Sylens

**Sylens** is a character from the 2017 game Horizon: Zero Dawn, who is a prominent character in the World Protection Security Agency (WPSA) stories. He has a deep fascination with the history and technology of the Old Ones, and allies with Aloy to discover the truth behind the machines and the fate of the Old Ones.

In the WPSA stories, it is soon revealed that Sylens is a White Whistle from the Made in Abyss universe, known officially by his White Whistle title as **"The Erudite Scholar", Sylens the Knowledgeable**. He is considered one of the, if not, the most legendary and mysterious White Whistle ever recorded in Orth's Cave Raider's history books, due to him being the first person to reach the 7th Layer, the Final Maelstrom. This garners a lot of notoriety from the other Delvers about him, including another White Whistle known as Lyza, whom she is impressed of his legend, which unwittingly starts her venture into the Abyss in the past. His living legend as the first White Whistle Delver to reach the Final Maelstrom unwittingly starts the events of WPSA: Made in Abyss.

## Appearance

Sylens is a tall man, with dark skin, black eyes, and is always seen wearing the standard blue, gray, and black clothing common with the shamans of the Banuk tribe, which is what leads people to believe that he's a member of the tribe, although this has been disputed in game.  He has shiny, blue rings imbedded at various points on his body, including in his chin, and at several places on both of his arms.

In the WPSA stories, it is revealed in WPSA: Made in Abyss: The Sun Blazes Upon the Golden City that Sylens is a White Whistle, where his White Whistle is sculpted from a life reverberating stone into the shape of a Focus with a modelized ring of light encircling it with supports attached into the whistle, mirroring the appearance of a Focus being used.

## Background

Perhaps the most important and knowledgeable ally of the WPSA, Sylens has a much greater understanding of the Horizon universe. He goes so far in learning much of the multiverse's cultures, including the Made in Abyss universe, which earned him a prestigious, legendary spot in the past as a White Whistle and the first Delver to reach the 7th Layer.

However. TURING's self-destruction has only worsened his close companionship between him and the WPSA he swore to ally with, since his very creation, combining with the geniuses of Haruhi Suzumiya and Ricotta Elmar, was destroyed during the final events of Cauldron EPSILON in WPSA: Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds.

When his past with Lyza was finally revealed, it reaches a point where Sylens has finally cut off connections with the WPSA in WPSA: Voyagers!, thus ending with the WPSA losing its most valuable ally.

## Personality

Reckless in his pursuit of knowledge, Sylens is an erudite individual. For his entire life, he has developed an obsession in the technologies and the fate of the Old Ones, which often results in him having zero to no boundaries to his own pursuit. He views ignorance as a curse, which is well-defined during Aloy's visit to GAIA Prime, when he chastised Ted Faro posthumously for the deletion of APOLLO, which was the greatest gift of the Old Ones. He is condescending and insensitive, especially Aloy, after knowing her true origins as Elisabet Sobeck's genetic clone.

However, despite his cold and erudite exterior, Sylens often has admittance to his mistakes, which included his mistake of worshipping HADES, in spite of the knowledge he retained in the past.

## Powers and Abilities

Because of his past history with HADES, Sylens is well-versed in ancient learnings including Physics, Calculus, and Computer Science. Having studied the technologies and learnings of the Old Ones for his entire life as a researcher and a wanderer, his understanding of the Old Ones extend to ancient medical concepts including pharmaceuticals and cryogenics, the concept of corporations, as well as ancient human languages including English. He is also a skilled programmer, who is able to create a Focus network, as well as its backdoor to monitor the Eclipse's activities undetected. He is a master tactician, who was able to take down a Corruptor by himself.

As the story progresses, in the WPSA stories, Sylens is able to learn advanced programming techniques including the creation of the artificial intelligence known as TURING. He is also well-versed in the creation of multiverse portals, an ability he also learned from HADES. It is revealed that much like Reg, Sylens is completely immune to the effects of the Curse of the Abyss during his prolonged venture through its seven known layers, thus making him the very first person to approach the 7th Layer, The Final Maelstrom, becoming the first White Whistle to ever reach the said layer. For many years of his adventures in the Abyss in the Made in Abyss universe, Sylens has developed an extreme proficiency in the identification of Abyss's relics, and has at least 37 relics in his possession.

