The World of An Endless Ocean

The World of An Endless Ocean is a history compendium of the Pirates version of the Matoran Universe. It was written by a popular Onu-Matoran fiction writer who disappeared before he could finish it.

Preface
Greetings, gathered friends, and welcome to this edition of the collected works of esteemed Onu­-Matoran scholar and fiction writer Gile, better known through his pen name "Farce" (which he will be referred to as following this introduction per requests from his wife). Farce was known for authoring such titles as A Substantial Gift, A Dangerous Assignment, Revenge and Remorse, The Guilty Alibi, Ring of Fear, A Bird in the Hand, Testimony of Evil, Dead Men Don't Laugh, and the hit series Deserts of Death.

At the time of this book's publishing, Farce has just been reported missing, much to this publishing company's dismay. In this volume we feature Farce’s collected information on the matters of our world, from various governments to their very ancient histories. Farce had spent many decades travelling and gathering all manners of accounts, tales, legends, and historical records in an attempt to create and publish what he claimed would be his “most timeless and legendary work ever”.

In respect to his memory, we published his work, which is what you are currently holding in your hands. Many have accused us of shamelessly profiting from an author's demise, but we strongly disagree. As said before, we are honoring a fallen wordsmith with this publication. Not only is this the last of a great writer’s works, but it is also the most detailed and comprehensive guidebook to date, if not of all. With all clarities given, we once again invite you, dear reader, to this most explicit and detailed history and atlas of our very own Planet of the Endless Ocean. We hope this will be helpful if you are ever traveling to these certain locations.

Dawn
"Gathered friends, listen again to the Legend of the BIONICLE."

- The typical opening to telling the legend I was going to name this first section “Ancient History” due to the incorrectness of the name “Time Before Time”. Think about it. If there was no time, then how could there be events, days, or any seconds? However, I must admit, readers, I changed my decision simply so that this book can sell more copies and offend less.

Regardless of my disagreements with the naming of an era, let’s go into the theories behind the dawn of this world, shall we? For this, I did not travel very far; I went to the Onu­-Metru Archives that just happened to be a few steps from my home. I passed the tediously simplified information they gave out to the public and made my way to the actual Archives. Luckily, I had friends that let me dive right into the specifics.

There are two legends. The first was the very first origin people believed until they realized some things were too inconsistent. That or they thought of something once they realized we had two suns shining down on us. The first legend is the one where Mata Nui, our Great Spirit, was a member of a group of Spirits like himself. These Spirits waged war against each other, resulting in the destruction of the previous universe. Mata Nui was the only survivor, and created us in his attempt at restarting life. He created our planet by gathering various cosmic elements and smashing them together to form a celestial body. Later, he filled the planet with the other species that live with us currently. Afterwards, Mata Nui’s body disappeared and became a disembodied force, watching over us.

However, someone thought that version was not up to par apparently, and a new version was thought up. In this one, Mata Nui was now the son of a series of Great Beings: creators of many species and worlds of the known universe using their collective knowledge of science, magic, and the unknown. Mata Nui had supposedly just reached his prime age and was given a group of beings to rule over and create a world for.

Mata Nui flew around the universe for centuries, trying to look for the perfect spot to have his subjects; presently named the Proto-­Matoran, live on. Instead of creating a world, Mata Nui ended up finding what would later be known as the Planet of the Endless Ocean. He created land and let loose the Proto­-Matoran onto the planet. With a single command over them to “build”, the Matoran constructed a mega­city known as Metru Nui in their ruler’s honor. Soon, Mata Nui created more species for the planet. Instead of going off to create more worlds, Mata Nui joined with the planet, becoming a Great Spirit and his eyes became the Twin Suns.

As I’ve said, the second version is currently the most accepted explanation for how we are. However, many species with different perspectives disagreed obviously.

The Lykos Kinsmen were not happy with this interpretation of their creation, seeing it as a rather wound­-salting insult that they were ‘secondary’ creations. They have their own version of Creation, whether or not it was to compensate is not known. What I do know is that a ‘heretic’ like me shouldn’t even be learning about their beloved inception. Fortunately, I knew a Lykos black market dealer who was one of the few closeted skeptics in the government who was willing to trade history lessons with worthless Matoran currency, but I'll discuss it when we get to the Lykos' section of the upcoming "Species" chapter.

