Ringmakers

The "Ringmakers" were an antecedent civilization discovered by the Covenant, spanning at least a dozen or so star systems. Their most well known artifacts were a series of stone and metal rings. Their artifacts have been dated to around 60,000 BCE and are found on a variety of worlds spanning out in a twisting and turning path leading away from the Kalosi Reach. This path has been speculated to be everything from simple irregular navigation choices, to an older, now non-existent slipspace route connecting these worlds. Covenant explorers have proposed trying to find the rest of the path, but difficulties navigating beyond the last found system have stymied efforts.

On these worlds, aerial surveillance has revealed the footprints of long lost buildings in what would have been habitation sites. The rings have been discovered in these habitation sites and in caves, along with what appears to be their stone pedestals. The rings themselves have a band of metal on their interior, and their stone composition has not matched the materials on any world they have been found on. Although there are no records or hints as to their purpose, some particularly zealous factions have taken to the rings. Their presence and their durability along with the disappearance of their builders has been viewed as proof that belief in the Halo rings can lead to the Great Journey. This has lead to some stealing the rings from their resting points, bringing them to their keeps and capitals.