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IC: Skyra Daring - Metru Koro - Skyra sat up, before pouting at Tekmo. "There's no need to yell man, it's not very cash money of you." With that firmly said, Skyra crawled over to the unconcious Keitara and started to slap her cheeks a little. "Hey, heyheyhey..." She put an ear down and listened... "mnnnm, nuuuuh. shilly caht, I don't have your cheethburger..." The Toa of light mumbled. "My god, she's suffering from a lack of cheeseburgers!" Skyra exclaimed, looking up at everyone. "Quick, we need some ####ing cheeseburgers stat!" @Keeper of Kraata@Conway@EmperorWhenua@TL01 NUVA

Metru-Koro, Outside Sans' hut IC: "No, not at all. My memory is scattershot at the moment but from the state I'm in I can tell it was a rough arrival." She looked over at Irna, blushed, and hastily turned back to the being she was addressing. "I apologize for making a scene. It seems I'm in worse condition than I realized." (OOC: @Toru Nui @Azibo@EmperorWhenua@Keeper of Kraata@Snelly@Conway)

Honestly for me these Crystal Temples used to terrify me, the sound ambiance and atmosphere gave goosebumps.

IC: Sans, Turaga's Hut "Oh... it seems I'm highly needed at this time." Sans walked towards the door, past Waveahk, and stuck his blue Ruru out the doorway. "Everyone, it seems most of you are here for the same purpose. Please, all of you, come in and let's figure out how we can all work together to solve the mystery of the Makuta." Sans waved a hand then led the way inside his home, sitting himself at his table with two more chairs waiting to be filled. Sans took the chair facing towards the makeshift couch on the opposite side of the room, in case anyone sat down there that he needed to address. OOC: @Toru Nui @Snelly @TL01 NUVA @Keeper of Kraata @Conway

IC [Nektann - Fort Nektann]: Nektann made a sound that was halfway between chuckle and growl and could go either way. Boogeyman… “Ain’t nothing lasts that long. I don’t deal like that. And I got plenty of what you got on offer. Ya gonna have to bring somethin’ new, boogeyman.” The massive Skakdi rolled his shoulders, the sound of the grinding cartilage was like millstones at work. IC [Takadox - The Wasteland] “How much further, Skerek?” The once smooth voice of the hypnotic warlord was raspy as he asked the question. He was tired, dehydrated, had a growing headache - oh and his entire life had literally come crashing down! “Another day’s march, Turkeyduck, sir…” came the strongly accented reply from the Skakdi walking slightly ahead and off to his side. The Barraki groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He would have preferred someone else’s company right now, but that was over now too, broken off like the great spirit’s neck - right after he’d flushed his career down the drain so the two of them could make their piña colada escape. “Takadox. For the whatever-reth time, it's: Ta-ka-dox.” He had befriended the local the day before, after their paths had crossed in a dried out ravine. They’d tried to confront him, but after asking them to kindly disarm themselves, the Skakdi was more than happy to share where they’d come from. Apparently, they were working for someone they just kept calling ‘the Boss’ who was ‘big an’ mean’. Such a wealth of information to go on. The caliber of volunteers on this dump of an island left the warlord wanting. Maybe this ‘Boss’ felt the same way, considering he’d sent Skerek out alone - possibly to get rid of them - to scout the crash site of Mata Nui’s head. But he never got that far, running into Takadox instead. With introductions over, Skerek had helpfully offered to take the Barraki to his home, some sort of fort out somewhere in the wild. The Barraki wasn’t looking forward to dealing with more people like this...but it was a start, somewhere he could make himself comfortable, take over and establish himself. If this headache doesn’t kill me first.

IC: Yaushe - Northern Desert Yaushe had noted with annoyance that Mahryo had left her out of his list of companions when asking about the newcomer's approach, and as such didn't reply to Triki. After a minute, however, she did give him the decency of taking her hand brake off so he could roll her onto the ramp.

Keitara's mind-??? IC: The matoran suddenly realized they were standing at the bank of a great canal. Silvery-blue liquid flowed serenely past, carrying the occasional small boat made of reed or scraps. "Where are we?" she asked. The figure, still indistinct, was staring out at the structures to their left. Massive arthropods with carapaces of glass and wire, their enormous legs sinking deep below the surface of a vast blue sea. The sun... no, she realized with dawning shock, suns plural, were setting. The lights within the massive beetles burned creamy gold. The matoran squeaked and clung to the larger figure's leg. "S-s-sorry," she stammered "I'm not very fond of the dark." A hand rested gently on her head. "That's perfectly all right." Their voice was calm, soothing. "This is Ga-Metru, the great district of waves and knowledge. We are safe here. Though I do not recognize those matoran there." The matoran looked over and her heart skipped a beat. "I know them! They're my friends! There's Dara and Nati, Tanma and Gavala, Neru, Takua..." Her voice trailed off. "But... that can't be right. Nati and Neru are dead, and Takua... he's been missing for years." She looked up at the figure "Is this a dream? Are we dreaming? If we're both dreaming, how are we dreaming the same dream? What if one of us is dreaming the other. Gods and Great Beings, what if when we wake up-" "Little one! Little one, be calm." The voice was soothing. "There is no need for panic." The matoran sniffled. "Well, that's me. Always the coward. I couldn't bear to leave the lightvine back home when the cave-glow dimmed. Well, except that one time Balta didn't come back. I searched and searched. His leg was always a bit iffy, and sometimes he'd fall and damage his pack, I thought he might be..." Her voice trailed off. "Well, that sounds plenty brave to me, little one. I think you are merely measuring yourself too harshly. Given time, I'd wager you could become quite the hero. Brave as any toa or avuurahk." The matoran nestled against the figure's side, yawning. "I... feel sleepy. Does that mean I'm waking up? I don't want to wake up if that means you might disappear!" The figure knelt down next to the matoran. "I'll tell you what. Why don't we both wake up at the same time? Then wherever we're going, we'll go together." The matoran gulped nervously, then nodded. The two figures closed their eyes... Keitara opened her eyes, groaning. She felt as though her back had been broken, then hastily reassembled by somebody who was not only using the wrong instruction book but also showed complete and total ignorance about the workings of the spine. She could move her hands and, albeit slightly, her neck. Anything else sent thunderbolts of pain shooting down her back. She looked up into a long, worried face that she recognized as... "Irna?" Suddenly the full context of her situation snapped back into focus. A slight flush crept to her cheeks as she realized the scene she had created. She looked back up at the woman who had woken her up. "Thanks, Irna. I'm... I'm sorry to make such a scene." She chuckled embarassedly as she painfully made her way to her feet. It was then that she noticed her hand. Or, more specifically, its color. "Oh...." (OOC: @Conway)

