Forest of Blades

The Forest of Blades was a high plain dotted with bladed trees north of the White Quartz MountainsWhite Quartz MountainsA jagged mountain range in the northern reaches of Bara Magna, once ruled by the Element Lord of Rock and later home to Surel and the Iron Wolves. on Bara MagnaBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna.. Each tree clutched a Core War weapon in each of its limbs, and the trunks retained the faint outlines of the soldiers they had once been. The forest sat between SurelSurelSurel is a Glatorian and the Element Lord of Ice, native to Spherus Magna. Clad in white and light blue, he wanders the reformed Spherus Magna armed with a spear.'s den in the heights and the River DormusThe River DormusThe placid northern river that carried travellers toward the last vault of the Great Beings, contested by the surviving Element Lords and turned to a single block of ice during the Agori expedition led by Tarduk. below, and it marked the boundary of the country claimed by the Element Lord of JungleElement Lord of JungleThe Element Lord of Jungle was a being native to Spherus Magna who was formerly of the Glatorian species, wielded power over the jungle element, and carried a sword. A member of the Element Lords, the individual once led the Jungle Tribe and bore green coloration., who had created it during 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. by transforming an entire engagement of enemy combatants into timber.

A forest grown from soldiers#

The Forest of Blades did not arrive in the country north of IconoxIconoxIconox is a village of the Ice Tribe, situated in the White Quartz Mountains. by natural means. The plain on which it stood had been a battlefield during 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 global conflict that the tribes of the original planet had fought over a deposit 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. discovered at the world's heart. The Element Lord of JungleElement Lord of JungleThe Element Lord of Jungle was a being native to Spherus Magna who was formerly of the Glatorian species, wielded power over the jungle element, and carried a sword. A member of the Element Lords, the individual once led the Jungle Tribe and bore green coloration., one of the six commanders the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. had transformed to lead their tribes, took the field on that plain against an opposing force and used his elemental power over plant life to settle the engagement in a single act. The opposing soldiers were transformed where they stood. Each combatant became a single-trunked tree of roughly the same height as an AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system., with limbs ending in the weapon the soldier had been carrying at the moment of transformation. An entire enemy unit was converted into timber that would last as long as the country itself. The trees were both monument and warning, and they remained standing after the war ended.

When 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. broke the original world apart, the desert that would become Bara MagnaBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. carried the forest away with it. The Element Lord of JungleElement Lord of JungleThe Element Lord of Jungle was a being native to Spherus Magna who was formerly of the Glatorian species, wielded power over the jungle element, and carried a sword. A member of the Element Lords, the individual once led the Jungle Tribe and bore green coloration. was trapped on the same fragment, and his territorial connection to the forest persisted. He continued to fight the other Lords in the country beyond the White Quartz MountainsWhite Quartz MountainsA jagged mountain range in the northern reaches of Bara Magna, once ruled by the Element Lord of Rock and later home to Surel and the Iron Wolves. after the war was technically over, and he continued to treat the Forest of Blades as his to defend.

The country between mountain and river#

The forest sat in a corridor of terrain that connected the White Quartz MountainsWhite Quartz MountainsA jagged mountain range in the northern reaches of Bara Magna, once ruled by the Element Lord of Rock and later home to Surel and the Iron Wolves. to the River DormusThe River DormusThe placid northern river that carried travellers toward the last vault of the Great Beings, contested by the surviving Element Lords and turned to a single block of ice during the Agori expedition led by Tarduk.. Travellers leaving the southern villages of AteroAteroThe free city at the heart of Bara Magna, home to the Arena Magna and the Great Tournament, destroyed by Tuma and the Skrall during the opening match., VulcanusVulcanusThe Fire Tribe's settlement on Bara Magna, caught between resources and threats. and TesaraTesaraTesara is a location belonging to the Jungle Tribe, situated to the south of the White Quartz Mountains and to the north of the Dunes of Treason. and pushing past IconoxIconoxIconox is a village of the Ice Tribe, situated in the White Quartz Mountains. had no other practical route into the deep north. The mountains gave way to SurelSurelSurel is a Glatorian and the Element Lord of Ice, native to Spherus Magna. Clad in white and light blue, he wanders the reformed Spherus Magna armed with a spear.'s valley, the valley gave way to the high plain of the forest, and the plain gave way to the river.

The trees were spaced at roughly the intervals of a natural orchard rather than a dense wood, which meant a rider could see across the forest and a traveller on foot could pick a path between the trunks. The hazard was not the spacing but the contents. The wind across the plain produced not the rustle of foliage but a high keening like a chorus of the dead, generated by the air moving across the edges of thousands of stationary blades. A traveller who heard the sound from outside had a fair warning of what was inside, although the warning was not always recognised in time.

