The Cavern of the Elements

The Cavern of the ElementsElementsThe full elemental system of the Matoran Universe, covering the six primary elements, the secondary group, the opposed pair of Light and Shadow, and the apex Element Lord tier of Spherus Magna. was a chamber inside the underground laboratory of the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. at TajunBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. on Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint., and the room in which the seven Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze. were brought into being. It was the site of a single, deliberate act of transformation that converted six members of the GlatorianGlatorianTribal warriors of Spherus Magna who settled disputes through arena combat, until the Skrall conquest enslaved most of them. species and a leader-class SkrallThe Skrall Conquest of Bara MagnaThe year of consolidation in which Tuma turned the Roxtus garrison into a continental military power, struck a covert alliance with the Bone Hunters, and set the southern villages on the road to the Battle of Roxtus. into elementally empowered rulers, each given mastery over one of the seven elemental categories the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. recognised. The cavern itself was part of a wider subterranean complex through which the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. conducted the experiments by which they shaped the planet's social order, and its name persisted in the chronicles of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint. as a shorthand for the moment at which the Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze. ceased to be ordinary warriors and became the rulers whose decisions would later trigger the Core WarThe Core WarThe generations-long war on Spherus Magna over Energized Protodermis that produced the Shattering, the exodus of Mata Nui, and the long Glatorian peace on Bara Magna. and the breaking of the planet.

The underground lab at TajunBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna.#

TajunBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. was one of the principal settlements of pre-shattering Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint., the planet on which the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. had taken up de facto rule over the GlatorianGlatorianTribal warriors of Spherus Magna who settled disputes through arena combat, until the Skrall conquest enslaved most of them., AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system., SkrallThe Skrall Conquest of Bara MagnaThe year of consolidation in which Tuma turned the Roxtus garrison into a continental military power, struck a covert alliance with the Bone Hunters, and set the southern villages on the road to the Battle of Roxtus., and the various other populations they had encountered or created. The Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. maintained an underground laboratory at TajunBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna., one of the working sites at which they pursued the long programme of creation through which they made objects as different in scale as the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control., the BaterraBaterraMechanical shapeshifters built by the Great Beings to end the Core War by killing every armed combatant on Spherus Magna, and the failsafe that never shut them down., and the Kanohi IgnikaThe 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 Cavern of the ElementsElementsThe full elemental system of the Matoran Universe, covering the six primary elements, the secondary group, the opposed pair of Light and Shadow, and the apex Element Lord tier of Spherus Magna. was a chamber within that lab, set aside for the work the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. had in mind for the seven tribal representatives they intended to remake.

The choice of TajunBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. as the site of the procedure was consistent with the city's standing in the wider geography of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint.. TajunBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. sat in a central position relative to the elemental tribes and was a point of convergence for the trade and communication networks of the pre-war planet. The presence of a Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. lab beneath the city tied the city's later identity to the procedure carried out within the cavern, even though the cavern itself was concealed below the surface and did not enter the public life of TajunBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. in the way that the visible monuments of the city did.

The purpose for which the cavern was used#

The Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. had reached a point at which they wished to withdraw from the daily tedium of administration and governing. They were, by their own self-understanding, creators first and rulers second, and the time required to manage the planet's six tribes and its separate leader-class SkrallThe Skrall Conquest of Bara MagnaThe year of consolidation in which Tuma turned the Roxtus garrison into a continental military power, struck a covert alliance with the Bone Hunters, and set the southern villages on the road to the Battle of Roxtus. population was time they could not give to their wider projects. The solution they devised was to install delegated rulers who could govern the tribes in their stead.

The selection process produced one candidate from each tribe. Six were members of the GlatorianGlatorianTribal warriors of Spherus Magna who settled disputes through arena combat, until the Skrall conquest enslaved most of them. species, drawn one each from the Fire, Water, Ice, Jungle, Sand, and Earth tribes of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint., and the seventh was a leader-class SkrallThe Skrall Conquest of Bara MagnaThe year of consolidation in which Tuma turned the Roxtus garrison into a continental military power, struck a covert alliance with the Bone Hunters, and set the southern villages on the road to the Battle of Roxtus. representing the Rock TribeThe Skrall Conquest of Bara MagnaThe year of consolidation in which Tuma turned the Roxtus garrison into a continental military power, struck a covert alliance with the Bone Hunters, and set the southern villages on the road to the Battle of Roxtus.. No candidate was drawn from the Iron Tribe, which had fallen apart after the Dreaming Plague had almost wiped its population out, and no Element LordElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze. of Iron was ever created. The selected warriors were brought to the Cavern of the ElementsElementsThe full elemental system of the Matoran Universe, covering the six primary elements, the secondary group, the opposed pair of Light and Shadow, and the apex Element Lord tier of Spherus Magna. and presented to the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. for transformation.

