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[joev14]

End of the Beginning Video Podcast Series

Logo created by me, photo taken from Mata Nui's Guide to Bara Magna under fair use.

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As some of you may know, I have recently finished my Continuations of The Powers That Be and The Yesterday Quest. I like to keep my books and chapter lengths about the same as the original chapters, so I refused to go over 12 chapters, and chapters that were longer than 1,800 words. Because of this, I wasn't able to finish the storyline, so I am going to write two more series that finish it up, this is the second of these, I call it...End of the Beginning, the other is called Secrets of the Star, a series that follows Matoro. It's a Video Podcast series that primarily follows the Chronicler and his group as he travels to the different villages and records the history of the new community. It also has some parts from Malum's point of view. Before reading this, I suggest you read The Powers That Be Continuation and The Yesterday Quest Continuation, as it makes certain events in this story make more sense. PLEASE leave me some feedback, even if it's something simple like "I liked this epic", or "I didn't like this epic."

Review Topic

Video Podcast Version of Chapter 1

Click on the spoiler below to read the chapter rather than listen to the audio version.

Spoiler

Chapter 1

Kopeke glanced up from his writing. He was currently on a sand dune with Turaga Dume and a Le-Matoran named Vican.
The group was standing near a large fragment of the Mata Nui Robot that had been possessed by Makuta. Turaga Dume had requested that the Chronicler accompany him to record the recent events, and the Toa and other Turaga had agreed.
Dume walked over to a large gap in the robot and said, “This is where the Dark Hunters emerged. See, this is the mark of The Shadowed One.” He indicated towards a crude squiggle that resembled the Matoran letter ‘S’ with an extra ring around it.
Kopeke noted the symbol, and scribbled down a replica of it on the tablet, and watched as the Turaga stepped through the hole to get a better look around.
Suddenly, before the two Matoran’s eyes, a shadowy portal opened, and a figure clad in red and black armor stepped out. He was clearly a Ta-Matoran.
Dume smiled and said, “Another one of my villagers, come with us friend, you are safe now.”
The Ta-Matoran flashed an evil grin and unsheathed a sword; then he said, “Too bad you can’t say the same, old fool.”
Kopeke tried to shout a warning, but it was already too late. The Matoran of Fire twirled his sword in the air for a moment, then brought it down, splitting Dume’s mask. A second blow finished off the confused and helpless Turaga.
Vican’s eyes widened and he shouted, “I know you! You were in Karda Nui, with Makuta Krika and Makuta Gorast!”
The Ta-Matoran nodded, and said, “Then my title precedes me.” He turned to Kopeke and said, “As for you Ko-Matoran, since you obviously don’t know me, I will tell you who I am.”
Before Kopeke could do anything, Vican had been slain by the Ta-Matoran. He loomed over the Chronicle, twirling his blade once again, and finished, “My name is Death, but my friends – if I had any – would call me Vultraz.”
Kopeke held his hands up to his face as the blade came down…

…

Malum tunneled up from the sandy terrain, flanked by three battered and beaten Vorox. The four of them were the only survivors of the Baran Sand Tribe.
Malum had attacked a large group of Glatorian of both Tesara and Iconox, but when he was about to defeat them, out of nowhere had come sixty wolves made of Iron from the hillside.
He had barely escaped along with the three others as the fifty other members of the tribe were annihilated by the wolves.
He glanced back and watched as one of the Vorox fell to the ground, dead from exhaustion and blood-loss. Malum sat down on the ground; it was time for a rest. He could have gone on, but he knew the Vorox couldn’t, and would die before they stopped following him.
He spotted a red dune snake slithering nearby, and he roasted it with a blast from his claw. The three of them ate in silence, crunching and swallowing even the teeth, only throwing out the single pair of fangs at the center of its mouth.
Malum tossed the two teeth into the sand, and he jumped when he heard a voice say, “Why throw these away? They are quite useful.”
Half a second after the words had been spoken, Malum hurled a ball of flame in the direction that the voice had come from. The former Glatorian watched in shock as another warrior clad in tan and brown armor dodged the ball of flame and said, “Hold your fire friend, I am not an enemy.”
Malum stared in shock at who stood before him; it was a Vorox!...