So we have mysticism and supernatural explanations thus far. However, our friends in Versuva thinks that there is a more plausible and scientific explanation for how this universe came to be. A disclaimer that my interview quickly noted was that the Mersions do indeed believe that Mata Nui is very real. The evidence has been explicit and fully recorded, such as direct declarations to the Matoran and fully public assignments of people into positions ofpower. The Mersions of Versuva have studied the earth that their island was comprised of, along with those of other nearby lands. After many testings, they found signs of terraforming. They concluded that a Toa of Earth was not responsible, as they searched for the smallest of signs of such a presence on the aforementioned lands, only to find none. Along with this, no evidence of burrowing Rahi small or large were found either. The next day after being told of this, I asked for more information. However, the Mersion scientist I talked to simply got a pale expression and looked at his colleagues, who looked just as equally concerned. The scientist simply told me that what they found was not what they expected and would rather not share it. I was definitely disappointed, most likely that they found something truly remarkable and plan to profit from it without me. I suppose I can let this slide. Their expressions remains as the one thing that bother me though. What did they find? A giant living under the surface of the deepest pit of the oceans? An entire colony of a race that looks just like the Matoran but not obviously us?

I was going to press further, but I was clearly not going to get answers. I expected their discovery to go public the very following day, but nothing. They kept quiet.

Great Barrier
"It was constructed to protect us from wandering off into the Endless Ocean. It's not that hard to figure it out, right?"

- A Ga-Matoran Teacher's theory on the Great Barrier

And now to one of the Planet’s greatest mysteries: the Great Barrier. I can find information on how this world was created, and how Matoran civilization was supposed to be initialized, but nothing much about the walls that you see surrounding many parts of the world. Explorers have told me that they often tried to embark on an expedition to climb the Great Barrier, but something always happens to delay them; their boat ran out of fuel, their crew got sick, and most bizarrely, those looking to research it just lost interest. They simply believed that they were wasting their time after a moment at the Barrier.

Our Beginnings
Now, everyone knows that the Matoran are the largest population on the Planet. You can’t go anywhere without seeing at least twenty of us doing business or living the simple life. But where exactly did we come from? I heard conspiracies of a machine operated by the Turaga to construct us. Digging deep into the Coliseum, I found such a machine under the arena. However, I found out it was just what gave us our armor and it was also unoperational. Shame, I would’ve liked to create an assistant for me on this journey. I asked around the personnel of the Coliseum and they told me basically the same thing.

"Yes, the machine used to create us, but now it’s defunct, broken. I asked a friend in Onu-­Metru about it one time, and he told me that our ancestors grew too advanced so they couldn’t breed."

- Coliseum security guard As far as I can investigate, I found tablets and scrolls of tales talking about how children were no longer existent in our world. Desperate to keep our race going, we went to Artakha for a miracle. And thus, he did, with a Miracle Machine that could birth more of our kind with random identities, appearances, and abilities. As more and more Matoran came, more and more new Elements appeared, such as Plasma, Psionics, Sonics, and the Green (Plantlife). Pretty soon, it was discovered that Metru Nui is becoming overpopulated. So much so that Matoran are leaving to live elsewhere. The Miracle Machine was overworked, and shut down. At this point, the Machine was considered a huge mistake and left to rot in the basements of the Coliseum.

By now, the Matoran population has been so overwhelming that we won’t be extinct until several quintillion years or so, according to our scientists. This also lead to us essentially being disliked by the majority of the world, unfortunately. Out of respect for the Great Spirit, most hid their opinions thinly. While others, most of the time criminals, show their resentment outright. Thanks to the Miracle Machine, we had a baby boom that not only secured our survival, but also filled up some space we originally preferred to leave empty. Many of the people I’ve interviewed for this book had shown regret for their ancestors’ actions.

The First Toa
While we’re on the subject of Matoran, I think it’s most appropriate if our next topic was our next stage in evolution: Toa. As general consensuses go, I have not met a Matoran that have expressed the belief that being a Toa was not the prime of their species’ lives. I can see why. Toa are heroes, warriors, and protectors. They have all this power over one of the many Elements of the world. I’ve witnessed some battles myself where the Toa displayed some creative and awe­ful uses of their powers. The legend of the First Toa should be familiar with all Matoran. It is one of those stories that we read to ourselves before we go to sleep.

