Magda-9

Magdelene Versenne

**Magda-9** is an Exo Warlock and a major character in *The Wahei Transcripts*. A former Clovis Bray engineer, she is a weapons designer with untold brilliance and an amoral personality. She was a member of the Shadows of Yor-- under whom she used the name **Dredgen Vergift**-- and later the Shadows of Salvation. Her Ghost's name is Vorm.

### Appearance

An Exo woman, Magda-9 sports a crimson robotic chassis with white eyes and a gold throat light. The top of her head sported 8 short cranial spikes distributed in two curved lines across the crown of her head. She preferred to wear a set of pristine white Braytech Researcher robes, like a labcoat, with a pair of Crystocrene gloves, augmented with a wrist-mounted computer, and Ashraven's Iron Hood for a helmet.

### Personality

Magda-9 exhibits a generally stoic persona, frequently standing with her hands clasped behind her back unless otherwise occupied, exhibiting little emotion, though more recently she's projected an air of detached amusement. She is well aware of how smart she is and how indispensable she has made herself to various forces. She speaks with a light accent, something like Dutch or German or Afrikaans, and will sometimes drop a word from one of those languages in her speech.

Magda has a proclivity to ignore legality while pursuing her endeavors, claiming an "amoral" mindset as a scientist and engineer, looking at the bigger picture, as opposed to the well-being of the individual. Most authorities believe this to be more likely a sociopathic bent. She has no qualms with harming individuals, and has even sanctioned the usage of her weapons on non-City aligned settlements, in the interest of collecting data.

Magda has seemingly no loyalties whatsoever, viewing her erstwhile membership within the Shadows of Yor and the Shadows of Salvation as a means to an end; those organizations had served to protect her from reprisals, gather materiel, and enabled her to collect data on her weapons and on the forces they were dabbling in. Similarly, once she became aware of her first life's employment under Clovis Bray corporation and then recovered her previous self's memories, Magda quite emphatically severed her ties to the company and to Clovis Bray I.

### History

#### First Life: Braytech Engineer

**Magdalene Versenne** was an engineer working for Clovis Bray corporation. While her engineering skill was very broad, Versenne specialized in weapons development. At some point, she was moved to Europa, where she helped in the Exoscience Project, and later developed the utilitarian weapons that were used to combat the Vex threat. Her weaponeering skill brought her into contact with Elisabeth Bray, who contracted her to build the paracausal weapon which she intended to use to destroy Clarity Control. When Elisabeth was put down for this, Versenne was fast-tracked for Exomind upload herself, whereupon Clovis Bray I had her memories manipulated to remove her knowledge of the paracausal weapon.

#### Death & Rising: Wandering Weaponsmith

At some point after this, Versenne had left Europa and was on board a Bray transport over Earth when it was brought down. It's not clear when, but is presumed to be during the Collapse. She died in the crash of the transport and was Risen by her Ghost at some point in the middle Dark Age. During this time, she made her way into the Indian Dead Zone, possibly into a Clovis Bray facility in Calcutta. She had dealings with some lesser Fallen Houses there-- especially the House of Blades-- but details are sparse.

#### City Age: Weaponer of Sorrow

Her arrival to the City came following the Battle of Six Fronts. She spent time working with foundries and other smithies, then distinguished herself during the Battle of Burning Lake. It is believed this was when she began taking an interest in other avenues to paracausal power, an interest that was only strengthened after witnessing Crota's might during the Great Disaster. Magda began secret research into proscribed weaponry, such as Thorn, which led to her meeting with Dredgen Teufel, and then with Dredgen Cull (Callum Sol), leading her to the rest of the Shadows of Yor. She began constructing Thorn replicas for them, as well as other bespoke pieces, while compiling data about the efficacy of Darkness-infused weapons. Her association with the Shadows of Yor remained unknown until after the Red War. Via her affiliation with them and Teufel, she was introduced to Dredgen Bog, through whom she was given knowledge derived from the *Umbranomicon*, furthering her ability to develop new weaponry.

