Jungle Tribe

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The Jungle Tribe was one of the eight Tribes of Spherus Magna.

History[]

Early History[]

The Jungle Tribe is believed to have originated from the Great Jungle. Their neighbors were the Earth Tribe, who they general held a good relationship with. The two tribes often traded fruits and vegetables from their respective environments, with the Earth tribe even providing laborers for their partners' farms. Like the rest of the Tribes, they would elect the Great Beings as scientist-kings after the group brought about technological and medical advancements.

Around 103,000 years ago, the Iron Tribe was struck by what appeared to be a Dreaming Plague. Fearing the risk of infection, the other Tribes shunned the Iron Tribe. Surviving members of the "infection" attempted to infiltrate the other Tribes, though none were deceived by the change in their armors' colors.

After thousands of years, the Great Beings grew tired of their roles as governors. The political pressure, combined with the shrinking schedules for their hobbies in experimentation, became too much for them and they sought more willing leaders. Concluding that a "living symbol of the Elements" would sate the public's hunger for leadership and boost morale, they began seeking out candidates for this experiment.

A member of the warrior class—noted for his love of nature and his people—was among those selected for the process. Transformed into a being of flora and fungi, he became one of the first natives of Spherus Magna to possess Elemental Powers of his own. He and his fellow warriors were dubbed "Element Lords" by the Great Beings and he was granted lordship over the Jungle Tribe.

When two Agori of the Ice Tribe discovered a gleaming silver spring with seemingly mystical powers, the Element Lords (sans the representative of the Earth Tribe) held a meeting to discuss the usage and distribution of the substance. To their surprise, the monarch of the Ice Tribe declared it his property and his alone. Enraged, the other Element Lords gathered their warriors and waged war over what was called "the ultimate power".

The Core War[]

The Jungle Tribe would set up various outposts during the conflict, one of them being Tesara. The Earth Tribe would end their relationships with them, citing the potential destruction they could bring to nature. The Element Lord of Earth went on to call them "traitors to Mother Nature", striking a nerve with their neighbors and planting the seed of division among them. The Element Lord of Jungle fired back with his own remark, standing aside while the other Tribes waged war ran the risk of letting them do permanent harm to nature. He went on and called her a coward for allowing others to endanger the natural world and order, striking a cord in her people as well.

Due to the political division, the Jungle Tribe didn't have as many troops as the other Tribes and was forced to rely on more covert tactics. Luring and ambushing parties, sabotage, espionage, sicking the wildlife on the enemy, etc. The Jungle Tribe would often find itself in conflict with the Water Tribe, the two becoming rival factions during the war. The tribe of sailors and fishers attempted to take Lein's Drift from them, yet failed. Spies and saboteurs from the one of leaves targeted their warships, yet they always fell when it came to direct battles in the seas. The Element Lord of Water sent assassins after the one of Jungle, only to never hear from them again.

The Element Lord of Jungle took notice of a field commander by the name of Vastus, and made him head of a covert operations unit. One of the first missions for it was to sabotage an Ice Tribe village's supply run. The initial plan was to cause an avalanche to block the road ahead with snow, but the result was greater than anyone anticipated. Nearly a thousand civilian Agori were killed, and Vastus was wracked with guilt. Seeing the experience as a hindrance to his skills in warfare, Vastus was temporarily relieved of duty until he made an apparent recovery. The Element Lord also worked to suppress news of the disaster, fearing that it would further divide the Tribe.

During a battle within their borders, soldiers from numerous factions marched their way towards their capital city. Seeing the home field advantage in his hands, The Element Lord personally ventured into the Great Jungle to test a theory of his. Calling upon his Elemental Powers, he fused the invaders with the very trees of the forest. He allowed word of the incident to spread, confident that the Tribes will think twice about any further attempts at invading his homeland. Thus it would be called the "Forest of Blades", a testament to his power. Morale among his supporters rose like wildfire while those against the Core War were further disillusioned with the conflict.

