Vilnius (Fractures Alternate Universe)

This article was written by BobTheDoctor27. Please do not add to it without the writer's permission.

Vilnius (Fractures Alternate Universe)
Vilnius
Group	Metru Nui Turaga High Council
Occupation	• Metru Nui Foreign Minister  • Turaga Matoro's Adviser (Formerly)  • Leader of the Turaga High Council
Element	Fire
Kanohi	• Noble Matatu (Biefly)  • Noble Crast
Tools	Hook Staff
Status	Alive
Location	Fractures Universe: Coliseum
Pronunciation	VILL-NEE-US

"Vilnius was famed for his fiery temper and crooked nature. More than a dozen Matoran had been banished to Karzahni in his first few months in office, something that had once shocked Tollubo seeing as it was common knowledge by that time that the Matoran would not return from the realm."

―Tollubo describing what he knew of Vilnius, Whispers in the Dark

Vilnius was a Ta-Matoran who became a Toa of Fire and later the Turaga of the Tren Krom Peninsula. He would later serve as Turaga Matoro's adviser and proceeded him as the Turaga of Metru Nui, in the Fractures Universe.

History

Early life

Similarly to the majority of Turaga of Fire, Vilnius began his life as a Ta-Matoran on Spherus Magna. After aiding in the construction of the Matoran Universe, he was placed in the Tren Krom Peninsula, along with a number of other Matoran in a lava farming community of Ta-Matoran.

However, Vilnius swiftly tired of this physically demanding, unfulfilled occupation when the Ruling Council of the Tren Krom Peninsula began to make life considerably more difficult for agricultural workers by lowering the value of their produce severely and by introducing taxes to the island. In protest, Vilnius decided to challenge the group and rallied support from the entire farming community. As a result, entire fields of crops and Rahi were burnt down and slaughtered in a violent demonstration.

Faced with no option but to give in to the demands of the agriculturally-dependent population and those of Vilnius’ followers, the Ruling Council was dissolved and a single Turaga of Air rose up to act as the island’s governor.

However, having caught a glimpse of a greater world than what lay on the Tren Krom Peninsula whilst protesting, Vilnius became the Foreign Ambassador for his island and traveled to the Southern Continent to represent his people in their government. He would often leave his home and take up temporary residence for months at a time in order to resolve political matters and to negotiate partnerships between the two Matoran communities. However, he had a reputation for being largely ignored and was not taken seriously.

Whilst on one such trip around 80,000 years ago, however, Vilnius made the breakthrough of his career when the destruction of the League of Six Kingdoms coincided with his attempts to establish a trading link between the two colonies. As the Southern Continent and Tren Krom Peninsula had originally been in Barraki Mantax's territory, he had continuously overruled Vilnius' requests. However, with the disappearance of the warlord the Ta-Matoran was able to establish his Treaty of Union, a firmly financial and military alliance between the mainland and its peninsula.

Life as a Toa

It was at some point after the success of his Foreign Policy that Vilnius was awarded a Toa Stone for his tactical thinking and noble intentions during this period. However, following Vilnius' transformation into a Toa, he felt increasingly guilty. Having always seen the success of his negotiation skills as a result of the downfall of the League of Six Kingdoms, which he had not impacted on, he felt that he was ill-deserving of his Toa Power. Truthfully, Vilnius had been an opportunist and it was down to sheer coincidence that his treaty had been given the opportunity to be passed.

Having been transformed into a Toa with a group of Matoran native to the Southern Continent, Vilnius felt like an outcast from his team and abandoned them, embarking on a directionless expedition around the Matoran Universe for several years.

During this period of his life, Vilnius was known to have collected five Great Kanohi and erected his own Toa Suva, earning himself a Golden Kanohi.

Traversing the Southern Island Chains by boat, the Toa of Fire eventually came upon an island that was inhabited by four-armed merchants for supplies. He later settled on this island and accessed its local Matoran Recharging Center to replenish his energy. However, whilst recharging, a local brute named Nocturn began rampaging and single-handedly destabilized the civilization. Vilnius attempted to combat the warrior but was swiftly struck down by the rampaging warrior. By the time he had returned to consciousness, Nocturn had been apprehended and transported to The Pit by Botar.