For those who never saw the sun, the First Toa was a team made up of six legendary heroes, each wielding one of the main six Elements. The story goes that from the Silver Sea came a race of hideous reptilian beasts. They stood at five times the height of a Matoran and varied in Rahi qualities. Some had wings, some had webbed hands and feet, some had tails, and some didn’t. They waged war on Metru­ Nui in revenge against Mata Nui, who they claimed had a hand in making them look as they did. They called themselves Zyglak.

Of course, Metru­ Nui fought back, but the Zyglak were too strong and surprisingly smarter than they let on. The Turaga ruling at the time had planned to surrender the city in exchange for the sparing of its inhabitants. However, hope came in the form of a Toa of Water; the First Toa, Toa Helryx. She approached the Turaga and presented to them six stones, each emitting a light that represented their respective element. She told them that she will use these stones to give to six special Matoran, who will become like her and fight back the Zyglak horde. With no other options, the Turaga allowed her to go from Metru to Metru, giving a stone to an individual she found worthy. After all the stones were given out, the six chosen Matoran transformed into the first Toa Team. Together they defeated the Zyglak and drove them back into the sea to lick their wounds. Before leaving, Helryx appointed them theguardians of Metru ­Nui on behalf of Mata Nui. She also told them that she scattered similar stones all over the world, and suggested to the Toa that they find them so more generations of Toa can come.

This is a legendary tale, and honestly one of my favorites of the myths. But the authenticity of the story is very much questionable. The biggest mystery was this: Who was Toa Helryx? If she came to Metru ­Nui to help, why didn’t she aid the first Toa Team in fighting them off? My colleagues and fellow writers have debated over this for years now, and their theories were never enough. Some thought that Helryx was entirely fictional and created to explain the coming of the stones. Others argued that the titular First Toa was referring to the first Toa Team, who came on their own accord without any background as Matoran. Nonetheless, this tale is still very inspirational and infamous. The prefixes to our Metru were also inspired by the six heroes from the story. Their names were Tahu, Gali, Lewa, Pohatu, Onua, and Kopaka.

The Dark Dragon
"The Shadow shall arrive"

- From the journal of one of the many mad "prophets" scattered around Metru Nui.

As the Proto-Matoran were settling in and before his ascension to a higher plane, Mata Nui took it upon himself to explore the new planet. He found an island that was both everywhere and nowhere, and within it lived a large intelligent lizard made of shadows named Miserix. Miserix, unlike the other species that will come, was a natural creature of the Planet of the Endless Ocean, and was thus hostile towards the Great Spirit at first.

After settling differences, Mata Nui struck a deal with the Dark Dragon. Mata Nui will give Miserix the power to create life, but only if the Dragon promised to watch after the Matoran that were currently building Metru Nui. Miserix agreed, and used his new ability to create an army of philosophers and warriors from the island's lake of darkness. With this army, Miserix founded a Brotherhood that protected the Matoran and severely punished those that would threaten their way of life, even if the threat was Matoran as well. Miserix, and indirectly Mata Nui, had created the Makuta.

The Makuta, in simple terms, are scary. They are the only ones beside Karzahni himself who were poised as the anticipated punishment for a Matoran who was not working. They are still feared today, and because of this and the Toa, Matoran are scared to commit heinous crimes.

Along with protecting the Matoran, Miserix and his Brotherhood took the duty of inhabiting the world with beasts, known to us as Rahi. Miserix himself created the Kanohi Dragon, whom many nowadays consider to be his son.

While Makuta are accepted to be very real beings who are existent as the Toa are, they are hardly seen, if at all. They worked in secrecy, yet made their presence known by their ruthless actions. Which is why while I can definitely talk to Toa and nearly all other species on this Planet, I can't find a single Makuta for interviews. To be honest, I am glad and relieved to not meet one of them.

