Xûr Tracker // Hunter

Stat Total : 67

	+26	32%
	+7	32%
	+2	32%
	+18	32%
	+2	32%
	+12	32%

Stat Total : 67

+26

32%

+7

32%

+2

32%

+18

32%

+2

32%

+12

32%

Liar's Handshake Lore

Liar's Handshake

While Otto and I finish up inside, Thalia covers the lookout.

He's a thin, quick shadow, this lookout, and he watches every angle. He listens for every sound. He's on his toes, ready to throw up the alarm the second he sees one little thing out of place.

Guy like that sees everything, but he doesn't see Thalia.

She comes out of the shadows like a ghost, but steps full into the light, because now she wants to be seen. She waits a second too long for my liking — gives him too much breathing room between the reveal and her first punch. But I shouldn't doubt her. He doesn't even have time to bring his hands up. He's fast, but she's faster.

She throws herself into every punch like it's her last, dodges and ducks his blows like a dancer. Scariest of all, she bares her teeth in this nasty smile while she does it. Doesn't make a sound.

So that's the last thing the lookout sees: her silent, grinning face, as her cross-counter reveals a hidden knife that slides smoothly into the soft flesh under his chin.

Never touches a gun, that girl. She likes to get close. Likes to look right in their eyes and be the last thing they see.

Thalia lets him drop, wipes her knife clean on her sleeve, and raises her hand for Ayrin. Go, man, go.

Stat Total : 52

+10

32%

+2

32%

+12

32%

+8

32%

+2

32%

+18

32%

Ketchkiller's Mask Lore

Ketchkiller's Mask

The Ether Tank, Eliksni Quarter, Last City
— —

What's that, Guardian? You want to hear about the old crews from someone who was there?

You think I was around for the Whirlwind? Ha! I'm a few molts shy. No, I hatched into the House of Wolves. You know the story — and if not, I don't have the time to explain it to you.

But I trade in information. I ran with some tough crowds in the past, maybe knew someone who knew someone... you get the idea. So I know a fair bit about those crews.

For them, every puff of Ether came at someone's expense. Your best bet was to be stronger than the next crew over — and when things were especially bad, stronger than whoever was in the cot next to yours.

So they got strong. And remember, they didn't have Void or Solar like you do; they had claws. Blades. When they killed, it was without hesitation, and when they died, there was no coming back.

You Guardians, with your little Ghosts hovering nearby, you have the luxury of kindness — that was never an option for the old crews. They were like anyone else; they were cruel, but you needed to be cruel to survive in those days.

And they're not "back," like I hear Misraaks saying; they never left. You're up against the ones who stayed alive all this time. The ones who learned how to survive. How to sacrifice. How to take what they need, whatever the cost.

...and speaking of cost, I'm not seeing any more Glimmer in your account. I think we're done talking.

	Arms

Ketchkiller's Grips

	"Being captain just means everyone has a reason to want you gone." — Spider

Stat Total : 54
	+2	32%
	+14	32%
	+10	32%
	+2	32%
	+24	32%
	+2	32%

Ketchkiller's Grips

Eliksni Quarter, Last City
— —

The old crews! Yes, I have gathered much information about them in the past weeks. In fact, I have just finished going over my notes!

The old crews rose in the wake of the Whirlwind, during what we Eliksni refer to as the Long Drift — the span of time between the fall of Riis and our arrival in the Sol system. I believe the equivalent period would be your Dark Ages, though Riis did not have Risen, or Iron Lords. Instead, we had the crews. As you can imagine, this period was quite lawless, as the stability and abundance of Riis was no more. This resulted in what I believe is called a zero-sum game: a situation in which every gain or advantage is earned at the expense of another.

Several fearsome individuals rose to great power and authoritative prominence at that time; the Eliksni word for them translates to "Ketchkiller," meaning one who boards and wrests control of enemy ships. These Ketchkillers commanded great fleets and raided many supply routes, procuring objects of historic or intrinsic value along the way. It is exciting to wonder what treasures they accumulated beyond those we've recovered already!

Many crews were abolished or disbanded over time, but those that survived did so through great hardship — they are formidable indeed. But then, so is the Vanguard, and its Guardians.