Metru-Koro, outside Sans' hut IC: Keitara lies on the ground, muttering nonsense in her sleep. "mnnnm, nuuuuh. shilly caht, I don't have your cheethburger..." (OOC: @Toru Nui@Keeper of Kraata@Conway@EmperorWhenua

Even if an actually good writer is put behind it instead of Greg? Nothing about Bionicle requires it to be for selling toys; in fact, the narrative can be freed up without having to shove in new characters and concepts all the time to shoehorn the toys into the story. I mean, it's kinda ridiculous how often the number 6 comes up. 6 Toa to every team that matters, 6 classes of every generic enemy, 6 members of every team of baddies...it gets kinda old and IIRC it's never really explained, like "The Great Beings had OCD" or something. And there are so many characters who show up briefly and hardly get touched again outside of serials, so many forced story elements like the frequent transformations and Takua changing his name on the spot for no obvious reason (all they had to do was say Takua is a diminutive of Takanuva...why, man?). The worldbuilding got piled onto so heavily that the lore became downright esoteric unless you'd been following it from day one, and it didn't even tie into itself enough to truly qualify as "deep." All because Lego had toys to sell and needed to contextualize them in-universe. No toys means more creative freedom, which almost always means a better story. I don't see why the Toa need to transform every year unless it's really necessary for the story to work. Oh, obviously Faber has to profit from this; but one AAA game, if it's even that, won't cost $150-200. I do hope it's not VR; they'd probably get more exposure with an RPG of some sort. And I really hope it's not VR, which is probably too niche to make bank on to begin with.

