The Bones Blog

Entry List is up to date.

There are a number of comments with problem entries under Powers. Anyone who wrote a Powers entry should look through.

All MOCs except one qualified.




I won't have time today to send out the PMs, so the final week for the edit period has NOT started yet. I'll probably try to send the PMs out tomorrow, after rechecking the list against all entries to make sure none were missed (with one sole exception hopefully/apparently, that will be looked into), then I plan to start the final week on Monday, so the week will also end on a Monday ('cuz I won't be able to do the polls on the weekend anyways).


In other news, on the off chance you don't read every single frontpage news article of BZPower (shame ), we announced a ton of Multiverse updates last Thursday here. Updates in there include:

• The launch of Swert's Cipher Chronicles Episode 2: Escape the Fire. BTW, yesterday he posted both chapter two and three. Read. He plans to switch to one chapter per week (on Tuesdays if possible) from now on.
• Multiverse Guide PDF V3, with the Guide Art results.
• Links to results of both Denizens and Guide Art contests.
• Wiki, including which pages had content at the time, such as the new species info. BTW, some new details have been added on that page to the Teralpid speciesfrom MechaFizz.

In other other news, I just finished chapter 6 of Endless Blue, and truckin' along pretty well there. Will try to post the Blue MOCs results next week. Try. Key word.

For those who follow the Paracosmos, some tidbits to add to what I had said already... I plan for every chapter to have at least one section from Bhukasa's point of view. Am trying to be very careful how I jump from thread to thread so it doesn't seem to be jumping all over the place. Not easy because I do have a lot of threads to follow. I decided not to feature the Rathoa thread at all until maybe chapter eight (got it mapped out how I want to lead into it, though), and to focus primarily on the threads for Bhukasa, Lewa, Niaka (and the Eight Matoran team she's leading), and Hujo. Lewa's thread is introing the Kanoka/Mukana thread too.  

Also, I'm doing two more threads. I am having a bit of a thread from Krohlaba on Kriitunga Island -- he's the Angry Miner from TI, but now he's a good guy due to his experiences in that story. This is tying directly in with the Bhukasa thread and Gali and Pohatu's promise to return to Kriitunga Island (also Twayzivl and the Haze Glow Beasts, who are mutant Kriitunga returning home, on Bhukasa's boat). The other thread, I can't reveal anything at all, except that even the reader won't know whose point of view it truly is for a long time.

I've got a bit of cameos of the contest winners started, but mainly I'm establishing the main plot threads in a coherent way first, so I'm not ridiculously flooding the early parts with hundreds of characters XD. There's a ton already. In many cases, a character you met from a past story will be mentioned only if absolutely necessary, and then without the name, such as Jorthao, who is just called the owner of the zoocraft, to limit the number of characters. I'm even thinking of doing that with most of the Eight Matoran, but I'm not sure.

A'ight, that's about all I wanted to say right now. Go read Swert's latest chapters if you haven't already.

Myself, Ojhilom, and Swert all went through all the entries, and we have made our decision. The following works of art have won the contest and are now in the draft of the next version of the Multiverse Guide PDF (which I hope to get online for download tomorrow).

There are three twists we must announce to this.

First, in a tiny number of the art slots, more than one were so good, we just couldn't decide, and we managed to fit multiple ones in. Especially since Reality Shifting allows style difference, plus they had enough whitespace to have two.

Secondly, two art slots were not taken. We figured out a system to fix this. The top winners of this contest in our judgement will be contacted shortly, and given permission to create art for those spots (for a V4 of the guide). These slots were Cargo Star and Enlightened Interior. We may also provide other slots for the remaining whitespace to also be in V4, or provide for more versions of other slots.

Also, in this entry we're including a few honorable mentions. These won't be in the PDF, but they could be included on the wiki.

Several of these have been reformatted to fit in the PDF whitespace better, etc. Here's the art slots and the winning pics.

