Editing Totem Ring

{{Status|Canon}}
[[File:HINF-TimeDialation.png|300px|thumb|John-117 near a ring artifact after killing the [[Harbinger]].]]
'''Totem Rings'''{{Ref/Game|HI|HINF:Forge|Forge|Detail=Totem Ring [[Forge objects|object]] name}} 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.{{Ref/Game|Id=hafh|HI|Forerunner Audio log|Detail=Monitor Reports - Artifact VII}}

==Overview==
[[File:HINF Annex Ridge ring artifacts pit 2.png|thumb|300px|Totems being studied at Annex Ridge.]]
===Design details===
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.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=355}} Certain totems notably contain primordial data on Installation 07, and its connection to the imprisonment of the [[Xalanyn]] species.{{Ref/Twitter|Halo|1530172271935082497|Halo|Quote=Ancient stone rings serve as ‘Forerunner Archives,’ containing primordial data about Zeta Halo and its connection to the final great crime committed by the Forerunners to secure the future they had decided for the galaxy. #FictionFriday|D=29|M=05|Y=2022}}

The Banished learned that the totem rings weren't created to stand vast ages of time{{Ref/Game|Id=Outpost11|HI|HINF:Audio log#Outpost_Intel_4|Banished Audio Logs|Detail=Outpost Intel - 11: Slow and Steady}}, with Spartans [[M. Jaide]] and [[Rosado]] identifying their signal spikes as Forerunner.{{Ref/Game|Id=UNSCOutpost11|HI|HINF:Audio log#Outpost_Intel_3|UNSC Audio Logs|Detail=Outpost Intel - 11: A Hastly-Assembled Plan}}{{Ref/Game|Id=UNSCOutpost12|HI|HINF:Audio log#Outpost_Intel_3|UNSC Audio Logs|Detail=Outpost Intel - 12: Hitching a Ride}}

===History===
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.{{Ref/Book|Id=WFTP|Halo: Whispers from the Pyre}}

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.{{Ref/Reuse|WFTP}}{{Ref/Game|Id=Artifact4|HI|HINF:Audio log#Monitor_Reports|Forerunner Archives|Detail=Monitor Report - Artifact IV}} Believing the rings contained a warning written in runes, Despondent Pyre wondered about who left them in Zeta Halo.{{Ref/Game|Id=Artifact5|HI|HINF:Audio log#Monitor_Reports|Forerunner Archives|Detail=Monitor Report - Artifact V}} After studying them and translating their runes as "Enemy Within", the Monitor concluded that the rings were older than herself and the [[Forerunner]]s themselves.{{Ref/Game|Id=Artifact6|HI|HINF:Audio log#Monitor_Reports|Forerunner Archives|Detail=Monitor Report - Artifact VI}}

By [[2560]], the [[Banished]] started studying them at the [[Annex Ridge (location)|Annex Ridge]] research facility, believing their secrets were the key to control Zeta Halo.{{Ref/Game|Id=Outpost12|HI|HINF:Audio log#Outpost_Intel_4|Banished Audio Logs|Detail=Outpost Intel - 12: Whispers from the Past}} 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;{{Ref/Reuse|UNSCOutpost11}} the transport and the artifacts were later reported as lost by the Banished commander [[Zeretus]].{{Ref/Reuse|Outpost12}} The [[Kig-Yar]] group known as the [[Mind Talon]], alongside [[studymaster]]s such as [[Ciar 'Yaham]], were tasked with investigating the rings.{{Ref/Novel|Halo: Whispers from the Pyre}}

Totem rings were amongst the Forerunner artifacts on [[Gorian]]'s Phantom.{{Ref/Novel|RP|Chapter=10}} 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.{{Ref/Novel|RP|Chapter=22}}

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.{{Ref/Quest|Id=Annex Ridge|HINF|Reformation (Halo Infinite)|Annex Ridge}} 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.{{Ref/Reuse|WFTP}}

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.{{Ref/Quest|HINF|Endless (Halo Infinite)|Silent Auditorium}}

Other totem rings were also found by the UNSC's [[511th Infantry Division]] in [[Fragmentation|a remote region]] of Installation 07.

==In-game information==
{{Quote|This location was identified by UNSC science teams as having anomalous data clusters attributed to 117649 Despondent Pyre, monitor of Installation 07.|[[TACMAP]] description{{Ref/Game|Id=tacmap|HI|TACMAP}}}}
All of the rings can be found in the [[HINF:Overworld|open world]] of ''[[Halo Infinite]]'' and contain blue energy swirling within their perimeter. Upon discovery, they provide a log from [[117649 Despondent Pyre|Despondent Pyre]] and her analysis of these artifacts.

