Certavus Magnus

Certavus Magnus (80 BGE - 156 PGE), alternatively spelled as Kurtavos, among other spelling variations, was a Nealite legendary hero and founder of the Glatorianate. Starting from obscurity as a simple brush knight and later caravan guard, Certavus rose to become the conqueror over the Tajunite Empire and ruler of a united Neala and established the Glatorianate, a new system he forced upon Nealite city-states to cement peace and relative freedom in the chaotic and authoritarian region before he relinquished most of his power. By his great and historic deeds he was christened 'the Great,' or Magnus, late in his life, and was named as one of the greatest heroes of all time, along with the primeval skrall hero Greani Ateir, and later the matoran god Mata Nui.

The current main calendar year system is based on when Certavus Magnus established the Glatorianate

Early Life
Little is known about the early days of Certavus in great detail, only vague outlines. From what he has shared in surviving records, Certavus said that his family was of ancient low nobility (their name not given) and their armor and weapons had been passed down from generation to generation, the first-born having a tradition of using their inheritance to act as brush knights that protected the people of the White Quartz Mountains from bandits and raiders on the roads and local wilds wherever they went. Kurtavos carried on this tradition until a traitor from his village told a group of bandits of the location of his secret home in the mountains by hunger of greed. In retaliation against this unknown vigilante, the village was raided, looted and massacred, including the traitor. Certavus later heard of this and hurried home to find his village destroyed and ruined. He sought revenge, sought out and unwisely charged into the bandit camp. Not thinking clearly, Certavus was easily injured and defeated by his numerous foes, and enslaved because of his perceived worth, his family heirlooms of armor and arms confiscated. With his home and identity taken from him, Kurtavos felt destroyed, abolishing his dynastic name and keeping only his first name. Eventually traveling down the mountains down to the Tesarite Valley, Certavus was sold to a mercantile caravan.

Slavery
Once sold in the village of Tesse, Kurtavos was chained up in-between animals and used as a pack mule, also masked to reduce talking. Walking the harsh wastes of Neala in tattered clothed on foot, Certavus traversed from settlement to settlement in the the hydraulic hegemony that was the mighty Tajunite Empire, it's border's marking then-Greater Neala. During these forced marches, the slave often saw the what he used to think was a rare sight until his enlistment into this caravan, the Thornax Launcher. This crossbow-like weapon was used by the caravan guards to shoot the seeds of the explosive Thornax fruit at men and beast foe alike, including the ruthless bone hunters, or Ostonigosa.

It was in the second journey of these chained travels that Certavus had his first encounter with the Ostonigosa, nomadic mount-riders that reigned supreme in the Ruunic country and dominated the wilderness of Neala where competition with other inhabitants or monsters was lacking. In the battle, he witnessed the usage of the Ostonigosa fragmentation arrows, which had either been either coated thick with explosive Thornax fruit matter or used pieces of the fruit (whole fruits were used only in large-scale battles and sieges)