Important Events
~500 Mya
Sometime long before the time of the Forerunners, the Precursors created the Domain, a repository of all knowledge in the universe. The exact date is unknown, and while some sources say it was created 500 million years ago, others say it has existed for billions of years.
~15 Mya
Around fifteen million years ago, the Forerunner race was created by the Precursors in an effort to make a new species that could assume the Mantle of Responsibility.
~10 Mya
Ten million years ago, the Precursors, the species that populated the galaxy with intelligent life including Forerunners, determined the Forerunners were a failed experiment and decided to remove them from the Milky Way galaxy.
~106,538 BCE
Sometime prior to the end of the Human-Forerunner Wars, ancient humans discovered a Precursor stasis chamber containing a creature they called the Primordial. The creature, along with the stasis chamber, was taken to Charum Hakkor where is was interrogated, teaching the humans on the origins of the Flood.
~98,395 BCE
The end of the Human-Forerunner War, along with the political fight afterwards that led to the Exile of the Didact, spurred much debate within Forerunner leadership about the right course of action to defend civilization and the galaxy against the Flood, should they return.
~97,495 BCE
The release of the Primordial was an unintended consequence of the test-firing of a Senescent Halo, Installation 07, by the Master Builder and Mendicant Bias in the Charum Hakkor system during the Forerunner-Flood War, approximately fifty years prior to the end of the war and the Great Purification.
~97,454 BCE
In the aftermath of the Fate of Maethrillian and destruction of the Forerunner ecumene, Zeta Halo implemented it’s security measure designed to prevent the ring from falling into enemy hands and performed a slipspace jump into another system and put itself on a collision course with a nearby planet.
Important Events
~500 Mya
Sometime long before the time of the Forerunners, the Precursors created the Domain, a repository of all knowledge in the universe. The exact date is unknown, and while some sources say it was created 500 million years ago, others say it has existed for billions of years.
~15 Mya
Around fifteen million years ago, the Forerunner race was created by the Precursors in an effort to make a new species that could assume the Mantle of Responsibility.
~10 Mya
Ten million years ago, the Precursors, the species that populated the galaxy with intelligent life including Forerunners, determined the Forerunners were a failed experiment and decided to remove them from the Milky Way galaxy.
~106,538 BCE
Sometime prior to the end of the Human-Forerunner Wars, ancient humans discovered a Precursor stasis chamber containing a creature they called the Primordial. The creature, along with the stasis chamber, was taken to Charum Hakkor where is was interrogated, teaching the humans on the origins of the Flood.
~98,395 BCE
The end of the Human-Forerunner War, along with the political fight afterwards that led to the Exile of the Didact, spurred much debate within Forerunner leadership about the right course of action to defend civilization and the galaxy against the Flood, should they return.
~97,495 BCE
The release of the Primordial was an unintended consequence of the test-firing of a Senescent Halo, Installation 07, by the Master Builder and Mendicant Bias in the Charum Hakkor system during the Forerunner-Flood War, approximately fifty years prior to the end of the war and the Great Purification.
~97,454 BCE
In the aftermath of the Fate of Maethrillian and destruction of the Forerunner ecumene, Zeta Halo implemented it’s security measure designed to prevent the ring from falling into enemy hands and performed a slipspace jump into another system and put itself on a collision course with a nearby planet.
Evo-014's Summary
COMMON NAME: N/A
HOMEWORLD: Unknown, extragalactic
POPULATION: Unknown, possibly extinct
The Precursors stand as the most ancient and enigmatic beings known to the cosmos, their origins possibly predating the current age of the universe itself. They hold the extraordinary responsibility of being the architects behind the emergence of much, if not all, of the sapient life within the vast expanse of the Milky Way galaxy, shaping the destinies of species such as the Forerunners and humanity. During the era of the Forerunners, remnants of their presence were scattered throughout the galaxy in the form of artifacts. However, the firing of the Halo Array resulted in the eradication of these artifacts, virtually erasing all traces of their existence in the modern era.