In addition, as Vilnius was known to have later reigned over the Tren Krom Peninsula until Makuta Gorast's arrival, he completed his destiny and sacrificed his Toa Power early in his life in order to become a Turaga so early in the history of the Matoran Universe.

Elder of the Tren Krom Peninsula

Upon becoming a Turaga, Vilnius returned to the Tren Krom Peninsula, where he served as the island's elder. Adopting a harsher, more insensitive manner towards the Matoran, Vilnius was known to have continued to banish lazy, slovenly Matoran to Karzahni, in spite of the fact he knew Matoran did not return from the realm once sent their. Goll was one such Matoran.

At some point after Makuta Gorast was assigned to watch over the small island, Vilnius was forced to resign from his position as the Tren Krom Peninsula's leader, adhering to the commands of the female Makuta. However, he managed to keep some degree of control, though his policies had to be approved by Gorast before she would allow them to take effect.

Brotherhood Invasion

Due to the absence of Makuta Teridax in the Fractures Universe, the Brotherhood of Makuta's inevitable quest for universal domination became a less-coordinated, wild bid for power. Without Teridax's strategic mind or knowledge of the Matoran Universe's inner mechanics, the Makuta launched an open rebellion. Sensing the uprising but unable to intervene due to the inner turmoil that the Brotherhood's actions had caused, Mata Nui became intent upon returning to Spherus Magna. When the Great Spirit Robot did return to the devastated remains of Spherus Magna, however, Mata Nui's operating system developed a fault. Owing to the universal spread of the Brotherhood's invasion, the inhabitants of the Matoran Universe were unable to fulfill their duties. Thus, Mata Nui fell into a state of disrepair.

Recognizing the extent of this fault, the Order of Mata Nui emerged from secrecy and established a unified counter-rebellion to combat the Brotherhood of Makuta. For the purposes of his own survival, Vilnius would enter into hiding through the Order of Mata Nui, wearing a Kanohi Matatu and changing his name to "Haru" in the process. Under the guide of "Turaga Haru", he managed to survive the brunt of the War in an administrative position in alliance with the Order of Mata Nui, often attending tactical meetings and becoming involved in the logistics division of the war effort.

However, during the events of the Final Push, Toa Takanuva was killed and his Kanohi Avohkii was smuggled back into the Order of Mata Nui's possession. As the organization required a secret bunker with which to hide the coveted Kanohi, Vilnius was given the opportunity to oversee the Avohkii's protection, as the Order of Mata Nui had little use for their Turaga servants other than for tactical advise.

Along with Turaga Autolycus and Salaak, Vilnius established a system of government in the settlement and worked hard to ensure that the Matoran could live in peace whilst isolated from the War in the Nui Mountain Range. Additionally, with the approval of the Turaga, Toa Salu - one of the village's three guardians - named the fortress "Marlott". It was here that Vilnius embarked on a process of self-betterment, adopting more poetic, lyrical language to disguise an underlying aggressive flare.

However, a Brotherhood incursion into the fortress would result in the death of Toa Salu and the capture of Vilnius. After some time in captivity, Vilnius would mount a daring rescue attempt, carrying Ninan and an injured Carnac to safety. Rescued by the remaining members of the Matoran resistance, Vilnius was able to flee the village with the survivors.

Once a safe distance from Marlott, Vilnius revealed his true identity to the Matoran and vented about the shortcomings of the Order of Mata Nui, an organization that had failed to adequately protect them. Returning to his old ways, Vilnius set off for Metru Nui in search of a new life.

Post War

Throughout the Fractures Universe's equivalent of the Order of Mata Nui/Brotherhood of Makuta War, Vilnius was responsible for advising Turaga Matoro.

Moreover, Vilnius accepted the role of Metru Nui's Foreign Minister and was placed in charge of improving relations and establishing alliances with other resistance colonies in the Matoran Universe. Frequently, he struggled to get traction on an alliance with the Vortixx population, though he was eventually able to draft a formal alliance, which Turaga Matoro and Toa Kualus officially endorsed and Vilnius received little credit for.

