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Erde-Tyrene civilization: Difference between revisions

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(Been meaning to add these little anecdotes for a while. There's still a few in Primordium and Rebirth I believe.)
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The Librarian's beliefs about humanity were reinforced during the subsequent millennium: in only a thousand years, the devolved humans' population skyrocketed. Furthermore, the humans branched off into numerous species and subspecies, progress that should have normally taken millions of years. While this was partly due to the assistance of the Librarian and her ''[[geas]]'', there were also unknown factors not even the Librarian and her subordinate [[Lifeworker]]s could explain despite studying the humans' genetic code in detail.<ref name="s45"/> Over twenty of these species migrated across Earth and formed separate populations across the planet.<ref name="c25"/>
The Librarian's beliefs about humanity were reinforced during the subsequent millennium: in only a thousand years, the devolved humans' population skyrocketed. Furthermore, the humans branched off into numerous species and subspecies, progress that should have normally taken millions of years. While this was partly due to the assistance of the Librarian and her ''[[geas]]'', there were also unknown factors not even the Librarian and her subordinate [[Lifeworker]]s could explain despite studying the humans' genetic code in detail.<ref name="s45"/> Over twenty of these species migrated across Earth and formed separate populations across the planet.<ref name="c25"/>


The development of civilization began anew; humans began to settle down and gather into tribal communities and villages. They began to grow crops and domesticated many animals, such as sheep, goats, wolves, cattle, and birds. They developed tools, and eventually even basic industry and trade.<ref name="s45"/><ref name="c25"/><ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 86''</ref> Others continued to live in [[Technological Achievement Tiers|Tier 7]] tribal communities, such as the one that was encountered by the Forerunners during the construction of [[Portal at Voi|the portal]] to [[Installation 00|the Ark]] in eastern [[Africa]].<ref>'''[[Halo 3: The Cradle of Life]]'''</ref>
The development of civilization began anew; humans began to settle down and gather into tribal communities and villages. They began to grow crops and domesticated many animals, such as sheep, goats, wolves, cattle, and birds. They developed tools and basic technology; this spurred the development of trade and even fledgling industry.<ref name="s45"/><ref name="c25"/><ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 86''</ref> Others continued to live in [[Technological Achievement Tiers|Tier 7]] tribal communities, such as the one that was encountered by the Forerunners during the construction of [[Portal at Voi|the portal]] to [[Installation 00|the Ark]] in eastern [[Africa]].<ref>'''[[Halo 3: The Cradle of Life]]'''</ref>


===Conservation Measure===
===Conservation Measure===
Line 69: Line 69:
===Rituals===
===Rituals===
[[File:H4-Terminal-Village-Closeup.jpg|thumb|250px|The ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'' over a human village.]]
[[File:H4-Terminal-Village-Closeup.jpg|thumb|250px|The ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'' over a human village.]]
Upon maturing, males in the greater Marontik area would traditionally undergo rite of passage which involved being led through a series of "sacred caves" located a day's journey from Marontik.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 206''</ref> These caves contained myriad paintings describing the humans' beliefs about life and death.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 221''</ref> During the ceremony, the caves would be fumed with the smoke of intoxicating leaves and with the initiate's body covered in clay, elder shamans would carve a series of ritual scarification designs to his back, shoulders, ribs and chest using bone knives.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 53, 275''</ref>
Upon maturing, males in the greater Marontik area would traditionally undergo rite of passage which involved being led through a series of "sacred caves" located a day's journey from Marontik.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 206''</ref> These caves contained myriad paintings describing the humans' beliefs about life and death.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 221''</ref> During the ceremony, the caves would be fumed with the smoke of intoxicating leaves and with the initiate's body covered in clay, elder shamans would carve a series of ritual scarification designs to his back, shoulders, ribs and chest using bone knives.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 53, 275''</ref> Those who had undergone the ritual would often repeat the mantra ''"for so I have seen in the sacred caves"'' to affirm their belief in what they had seen.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 16''</ref>


