Phota Nui

Phota Nui is a small island located in the Southern Islands

Geography
Phota Nui is a rocky, nearly unihabitable island. An inactive volcano sits in the center of the island. In the volcano's caldera, the ruins of Ta-Phota, a long abandoned Ta-Matoran village, can be found.

On the northernmost coast of the island, the small Ga-Matoran village of Ga-Phota is built upon the only sandy beach of the island. The beach is a curious place, as the white sand seems almost out of place compared to therest of the rocky and gloomy island.

Eastwards from the central volcano is Fa-Phota. Fa-Phota is a small village built around a massive lodestone which is belived to create images upon it's surface predicting the future. It is home to a group of Fa-Matoran.

To the south of the volcano is De-Phota. Hundreds of years ago, the land around De-Phota was a sandy desert, but due to the eruptions of the central volcano, the desert was transformed into a vast land of solid glass. De-Matoran live upon massive pillars of glass, preferring to live alone in silence but still having social gatherings every few days. To the west of the volcano, Onu-Matoran live deep inside the massive ravine that is Onu-Phota. Onu-Matorans spend most of their time mining precious gems and magnetic rocks from the earth, which they then sell to their neighbors.

History
Phota Nui was created by the Great Beings at the same time that the rest of the Matoran Universe was. Phota Nui was once a lush paridise of dense, unihabitable jungle. The only place inhabited by Matoran at this time was inside the active volcano, where a village of Ta-Matoran lived. Regular eruptions and lava flow had caused the Ta-Matoran to construct great foundries and factories on the side of these lava rivers.

However, during the Great Cataclysm, an earthquake cut the volcano off from it's underground lava source and soon cooled off. With no more lava flows the Ta-Matoran, whose society depended on their factories and foundries, could no longer operate the factories. They were forced to abandon their homes and set sail north in search of a new home, but they vowed to return if the volcano ever became active again.

Sometime afterwards, boats carrying matoran arrived on the shores of the island. The once-lush land had now been turned into a rocky, barren land thanks to the earthquakes, and the Matoran found it hard to settle on the island. Though they eventually succeeded in colonizing the island, life on the island remained difficult. At some point, a Makuta named Eizus would be assigned to the island.

Many years later, six Toa Canisters would wash up on the island's rocky shores and the Toa Phota would emerge from the canisters. Eizus would infiltrate the Toa team using his shape-shifting while the Toa would assist with tasks around the island and would tell the Matoran stories about the lush Homeland they had left behind.

When the Toa received news that a boat of Matoran had gone missing near Karzhani they left Phota Nui behind to attempt a rescue. While they were gone, the local Matoran anxiously awaited their return.

However, only Toa Uhlus would return to the island. The Matoran greeted the Toa hero with joy and comforted him, yet they were rebuked. Something on Karzhani had changed Uhlus, and the Toa soon became a tyrant, ruling over the island with an iron fist, claming that he could better protect the island this way. The Matoran were confused at this turn of events, but some understood his logic and became loyal supporters.

When Toa Ouka arrived on the island shores, the Matoran reacted to their old friend with suspicion, then with openness. Okua soon told the Matoran of his plan to defeat Uhlus and free the island. He gathered little support, and befriended Vuhi who became a close ally.

During the battle between Uhlus and Ouka's Rebuilt Toa Phota the Matoran of Phota Nui mostly stayed out of the conflict, but did assist in getting the Toa to the volcano where Uhlus' fortress stood.

After the island had been liberated, the Matoran and Toa lived on the island in peace until they were forced to evacute to Bara Magna

Former Inhabitants

 * Eizus (deceased)
 * The Toa Phota
 * Azu
 * Vuhi
 * Several Ga-Matoran
 * Several Onu-Matoran
 * Several Fa-Matoran
 * Several De-Matoran