Please see vehicle rules in the character creation topic. .... Hi everyone, these are my safe for consumption and SKR spoiler free GM notes from SKE. I included everything that did not provide spoilers for the current game. I’d love to discuss your thoughts. Synopsis: Metru-Nui is under threat from the six kingdoms and the brave Toa Mangia have been imprisoned after their betrayal alongside Lihkan. Turaga Dume searches for new toa, offering to award the power of toa to those lucky six who can retrieve the legendary great disks from each metru. While the race for power begins across Metru-Nui, a war of intrigue and diplomacy brews as the great Barraki warlords gather their forces for a final assault after years of proxy wars with the last bastion of matoran civilization. The Dark Hunters mercenary group led by the Shadowed One pit brother against sister for profit. The Great Spirit remains distant and uncommunicative save with their servants in the little known Order of Mata-Nui. Initial plot hooks Dark Hunters: Weekly Hits: start with Nuparu, move through NPCs who know disk locations and PCs. Metru-Nui: Find the Great disks, Silver Sea Conflict League of Six Kingdoms: Silver Sea Conflict, Sabotage Metru-Nui, Find The Orb Cast of NPCs Barraki: Pridak: angered by those who cannot see his perspective, but needs others to validate his choices and opinions. Kalmah: close friends with Mantax, both suffered at hands of matoran culture Ehlek: speaks to himself because he’s the “smartest in the room” Mantax: chooses not to speak a language different than his own, especially matoran. Carapar: Trying to climb the ladder Takadox: Out to kill everyone, wants Pridak’s throne Toa: Tuyet Alter: the core version, killed by Lhikan, haunts Dume, revived by Lhikan Tuyet Prime: the SKE version, killed by Nidhiki Turaga Turaga Dume: wants to use the time machine, is the current Cortex custodian Nidhiki: works with the League, will connect Nuju’s teleporter if able Lhikan: confused, in prison, tries to talk to those who are thrown in jail Matoran Nuparu: worked on the time machine for Dume, is concerned about the possibilities Nokama: knows Vhisola, studies ancient history and knows location of sunken temple Vakama: knows Dume and Nuhrii, was tasked with making a mask of time Nuju: secretly works for the League, knows Ehrye Whenua: knows Tehutti, wondering where he went Onewa: knows Ahkmou, wants help with cleaning graffiti off one of his statues Matau: knows Orkahm the taxi driver, needs help repairing a prototype bike he broke Vhisola: knows location of Ga-Metru disk Nuhrii: knows location of Ta-Metru disk Orkahm: knows location of Le-Metru Disk Ehrye: knows location of Ko-Metru Disk Ahkmou: knows location of Po-Metru Disk Tehutti: knows location of Onu-Metru Disk (was actually consumed by the disk in finding it) Nixie: Matoran Astronomer, survived the impact. Now resides in Metru-Koro Others: Brutaka: works for the Metru-Nui forces on the silver sea front lines Axonn: hangs in the background, mainly messes with people Tren Krom: Krom Sphere and shenanigans Great disk Puzzles Ta-Metru Location: The Great Furnace The location can be found by speaking to Nuhrii, one of the Smith's living and working in Ta-Metru, or by talking to Vakama at his mask making shop. While Vakama will point players to Nuhrii, Nuhrii knows the general location of the disc after having discovered something weird his manager doesn't want to talk about. First puzzle: The First Puzzle is a social puzzle. Players need to either use diplomacy with the vahki or the conveyor belts going into the Great Furnace. Second Puzzle: The Second Puzzle is environmental. Players need to realize the secret way in: swinging on the water extinguishers from cat walks on one side to the other. The Final Puzzle: The Final Puzzle is deduction. Players are presented with a three digit lock, values 0-9. Understanding the meta of what they're seeking will enable solving to lock with the code 159. Disk Location: The Great Disc is hidden in a whispering forest of blackened trees. Ga-Metru Location: underwater temple Nixie and Vhisola both know the whereabouts of the Great Disk. First Puzzle: The Giant Temple Squid guarding the underwater temple has a disk stuck to it. If players can get the disk, they find it’s not the disk they were originally looking for. This disk of growth can prove useful if players decide to go headlong into the main puzzle. Second puzzle: Inside the inner sanctum of the temple is a whirlpool. Carefully exploring the ruins they find the following: Three levers with three positions: up, neutral, and down. Three nearby statues of matoran with rahi heads are looking left, right, and center. Shift the levers to down, neutral, and up from left to right. This shuts the hole in the middle of the sanctum and stops the whirlpool. Players entering the sanctum see a glimmering portion of water in the center of the room, and swimming through takes them to the location of the Great disk. Alternatively, players who get the disk from the squid and slip into the whirlpool will see a strange event with six matoran wearing larger rahi masks over their heads, be told to go back, and then the disk will be exchanged for the Great disk. Disk Location: A small cave inside a waterfall. The sounds of matoran chanting can be heard coming from the other side. Le Metru Location: The Notch Matau and Orkahm both know the location of the Great Disk. The same puzzle is interacted with in multiple permutations. Puzzle Space: The Notch has several twisting tubes accessed through four chute entrances, one of which is broken. Several pieces of information are laid out with each chute entrance, as well as on wooden boards stacked by the chutes. From left to right: Four dots, black paint, a matoran Faith charm, wood board says “broken”. Three dots, white paint, a matoran Accuracy charm, wood board says “don’t go”. Two dots, green paint, a matoran Unity charm, wood board says “maybe”. One dot, red paint, a matoran Duty charm, wood board says “no”. The dots correlate to level of difficulty, the paint correlates to the first junction in the chutes, the matoran charms correlate to the second junction in the chutes, and the wood boards offer clues as to which chutes are safe and which could lead to danger. First Junction: The chute entrance tubes except the four dot tube all have a first junction puzzle. The one dot chute leads to a safe exit regardless of the choice at the junction: Left: white paint, continue to second junction Middle: green paint, continue to second junction Right: red paint, exit Second Junction: The second junction has four branching routes which correspond with the matoran charms found back at the initial entrance. From left to right: Faith: leads to the Great disk Accuracy: broken chute exit Unity: broken chute exit Duty: broken chute exit Broken Chute Exit: Players who choose Accuracy, Unity, or Duty are led through a series of chute loops and finally spat out in a dangerous waterfall of protodermis from a broken chute. Quick thinking will save players from dying. If they survive, it’s a long climb back to the chute station of the Notch to try again. Safe Exit: Taking the Red exit in the first junction or the Faith exit in the second junction leads eventually to the Safe Exit. This is a platform a few stories above the initial entrance chutes which is built into a derelict building. A small lizard lives here, but otherwise the players are safe from harm. Disk Location: Those who have faith in their journey will rush through a dangerous series of twists, turns, and loops before becoming magnetically charged and shot into the center of a Force Sphere. Being inside teleports the party to a strange temple in a foreign jungle where the Great disk is stored. They have a limited window of opportunity to grab the disk, jump back through the portal, and finish their chute ride in the safe exit. Onu Metru Location of the disk: Archives, level 12 Whenua knows Tehutti went in search of the disk. Tehutti successfully found the disk, completing the puzzle, but created a new problem. Each time the disk reconstitutes the Tehutti at random, it latches onto something else alive and slowly grows. This abomination continually tries to escape the disk only to activate it again. First Puzzle: The Archives is curiously missing data for floors 6, 7, and 12 from three months ago. If players go find an archivist and speak with Whenua, he will tell them Tehutti went down to check floor twelve after noticing a brief power outage. Second Puzzle: On floor 12 players encounter a hallway with a series of six doors. Three of the doors are empty and lead into large storage closets. Opening all six doors at the same time opens the secret entrance at the end of the hall. Beyond the secret entrance is the final puzzle room. Final Puzzle: The final puzzle got destroyed when Tehutti recovered the Great Disk and accidently used it. Players must find a way to stop the abomination Tehutti has become after witnessing it absorb a stray rahi. Strictly using combat will lead to a TPK as each PC becomes part of the abomination. Po-Metru Location: Onewa and Ahkmou will point players in the direction of the Sculpture Fields or The Wastes as locations they’d seen the Toa Mangai visiting in the past few months. A section of the Sculpture Fields has rings of graffiti with the tagged name “Lhii” in the colors of a rainbow. Going toward the center of the circle brings players to the first puzzle which involves a tall statue of Turaga Dume. First Puzzle: Turaga Dume’s statue is heavily graffitied. Some of the graffiti holds clues for what to do: On the staff is of the symbol on a Po-Metru kanoka. This is the decryption key. An arrow points towards the ruby-red glass prism set in the top of the staff. Turaga Dume’s statue is also pointing in a direction with his other arm. To solve the puzzle, players need to wait for the right time of day when the sunlight shines through the red glass, or they need to provide a form of illumination coming from the opposite direction the statue is pointing. The glass has a cipher written on it, which shows up in the red circular mark it leaves in the sands: “Srzhu fdq rqob uhdfk vr idu / Glj lwv judyh zkhuh lw hqgv.” Po-Metru is the third district, and adjusting the cipher back three letters in the alphabet reveals: “Power can only reach so far / Dig its grave where it ends.” The last part of the first puzzle is players realizing the red dot created by correctly illuminating the glass lies on the top of a large, buried, inverted pyramid. Second Puzzle: The main location for this puzzle involves the inverted pyramid. The pyramid is 100 matoran paces long on each side. The pyramid is missing its capstone, and an entry to the inside of the structure can be found there. The entry is a straight shaft to a central chamber approximately thirty feet cubed. The pyramid is not the most structurally sound sculpture in the fields. To solve this puzzle find the entrance and go inside. Pretty simple. Once inside the central chamber players are presented with the final puzzle. If the structure is cracked or broken, sand will fill it. This preserves the final puzzle for players who don’t give up. Third (Final) Puzzle: The interior chamber is completely covered on all the floor, walls, and ceiling surface area with strange hieroglyphics in a language unknown to any member of the party. These hieroglyphics are the same as others seen in complementary Great disk Puzzles. Near one of the walls is a rectangular table with the following clues: Four circular depressions on top Four small statues of matoran with the words unity, duty, creation, and strategy. All statues have a circular base of similar size to the depressions on the table. A poem is written in four lines on the side of the table facing the players: "In all of the world Metru-Nui stands / Bringing minds and hearts together as one / A plan devised to defend against foreign lands / A single path never undone.” The correct order of statues from left to right is: creation, unity, strategy, and destiny. Completing the table puzzle opens the stone gateway built into it and reveals the resting place of the Great disk of Po-Metru (339). Disk Location: A stony plateau overlooking a desert wasteland with a single lizard (important, do not forget lizard). Ko-Metru Objective: open the frozen door and collect the disk hidden on the other side. How to solve: open with at least two characters Clues: "In Unity, Wisdom" written on the plinth below the floating door coated that's frozen shut with a coating of ice. This suggests players unite to diskover Ko-Metru's wisdom. The door is frozen shut with a coating of ice. The door is floating 30 feet directly above the plinth. Most matoran cannot reach this height or jump from the walls such a distance. The notes of the deceased matoran offer three valid disks to use in solving the puzzle, and two that are very bad ideas. The digits graffitied on the plinth tell the power type and minimum level needed for kanoka, but the circle with three towers scribbled next to them suggests all disks must be from Ko-Metru. The weaken disk is for breaking the ice off the door. The enlarge disk is for the plinth. If the door grew, it would be too heavy to push open. The reconstitute disk could also be used on the ice.The frozen water would reconstitute into vapor. Setting information Someone tried and failed already, giving a sense of danger. They carried only a reconstitute at random disk. They were not alone in their attempt, but were abandoned as the Frost Beetles finished molting. The molted shells belonged to a clutch of Frost Beetles who moved out after molting from pupa to adulthood. The unknown hieroglyphics on the walls are a prophecy still uncovered. Disk Location: Solving the puzzles opens a portal to an icy peak with a red flag at the summit and the Great Disk held in ice. Etc. Final confrontation battlefield: Metru-Nui can be attacked by the Barraki if they get the Krom Sphere and players activate the teleporter. Metru-Nui can be attacked by the Barraki if they win the Silver Sea conflict battles. Otherwise they must wait for the teleporter. Eliminated Metrus will be replaced in SK2. Tuyet’s reveal Tuyet from another paradox travels to this dimension on her search to charge the Nui Stone. She arrives with 5 disks of time, having determined she needs six and a special machine to alter her own element from water to time. She kills Tuyet from this dimension, frames Nidhiki and Lhikan for it. They are brainwashed. Dume’s reveal Dume wants to make a toa of time in order to undo the league of six kingdoms through time travel as a way of eliminating the threat to his society. Lhikan disagrees, believing the effects of time travel should not be weaponized because the long term outcome is unknown. Lhikan shared his concerns with the Mangai, but Tuyet confided the secret to Turaga Dume. Turaga Dume imprisoned the Mangai he could find, with Nidhiki slipping away. SKE Endings Bad Endings: Makuta assumes control A player goes back in time and nova bombs the barraki (not a tpk). The Disks are found, a player makes the mask of time and uses it for personal gain. The Krom Sphere is found and is used to destroy all life and make an undead apocalypse. Mata-Nui’s avatar does not reach the Cortex. Dume lives and sends himself to the past. This will TPK the game. MAKE IT CLEAR. The Shadowed One gets the Great Disks and the Krom Sphere. Rebirth (future): If the Mata-Nui avatar sits in the captain’s chair in the Core Processor (“Cortex”) and the Krom Sphere is NOT used. Mata-Nui fully revives, the GSR begins to move Mata-Nui realizes they are an escape pod, or ark, lost adrift in space Tries to activate but the GSR is broken from millenium of floating in an asteroid belt Head breaks at the neck and begins drifting towards a planet Crashes into the ocean and onto an island called Zakaz. If the Krom Sphere IS used: Tren Krom fully revives the GSR Decides leaving the majority of the matoran universe adrift in space minimizes potential harm of allowing Mata-Nui to fully revive. Beheads the GSR The head of the GSR plummets into a nearby planet, crashing into the ocean and onto an island called Zakaz Impact (Past): Tuyet activates the Time Circle, gains element of time powers Tuyet explains the world is an alternative time paradox branching from the core timeline and she just needed to fill up the power of her Nui Stone. Tuyet leaves for another timeline dimension to continue powering her Nui Stone. The Time Travel is too much inside the GSR, creating a distortion and breaking the GSR at the neck. The GSR’s head falls back in time and crash lands into an island called Zakaz.