…

Akamu flopped down on the sandy slope at the bottom of a sand dune. A week ago, Turaga Dume, the Chronicler, and one more Matoran had been mysteriously found dead near the Makuta Robot. The other Turaga had talked for a long time after finding them dead, and had chosen him to be the new Chronicler.
His first assignment was to travel to New Atero and speak with a Toa of Sonics named Krakua, one of the few Toa who weren’t completely involved in the construction of the new cities and leading them, since Sonic powers weren’t very useful in such things.
He had decided to bring his fellow Matoran Damek and Midak along. Midak seemed to love the sandy terrain, but Akamu’s eyes hurt, and he was about to die from the heat.
He pulled his Kanohi Rau off and shook it, and a quarter pound of sand fell from it. He put it back on and glanced back at the three Ussal Crabs. Two were colored blue, a very common color, but he had been given a special orange one, a very rare color for the species.
He crawled under the tent that Damek had set up, and he began scribbling on a tablet, mentioning the harsh conditions.
Midak was still sitting on the back of his Ussal Crab Pewku, who was scurrying back and forth, not in the least bit tired. Midak exclaimed in an exasperated voice, “Come on guys, we took a break only five minutes ago!”
Damek glared at the unusually energetic Onu-Matoran and said, “You mean five hours ago.”
Akamu stood back up and said, “No, he’s right.”
Damek’s eyes widened and he looked at Akamu, “Have you got sun stroke? It was at least five hours ago!”
Akamu corrected himself, “No, I mean; he’s right that we should get going. It’s going to get dark soon, and we don’t want to be out her tonight, especially with Dume’s murder on the loose.”
Damek nodded and shuddered, and then began packing up the tent.
Akamu hopped up on the orange Ussal Crab, who he had settled upon naming Peachie, because of her sandy color scheme.
Damek threw the packed tent over the back of his own Ussal, and the three of them set off again…

Edited by joev14, Oct 08 2012 - 04:24 PM.

[joev14]

