The Fields of Air

The Fields of AirThe Fields of AirThe seabed meadow of airweed whose bubbles kept the sunken village of Mahri Nui breathing inside fragile pockets of borrowed air. were the underwater beds of airweedAirweedThe underwater plant of the Fields of Air whose bubbles let the Matoran of Mahri Nui breathe beneath the sea. on the seabed beside 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., far 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.. The plants produced bubbles of breathable air, and 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. depended on a constant harvest of those bubbles to keep the air around their buildings from running out. (BIONICLE: World; BIONICLE: Barraki I)

Geography and contents#

The Fields of Air were a natural part of the seabed, already there long before 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. arrived. Their airweedAirweedThe underwater plant of the Fields of Air whose bubbles let the Matoran of Mahri Nui breathe beneath the sea. produced the air the Matoran needed both to breathe and to avoid being mutated by the water around the PitThe PitThe deep-water prison of the Matoran Universe, built by the Order of Mata Nui to hold the Barraki and other beings too dangerous to execute.. (BIONICLE: World; BIONICLE: Barraki I)

They were also dangerous ground. The fields were the hunting territory of 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. EhlekEhlekA Barraki warlord with electrical powers who led aquatic forces against the Brotherhood of Makuta., who hated the Matoran because Mahri Nui had crushed his fortress when it sank, and collecting air there was a risky job. (BIONICLE: Barraki I)

The village kept pens for its HydrukaHydrukaAquatic scorpion-like Rahi domesticated by the Matoran of Mahri Nui to harvest Airweed, and the natural prototype for the Air Launcher weapon., the animals that worked the fields. KyrehxKyrehxKyrehx is a blue Ga-Matoran of the water element, though that power remains inaccessible to her. She serves as a Hydruka Guard and carries claws and blades. She resides on Spherus Magna., a Ga-MatoranGa-MatoranThe Water-element Matoran of Ga-Metru and Ga-Koro, a female Matoran type, who filled the schools of Metru Nui and crewed the boats of the Mata Nui coast. sentry, was the first Matoran to find 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. when it fell to Mahri Nui, and as she carried it she found herself attacked by seaweed, a sign of the mask's curse. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

Origin and dependence#

When the 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. landmass broke off from Voya Nui and tumbled into the sea, it crashed onto the Fields of Air. The plants survived the impact but released their air bubbles, and those bubbles let the Matoran survive the plunge. (BIONICLE: World)

From then on the village depended on the fields. Its buildings sat inside bubbles of air that protected the Matoran from poisonous plants, sea creatures and the mutagenic water. Without a constant supply of air, the village couldn't function. (BIONICLE: Barraki I; BIONICLE: World)

The Hydruka harvest#

The Matoran couldn't simply wander the fields themselves, so they 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 sea 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 could tell which strands of airweed held usable air bubbles. The animals harvested the air, and the Matoran used it for personal air bubbles when travelling underwater and to keep up the large bubbles around the buildings of the Mahri Nui fortress. (BIONICLE: World; BIONICLE: Barraki I)

Because the harvest mattered so much, Mahri Nui created the post of hydruka guard. The Hydruka were temperamental and couldn't be rushed, and the guards had to understand them and look after them. One of them, the Onu-MatoranOnu-MatoranEarth-wielding Matoran of the deep who adapted to darkness and built the Matoran Universe's defensive cavalry. 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., lost track of time while working the fields one day, stayed out past the safe hour, and was dragged off and killed by a giant squid. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

Watching the Hydruka defend themselves by firing solidified air bubbles also inspired the Matoran to build the air launchers they used to defend the village. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

The fields as a battleground#

When 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. came to Mahri Nui, 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. 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 KerasKerasLarge coral crab Rahi native to the ocean of Ga-Metru and the reefs of Ga-Wahi, briefly tamed during the Bohrok War and later conscripted by Carapar. crabs to occupy the fields while the Barraki searched for the mask. The Matoran GarGarGar was an Onu-Matoran of Mahri Nui and Defilak's best friend, one of the four submariners captured by Pridak in the Black Water and the volunteer who offered to sacrifice himself so that Idris could carry the warning back to the underwater city. 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 use the airweed to top up their fading personal air bubbles but were driven off by the crabs. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

After 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. reached Mahri Nui, five of them went to free the fields as a show of good will, while MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. stayed in the village. They drove the crabs out, and then the Barraki confronted them and took them from the fields to their sea caves as prisoners. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)

End of the fields#

The fields ended 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.. After many battles, the Toa Mahri took the village's Matoran up through 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 the caves beneath Voya Nui. When the Toa Mahri destroyed the Cord, 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 old 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 on its way down it destroyed the Mahri Nui landmass and the Fields of Air with it. (BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall)