Lord Saladin took center stage for the new Rise of Iron expansion and with that comes a whole host of new questions, and lore around the Iron Lords and a new mysterious guardian we get to meet in the Iron Banner!
With the Guardians well into the journey of the new Rise of Iron expansion I thought it fitting to stop and take a look at the Iron Lords and some background on them.
The Iron Lords & The Iron Wolves
If you’ve played Destiny then you have probably heard the names of the Iron Lords and didn’t realize that’s what they were. The Iron Banner weapons and armor bear the names of the Iron Lords.
Efrideet – Once thought dead, she has returned as our newest Iron Banner vendor! She is a Hunter who was a talented sniper. Of her it is said, “Every time she pulled the trigger, an enemy of the City died” and that her “keen eye never missed her mark.”
Felwinter – A Voidwalker Warlock, described as “he who stared into the Void.”
Gheleon – A Hunter, and he was called a true Guardian of the people.
Jolder – A Titan “whose mighty hammer taught the Darkness fear.”
Perun – A Hunter. “She who hunted the Darkness where it dwelt.”
Radegast – A Titan, and the leader of the Iron Lords — “He who was first among the peers of the Iron Banner.”
Similar – A Titan, called “he who was the Last City’s first wall.”
Skorri – A Warlock. “She who sang out the Iron Song” in honor of her lost companions.
Timur – A Warlock, recognized as “he whom the City’s enemies dreaded most.”
The Iron Lords are “ancient warriors from the City’s founding” who played a key role in the Battle of Six Fronts and the building of the Last City’s walls.
You may have not realized there is another group related to the Iron Lords called the Iron Wolves. Not much is known about these Guardians besides their names and the vague lore that “In our darkest hour, nine Iron Wolves emerged from the ruins” and “And beneath its branches, the Iron Wolves forged an unbreakable oath.” Here are their names, which should also be familiar:
Ashraven
Bretomart
Colovance
Deidris
Finnala
Haakon
Nirwen
Tormod
Weyloran
The Battle of Six Fronts
A great battle when the Last City first faced an overwhelming attack, and repelled it decisively. The Fallen marched on the Last City and led by four orders of Titans, the City’s defenses held back the enemy on six different fronts—”and not one front broke.”
Also present at the battle was Osiris, a Warlock who rose to the ranks of Vanguard Commander until it is said he went mad with obsession trying to discover the truth of the Vex and the Darkness.
The Greatest of Them All
Lord Saladin Forge runs the Iron Banner tournament, a way to test Guardians and find the strongest among them. The Iron Banner seeks great champions to lead the fight against the Darkness. It was born to honor the Iron Lords and their efforts in the earliest days of the City.”
Lord Saladin gained his fame at the Battle of the Twilight Gap, where he led the City’s defense against an army of Fallen. He’s not just an advisor in the Tower, but a battle-tested Guardian who’s legacy holds true to Guardians all over the galaxy, and he’s no longer alone!
Long long ago, a rocky planet inhabited by the proto-Hive collided into a gas giant named Fundament and shattered. All of the rocky planet shards that were left scattered across the Fundament ocean, within one of of it’s many layers, and became “continents” in which the proto-Hive took refuge and lived out their existence. This vast world was filled with five hundred and eleven other intelligent species who also inhabited Fundament’s sea through seemingly similar circumstances. Surrounding Fundament and within it’s great orbit were fifty-two moons inhabited by a race called the Ammonites. The Ammonites were bony, six-armed cephalopods who evolved on an icy moon of Fundament. At some point, the Traveler arrived at the planet and became a patron of this race, who helped them build an advanced space travelling civilization with paracausal technology that spanned all of Fundament’s fifty-two moons. Deep beneath the Fundament ocean dwelled a massive creature called the Leviathan, a great disciple of the Traveler, and one who plays a larger part in this races existence, as it’s a gatekeeper for the darkness being imprisoned in the depths of Fundament.
This world was filled with torment and a great fear of a catastrophic event called the “Syzygy” an artificially induced alignment of Fundament’s moons that would create a devastating global tidal wave, the “God-Wave” as the Ammonites called it. One kingdom of the Fundament Ocean was the Osmium Court, ruled by the Osmium King. When the King went mad out of fear of the “Syzygy”, Taox, the teacher of the King’s three daughters, invited the rival Helium Drinkers of the Helium Court to invade and install her on the Osmium Throne. The Helium Drinkers did so, but failed to kill the King’s three daughters: Aurash, Sathona, and Xi Ro. The sisters escaped on a ship, swearing an oath to avenge their father by overthrowing the Helium Drinkers and bringing revenge to their family by hunting down Taox.
In just a few short years after the sisters transformed they took the Hive and conquered a large portion of Fundament’s surface population, reclaiming the Osmium Court and harrying Taox off-world. After building their first starships, the Hive followed Taox and encountered the Ammonite civilization that lived among the moons, as well as the Traveler. The Ammonites were far more advanced than anything on Fundament’s surface and were initially able to drive back the Hive’s attacks, especially as Auryx held the Hive back in the hope of achieving a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Savathun denounced her brothers weakness and killed her brother for his futile efforts of peace. The great Worms hidden in Fundaments depths then vested Auryx and his sisters with the power to defy death so long as they continued their conquest and fed their worms. Auryx returned to life and together he and his sisters defeated the Ammonites, killed the Leviathan, and forced the Traveler to flee.
A Hobbits Journey 