Review Topic

Video Podcast Version of Chapter 2

Click on the spoiler below to read the chapter rather than listen to the audio

Spoiler

Chapter 2

Akamu and his two companions gasped as they stepped into the city of New Atero. Though many would be shocked by the sheer size of the village, this was not the reason the group was so surprised. It was all the Matoran and Agori that were there that shocked them. The city was home to mostly Fire Tribe Agori and Ta-Matoran, as well as almost the majority of secondary elementals. The Po-Matoran lived just outside the city inside huts.
To the left of the group was a huge bustling marketplace, to the right was the residential housing, and if one continued going straight they would reach a fiery castle where Turaga Vakama and Raanu (the retired Fire Agori leader) stayed.
It was just starting to get dark, though one could barely notice the difference, thanks to the pillars of fire that lined the village’s streets.
Akamu stopped a Ta-Matoran who wore an orange Kanohi Akaku, and said, “Hey, you there! –With the Akaku, can you tell me where I can find a Toa of Sonics named Krakua?”
The Matoran shook his head and pointed towards the fiery castle, and replied, “Go to the Ta-Kini castle and ask Vakama, he’ll know!”
The Matoran rushed off towards the market, and the three Matoran of Earth headed off towards the castle.
When they reached the castle, another Ta-Matoran who introduced himself as Kapura, brought them to a room where a Turaga who wore a Nobile Kanohi Huna stood. When he saw the three Onu-Matoran he said, “Ah, Chronicler. It’s good to see you; I hope your journey was well. I suppose you are here to read from the wall of history? The Po-Matoran just finished piecing it back together here at the castle.”
He pointed towards a long wall to his left. Akamu shook his head and replied, “No, I’ve actually come seeking a Toa of Sonics named Krakua.”
Vakama frowned and said, “Almost all the Toa left on a mission to the Valley of the Maze, though that name does sound like one of the ones that stayed. Let me check the tablet with the list of those who went.”
He went over to an intricately crafted stone desk - clearly made by Po-Matoran crafters - that had six or seven tablets laying on it. He grabbed one, and scanned it for a moment, and then he said, “You’re in luck; he is one of the only two that stayed behind. He would probably be staying on the edge of town, near the Po-Koro residential homes, since he’s a Toa of Sonics and probably hates noise.”
Akamu thanked him and headed back outside. Damek stopped Akamu as they were about to go down towards the houses and said, “Do you think we could go over to the marketplace for a little while first? I’ve got loads of extra widgets and I’ve been wanting to buy some things here anyway.”
Akamu nodded and the group steered their Ussal Crabs around towards the market.
There were many traders and salesmen in the market, mostly Ta-Matoran and Po-Matoran, as well as a few Lo-Matoran (Matoran of Magnetism), and even a Fe-Matoran who was selling Nynrah Ghost technology.
The group stopped first at a stall owned by a Ta-Matoran selling strange glowing objects he called Darkstones. They were like Lightstones, except they created a dark hue rather than one of light.
Damek bought one and the group headed over to a Po-Matoran selling small detailed statues of the Toa Nuva and Toa Mahri. Midak said, “I’d like one of Toa Matoro please!”
The salesman, whose name was Aiko, said, “I’m sorry, I just sold my last one. He did save the universe after all. He’s quite popular, especially since he-”
At that moment, the conversation was interrupted as a Po-Matoran wearing a Kaukau bumped into Midak, causing him to fall over. The Po-Matoran exclaimed, “Oh, I’m so sorry! Here, let me help you up.”
Midak reached out his hand and as the other Matoran helped him up he said, “Kivi?”
The Po-Matoran’s jaw dropped and he said, “Midak?”
The two smiled and hugged, and Kivi said, “It’s good to see you again! What brings you here to New Atero?”
Midak dusted himself off and replied, “I’m here with the new Chronicler.”
He pointed towards Akamu, and Kivi said, “It’s an honor.” He bowed slightly, and continued, “I was just snagging the last Matoro figure from Aiko here.”
He held up a figure wearing a Tryna and Midak said, “It’s too bad he had to give up his own life to save us.”
Kivi’s eyes widened, “You haven’t heard the good news then?”
Midak gave him a confused look and said, “What news?”
Kivi’s face brightened up and a huge grin formed on his face as he said, “Matoro is alive!”
The three Onu-Matoran’s jaws dropped and Damek said, “He’s what?!”
Kivi continued, “He appeared three days ago out of nowhere. He saved Turaga Onewa and sent a bunch of Shadow Toa running! Then he told us that he had been sent by the Great Beings to warn us about a group of evil beings called the Element Lords. He took the other Toa Mahri, the Toa Hagah, and the Toa Nuva into the desert to stop them. He took a bunch of Glatorian and the Ta-Koro guard as well.”
Akamu was speechless. What could this mean, and what would happen when the Toa fought these Element Lords?
Akamu’s musings were interrupted by a crash followed by a loud yell. The four of them turned and watched as all the Matoran in the marketplace scattered, trying to flee from something nearby. A few moments after most of the Matoran had fled, the four Matoran were able to see what everyone was running from.
A tall black and dark red Matoran stood on the other side of the street, standing over the dead body of a Ta-Matoran who wore a Kanohi Kaukau. The murderer cackled and said, “That’s three down, and two to go.”
He turned around and spotted a Ga-Matoran who had tripped and fallen in the stampede of fleeing Matoran. He raised his sword, preparing to kill another helpless citizen.
In the split second as the blade came down, Kivi grabbed a shield from a rack on another stall, and hurled it towards the murderer. The Ga-Matoran let out a scream as the blade came down, but it struck the shield instead and split the disk in two, leaving the Matoran of Water untouched.
Damek rushed at the assassin, and struck him with his staff. The Ta-Matoran rounded on him and swung his blade, slicing the head off the staff, and almost slicing Damek’s head off as well. The Onu-Matoran guardsman pulled out his newly purchased Darkstone and held it up to the assassin’s face, making him unable to see.
The Ta-Matoran cursed and said, “Using my own element against me?!”
He flailed his sword around, and he landed a blow to Damek’s arm with the flat of the blade, causing the Darkstone to fall from Damek’s hand and onto the ground. The Ta-Matoran struck the stone with his blade, and it shattered into a hundred pieces, temporarily shrouding the group in darkness. When all the Darkstone shards had fallen to the ground, the assassin was gone.
Kivi helped the Ga-Matoran up and she said, “Thank you for saving me.”
She let out a small giggle and Kivi replied, “Oh, uh…no problem. The name’s Kivi by the way.”
“Amaya,” said the Ga-Matoran.
The conversation was interrupted by the salesman, a Lo-Matoran, who picked up the two halves of the shield and moaned, “My business is ruined!”
Kivi turned to him and said, “I’m sorry, I’ll pay for it.”
The salesman shook his head and said, “No, look at my shop!”
He pointed across the street, and the five Matoran turned, expecting it to be ruined, but it was in fact fine. Suddenly Damek let out a laugh, and pointed to the sign that was hung above the stall, and the others began laughing as well. It read, “Best Protosteel weapons on the market, guaranteed to be unbreakable.”
The salesman sulkily walked over to his shop and tossed the two halves of the shield on the ground, and then began tearing down the sign.
The group turned to see Vakama standing over the dead body of a Ta-Matoran, and said, “Nuhrii, no…I thought keeping you here instead of letting you go with Matoro would protect you, but instead it has killed you.”
Being the Chronicler, Akamu had heard stories of the old Metru Nui, and of six Matoran who were thought to be the ones who would form the next Toa team, but instead Vakama and the other five Turaga leaders had become the next team. Nuhrii had been one of the ones who was thought to be the next Toa of Fire.
Suddenly an idea hit Akamu. The assassin had said, ‘Three down, and two to go.’ Could it mean…that he was hunting down the six? One of them had mysteriously betrayed the others, and disappeared recently, which would mean there were only five.
He quickly explained his theory to Vakama, and said, “He’s probably heading for New Tesara to kill the last two, we have to stop him!”
Vakama said, “Wait Chronicler, I agree, but you can’t do it alone. I will call for Toa Krakua and Toa Thulo to go with you.”
Akamu’s eyes narrowed, “By then it might already be too late, we have to go now.”
Before Vakama could stop him, Akamu had jumped up on Peachie’s back and had charged off down the street.
Damek jumped up on his own Ussal Crab and swiftly followed The Chronicler.
Midak jumped up on Pewku’s back, and was about to ride off after the other two Onu-Matoran, but Kivi said, “I’m coming too.”
Amaya stepped forward and chipped in, “So am I.”
Midak simply nodded and the three of them hopped up on Pewku’s back, and then headed off after Akamu and Damek…

