Foreword: I've been especially active in the r/DestinyJournals subreddit as of late, and began writing a number of different shorts. I'm going to start re-posting them here.
TYPE: Transcription
DESCRIPTION: Excerpts from a Praxic Order meeting
PARTIES: One [1] Guardian-type, Class Warlock, designate Rhodes-6 [R6]; One [1] Guardian-type, Class Warlock, designate Aunor Mahal [AM]; One [1] Guardian-type, Class Titan, designate Ferris Char [FC]
ASSOCIATIONS: Afa; Azzir, Rezyl; Black Fleet; Cull, Dredgen; Darkness; Luna; Mahal, Aunor; Morgan, Donovan; Ohr, Wahei; Praxic Order; Sadijh; Tango, Charlie; Toland; Traitor's Die; Umbranomicon; Yor, Dredgen
//AUDIO UNAVAILABLE//
//ANNOTATION: MEETING NOTES//
[Meeting purpose was to discuss ongoing Praxic Order investigations.]
[Investigations discussed prior to detailed transcription include [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and the Shadows of Yor.]
//ANNOTATION ENDS//
[FC:0.1] Based on these reports, I think we should see an end to Guardians crafting Thorn clones soon.
[R6:0.1] Temporarily, at least. Many roads lead into sorrow. Every time we cut off one avenue to it, they find another.
[FC:0.2] We'll just have to deal with that when the time comes. At the very least, we'll see fewer Thorns being forged. It's down to us to hunt down the ones already in circulation.
[AM:0.1] Speaking of circulation, we need to address the recent break-in to the archives.
[R6:0.2] We do have people searching for the thief.
[AM:0.2] Charlie Tango is a mercenary. I'm more interested in the one who hired him.
[FC:0.3] Wahei Ohr.
[AM:0.3] Yes. You've all read my reports on her.
[FC:0.4] I've seen the un-edited ones. The Vanguard did have a point about potential bias, Aunor.
[AM:0.4] You know that--
[FC:0.5] I'm not saying that you're wrong that Wahei is courting some very dangerous knowledge.
[R6:0.3] She has always been overly fascinated with Toland's works. I know she's read every scrap of his writings that she could, including the Tome of Nothing.
[AM:0.5] I've always been concerned about her willingness to explore dangerous knowledge. And that was before the Red War.
[FC:0.6] Have we sent anyone to investigate whatever's left below Old Paris in the catacombs?
[AM:0.6] Most of the paths into them have been collapsed due to time or damage. And there are still a lot of Hive crawling around in there.
[R6:0.4] If Wahei's report is accurate--
[AM:0.7] Yes, "if."
[FC:0.7] Aunor, please.
[R6:0.5] --if it's accurate, and in spite of what Aunor thinks, we have no reason to suspect otherwise, then she took a Hive wizard called Tasarakh off the board. Apollo checked the name against the World's Grave, and Tasarakh was one of the Choir of Deathsingers. With her and her consort dead, any Hive in Paris likely have no major leaders.
[FC:0.8] If the reports we've gotten about what the Hidden Swarm were doing in the Necropolis are true, then it's likely the Hive may have turned on each other, trying to grow stronger.
[AM:0.8] The point I was trying to get to is that Paris marked a major turning point in Wahei's behavior.
[R6:0.6] Well, Lightloss hit everyone hard--
[AM:0.9] This is more than just Lightloss. Spending time in Hive territory away from the Light is dangerous. Eris Morn, for all that she's been of great assistance in combating the Hive and trying to understand the Black Fleet, has been unquestionably altered by her experience. All three of us know what happened to Azzir when he went to Luna. And then there's Toland--
[FC:0.9] Enough said.
[AM:1.0] So you agree that--
[FC:1.0] Enough, Aunor.
[pause]
[FC:1.1] You know there has been no proof that the book itself is dangerous.
[AM:1.1] No? Do I need to remind you about Afa?
[R6:0.7] Afa was one of Dredgen Cull's inner circle. That's a bad comparison.
[AM:1.2] Sadijh.
[FC:1.2] Sadijh was--
[pause]
[FC:1.3] --ill-prepared. We all were, to be fair. That book is not one that should be studied without knowing the dangers inherent in the knowledge within.
[pause]
[FC:1.4] Don't give me that look, Aunor.
[R6:0.8] He has a point. Smugness does not become you.
[AM:1.3] You understand my concerns, then.
[FC:1.5] It's a fair point. There's also the fact that Wahei is teammates with Morgan.
[R6:0.9] Now that's a bit unfair.
[FC:1.6] Morgan is known to participate heavily in Gambit. Much of his preferred arsenal points to that. I approached him and felt him out for informing us on the activities in the Annex, and... well, let's just say his response is not suitable for repetition.
[R6:1.0] Not surprising. Too many Guardians have had bad experiences with the Praxic Order. I can't imagine why.
[AM:1.4] What's that look for, Rhodes?
[R6:1.1] You aren't the most personable of people, Aunor. Guardians from the Old Russian and Red War cohorts don't react well to 'my way or the highway' approaches.
[AM:1.5] Can we stop talking about my own personality flaws for a moment? I'm aware that I have a black-and-white approach to morality and the line between Light and Dark, and that I'm abrasive sometimes. Maybe I am biased against Wahei, but it's not without reason.
[FC:1.7] It is a little concerning, I agree. The things she's been involved in, since the Red War, her behavior, her unwillingness to divulge what became of a Weapon of Sorrow in the wake of the War, and now the fact that she's got the Traitor's Die as well as that book-- Your concerns are valid, Aunor, even if you express them poorly.
[AM:1.6] Thank you.
[R6:1.2] Wahei contacted me.
[pause]
[FC:1.8] Why are we just now hearing about this?
[R6:1.3] There was little in our conversation worth reporting. Nothing we didn't already know. I did keep a record of our conversation, which I'll make available, and it's only now in retrospect that I realize how far she might have delved already.
[AM:1.7] Did you track--
[R6:1.4] I tried. But she was masking her transmission. There was something she said just before she cut transmission, and now I realize she was echoing something that Toland had said, in something he discussed with Eriana-3 before their mission. Toland was fascinated with the Deathsong and the Deathsingers, wanted to know how they were able to survive the Song, something like that. Wahei said... how did it go? Some way to know the Darkness without succumbing to it, to surpass it without destroying it. And she said, "I am so terribly curious to know."
[pause]
[AM:1.8] Char?
[FC:1.9] Yes, Aunor. You were right. We must make finding Wahei a priority and getting the book away from her.
[AM:1.9] It should have destroyed that book.
[FC:2.0] I am loath to destroy books, however profane their contents. But you may have a point where the Umbranomicon is concerned.
[AM:2.0] I'll talk to the Vanguard, try to convince them to call Wahei in.
[R6:1.5] No, I'LL talk to the Vanguard. No offense, Aunor, but Ikora already thinks you're unreasonably biased.
[FC:2.1] Rhodes, make your transcript available. I'll draft a warning and distribute it to the rest of the Order.
[AM:2.1] We must make sure that Wahei is aware of the dangers of understanding the Darkness. If she won't be swayed back to the Light, then she must face the Praxic Fire.
[R6:1.6] I don't think that will be necessary, and if nothing else, the insight she's trying to gain could be the key to our survival.
[AM:2.2] That remains to be seen.
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