Peace on Spherus Magna
- Tribes develop on Spherus Magna as a natural consequence of different groups of beings congregating in the same areas geographically.1
- Once, tens of thousands of years ago, Spherus Magna is a lush, green world. From its great ocean to its sun-bleached desert and its vast forests, jungles, and mountain ranges, it is a wonder to behold. Six tribes of Agori live on this world in peace and plenty. The world of Spherus Magna is ruled by a collection of men and women called the Great Beings. They are wise and just, and for an age, their creations help to make life better for everyone who lives on the planet.2
- Long ago The world of Spherus Magna is prosperous and serene.3
- The world of Spherus Magna is an amazing place, with its vast cities of the Bara Magna desert, to the living vessels that sail the great ocean, to the incredible creatures that dwell in the deep forest. The world is ruled by the Great Beings, brilliant scientist-kings who live inside a fortress with no entrance which can only be accessed with their assent.4
- Many thousands of years ago The community which will eventually become the bone hunters breaks off from the rock tribe Agori.5
- Over 150,000 years ago8 The prototype robot walks Bara Magna.8
- Long ago Wise but fallible Great Beings construct a giant robot. Its power source is unstable, and an explosion scatters parts of the metal giant across the face of the planet.3
- Years before the Core War/long ago The Great Beings undertake an experiment to construct a massive robotic space vessel capable of exploring other worlds. They test a prototype in Bara Magna's desert, but it explodes, and the parts litter the desert, where they still remain as of the Core War. The project fails.2
- The prototype's original power source is housed in a vast fortress complex located in a valley to the north of the Black Spike Mountains, where it still remains as of the Core War.2
- At some point, the Great Beings fit at least one Skopio with mounted blasters.9 Tinkering by the Great Beings results in many Skopio being fitted with implants such as Thornax launchers and all-terrain treads.10
- Some will later believe that the Great Beings tamper with the evolution of the Zesk, explaining why they have stinger tails.11
- More than 100,000 years ago The Vorox are a race of proud warriors.12
- The Zesk are members of Spherus Magna's sand tribe, native to the desert region of Bara Magna. They gather food and water for the more powerful Vorox, who offer them protection in return. They have a less sophisticated social structure than many other tribes.11
- Long before the Shattering, Arena Magna is built as a site for sports matches and other public events.13
- More than 100,000 years ago, the Thornax launcher is originally thought to be a crude device and is mainly used by members of the sand tribe.14
- More than 100,000 years ago, the Skopio are revered by one Agori tribe [the Iron Tribe].10
- Before the discovery of energized protodermis The iron wolves are created.15
- Possibly before the discovery of energized protodermis The Great Beings discover (non-energized) protodermis.15
Fall of the Iron Tribe
- 103,000 years ago16 Virtually all of the tribe of Sahmad and Telluris17 is wiped out by a plague. The few survivors find themselves ostracized, as the other villages believe they might be disease carriers and refuse them admittance. As a result, those who have escaped the plague make new lives in the wilderness and nurse a terrible hatred of all other Agori.16
- When the [Iron Tribe] is wiped out by a plague, it is said that they are being punished for honoring the monstrous Skopio.10
- Prior to the Core War, Telluris manages to find a sort of acceptance among those Agori who like tinkering with machines. Berix is one of the first to try to make friends with Telluris, and he will credit Telluris with some of the techniques he will come to know for repairing gadgets. At first, Telluris welcomes the attention after so many years. Later, he becomes convinced that the other Agori are out to steal his ideas, and he drives them away.17
- Believing that the villages intend to kill him and take his designs and equipment, Telluris throws himself into building a vehicle so powerful that no one could defeat it. The result is the Skopio XV1, born of a combination of genius and madness.17
The Element Lords
- Over time, the Great Beings weary of the day-to-day rigor of running a world. They wish to be free to invent and experiment. They make a fateful decision that will one day lead to doom for the entire planet and its people. Using their vast knowledge, the Great Beings create six powerful entities they call Element Lords. Each Element Lord controls the power of one of nature's forces: Fire, Ice, Sand, Rock, Water, and Jungle. Each is given an Agori tribe to watch over, the tribe whose choice of territory matches their element. The Element Lords are to protect the Agori from threats, guide them through crises, and take on the responsibilities of rule so the Great Beings can live as they wish.2
- Not wanting to be bothered with the day-to-day business of running a world, the Great Beings create six Element Lords to guide the planet for them.4