A dying relative would be prepared for the afterlife through a farewell rite which involved the recitation of a prayer so the dying individual would safely pass over the "western waters" and that the gods that await on the other side—Abada the Rhinoceros and the Great Elephant—would not reject them. It was feared that Abada and the Elephant might turn away if they smelled fear, or if the proper rites were not conducted. In that case, the individual would be left to hyenas and buzzards and would not be granted into a peaceful afterlife,<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 16, 54, 205-207, 219''</ref> instead being forced to roam the earth restlessly as a ghost.<ref name="rebirth"/>
A dying relative would be prepared for the afterlife through a farewell rite which involved the recitation of a prayer so the dying individual would safely pass over the "western waters" and that the gods that await on the other side—Abada the Rhinoceros and the Great Elephant—would not reject them. It was feared that Abada and the Elephant might turn away if they smelled fear, or if the proper rites were not conducted. In that case, the individual would be left to hyenas and buzzards and would not be granted into a peaceful afterlife,<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 16, 54, 205-207, 219''</ref> instead being forced to roam the earth restlessly as a ghost.<ref name="rebirth"/>
===Myths===
*The ''First Human'' or ''First Man'' was a mythical figure who had a forefinger the size of a tree which held the souls of all his children; the human generations to come.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 204''</ref> [[Chakas]], after being [[Mind transfer|converted]] into [[343 Guilty Spark|a monitor]] with the essences of thousands of ancient humans stored within compared himself to this being.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 371''</ref>
*The ''Vaeites and Alben'' were entities who were said to appear in the humans' oldest dreams. [[Riser]] once compared the Forerunners to these beings.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 34''</ref>
*A warning tale about ''story devils'' described a being who traveled across the land and told great stories; however, those who listened became mute and their descendants would only talk babble. Upon Chakas telling [[Vinnevra]] this story, she asked him if the [[Primordial]] was a story devil.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 220-221''</ref>
*In a particular story, the sky was told to be a great flat plane on which glowing insects moved and occasionally, someone opened a door to let in light from the outside. The stars were also told to be holes punched in the sky by birds pecking for insects.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 279''</ref>
*According to one account of the creation of humans, ''Mongoose'', a god known for being a trickster, was said to have convinced Mud to mate with the Sun (both personified deities). This union resulted in the creation of worms, which the Mongoose angered and teased until they grew legs and chased it over the grasslands. The worms became humans, who would continue to be played jokes on by humorless gods of Tree, River, Rock, Cloud and Mongoose.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 209-310''</ref>
*''Shalimanda'', the heaven-snake, was told to have swallowed an original, jewel-covered stream of worlds. It exploded the next night, bringing forth the Earth-like worlds which gave birth to humans.<ref name="p210"/>


==List of appearances==
==List of appearances==

Revision as of 09:09, October 5, 2014

The civilization on Omega Halo.

Ur-Didact: "The humans' actions threatened the galaxy, yet we have treated them as the Mantle requires. Their punishment was just."
Librarian: "Justice is reducing their genetics in such short generations from a space-faring race to... this?"
Ur-Didact: "They are closer now to the animals they behaved as."
— A conversation between the Ur-Didact and Librarian[1]

Between approximately 109,000 BCE and 100,000 BCE, a prehistoric civilization shared by various species and subspecies of human and related genera existed on Earth, then known as Erde-Tyrene. This civilization was a reduced remnant of humanity's previous interstellar empire, which was shattered by the Forerunners at the conclusion of the human-Forerunner wars. Erde-Tyrene itself was considered an insignificant and obscure vassal planet of the Forerunners' ecumene, with a Forerunner Miner presence on the nearby Mars, known as Edom at the time.[2]

History

Previous civilization

Main article: Prehistoric human civilization

Humans first evolved and achieved civilization on Earth, originally known as Erda or Erde-Tyrene,[3] before 1,100,000 BCE. For over a million years,[4] humanity roamed the galaxy, experiencing a number of technological dark ages in the interim.[3] Around 110,000 BCE, their latest—and last—interstellar empire stumbled upon the parasitic Flood, which indirectly forced humanity into a millennium-long conflict with the Forerunners. Exhausted from fighting the Flood, the humans were eventually defeated.

Following humanity's surrender at their capital of Charum Hakkor and the end of the human-Forerunner wars, the Forerunners used Composers to extract the patterns of the remaining humans on Charum Hakkor. However, many more humans remained in scattered redoubts across the galaxy, which the Forerunners and their subject species proceeded to conquer and gather any live specimens.[5] These humans were transported back to Earth while all signs of human achievement and technology were erased from the galaxy.[6]

Regression and revival

File:H4Terminal - VIllage.png
A village on Omega Halo.