In the final weeks before the end of the Core War, Vastus would come into contact with Tarix of the Water Tribe. The two learned of a rumor regarding a secret entrance to the Energized Protodermis springs and formed a temporary alliance to seek it out. They trekked through the Great Forest and encountered Malum, who proceeded to burn a portion of it to ashes. Though they managed to escape from him and find the tunnels, he killed three Jungle troops in the fire and eventually caught up to them. Realizing that the odds were against them, Vastus stole one of Tarix's blades and struck Malum with a burst of its Elemental Power. He and his soldiers slipped away in the chaos.

In the weeks near the end of the Core War, tension between protesters and supporters of the war effort began to boil. The Element Lord of Jungle grew increasing desperate and paranoid with each day. He sent out many parties to infiltrate and claim the spring, though they would often be forced to retreat when the Fire Tribe arrived. Rumors of a second spring in the Black Spike Mountains reached his ears, and he sent some of the more trigger-happy soldiers to investigate these claims (and get out of his metaphorical hair).

That division erupted into a full blown riot in Tesara. Fearing that the negativity would spread, the Element Lord personally ventured to the outpost to end the quarrel. Upon arrival, however, an earthquake struck the village. The world was split into three, and the majority of the Jungle Tribe was stranded on the fragment that became Bara Magna. The Element Lord vanished during the cataclysm and was presumed to have perished in the chaos.

Post-Shattering[]

On the fragment that was once the Great Jungle, many of the surviving Agori came to the conclusion that an over-reliance on technology brought about the disaster. As such, they vowed to never use it again and began fusing their tools and armor with local flora to cement this. Others didn't have the same views as them, and simply formed their own communities to survive. To their surprise, members of the Earth Tribe began defecting from it. When inquired as to why, they revealed their former leaderships' role in the Core War.

Enraged by this revelation, many Bota Magna cells of the Jungle Tribe cut all ties with their Earth neighbors and refused to barter with them. Others were more forgiving of them, and allowed the runaways to join their villages. Though resources were generally in abundance on the moon, raiders and other factions would clash with the Bota Magnan branches over territory and control of trade routes.

The Bara Magnan branch endured much grater hardships. Stranded on a nearly-barren wasteland and still divided by the Core War, the survivors split into two cells with no interest of working together. Seeing the dangers of the new world, the surviving elders devised a plan to reunite their Tribe. They proposed a contest to build the best village in the fastest record time at the outpost. The winners would claim the remaining forest of Bara Magna as their own.

Yet the elders organized the event so that both factions had to trade and borrow for the right supplies. By the time both villages were completed, the people had mended their relationships and the two settlements became one village. Thus the outpost was given the moniker "twin villages of Tesara". During the construction, evidence of the Earth Tribe's machinations began to appear. Coupled with confessions of agents of the Element Lord of Earth, their deception was revealed. In response, Tesara and the other villages exiled the surviving members of the Earth Tribe from modern society.

The only question after that was "what kind of society"? The revelations made the Jungle Tribe wiry of the others, and many feared another war could break between them. Vastus and other members of the warrior-class proposed an arena social system to distribute resources. The Jungle Tribe agreed with the concept and joined the new society.

Nostalgia would plague many members of the Jungle Tribe, developing a desire to reclaim lost lore and relics. Countless men and women would venture out into the world in search of these, and became a dominant force in the excavation and archiving industry. The new arena system and archaeological expeditions also gave rise to a wave of medic and herbalists. The warrior-class's role in the Core War made the Agori wiry of them, and thus they opted to elect members of their own race to lead the Tribe. Two notable elders to take the mantle as chieftains were Kentark and Gryk.

The Jungle Tribe's First Glatorian was Vastus, though he preferred to linger within the village of Tesara. In most instances where a match was beyond the twin-settlements' boundaries, someone else-commonly the Secondary Glatorian - would be sent in his stead. Lotawn and Gresh are among the most notable individuals to possess the title of Secondary Glatorian. In instances where neither Glatorian were present, they held an abundance of rookies and guards to take their place. During the reign the of the Arena System, they were estimated to hold the highest number of trainees. Though the exact reason is unknown, some historians speculated that this is due to the low number of soldiers commissioned during the Core War.

Vernax in a against Jornek. — Vernax in a match against Jornek.