* **Skilled Programmer:** Sylens has an unrivaled proficiency in the usage of Old Ones technology. He was successfully able to create a network of Focuses, as well as a back door that he could use to monitor them undetected.
* **Polymath:** Due to his interactions with HADES, Sylens is well-versed in physics and calculus.
* **Archaic Knowledge:** Having studied the Old Ones for most of his life, Sylens has perhaps the most comprehensive knowledge of the Old Ones of any human alive. His knowledge includes the concept of corporations, ancient medical techniques, and some understanding of long-ancient languages. He was able to deduce that Faro robots had a role in ending the Old Ones' civilization, although he was unable to confirm it until Aloy came along.
* **Master Strategist:** Aside from his wide array of knowledge, Sylens is a skilled tactician.
* **Skilled Hunter:** While not as obvious as his intellect, Sylens is adept as a hunter, being able to take down a Corruptor on his own.
* **Tribal Knowledge:** Sylens has shown himself knowledgeable in Banuk and Carja lore. He is versed in the Carja faith to the point that he could present HADES as the Buried Shadow. While it is unclear whether he was ever part of the Banuk tribe, his knowledge of Shamanism is vast enough to where he could pass as a shaman, if not be one himself.

## Timeline

`About 2979 A.D. - He was born in The Cut, home of the Banuk.`

`[21 YEARS LATER...]`

`About 3000 A.D. (21 y/o) - He becomes a Shaman of the remote werak known as Owl's Watch.`

`[10 MONTHS LATER...]`

`About 3000 A.D. (21 y/o) - He later betrays the Conclave after ransacking the caves and is later exiled by his own choice.`

`[6 WEEKS LATER...]`

`About 3001 A.D. (22 y/o) - His journey into researching of the fate and the technology of the Old Ones has begun.`

`[8 YEARS LATER...]`

`About 3012 A.D. (33 y/o) - He later finds the remains of a Metal Devil, known as B.O.R.-7 Horus, and his fateful encounter with the Rogue AI HADES begins. After its repair, he is later granted knowledge of the Old Ones, including Physics, Calculus, and Computer Science.`

`[TEN MONTHS LATER...]`

`About 3013 A.D. (34 y/o) - He founded the militaristic cult Eclipse, where he begins creating Focuses for the Eclipse army, as well as creating a backdoor, knowing that he never trusted HADES in the first place.`

`[SEVEN DAYS LATER...]`

`About 3013 A.D. (34 y/o) - He is later betrayed by the Eclipse and HADES, forcing him to be in hiding while monitoring the motives of Eclipse in the shadows through the backdoor.`

`[ONE YEAR LATER...]`

`About 3014 A.D. (35 y/o) - Using the knowledge he has learned from HADES, as well as research about portals he got from HADES, he later uses it to create a portal to visit another world known as the Made in Abyss universe. There, he begins his ventures into this new realm on the search for the rumoured Relics of the Abyss.`

`[THREE YEARS LATER...]`

`About 3017 A.D. (38 y/o) - He is the first person to reach the 5th Layer, the Sea of Corpses. He later had a fateful encounter with the White Whistle Delver in the Ido Front, known as Bondrewd. Sylens and Bondrewd clashed within one another, before the former was victorious against the latter.`

`[ONE YEAR LATER...]`

`About 3018 A.D. (39 y/o) - He is the first person to reach the 6th Layer, the Capital of the Unreturned.`

`[ONE YEAR LATER...]`

`About 3019 A.D. (40 y/o) - After his five-year venture into the sacred place known as Abyss in Made in Abyss universe, he is the very first person to reach the 7th Layer of the Abyss, known as the Final Maelstrom, as well as all the layers of the Abyss, who is now a White Whistle. In parallel to that, he continues his research of the fate and the technology of the Old Ones, as he goes back to the Horizon: Zero Dawn universe, once again.`

`[ONE YEAR LATER...]`

`August 28, 3020 A.D. (41 y/o) - Two days after the self-destruction of GAIA Prime, a ruin of the Old Ones, he later establishes a workshop there within the ruin's edge, after he failed to enter inside the facility for many times.`