Olmak Splitting: Chrome, Mr. Mayno, A-Janus







This art slot had the most entries, and picking the winnER was the hardest of any of them. So we didn't -- we picked three. XD Chrome's is obviously the best overall, at least it's obvious to us since it's pretty much photorealistic to what we had in mind, something we honestly didn't expect to get out of this. Mr. Mayno's image can be seen as what it looked like moments after Chrome's, as the Kanohi started to split apart and spawn the Multiverse, and A-Janus's would be a stylized abstract interpretation of it, perhaps as created by a historian-artist somewhere in the Multiverse.

Element Key: A-Janus



There were only two entries in this category, and this is closest to what we had in mind and the cooler looking of the two, we felt. To note, we didn't intend for there to be anything like buttons or symbols, but both entries had it, and that's cool. We wanted other interpretations, after all. We'll say that Element Keys often do have a button like this, and the color it appears indicates the elemental energy it's currently charged with. So this image would be charged with Fire energy.

Gem Currency: LewaLew, Chrome





This was another hard category to judge, with tons of entries in it. Most of the entries lacked something that to me was important -- the red but with orange and yellow speckles of light effects description I had given for this kind of gem. Of all the entries, only LewaLew's captured that glittery effect and created what I would walk up to and go "that looks valuable" if I saw it in real life. So his art will be featured the first time Gems are mentioned in the guide.

That said, Chrome's is obviously the better work of art, so we didn't feel it was possible to leave it out. Besides, the way we had set up the guide, we talk about the Gems in two different places, once in Multiverse Basics, and again in Objects, and both had plenty of available whitespace, so yeah. The bag is the best of the bags in all the art, the sand looks the most realistic, and the Gem (the middle-sized one) looks totally real to me. That said, it's more of a peachy, faint orange that reminds me more of feldspar than of the red with orange and yellow speckles appearance I had described, and honestly, if I walked up to that gem, I would think it was not that valuable.

But due to the Reality Shifting, this is not a problem in the Multiverse -- both are valid takes on Gems, so both are in the guide.

Blue Grime: Veq



There were only two entries in this category, and I must be frank, neither came close to the cool stuff I had in mind (oily black with glowing "bluespace-blue" random patches showing through the oily surface, and a bit gritty if possible). This is a category we may ask for more art for by our top winners. That said, due to RS, it's good enough for the guide as one interpretation, so we went with it. The other entry seemed more like gaseous vapor to us than grime.

Alarist Ambassadorial Government HQ: Veq



Another category where the artists took it in a radically different way than I had in mind. Mainly, I had imagined that the tower's base was basically right in the ocean water with little to no rocky shore in most parts and not much room for plants. But the guide was a bit ambiguous about that, and it doesn't really matter. For shape of the tower, detail, and clever imagination with the little HT heads and Wiki tower-like things, this one won.

The other of the two entered, by Kayru, is an honorable mention. It was very Suessian, which I liked, plus it was colored, but not as detailed, and a nitpick about it was that it had an actual roof and what looked like physical windows, though the guide had clearly said the top of the tower was more like an open-air plaza. So, we went with Veq.

Industrial factory interior: Veq



Another category with only two entries. The other was powerpoint art style, but it had a number of serious artistry flaws that didn't put it up to par in our eyes. It did have some pretty good Tohunga in it, but Veq's was clearly superior, so here it is.

Clash logo: A-Janus



There were a few entries in this, but this one best captured the feeling of this glatorian sport with weapons (and vehicles; none of the entries used vehicles though, and that's fine). A-Janus seems to be the go-to guy when it comes to sports logos, heh; he claimed all three of those spots as it turned out. The best runner-up was LewaLew's Atero-style art with crossed swords, which we are listing as an hon. ment. but the sword plus gun plus shield -- plus the Industrial logo itself -- won us over for A-Janus's entry.

