Editing Olfmeri

{{Era|Forerunner|HCW|Post}}

[[File:HOD Whale2.png|thumb|350px|right|''Olfmeri'']]

'''''Olfmeri''''' (as they were known to  [[Forerunner]] [[Lifeworker]]s), or "'''sky leviathans'''", are among the most mysterious and elusive [[List of animals|creatures]] encountered on various [[Forerunner]] installations.<ref name="CF38"/> They have been described most accurately as "[[Wikipedia:Bird|avian]] [[Wikipedia:Cetacea|cetaceans]]", despite being wholly alien to [[Earth]]'s species. Despite superficial similarities between ''olfmeri'' and the whales of [[human]]ity's home world, they are distinguished by their ability to traverse the skies, rather than the oceans, of their locales.<ref name="CF38"/>

[[File:HOD Olfmeri.PNG|thumb|250px|left|Olfmeri on an Halo installation.]]

''Olfmeri'' were among the creatures [[Conservation Measure|preserved]] by the [[Librarian]] against the [[Great Purification|firing]] of the [[Halo Array]] in [[97,445 BCE]].<ref name="CF9">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/canon-fodder-array-with-words '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Cannon Fodder - Array With Words'']</ref><ref name="WaypointLibrarian">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/characters/librarian '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Librarian'']</ref> Following this destructive event they were seeded upon at least one [[Halo]] ring while also being left to flourish on the Ark, [[Installation 00]], far beyond the [[Milky Way]] galaxy.<ref name="CF38">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/canon-fodder-jurassic-ark '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Cannon Fodder - Jurassic Ark'']</ref><ref group="note">''[[Halo: Outpost Discovery]]'', a traveling experience canonically set at some point between [[2554]] and [[2557]], includes an attraction called [[Halo: Outpost Discovery/The Ring Experience|"The Ring Experience"]] which involves viewing a [[Wavespace|live]] feed from a [[QQ-55 Honeybee]] drone exploring a [[Halo ring]]. Multiple ''olfmeri'' can be seen in the environment. The planet which the ring is shown orbiting discounts the possibility that it could be [[Installation 05|Delta]] or [[Gamma Halo]], and executive producer of The Ring Experience, Jason Ambler, believes it is supposed to be [[Installation 07|Zeta Halo]]. If this is the case, the experience cannot be set any earlier than the point in [[2555]] when the [[Zeta Halo project|exploration]] of that installation began. Officially the identity of the installation shown in The Ring Experience is presently undefined by [[343 Industries]]. It should also be noted that the canonical dating of ''Outpost Discovery'' may be able to be further narrowed by a display which claims it is believed [[343 Guilty Spark]] was destroyed in [[2552]]. It was in late [[2555]] that the [[UNSC]] first learned of this [[monitor]]'s survival.</ref><ref name="HR13">''[[Halo: Renegades]]'', ''Chapter 13''</ref><ref name="TMOTRE">''[[Halo: Outpost Discovery]]'', ''The Making of The Ring Experience''</ref><ref name="HODTRE">''[[Halo: Outpost Discovery]]'', [[Halo: Outpost Discovery/The Ring Experience|The Ring Experience]]</ref>

In [[2552#December|December of 2552]] the {{Class|Charon|light frigate}} {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}} captured audio recordings of ''olfmeri'' songs after arriving at the Ark.<ref name="HHITD8">''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]'', ''Chapter 8''</ref> Soon after this an [[Installation 08|unfinished]] [[Halo ring]] was fired above the Ark, spelling death for the many [[sentient]] creatures which inhabited its surface.<ref name="HHITD1">''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]'', ''Chapter 1''</ref><ref name="HM122">''[[Halo Mythos]]'', ''page 122''</ref> The Ark's [[monitor]], [[000 Tragic Solitude]], eventually then began to breed new life forms.<ref name="HHITD18">''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]'', ''Chapter 18''</ref> Among these were more ''olfmeri''.<ref name="HHITD8"/> Then, in [[2555#March|March of 2555]] a team of [[human]]s and [[Sangheili]] representing the [[United Nations Space Command]] and [[Swords of Sanghelios]], respectively, encountered a group of the leviathans shortly after traveling to the Ark.<ref name="HHITD8"/> Respected scientist Doctor [[Luther Mann]] had to urge the others not to shoot when one of the ''olfmeri'' took notice of the humans and Elites below it and drifted toward them to investigate. Surprisingly, Doctor Mann was able to mimic its singing and appeared to even hold congress with it for a while, thanks to having studied the audio from the ''Dawn'' and being able to discern general intent. It soon became clear to the beast that he was not a fellow ''olfmeri'', however, but rather more like a noisy speck, and at that it broke away to rejoin its group.<ref name="HHITD8"/> By late [[2558]] the biological mechanisms behind ''olfmeri'' [[Wikipedia:Buoyancy|Buoyancy]] were still a mystery to the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]]'s scientists, though there were no shortage of curious theories.<ref name="CF38"/>

