Poliaz (location)

&nbsp ''A slender blue figure rose from her seat. "If it pleases you, lords, I would like to protect my home once again also."''

- Soleku addressing the Lords Balin and Nivorn prior to the Makuta attack on Poliaz.

Poliaz was a tiny island just off the southernmost tip of the Northern Continent. It was owned by a turaga of the same name.

History
Geographically, the island that became the island of Poliaz was originally a low-lying extension to the lower peninsula on the Northern Continent, cut off by a fjording river. This changed, according to matoran myth, after an almighty battle between the Korrothean Lord Serpes, and a great sea behemoth, in which Serpes raised the land into mountains of white marble and left the creature stranded on a high plateu to be devoured by his precious serpent rahi pets. It is rumoured that the very bones of this behemoth lie within the cellars of the palace of Lord Poliaz.

After it rose above sea-level, matoran from the peninsula came to the island and inhabited it. At one point the matoran of this island underwent a rebuild from the makuta to help them live in their homes more easily, and were granted longer arms and stronger shoulders, as well as different genders in each element. After this, Makuta Raximoras was stationed as this island's protector, but he did not stay long due to being recalled back to the Brotherhood to work with weapons. The Brotherhood still owned the island, however.

This changed after a toa known as Poliaz sold his elemental powers to Makuta Miserix, and bought the island from them with his earnings. Poliaz established a mansion in the centre of the island and devoted the rest of his life to living in the lap of luxury, employing many of the natives. He became popular after improving the island's defences and helping its towns develop. Over time its towns merged into one small marble city, which became a bastion of art, culture, music and good food in the Matoran Universe. Poliaz amassed a grand collection of artefacts and kanohi masks, and apoointed a vortixx named Vanembar as his viceroy after he became the island's leader.

The island accquired its first toa team, the Toa Poliaz, after a male toa hagah of lithium named Tolovan reneged against Gorast, his mistress, and returned to Poliaz where he had been a matoran. He became the island's guardian, and was joined by a native Toa Lizena a few years later. The two found they worked well together, and fell heavily in love. These two guarded the island from threats (mainly from the sea) for many years, until Gorast revenged upon Poliaz, and took Toa Tolovan back as her own, dominating him with mind powers.

A drastic time in the island's history was when a Kanohi Dragon attacked. Gorast had caused this as well, with the sole aim of ridding Poliaz of its toa of magnetism. The Kanohi Dragon killed Lizena, but was driven away by native matoran warriors.

After Lizena's death, Vanembar launched a new scheme to create toa for the island. Five natives (Gringat, Xalos, Gratigan, Soleku and Orabmar) survived the process, and the team was bolstered by two other toa (Abarium and Brogas) who had heard of the scheme. This team continued to defend Poliaz from many enemies: Vortixx, Skakdi and Rahi among them.

Many years later, the Toa Vanember were also destroyed. Vanembar launched the same scheme again to create new toa, but the island was destroyed by Teridax's forces before he could do it. The island was oblitterated by the makuta, and cracked in half. All of its artefacts and kanohi masks were stolen by the makuta for their own use. Poliaz ramained derelict forever after, as it was abandoned after the reformation of Spherus Magna as well.

Geography
Poliaz was composed mainly of white chalk and marble (supposedly) created by Lord Serpes. This marble made the island beautiful, but infertile and dry. Many quarries were made in the heart of the island in order to create buildings and bridges.

Farmers were either restricted to the rich mudflats circling the island, which produced good food, or the woodland in the south of the island, which was good for fruit trees, and is more fertile than the rest of the island due to larger amounts of soil. Fishermen thrived on the island, however, and fish and seaweed made up a major part of each Poliaz matoran's diet.

A "pathway" leads into the island from its eastern side, which is called the "Walk of Serpes" by many. This pathway is the width of five football fields, and widens nearer the coast, forming a bay once it reaches it. It is here that the island's main docks were, letting ships arrive mainly from the northern and southern continents, Stelt and, sometimes, Korrothis. By contrast, its western shore is mainly sheer cliffs, which are scaled only by the bravest or most foolhardy matoran. On the south shore is a large cave that goes beneath the island. Poliaz's Onu-Matoran choose to live here, rather than in the surface city like the others.

A series of catacombs exists beneath the highest hill of the island as well. These contain Lord Poliaz's artefact collection.

Trivia

 * Poliaz's name is derived from "Poland", as its Makuta invasion originally mirrored the Nazi invasion of Poland, although the storyline has changed since then.
 * Poliaz matoran usually have an Eastern European, Russian or German accent.
 * The Island of Poliaz is roughly two thirds the size of the British Isle of Wight. In fact, due its general shape, rock type and location beneath the Northern Continent, it is almost identical.
 * Poliaz's culture has been described as "A cross between Ancient Greece and Renaissance Italy"
 * This place is Gringat's homeland, and mirrors in its landscape the area in which much of User:Gringat's family was born, although not where he himself was born.

Appearances

 * Lords of Korrothis
 * The Isle of Thorns (mentioned)