Tribal hut: lewathetoa



This was a hard choice. We had three excellent entries that we did consider using all three of. But there wasn't enough room in the Tribal section, and lewathetoa's clearly wins out in the both the detail and color categories -- and we'll hon. ment. the other two. I do have one major nitpick with this; the hut interior is angled wrong compared to the outside, making it look like it's being lifted up on a steep ramp, lol. It's a common art mistake, though, and perfect perspective can be seen as just one valid art approach, so because of all the other awesome aspects of this, we went with it.

The other two entries had perfect perspective, but lacked the whole package of other things that this entry had. Veq's had a lot of tapestry and other type detail, but wasn't colored. Kayru's was colored and had excellent texture, but lacked the decorative tapestries and such we clearly described in the guide. So, lewathetoa took it, but the other two honorable mentions could get used on the wiki safely.

There was a fourth entry in the category, but it was far simpler than these and it also had the major flaw of being at the top of tree branches, so would have fit Le-Koro better than Tribal, where the huts were said to be built on the ground.

Now the six Warzone clan logos:

Red Skull: MechaFizz



This was pretty clearcut; the coolest of the several entries in this slot. We have hon. ment.ed one other by Taipu1, but this be the bomb.

Hand of Faith: ~~Zarkan~~



Now at this point I must note that a big rule we followed when judging these was to try to spread out the wins among several different members. So as long as a particular artist already claimed another spot or more, then even if someone else's art may be technically not as quality in terms of overall artistry, they do have a chance. MechaFizz was the clear champ of the clan logos, and he's either winning or being honorably mentioned in each of the six slots.

So that said, while that was part of what fed into this pick, this is also the best symbol for Hand of Faith of the entries for it. So Zarkan's win was an easy pick in this case, even though MechaFizz's shield interpretation was technically better art.

Shadow Honor: MechaFizz



This was a hard slot to judge only because the clan concept, of basically being the most evil of all of them, didn't really lend itself to a clearcut logo concept. The entry ideas were all over the map, but this was the best art, so that's why it takes the win. It does have some symbolism too, so that helped.

Rockfoot: ~~Zarkan~~



Now this category was even harder to pick, because of (of course ) MechaFizz's awesome entry, which not only was better art, but arguably was better symbolically for Rockfoot. But he got so many of the spots in this category, and we liked the simple Toa foot with rocklike designs here. We have to admit, too, that Zarkan's symbol fits the name in a more simple way than MechaFizz's. I definately think MF's "coat of arms" logo would be an alternate, but alas, to fit all six clan logos on one page of the guide was only barely possible; there was no room for two here.

Iron Hawk: MechaFizz



This slot was easy. MF. Bam. It rocks. This was his best work, in my view.

Brethren: Shadow Destroyer



For Brethren, none of the entries except possibly Veq's really fit the concept much in our eyes. We also wanted to give Shadow Destroyer one slot, because he entered so many works of art, but all the others were outshined by other artists in those slots. Ultimately, I think this logo fits the strangeness, variety, and yet almost virtuous (for bad guys ) sense of comradery that Brethren epitomizes, so here it be.

Lake Aerospace HQ: Shadow Velocity



Bam. To be fair, this was the only piece in the art slot. But to be unfair, nobody could have topped this anyways. This is the bar-none best work of art in the whole contest, and it makes me just want to sit here and stare admiringly at it for hours on end. It is all that and more of what I imagined the LAHQ to look like, and I quite frankly didn't think we'd EVER get art that could come close to what I saw in my head, even if I tried it myself -- this is far beyond my skill. I am thrilled to have been wrong about that.

And seriously, the HQ looks EXACTLY like what I had in mind. This is sheer perfection.

Well, almost. Onnnnnnnnne tiny nitpick is that there's no whitening of the water as it falls away from the rising float-structure, which water would realistically do. But I can't really complain, because the rest of the water looks way more realistic than what I can do, so yay.

