Prophet of Hagiography

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Lesser Prophet of Hagiography, speaking out during the Trial of Thel 'Vadamee, damning him for failing to contain the Flood and kill the Humans. Prophet of Hagiography Biographical information Homeworld Unknown Date of birth Unknown Date of death About 2559 ??? Succumbed to Flood infection. Physical description Rank(s) Lesser Prophet, High Prophet Species San'Shyuum Gender Male Height About 6'll Weapons None known. Possible hidden beam weapon. Vehicles Gravity Throne Hair color None Eye color Orange ??? Chronological and political information Era(s) 9th Age of Reclamation Human-Covenant War Reborn arc Notable Events Absent from Covenant Forces since the destruction of Alpha Halo. Reappeared after the Battle for the Arc. Affiliation Covenant

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Career as a Lesser Prophet

"Paranoid I may be, but a fool I am not! I seek to know the will of the Gods; to be their instrument, and I will not allow myself to rush into any situation that may incur their wrath upon me! That is a risk that only results in heresy of the worst kind!"

―Lesser Prophet of Hagiography to one of his temporary aids.

Hagiography served as a Lesser Prophet on the Council in the Covenant. A paranoid, yet brilliant scientist (a dangerous combination), his primary responsibilities included the study of alien species; their culture, language, and even their genetic structure. Though it was thought by the UNSC that the Covenant never took prisoners, the reality was that some Human survivors were actually captured by Hagiography's troops to be experimented on. These experiments were done in secret, so as not to reveal the horrors of Hagiography's studies to the rest of the Covenant. Rumors began to abound, however, when Sangheili warriors began to question what went on behind the closed doors of Hagiography's labs. While Humans and Covenant assistants entered, no one but Hagiography and a few other San'Shyuun ever left. Due to the rumors, Hagiography removed all Sangheili from his personal forces, replacing them with Jiralhanae, who were more willing to aid in his experiments and keep quiet about them. He also fervently studied the Forerunners, to the point of near paranoia when it came to his belief in the Great Journey. As one of the few Prophets who knew of and supported the methods of how the Prophet of Truth became a Hierarch, that paranoia extended to the Humans. He worried constantly that these 'Reclaimers' would eventually show potential far beyond what the Covenant could ever hope to achieve. His constant study of the battle records of the First Battle of Harvest would only serve to increase that paranoia when he realized that the maverick warrior, Nova, contained telepathic abilities. He requested to the Hierarchs that she be captured for him to study, and Regret agreed. While Nova was captured, the ship transporting her to High Charity was lost in Slipspace. Communications went unanswered, and Hagiography believed the ship and its precious cargo to be lost. He would later turn his attention on trying to capture one of the uprising SPARTAN supersoldiers that began to appear on the battlefield, slaughtering Covenant troops with almost inhuman power. He would never succeed, but it would soon become the least of his worries in his paranoid mind.

The Trial of Thel 'Vadamee

"Holy Hierarchs, this incompetent fool is no more fit to wash the dirt off of our feet than lead a fleet after this failure!"

―Lesser Prophet of Hagiography during the Trial and Condemnation of Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee

"The Council will be silent and let us question the Supreme Commander ourselves, and then they shall hear his confession and defense before passing judgment!"

―High Prophet of Truth silencing Hagiography's enraged outburst.

The discovery of Halo shook Hagiography terribly, and he began fervently researching Forerunner texts in hopes of finding anything to aid the Covenant in understanding the ancient construct. In his research, he began to find references to something he called "the Lens", and an artifact called the Grail. He cautioned his fellow San'Shyuun to be patient while he worked to unravel the mysteries of Halo in the texts, warning that they might incur the wrath of the Gods if they were too hasty. Unfortunately, the destruction of Alpha Halo came long before his research was finished. Its destruction convinced him of three things:

1. The Humans had hidden abilities. The SPARTAN that the Sangheili called "the Daemon" had destroyed a sacred ring. This was evidence enough.
2. In failing to prevent the Human known as the Master Chief from destroying Halo, the ranking Sangheili, Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee, had committed a sin against the Gods, the Forerunners, and the Covenant, a heretical act.
3. The release of the Flood was the will of the Gods as punishment against Thel 'Vadamee to prevent the Humans from landing on Halo. His failure to rectify the situation by destroying the Humans and then cleansing the Flood was a second act of heresy.

Hagiography boldly declared these accusations during the Trial of Thel 'Vadamee, and while his zealous logic frightened some of his colleagues, they agreed. Thel 'Vadamee was stripped of his rank and declared a heretic.

Before Regret left for Earth, Hagiography approached the Hierarchs. As the one who had obtained the coordinates for the planet from Forerunner texts, a planet that, according to his translation, "held the Gateway to the Origin of the Great Journey", he stated his fears. One, was that they needed to head through the Gateway before ever activating another ring, least they call down the wrath of the Gods. Secondly, while it was true the more rings would be found, the Gods had allowed Humanity to destroy one as punishment for their attempts to begin the Great Journey before they had completed all of the trials and tasks laid before them. Lastly, he presented his research on what he called "the Lens" and requested that he be allowed to find it before Regret left to find the Gateway, least they again call down the wrath of the Gods. Hagiography had figured out through piecing together fragments of intercepted UNSC communications and comparing them to his studies of Forerunner texts that the planet the Gateway was on was, in fact, Earth, the homeworld of all Humans. Though he did not share this fact during his meeting with the Hirearchs, his knowledge of the fact that Humans were Reclaimers and his paranoia made him fear that attempting any kind of expedition to Earth could destroy the Covenant.

Regret personally rebuked Hagiography, stating that his stalling and hesitation would call down the wrath of the Gods, that he had grown paranoid, and that his fears were bordering on heresy. Mercy and Truth were less aggressive than Regret, and Mercy even chastised Regret for his accusations against one who had provided so much information to the Covenant, and that Hagiography's knowledge gave him right to be paranoid. However, Mercy and Truth agreed on one thing: the Great Journey waits for no one. Regret would follow through with his expedition to the Gateway. While this was happening, Hagiography was to find evidence of his claims about the Grail and the "Lens" and return to them. Hagiography reluctantly consented and gave Regret the coordinates to Earth.

Hagiography's fleet of 200 cruisers, 80 various support craft, and 20 carriers left on his expedition the same time Regret left for Earth. In retaliation for Regret's accusations against him, Hagiography 'accidentally' deleted all information regarding the fact that Earth was Humanity's homeworld before giving the Hierarchs the information, hoping that the Humans would have significant defenses on their homeworld to wipe out Regret without Truth and Mercy ever finding out what happened. In case something did go wrong and he was implicated, however, he had his fleet cut off all communications with the rest of the Covenant until his expedition was finished. As a result, he never found out about the events that took place from the Battle for New Mombasa to the Final Battle on the Ark. That also meant he was never present during the Covenant Civil War, though it wouldn't have hardly mattered due to the fact that there were no Sangheili under his command due to his preference for the Jiralhanae.

Prophet of the Covenant Remnant

After returning from his expedition, Hagiography declared himself a High Prophet and took control of the Covenant Reminant.

Prophet of the Flood

Prophet of the Flood Biographical information Homeworld None Date of birth About 2559 ??? Date of death About 2560 ??? Killed in joint effort by Sara, Master Chief, and the Arbiter. Physical description Species San'Shyumm Gender Male Height Variable Weapons Tendrils, spikes, offensive telepathic capabilities later on. Chronological and political information Era(s) Reborn arc Subclasses Prophet Form Unidentified Gravemind-supplemental Form Affiliation Covenant of the Flood aka Flood Covenant

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Much like Regret was absorbed into the Gravemind, Hagiography faced a similar fate due to his tampering with the Flood genome.

Zealous Infection

Unfortunately for Hagiography, his constant tampering with the Flood supercells in attempts to make more deadly forms backfired on him in the end. To try and keep the newer forms under control (Juggernaut and Dragon forms especially), he tried to deliberately do as the Queen of the Antis'Grafen Hive did accidentally: become a Flood hybrid. Using his skills with genetic manipulations and the notes and research from creating Juggernaut and Dragon forms, he began injecting himself with serums containing partial, crippled, or deseased Flood supercells. Unfortunately, mutations continued to occur, slowly turining him into what resembles a Prophet Form like the Minister of Etiology. However, his knowledge and ambission were far too vital to the Brain Forms that had already been forming on other worlds where he had been unleashing the Flood as a weapon. Rather than kill him outright, the Flood merged with his personality, twisting him into a servant of the parasite. He was no longer the Prophet of Hagiography. He had become the Prophet of the Flood, a servant to absorb and lead a new Flood Covenant to obtain the Grail. Humanity would be destroyed, as would the Sangheili, but the Flood Covenant would finally acheive a form of Salvation, and a new promise of life after death.

