Luisferreshl

The Covenant

The Covenant
The name "Covenant" was taken from the binding pact that forged the peace between the Elites (Sangheili) and Prophets (San 'Shyuum). They allied with each other after a long war, which had thousands of casualties. They are combined forces of alien races, and act as the main antagonists in the Halo universe. The war which had devastated their respective races foryears was fought over the Forerunners artifacts on the Elite home world, Sanghelios, with the Elites wishing to preserve them, and the Prophets wishing to use the artifacts to activate them. The Elites held a distinct strategic upper hand, as their militaristic society was ready for a war, but the Prophets had one massive advantage; an immensely powerful Forerunner construct known as the Dreadnought.After the Prophets decided to use the Forerunner Dreadnought against the Elites, the Prophets destroyed the Sangheili forces, while the wise and prudent Elite Commanders, realizing their peril, had their warrior priest dissect forerunner technology to strengthen their ships. Eventually they realized their was no need to fight as the main point of the conflict was now moot. When the Prophets foundevidence of the Forerunners and their "Great Journey", hoping to create a peace between them, told the Elites of their discovery and promised to find the means of the Forerunners' transcendence. The Prophets would share this knowledge with the Elites who in turn would protect the Prophets from harm as they searched for transcendent Forerunner artifacts to activate all the Halo Installations.These ideas would be put into the Covenant's founding document, the Writ of Union. At first, the Covenant was only a loose non-aggression pact of two races held together by a common need to avoid mutually assured destruction. But, as their society advanced, so did their technology, culture, and religion. By the time of the Halo games, the Covenant controlled a large part of the Orion Arm of the MilkyWay galaxy. They discovered and conquered various races. Their society had evolved into a complicated caste system, with the Prophets governing the Covenant, and the Elites left in charge of the military. The Covenant was a theocracy, based on prophecies about the sacred rings and The Great Journey. The primary belief of the Covenant was that the Halos will allow them passage into the "DivineBeyond", where they might join the Forerunners as gods, while those who did not believe in the Great Journey would be left behind to die by the power of the Halo Rings.

Society
The Covenant is governed by the High Council, which is led by a trio of Prophets and consists of lesser Prophets, Legates and very high ranking Elites, which are known as Councilors. However, near the start of the CovenantCivil War, the Prophets began to replace the Elites with Brutes in various positions within Covenant society, including the protection of the Hierarchs and command of the Covenant Fleets. The Prophets of Truth and Mercy used the Prophet of Regret's assassination at the hands of Master Chief as an excuse to replace the Elite guard with Brutes. The Prophets then secretly ordered the Brutes to commitgenocide against the Elites, and thus leading to the beginning of the Civil War. In addition to the High Council, there are three other Councils: the Council of Concordance, the Council of Deed and Doctrine and the Council of Masters. Numerous Ministries exist within the Covenant government as well, each of which possesses a single role.

Species
The Covenant society is based around a castesystem of the species below. Many of the alien species conquered by the Covenant are conscripted into, or gradually become part of the alliance. However, during the first contact with the Humans, The Oracle on board the Forerunner Dreadnought revealed to Truth and Regret that Humans are "My Makers", as shown by its luminary. Since the entire Covenant was based on the belief that the Forerunners...