The transformation procedure#

Within the cavern, the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. successfully altered the seven prospective Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze., giving each great power and control over their individual element. The procedure was uniform across all seven candidates in its general form, although the elemental output it produced was specific to each subject. The GlatorianGlatorianTribal warriors of Spherus Magna who settled disputes through arena combat, until the Skrall conquest enslaved most of them. from the Fire TribeFire TribeThe master smiths of Bara Magna who forged tools for all tribes before the Shattering scattered them into conflict. emerged as the Element Lord of FireElement Lord of FireFormer Glatorian of the Fire Tribe, remade by the Great Beings into an immortal being of pure flame, ruler of the Fire Tribe through the Core War, and the elemental claimant whose feud with the Element Lord of Ice broke open again in the White Quartz Mountains., with the ability to create and control fire. The candidate from the Ice TribeIce TribeOne of Bara Magna's six major tribes, the Ice Tribe produced legendary Glatorian like Strakk and survived the Shattering intact. emerged as the Element Lord of IceElement Lord of IceThe Element Lord of Ice is a member of the Element Lords and a former Glatorian who once served as the leader of the Ice Tribe on Spherus Magna. Wielding the element of ice and bearing white coloration, the Element Lord of Ice resides on the reformed Spherus Magna, the homeland from which the species originated. with corresponding mastery of his element. The leader-class SkrallThe Skrall Conquest of Bara MagnaThe year of consolidation in which Tuma turned the Roxtus garrison into a continental military power, struck a covert alliance with the Bone Hunters, and set the southern villages on the road to the Battle of Roxtus. emerged as the Element Lord of RockElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze., made of rock and charged with leadership of the Rock TribeThe Skrall Conquest of Bara MagnaThe year of consolidation in which Tuma turned the Roxtus garrison into a continental military power, struck a covert alliance with the Bone Hunters, and set the southern villages on the road to the Battle of Roxtus.. The remaining four lords followed the same pattern in their respective elements of Water, Jungle, Sand, and Earth.

The transformation was thorough. Every part of each subject was affected by the procedure, and the resulting Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze. bore little physical resemblance to the GlatorianGlatorianTribal warriors of Spherus Magna who settled disputes through arena combat, until the Skrall conquest enslaved most of them. or SkrallThe Skrall Conquest of Bara MagnaThe year of consolidation in which Tuma turned the Roxtus garrison into a continental military power, struck a covert alliance with the Bone Hunters, and set the southern villages on the road to the Battle of Roxtus. bodies in which they had walked into the cavern. They retained, however, their identities and their names. The continuity of person across the transformation was deliberate, and it was the basis on which the lords were able to assume political authority over their tribes immediately after the procedure. They were not new beings being introduced to populations that had no relationship with them. They were the same individuals, recognised by their former peers, now empowered to command those peers.

Arming and placement of the Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze.#

After the transformation was complete, the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. equipped the new Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze. with armour and weapons fitted to their elements. The equipment was supplied as part of the same operation in which the transformation had been carried out, and it was suited to the elemental output the Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze. now possessed. The lords were then placed in control of their corresponding tribes across Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint., with each lord assigned the tribe from which his or her GlatorianGlatorianTribal warriors of Spherus Magna who settled disputes through arena combat, until the Skrall conquest enslaved most of them. or SkrallThe Skrall Conquest of Bara MagnaThe year of consolidation in which Tuma turned the Roxtus garrison into a continental military power, struck a covert alliance with the Bone Hunters, and set the southern villages on the road to the Battle of Roxtus. self had originated.