Within weeks, the Flood turned on the Covenant with devistating effects. The Flood Covenant grew, merging with their hosts rather than killing them, turnning their hosts into a far more deadly scourge then ever before seen. No longer were Flood forms mindless drones to the service of a single Gravemind. The Prophet was their Gravemind now, and he wanted them to think for the good of all the Flood Covenant, to improvise, to take prisoners and turn them into hosts or feed for their troops. Even the Antis'Grafen Hive began to falter before this new stage in Flood evolution. The Flood were still parasites. The only thing that had changed was that instead of killing their hosts, their hosts became their slaves.

The Flood Covenant

The Covenant Reminant shattered and former foes were now crying out for help from anyone who would listen. The Hive began to fight with a new ferousity, as their bio-weapons were designed with the intent to be extreamly effective against the Flood, and the Flood Covenant shared that weakness. Distress calls came from all Covenant Reminant worlds. A quick but brutal uprising in the Jiralhanae ranks caused new leaders to openly declare independence from the Covenant Reminant, and as allies to their former enemeies. A heretic Brute named Garathal, who had long been granted assylum and hidden by a reluctant but gratefull Sangheili for his attempts to force the Jiralhanae to seperate from the Covenant during the Covenant Civil war was named the new Chieftain of the entire race. The Jiralhanae went to great lengths to prove their loyalty to their new allies, even going as far as using suicidal tactics to slow the Flood Covenant. Lekgolo, Huragoks, and Unggoy worked together to develop pathogens that destroyed destroyed Flood nural cells (pathogens that the Hive was thankfully immune to, due to the seperate evolutionary structure of their own biology, though an immunization was developed just in case). Kig-yar snipers and Skirmishers fell in rank with Sangheili to provide much needed backup for their squads. Yanme'e quickly took to the skies to aid Human marines on the ground. For the first time, all enemity was forgotten, and in the heat of battle for survival, all species came together, forging a bond that all wanted to lead to an enduring peace when the conflict was over. The only species that could not be accounted for were the San'Syuum themselves. A distress signal of their orgin was found, but scout ships found nothing but Flood Covenant by the time they reached the orgin of the signal, and it was believed that the San'Syuum were lost as a species.

Unfortunately, the grim reality was that the conflict had reached a point where it was comparable to the Forerunner-Flood war of an age long gone. It seemed inevitable that history would repeat itself. 543 Humble Matrix worked feverishly to locate and reprogram any Sentenal forces he could find to help them combat the Covenant Flood. But in spite of their efforts, the casualties continued to mount, and one by one, the various species began to loose world after world. An expedition was made using a Keyship unearthed on Sanghelios and the Portal on Earth to descover the state of the Ark, but the news was bittersweet. The Ark's ability to fire the Array was lost due to the damage it sustained, and it was in no shape to act as a shelter as its surface was burned to the point of being unable to sustain life, but its Installation Construction ability remained enough that in the time since the activation of Installation 04-b, 04-c was at least 20% complete. Thanks to 543 Humble Matrix, the construction Sentenals were reprogrammed to worry about the weapon itself rather than internal terrain. In the end 04-c would still destroy itself when activated, but it could be ready and positioned in less than a month. It became clear that finding the Grail and activating the Alter would be the only way to end this new Flood threat and survive.

Aftermath

With the death of the last Prophet, the Covenant was finished. While there would still be pockets of resistance, all the species that once lived in the shadow of the Covenant and the Flood could now rebuild and move on to better lives. The victory, however, was bittersweet. Millions had perished, and the fate of the Antis'Grafen Hive and those who vanished with them would never be truly found out. Entire worlds that were once lush and full of life were now dead, uninhabitable wastelands.

Good things did happen. Except for the devastation they had left behind, all traces of the Flood had been destroyed by the Array, and thanks to the AlterHalo and the Grail, all the other species lived through the activation. About two months after the Battle for the Alter, representatives from all the species that had fought together met on the AlterHalo and formed the Intergalactic Charter of Peace. Former enemies shook hands, and friendships were formed from the respect born from the previous battle. Slowly, they all began to rebuild their societies, their cultures, and their lives. Once again, the stars had become an invitation to grow and expand instead of promising impending doom.

"For so long, the Prophets sought out what they called, "The Great Journey". They never knew that the greatest journey of them all is to stand side by side with your allies and face the unknown. That is the true legacy the Forerunners left us: to follow in their footsteps and to grow together, learning and advancing forevermore... Were it so easy..."

―Arbiter and Ambassador Thel 'Vadam after the creation of the Intergalactic Charter of Peace. His trademark phrase at the end was made in jest, much to the amusement of those who had gathered.