Space Kolhii logo: A-Janus



There were a few entries in this category, and I kinda liked most of them, but none of them made me go "wow". Of the options the artists gave us, though, this is the best. I would have to say this is a symbol that could be, and maybe should be, reinterpreted to add to this. But, that said, this is a good concise logo, and it was also the only one to portray the actual geometric shape of the zero-G cage in which Space Kolhii is played. Hence the win.

Obsidian Mountain: Saiph



This was another hard one to judge, because Kayru entered one that was so freakin' awesome it looked real.... But Kayru's rock was more like sandstone than blackish glass, plus Kayru is winning several other spots. Saiph only entered this and the vaporous Blue Grime thing I mentioned earlier (that I didn't like). And this is awesome. It looks real. It looks Obsidian. It looks evil. The only thing it's missing is the Tyrant red-spotlight-projected symbol on the side, but that's easily dismissed by just saying we're looking at the other side of it right now.

Hacker camp: Kakaru



Only one entered, and it rocks. Kakaru captures the idea of the Macrochip walls pieced together and with wirey detail pretty similarly to what I had pictured. I also like the "looking uphill at it" perspective on it. Also important is the cloaking-field fadeout effect on the farther away camp structures. So, captures the look of an Izumal hacker camp perfectly.

Hoverplatform: Kayru



Only one entered, and it's a nice interpretation. My only complaint is that the silver doesn't look silver, and the gold doesn't quite look metallic either although it's more clearly gold. Also, technically the Hoverplatform I had described was more like a frisbee in shape, more aerodynamic than this -- and that could be important considering the things fly at supersonic speed through a busy skyscraper-filled city, heh. But again, we wanted different interpretations, and I did also say they used forcefields to finish the aerodynamic effects, so this could just be one style that uses fields totally to do that.

All my whineyness aside (), it captures the Flight of the Navigator hoversteps alien advancement feel, so it works for us.

Thunder logo: A-Janus



A-Janus again with a sports logo claim. This logo goes super-simple. No obscure symbolism, just a depiction of what the sport is all about -- nanite-suit-wearing flying contestants slamming into each other at high velocity. XD

Kyn: Kayru



Two entries there were in this slot. Veq gave us his traditional long-limbed interpretation of Matoran (which frankly looks more like a Toa, as some others have said, but then who says Matoran all have short limbs). We liked both, but only had room for two, so we went with this one, which is more true to what we had in mind for Kyn. Both entries were a different style than the grayscale Kyn I had drawn, and both were colored, and that's mainly what we were going for here, to give Kyn's page of the guide more richness.

One thing I will say at this time is that we cannot rule out that Kyn might become a Toa, and if he does, we might think about using Veq's more Toa-like interpretation as his Toa form, but we'll decide that if or when we come to it.

A big part of what tilted the scale in Kayru's favor here was the gruff look. Ojhilom commented that he saw Kyn as a gruff character, and I agree -- and regardless, showing emotion in character art is always better than just a standard pose. Since that emotion in this case conveys who Kyn is in personality terms, it's doubly good for us.

Team Cipher: Kayru, lewathetoa





Long story short, these both rock, and we mentioned Team Cipher in two places in the guide (similar to the Gem currency slot). And I added who's who labels to both, on Ojh's request.

Kayru's format fit the first slot mentioned, and that worked well because it's a more set-accurate style (not that these guys actually HAVE sets, but you know what I mean ) that works best to introduce them as characters. That's about how we picture most of them to appear.

But lewathetoa's TC is a coolifier's dream come true, especially Zuruk, Bajnok, and Karzahni. And this is especially fitting because we established that the Reality Shifting phenomenon does sometimes make things and people appear in very different styles, operating on the theory that alternate timelines not only can show different actions, but also different styles. This is a major part of the Multiverse, and no image crystallizes it better than this one.

