Continuity (Lore)

“You're not supposed to be in here! You're going to ruin the surprise!”

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“Orokin secrets cannot remain secret forever! Start talking!”

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Not to be confused with Transference Continuity.

For the Warframe Mod, see Continuity.

Continuity is a ritual created by the Orokin to artificially extend their life, supposedly granting them immortality. It was first mentioned in The War Within,

Lore & History[]

Overview[]

Continuity, in its very essence, is the destructive transfer of consciousness from one body to another, with the mind-altering properties of Kuva playing a key role in it.

During the Orokin Era, Continuity was typically performed during an event called the Yuvan Ceremony. During these rituals, an Orokin, whose current body has grown old and frail, would invade the mind of a prospective host (ritualistically referred to as a Yuvan) under the influence of the liquid Kuva until only the Orokin's mind remained inside the body, erasing the host's existing consciousness.^[1]

Lead and organized by the Yuvan Clerisy, these festival-like ceremonies were generally held in Yuvan theaters, where the young and beautiful were paraded around and put on display for numerous elderly and dying Orokin to inspect. The Orokin would then barter with each other on which Yuvan they would get to choose in their Continuity.^[2]

Locations with a strong connection to the Void seemed to aid in the success of the ceremony, likely because of its metaphysical nature being influenced by emotions and memories. These connections typically appeared on Lua as Void Conjunctions, with the locations of such events being converted into two of the holiest Yuvan temples; the Circulus and the Yuvarium. Additionally, as long as the proper steps were taken, the Continuity rituals held in these temples would be a guaranteed success. Because of this, these two temples were exclusively reserved for use by the Seven alone.

It also is suggested by Cephalon Fragment recordings and the Worm Queen's dialogue that Orokin can also participate in Continuity even after their body has died. Additionally, as described in Voruna’s Leverian, Continuity can even be performed on recent deceased individuals, and even on multiple individuals at once. Whether or not the success of a ritual performed on a deceased individual is determined by how recently they died, and how fresh their body is, is unknown.

The Worm Queen currently uses her harvested Kuva to create Kuva Liches, Grineer super soldiers who are rendered all but seemingly immortal. The only way for a Warframe to properly combat these Liches is to mod their Parazon with Requiem Mods to create a unique passphrase or Requiem Sequence, to permanently sever their Continuity. This allows the Warframe to take down a Lich for good, or purify their Kuva and convert them into a loyal ally.

Yuvan[]

A Yuvan is a person whose body has been chosen as a replacement for an elderly Orokin's dying body during the ritual of Continuity.

Some may have willingly become Yuvans, while others were kidnapped and forced to become one against their will. During The Sands of Inaros quest, it was mentioned that a subservient colony on Mars would have their children kidnapped by the Orokin, who they referred to as the 'Golden Skymen'.^[3] The abductees would then be taken to various Yuvan theaters to be used as unwilling candidates in the Yuvan Ceremony.

During The War Within, the Elder Queen refers to the Operator as her Yuvan, and attempts to conduct the ritual of Continuity on them.

Ritual Process[]

The exact procedure taken to initiate the ritual of Continuity is unknown, although some steps can be inferred from Voruna's Leverian entry, and from what we currently know.

A Soprano was appointed to ‘bridge the gap between worlds’ with her song. Should a Soprano not be appointed, a Mandachord may be used to play automated notes. A spell was then used to imbue a container of Kuva with eldritch energies, causing it to boil and steam. This energized Kuva was then used to transfer the mind of an elderly Orokin into the body of their chosen Yuvan.

During the ritual, it may be possible that the invading mind is able to see and experience the memories of the host, as the Elder Queen was able to recall the Operator’s memories of being aboard the Zariman, despite her never being aboard it herself.^[4]

If the energized Kuva is poured over two beings, then it appears to biologically fuse them together into one single entity.^[5] Due to this, the fused parts of the candidate then seem to take on the appearance of the host, as seen with the wolf heads fused to Voruna's shoulders and hips.

Known Yuvan Theaters[]

The Circulus - Considered to be the holiest Yuvan temple.
The Yuvarium
The abandoned theater in the mountain pass, located on Earth, shown during The War Within quest.

Trivia[]

Yuvan probably comes from Sanskrit, युवन् (yuvan), which means young, youth, strong or other similar meanings.
It is suggested by Ordan Karris' phantom memory that Ballas has died, and has come back to life, countless times, presumably by performing Continuity.
Rell transferred his consciousness into his Warframe, Harrow, in order to stay alive, presumably by using Continuity.
Though the Orokin possess highly advanced cloning technology, they prefer to choose their Yuvans out of real populace. This is probably because their cloning technology is not perfect or they consider that a clone is not a new vessel befitted their status.
The Warframe Voruna, along with her wolf pack, acted as warden and protector of the Circulus.