During this period of his life, Vilnius also became the victim of an unknown criminal lawsuit, which required him to enlist the aid of a female Steltian lawyer named Nelvik. Consequently, Vilnius won the court case due to Nelvik's successful representation of him. Impressed by her negotiation skills, the Turaga of Fire decided that she would serve as a useful contact for future use.

Several months later, he resumed contact with Nelvik and created a position for her as a defense attorney in The Coliseum, enabling him to keep her dependent upon his charity and so he could use her to prevent war criminals from leaving The Coliseum by means of a successful court case.

Following the destruction of the Tren Krom Peninsula, however, Vilnius was forced to take up permanent residency in the Metru Nui Coliseum, where he continued his duties and played a key role in assembling the Turaga High Council, a small assembly of Turaga who formed the island's democratic system of government. Matoro was, of course, placed in supreme command of the Council with Vilnius being his clear second-in-command.

Towards the end of the war, Vilnius became heavily involved in the affairs of the local Toa Team and secured alliances with other Matoran-inhabiting islands, such as Artakha, Xia, and the Northern Continent.

On the final day of the war, Vilnius was summoned to meet the dimensionally displaced Toa Tollubo, of an alternate universe, after he arrived in the Fractures Alternate Universe. He was the first of the Council members to attend the session, though the meeting was cancelled.

Vilnius was also present in Turaga Matoro's Ruling Chamber during Turaga Kapura's memorial service and paid his respects before launching into an argument with Matoro, who had decided not to take his advice.

Several days after the death of Turaga Kapura, Vilnius was summoned to Po-Metru to inspect the archaeological activity taking place in the Canyon of Unending Whispers following the discovery of a Toa of Psioncs' remains and to report back to the Turaga High Council the significance of the situation. It was swiftly made clear that the deceased Toa of Psionics in question was Toa Orde and that he had been assassinated during the Toa/Dark Hunter War, thus avoiding a potentially international issue.

However, Toa Tollubo then appeared at the site in search of Toa Orkahm. Feeling confident with their results, Dessal and Danza decided to test their theory on Tollubo as he had not been present during their devising process, much to Vilnius' contempt.

Following the discovery of a Ta-Matoran near Orde's grave, Dessal and Danza predicted that the Matoran had been the Toa's Metru Nui aide. However, Tollubo disproved their theory by claiming that the Matoran was in fact an Av-Matoran named Glon and that he had been carrying the Kanohi Vahi. This left Vilnius, along with the Matoran archaeologists, speechless.

Golden Age

Six months later, Vilnius and Matoro gathered in the Turaga's Throne Room to listen to a former Order of Mata Nui agent named Axonn report on suspicious criminal activity involving a recent assault on Toa Kualus. By this point, however, the Turaga of Ice had become unwell and Vilnius was forced to cover for him. Little to the Turaga's knowledge though, Matoro had in fact been poisoned and was swiftly becoming weaker. Several hours later, the Turaga of Ice collapsed and was admitted to an intensive care facility, leaving Vilnius in temporary command of Metru Nui.

Unfortunately, Matoro would later pass away while straining to use his Noble Iden to communicate with Toa Tollubo over a long distance, leaving Vilnius as the acting leader of the island.

The following morning, Vilnius mourned the death of Turaga Matoro and attended the late Turaga's ceremonial funeral.

Reign of Metru Nui

Following Vilnius' succession of Matoro as the Leader of Metru Nui, Dessal became the Turaga's unofficial adviser and often prepared speeches for him whilst the Turaga made public addresses on Telescreens.

However, three months into his administration, the Turaga High Council caught wind of Brotherhood interest in a small Ko-Metru town named Elysium. After a string of seemingly random homicides, an Airship was commandeered by two Matoran serving the Cult of Darkness and was directed towards the Coliseum. The Matoran pilots, however, were intent on diving out of the Airship at the last possible second, leaving their vehicle on a direct collision course with the tallest building in Metru Nui.