I do have a couple of criticisms about both of them. In Kayru's image, Toa Hanashi doesn't strike me as feminine. This is not necessarily a problem in Bionicle, but to me it makes her stand out as not as realistic as the others in the pic. Of course, Khiri doesn't look very feminine there either, but for some reason it looked consistent enough there. The other criticism is in lewathetoa's pic, and the only way I know how to say it is... M'Konglii = Sauron. XD

Gadget: Kayru



Another lone entry in a slot, but it's totally up to par. It's everything I imagined in a Gadget, and even elaborated on in cooler ways than I had thought of. Way to go.

Hovercraft: lewathetoa, Kayru





We couldn't decide between these two. So somehow, amongst the crowded wall of text near the very end of the PDF, I managed to work a miracle and fit both in. And I think they pretty much speak for themselves.

If I alone was picking, and if we could do only one, I would have picked lewathetoa's here. My reasoning is, of these vehicles, as well as a simpler third entry we didn't pick at all by Veq, which one would make me say "want" if I saw it in real life? The answer is clearly lewathetoa's. However, Kayru's is also a very imaginative take on Bionicle pieces turned into a tiny vehicle, so it deserves to share the win.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Olmak Splitting: Shadow Destroyer, Toa Korkoa

For the honorable mentions of this key origins moment, we chose not to include the various other more realistic-attempted art and to focus on two entries that used a more abstract style. SD's entry was the only one that struck me as a good symbolic simple interpretation that also made the forming bluespace look flowey, which makes an attractive image IMO.

Also, Toa Korkoa's piece gets kudos for clever puzzle-piece style, which nobody else thought of. We do not plan to say (in the "normal style" of the main dimension, anyways) that the pieces are actually shaped like puzzle pieces, but who knows? It's plausible thanks to Reality Shifting, and at the very least, it's symbolic of the puzzle-putting-together that Team Cipher will undoubtedly have to do if they want to follow the "Merge the Olmak" plan.

AAG HQ: Kayru

Here's Kayru's Seussian building I mentioned above. I'm a big fan of anything Seussian, so I definately think this can be used on the wiki as a different Reality Shift interpretation of the building, even considering the minor contradiction of the roof with what I had described. And really, who knows? Maybe at some point in the 500 years of Aethion's history, this WAS the AAG HQ.

Clash Logo: LewaLew

This was the best of the other logos besides A-Janus's, and it's good enough that I could see it as an alternate logo they might actually use in some sports advertisements and the like. The shape of the Stadium is definately captured here, so that's good. The main thing that I didn't like about it is the exclusive use of swords implies it's a more medieval style of Clash. On the other hand... there ARE other kinds of Clash on other planets, so maybe we should use it as the logo for one of those? Perhaps for a Warzone type of Clash.

Tribal hut: Veq, Kayru

I think these pretty much speak for themselves. Among the countless huts on the planet, I'm sure all three including the one we picked as the actual winner exist, so these can definately be on the wiki.

Red Skull Logo: Taipu1

We liked the Glatorian "skull" idea of this, but it was easily outdone by MechaFizz. Red Skull would probably have some Glatorian among them, and perhaps this is just another interpretation, or a Reality Shift modification of the symbol.

Hand of Faith Logo: Veq, MechaFizz

Veq's symbol was rejected mainly because it felt evil to us, and HoF is the wrong clan to get such a logo since they're the good ones. And it wouldn't really fit any of the others either. So, it's hon. menched. But, just because it can come across as evil doesn't mean it's meant that way, so maybe this is someone's interpretation of a symbol that is sometimes alternatively used.

As for MechaFizz's shield, I am thinking it should actually be a physical shield style that is often used by HoF warriors that is not on the same level as the other two symbols, but it's still representative of the clan. Maybe it should even be based on the shield of the clan leader, whoever that will end up being.

Rockfoot Logo: MechaFizz

IMO, this should be an actual statue 3D work of art that clan members use to mark their camps, in addition to Zarkan's symbol which would be printed on tents and such. The symbolism and detail of this is awesome, so it definately deserves more than just relegated to an alternate reality shining through by a strange phenomemon. And I mean painted that way and everything. It would fit their clan personality.