Name: Tuakana (derived from the Matoran word for “old one” or “eldest”) Species: Aspect of Makuta Faction: Aspects of Makuta Description: Like all Aspects, Tuakana exists naturally in a green, gaseous form, unable to interact with the physical world without a suit of armour or a willing host to inhabit. Tuakana’s armour stands about the same height as a Toa, but the similarities end there. They are technically bipedal, but they stand hunched over, with short legs, an elongated torso, and arms that are long enough to reach the ground, allowing Tuakana to travel in a swinging, ape-like fashion. Their fingers are long and slender, ending in sharp points. The armour is composed of a brittle-looking black metal, worn and scarred by age. They are draped head to toe in green and brown lichens and mosses. Ropes of plant life hang from their scalp, obscuring their face. Tuakana is old. Even for an Aspect, they are old. Their mind moves more slowly than other Aspects, and no one has the patience to explain concepts like genders or names to them, so they have no gender and are called Tuakana, derived from the Matoran word for “eldest” or “old one.” Although cunning in their own way, they do not understand the manipulative power games the other Aspects play, always vying for power. They prefer to pursue their goal of a seventh stage kraata on their own terms, only loosely affiliated with the other Aspects out of a sense of loyalty to their shared species. Although generally inquisitive and endlessly patient, they find the harried, fast-paced lives of younger species to be pointless and often incomprehensible. Background/Occupation: They have spent untold years observing the island of Zakaz and slowly growing stronger, moving almost unnoticeably through the shadows of the swamps and dunes, unmindful of the various Skakdi squabbles that seem to end almost before they begin. If they have schemes beyond pursuing a seventh stage kraata, they move too slowly to be recognized. Powers/Abilities: As an aspect of Makuta, Tuakana controls the element of Shadow in all its forms, allowing them to create, control, and absorb shadows and darkness. Tuakana’s secondary power is Slow, making them extremely slow but difficult to dislodge, and highly resistant to physical harm. Should they make physical contact with another creature, they can temporarily slow it down, or anchor themself to the creature and rob it of all speed. Should a willing being offer up a heartlight, Tuakana can perform the rite of desecration. Through exploring the Ruins of Fire, Tuakana has learned the Taboo of Star Swallowing, allowing them to pluck a star from the heavens and bring life back to the dead—but at the cost of another life, chosen at random. Equipment: A suit of armour to possess. Flaws: Like all Aspects of Makuta, Tuakana requires a suit of armour or a willing host in order to interact with the physical world. Destroying their armour would render them impotent unless they could find a willing host. Their slow nature makes them mostly useless in combat—they are highly resistant to physical harm, but they never move quickly, so any attacks they manage to make are easy to see coming. Tuakana is a very slow and patient being, rarely acting quickly, even when in danger. They perceive time differently than others, and as such have difficulty perceiving the significance of rapidly occurring events. They are ever mindful of death. Grand Wish: Having wandered Zakaz for centuries, Tuakana has had the opportunity to observe the rise and fall of many younger species. Above all, they see that death is everywhere, and it comes far too quickly. Thus, perceiving most life as beginning and ending in the blink of an eye, Tuakana's grand wish is to become the master of time. They wish to do this in order to defeat entropy and, by extension, death. Ascension Milestone the First: Desecrate a follower. Ascension Milestone the Second: Learn a Taboo from one of the island's ancient ruins.