The placement worked. For thousands of years, the seven Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze. ruled together in relative peace, and the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. were freed from the administrative load that had prompted the experiment in the first place. The lords governed their tribes, settled disputes between the tribes, and discharged the daily business of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint. without intervention from their creators. The arrangement held until the discovery of the Energized ProtodermisEnergized ProtodermisA sentient substance that could remake or annihilate any being that touched it. One of the Matoran Universe's most lethal hazards. spring near IconoxIconoxIconox is a village of the Ice Tribe, situated in the White Quartz Mountains. by two AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. prospectors of the Ice TribeIce TribeOne of Bara Magna's six major tribes, the Ice Tribe produced legendary Glatorian like Strakk and survived the Shattering intact..

Consequence and the long aftermath#

The peace lasted only as long as the elemental rulers had nothing of overriding value to dispute. The discovery of Energized ProtodermisEnergized ProtodermisA sentient substance that could remake or annihilate any being that touched it. One of the Matoran Universe's most lethal hazards. ended the consensus that had held the seven Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze. in cooperative arrangement. The Element Lord of IceElement Lord of IceThe Element Lord of Ice is a member of the Element Lords and a former Glatorian who once served as the leader of the Ice Tribe on Spherus Magna. Wielding the element of ice and bearing white coloration, the Element Lord of Ice resides on the reformed Spherus Magna, the homeland from which the species originated., in whose territory the substance had been found, refused to share it with his peers and barricaded the region against access from the other lords. The other lords gathered their tribes' armies and went to war for the substance. The Core WarThe Core WarThe generations-long war on Spherus Magna over Energized Protodermis that produced the Shattering, the exodus of Mata Nui, and the long Glatorian peace on Bara Magna. followed, the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. lost control of the system they had created, and the planet itself eventually broke apart in the ShatteringThe Core WarThe generations-long war on Spherus Magna over Energized Protodermis that produced the Shattering, the exodus of Mata Nui, and the long Glatorian peace on Bara Magna. that produced Bara MagnaBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna., Bota MagnaBota MagnaA verdant jungle moon separated from Spherus Magna for 100,000 years, then restored by Mata Nui himself at the climax of the Core War., and Aqua MagnaAqua MagnaThe endless ocean where the Matoran Universe found refuge and Mata Nui made his final stand..

The Cavern of the ElementsElementsThe full elemental system of the Matoran Universe, covering the six primary elements, the secondary group, the opposed pair of Light and Shadow, and the apex Element Lord tier of Spherus Magna. did not survive in the active record after the procedure that gave it its name. The Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed.' underground lab at TajunBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. continued to exist beneath the city for as long as TajunBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. itself stood, and the chamber within it where the seven warriors had been transformed continued to exist as a physical space, but the procedure for which it had been built was carried out once and was not repeated. The seven Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze. the cavern had produced went on to dominate the political history of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint. for the remainder of the pre-shattering era and survived in their transformed forms across the ShatteringThe Core WarThe generations-long war on Spherus Magna over Energized Protodermis that produced the Shattering, the exodus of Mata Nui, and the long Glatorian peace on Bara Magna. onto Bara MagnaBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna., where most of them were eventually trapped for a hundred thousand years.

The cavern's name therefore came to stand, in the long memory of the GlatorianGlatorianTribal warriors of Spherus Magna who settled disputes through arena combat, until the Skrall conquest enslaved most of them. and AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. who survived the broken planet, for the single act that had set the Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze. above the rest of the population. The room was the point at which the relationship between the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. and the ordinary tribes of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint. was permanently restructured. Every consequence that followed from the Core WarThe Core WarThe generations-long war on Spherus Magna over Energized Protodermis that produced the Shattering, the exodus of Mata Nui, and the long Glatorian peace on Bara Magna., the ShatteringThe Core WarThe generations-long war on Spherus Magna over Energized Protodermis that produced the Shattering, the exodus of Mata Nui, and the long Glatorian peace on Bara Magna., and the long imprisonment of the Element LordsElement Lord of RockFormer leader-class Skrall remade by the Great Beings into a being of living stone, ruler of the Rock Tribe during the Core War, and the elemental claimant who turned the river fight in the Valley of the Maze. on Bara MagnaBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. ran back through the chamber in which the procedure had been performed.