Brethren Logo: Veq, MechaFizz, ~~Zarkan~~

Here I'm just dumping the other interesting ones for Brethren besides the winner. There's no clear pattern to them, as you can see, but they're all interesting. In this case, I think all three could be valid symbols that various "sects" of Brethren use. Let's face it, in a clan with no leader by design, nobody's going to successfully enforce one symbol universally among its many people. There'd probably be even more than these, even without RSing.

The reasons these were rejected range from not being the best work of these particular artists, or not being as colorful as SD's, to just seeming too random with Zarkan's.

Obsidian Mountain: Kayru

When you click that, you see why I say judging this slot was hard. Again, this one lost mainly because it doesn't look Obsidian, something that is probably important for a landmark with the word in its name. Also, the symbol seemed too random to me. That aside, we HAVE to use it on the wiki as a RS version of it. Who says Obsidian type of protodermis is always black glass in the many alternate versions of the Multiverse? In fact, maybe in some alternate timeline, it's another kind of rock entirely.

Kyn: Veq

For now, this can go up on the wiki as an alternate RS version of Kyn, but again, we might decide to use it as a Toa form if he does indeed turn into a Toa.


And there we go. Invites to the top winners for specific pieces of art for the remaining whitespace/art slots will be sent out soon, although probably not this week.

Gallery when public.

Okay, so a lot of people wanna talk about my posting style, and VB polls and Hero Factory topics are not the place to do it. I already have a blog entry where yall could post comments like that, but then that's a blog entry that dwarfs most of the posts in question, so yeah. XD Whine here.

(I mean... comment here. No whining. )

In my defense, usually all I'm doing in terms of length compared to others is responding with about the same amount of content that others use. But they tend to spread it out over lots of posts in real-time, generating several pages rapidly, and I just don't have the time, due to weekend job, moderating, etc. to follow topics in real time. So I'm usually responding in much the same way as others, but just in one post (since we can't (normally ) double post).

Of course, I do try to focus on saying what needs to be said that isn't being said, so I'm not saying the same things, per se, as others. But whatever. And I don't always use the full context-included long style either, and usually not more than twice in the same thread of discussion; switching instead to a much more concise style after the initial post.

Also, for the record, I'm fine with people skimming the parts that don't interest them or aren't directed at them, etc. It's yall's choice how to use your time.



In other news, we'll probably do a Multiverse news article soon, but I'd like to hold off till we can get the Multiverse Guide Art winning pics into the PDF file, and post the results blog entry. Also, some more wiki content first would be nice. We have a good number of editors right now, and some content has been added. I've been trying to put up at least something every day myself too (not counting the weekend).

I had more I wanted to say, but then forgot, and figured this blog entry is better short anyways.

Hey, Multiverse fans, got some goodies for you today. First, Swert is making good progess on the next Cipher Chronicles episode, and he wanted me to tease the prologue today. Here you go!

For the moment, this story is untitled. Swert wants your opinions for a title. Add comments.

This episode is set on the volcanic Tyrant planet of Tanuuk, focusing on Khiri and Bajnok's attempts to escape that planet and join Team Cipher. Swert also says: "(and for fun, mention the fact this is the first time in a long time I've written something)" And I'd like to add that it is in his classic rapidfire intense style, like a souped-up version of Greg's serials style. I think yall'll love it.

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Cipher Chronicles Episode #2 Prologue
Panic ran into the mind of the young Matoran. He knew that he had only escaped temporarily.

He didn't know what had hit him as he left, but it was cold, felt wet, and stuck to his body like glue. He had heard tales from his fellow brethren that there was a Toa who could shoot someone with his Toa tool and know exactly where they were.

Unfortunately for this one Matoran, the tales were correct.

Slowly, he was approached by the Toa the myths spoke of.

"You can run, little Matoran," said the Toa, "but hiding is never an option against Toa Merx."

