Halo: Cryptum: Difference between revisions

{{Era|RW}}

|name=Halo: Cryptum

|publisher=[[Tor Books]]

|publication=[[2011|January 4, 2011]]

|length=352 pages

|ISBN=[[Special:BookSources/0765323966|0765323966]], [[Special:BookSources/978-0765323965|978-0765323965]]

{{Article Quote|One hundred thousand years ago, the [[Milky Way|galaxy]] was populated by a great variety of beings. But one species—eons beyond all the others in both technology and knowledge—achieved dominance. They ruled in peace but met opposition with quick and brutal effectiveness. They were the Forerunners—the keepers of the [[Mantle]], the next stage of life in the Universe's [[Living Time]]. And then they vanished. This is their story.}}

{{Spoiler}}

Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting is a young Forerunner [[Manipular]] who refuses to follow in [[Bornstellar's father|his father]]'s footsteps and become a [[Builder]]. Bornstellar's rebellion prompts his father to send him to live with the [[Miner]]s, a [[rate]] lower than Builders. After living with the Miners on [[Mars|Edom]] in the [[Sol system]] for some time, he is inspired by his assigned [[ancilla]] to hunt for artifacts left by the [[Precursor]]s — beings of extraordinary power that preceded the Forerunner civilization.

Bornstellar escapes to the nearby world of [[Earth|Erde-Tyrene]], the ancient homeworld of the human species and their last repository after the humans' [[Prehistoric human civilization|ancient spacefaring civilization]] lost [[Human-Forerunner War|a devastating war]] to the Forerunners who devolved them and exiled them on their homeworld as punishment. Erde-Tyrene was then left under the stewardship of the Forerunner [[Lifeshaper]], the [[Librarian]], whose guidance allowed the humans to begin an arduous process of recovery. On Erde-Tyrene, Bornstellar crosses paths with two humans - [[Chakas]] and [[Riser]], who guide him on his search for Precursor artifacts. In the [[Djamonkin Crater]], they find an artifact that is revealed to be a [[Cryptum]] — a "warrior keep" created by a Forerunner [[Warrior-Servant]] group known as the [[Promethean]]s, guarded by ancient [[war sphinx]]es.

Bornstellar is sent to the [[Orion complex]], where he is reunited with his family. On [[Bornstellar's homeworld|their homeworld]], he studies Forerunner history and discovers the Master Builder's plan to gain more power and to diminish the role of the Warrior-Servants — a scheme that has been in motion since conclusion of the Human-Forerunner wars. This plan involves removing the Warrior rate from the [[Ecumene Council]], and a Builder weapon that would make all other weapons obsolete — Halo. Over time, Bornstellar also finds that the Didact's memories and consciousness — gained as a byproduct of his mutation — are slowly gaining more and more prominence within him, with the Didact occasionally making comments and observations in his mind.

One day, exploring his family's vast [[domicile]], Bornstellar overhears his father and another Builder conversing in secret. It is revealed that the Master Builder activated the Halo ring at Janjur Qom, as punishment for the San'Shyuum rebellion. The Council disapproves of this use, considering Halo installations as weapons of last resort. They also discuss a [[Installation 07|missing Halo ring]] that was tested near Charum Hakkor. Further complicating this is the fact that a powerful, [[metarch]]-level ancilla went missing with it. The next day, Bornstellar confronts his family with a message from the Didact within. He reveals that he knows of the missing Halo installation, and that it released the creature imprisoned on Charum Hakkor. Bornstellar's father, the designer of the Halo rings, is at first reluctant to discuss the matter, but reveals that Bornstellar has been asked to come to the Forerunner capital to testify against the Master Builder in a trial held for his violation of the Mantle.

Aboard the [[Council ship]] ''[[Seedling Star]]'', Bornstellar meets [[Splendid Dust of Ancient Suns]], a young first-form councilor who instructs him and gives him access to historical records. During the journey to the capital, Bornstellar studies the background of the [[Flood]] and discovers that the parasite was defeated ten thousand years ago thanks to the efforts of the humans, but has now resurfaced in the Forerunners' domain, attacking a number of bordering worlds over the last 300 years. He also learns that following the war with the humans, there was a millennia-long political strife between the Builders and the Prometheans, with the Didact proposing a strategic solution, the building of fortresses known as [[Shield World]]s to monitor and control potential Flood outbreaks. On the other hand, an extreme faction of Builders led by the Master Builder began designing a superweapon which could decimate life on a galactic scale. The Builder faction was victorious and the Prometheans were forced out of the Council, with most of them going into exile.

*[[Bornstellar's father]] {{1st}}

*[[Bornstellar's mother]] {{1st}}

*[[Bornstellar's homeworld]] {{1st}}

**[[Battle of the Capital]] {{1st}}

''[[Halo Waypoint]]'' features [[Halo: Cryptum/Glossary|a glossary of nouns]] used in ''Halo: Cryptum'' to make sure readers understand the meaning of the terms and phrases used in the novel.<ref>[http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/related/text/cryptum-glossary/62e29c59-a3f9-4b63-af76-def71fda5459 '''Halo Waypoint:''' ''Halo: Cryptum glossary'']</ref> A note at the beginning of the novel states that, like in [[Terminal/Halo 3|''Halo 3'''s terminals]], many elements are modified to be intelligible to the reader, though not necessarily in English, (''viz''. [[Wikipedia:Geis|geas]], [[Wiktionary:faber|Faber]], [[Wiktionary:মানুষ|Manush]]). Thus, these terms and phrases should be interpreted as representative rather than literal.

*A preview of the novel containing the first two chapters was released online on December 22, 2010.<ref name="cryptum"/>

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