As punishment for defying the Forerunners, the Forerunners' Old Council decreed that the humans be stripped of all technology and be forced to undergo an artificially-induced process of biological devolution: within a relatively short span of time, live humans had millions of years of their evolution reversed, soon leading to them losing body mass and, eventually, intelligence as well.[7] This process was reluctantly overseen by the Forerunner Lifeshaper, the Librarian, acting under orders of the Old Council. While many Forerunners in positions of power wanted to see humanity wiped out, the Librarian spoke out in their defense, viewing them as special and potentially worthy of inheriting the Forerunners' Mantle of Responsibility.[8]

The Librarian's beliefs about humanity were reinforced during the subsequent millennium: in only a thousand years, the devolved humans' population skyrocketed. Furthermore, the humans branched off into numerous species and subspecies, progress that should have normally taken millions of years. While this was partly due to the assistance of the Librarian and her geas, there were also unknown factors not even the Librarian and her subordinate Lifeworkers could explain despite studying the humans' genetic code in detail.[6] Over twenty of these species migrated across Earth and formed separate populations across the planet.[9]

The development of civilization began anew; humans began to settle down and gather into tribal communities and villages. They began to grow crops and domesticated many animals, such as sheep, goats, wolves, cattle, and birds. They developed tools and basic technology; this spurred the development of trade and even fledgling industry.[6][9][10] Others continued to live in Tier 7 tribal communities, such as the one that was encountered by the Forerunners during the construction of the portal to the Ark in eastern Africa.[11]

Conservation Measure

The Ur-Didact preparing to compose a population on Omega Halo.

Humanity was one of many species indexed and preserved by the Librarian during the Lifeworkers' Conservation Measure, the effort to catalog and index all life in the ecumene for repopulation in the event the Halo Array was fired. With a primary population of specimens held at the greater Ark, another population of hundreds of thousands of humans of over 120 different varieties was ferried from Earth to Installation 07, where they were later exploited by Faber, the Master Builder, in a series of experiments on the Flood.[12]

Regarding Earth her "special population", the Librarian would imprint the humans there with the essences of human warriors processed via Composers after Charum Hakkor's fall. These imprints were kept dormant but were designed to awaken at the right triggers—such as those encountered by Chakas and Riser after meeting with the Forerunner Bornstellar. However, both the Council and the Librarian forbade taking these humans to the Halos for preservation or storage, as not they did not want to risk the presence of ancient human military personnel on the weapons. Acting against their explicit instructions, the Master Builder took populations of imprinted Earth humans to Installation 07 in his feverish search for a cure for the Flood.[13]

After the Forerunners moved their own surviving population to the greater Ark, the Librarian's indexed humans—who represented the bulk of the species—were moved to the nearby Omega Halo. Most of this population, as well as many of the formerly diverse human species, were lost when the Ur-Didact used the Composer on the inhabitants of Omega Halo. However, the Librarian and her successor, Chant-to-Green, managed to save enough specimens aboard Installation 00 to successfully revitalize Homo sapiens and several other species. Following the firing of the Halo Array, the surviving humans were returned to Earth.[14]

After their reintroduction to Earth, the human civilization regressed once again, and would remain as Tier 7 hunter-gatherers for nearly a hundred millennia. Viewing humanity as special, the Librarian had imposed a geas upon the species, which has been said to have greatly affected their later development; in particular preparing humans for their role as successors to the Forerunners as stewards of the galaxy.[15]

Species

In this time period, Earth was home to numerous sapient species of human, hominid, hominoid, and anthropoid, all of whom were understood, or regarded themselves, as being part of a single "People".[16] The multitude of species among the human genus itself was generated rather rapidly, most of them over the course of only a thousand years, after the humans' forced devolution at the hands of the Forerunners. There were more than twenty species regarded as human,[9] with over 120 different subtypes known.[12] These various forms represented species and subspecies both new and ones that had once existed but were suppressed over the course of the devolution.[17] Still, given human species had stayed remarkably similar to their ancestral forms during their regression and re-evolution.[18] This meddling was noted to have considerably distorted Earth's natural fossil records,[19] and made it difficult to determine the exact lineage for a particular human species.[20]

Some, although not all, of these species were saved in the Lifeworkers' Conservation Measure and made it to Installation 00 for preservation when the Halo Array was fired.