Hours after the capture, the Matoran was placed on a ferry boat heading for a penal colony, where he would spend quite a lengthy time. Toa Merx knew he would be back, but if he tried it again, they'd send him back. It didn't make sense for his employers to kill any of the workforce. After all, if they did, they'd be one Matoran short, and that'd mean a chance for Merx to become one of them.

Shrugging this off, he left and began looking out for more escapees. Almost immediately he found a Skakdi. Jumping into action, he watched cautiously. He couldn't allow even one being escape.

After all, he thought, nobody can leave Tanuuk alive. Not even me.

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Next up, we have the Denizens Results Topic!




Finally, new info on species in the Multiverse! The following is what is being added to the Aethion Wiki Species page. It includes new information on Dendrokan and Troak species, as well as information on three new species invented by Denizens winners. Enjoy!



Aethion Species:


Nurops -- NOO-rahps
Kuusha's eyebrain species. Shaped like metal versions of Koosh balls (521 thin arms) with a single large biological eye. Extremely talented at making predictions and calculations based on what they see. Rare. Color: Metallics only, but eyes come in any color. Have no elemental association.

Dendrokan -- DEHN-droh-kahn
Tall and lanky species, tend to be pastel colors. Wear helmets. Weight of an Agori but height of a Glatorian. Lightbulb-shaped heads. Excellent climbers. Fairly common. They have rough elemental associations, with some modifications. They usually live high in trees, steep hilltops, cliff-face caves, or other locations that require climbing to reach; this is their natural defense against predatory Rahi or thieves, etc.

Colors, assocations, and physical/mental specialties:
Mint (Wind association, understand wind well)
Pale Blue (Water, female, good swimmers, slightly webbed feet and hands)
Pink (Heat, female, less vulnerable to temperature elevation changes)
Cream Orange (Earth, longer, strong fingers and toe grip earthen walls and hillsides well, less risk of creating avalanchesl)
Cyan (Cold, understand ice and snow well, rarely fall when climbing it)
Yellow (Light, eyes shine brighter, work like flashlights)
Lavender (Shadow, see subtle tone changes, for example can see footholds in rock walls well)
Light Gray (Rock, understand rock well, rarely try to grip loose chunks when climbing)
Tan (Sand, wide feet with long toes, grip sand well, climb steep dunes easily)

Troak -- TROH-ahk
Brute's species, bulky, Toa-height, all have minor elemental powers, but ones with big OOMPH, like Cyclone. Wear and use masks. Troak come in all main canon and EM elements. They're most common on Izumal but live in various places.

Powers:
Le: Cyclone -- summon and control tornados
Ga: Cloudburst -- make clouds turn into deluges
Ta: Fire rain -- make the sky rain fire bolts
Ko: Hailstorm -- summon & control ice from sky
Po: Sandstone -- control sand & cement it
Onu: Earthwaves -- make sea-style waves in soil
Av: Aurora -- obscure a place with wavy lights
Kra: Eclipse -- fill an area with darkness
Fe: Corrosion -- rust proto-iron, etc.
De: Subthunder -- rattle an area with subsonic booms
Ba: Crushslow -- intense gravity, slows time down slightly except for user
Io: Sunflare -- create microstars that shoot solar flares
Neh: Wildpoles -- scramble compasses and slightly move metals
Vi: Forestsurge -- summon a new forest to rapidly grow
Et: Strikezone -- summon rapid lightning striking same area
Ce: Nightmare -- telepathic wave of chaotic imagery & telekinesis
Vo: Sandstorm -- summon a sandstorm
Kru: Spikecoat -- grow crystal layer on everything in an area
Hy: Sizzlemarsh -- make land filled with puddles of acid
Ig: Volcano -- summon a small volcanic eruption from underground
Nu: Chaos -- speed things up randomly in an area
Fos: Poisoncloud -- sulfuric vapor cloud, can stun and corrode
Au: Pyrite -- make clumpy gold crystals grow all over an area
Ag: Psiocage -- silver mind-resonant lattice webs or cages that disrupt powers
Gi: Lakewalker -- give water mercury properties, user can walk on it
Em: Anomalysense -- the only passive power; user senses Olmak Effect

Draco sapiens
A centaur-like species with four legs and two arms, as well as two small wings. All have a slight levitation power, that requires most of their concentration to use. Each elemental type has a slight amount of elemental control, which they can channel through Toa-tool-style weapons.