- For a long time, this new system works. Although the Element Lords are never particularly fond of each other, they have no reason to fight. The tribes continue to thrive.2
- Life on Spherus Magna is peaceful, if not always easy.4
- A fighter all his life, Malum is first a fighter in the army of the Element Lord of Fire.19
The Core War
- The Energized Protodermis Entity once lives in the core of a planet [Spherus Magna], until one day a portion of its substance forces its way to the surface.20
- Ice Agori originally discover energized protodermis in the Northern Frost, the Element Lord of Ice's realm.21
- More than 100,000 years ago Everything changes when a small group of Agori discovers a strange liquid [energized protodermis] leaking from the ground in the region of the ice tribe. The liquid is silvery in color and unlike anything they have seen before. Curious, one reaches down to touch it and is instantly disintegrated. Terrified, the rest flee.2
- Two Agori of the ice tribe make a discovery. They find a pool of silvery liquid which seems to be coming up from inside the planet. One of them feels nervous and wants to report back to the Element Lord of Ice. The other grows curious, intrigued by the power felt radiating from it. The Agori touches the liquid with a bladed weapon but is immediately killed. It is discovered that making contact with the strange substance is a fatal mistake.4
- In the days that follow, the curious flock to the pool from multiple tribes. They discover that the liquid can do more than destroy – it can also transform, sometimes with shocking results. In one instance, it is used to transform a large, lizard-like creature into an impressive, bipedal reptilian creature.4
- Contact with energized protodermis results mostly in deaths and some transformations of animal life.21
- The potential power of the substance captures the imagination of the Element Lords, who hold a meeting. They agree that whoever controls the liquid can do anything, perhaps even surpass the Great Beings. Since the substance was found in his lands, the Element Lord of Ice demands that it belongs to him, to the others' displeasure.4
- Word quickly spreads of this frightening discovery. Since the liquid was first discovered in the region of the ice tribe, the Element Lord of Ice claims ownership of it. However, the other rulers insist that the liquid is obviously flowing from deep inside the planet; since they all have a claim to the planet, the liquid should belong to all of them.2
- It does not take long for the inhabitants of [Spherus Magna] to discover the power of energized protodermis and begin warring over it.20
- The ice leader responds by posting warriors at his borders and around the site of the spring, forbidding all members of other tribes from approaching.2
- The Element Lord of Ice fortifies his borders and bars anyone outside his lands from entering, which displeases the other rulers.4
- The Element Lord of Ice's actions prove to be the spark that ignites all of the old jealousies and hatreds among the Element Lords. Each musters an army of warriors, with the initial plan to seize control of the ice tribe's lands. Any thoughts of an alliance quickly shatter as each Element Lord makes clear that he or she intends to control the spring when the fighting is over. Once this becomes known, a six-way civil war on Spherus Magna is inevitable.2
- Anger leads to arguments, arguments lead to skirmishes, and skirmishes lead to a conflict that spans the planet. They call it the "Core War," as six tribes battle for possession of the power that flows from the heart of their world.4
- Since the liquid they fight over is presumed to be coming from the core of the planet, the conflict will come to be known as the "Core War." Battles rage in every corner of Spherus Magna, as ancient cities crumble and the land itself is torn apart by warriors and war machines. The ice tribe is driven from its strongholds, but no side seems to be able to seize control of the spring and hold it for very long. Meanwhile, the Great Beings view what is going on with horror. They first request, then demand, that the Element Lords sit down and negotiate peace. However, it has been so long since the Great Beings have ruled directly that they have little influence with their creations. The six rulers agree on one thing: the Great Beings should stay out of the dispute, if they wish to remain safe and healthy.2
- Because energized protodermis was originally discovered in the Northern Frost, the Ice Tribe is defending it for much of the war.21
- The discovery of a powerful energy source at the core of the planet of Spherus Magna turns its people against one another. Warriors fight for different sides, until the stresses of battle nearly tear the planet apart. Beings wearing dark, hooded cloaks [the Great Beings] watch battles from a safe distance.3
- Alliances between armies during the war are made of sand. Everyone wants the spring, but no one wants anyone else to have it, so no one works together for very long. These alliances are made during the war, not prior to it. All six groups are after the same thing; the Ice Tribe has it, and everyone else wants it.21
