the Ghosts were born though another Ghost came to dismiss this claim and said that none of their kind remembered their time before their creation.
Through this power, it could embed entire planets with its energy and transform barren lands into habitable worlds.
It was said that the Traveler existed to help other worlds but has never wished to be worshipped as a god nor made its presence known any more than necessary to cultivate a civilization. Once its work was finished, it would simply leave without fanfare.
The Hive uniquely held the Traveler in special contempt as it embodied the antithesis of their culture and society.
Notes
- The Traveler was created by Bungie and featured in the setting of Destiny.
Appearances
- Destiny:
- Destiny 2:
External Links
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