Vilnius swiftly assembled the Toa Metru Taskforce, along with Turaga Velika, and informed them of the threat. Additionally, he also revealed the existence of several Gorast Missiles stationed in various bunkers around the island in case of such an emergency. Following a vote - and a rare moment in which both Vilnius and Tollubo found themselves agreeing - it was finally decided that one of the missiles would be used to destroy the incoming Airship. However, Vilnius and Tollubo's plan was greatly misjudged and the missile was not able to arrive in time and would have destroyed a large residential area had an Av-Matoran named Glonor not managed to destroy the Airship himself and if Toa Danza had been unable to teleport the Gorast Missile away to the Southern Continent.

Subsequently, Vilnius gained a bad name for himself and, along with Tollubo, was heavily criticized for his actions and the near-destruction of thousands of homes just three months into his reign. In order to allow Tollubo to operate on a discreet level, Vilnius contracted the Toa to act as a hired-gun, assassinating or threatening enemies of the state into a particular course of action.

Abilities and Traits

Vilnius wielding the Fusion Staff

Being a Ta-Matoran, Vilnius would have had a minuscule amount of control over the element of Fire.

However, as a Toa, Vilnius later had the ability to manipulate, create, and absorb Heat Energy. Upon becoming a Turaga, the extent of these powers were diminished.

Mask and Tools

As a Matoran, Vilnius carried a Knife and wore a Powerless Kanohi Komau.

As a Toa, Vilnius was given a custom-forged Magma Hook. His Kanohi Komau also became a Great Kanohi and allowed him to see into the mind of another and control them. Over the course of his career he collected six Great Masks and established his own Toa Suva, later creating a Golden Kanohi for himself. However, his Suva was damaged in a Rahi attack, resulting in the destruction of four masks in his shrine, including his original Komau. From this point onward, Vilnius adopted his two remaining Kanohi, one of which was a Kanohi Crast. Using this mask, Vilnius was able to repel targets away from him using tremendous force.

Upon becoming a Turaga, Vilnius's Toa Tool became his Hook Staff, which was commonly rumored to have been fashioned from the Horn of a Muaka Bull, who he had killed as a Toa. However, this is untrue. Additionally, his Great Kanohi Crast also became a Noble Kanohi. As such, the force with which he could repel objects was significantly reduced and he lost the ability to control which direction he repelled his intended target with accuracy.

Forms

Picture	Form
	Vilnius' original form as a Matoran, wearing a Powerless Kanohi Komau
	Vilnius' Toa Form, wearing a Great Kanohi Komau and armed with his signature Magma Hook.
	Vilnius' "Turaga Haru" disguise during the Final Push.
	Vilnius' Turaga form, wearing his unique Noble Kanohi, that was adopted upon his transformation into a Turaga, and wielding the Fusion Staff.

Quotes

"A Turaga is beneath Mata Nui but not beneath the law, for the Turaga makes the law."

―Vilnius' attitudes towards power, Judgment Day.

Trivia

• Similarly to other members of the Turaga High Council, BobTheDoctor27 drew inspiration for Vilnius from political figures in modern European history. Chiefly, he based his version of the character on Otto von Bismarck, a Prussian Statesman whose diplomacy unified the German states in the late nineteenth century. His steely resolve and status as the "Iron Chancellor" made him a formidably stern leader, much the same as Vilnius.
• Originally, it was planned that Vilnius would wear a Noble Hau as his Kanohi. However, since this particular Kanohi felt overused on a Turaga of Fire, BobTheDoctor27 opened the canonization of Vilnius' Kanohi up for discussion. The winning suggestion of a Kanohi Crast was placed by ChronosOmega.
• As revealed in Frozen Calling, Toa Vilnius was known to have played an instrumental role in the capture and eventual imprisoning of "Graviton". As such, when the enraged Toa of Gravity escaped his captivity, he attempted to level Ta-Metru to find Vilnius and challenge him to a rematch.

Appearances

• Zero Hour - First Appearance
• Whispers in the Dark
• Over Your Shoulder
• Judgment Day - To Be Written

See also

• Vilnius' Brickshelf Gallery