#### Post Red War: Shadow of Salvation

After the Red Legion's attack on the City, Magda-9 evacuated to the Indian Dead Zone until Vanguard communications were established to draw forces to the Farm, at which point she rejoined Guardian forces, bringing with a stockpile of weapons now known to have been recovered from a Braytech facility in the Calcutta Ruins. She took part in the Vanguard counter-offensive that reclaimed the City from the Red Legion, but following the conclusion of the Red War, she was visible less and less in the City. During this time, she continued her experiments and advancements in developing weapons making use of paracausal powers, especially Darkness-aligned ones, frequently incorporating Hive components. She advocated that her allies in the Shadows of Yor test these weapons against any targets, including non-combatants. Several communities of non-civic settlers ("Wilders") are known to have been wiped out in this time, as well as non-hostile Eliksni camps and Reefborn outposts.

When Shin Malphur began his pursuit of the Shadows of Yor after his vigilante execution of Callum Sol, Magda-9 escaped the purge along with Bog and his cohort-- who would soon take the name the **Shadows of Salvation**-- their whereabouts remaining unknown for several months. They briefly resurfaced after Malphur's destruction of a Shadows of Yor camp in the EDZ, also affiliated with the Shadows of Salvation. As little intelligence was available as to the cohort's size, it was believed to have been wiped out completely. As both Bog and Magda had access to various safehouses, bunkers, and derelict Golden Age facilities, it is presumed that they hid in these locations to evade detection by the Vanguard, Praxic Order, and Malphur.

Magda-9's work continued, using the remaining members of their cohort to gather materiel and equipment. She modified several weapons with exotic materials and Hive components to develop Weapons of Sorrow-grade armaments--Bog's Huntsman Longbore linear fusion rifle, the Ruiner's auto rifle Malleus Luminarum, and her own sword Hanlon's Inverse. Sightings of their cohort resumed not long after the emergence of the Scarlet Keep, taking advantage of noted alterations to the Hive architecture in and around the Hellmouth to harvest more materials for Magda's experiments, as well as delving into deeper regions below the Lunar surface to attempt communion with the Lunar Pyramid.

The arrival of the Black Fleet and the disappearance of planets and moons through the Sol System as a direct result also prompted interest from Magda. It was not until investigations on and around the *Glykon Volatus* began that Magda herself began making more appearances in the field herself, dispatching and accompanying Bog to the ship in order to recover a piece of plating covered in Hive inscriptions from the Crown of Sorrows for purposes still unknown. This encounter led Wahei Ohr to begin tracking them to try to stop them.

Around this same time, with activities on Europa exposing the secrets of the Deep Stone Crypt, Magda led their cohort into the Clovis Bray facilities there to recover an imprint of her memories from her first life, which she later downloaded into herself. Using her engineering and computer skills, she hacked into the Clovis Bray network before activating and speaking with the Giant Exo Head containing the AI imprint of Clovis Bray I, whom she had locked out of numerous systems out of spite.

Magda continued collecting technology and materiel from across the Sol System, perpetrating a series of thefts and burglaries from various sources, often using Bog as a proxy or in tandem with him. Magda was working on developing an updated version of her paracausal weapon she'd made for Elsie Bray, but without knowing the Shadows of Salvation's intentions, it was assumed it would be used against the Traveler, something she has denied. She also worked to build a customized Exo heavy frame-- one based off designs pilfered from the Lunar Seraph Bunker-- which turned out to contain a corrupted duplicate of Rasputin's intellect. This Exo, dubbed the "Kalki Golem," worked alongside the Shadows of Salvation from that point.

#### Shadowfall

The worries over what Magda-9 and the Shadows of Salvation were doing led to Wahei Ohr assembling a large fireteam to track them down on Europa. Magda had set up shop in a manufactory complex beneath the ruins of Eventide, using a stolen Splicer Gauntlet to take over the facility and control it remotely, while she hacked the local Vex network to construct a forecasting device, the **Scryer**. She remained in the Vex caves working on the Scryer, while Bog and the rest of the Shadows of Salvation battled Wahei's fireteam in the Eventide ruins. Wahei herself made it to Magda and battled her directly, fighting one another to a standstill before the rest of the fireteam caught up, having killed and destroyed the rest of the Shadows of Salvation. Aware that she was outclassed and outnumbered, Magda-9 surrendered.