''Olfmeri'' are as large as [[Wikipedia:Ocean liner|ocean liner]]s or many of [[Earth]]'s [[Wikipedia:Whale|whale]]s and bear similar features to the aquatic [[Wikipedia:Mammal|mammal]]s as well.<ref name="CF38"/><ref name="HHITD8"/> Their massive, gorgeous bodies are shaped somewhat like bulbous teardrops with large, toothy mouths which extend across their fronts and about a third of the way down their flanks.<ref name="HHITD8"/> Their undersides appear the purest white, often shimmering in the light which reflects off of them. What appear to be wings exist on each side of ''olfmeri'' and are known to ripple before propelling them. It is not likely that [[Wikipedia:Small Arms and Light Weapons|small arms]] could do much of anything against one of the hulking creatures.<ref name="HHITD8"/>

Unlike the leviathans of Earth's oceans, ''olfmeri'' are able to slowly but effortlessly cruise through the air, rather than water.<ref name="CF38"/><ref name="HHITD8"/> They have been observed doing so at just a few dozen meters above the surface of the Ark, but can certainly rise higher into the sky as well.<ref name="CF38"/><ref name="HHITD8"/> If they so choose, they can hover in place.<ref name="HHITD8"/> To gain altitude a sky leviathan may tilt its massive body to the side before being propelled upward by its apparent wings—something that only takes moments.<ref name="HHITD8"/> The creatures' ability to defy gravity seems impossible given their incredible size and nature.<ref name="CF38"/>

{{Quote|The songs don't seem to serve as a language in the same way that words do for us. It conveys feelings, sensations.|Doctor [[Luther Mann]] tries to explain ''olfmeri'' singing as best he can.}}<ref name="HHITD8"/>

''Olfmeri'' are highly social creatures, traveling together in groups and, strikingly, communicating to one another through songs which sound remarkably similar to the noises made by conversing whales on Earth.<ref name="HHITD8"/> These songs convey feelings and sensations rather than being used to express a [[Wikipedia:Language|language]]. At a short distance, the sounds made by ''olfmeri'' are loud enough to make human or [[Sangheili]] listeners cover their ears. The sky leviathan which took an interest in [[Luther Mann]] in [[2555]] quieted upon first hearing the human make noises which sounded eerily identical to its own, before then focusing intently on him and responding with more song. It appeared to only realize a short time later that he was not a fellow leviathan like itself, at which point it did not care to bother itself with him any longer. Mann had hoped to make it understand his group intended no harm and were peaceful, but he could not say for certain what message he may have actually sent. Diplomat [[Olympia Vale]], at the least, thought it seemed like he'd convinced it of just what he meant to.<ref name="HHITD8"/>

''Olfmeri'' seem genuinely harmless, gentle as they are.<ref name="HHITD8"/><ref name="HHITD10">''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]'', ''Chapter 10''</ref> Luther Mann surmised that even if fired upon one would be more likely to be scared than to prove an offensive threat, though he did worry about the likelihood that one might crush he and the rest of his group in the event that it dropped from the sky above them.<ref name="HHITD8"/>

The sky leviathan was planned to be featured in ''[[Halo 4]]''. It was an enormous flying whale-like creature that would have lived on [[Requiem]]. The concept art was drawn by [[343 Industries]] artist Paul Richards.<ref>[http://autodestructdigital.blogspot.com/2013/02/space-whales-1.html '''Autodestruct Digital''': ''Space Whales 1'']</ref><ref>[http://autodestructdigital.blogspot.com/2013/02/space-whales-2.html '''Autodestruct Digital''': ''Space Whales 2'']</ref> This design was later canonised in the ''[[Halo: Outpost Discovery]]'' [[Halo: Outpost Discovery/The Ring Experience|Ring Experience]].

File:Sky Leviathan 1.jpg|Concept art of the sky leviathan

File:Sky Leviathan 2.jpg|Sketches of the space whale.

File:Sky Leviathan 3.jpg|Other concepts of the creature.

File:OlfmeriModel.PNG

File:HOD Whale1.PNG

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[[Category:Flying Species]]