Edited by joev14, Oct 08 2012 - 04:24 PM.

[joev14]

Review Topic

Video Podcast Version of Chapter 3

Click on the spoiler below to read the chapter rather than listen to the audio

Spoiler

Chapter 3

Malum stared in shock at the Vorox that had just spoken. He contemplated whether or not to hurl another ball of fire, but the Vorox simply sat down and began fashioning the two teeth into a pair of hooks that he attached to his helmet. Malum broke the silence by saying, “How can you speak?”
The Vorox glanced over at his two lesser Vorox brethren and replied, “I pity them. When the world split, they were left without a leader to guide them, so they slowly devolved to the pathetic state they are in today.”
He grabbed a piece of snake meat and bit into it as he continued, “My name is Cholus, I am one of the last remaining lieutenants of the Botan Sand Tribe, thanks to a group of Toa who seem to defy death. And I am now also without a leader thanks to them, which is why I sought you out. We have known of you Malum, we have been waiting for a long time for our old leader to die so that you could replace him.”
Malum looked suspiciously at the Vorox, and said, “So where exactly is this ‘Botan Sand Tribe’ you speak of?”
The answer was not given by Cholus, but instead it was given by three dozen Vorox armed to the teeth as they emerged from the Sand behind Cholus. Malum let out a raspy laugh as he looked upon his new army…