Different elements have different size wings and legs, although there can be variety within each element too. Ta-Draco sapiens (or Ta-Dracos for short) like Galafractus have small wings and powerful legs, as do most elemental types. They cannot fly, but their wings can flap open as a fright-defense by instinct. To an extent, these small wings can also help most Draco types run faster.

Le-Dracos for have large wings and small legs, so they can fly easily. Ba-Dracos are similar; their wings are smaller so they have trouble staying aloft by wings alone, but their levitation power is also much easier to use, so they can hover up, then use their wings to move forward, or glide short distances. Psionics Dracos have only medium wings useful for faster running or very short gliding, but they can levitate other objects along with themselves, and levitating themselves alone is fairly easy. Kinetics Dracos also have big wings similar to Le-Dracos, and can fly very fast.

There is a Barrawahi Clan made up mostly of Dracos, called the Draconic clan.

Teralpid
A brawny mole-like species that associates with the “foundational elements” (Stone, Earth, Iron, etc.). They have very strong senses of smell. It is a myth among non-Teralpids that their vision is bad. Their vision is really more like an extreme version of Onu-Matoran vision; they see well in extreme darkness, but very poorly in full daylight. They can also "eat" soil, rock, and clay, absorbing nutrients from them. All have tusks and claws of various sizes and styles.

The known elements of Teralpids are Stone, Earth, Ice (very rare, have slightly better day-vision and live deep underneath the ice layers on Ko-Clysmax, far from the influence of the Ice King), Iron, Plant Life (rare, live among root-entwined caves, on Atohune especially), Sand, Crystal (somewhat rare), Lava (rare, can't actually live in lava itself), Sulfur, and Silver. There are also rumored Gold Teralpids that are supposedly very rich, rich enough to build deep cave fortresses that they can keep secret, but if so, they don't associate with outsiders.

An example of a Teralpid is Vonuk, a miner on Onu-Clysmax. Vonuk is a good reference for average shape and size, but with tusks of the smaller variety. Teralpid feet may or may not have claws. Colors pretty much vary with their elements like most other beings. Average height ranges from around 6-8 feet tall – so they can stand from just shorter to just taller than the average Toa. Brawny does not necessarily mean bulky, depending on the individual. Females tend to be leaner and somewhat shorter, with smaller tusks.

On Barrawahi, many Teralpids practice the consumption of their fallen enemies’ weapons, believing they will gain some of their adversaries’ strength. Even those that don’t believe in this myth will engage in this practice as a symbolic show of strength.

Levoctus
A rare species that's almost never seen, known for their ability to move incredibly fast -- even faster than a Toa wearing a Kakama -- but also being physically very weak. Levoctus are almost totally mechanical, except for vital organs.

Apparently each Levoctus has its own unique minor power in addition to being able to move fast. Not much else is known about them, because they are so rare. An example of one is Atrumnis; he has never been seen using his minor power so it's unknown at this time.

Okay, a lot of people have been volunteering to help with EM reference stuff, and until now that's not been possible. Until now. Until now. Whee.

Keep in mind, all I've created is a skeleton with no content yet.

With that in mind, here's the big reveal.









In Other News: I also made spiffy new banners for the Discussion Topic and Story Submission Topic. Also, Swert and I have picked the winners for the Multiverse Guide Art blog contest; I'll try to announce them shortly, and yes, the Denizens results topic is in progress. I'm out of time for today. Have fun!