🡀 FORERUNNERS • SPECIES • HUMANS 🡂
Important Events
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.
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.