The Tarduk expedition#

The expedition that first put the Forest of Blades on a southern map was the small party led by the Jungle TribeJungle TribeThe Jungle Tribe of Tesara originated in Bota Magna, weathered the Shattering, and sent Gresh and Vastus into the Bara Magna arena system. AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. TardukTardukTarduk is an Agori of the Jungle Tribe, distinguished by his dark green and lime coloration. A treasure hunter by trade, he wields claws and spikes and makes his home on the reformed Spherus Magna.. TardukTardukTarduk is an Agori of the Jungle Tribe, distinguished by his dark green and lime coloration. A treasure hunter by trade, he wields claws and spikes and makes his home on the reformed Spherus Magna. had recovered a metal fragment outside AteroAteroThe free city at the heart of Bara Magna, home to the Arena Magna and the Great Tournament, destroyed by Tuma and the Skrall during the opening match. with an inscription that placed a red star north of the White Quartz MountainsWhite Quartz MountainsA jagged mountain range in the northern reaches of Bara Magna, once ruled by the Element Lord of Rock and later home to Surel and the Iron Wolves.. He recruited CrotesiusCrotesiusA Vulcanus pilot who went from dismissing legends to answering one in Riddle of the Great Beings. of VulcanusVulcanusThe Fire Tribe's settlement on Bara Magna, caught between resources and threats., a Fire TribeFire TribeThe master smiths of Bara Magna who forged tools for all tribes before the Shattering scattered them into conflict. sand stalker driver, and KirboldKirboldKirbold is an Agori of the Ice Tribe, distinguished by white and grey coloring, who serves as a maintenance worker on the reformed Spherus Magna. He carries a blade as his primary tool. of IconoxIconoxIconox is a village of the Ice Tribe, situated in the White Quartz Mountains., an Ice TribeIce TribeOne of Bara Magna's six major tribes, the Ice Tribe produced legendary Glatorian like Strakk and survived the Shattering intact. AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. whose familiarity with the mountain passes carried the expedition into country no living AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. had visited. After an encounter with SurelSurelSurel is a Glatorian and the Element Lord of Ice, native to Spherus Magna. Clad in white and light blue, he wanders the reformed Spherus Magna armed with a spear. and his pack of Iron WolvesThe Iron WolvesBiomechanical wolves built by the Great Beings for the Core War, the Iron Wolves outlasted the Shattering and held the northern range of Bara Magna beside the warrior Surel. in a mountain den, the three rode on into the plain.

KirboldKirboldKirbold is an Agori of the Ice Tribe, distinguished by white and grey coloring, who serves as a maintenance worker on the reformed Spherus Magna. He carries a blade as his primary tool. was the first to look closely at the trees and the first to identify the blades for what they were. The recognition that the trunks retained the outlines of the soldiers they had once been was more than he could accept. The petrified army included soldiers of his own Ice TribeIce TribeOne of Bara Magna's six major tribes, the Ice Tribe produced legendary Glatorian like Strakk and survived the Shattering intact., and the implication that this was the routine business of an Element Lord on the loose was enough to break his resolve to continue. KirboldKirboldKirbold is an Agori of the Ice Tribe, distinguished by white and grey coloring, who serves as a maintenance worker on the reformed Spherus Magna. He carries a blade as his primary tool. turned back at the edge of the forest. TardukTardukTarduk is an Agori of the Jungle Tribe, distinguished by his dark green and lime coloration. A treasure hunter by trade, he wields claws and spikes and makes his home on the reformed Spherus Magna. and CrotesiusCrotesiusA Vulcanus pilot who went from dismissing legends to answering one in Riddle of the Great Beings. asked him to carry a message south to the VulcanusVulcanusThe Fire Tribe's settlement on Bara Magna, caught between resources and threats. and TesaraTesaraTesara is a location belonging to the Jungle Tribe, situated to the south of the White Quartz Mountains and to the north of the Dunes of Treason. commands confirming that the Element LordsElement LordsSeven elemental warriors transformed by the Great Beings who refused to end their war even after the world broke. were free and that an expedition was continuing north regardless. He agreed and rode for the pass. The remaining two AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. entered the forest on foot.

The Element Lord of Jungle#

The trees did not attack while the two AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. kept their hands away from the weapons, and TardukTardukTarduk is an Agori of the Jungle Tribe, distinguished by his dark green and lime coloration. A treasure hunter by trade, he wields claws and spikes and makes his home on the reformed Spherus Magna. and CrotesiusCrotesiusA Vulcanus pilot who went from dismissing legends to answering one in Riddle of the Great Beings. crossed a substantial fraction of the plain without incident. What confronted them was not the forest but its owner. The Element Lord of JungleElement Lord of JungleThe Element Lord of Jungle was a being native to Spherus Magna who was formerly of the Glatorian species, wielded power over the jungle element, and carried a sword. A member of the Element Lords, the individual once led the Jungle Tribe and bore green coloration. emerged from the deeper growth in person to demand information TardukTardukTarduk is an Agori of the Jungle Tribe, distinguished by his dark green and lime coloration. A treasure hunter by trade, he wields claws and spikes and makes his home on the reformed Spherus Magna. did not possess. The Lord recognised TardukTardukTarduk is an Agori of the Jungle Tribe, distinguished by his dark green and lime coloration. A treasure hunter by trade, he wields claws and spikes and makes his home on the reformed Spherus Magna. as a member of the same tribe he had once governed and released him on that basis, but resolved to keep CrotesiusCrotesiusA Vulcanus pilot who went from dismissing legends to answering one in Riddle of the Great Beings. as a hostage. The Fire TribeFire TribeThe master smiths of Bara Magna who forged tools for all tribes before the Shattering scattered them into conflict. AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. had no such protection, and the trees, on the Lord's signal, began to close on him.