Thank you for asking about my research into the old crews and their significance. It is always a pleasure to talk about it. After all, what use is knowledge if it is not shared?

	Chest

Ketchkiller's Vest

	"Make sure any flag you fight under is worth dying for." — Spider

Stat Total : 50
	+10	32%
	+14	32%
	+2	32%
	+6	32%
	+16	32%
	+2	32%

Ketchkiller's Vest

The Annex, Last City
— —

The old crews? Ain't much I can tell you that you couldn't get from Rahool, but I can't blame you if you'd rather stay awake for the whole story, heheh. C'mon, loosen up, hero! If you think a grim expression is all it takes to move up through the Vanguard... well, you may have something there.

Okay, I'll start at the beginning. The Traveler chose the Eliksni and everything was great over in Riis, until it wasn't. The Whirlwind happened, the Pyramids showed up, the Traveler took off through space, and from what I gather, it wasn't a pretty scene.

Eramis was there for it. And — credit where it's due — she picked herself up, grabbed a crew, and went after the Traveler. She cut through everything in her way, dead set on hunting it down.

And she wasn't the only one with that idea. Whole fleets of ships chased the Traveler. Lawless days. Hopeless days.

...See, I was here for the Dark Ages. And when there's nothing but loss around you planetside, you can still find a rooftop, sit in a snowfield. You can go into a forest and find a moment of quiet — a little scrap of peace.

Ain't like that on a ship. Things go from bad to worse, you just have to face it. And Eramis did. That takes a gutful of grit.

Now, don't think I'm writin' love poems to the Shipstealer over here — we find her, I'm drawing down quick as you are.

But if the big old Traveler blasted outta the sky tomorrow? You bet your entire vault we'd chase after it. We'd be the new crews, going after something we knew in our bones was ours, not stopping for anyone or anything that got in our way.

And we'd still think of ourselves as heroes, wouldn't we?

Stat Total : 56

+2

32%

+15

32%

+12

32%

+16

32%

+9

32%

+2

32%

Ketchkiller's Strides Lore

Ketchkiller's Strides

House Salvation Ketch, Themis Cluster
— —

We are raiders and cutthroats, killing each other for bare survival. But what else could we have become? You can't speak of us — the old crews and their infamy — without speaking of the Whirlwind.

Like hatchlings chittering for their mother, we were abandoned. Weak. Left to die. You all know what came after. We lived. We lived, and all we had were our lives.

Great Houses fell, and from their ruins rose the crews. We followed the traitor Machine to this system and found the Humans just as soft and weak as we had been; as reliant, helpless, and blind as the Machine had made us. But the Humans had taken it from us, and so they would pay with everything they had.

And now? Now we remain where others have failed. Enemy ships quaver at the sight of our banners. They break against our hulls. And when we pick them clean of all they have, we find other prey and do the same.

We know the truth in this system: we are only as strong as those we kill.

Hunter Cloaks do not have randomized stats.

	+0	32%
	+0	32%
	+0	32%
	+0	32%
	+0	32%
	+0	32%

Hunter Cloaks do not have randomized stats.

+0

32%

+0

32%

+0

32%

+0

32%

+0

32%

+0

32%

Ketchkiller's Cloak Lore

Ketchkiller's Cloak

Eliksni Quarter, Last City
— —

What makes a House? It is a good question, and one that many Eliksni do not think on often enough.

For Humans, a house is a place. But for Eliksni, a House is a family. It has a culture. A philosophy of living, shared by all.

That is why the House of Light survived, even when we fled Europa. Even after the Shipstealer took all we had. We were bound not by place or possessions, but as family.

Cryptarch Matsuo asked me why the old crews are not considered Houses. It is a wise question. One that, perhaps, does not have a singular answer.

I think it is because those who lead the old crews do not wish to be true Kells. A Kell is responsible for the safety and prosperity of their House. It is an honor, and a burden.

Those you call Pirate Lords wish only to take — they give nothing, even to their own people. Each raider is responsible only for themselves. A crew is expendable... a family is not.

The old crews live a sad life. One best left in the past.

Xûr's Hunter Armor for May 10, 2024