I'm saying it can be highly beneficial to Bionicle as a narrative because of the added creative freedom. It doesn't need to go that route, but if it did, it would open up new storytelling venues and remove unnecessary baggage, which I've explained in a previous post. We're talking about a hypothetical scenario where Bionicle exists without a toyline and the story comes first. My point is that there are lots of franchises that consist solely of the work of fiction used to deliver their narrative and nothing else, save for some merch which other companies acquired the rights to sell. ...because of Greg's personal failures as a writer and decision to give up entirely. Unless you mean the financial viability of the story and not its quality; in which case, Lego didn't even try to profit from the serials, so that's the chief reason why they didn't produce any moolah.

So are you saying Bionicle could or should become a book series or web story or something different to what it used to be? With Bionicle, the main money was always in the sets, the other stuff was only made to help with that. Whatever you think of him, I think the basic point is that a story that isn't part of or connected to something else (the sets in this case) doesn't seem to do too well.

Metru-Koro, Outside Sans' hut IC: Keitara looked in surprise to the other toa. "You're a light elemental as well? That's a releif. I was worried about how I might be received seeing as we always seem to be hunted by some shadowy organization or other. What aspect are you pretending to be? Kra-toa? Onu-toa?" She squinted closer at Skorm. "Oooh! A Toa of Twilight! A being who has mastery over both light and shadow! That's so amazing, I've always admired toa with bi-elemental mastery. Can I have your autograph?" Her smile, coated with a fine sheen of silvery perspiration, looked more ghoulish than enthusiastic. It was clear that the stubborn Av-toa was determined to minimize the severity of her condition to the very end. If things kept up, it very well might be for her. She looked like death on two very shaky legs. ( OOC: @Toru Nui @Keeper of Kraata)

IC: Skorm (Metru-Koro) The Twi-Toa scoffed at Tekmo. "You act like you've never seen an Av-Toa shift colors before. Which I know you have. Because I did that." OOC: @Toru Nui @TL01 NUVA

IC: Arkius - Metru-Koro Gates "Three of us so far, including you. Hopefully more to come, but if not, we'll make do."

IC Triki - Northern Desert "Alright, fun-time adventure-time awaits! Let us sand-crawl into the sunset!" Triki continued to babble as he pushed the currently-silent Yaushe onto the transport, whether she wanted to or not. @Edelgard @Jakura Nuva @ZippyWharrgarbl @Toru Nui

"Overcomer" by Mandisa

IC: Lueiji - Northern Deserts Lueiji does his best to smile back as he gingerly follows Mahryo in. So soon into trouble... @Edelgard @xccj @ZippyWharrgarbl @Toru Nui

IC: Mahryo - Northern Deserts "Look at us! Off on another whirlwind adventure!" Mahryo clambered into the transport, grinning at Triki, Lueiji, and Yaushe. The dullery of wandering the wasteland with no memories was finally ending; they finally had a purpose! To defeat and capture an evil villain, and end his reign of tyranny!

