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 and minor infrastructure in what would have been habitation sites. The rings have been discovered in these settlements 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. This implies their creators must have brought them from elsewhere, perhaps their original homeworld. 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 lad to some stealing the rings from their resting points, bringing them to their keeps and capitals. During the 22nd Age of Doubt, the San'Shyuum scholar-socialite Naro Kamashi even theorized that the rings mark a path leading to a Sacred Ring, though this theory never managed to gain enough traction to sponsor a concerted search by the Covenant. Kamashi managed to raise enough funds for a private expedition, but gave up the search after several years after contracting an alien disease on one of the Ringmaker worlds.

Other than the rings themselves, Ringmaker relics have received relatively little attention by Covenant scholars, compared to better-documented secondary antecedent cultures such as the Jehioi and Ehrlon. As such, little is known of Ringmaker technology or culture. Their expansion pattern implies a decent understanding of slipspace navigation, but their evidence of their presence in space is unusually understated compared to other spacefaring antecedent cultures. All of their colonies also appear to have been relatively small, with no large population centers. This has led some to theorize that the Ringmakers established their colonies in a relatively short span of time, and vanished before they could develop a substantial population and orbital infrastructure. What little Ringmaker technology has been found is unremarkable and nonfunctional, with the rings themselves being their most consistently well-preserved artifacts. Coupled with the rings' common origin, this indicates the Ringmakers placed considerable importance on the rings, even more so than their own living spaces. It is likely that many of their former colonies could yield more answers as to their culture or their disappearance, should a party show enough interest in a detailed xenoarchaeological expedition. This is unlikely to happen in the near future, however, due to the political instability of the Kalosi Reach as well as the current focus on Forerunner technology over that of minor antecedents.