What broke the encounter was KirboldKirboldKirbold is an Agori of the Ice Tribe, distinguished by white and grey coloring, who serves as a maintenance worker on the reformed Spherus Magna. He carries a blade as his primary tool.'s reappearance. The Ice TribeIce TribeOne of Bara Magna's six major tribes, the Ice Tribe produced legendary Glatorian like Strakk and survived the Shattering intact. AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. had ridden back from the pass with a lit torch in his hand, having decided that abandoning his companions in the forest was not a decision he could carry home. He threw the torch into the dry undergrowth at the forest's edge. The fire caught immediately. The Element Lord of JungleElement Lord of JungleThe Element Lord of Jungle was a being native to Spherus Magna who was formerly of the Glatorian species, wielded power over the jungle element, and carried a sword. A member of the Element Lords, the individual once led the Jungle Tribe and bore green coloration., facing the loss of the very plant matter that constituted his monument and his territorial claim, scattered into the smoke to put it out. The three AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. made it across the burning forest at a run, and the Lord did not pursue them past the river. The episode established on the southern record that an Element Lord could be temporarily neutralised by an attack on the resources he was responsible for, a fact that would later inform 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. strategy during the broader Bara MagnaBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. campaign.

The forest after the expedition#

The Forest of Blades is not recorded as having been visited again by an AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. party between the TardukTardukTarduk is an Agori of the Jungle Tribe, distinguished by his dark green and lime coloration. A treasure hunter by trade, he wields claws and spikes and makes his home on the reformed Spherus Magna. expedition and the close of the Bara MagnaBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. era. The damage from the torch was real but limited. The bladed trees themselves were petrified and did not burn easily, and the undergrowth that did burn had regrown by the time the Great SpiritMata Nui: Great Spirit of the Matoran UniverseBuilt by the Great Beings as a biomechanical guardian, betrayed by Teridax, and returned in a smaller form to reshape Spherus Magna. Mata NuiMata NuiBuilt by the Great Beings to restore Spherus Magna, Mata Nui sustained an entire civilisation inside his body, was deposed by Teridax, and reclaimed his purpose as a mortal on Bara Magna., in the body the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. had built for him, passed through the same corridor on his way north to the Valley of the MazeThe Valley of the MazeThe northern Bara Magna labyrinth where the Great Beings hid the unstable Power Source of the Prototype Robot, sealed behind puzzle traps and a fortress that few outsiders ever survived to describe. and the Power SourcePower SourceThe energized artifact that powered Mata Nui's prototype robot during the final arc of BIONICLE. the Maze contained. Whatever the forest did to his borrowed body, it did not stop him reaching the Maze, recovering the Source, and returning south with the power that would turn the Prototype RobotThe Prototype RobotThe Great Beings' earlier and unstable attempt at the design that became the Great Spirit Robot, scattered across the Bara Magna desert and reassembled by the villages to carry Mata Nui into the final battle with Teridax. into a working vehicle.

After the Reformation of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint., the Forest of Blades fell within the boundaries of the reunified planet. The Element Lord of JungleElement Lord of JungleThe Element Lord of Jungle was a being native to Spherus Magna who was formerly of the Glatorian species, wielded power over the jungle element, and carried a sword. A member of the Element Lords, the individual once led the Jungle Tribe and bore green coloration. was no longer trapped on a fragment with the surviving population, having reverted to the Jungle TribeJungle TribeThe Jungle Tribe of Tesara originated in Bota Magna, weathered the Shattering, and sent Gresh and Vastus into the Bara Magna arena system. lands in the 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. region. The petrified soldiers remained where they stood, a memorial to a war that had ended twice and that no one alive on either side wanted to revisit. The forest is one of the few specific features of post-Shattering Bara MagnaBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. for which a direct AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and arranged the Glatorian arena system. account survived, and the only one in which the Element Lord of JungleElement Lord of JungleThe Element Lord of Jungle was a being native to Spherus Magna who was formerly of the Glatorian species, wielded power over the jungle element, and carried a sword. A member of the Element Lords, the individual once led the Jungle Tribe and bore green coloration. confronted travellers in person and lost.