Maethrillian: Difference between revisions

{{Era|Forerunner}}

{{Newcontent|[[Promises to Keep]]}}

|constructed=c. [[122,445 BCE]]

'''Maethrillian''',<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/species/forerunners '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Forerunners'']</ref> commonly known as the '''Capital''',<!--"Capital" is written in lower case throughout Halo: Cryptum, but Halo: Silentium renders it as a proper noun. This article follows the standard set by the more recent source.--> was the political center of the [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]]. It housed the [[Ecumene Council]], the main governing body of the ecumene, as well as the [[Capital Court]]. It was a massive structure, greatly exceeding the scale of even the [[Halo Array|Halo installations]].<ref name="description">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 280-281''</ref>

Maethrillian was one of the oldest structures in the [[ecumene]], having been constructed roughly around [[122,445 BCE]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 296''</ref> Unknown to most Forerunners in later times, the Capital was constructed around the physical component of the [[Precursor]] construct known as [[Abaddon]], discovered by early Forerunners on a distant world. A powerful intelligence closely linked with the [[Domain]], Abaddon was believed to have taught ancient Forerunners to access the Domain, which would later become a keystone of their civilization. As the construction of the Capital progressed, Abaddon was contained within a chamber of relics known as the [[Mysterium]] and held secret from most of the ecumene apart from senior members of the [[Ecumene Council]]; however, scattered reports of its existence gave rise to the legend of "the Organon", a Precursor artifact that controlled all others.<ref name="ptk">'''[[Halo: Fractures]]''', "[[Promises to Keep]]"</ref>

Despite its immense size, the Capital itself had a comparatively small population of several hundred thousand Forerunners, mostly high-ranking [[Builder]]s. Trillions of [[ancilla]]s served in the capital in the [[Metarchy|Capital metarchy]], an enormous network coordinated by a [[Metarch]]-level ancilla that answered to the [[First Councilor]].{{Ref/Reuse|description}} It was one of the most trafficked locations in the ecumene, with constant security patrols, [[sentinel]]s, and transports swarming around it.{{Ref/Reuse|description}} Within five thousand kilometers of the structure, incoming vessels would be carefully screened by sensory fields and directed by [[hard light]] docking nets.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 283''</ref> The Capital's system housed multiple [[slipspace portal]]s that linked to many worlds, as well as [[Installation 00|the Ark]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 312''</ref>

[[File:Capital.png|left|thumb|300px|The exterior street view of one of the Capital's many platforms, the ecumene's political center.]]

[[File:EcumeneCouncil.png|thumb|270px|A Council meeting in progress at the Capital]]

The Capital is similar in design and function to the [[Masseffect:Citadel|Citadel space station]] from the ''[[Wikipedia: Mass Effect (series)|Mass Effect]]'' series. Both are large-scale artificial stations featuring inhabited cities, both serve as a center of galactic politics, and both are able to change their structure, closing themselves in the event of siege. However, the Citadel is only around forty-five kilometers long and thirteen kilometers in diameter, as opposed to the scale of the Capital, which is closer to that of a gas giant.