- The Ice Tribe loses control of the spring a few times during the war, but never for very long.21
- The jungle tribe is deeply divided over the Core War, with some supporting it and some opposed to it.22
- The Skrall serve as the army for the Element Lord of Stone [sic, Rock] during the Core War. They are the largest and most powerful force in the conflict.23
- The Vorox once serve as warriors of the Element Lord of Sand, fighting in the Core War. Native to the Bara Magna desert, they are known even at this time for their wild, unpredictable, and often primitive behavior in battle.24, 10
- The fire tribe originally builds the vehicle which will later be known as the Cendox V1, along with many of its kind, during the Core War. Most of them are lost in battle prior to the Shattering.25
- The Baranus wagon is built during the Core War by rock Agori and used to transport weapons and supplies to the front lines of battle. Being unarmed, many of the wagons do not make it back in one piece.26
- The Thornatus V9 is originally built using technology cast off by the Great Beings. Perditus holds a high rank in the army of the Element Lord of Fire and so has access to caches of equipment, much of which is left over from past experiments. Inspired by some old plans he found along with the gear, Perditus builds his vehicle. One of the most important additions he makes is the four mounted force blasters.27
- During the Core War, Perditus designs the heavily armed Thornatus V9 and rides it into battle. He becomes something of a legend among his foes, using his vehicle to shatter lines of troops.28
- As a warrior in the Core War, Vastus is an enthusiastic soldier. He truly believes that the jungle tribe has the right to own the incredible liquid seeping from inside the planet, and he fights bravely and even savagely in battle. He leads an elite unit sent to infiltrate enemy villages and perform acts of sabotage.29
- During the Core War, Vastus stumbles upon records of ancient meditation techniques practiced by ancestors of the Agori.29
- Shortly before the Shattering During one mission, Vastus's team is to sneak into the ice village and trigger an avalanche to block the main road off the mountain. An error leads to a much larger slide than anticipated, which wrecks half the village and kills hundreds. Most of the dead are Agori who were not active in the war. The incident makes Vastus re-examine his life, and he begins to feel guilty about the things he has done.29
- Many thousands of years ago Tarix is a skilled warrior in the Core War, leading an entire battalion in the service of the Element Lord of Water.30
- Tarix with his battalion once clashes with Ackar and his fire troops in Spherus Magna's Field of Mist.30
- Tarix is honored for almost single-handedly seizing control of an ice fortress.30
- Tarix leads the charge at Lein's Drift.30
- In Tajun, with enemy armies all around and vast expanses of desert to cover, the water tribe needs a vehicle that can be used for rapid scouting. They adapt a courier vehicle, the Kaxium V2, adding weaponry and thin armor, and name it the Kaxium V3. The Kaxium V3 plays a crucial role for Tajun in the Core War.31
- For part of the Core War, Metus works in an ice tribe training camp, helping to prepare warriors for battle.32
- More than 100,000 years ago During the Core War, Metus works in the camp of the ice legion, training warriors.10
- Prior to the Shattering, Gelu is a reluctant warrior in the Core War. He sees what the conflict is doing to the land and its people and decides he wants no part of it. He deserts and heads south into the White Quartz Mountains.33
- Iconox is the first of the new villages founded on Bara Magna during the Core War, as the ice Agori move south to find refuge from the conflict.34
- Gelu moves to the White Quartz Mountains only to have the war follow him there.33
- During a major battle [in the White Quartz Mountains?], Gelu's best friend, Surel, is badly wounded and believed to be dead. Although Gelu searches for him, he never learns that Surel has in fact survived.33
- Metus is with the last group that migrates south to the eventual site of Iconox.32
- After the war breaks out, Raanu is horrified by its scale of destruction.18, 10 He sees the damage done by the Glatorian in the war.18 Raanu's experiences in the war, during which he sees what armies of Glatorian do, will eventually lead him not to trust Glatorian very much.10
- As the war continues to spread, the Great Beings send Agori to collect a sample of the liquid for their study.2
- Concerned, the Great Beings send two Agori of the fire tribe, Raanu and Kyry, to obtain a sample of the strange liquid that has sparked the war. Presumably, the reason they have not asked ice Agori to do the job is because they would not be willing to defy their Element Lord in the middle of a conflict.4
- When an emissary of the Great Beings approaches Raanu with a request to perform a service to his world, Raanu agrees. Raanu and another Agori are sent out into the world to collect a sample of energized protodermis.18, 10