===Ring 01===
[[File:HINF Artifact1Audio.png|thumb|Audio symbol from the first artifact.]]
{{Quote|no=two
|1=The Weapon
|q1=There's more here. This isn't the first time this [[Installation 07|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.
|2=John-117
|q2=[[Battle of Installation 04|Almost]].
|3=The Weapon and Chief discussing the first ring artifact.{{Ref/Game|Id=HIRDialogue|HI|Open World|Detail=Dialogue between the Weapon and John-117 upon interacting with ring artifacts}}
}}

====Audio log====
Forerunner Log 01
{{:HINF:Audio log/Forerunner/Monitor/01}}

===Ring 02===
[[File:HINF Artifact2Audio.png|thumb|Audio symbol from the second artifact.]]
{{Quote|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.}}{{Ref/Reuse|HIRDialogue}}

====Audio log====
Forerunner Log 02
{{:HINF:Audio log/Forerunner/Monitor/02}}

===Ring 03===
[[File:HINF Artifact3Audio.png|thumb|Audio symbol from the third artifact.]]
{{Quote|Can data feel lonely? Because this data feels lonely. Existing for a hundred thousand years-- alone. What use is all the power in the universe without someone to talk to?|The Weapon analysing the third ring artifact.}}{{Ref/Reuse|HIRDialogue}}

====Audio log====
Forerunner Log 03
{{:HINF:Audio log/Forerunner/Monitor/03}}

===Ring 04===
[[File:HINF Artifact4Audio.png|thumb|Audio symbol from the fourth artifact.]]
{{Quote|This thing is old... Very old. And full of data. Well, if you can call it data. Most of it is encrypted in ways I don't understand, but I was able to figure out one small part. There are more out there. I can... "feel" them communicating.|The Weapon analysing the fourth ring artifact.}}{{Ref/Reuse|HIRDialogue}}

====Audio log====
Forerunner Log 04
{{:HINF:Audio log/Forerunner/Monitor/04}}

===Ring 05===
[[File:HINF Artifact5Audio.png|thumb|Audio symbol from the fifth artifact.]]
{{Quote|There's evidence of an entire civilization that once inhabited this Ring. But... not Forerunner. Older. Different.  |The Weapon analysing the fifth ring artifact.}}{{Ref/Reuse|HIRDialogue}}

====Audio log====
Forerunner Log 05
{{:HINF:Audio log/Forerunner/Monitor/05}}

===Ring 06===
[[File:HINF Artifact6Audio.png|thumb|Audio symbol from the sixth artifact.]]
{{Quote|no=three
|1=The Weapon
|q1=How many [[Halo Array|Rings]] have you visited Chief?
|2=John-117
|q2=[[Installation 04|Too]] [[Installation 08|many]].
|3=The Weapon
|q3=Well... There's information stored in here about all of them. Memories... Data... Deliberate... Fractured. So much history. None of it clear.
|4=The Weapon and Chief after discovering the sixth ring artifact.{{Ref/Reuse|HIRDialogue}}
}}

====Audio log====
Forerunner Log 06
{{:HINF:Audio log/Forerunner/Monitor/06}}

===Ring 07===
[[File:HINF Artifact7Audio.png|thumb|Audio symbol from the seventh artifact.]]
:'''The Weapon''': "''This is hard to explain.''"
:'''John-117''': "''Try me.''"
:'''The Weapon''': "''There's a profound regret woven through everything I can decipher. Grief, even. Tens of thousands of years old, and the sorrow still feels fresh. This Installation has a troubled memory. That was the last one. Its tragic. A civilisation that had it all under control. Until they didn't. There's so much here. It feels... kind of like a confession. Imagine needing to carve your apology onto an eternal slate. But not to say sorry. To warn. To confess.''"
:'''John-117''': "''Sounds familiar.''"
:'''The Weapon''': "''It does, doesn't it?''"
:&mdash; The Weapon and Chief after discovering the seventh ring artifact.{{Ref/Reuse|HIRDialogue}}

====Audio log====
Forerunner Log 07
{{:HINF:Audio log/Forerunner/Monitor/07}}

==Production notes==
The ring artifacts serve as Forerunner [[HINF:Audio log|audio logs]] in ''[[Halo Infinite]]''.
==Gallery==
{{Linkbox|gallery=yes|gallerypage=Images of Totem rings}}
<gallery>
File:HI E318 Marines.png|[[UNSC Marines]] near a ring artifact in the [[Halo Infinite announcement trailer]].
File:HINF XGS2020 Start Demo Screen.png|A ring artifact in the [[Halo Infinite Campaign Gameplay Premiere]].
File:HINF-Ringartifact.png|A ring artifact south of the [[Tower]] in ''[[Halo Infinite]]''.
File:HINF-Cavering.png|A ring artifact in a cave.
File:HINF-CrashedSiegehauler.png|A crashed [[Barukaza Workshop siege-hauler]] with a broken ring artifact south of [[Outpost Tremonius (location)|Outpost Tremonius]].
File:HINF SiegeHauler Top Screenshot.png|Multiple ring artifacts at [[Annex Ridge]].
File:HINF-AnnexRidgering.png|A ring artifact being studied inside Annex Ridge.
File:HINF-Glowingring.png|A ring artifact glowing.
File:HINF-Spire1ring.png|A ring artifact near the [[Conservatory (location)|Conservatory]].
File:HINF Zeta Halo Stone Ring.png|A ring artifact with data in it.
File:HINF Zeta Halo Ring Data.png|Another ring artifact with data in it.
File:HINF CanyonMap2.png|A ring artifact on [[Fragmentation]].
File:HEOD Full Cover.jpg|A ring artifact in ''[[Halo: Edge of Dawn]]''.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo Infinite]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: The Rubicon Protocol]]''
*''[[Halo: Whispers from the Pyre]]''
*''[[Halo: Edge of Dawn]]''

== Sources ==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Forerunner|technology}}
[[Category:Forerunner technology]]