…

Akamu glanced up as Damek came up behind him. He felt the cold chill of night over him; it was ten times worse than the heat that marked the day. Damek pulled out two Lightstones and tossed one of them to Akamu.
The two Matoran glanced over their shoulders as Pewku came up behind them with Midak, Kivi, and Amaya all sitting on her back; she didn’t even look tired. Damek exclaimed, “What are they doing here?!”
Midak replied, “They said they wanted to come along.”
Before Damek could reply, the conversation was interrupted by a voice from above yelling, “Look out below!”
Moments later, a massive machine-like thing crashed into the ground several bios in front of Peachie. A Le-Matoran who wore a lime green Kanohi Akaku emerged from the pile and said, “Hey there; sorry about that. I guess it needs some adjustments. My name is Kiur by the way.”
Akamu replied, “What is it?”
The Matoran of Air answered, “It’s a creation of mine; I call it the Flier. It’s basically an airborne version of the Boxer vehicle designed by Nuparu back when he was still a Matoran. I was taking out for a test ride, I guess I got a little – excuse the pun – carried away. And who are you, if I may ask?”
Akamu said, “I’m Akamu, the new Chronicler, and these are my friends; Midak, Damek, Kivi, and Amaya. We’re on our way to New Tesara.”
Kiur dipped his head and said, “It’s nice to meet you all. Do you think I could get a ride with you back to Tesara?”
Akamu nodded, and Kiur hopped up on Peachie’s back. Akamu said, “What about the Flier?”
Kiur replied, “Oh, I’ll come back for it with Toa Gharo in the morning, I don’t want to be any more trouble to you guys.”
The three set off again towards Tesara. As they went, Akamu asked, “So why don’t you use treespeak?” Kiur sighed and replied, “I’m an engineer at heart, ‘can’t stand the awkwardness of the sentences, so I stopped using it long ago.”
Akamu said, “How much farther is it? I’ve never actually been to New Tesara, even though most Onu-Matoran were there originally during the construction.”
Kiur replied, “Probably another hour’s worth of travel, as long as the Ussal can keep this pace up.”
Akamu said, “Yes, they should be able to.”
Kiur asked, “So why are you going to New Tesara anyway?”
Akamu paused, unsure if he should tell him, but then he realized his caution towards the Le-Matoran was unnecessary, and he replied, “There is…a murderer…traveling to each of the villages and killing specific Matoran. We have reason to believe that Orkahm and Ehrye are next.”
Kiur gasped, “I know Orkahm. Not exactly the most talkative guy unlike most Le-Matoran, but why would somebody want to kill him?”
Akamu said, “I’m not exactly sure, but there seems to be a pattern to the killer’s targets. All of them are connected to the old legends of Metru Nui.”
Kiur’s eyes widened as he said, “You are referring to the six?” Akamu nodded and Kiur continued, “Then I think I know why they are being targeted…”

…

Malum placed his helmet over his head. Not only had he been given an army, but he had also been given a new set of sandy-colored armor by Cholus to match the rest of the tribe. The only thing he had kept from his old set of armor was his helmet, which had been given a tan paint job so it would match the rest of his new armor. The Thornax Launcher on his shoulder had been replaced by a sphere launcher that apparently fired raw energy. “And all they want in return is for me to lead them.” He said to himself.
The first thing he wanted to do was to attack those Iconox and Tesara Glatorian, and make them pay for killing his old tribe, but he knew he couldn’t. “No…not yet. The time will come to conquer, but first I must prepare, or I will lose again. Yes, I must get ready, and when I strike…”
He paused to let out a laugh, and then finished, “…None shall be left standing…”

…

Akamu stared at Kiur in shock, “What?! Why?” Said the Chronicler.
“I saw Orkahm in his hut a few weeks ago.” Said Kiur, and he continued, “I couldn’t help but overhear him talking to Ehrye, an Ice Matoran. They talked for a while about some stones they had found on Mata Nui, before he awoke again. After a while I figured out that they were talking about Toa Stones. They mentioned not being able to use them now that Akhmou was gone, and then Ehrye left.”
Akamu just sat as it all sank in, the Ta-Matoran murderer was after the Toa Stones, but why?...”