- Raanu and Kyry trudge through the freezing region of the ice tribe for their mission. They find that the ice tribe guards placed in defense of the spring have already been defeated by the jungle tribe. Suddenly the fire tribe and ice tribe forces appear, and the two must evade three armies to obtain the sample. Amid the chaos, they manage to reach the pool, and Raanu gingerly collects a sample of the liquid in the special vial given to him by the Great Beings.4
- After many adventures, Raanu and the other Agori succeed in collecting a sample of energized protodermis.18, 10
- Raanu and Kyry make their escape under cover of darkness.4
- The Great Beings anxiously study the mystery substance and do not like what they see. After checking and re-checking their calculations, they reach a grim conclusion: if anyone were to tap the full power of the spring, the stresses inside the planet would grow until the world itself was destroyed.4
- What the Great Beings learn about the liquid is shocking: the substance is so powerful and unstable that efforts to drain it from the planet itself would cause an explosion that would shatter Spherus Magna. If one of the Element Lords should hold the spring for long enough to try to collect the liquid, it will mean the end of the world itself.2
- Armed with this information, the Great Beings try again to persuade the Element Lords to cease fighting, but it is in vain.2
- In desperation, the Great Beings decide on a new strategy. They revive an old experiment that failed years before: the construction of a massive robotic space vessel capable of exploring other worlds. At the same time, they begin building a "doomsday weapon": a small army of shapeshifting mechanical beings programmed to seek out and eliminate any armed warrior (these will later come to be called "baterra"). With these, the Great Beings hope to force a halt to the war by wiping out the opposing armies before it is too late.2
- At the same time as they work on the baterra, the Great Beings speed up another project: the creation of a giant robotic being with immense power, one capable of escaping the planet before its destruction. The robot will be given two missions: to find and study other worlds, so that what happened on Spherus Magna will not happen again, and to one day return and make right what has gone so terribly wrong on Spherus Magna. Agori like Raanu never learn about "Mata Nui" or that the Great Beings hope to one day restore Spherus Magna to its former greatness.4
- Over 100,000 years ago Mata Nui's original form is built on the world of Spherus Magna. He is built to bring order back to his world and its people.3
- The Great Beings use the sample of energized protodermis collected by Raanu as part of the construction of the Mata Nui robot.18, 10
- Raanu is the first Agori to see a baterra or the original Mata Nui robot under construction.10
- The actual building of the Mata Nui robot is done by nanotech wonders called Matoran, who will one day inhabit the robot and keep it functioning properly.4
- The Matoran construct an island "city" called Metru Nui which will act as the robot's brain.4
- Mata Nui is created on Spherus Magna at the Great Beings' fortress.35 Mata Nui is not created in Bara Magna.36
- The Great Beings are breaking new ground when creating the nanotech AI to allow Mata Nui's body to function and so do not know how sophisticated the culture of the Matoran, etc. is going to turn out to be.37
- The Red Star is built in a Great Being facility. [This facility is the one marked by the map that Tarduk finds.]38
- After Raanu collects the sample of energized protodermis18 A devastating Core War battle takes place in Iron Canyon, a maze of rock ideal for ambushes and traps.39 Raanu serves as support staff for the Fire army during the Battle of Iron Canyon.18, 10
- Ackar fights in the battle of Iron Canyon.10
- Stronius starts to earn favor when, as the commander of a Skrall patrol, he ambushes a much larger force of jungle tribe warriors and wipes them out.40
- By the last days of the Core War, the Skrall have largely scattered the opposing armies.23
- Just before the Shattering, Tarix leads a patrol into the desert of Bara Magna.30
- Stronius gains more favor when, at the head of a legion, he routs the ice tribe's forces from the Black Spike Mountains. This has the unintended consequence of giving the fire forces a chance to smash the ice tribe's northern flank and seize control of the spring.40
- In desperation, the Great Beings unleash one of their more powerful creations: robotic warriors which will one day be known as "baterra." Shapeshifters, the baterra are programmed to seek out and defeat any armed warrior.4
- The Great Beings release the baterra toward the end of the war.21
- By the time the Great Beings unleash their legion of machines, the planet is in dire danger. The Element Lord of Fire has conquered the ice region and is about to tap the spring. The Great Beings have to act quickly.2
- For a time, the baterra wreak terrible havoc on the battlefields of Spherus Magna, but even this is not enough to stop the raging Core War.4
- Even as the baterra begin cutting into the ranks of the various armies, the Great Beings see to the construction of an impenetrable maze around their fortress complex. This is intended to keep the Element Lords from seizing the power source within and leads to this area being named the "Valley of the Maze" by the Agori.2