  • Hamanush (Homo sapiens; modern human): among the most prominent species; would several tens of thousands of years later supersede all of the others as the sole human species
  • Chamanush (Homo floresiensis; Florian): a diminutive species later transplanted to Flores and several nearby islands; long-lived, hirsute and expressive-faced
  • K'tamanush (Homo neanderthalensis; Neanderthal): roamed the northern ice flats of Earth,[9] which was undergoing a glacial period at the time[21]
  • B'ashamanush: a thin and lithe species which inhabited Earth's equatorial grasslands[9]
  • Denisovan: close relatives to both Homo sapiens and neanderthalensis; tall and lean in stature[16]
  • Shakyanunsho (Gigantopitechus): a sapient species of giant orangutan that lived in highlands north of Marontik[22]

The names of these species were changed to reflect significant changes: when most members of a given species were dead or away from a major spiritual center, the species' name would be prefixed with a glottal click. These rules were known to all humans across Erde-Tyrene but were kept secret from non-human species such as the Forerunners.[14]

Notable individuals

Culture and technology

Human hunters displaying their prey.

Upon humanity's defeat, the Forerunners restricted the humans' access to all forms of technology, regressing them back to a hunter-gatherer state. Still, as Erde-Tyrene gradually faded into obscurity in the eyes of the Old Council and the Builders, the Librarian encouraged the humans to begin redeveloping civilization and technology.[6] By 100,000 BCE, rudimentary cities were in evidence, most notable of them being Marontik, located amidst a region of expansive grasslands. By that time, humans had also developed primitive industry,[6] hot-air balloons and steam-powered waterborne vessels as a relatively recent invention.[23] This led to a strange hodgepodge of the humans' relatively primitive tribal culture and tradition mixed in with these comparatively sophisticated technologies.[24] As one other curious feature of note, certain customs and traditions were shared across all humans on Erde-Tyrene,[14] a trait typically unheard of with civilizations of this technological level.

In the human society of this time, it was common for women to marry and bear children relatively early.[25] Humans in warm regions—such as Marontik—typically wore assorted rags and loincloths, although more developed pieces of clothing, including pants and shirts, were worn as well.[26]

Religion and mythology

Children playing in a village.

The humans of this civilization followed the way of daowa-maad, the basis of which had survived humanity's devolution from their prior, advanced civilization.[27] Their most sacred beliefs regarding life and death as well as the power of names were tied to this concept.[28][29] In addition, they worshiped the Librarian as "the Lifeshaper" or "the Lady",[30] viewing her as a sort of goddess who personally visited humans at birth and gave them a purpose.[31] This belief had a basis in truth; the Librarian did subconsciously appear to newborns via a remote imprinting system to give them her geas.[32] This faith was practiced in dedicated temples, one of which was located in Marontik.[33]

In addition to their primary beliefs about afterlife, the humans of Erde-Tyrene had a rich oral tradition of legends and myths, many of them mutually contradictory and liberally mixed in with their religion. These featured a broad pantheon of deities, many of them embodied in animal form.[34] Their worldview was generally animistic and featured a plethora of various secondary gods, spirits and ghosts. These incorporeal beings were generally considered unpredictable, occasionally mischievous, and judgmental of the living, because of the lust and envy they felt for them.[35] There were many tales of gods and devils which played tricks on humans, commonly told to children.[36]

Names were considered highly important,[29] with an individual's "true name" known only to themselves and their closest relatives while most would refer to him or her by a "borrowing name".[37]

Rituals

The Mantle's Approach over a human village.

Upon maturing, males in the greater Marontik area would traditionally undergo rite of passage which involved being led through a series of "sacred caves" located a day's journey from Marontik.[38] These caves contained myriad paintings describing the humans' beliefs about life and death.[39] During the ceremony, the caves would be fumed with the smoke of intoxicating leaves and with the initiate's body covered in clay, elder shamans would carve a series of ritual scarification designs to his back, shoulders, ribs and chest using bone knives.[40] Those who had undergone the ritual would often repeat the mantra "for so I have seen in the sacred caves" to affirm their belief in what they had seen.[41]

A dying relative would be prepared for the afterlife through a farewell rite which involved the recitation of a prayer so the dying individual would safely pass over the "western waters" and that the gods that await on the other side—Abada the Rhinoceros and the Great Elephant—would not reject them. It was feared that Abada and the Elephant might turn away if they smelled fear, or if the proper rites were not conducted. In that case, the individual would be left to hyenas and buzzards and would not be granted into a peaceful afterlife,[42] instead being forced to roam the earth restlessly as a ghost.[14]