The Brothers
So here's a little tidbit that is rather popular these days. The rumor is that Mata Nui did not ascend into a higher plane, and has in fact been living with us in the mortal realm. The primary suspect for this rumor was the Great Creator Artakha, whose skills provided by his Kanohi Ekimu, the Mask of Creation, were so good people started wondering if his name was his actual one.

Like everything, Artakha and his brother, Karzahni, had their own explanatory legend. After Mata Nui arrive on the Planet of the Endless Ocean but before the Matoran set foot on the land, the Great Spirit attempted to create a being that would help the Matoran create their culture. His first attempt was a fluke, however, and Mata Nui's creation split into a pair of twins. One named Artakha, and another named Karzahni. Deciding that only one can weild the duties and powers needed for the task, Mata Nui hosted a competition between the two to see who would recieve the Kanohi Ekimu. Artakha, of course, won and recieved the Mask while his brother became jealous and created his own Mask with patchwork. Karzahni created the Kanohi Olisi, the Mask of Alternate Futures. With the Ekimu, Artakha could see the ingredients of a work while Karzahni, with the Olisi, could only see the results of chain events.

Artakha complied with his duties and taught the Matoran construction and architecture, allowing for Metru Nui to flourish successfully as a beacon of industrial and architectural achievement. Karzahni took it upon himself to fix the broken Matoran who injured themselves during work. However, his work became increasingly twisted and Karzahni ended up altering the Matoran's appearances and minds instead of actually repairing them. With two very opposite ideas, goals, and personalities, Artakha and Karzahni became estranged.

Now, we definitely know that Artakha and Karzahni are real. There are islands each named after them and were confirmed to be their respective realms, for crying out loud. Artakha's island was a paradise for hard-working Matoran who deserved rewards. Karzahni's hellish land became the prison for Matoran who refused or failed to work properly. Because of the revere for Artakha and the fear of Karzahni, many understandably mistook the former for Mata Nui himself. Who else would create such a paradise for Matoran to live in?

I would write down my observations whilst visiting these places, but reasons arose that barred me from both realms. For Karzahni, it was obvious. Nobody would willingly go to Karzahni unless it was a desperate life-or-death situation. For Artakha, they restricted access for security reasons. Nobody had entered or exited the island for years now, and the guards lined up on the edge of the shores turned me away, despite them mentioning that Artakha had considered a place for me there due to my work.

Flattering.

Missing Sections
We are sorry to inform our readers that the "Time Before Time" chapter ends here. As mentioned before, Farce did not finish his work and thus some sections are missing. Please do not let this inconvenient you and continue reading the rest of this book. Thank you.

- Publishers

The Great Colonization
After we built Metru Nui, and all the aforementioned legends about the Great Barrier and the First Toa happened, we decided that we needed to spread our numbers. As mentioned before, we were crowded in the City of Legends, and wanted our own places to stay at. With this in mind, the many Matoran set out on what was called the Great Colonization.

This was how we found new lands to make homes in and meet new people. There was some dispute among people, though. Some thought that Mata Nui intended for the Matoran to stay at the City, while others believed that since they were given such a large planet to live on, they ought to explore. This debate was set aside when Mata Nui himself (I mentioned before that he made his existence known, even after the times of the legends) told everyone he indeed intended for us to explore. He also told us that we would meet other species he created to keep us company.

The ones who wanted to go out into the world and see new places were estatic, while the others who wanted to stay in the City bitterly did just that. Expeditions began across the world, some people even using the Great Barrier as a guide for traveling, though the previously mentioned mind tricks brought on by the Barrier interefered many times.

However, the farthest we got in settling was midway through the Southern Islands. We managed to set up some towns there, for sure, but we dared not to go further. With all the difficulties we had going south, I think we can assume safely that things get more dangerous the further we travel down there. Even if you are going down there to visit friends in those aforementioned towns, you should use caution as much as you can.

Toa Cordak Incident
"Of course, the event was very upsetting to hear. Especially with the knowledge that a fellow Toa of Psionics was practically responsible for the whole incident. It's a big example of 'history teaches us lessons' or something like that."

- A Toa of Psionics on the Toa Cordak Incident

The first Toa team to be ever named and recorded in history that is not from myth or legend, the Toa Cordak was a team of eight Toa led by a Toa of Air named Lesovikk. Lesovikk, on a side note, continually claimed to be the First Toa of Air from the legends, and showed annoyance that they mistranslated his name. Despite this rather discomforting attitude, one would have to be both blind and deaf to think Lesovikk wasn't effective as a Toa and a leader.