IC: Rose - Metru-Koro (Love Shack) Rose heard a knock at the door and went to answer. Before her stood Vent and another being she didn't recognize. "Huh, back already? I see you made a new friend." @Dane@Burnmad IC: Datrox Karvan - Navu's Hut "I..." I paused. My time during the war had been spent avoiding my past, and roaming around Metru Nui like a vigilante to supposedly protect those that needed protecting. Yet here this woman was, a former slave, and I had done nothing to help many others like her. Perhaps Tanaya and Eroni had been freeing people from the League's clutches before they were cut down, while I was--what was I doing? Hiding? "I don't know, at the moment. It's been a very confusing time since the crash, but I would not discount that there is someone looking. Someone who cares, just like me." @Toru Nui

IC: Reliable Narrator, the view through Mazor's Scope Looking through his scope at the early evening sky Mazor could see the multiple colors painted across the air and clouds: peach, streaking lines of burnt orange, light goldenrod, honeysuckle pink, and the softest kisses of periwinkle and lilac. The sun moved to the Western horizon slowly but surely. When Mazor returned to the surface of Metru-Nui a week ago he saw the red ring on the horizon no longer seared across the sky. It gratefully remained as nothing more than a recent memory in this strange new world. His view trained on the dark purple and smoke colored clouds resting high in the sky. He could catch the same glint of sunlight from between them. As he saw every time he looked to the sky following this trail of rain and youth. The water fell from behind the clouds, but they were not rain clouds. He moved the scope's view a little higher. He knew a strange sphere hung in the sky just beyond the clouds. Sometimes he caught a glimpse or two, but never a full view. This evening proved lucky for Mazor. The sunlight shone through the large glass sphere, glinting and making its own rainbows. Bigger than any airship, half of it looked shattered, destroyed by some unknown impact or explosion. From the shattered hole in the glass sphere poured the waterfall that became the youthful rain. He saw small peaks of green dangling over the sides of the floating sphere, but nothing discrete enough to accurately determine. His scope did not have enough magnitude to see so far in great detail. It looked impossibly high in the sky, so high he wondered if an airship could withstand the elevation. Ooc: @Smudge8

IC: Irna | Outside Sans' Hut "Keitara!" Irna crouched next to the fallen woman, pressing her ear to her chest hard enough to still feel a heart beat underneath her armour -- the armour that had changed from black to white, grey to gold. But there wasn't time to think about that, not now, not while she was still unconscious. Careful to moderate her force, Irna raised a hand up and-- WHACK! --slapped Keitara across the face. "Wake up," she said. "Wake up." OOC: @TL01 NUVA -Void

IC: Skorm (Metru-Koro) Mata Nui, I came back to civilization for this. Skorm sized up his options. If he threw the sack, it might create a distraction for long for him to shadow glide away. Get to the Muaka, drive off. He could become settle down and become a Mahi herder. Alternatively, he could run up by the giant head, fight a one-man war against what was left of the League. No, that wouldn't work. A part of him wanted to punish everyone present for insolence; it had been his prerogative back in the League. Stupid free will. Stupid promises. The Twi-Toa looked at the unconscious toa of light. "Does... does she have a condition or something? Is there a healer here we should take her to?" OOC: @Snelly @Toru Nui @TL01 NUVA

IC: Taja | Metru-Koro "Jaa— watch out!" Too late. The Ko-Matoran, his arms so full of scrolls he could hardly see, stumbled over a box of maps and hit the ground with an oof! Scrolls went everywhere. Taja sighed and went to help him up. Sorry, she signed. He brushed her apology aside. No, no. I was carrying too much. The two of them began to gather up the scrolls. These few boxes were all that remained of Ko-Metru's vast library of star charts. A few scholars had managed to grab them, along with some iStones and some of the smaller telescopes, in the chaos of the evacuation. Now they were working to put together a space from which they could study these new stars. It was hard work. This new land was unforgiving and offered little in the way of building materials. The Toa of Sonics was disappointed that her powers weren't of more use. Were she a Toa of Stone, or Earth, or Iron, she could at least provide the raw materials necessary to construct shelters and buildings. Instead, all she could offer was her physical strength. Good for moving rocks around, but not much else. Nixie poked her head in, as if Taja's dejected thoughts had summoned her. "Taja! There you are. Can you help us with the telescope?" The Toa nodded and followed the astrologer to another room where two Matoran were huffing and puffing as they tried to fit the main tube of a large telescope into its cradle. Taking hold of the long metal tube, she carefully lifted it up and lowered it into place. Nixie tightened a bolt, locking it in. "There," she said, looking pleased. "That's two done. We're still waiting on the glass for the biggest one. You know, the one that cracked during the evacuation. It was supposed to be done today, but I think they had a problem at the new foundry..." The two Ko-Matoran scholars looked weary as the Ga-Matoran chattered on. Taja smiled ruefully, knowing that the silence of Ko-Metru felt like the most grievous loss they could had suffered. She hoped that one day they could recreate the peaceful atmosphere she had once known, but it was still far away. Survival was their first concern, along with the preservation of whatever artifacts they had managed to bring with them from the fallen city. It pained her to think about all that knowledge that was now in the hands of the Barraki—if it wasn't already destroyed. But she couldn't focus on that. Right now, her people needed hope, and that mean getting back to the status quo as quickly as possible. Making life feel normal. Founding new forges and temples and rebuilding the telescopes. Fortifying the city. Making it safe. Their life was here now. Destiny had sent them to this strange new island, and Taja trusted that, somehow, they would find a way to thrive.