Ancient History
The Precursors, shrouded in an aura of enigma, remain a subject of profound mystery, their technology and history veiled in obscurity and occasionally marred by contradictions. These ancient beings predate the emergence of the Forerunners and even ancient humanity by millions, if not billions, of years. At some elusive point before the rise of the Forerunner civilization, the Precursors ventured into the Milky Way, embarking on a monumental endeavor of constructing unimaginably intricate structures on innumerable worlds. Approximately fifteen million years ago, the Precursors undertook the monumental act of bestowing existence upon the Forerunner species. It appeared to be their intention that the Forerunners would ascend to become stewards of the revered Mantle of Responsibility.
However, five million years later, the Precursors abruptly deemed the Forerunners a failed experiment and decreed their removal from the galaxy. In a seemingly parallel hope, the Precursors looked to humanity, also a creation of their hand, as the potential guardians of the Mantle. When the Forerunners learned of this dire verdict and felt their very existence imperiled by their creators, they retaliated with a devastating conflict, culminating in the eradication of all Precursors within the Milky Way and the adjacent Large Magellanic Cloud.
The mysterious reasons behind the Precursors' passive acceptance of their own destruction remain elusive. What lingered of the Precursors after the war existed in the outermost reaches of the galaxy, manifesting as a desiccated powder. With the unwitting aid of ancient humanity, this substance underwent a transmutation, giving rise to the insidious Flood. Concurrently, the enigmatic entity known as the Primordial, regarded as the last of the Precursors, shared a collective consciousness with the Flood and all subsequent Graveminds. Though the Precursors were officially expunged from the galaxy, their legacy endured through the agency of the Flood. This malevolent force ultimately fulfilled the Precursors' unexplained objective, expelling the Forerunners from the galaxy and potentially granting humanity the opportunity to assume the Mantle of Responsibility.
~500 Mya
Sometime long before the time of the Forerunners, the Precursors created the Domain, a repository of all knowledge in the universe. The exact date is unknown, and while some sources say it was created 500 million years ago, others say it has existed for billions of years.
~15 Mya
Around fifteen million years ago, the Forerunner race was created by the Precursors in an effort to make a new species that could assume the Mantle of Responsibility.
~10 Mya
Ten million years ago, the Precursors, the species that populated the galaxy with intelligent life including Forerunners, determined the Forerunners were a failed experiment and decided to remove them from the Milky Way galaxy.
~106,538 BCE
Sometime prior to the end of the Human-Forerunner Wars, ancient humans discovered a Precursor stasis chamber containing a creature they called the Primordial. The creature, along with the stasis chamber, was taken to Charum Hakkor where is was interrogated, teaching the humans on the origins of the Flood.
~98,395 BCE
The end of the Human-Forerunner War, along with the political fight afterwards that led to the Exile of the Didact, spurred much debate within Forerunner leadership about the right course of action to defend civilization and the galaxy against the Flood, should they return.
~97,495 BCE
The release of the Primordial was an unintended consequence of the test-firing of a Senescent Halo, Installation 07, by the Master Builder and Mendicant Bias in the Charum Hakkor system during the Forerunner-Flood War, approximately fifty years prior to the end of the war and the Great Purification.
~97,454 BCE
In the aftermath of the Fate of Maethrillian and destruction of the Forerunner ecumene, Zeta Halo implemented it’s security measure designed to prevent the ring from falling into enemy hands and performed a slipspace jump into another system and put itself on a collision course with a nearby planet.
Notable Precursors
The origins of the Primordial remain shrouded in uncertainty, casting a veil over whether it was indeed a genuine member of the ancient Precursor species. This mysterious entity stands as the sole known being to assert a connection to the ancient Precursors. Its unswerving determination to witness the eradication of the Forerunner civilization in the wake of the Forerunner-Precursor War remained unchallenged. It is conjectured that its intellect is an extension of the same collective intelligence that governs the Gravemind and orchestrates the Flood.