Cavern of Historical Records

The Cavern of Historical Records was an underground chamber on the 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. that held the written history of the island and of the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. villagers who lived on it. It was not part of the central ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface. of Onu-MetruOnu-MetruThe deep archive-city that made mining and historical records preservation the beating heart of Metru Nui., which had served the same function for the broader Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control.. It was a local repository serving a single isolated island, holding records that no other facility in the universe had a copy of. Most of those records were destroyed by the PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. VezokVezokThe Beast was a Piraka thief split in two by the Spear of Fusion, then imprisoned by the Order of Mata Nui. during the PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui.' occupation of the island. The remainder were destroyed shortly afterward, when 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. returned to its original position 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. and the geological violence of the descent finished what VezokVezokThe Beast was a Piraka thief split in two by the Spear of Fusion, then imprisoned by the Order of Mata Nui. had started.

A local archive on an isolated island#

The Cavern of Historical Records served the population 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., a small island of MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. survivors who had spent most of their existence cut off from the rest of the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control.. The island had been part of 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. until the Great CataclysmThe Great CataclysmThe day Makuta Teridax put the Great Spirit to sleep, the Great Spirit Robot fell from the sky, Metru Nui flooded, and Voya Nui tore loose from the Southern Continent. tore it loose, drove it upward and threw it to the surface of Aqua MagnaAqua MagnaThe endless ocean where the Matoran Universe found refuge and Mata Nui made his final stand. as a floating fragment. The break severed the village's contact with the broader network of ArchivistArchivistA Matoran keeper of records and relics, the Archivist held one of Metru Nui's deadliest jobs. Corps facilities and Knowledge TowersThe Knowledge TowersThe crystalline scholar-towers of Ko-Metru, where Ko-Matoran seers used knowledge crystals to record observation and prediction for the city of Metru Nui., and left the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. 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. responsible for maintaining their own history.

The Cavern was the answer. It was located underground, in keeping with the standard MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. preference for siting archival material below the surface where temperature and humidity were stable. The records it held were not the universal holdings the ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface. of Onu-MetruOnu-MetruThe deep archive-city that made mining and historical records preservation the beating heart of Metru Nui. had maintained but the specific local material that the 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. MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. needed to remember who they were and where they had come from. The Cavern operated under no special security regime. It was a working civilian archive that the local MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. used as needed, and the PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui., when they arrived, were able to enter it without significant obstacle.

The lost coastal village#

The most significant piece of information the Cavern preserved was the record of the village that had once stood on 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.'s coast and had broken off during the Great CataclysmThe Great CataclysmThe day Makuta Teridax put the Great Spirit to sleep, the Great Spirit Robot fell from the sky, Metru Nui flooded, and Voya Nui tore loose from the Southern Continent.. When the island was thrown upward, the coastal village did not survive the journey intact. It broke off the rest 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. and fell back into the southern ocean. The surviving 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. MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body., who had remained on the inland portion that became the floating island, had every reason to assume the coastal village and its inhabitants had been destroyed.

The Cavern preserved the memory of that village. Its holdings contained maps showing where the settlement had stood and accounts of its daily life. For most of the post-Cataclysm period the records served no operational purpose. The village was understood to be lost, and the Cavern's holdings on the subject were a memorial rather than a working file. The accidental survival of the coastal village as the sunken town 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., held alive by the Fields of AirThe Fields of AirThe seabed meadow of airweed beneath the southern ocean whose harvested bubbles kept the sunken town of Mahri Nui breathing under a dome of borrowed atmosphere., was not known to the 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. MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. until much later.

The Resistance Team consults the Cavern#

The Voya Nui Resistance TeamVoya Nui Resistance TeamSix Matoran of Voya Nui who recognised the Piraka as impostors and waged a covert campaign against them before the arrival of the Toa Inika., the small group of MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. under GaranGaranGaran is a black and grey Matoran of Earth who served as the leader of the Voya Nui Resistance Team, a group dedicated to opposing the Piraka occupation of Voya Nui. He wore a powerless Ruru and carried Pulse Bolt Generators in combat. He later resided on Spherus Magna. that organised the local response to the PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui.' occupation of the island, consulted the Cavern during the campaign. The Team had already worked out that the PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. were not the ToaToa (2001)Biomechanical heroes bonded to elemental powers and masks. Not born, but chosen and transformed. they had claimed to be and were using captured MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. to drain the lava from Mount ValmaiMount ValmaiA roiling volcano on Voya Nui that guarded the Ignika and tested three desperate expeditions seeking the Mask of Life. in pursuit of 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.. The Team was looking for any local information that might affect the strategic picture.

