Totem Ring
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Totem Rings[1] were a type of artifact found on Installation 07 by John-117 and the Weapon. These rings were linked together and contained runes older than the Forerunners with data hundreds of thousands of years old.[2]
Overview[edit]
Design details[edit]
The Totem Rings are made of stone, with runes inscribed on their surfaces; upon its activation, they radiate a blue energy. Their alloy substructures contain data-storage matrices with records from a range of time periods.[3] Certain totems notably contain primordial data on Installation 07, and its connection to the imprisonment of the Xalanyn species.[4]
The Banished learned that the totem rings weren't created to stand vast ages of time[5], with Spartans M. Jaide and Rosado identifying their signal spikes as Forerunner.[6][7]
History[edit]
The stone rings were built by the Tudejsa during their time living on Zeta Halo, fashioning them in reverence or remorse to the ring they were living.[8]
During the period of 100,000 years after the firing of the Halo rings and the imprisonment of the Xalanyn, Installation 07's Monitor, 117649 Despondent Pyre took interest in these stone rings, also using them as information repositories about Zeta Halo's past.[8][9] Believing the rings contained a warning written in runes, Despondent Pyre wondered about who left them in Zeta Halo.[10] After studying them and translating their runes as "Enemy Within", the Monitor concluded that the runes and the warnings they contained were older than herself and the Forerunners themselves.[11]
By 2560, the Banished started studying them at the Annex Ridge research facility, believing their secrets were the key to control Zeta Halo.[12] After discovering the Banished studying those rings and transporting them into an unknown location, Spartans Jaide and Rosado hijacked a Barukaza Workshop siege-hauler carrying three ring artifacts;[6] the transport and the artifacts were later reported as lost by the Banished commander Zeretus.[12] The Kig-Yar group known as the Mind Talon, alongside studymasters such as Ciar 'Yaham, were tasked with investigating the rings.[13]
Totem rings were amongst the Forerunner artifacts on Gorian's Phantom.[14] Spartan Tomas Horvath later used the dropship's flight recorder to investigate the excavation sites that the artifacts had come from. At the site where Horvath found ONI operative Kate Stalling, the ruins of several large stone rings similar to the ones on the Phantom were partially buried in the ground.[15]
In May 2560, John-117 and the Weapon started to find some of these totem rings and record some of Despondent Pyre's studies about them. The Master Chief also discovered the Annex Ridge outpost and attacked it in order to stop the Banished from learning more about Zeta Halo and the stone rings. He destroyed the facility's fuel silo, causing a chain reaction that destroyed a nearby Barukaza Workshop siege-hauler before it could transport several Ring artifacts offsite.[16] At the same time Master Chief's campaign against the Banished happened, Studymaster Ciar 'Yaham and his companion Dahk'rah were studying them outside Annex Ridge, unconsciously saving them from the facility's destruction.[8]
After killing the Harbinger, the Master Chief and the Weapon entered a portal, only to end up across Zeta Halo near some more ring artifacts three days later.[17]
Other totem rings were also found by the UNSC's 511th Infantry Division in a remote region of Installation 07.
In-game information[edit]
- "This location was identified by UNSC science teams as having anomalous data clusters attributed to 117649 Despondent Pyre, monitor of Installation 07."
- — TACMAP description[18]
All of the rings can be found in the open world of Halo Infinite and contain blue energy swirling within their perimeter. Upon discovery, they provide a log from Despondent Pyre and her analysis of these artifacts.
Ring 01[edit]
- The Weapon: "There's more here. This isn't the first time this Ring has repaired itself. What we're seeing in the landscape is an ancient process. It seems like these installations are almost impossible to destroy."
- John-117: "Almost."
- — The Weapon and Chief discussing the first ring artifact.[19]
Audio log[edit]
Forerunner Log 01 Description:
INSTALLATION ARCHIVE 117649/01: Constantly rewritten.
- 117649 Despondent Pyre: How many years have I been here now? Two thousand or twenty thousand? Longer? Does it even matter? Why did my makers entrust me with this installation? As its custodian, I feel there is much that I do not know... Or that has been kept from me. Its history is... complicated. Constantly rewritten. But why? There is much to learn. And if nothing else... I have time.
Ring 02[edit]
- "This data is strange. I'm not even certain all of it is Forerunner, strictly speaking. Strands of this code are older than Zeta Halo itself. Possibly older than the Forerunners themselves. For all we know about them, there's so much we don't."
- — The Weapon analysing the second ring artifact.[19]
Audio log[edit]
Forerunner Log 02 Description:
INSTALLATION ARCHIVE 117649/02: New questions.
- 117649 Despondent Pyre: I continue to be impressed with the intricacies of this installation. Trillions of systems working in harmony. Forever shifting. Adapting. An ecosystem to preserve life. And when necessary, destroy it for the greater good.