Over 100,000 years later, the Skrall emerged from the North and integrated into the arena system. Almost instantly they began whipping the floor with the majority of the competition. The village of Vulcanus was under constant attack from the Bone Hunters and sent a representative to gather willing allies for the Fire Tribe. Gresh was chosen for the contract and would aid the Agori in finding other willing Glatorian. A few months after the arrival of the Skrall, they launched an invasion of the neutral city of Atero. Many were injured or killed in the assault, and the village was reduced to rubble. The Skrall War had begun.

Dispute the tragedy, the other Tribes continued using the Arena System for governing. The contract made between Gresh and Vulcanus would come to play when Bone Hunters began a series of orchestrated attacks on the settlement. Though Vastus initially refused to leave Tesara to aid them, Gresh won him over in time to prevent the Bone Hunters from dealing a final blow to the Fire Tribe. Unfortunately, the Bone Hunters would later ally with the Skrall and launch a joint-attack on the village of Tajun. Gresh managed to evacuate the civilians and lived to tell it to a trio of Glatorian.

Ackar, Kiina, Gresh, and a stranger would venture to Tesara to report on the attack. An arena match between Vastus and Tarix was already underway, but it was canceled when the news came to the village. The crowd around the arena broke into panic until Ackar ended it with a jet of flame. Amazed by his demonstration, the stranger- referred to as "Toa Mata Nui"- restored the Elemental Powers of Tarix's blades and granted him his own access to Water. Mata Nui and his crew demanded that the Tribes forgo the arena system and unite, rationalizing that it was the only way to win the Skrall War. The assembled Agori joined hands in agreement.

The next day, the newly formed alliance marched towards Roxtus just in time to save Mata Nui and two of his friends from the traitorous Metus. The Skrall and Bone Hunters were driven out of the village and into the wastelands, ending the Skrall War. With morale rising, the four tribes began assembling a mega-village from their new prize and their own settlements. This city-sized hub was in actuality a prototype mechanoid originally built by the Great Beings. Once Mata Nui claimed its power source, the civilians were evacuated from the construct and hidden in the nearby mountains.

To their shock, another metal giant fell from the sky and fought Mata Nui's, unleashing an army of reptilian lifeforms. Help came in the form of elemental heroes and countless other beings, and the two worlds allied with each other against the invaders. The Skrall would also jump into the fray, with the intention of enacting revenge on the Glatorian and Agori. A warrior of Fire would turn the tide by destroying the mechanical drones, stunning their creator long enough for Mata Nui to finish him off. With the last of his powers, he reunited the three planetoids into Spherus Magna. With the world restored to its original self, the four Tribes began forming a new government with the immigrants of the Matoran Universe. They all reside on the planet to this day.

Infrastructure[]

Throughout the history of Spherus Magna and its initial remnants, the Jungle Tribe could always be found in woodland and similar environments. The typical layout of their settlements make it difficult for most Agori to maneuver around as bipeds. Many turned to using their arms as front legs in a fashion akin to gorillas. In time they would evolve into such forms to adapt to their surroundings, gaining the agility needed to swing around and climb. A few outliers appeared to have resisted this adaption, allowing them and their descendants to retain their bipedal physiology.

The Tribe boasts a long line of historians and treasure hunters. it was not uncommon to find them singing songs of adventurers' exploits and telling epics to anyone within earshot. The Agori's evolution into ape-like forms has aided them in some regards with exploring ruins. Many members of their Tribe were leaders of the medical and herbalist industries, their influence growing following The Shattering.

Known Members[]

Lein, a successful merchant who opened the first trading outpost in the Great Jungle.

Agori[]

Antzo
Grepex
Gryk - Deceased
Kecran - Fused with a Skrall
Kentark
Lein - Deceased
Tarduk
Vendrak
A Bota Magnan branch who captured Lewa

Glatorian[]

Areladb
Defaal - Deceased, wanders old battlefields as a wraith
Entilfe - Formerly. joined the Great Beings. Deceased
Exold
Feggus
Gresh
Haleth
Kasuki
Lotawn
Medran - Formerly
Moldann - Deceased
Solnohk
Vastus
Vernax
At least one Great Being - Formerly
Gresh's predecessor - Deceased
A warrior-class who was transformed into the Element Lord of Jungle - Formerly, transformed
A pilot planted beneath the Core Processor of the Great Spirit Robot - Deceased
A trainee Glatorian bested by Malum in a practice match