They defended a large settlement on the Northern Continent, which was right under Metru Nui if one looked at a map. For several centuries, the Toa Cordak made a name for themselves across the Planet. We Matoran at Metru Nui applauded them for their efforts, and gave them our praise whenever they visited for celebrations and/or holidays.

However, their success didn't last, as the Zyglak returned to terrorize the Northern Continent, with reported plans to once again raze Metru Nui afterwards. The Matoran of both lands pleaded with the Toa Cordak to defeat or contain the threat.

In response to the creatures' return, Lesovikk initially planned to have outside help. He called for one who claimed to be the first (and only male) Toa of Psionics, Orde, to use his powers to calm down the Zyglak. What Lesovikk didn't know was that the years had taken their toll on Orde, and he became more tempermental than the Toa of Air first knew him. This resulted in the Zyglak, instead of calming down, becoming more hateful towards Mata Nui and extended their despise towards anything he created. In a blitz attack, the Zyglak attacked the Toa Cordak after knocking Orde unconscious. Now this part isn't clear, since this idea started with rumors instead of reports. The rumor was that Lesovikk hesitated uncharacteristically for a fatal moment and the Zyglak decimated the team. Lesovikk was somehow the only one who survived, leaving for the rumor to start and taint his name. Worse, Metru Nui got news that the Turaga of the settlement had gone mad and shipped the Matoran to Karzahni.

It was a terrible day for all Toa and Matoran. Because of the terrible and brutal end of the Toa Cordak, their name became synonymous with "decimation". There's still no word on where Lesovikk is, but yet another rumor had it that he had retreated to one of the Southern Islands to wallow in his shame. Orde had also disappeared, and his mistake in dealing with the Zyglak served as a lesson for future Toa of Psionics to maintain emotional control while using their Elemental powers.

It is still debated to this day whether it was Lesovikk or Orde to blame for the incident.

The Mountain and the Kanohi Dragon
For those who don't know, there is an island just east of Zakaz, the homeland of the Skakdi species, named Xia. Xia is, for most intents and purposes, the second industrial powerhouse on the Planet just after Artakha. It is particularly known for producing weapons and robotic technology to be used by mercenaries and soldiers with the right amount of pay. However, it is also most known for the mountain it is held by. Yes, held by. The Moutain of Xia is alive.

The reason for this sentience isn't known, but it's clear that anyone visiting or living in Xia should not approach it in any way. Despite this, the species named Vortixx uses the Mountain as a rite of passage of sorts. For some reason, the Vortixx climb the Mountain to decide their wealth status on the island. A pair climbs it, and the survival of any of them decides their status. If both survive, they are rewarded with better working conditions. If only one survives, they will be promoted to have special privileges. As you can deduce, the survivors are almost always one of the pairs sent to climb. Traveling to Xia (and, I managed to get information on how the Mountain got to Xia anyways.

According to the Xian, the area that is currently filled up by the Mountain used to be a large quarry. Some Vortixx having fun among themselves found a rock at the center of the place. The only one of the group that survived said that one of her friends kicked the rock for fun, only to fbe eaten by it. It grew into the size of the Vortixx it ate and managed to get itself to roll towards the other Vortixx, devouring them as well. Over the years, the rock ate more and more creatures that didn't realize the danger and eventually it grew into the large behemoth today. There's some rumors that the Mountain can indeed move, but simply decides that it wasn't time yet. Another rumor was that the Mountain was actually created by a Makuta and placed on Xia, due to the high crime rate that stemmed from it with the Mountain being a precaution in case the inhabitants of the island got out of control.

To be added...

Trivia

 * This article was inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion and George R.R. Martin's The World of Ice and Fire.
 * The titles of Farce's books are the names of the episodes of the short-lived comedy series Police Squad! (In Color). His Deserts of Death series is a reference to BobTheDoctor27's pre-Fractures Universe stories, which are currently deemed non-canon.
 * The Lykos Kinsman species belongs to FireDrag1091 and the Mersion species belongs to Chicken Bond.