She was put on trial before a Vanguard Tribunal, where she refused to enter a proper plea (for official purposes, her plea was entered as "guilty") as she did not acknowledge the tribunal's authority. She did, however, argue against her execution, noting that the Black Fleet's presence and the looming threat of greater forces en route to Sol (such as Xivu Arath's war moons) meant that weapons like the ones she'd developed would become necessary. Despite her crimes and the distaste the tribunal had for her, Magda-9's execution was staged and she was incarcerated without the possibility of parole.

### Abilities

**Stormcaller Mastery:** Magda-9 is a Warlock with a specialty as a Stormcaller, latterly focusing with the Attunement of Control. She also wielded Stasis but seemed to only use it as a curiosity.

**Paracausal Weaponsmith:** She is a brilliant engineer, and combined this knowledge (at first largely echoes of forgotten knowledge from her first life) with her Warlock studies to develop paracausal weapons, including some of Weapons of Sorrow quality and capability. (see below)

**Hacking Expertise:** She is adept at cracking and navigating computer systems, especially those connected to the Clovis Bray corporation. She used this to crack into local Braytech systems on Europa and sever parts of them from the rest of the network, which has yet to be undone.

**Splicer Skills:** These skills were only enhanced further when she utilized a stolen House of Light Splicer Gauntlet, able to remotely control a Braytech manufactory complex, reanimate and reprogram derelict combat frames and Exoframes, and even hijack local control over the Vex Network, up to and including dominating an Axis Mind. This was something Magda later claimed was a one-off, that the Vex would adapt to the intrusion and it would not work again.

#### Weapon Crafting

As noted above, Magda-9 is a brilliant weapon designer, and some of her work from her first life is still considered viable today. She has also shown a capability of infusing her weapons with paracausal energies, creating weapons capable of suppressing the Light in Guardians, what is termed "Weapon of Sorrow" (WOS) quality. Among the weapons she is credited with creating:

* Europan Braytech weapon line. These were designed to be cheap to produce, durable and reliable, with little aesthetic consideration, as they were to be mass produced for use against the threat of the Vex. (**Biting Winds**, **Hailing Confusion**, **High Albedo**, **Arctic Haze**, **Coriolis Force**, **Bonechiller**, **Thermal Erosion**, **Subzero Salvo**)
* Multiple **Thorn** replicas. Magda-9 was contracted by various members of the Shadows of Yor to produce these Weapons of Sorrow for them.
* **Huntsman Longbore** - Custom linear fusion rifle crafted for Dredgen Bog, modified from a Hive Boomer using Veist armory tech. This weapon is considered of WOS quality.
* **Malleus Luminarum** - Custom auto rifle crafted for The Ruiner, modified from a Khvostov 7G using Hive tech. This weapon is considered of WOS quality.
* **Hanlon's Inverse** - Personalized jagged-edge sword, crafted using Hive material and a Splinter of Darkness. This weapon is considered of WOS quality.
* **Lux Ruinas** - Paracausal superweapon. Exact yield is unknown, but suspected of being capable of destroying a star. Originally created at the behest of Elsie Bray.

### Equipment

When she was in the field, Magda-9 utilized various weapons and equipment. While she generally avoided combat, she was nevertheless adept at fighting and utilizing everything at her disposal to take out her enemies. She favored pulse rifles, breech-loader grenade launchers, and swords, but had a collection of various other weapon types.

**Drang** - Magda-9 acquired this sidearm via the black market, as it appealed to her aesthetics.

**Thorn** - Magda-9 made a replica of this Weapon of Sorrow for her own personal use.

**Hanlon's Inverse** - See above.

**Splicer Gauntlet** - Magda-9 killed a House of Light Splicer named Ebakis to acquire this during the Endless Night. She was capable of hacking various systems with it, including the local Vex Network, up to dominating a Vex Axis Mind.