My profile for the Ripple. Designation: The "Ripple" Type: Airship Commanding Officer: Tugarak Description: The Ripple is a Kewa-class medium freighter, originally designed for ferrying cargo long distances, capable of undergoing long journeys without resupply. From the outside, she appears to be physically unremarkable, bearing a streamlined ovoid hull typical of Metruan vessels. Small portals, housing automated cordak turrets, line the sides of her hull. Her inner space is divided into three main decks, an upper, middle and lower deck. The decks are connected through small maintenance portals, allowing matoran workers to travel quickly between decks. These tunnels have been modified to allow passage for larger breeds such as vortixx and axopakar, though these beings often find such tunnels overly confining. There is also a central staircase allowing larger groups to quickly disembark. Lower Deck - Cargo Bay: Large, empty room for storing cargo. Contains facilities for loading and unloading equipment, and a retractable ramp for entering and exiting. - Engine Room: Contains the ship's power plant and electrical facilities. Considered off limits to passengers. - Vahki Barracks - Contains storage and charging facilities for two ten-unit squads of vahki. Currently unoccupied, used by fohrok va maintenance drones. - Electro-Tropedo Bays - Mounted on the prow. Used to store and fire electro-torpedos. Middle Deck - Crew and Passenger Quarters - Contain accommodations for roughly 30 passengers, including crewmembers. - Common Room - The common area of the ship, containing small windows through which passengers can see aft of the ship. - Mess Hall - Includes a kitchen and a small stage. Serves as the central gathering place for passengers and crew. Can be accessed from the commons room. - Infirmary - Contains facilities to treat injured crewmen. - Storage Room and Armory - Located near the stern, normally barred to passengers except in an emergency. Houses several smaller vehicles and personal weapons, including hoverbikes, motosleds, zamor launchers, cordak rifles and ammunition, and kanoka disks.The storage houses several non-lethal tools, including portable radios, lightstones and mechanical equipment. Upper Deck - Bridge - Mounted on the prow, the control center for the entire ship. Contains instruments for a captain and two pilots. - Comm room - Contains communication facilities, including long range radio receivers. - Computer room - Contains the ship's navigational computer and a console for reading data crystals. Most of the ship's logs are stored here. Background: The Ripple was originally built in Metru Nui, one of millions of her class. At some point, she was sold to the Matoran of the Northern Continent, where she served as a cargo freighter. When that continent fell to the Barraki, she was captured and incorporated into Lord Carapar's navy and placed under the command of Captain Tugarak. Throughout the war, she served in many covert missions, most notably in the capture of the Krom Sphere. During the assault on Po-Metru, she helped ferry soldiers into battle. After the fall of the Great Spirit, she survived the battle, but was heavily damaged. Like many of Carapar's forces, she and her crew were transferred under Ehlek's command. She was refitted extensively using Metruan technology. She know serves the Barraki as a long-rang scouting vessel, conducting discrete surveillance and espionage missions under Ehlek's command.

IC: Lueiji - Northern Deserts Lueiji stumbles forward from the slap to his back, rubbing at his head in confusion. "Yes I, I heard what the robot said, but why... us...?" He sighs. There was no changing his brother's mind, as much as he might try - that much he remembers. "A-all right, if you say so... no, no, nothin' like that," he adds in response to their new "ally". "Not that I can remember, at least." @Edelgard @Toru Nui @xccj @ZippyWharrgarbl

IC: NU-8020S (Northern Desert) "Even with your help, we do not have any leads as to his whereabouts. Locating the fugitive could take several days. Do you have any upcoming reservations or appointments?" @Edelgard@Jakura Nuva@ZippyWharrgarbl@xccj IC: Tekmo and Waveahk (Metru-Koro, Outside Sans's Hut) Waveahk eyed the slug intently. "So. A pair of locals with slugs attached to them attack a Toa. This settlement was also recently attacked by the natives. So if our friends down south attach slugs to people, and people with slugs are attacking us..." He then eyed Stannis. "Still want to tell me this doesn't affect us, Stannis? Or am I not 'wielding my knowledge carefully', whatever that's supposed to mean. Would you like to debate this with the Turaga? I'm sure he'll be more willing to listen to your incoherent ramblings than I am-" "What is happening?! Have you all gone mad!? You're drunk-" Skyra, "-she's unconscious-" Keitara, "-you're not helping-" Stannis, "-and you are just unpleasant." Waveahk. "You-" Irna, "-are fine though, you've been very patient and I'm sorry for what's happening. Now, how about we all go and speak with the Turaga, so that we're all on the same page, and we can actually agree on a course of action? And also, could someone get her a doctor? I'm fairly certain people do not change colour, at least not that quickly." @EmperorWhenua@Keeper of Kraata@Snelly@Conway@TL01 NUVA

IC: Datrox Karvan - Metru-Koro (Navu's Hut) Slave-drivers...? Immediately I felt an anger rise within me. "Those monsters...did you escape when the..." I paused, clearing my throat, "...the head crashed?" @Toru Nui IC: Nale Vella - "Po-Koro" She nodded. "I guess you can come on in." Nale sat down on the bed, still holding her spear. "It was a...well I was shot by a Skakdi. He had some issues but I think we almost worked them out." @Biological Chronicler IC: Triage - Sanso's Saloon A Bo-Toa sitting nearby with a satchel in his lap leaned over, a drink in his hand. "Sorry to uh, intrude, but did you say a crew?" he asked Knichou. @BULiK

IC ???? | Archives From the oppressive darkness a distorted but oddly cheery electronic voice came from the small speaker beside the door Okuo was trying to open. "Hello! You are not Toa Stannis of the Maru! Identify yourself! "