- The Great Beings order some of their baterra to construct an impenetrable maze around their fortress, so that no one can claim the secrets and the power hidden inside.4
- More than 100,000 years ago The Great Beings construct the Valley of the Maze.10
- In the final battle of the war, the fire armies seize control of the energized protodermis spring.21
- Meanwhile, the forces of the Element Lord of Fire have seized control of the spring. Knowing they cannot hold it for long, they plan to tap its power as quickly as possible. The Element Lord of Fire is pleased, and time is running out for Spherus Magna.4
- Knowing that the Ice Tribe never loses control of the spring for very long, when the Fire Tribe seizes it, they rush to tap its power despite warnings of what will happen. This is the only concerted effort to drain and collect the energized protodermis and tap its power, and it precipitates the Shattering.21
- 100,000 years ago3 Learning from their mistakes, the Great Beings desperately construct a new, larger robot. This machine is infused with an intelligence and mission to learn about the universe, and thus Mata Nui awakes as the intellect of a giant robot. Smaller beings are placed inside of him to maintain the inner workings. Mata Nui's earliest memories are of being activated on Spherus Magna.3
- The Great Beings rapidly finish work on their new robot vehicle, which they call Mata Nui, a living colossus who towers 40 million feet high. Inside, the body is filled with nanotech beings the Great Beings have designed to keep the vast mechanism running smoothly. Knowing the end is imminent, the Great Beings program Mata Nui with a mission: to travel to other worlds and observe their cultures, learn from them, so that tragedies like the Core War will not happen again. Then, when the time is right, he is to return to the remains of Spherus Magna and heal the planet's wounds.2
- 100,000 years ago Safety measures in the form of six Toa warriors (the Toa Mata) are put into place inside of Mata Nui (kept dormant inside canisters in the Codrex), just in case of unforeseen disaster.3
- Ominous tremors can be felt in the ground as the Great Beings ready Mata Nui for launch.2
- Of all the Agori, only Raanu and Kyry see the disaster about to happen. They rush toward one of the fire tribe guards [Malum?], but he does not heed them, confident they are about to win the war.4
- The Great Beings launch their robot, who will one day be called "Mata Nui," into space in the hopes that he will one day succeed where they have failed.4
- Shortly after the fire tribe overruns the spring thanks to Stronius's attack in the Black Spike Mountains, efforts by the Element Lord of Fire to tap the power of the spring lead to the Shattering.40
- Mata Nui's construction is completed just in time. As Mata Nui leaves his home planet of Spherus Magna, energized protodermis leaks from the world's core and triggers a massive explosion that flings two huge chunks into orbit. These become the jungle moon of Bota Magna and the ocean world of Aqua Magna. The desert world that remains is renamed Bara Magna by the survivors.3
- What the Great Beings have feared comes to pass. Violent tremors shake the planet, cracks appear in the earth. Raanu and the Element Lord of Fire look on in shock as the ground around the spring begins to crack and rumble.4
- The forces unleashed in the Skrall's final battle to seize control of Spherus Magna's energized protodermis cause the planet to shatter.23
- As the mammoth mechanical being rockets into space, the actions of the Element Lords bring final disaster. A chain reaction begins in the core of the world which builds in strength until the planet cannot contain its force.2
- The Shattering. An explosion tears Spherus Magna into three pieces.2
- More than 100,000 years ago A world-wide disaster devastates Bara Magna.41
- Spherus Magna explodes into pieces. Agori in later years will call this moment "the Shattering," when their old lives ended forever.4
- Thousands die in the disaster and chaos that follows. It is believed that the Element Lords survive the disaster.2
- The liquid from the core dissipates into space.2
- Some of what makes up the Energized Protodermis Entity's form is taken and placed in the [Matoran universe], and so escapes before cataclysm overtakes [Spherus Magna]. The Entity does not move to the Matoran universe by choice.20
- Those warriors and Agori who survive find themselves trapped on whichever chunk of the planet they happened to be when the Shattering struck. For some, like many of the residents of Bara Magna, this means adjusting to a new climate, new terrain, and a devastating shortage of resources.2
- Amazingly, some survive the disaster, but they are trapped on whatever piece of the planet they were on when it shattered.4
- The ice Agori wind up stranded in Iconox after the Shattering.34
- When the planet splits apart, Tarix and his troops find themselves trapped on Bara Magna.30
- Kiina is in the desert fighting a battle during the Core War when the Shattering takes place.42