For those of you who enjoy these, I am sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoy this. For those of you who hate these, go ahead and take the time to mute me now, and you should thank me for the time without making you see more of these in the forums. In the many years since the City was founded it has seen its fair share of heroic weapons as well as those of a darker, more villainous type. Arguably the most famous of the weapons was the Thorn of Dredgen Yor born of the dark and occult power of the Hive. Thorn is not the only weapon born of an abhorrent union with the darkness, they are known collectively as the Weapons of Sorrow. These Weapons of Sorrow tell of the greed, ambition, and fallibility of guardians. But these are not the only villainous weapons that have been carried by guardians. The Red Death is one of these, it was born under different conditions than Thorn and likewise it speaks of a different tale of the guardians. The Red Death was not born of the darkness like thorn instead it was crafted in the fires of the crucible. A traditional crucible is used to melt simple steel so it so that it can be easily shaped into a finer tool. But not all steal is of the same quality and as it melts sometimes it becomes apparent that the steal has too many impurities to be made into something of quality, and so it is cast off so that the smith can focus his efforts on making something great of the finer steal. The crucible of Lord Shaxx is much the same in the way that it shapes the guardians into legends. Though there is one major difference, the steal that is cast can do nothing but cool off with time, while a guardian that fails to prove his greatness can rage against his competition to disastrous affect. Years ago a new guardian, certain of their greatness, entered the crucible to prove it to everyone else. As the guardian was proven worthy by a ghost, it likely found early success. Driven by the sweet taste of success the guardian craved to clime even higher in the ranks of the crucible, this would prove a tragic ambition. The trouble was that while the crucible is a training ground for guardians newly born into the light of the traveler, it is also a place where experienced guardians, legends in their own right, can hone their skills. As the guardian trained and improved he began to be set against these legends, and the guardian failed every time. Though the guardian continued to struggle for victory for some time, he became more desperate after each attempt. That is until the struggle broke the guardian. The guardian’s desperation distorted his purpose and he was wholeheartedly consumed by his desire to destroy his fellow guardians. In the advent of this madness the guardian conceived his and plan for victory and his infamous weapon, the Red Death. The Red Death was built around two concepts, fear and the power that comes from fear. Every aspect of the Red Death, from its grim appearance to the way the weapon interacts with its wielder’s blood lust. The Red Death was made from a common frame that can be seen as the foundation in many other weapons used by guardians, perhaps this was meant to be symbolic of this lowly guardian’s rise to prominence as an emblem of fear. The basic frame was altered to include brutal looking spikes along the front portion and an imposing bayonet, as well as a haphazard coating of red paint which looks like a gruesome blood stain. Even at a distance these aesthetic additions create an unsettling image when held in the hands of a Guardian, the radiant “heroes of humanity”. More frightening than the Red Death’s savage appearance is the way that it sustains its wielder and encourages more death to sate its blood lust. When the Red Death claims a victim the wielder is invigorated, they forget the pains of battle entirely, and they find that the excitement of the kill makes their hand move deftly as they reload for even more kills. To kill with this gun is to begin a terrible addiction that is hard to break. With his tool of destruction ready the mad guardians took to the wilderness and he began to subject the guardians to the harsh fires of his own crucible. Every time he saw a guardian he raised the gun to his shoulder and if ever he doubted his actions every time he looked down the sights towards his prey a red skull and cross bones stared back and reassured him of his purpose, and he unleashed his rage. Every time a guardian fell the mad guardian added a skull to the gun, like a twisted record of his terrible slaughter. Guardians are hard to kill, they often get back to the fight thanks to their ghost, and so many of the mad guardian’s victims returned to his hunting grounds. The mad guardian did not mind because he was just as tireless as them, each kill only energized him more and more as he work to prove that he was better than all of them. It is true that not all of the deaths given by this gun are a final death but they were all red deaths and what is more terrifying and a red and grisly death over and over again? The leaders of the Vanguard were terrified by the reports of a guardian turning on his own and so they took action. They marked the wielder of the Red Death as an enemy of the tower, to ensure his elimination. In time the mad guardian fell, and the Vanguard ordered that the Red Death and the plans to build it be destroyed, so that no other guardian could fall into this madness. But it was too late for this measure. The maker of the Red Death was not alone, many other guardians had been promised greatness and their place in legend only to fade into obscurity. These others had already followed the mad guardian’s example and they crafted their own Red Deaths for much the same purpose. In time the Vanguard managed to suppress the knowledge and existence of the Red death. Sightings of a Red Death in use became few and far between, but the guardians still whispered rumors of that mad guardian who broke under the crucible and made his own terrible legend. Some whispers were out of fear, like a ghost story told on a dark and lonely night, while others held a voice of subtle envy for the mad guardian. For many years this public denial and private acknowledgment was the state of things, but after the release of Skolas the world changed for the guardians. They found the Trials of Osiris waiting in the reef, Lord Saladin began to bring the challenge of the Iron Banner to the tower more frequently, and Shaxx demanded even more from the guardians in the crucible. Many of the guardians became obsessed with these guardian vs. guardian challenges and the glory of victory. Some even to the extent that they forsook their duty to combat the darkness. As these guardians became fanatics of crucible competition perhaps they found those rumors of the mad guardian and the Red Death more understandable and appealing, almost enchanting. And so the Red Death again found purpose in the hands of misguided warriors of the crucible, despite continued orders for it to be destroyed. Almost to spite these orders guardians even began to build their own prototypes for Red Deaths under the title Red Spectre. And so the legend of the Red Death speaks just as much to the nature of the guardians as it does of its own history. The guardians are not infallible and some will fall, not just to the darkness but to themselves. But the Red Death does not speak only of a nightmare, there are guardians still who endeavor to give it a newer nobler purpose. They turn its relentless fury against the darkness that seeks to wear humanity down. The Story of the Red Death leaves the guardians with one terrible question, are they doomed to fall into misguided conflict and competition as they fight to become legend, or can they be pulled up to a greater purpose than they could see from the moment of their rebirth in the light? ........... As always let me know what you think... If you have questions about were the story points come from, ask... And you want something else let me know... If you want to see the others they are here....and more will come later. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/192203422?showBanned=0&path=0]The Tome[/url]