`[NINE YEARS LATER...]`

`April-June 3029 A.D. (50 y/o) - Sylens ventures back into the Made in Abyss universe and heads into the Capital of the Unreturned via the portal he created, where he later has a fateful encounter with another legendary White Whistle Delver, known as Lyza. Lyza knows Sylens' legend from another world, as well as his legendary ventures in the Abyss.`

`[TWO MONTHS LATER...]`

`June-August 3029 A.D. (50 y/o) - Sylens and Lyza reached the 6th Layer once again, with the latter telling the former how he did such an impossible feat. Lyza tells Sylens that her daughter will be a future Cave Raider in the future, and she tells him that her daughter Riko has been brought back to the surface by Ozen and her during her ventures to the 4th Layer with a group of Cave Raiders including her deceased husband Torka. Lyza vows Sylens not to tell Riko anything about this fateful encounter, before Sylens agrees and leaves the Made in Abyss universe, once again.`

`[SIX YEARS LATER...]`

`May-June 3035 A.D. (56 y/o) - Six years after encountering Lyza, Sylens continues his research in the Abyss, where he later locates dozens of Relics of the Abyss, totaling it to 37. However, he was attacked by a group of Stingerheads, prompting him to be on hiding, creating an encampment in the process, but losing the book of Relics, at the same time.`

`[FOUR YEARS LATER...]`

`July 3039 A.D. (60 y/o) - Sylens later has a fateful encounter with the WPSA (World Protection Security Agency) members, Riko, Reg, and Nanachi in the 5th layer of the Abyss. He is supposedly killed by Bondrewd at the final battle, but is later revealed to have not been killed, because of the Relics he has found, which turned out to have countered the effects of the Curse.`

## Datapoints

* With Lyza
* Maho Akashi

## With Lyza

### Description

SYLENS, 6TH LAYER
ERROR: Ident tags missing. Unverified format. Data integrity unknown.

### Location

6th Layer - The Capital of the Unreturned

**SYLENS**: For years, I have ventured through my own world and investigate the fate of the Old Ones for decades. When I later venture into the Abyss, it gives me a new meaning of being a lone wanderer, Lyza. I've travelled every corner of the tribal lands, searching for answers as to what happened to the Old Ones.

**LYZA**: Old Ones? Like ancient people? From what I can tell, those technologies that you possess are far more advanced from any Special Grade Artifact we have in this world.

**SYLENS**: Ancient, yes. I've studied ancient learnings including Calculus, Physics, and Computer Science from an AI known as HADES. I was responsible for the creation of the cult known as the Eclipse. Knowing that HADES was not to be trusted, I created what is called a Focus Network, as well as a "back door", which was used to spy on them.

**LYZA**: That's pretty much a mouthful of information that I had no idea how to comprehend all of them, but that's an interesting story that my daughter would want to hear!

**SYLENS**: Daughter?

**LYZA**: Riko. I gave birth to her in the 4th Layer, but my husband Torka was killed by the time she was born, and she was also killed from the Curse of the Abyss, as well. However, she was later resurrected through an Artifact. She was carried above Orth, where she would be taken care of Jiruo, in my absence.

**SYLENS**: The concept of empathy and adoration is more of a foreign concept for me, since I have spent four decades of my life researching the Old Ones and collect as much information as possible to begin my research on their past fate.

**LYZA**: I wish you could see her. But please, Sylens, if you come across with her in the future, do not tell her anything about this meeting. I want to keep it a secret to her.

**SYLENS**: I promise, Lyza. Until then, we'll see each other again.

## Maho Akashi

### Description

SYLENS, TOWN OF ORTH
ERROR: Ident tags missing. Unverified format. Data integrity unknown.

### Location

4th Layer

**MAHO**: So, tell me anything about your world, uh... Mr. Sylens?

**SYLENS**: I have secrets to hide. But, I came from a world of the Old Ones.

**MAHO**: Old Ones? I know in my world that they are called the prehistoric people, but Old Ones sounds kind of strange.

**SYLENS**: Yes. For years I have been wandering around, searching through traces of how the Old Ones perished in my world. How such marvelous discoveries have been washed away. Failure after failure, year after year. The Old Ones left such technological marvels including the Focus. But despite my travels around the ruins, my travels have become fruitless, but not until I met the ruins of a Metal Devil. In it contains an A.I. of such advanced origin, known as HADES.

**MAHO**: Metal Devil? HADES?