Forerunner Email

Image capture of the rendered email.

The Forerunner email is a message in the form of a poem, sent to all recipients of the Xbox Flash newsletter. The email was tied to the first episode "The Unknown Helper" of the Halo 3 Iris Alternate reality game, and was sent around June 14, 2007, around the time the Forerunner AI known as Adjutant Reflex mentioned that "The first seeds are scattered", the "first seeds" being this email.

Email breakdown

The email consists of a cryptic poem alongside an image depicting a Forerunner wall from the Halo 2 map Desolation with a symbol on it, clicking the email lead to the website Halo3.com. The poem itself appears to describe the events of the devastating war between the Forerunners and the Flood, prior to the firing of the Halo Array. Following the command "Look for the signs" lead to people finding the symbol in numerous places such as recently added to Halo3.com, and eventually was quickly made the avatar of the AdjutantReflex account on Bungie.net, where it was used for a puzzle, and subsequently used throughout the rest of the alternate reality game as a re-occurring symbol.

The message

HISTORY CIRCLING

BACK UPON US.

The gears of the Universe spin further
and further apart.
Ever greater grows the gulf between souls,
And distance gives false hope of safety
But for the grim tidings this messenger bears

The enemy is almost upon us

Closing in from all sides,
Moving faster than the light
it snuffs with its passage,
Time echoes with the news of destruction.
History winding back upon itself.

Waves of an army march this way in unison,
Suffering and corruption are its battle cries.
For I have known this darkness
and felt its embrace once before-
Horror best laid to rest

Yet a Journey must commence

Look for the signs, the keepers of the flame.
They will lead you to war, and perhaps, to victory

Gallery

• 

  The image of the Desolation wall used in the email with the Forerunner symbol on it.

See also

• Original link (Defunct)