Airweed

Airweed is an underwater plant that naturally produces bubbles of breathable air. It grew thickly in the Fields of AirThe Fields of AirThe airweed beds on the seabed beside the sunken village of Mahri Nui, harvested by Hydruka under Matoran supervision to supply the air bubbles that kept the settlement alive. at the edge of the sunken village of Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations., below the floating island of Voya NuiVoya NuiAn island born from catastrophe and hiding the universe's most powerful artifact, Voya Nui was everything Bionicle 2006 promised: danger, mystery, and a race against time.. For the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. of Mahri Nui, air was the most valuable thing imaginable, and airweed was where it came from. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost; BIONICLE World)

The Fields of Air#

Airweed is native to the great sea of Spherus Magna, and when the planet shattered, the region that became Aqua Magna carried its airweed with it. Near Mahri Nui it grew in a dense patch known as the Fields of AirThe Fields of AirThe airweed beds on the seabed beside the sunken village of Mahri Nui, harvested by Hydruka under Matoran supervision to supply the air bubbles that kept the settlement alive.. (BIONICLE World)

To the Matoran of Mahri Nui, the fields were the lungs of the village. The water around them carried the Pit MutagenPit MutagenThe biological lock built into the Pit, a mutagenic substance that rewrote every being immersed in it into a water-breathing form unable to survive on land., and a thin bubble of air around each building was all that kept them safe. They never knew when the next attack might come, or whether the fields might suddenly turn barren. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

Origin and discovery#

The fields were there before Mahri Nui was. The village had been built on cooled lava off the coast of Voya Nui, and when its weak foundations gave way it broke off and sank, landing in the Fields of Air. (BIONICLE World)

The impact released thousands of little bubbles from the disturbed plants. The Matoran, changed by brief contact with the mutagen into their original, stronger forms, reinforced the bubbles around the village's buildings in time to pump the mutagen-filled water out. If they hadn't found the airweed's bubbles within moments of sinking, they would have died or mutated further. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost; BIONICLE World)

The rescue was an accident. The Matoran hadn't chosen the spot, and once they understood the air wouldn't replace itself, survival depended on harvesting the plants. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

The Hydruka harvest#

The Matoran tamed the HydrukaHydrukaAquatic scorpion-like Rahi domesticated by the Matoran of Mahri Nui to harvest Airweed, and the natural prototype for the Air Launcher weapon., stubborn aquatic RahiRahiThe Rahi were the biomechanical wildlife of the Matoran Universe, built largely by the Brotherhood of Makuta, ranging from background fauna to engineered war beasts. that can tell strands of airweed holding good air bubbles from those that don't, and trained them to gather the bubbles. The Hydruka are temperamental and can't be rushed, and if they decided not to harvest, their handler had a lot of explaining to do back in the village. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost; BIONICLE World)

Because the harvest mattered so much, the job of Hydruka guard grew up around it. The Onu-Matoran ReysaReysaReysa was an impatient Onu-Matoran Hydruka shepherd of Mahri Nui whose unexplained death at the Fields of Air opened the chain of events that put Defilak's submarine into the Black Water and exposed the Barraki to the underwater city. did the work for most of his life, until the day he stayed out past the designated safety hour and was dragged off and killed. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

The harvested air kept the bubbles around the village's buildings going and filled the personal air bubbles the Matoran wore when they went outside. Those personal bubbles faded over time, so anyone outside had to get back to fresh air before theirs gave out. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost; BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)

Air bubbles as weapons#

The Matoran's main weapon also came out of the harvest, though not from the plants themselves. They watched Hydruka defend themselves by firing solidified air bubbles from their tails and copied the trick, building air launchers to defend the village. (BIONICLE World; BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

The Fields as a battleground#

The fields were the hunting ground of the Barraki EhlekEhlekA Barraki warlord with electrical powers who led aquatic forces against the Brotherhood of Makuta., who hated the Matoran because their falling village had crushed his fortress. (BIONICLE World; BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

During the hunt for the Mask of LifeThe Mask of Life (Kanohi Ignika), explainedA failsafe forged by the Great Beings to recharge a god. It curses everyone who touches it, and by the end of Bionicle it had learned how to be a hero., CaraparCaraparOne of six Barraki warlords imprisoned for 80,000 years, Carapar sought the Mask of Life and became expendable muscle for a final, fatal mission. sent his Keras crabs to occupy the fields. The Matoran Gar and IdrisIdrisIdris was a Ga-Matoran of Mahri Nui, the volunteer who helmed Defilak's Submarine into the Black Water, was captured by Pridak alongside Sarda and Gar, and helped trap Karzahni before carrying Lesovikk's breathing helmet home towards Mahri Nui. tried to top up their fading air bubbles from the airweed, but the crabs kept them away. Later, five of the Toa MahriToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself. went to free the fields as a show of good will to the village. They drove out the crabs, but the BarrakiThe BarrakiSix warlords who built an empire spanning most of the Matoran Universe, fell to a Brotherhood strike, and spent millennia imprisoned in the Pit. then took them from the fields to their caves. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)

End of the fields#

After the Toa Mahri led the Matoran up the CordThe CordThe stone Cord linking Voya Nui to the sunken peninsula of Mahri Nui, the tunnel the Toa Mahri descended, and the lifeline severed to revive Mata Nui. to safety in the caves beneath Voya Nui, they went back down and shattered it. Voya Nui sank, smashed Mahri Nui to pieces, and sped back to its place on the Southern ContinentThe Southern ContinentThe Southern Continent was a vast landmass beneath the Matoran Universe, scarred by Voya Nui's separation and held under Makuta Mutran's nominal dominion., destroying the village and the fields. (BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall)

The Hydruka colony survived and stayed in the sea. (BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall)