What better way to entertain the fans of Destiny’s lore than with a tale of civil war, deceit, and revenge? For this post I will first describe what happened during Calus’s Purge, then move on to Ghaul’s Midnight Coup. Next, I have made a second post covering [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/255612746/0/0]Calus’s Exile and the Shadows[/url] to catch up to present day Destiny 2. I won’t be covering what happens in the Leviathan Raids because that’s in-game content. I have also made a post listing and describing all of [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/255612812/0/0]Ghaul’s Conspirators[/url] and another post for all of [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/255612852/0/0]Calus’s Shadows[/url] that we know of And now, story time • • • [b]Calus’s Purge[/b] When Calus first became Emperor of the Cabal, he ruled alongside (or rather, under the control of) the Praetorate, an aristocratic military council. The Praetorate controlled all of the empire using military force to suppress the people, also taking away the soldiers’ rights to keep them under their control. Calus was sickened by their cruelty and war-like ways and started a civil war to take control away from the Praetorate. Calus’s Republican forces were ineffective against the might of the Cabal military, and any of the people who tried rising against the Praetorate were slaughtered. Before long the last of Calus’s forces were forced to hide out in the ocean and the people were too afraid and beaten down to help. But Calus had some tricks up his sleeve. With the help of some of the members of the Praetorate who also wanted an end to the cruelty, Calus was literally able to stroll into the council room one day and have his forces capture the Praetorate. He declared himself God Emperor, believing he was a divine and enlightened being meant to save his people. This was when the defining moment of his Purge began. To punish the members of the Praetorate who had not already sided with him, Calus stripped them of all their wealth and threw them to the angry mobs of people to be beaten and further shamed. It’s not confirmed if any of the former leaders died during this frenzy, but we know Consul and at least a few others survived to begin their plot for revenge. With the entire wealth of the empire at his disposal and the support of the people, Calus was able to change everything. The Purge now attempted to cleanse the empire and the society itself of its waring ways as well as all the wrongs and suffering inflicted by the Praetorate. Calus encouraged focus on the arts and unity. He freely shared his wealth with the entire population, throwing lavish parties and daily parades where he would have money tossed out. He embraced other species- even those that had already been slaves of the empire for years -and began to incorporate alien technology and cultures into the Cabal’s, leading to a burst of technological advancement. But it did not last. Calus claimed to have created peace, but even those closest to him spoke of instability and outside threats (one of which is confirmed to be the Hive). This belief that Calus was leading the empire to ruin is what allowed the success of a coup. [b]Ghaul’s Midnight Coup[/b] Ghaul was born an albino runt, seen as weak and useless and tossed to the streets to die. But Consul, stripped of everything but his hatred for Calus, found the child and took him in. Ghaul grew up fueled by Consul’s preaching of how wrong Calus was, knowing that he was meant to be a mere tool for Consul and the other surviving Praetorate members to reclaim control of the empire. The runt grew up into a fierce and intelligent pit fighter, catching the attention of Calus. The Emperor made Ghaul the Primus of the Red Legion and kept him close in his circle of supporters. This allowed Ghaul to find that there were many around Calus who wanted to dethrone him, and the group of conspirators grew. Finally, all was in place. But the former Praetorate members were not yet prepared to take over, probably because they knew the population would still hate them. Ghaul saw his chance and took it. Late at night, the conspirators and Ghaul’s Red Legion took over Calus’s palace, killing his remaining supporters and cornering the Emperor at his throne, where his own daughter had waited to cut off his escape. Calus was taken to the Leviathan that night with the last of his Loyalists and banished with unchangeable coordinates set to the edge of the universe. He was not killed because the conspirators knew the people would revolt, but since he was merely removed from the empire the conspirators were able to keep the people satisfied by maintaining the daily festivities and frequent holidays that Calus had instated. Ghaul declared himself Dominus after the success of his Midnight Coup and began restructuring the empire with Consul at his side. With the might of the Red Legion at Ghaul’s back, the old Praetorate members had no choice but to obey him. • • • For the rest of Calus’s story, please follow the link to [b]Calus’s Exile and the Shadows[/b] at the top of the post For a list of [b]Ghaul’s Conspirators[/b], follow the link at the top of the post For more lore and fanfiction, check out my [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217384398/0/0]Archive[/url]