Kulta, the Skull Grinder, last line of defence against the awakening of Ekimu, undying skeleton, and the first ever Master of Fire.

Kulta is not cursed with undeath. It's quite the opposite. Kulta is willingly undying, because if he died, then there would be last line of defence against the awakening of Ekimu, whose tomb he guards. Should any indication of anyone seeking to awaken Ekimu come to his knowledge, he is directed to destroy the Mask of Creation, to lessen Ekimu's power if he does get awakened

Kulta does all this at the behest of Makuta, the other Mask Maker... one of the other five Mask Makers, and one of the only two still living... but cursed by Ekimu to be an unmoving constellation in the sky above the ancient city, unable to move, only watch what goes on down below.

Because Ekimu is not a benevolent master. Ekimu is very much the opposite. Which is very much a problem. Many, many years ago on Okoto, there were six mask makers... one for each element. Fire, Water, Jungle, Ice, Earth, Stone. Of those six, only the Mask Maker of Ice and Mask Maker of Earth still live... Ekimu and Makuta.

The other four Mask Makers, who no longer live, were known as Artakha, Karzahni, Lhikan, and Helryx. They were the Mask Makers of Stone, Jungle, Fire, and Water, respectively. How did they die? Well... it's a long story. To put it short... Artakha and Karzahni would often quarrel. Ekimu took advantage of this and encouraged them to go too far. That was the end of both. Makuta learned about this, being the only other witness, but was willing to keep quiet and give Ekimu a second chance.

Unfortunately, this did not stop Ekimu. The eldest of the Mask Makers, Lhikan, would accidentally stumble into the then-not-ancient Forge in what would later become the Ancient City. Lhikan heard more than he should, and in a hurry, attempted to summon the first set of Masters, but to no avail. Lhikan's age meant that he could not be quick enough to do so, and later the same day Ekimu had a new piece of armour.

As for Helryx... Ekimu grew overconfident, as Makuta became more suspicious of Ekimu, suspecting that Ekimu had lost his second chance due to the disappearance of Lhikan. Ekimu attempted to discretely destroy Helryx, but was too loud, resulting in a battle between two Mask Makers, of which neither won as both were badly injured. Helryx managed to crawl away, and managed to summon the first set of Masters surprisingly easily - as Lhikan had already commenced the summoning but never finished it... of course, that meant complications for the summoning.

So, the summoning of: Kulta, Master of Fire; Slicer, Master of Jungle; and Basher, Master of Earth, was complete. Which was odd - those were only half the Masters summoned. Perhaps only three came due to the staggered nature of the summoning. Regardless - these three Masters swore to protect Okoto and its inhabitants, and fight against anyone with ill intentions.

Helryx did not live long thanks to the wounds she gained in the battle with Ekimu - her lifespan was greatly lessened. This left only Makuta and Ekimu as Mask Makers.

With the majority of the Mask Makers taken care of, Ekimu could finally start producing masks for everyone - and he was a better mask maker than Makuta, unfortunately for all the good in the world. This allowed him to create masks that would make all who wore them see Ekimu as a great figure, a figure to be worshipped, almost. At this point, Makuta had to do something.

Makuta started to formulate a plan. Ekimu was far more powerful than Makuta at this point - Ekimu had two armies, one of Okoto's inhabitants, now mostly wearing his masks, a much better fighting ability, and the ability to create whatever with his Mask of Creation - such as an army of Ice Warriors, which was his other army.. Makuta had to create a Mask of Ultimate Power -even if it was against the arbitrary rules set by Ekimu. Before doing so, Makuta confided in the three Masters and told them his plan, the evils of Ekimu, and what they would have to do after the Mask of Ultimate Power had been used.

So, Makuta forged three different masks, but all with the same power: Masks of Eternity. These would allow the Masters to persist long beyond their natural lifespan... in fact, they could never die. Kulta had also managed to amass an army of pet Scorpios - Kulta loved scorpios, so he had Makuta create masks of eternity for them, as well. But, for Makuta's plan, an army of Scorpios and three Masters would not be enough. They needed something akin to an army. Like Ekimu's Ice army - which could not be hijacked unless a being of Ultimate Power attempted to do so, as Ekimu's Ice Warriors were just animated blocks of ice resembling skeletons - very single minded things, only directed to protect Ekimu.

And so, Makuta created the Mask of Ultimate Power. Ekimu viewed this as jealousy - it was not. It was a desperate plan to stop Ekimu once and for all. Wielding the Mask of Ultimate Power, Makuta attempted to suck the life force out of Ekimu, and a battle ensued. Ekimu, however, created a curse - a curse that would leave Makuta as an unmoving constellation in the sky, only able to watch. With the last moments he had in his current form, Makuta wrestled control of the Ice Warriors and directed them to 'protect' Ekimu... by never letting anyone reach him, as Ekimu was now almost lifeless, and fell to the ground, permanently unconscious.

The Protectors braved the Ancient City to put Ekimu in his tomb, thinking it was a fitting place for Ekimu as Kulta, Basher, and Slicer hid in the shadows, watching. Once the Protectors had left the city, they decided to block off all but one entrance into the city, and assume positions in the Ancient City, with Kulta as the last line of defence. The Ice Warriors, now known as Skull Warriors, would be the first line of defence, on the edges of the city. Beyond them, Slicer would dance in battle with anyone seeking to awaken Ekimu, using the arena they knew well to their advantage. After them, the legions of Scorpios would be remotely directed by Kulta to attack anyone that came through, and the second-last line of defence would be Basher. Kulta himself would look into the sky and see Makuta's face-constellation, waiting for eternity for anyone that would dare awake Ekimu.

This, of course, meant trouble when, many, many years later, the Masters we know arrived. The population of Okoto was still under Ekimu's spell. still wearing the masks he had made. Worse... these Masters had golden masks made of Ekimu, who had made them in response to the summoning of the first set of Masters. Fortunately, an outside force who had gained a mask once forged by Makuta, the Mask of Skull Spiders by the Lord of Skull Spiders, delayed the Toa slightly - but not by enough time. The Toa eventually reached the ancient city.

They got past every defence.

They awakened Ekimu.

They defeated Kulta.

Ekimu was free to resume his torment of all. Makuta had failed... hadn't he?