Shadow of Ages

"We've stalked the shadows of your "universe" since the first days of its existence. We have witnessed the rise and fall of titans and would-be-conquerors. We have changed the course of destiny itself to suit our purposes. Would you expect anything less from the future rulers of existence?"

- Unidentified Shadow of Ages member

The Shadow of Ages is an ancient, malevolent faction founded by the mysterious entity known as "Millennium".

History
The Shadow of Ages was originally founded 100,000 years ago by the being known as "Millennium". Millennium was an entity who possessed a great amount of power over fabric of time. However, after a great deal of research, discovered a way he could increase his powers to the point where he would become near unstoppable. This involved learning how to foresee the future, and prophesying events. He would then have to alter the future in a way that prevented the prophesied event from happening. Knowing he could not perform such acts alone, began recruiting a number of beings such as ex-Dark Hunters, Skakdi, exiled Vortixx, and others generally disliked by the rest of the universe.

Over the course of a few centuries, Millennium had amassed his own secret army of warriors and spies. He then proceeded to scatter a number of agents into several civilizations, with the instructions of detecting potential points in time which they could alter. Millennium then began watching the events of the universe unfold. Gradually, over the course of several centuries, the Shadow of Ages integrated itself into the myths and legends of the universe.

Millennium later supplied a warlord who would later conquer Versuva with a large army of powerful warriors. This was part of a plot to prevent the inhabitants of Versuva from supporting the Order of Mata Nui in it's war with the Brotherhood of Makuta far into the future. The plot failed when the Hand of Artakha got involved, resulting in Millennium having the warlord killed in order to prevent him from leaking information about the Shadow.

Several hundred years ago, one of the Shadow's paradox-related experiments went terribly wrong, resulting in the time distortion being detected by the Order of Mata Nui member Mersery. After tracking down the source of distortion for several weeks, Mersery soon found himself in direct contact with members of the Shadow on a chain islands east of the Shadow's base of operation.

After overcoming the agents sent to eliminate him, Mersery arrived at the Shadow's headquarters and encountered Millennium in person, mere moments before he was about to create a larger, more destructive paradox. After preventing Millennium and his allies from creating the paradox, Mersery and Millennium fought. Whilst the duel was close, Mersery eventually managed to emerge victorious over the maddened tyrant. Sensing great potential in Mersery, Millennium offered Mersery membership into the Shadow of Ages, and the role of his apprentice and second-in-command. Though Mersery was deeply tempted by the power he could wield, he eventually declined the offer, knowing what he could become with such power at his disposal.

Angered, Millennium attempted to kill Mersery, though only found himself being aged by hundreds of years by the Mersion's time powers. Weakened, and in no state to fight, Millennium vowed revenge on Mersery, though was unable to prevent the Mersion from escaping. Millennium then underwent a slow, painful process that returned him to his natural age, and restore his original power. Unfortunately, this took a course of 2,000 years, during which the Shadow had splintered into small groups led by power-hungry members. After having his age restored, Millennium retook control of Shadow. He then had all detailed records of the group's existence erased in order to prevent being tracked down by the Order of Mata Nui and other powerful factions.

Centuries later, Millennium sent one of his minions to the Brotherhood of Makuta's headquarters on Destral. There, the agent was instructed to capture Makuta Dredzek, and deliver him back to the Shadow's base. The agent succeeded in defeating Dredzek, and brought the Makuta before Millennium. There, Millennium offered Dredzek membership into the Shadow of Ages, an offer Dredek accepted.

Recently, During the war between the Order of Mata Nui and the Brotherhood of Makuta, the Shadow of Ages ordered his agents within the Dark Hunters to destabilize it in order to prevent from assisting the Order of Mata Nui in their war. However, this attempt was foiled by The Shadowed One, who interrogated the agents until they revealed who they worked. The agents were killed soon after by The Shadowed One when the refused to supply him with any more information. In order to prevent the hunters from finding him, Millennium had his remaining operatives within the group create a false record of another group led by a being called "Millennium."

Millennium later contacted the Zeverek bounty hunter Skorr, and sent an emissary to hire him on the Tren Krom Peninsula. The outcome of these negotiations remain unknown.

Later, shortly after the Brotherhood of Makuta's defeat at Metru Nui, Millennium teleported Dredzek and his Matoran assistant, Corzakx, to Chrone in order to protect them against Teridax. Following this, Millennium shielded his agents and servants from Teridax. He then instructed Dredzek to amass an army of Rahkshi for the his purposes.

Known Actions

 * Built a fortress on the island of Chrone.
 * Discovered a way to create temporal paradoxes.
 * Recruited several beings into the Shadow of Ages.
 * Scattered agents of the Shadow throughout the universe.
 * Supplied a warlord with a large army of warriors.
 * Had the warlord killed after he failed to conquer Versuva.
 * Attempted to punch a enormous paradox in the fabric of time.
 * Sent several members to kill Mersery.
 * Attempted to improve their first attempted major paradox.
 * Offered Mersery membership into the Shadow of Ages.
 * Restored the natural age of Millennium.
 * Erased all detailed records of their existence.
 * Captured and recruited Makuta Dredzek.
 * Sent several members to infiltrate and destabilize the Dark Hunters.
 * Sent an emissary to employ the bounty hunter Skorr.
 * Rescued Dredzek following the Siege of Metru Nui.
 * Recruited Corzakx into the Shadow of Ages.
 * Shielded their presence from Teridax.
 * Ordered Dredzek to create and recruit Rahkshi for the Shadow's purposes.

Members
Shadow members are typically solo and scattered throughout the Matoran Universe. Members range among several species and races. Below is a list of those members who are known:


 * "Millennium" - Leader
 * Dredzek - Makuta of Versuva
 * Corzakx - A Shadow Matoran and Dredzek's personal assistant.
 * Several agents who are scattered throughout the universe.
 * Several members who were sent to eliminate Mersery.
 * A number of members who assisted Millennium in attempting to creating paradoxes.
 * A unknown number of members who were sent to infiltrate and destabilize the Dark Hunters.
 * An agent who was sent to negotiate with Skorr.

Former Members

 * A warlord who once attempted to conquer Versuva.

Infrastructure
Members of the Shadow of Ages are trained to have their minds shielded from telepathy and other forms of mental probing. They are also trained to be capable of foresight, allowing them to see future events which they could alter. However, their visions can be somewhat inaccurate at times, due to the large amount of mental pressure that builds during such visions. This means only Millennium is effective at perceiving future events, and figuring out ways to exploit them.

Trivia

 * The Shadow of Ages was based off the the Trickster's Brigade, a faction from the British science fiction series, Doctor Who.
 * It was also inspired by Faction Paradox, another time meddling cult from a series of the same name.
 * The name, Shadow of Ages, was suggested by user Toa Hydros.