The Cavern delivered. The Team uncovered an old map and a written historical record of the village that had broken off the coast, and the documents were detailed enough to support a deduction the surviving MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. had not previously considered. The village had not necessarily been destroyed. The map showed its position on the original coast, and the record described its layout in a way that allowed the Team to model what might have happened to it during the CataclysmThe Great CataclysmThe day Makuta Teridax put the Great Spirit to sleep, the Great Spirit Robot fell from the sky, Metru Nui flooded, and Voya Nui tore loose from the Southern Continent.. The Team, with DaluDaluDalu is a blue and silver Ga-Matoran warrior of the Water element, wearing a powerless Rau and wielding Twin Chargers in combat. Dalu resides on Spherus Magna. among the members involved in the analysis, concluded that the village built on the island's coast was not only intact but still inhabited.

The conclusion would later be confirmed when the Toa InikaToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself. descended through the same water and made contact with 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. directly, but the Resistance TeamVoya Nui Resistance TeamSix Matoran of Voya Nui who recognised the Piraka as impostors and waged a covert campaign against them before the arrival of the Toa Inika.'s reading of the Cavern's holdings was the first time anyone on 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. had reason to think the lost village had survived. The discovery was operationally significant for the broader campaign. It established that the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. 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. existed at all, and it positioned the Resistance TeamVoya Nui Resistance TeamSix Matoran of Voya Nui who recognised the Piraka as impostors and waged a covert campaign against them before the arrival of the Toa Inika. and, by extension, the Toa InikaToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself., to attempt contact with them in the next phase of the conflict.

Vezok's search and the destruction of the records#

The Cavern's destruction came shortly after the consultation. The PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui., having identified the Resistance TeamVoya Nui Resistance TeamSix Matoran of Voya Nui who recognised the Piraka as impostors and waged a covert campaign against them before the arrival of the Toa Inika. as the principal organised opposition to their occupation of the island, sent VezokVezokThe Beast was a Piraka thief split in two by the Spear of Fusion, then imprisoned by the Order of Mata Nui. to hunt the Team down. VezokVezokThe Beast was a Piraka thief split in two by the Spear of Fusion, then imprisoned by the Order of Mata Nui.'s search took him to the Cavern, on the theory that the Team's known interest in the local records made the archive a plausible hiding place.

VezokVezokThe Beast was a Piraka thief split in two by the Spear of Fusion, then imprisoned by the Order of Mata Nui. did not handle the Cavern with care. The search was conducted at the speed and with the brutality the PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. brought to most of their operations on the island, and most of the records were destroyed in the process. Shelves were overturned, holdings were displaced, and material that depended on its archival context for legibility lost that context. The surviving record specifies that most, but not all, of the records were destroyed by VezokVezokThe Beast was a Piraka thief split in two by the Spear of Fusion, then imprisoned by the Order of Mata Nui. during this search. The Resistance TeamVoya Nui Resistance TeamSix Matoran of Voya Nui who recognised the Piraka as impostors and waged a covert campaign against them before the arrival of the Toa Inika. was not in the Cavern when he arrived. The Team had taken refuge in the Mountain Hideaway and in the Matoran Cliff VillageMatoran Cliff VillageThe Matoran settlement on Voya Nui that became ground zero for the Piraka invasion in 2006. higher up the island, and the sweep produced no useful intelligence on their location.

The descent and the loss of what remained#

The remaining records did not survive much longer. At the close of 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. campaign, 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. cut 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. that held 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. afloat above 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., and the island sank back to its original position. The descent was not gentle, and the geological stresses damaged or destroyed every underground installation on the island that depended on a stable rock structure to function. The Cavern was among them. The surviving record states that the remaining records were destroyed when 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. returned to its original position. The fraction of holdings that had escaped VezokVezokThe Beast was a Piraka thief split in two by the Spear of Fusion, then imprisoned by the Order of Mata Nui.'s search did not escape the descent. The MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. 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. and the surviving MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. 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. had sheltered in caves during the trip, but the Cavern was not designed to take that kind of stress.

The loss removed the only documentation that had ever existed 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.'s history as an independent floating island. The 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. population went on to migrate to Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint. with the rest of the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. survivors, but they did so without their archive. The Cavern of Historical Records is one of the few Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control. facilities whose destruction is documented twice in the surviving record, once at the hands of a hostile party and once again by the geological consequences of the same campaign that ended its parent island's separation from the broader world.