Myths

  • The First Human or First Man was a mythical figure who had a forefinger the size of a tree which held the souls of all his children; the human generations to come.[43] Chakas, after being converted into a monitor with the essences of thousands of ancient humans stored within compared himself to this being.[44]
  • The Vaeites and Alben were entities who were said to appear in the humans' oldest dreams. Riser once compared the Forerunners to these beings.[45]
  • A warning tale about story devils described a being who traveled across the land and told great stories; however, those who listened became mute and their descendants would only talk babble. Upon Chakas telling Vinnevra this story, she asked him if the Primordial was a story devil.[46]
  • In a particular story, the sky was told to be a great flat plane on which glowing insects moved and occasionally, someone opened a door to let in light from the outside. The stars were also told to be holes punched in the sky by birds pecking for insects.[47]
  • According to one account of the creation of humans, Mongoose, a god known for being a trickster, was said to have convinced Mud to mate with the Sun (both personified deities). This union resulted in the creation of worms, which the Mongoose angered and teased until they grew legs and chased it over the grasslands. The worms became humans, who would continue to be played jokes on by humorless gods of Tree, River, Rock, Cloud and Mongoose.[48]
  • Shalimanda, the heaven-snake, was told to have swallowed an original, jewel-covered stream of worlds. It exploded the next night, bringing forth the Earth-like worlds which gave birth to humans.[29]

List of appearances

Sources

  1. ^ Halo 4, Terminals
  2. ^ Halo: Cryptum, pages 15, 17
  3. ^ a b Halo: Primordium, page 237-238
  4. ^ Halo: Silentium, pages 67-68
  5. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 156
  6. ^ a b c d e Halo: Silentium, pages 45-47
  7. ^ Halo: Silentium, page 42
  8. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 77
  9. ^ a b c d e Halo: Cryptum, pages 25-26
  10. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 86
  11. ^ Halo 3: The Cradle of Life
  12. ^ a b Halo: Primordium, page 188
  13. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 189
  14. ^ a b c d Halo: Rebirth
  15. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 375
  16. ^ a b Halo: Primordium, page 169
  17. ^ Halo: Silentium, page 48
  18. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 129
  19. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 127
  20. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 242
  21. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 20
  22. ^ Halo: Primordium, pages 145-146, 186, 212
  23. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 59
  24. ^ Halo: Cryptum, pages 21-22
  25. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 44
  26. ^ Halo: Primordium, pages 48, 121
  27. ^ Halo: Primordium, pages 55-56
  28. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 207
  29. ^ a b c Halo: Primordium, page 210
  30. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 48
  31. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 46
  32. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 374
  33. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 30
  34. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 182
  35. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 54
  36. ^ Halo: Primordium, pages 284-285
  37. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 42
  38. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 206
  39. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 221
  40. ^ Halo: Primordium, pages 53, 275
  41. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 16
  42. ^ Halo: Primordium, pages 16, 54, 205-207, 219
  43. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 204
  44. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 371
  45. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 34
  46. ^ Halo: Primordium, pages 220-221
  47. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 279
  48. ^ Halo: Primordium, pages 209-310

v • d • e
 
Polities, organizations, and civilizations
Contemporary
Interstellar/Interplanetary organizations Banished • Covenant • Created • Children of Oth Sonin • Concert of Worlds • Frieden • Insurrectionists (Arcadia/Harvest • New Colonial Alliance • People's Occupation • People's Occupation Government • Secessionist Union (Eridanus secessionists) • United Rebel Front) Koslovics • San'Shyuum flotilla (Dhas Bhasvod's Covenant • Tem'Bhetek's faction) • Unified Earth Government (Colonial Authority • United Nations Space Command)
Planetary/Local organizations Castoffs • Defenders of the Sanctum • Eridanus Government • Gao Republic • Insurrectionists (Bandusa • Freedom and Liberation Party • Galodew Emancipation • Gao Liberation Force • Sundered Legion) • Joyous Exultation Covenant • Khabnathwa • Neo-Frieden • Prospector Party • Sedran government • Stewards • Swords of Sanghelios • United Nations (Nations) • Unggoy government • Ussans • Venezian Militia
Private organizations 'Gajat mercenaries • Shields of Requiem
Religious organizations Covenant remnants ('Mdama's Covenant • 'Nyon's Covenant • Keepers of the One Freedom • Vol's Covenant) • 'Refumee's heretics • Servants of the Abiding Truth
Ancient
Interstellar organizations Ecumene • Human-San'Shyuum alliance • Ancestors
Planetary/Local organizations Council of City States • Erde-Tyrene civilization • Sedaaro • Reformists (Keepers of the Dawn) • Stoics • Tudejsa
Protogenic
Italics denote entities that are confirmed or assumed to be defunct given currently available information.
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