IC Kanohi - Po-Koro ”Oh good, Kanohi, you haven’t left yet,” the Fe-Matoran startled, before relaxing as Vakama ran up, panting as he clutched to a small pouch in his hand. “Um, no Vakama, not yet.” And while Kanohi wasted time, a Vo-Matoran was likely dying of her injuries, in the hostile wilderness. ”Listen, I was hoping to finish this for you, but we don’t have all the parts. It’s a telescopic lens, for your mask.” He thrust the pouch to Kanohi, who flinched ”Oh, um, others could use it more—” ”It’s not finished yet, the parts are in Metru-Koro, I hope. Since you are going down there, you can pick the parts up and assemble them. You need it, if you have them along with your mask’s hud, you could grapple around with ease. You could move quicker, spot Matoran in danger quicker, and find the safest place to grapple too.” ”…I have taken so much from the Matoran already.” Kanohi could not match Vakama’s eager gaze, the shame, the guilt. Was … was this how it was for a Toa to see Kanohi’s admiration? Was this why Toa Nale was so uncomfortable? ”You saved so many of us. And I know, even in a world where Nata-Nui is dead, you will use any tool you get to help the Matoran. And-and if you decide you don’t need it you can just give it to someone else.” Kanohi winced at Vakama’s wide eyes, before shakily taking the pouch. “I … I will try to be worthy of your faith, Vakama,” he squeaked, his face redder than the staff his hands now clutched tight. OOC: new quest, get parts for and make a telescopic lens for a mask

IC: Changua - Outside Metru Koro Deactivating the power of her levitation disk, Changua lowered herself down into the soft, reddish sand, bag full of scavenged parts over her back. She could already see the outskirts of the makeshift matoran village from here. It would would be a short trip, short enough to travel on foot. The sun had begun to sink in the horizon, and there had been a noticeable chill in the air. All the better, night was the best time of day to travel, anyway. OOC: Changua moving towards Metru Koro. Will enter the village if not interrupted beforehand. IC: Karai -Metru Koro - @BULiK By the time Karai finished today's supply of orders of kanohi, he was exhausted. He had received orders for several high-quality makes, and it had taken time to gather the appropriate quality of protodermis. He carefully extinguished his fires, plunging his hut into darkness except for the meager light stone hanging from the side of the hut. He stepped outside, surveying the landscape around him. It was a dark, gloomy night. Most of the village's matoran had already retreated inside, either into their private homes or to the larger builders in the entertainment district. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, waves of weariness washing over him. He could use something to drink himself, he supposed. Besides, travelers from other villages sometimes care here. He might be able to make a few kanoka sales, or find some work abroad. Locking his door behind him, he set off in the direction of Sanso's Saloon. OOC: Karai is walking into Sanso's Saloon. Open for interaction IC: Tugarak - Barraki Fortress Tugarak sat at the foot of his bed, legs crossed in a meditative pose. He could feel the presence of the Great Spirit before him. It was not the dead giant fallen in the desert, that had been worshiped once by ignorant matoran, but a truly divine being. It was what he learned from the shaman Garpaxi, and what he had fought for at Metru Nui besides his former lord, Carapar, now laid to rest for all eternity. It had not been the Spirit's will that they emerged victorious that day. Instead, they had been given a greater gift. They had finally escaped the physical prison of the Matoran Universe, and granted access to a new world in which to expand their domain. Whatever duty Ehlek, his new lord demanded of him, he would fulfill it. Soon, Spirit-willing, he would bring the downfall of the Matoran heretics who so cruelly slain Lord Carapar.

IC: Okuo - Archives Depths At first ascending, Okuo quickly realised his error as he noticed the red mist trailing from the upper levels. Not only that, but whatever was emitting it seemed to be heading downwards. Okuo didn’t like the look of that gas, not one bit, and as he equipped his rebreather he began his descent down further into the depths of the once orderly Archives… well, more orderly than they were now. As he headed down again, he caught a glimpse of another being coming out of the tunnel he’d come from earlier. Praying that his invisibility was enough, Okuo continued his descent, eventually coming upon the bottom of the large open shaft he’d been traversing. It wasn’t the bottom of the archives, but either the architects of the place had decided to put an arbitrary stop to how far down this shaft reached, or the Cataclysm had redecorated. Either way, Okuo was forced to go down one of the tunnels leading from the bottom of the shaft, headed deeper into the Archives’ earthly depths. Carefully he continued his way down the dark and decrepit corridors, carefully looking around for either a way further down or something he could salvage. His heart had another start as his eyes, aided by the Mask of Adaptation to see in the dark, saw the shape of a nasty rahi, with Okuo’s whole body shifting into a combat stance before he realised it was just an empty husk. He sighed, lowering his rebreather off his mask and looking over his shoulder to make sure nothing was following him… To then realise something was following him. Something small scuttled along through the corridor, approaching Okuo’s general location. Then something else followed along into the tunnel, and then yet another. Listening closely and looking over to where the noises were coming from, Okuo realised there was a cluster of small creatures approaching him. He sighed, and quickly pushed himself up against the wall opposite to the rahi husk, still invisible and hoping that would actually be worth something this time. The creatures drew closer and closer until finally Okuo could see that they were… Ussal crabs. The small creatures gathered around the rahi husk, nibbling at the carcass for nutrients. The Toa sighed with relief, slowly moved away from the wall, and carried on down the tunnel. The twisting corridors of the Archives, which Okuo hoped weren’t an intended design feature, lead Okuo ever deeper into the maw of the now deserted earthen region, the undercity providing plenty of avenues to get lost. Noticing an intact vault door up ahead, Okuo cautiously approached it. Though there were some cracks in the walls around it, the door itself seemed to have been sturdy enough to withstand the Cataclysm’s effects. The Archives systems were down, which meant that the lock on the door was no longer connected to any security system. It would be lucky to even have power, but as Okuo discovered upon touching the door’s panel, there was still enough juice in it to show him a red glowing “locked” message. The Toa smirked. This was right up his alley. Okuo quickly unslung his deck from his shoulder and began dragging out its retractable plugs, slotting them into the panel’s interface ports. A holographic keyboard quickly appeared on his mask’s HUD, and he began to input various prompts, attempting to isolate the correct passcode to unlock the door. This was going to take some time, and Okuo hoped dearly that nothing would come at him through the dark corridors of the Archives while he was working, though he knew well how unlikely that would be. Parallel to working on the lock, Okuo kept his ears perked and shot the occasional glance either way down the corridor.

IC: Mazor-Wilderness @Toru Nui @Unreliable Narrator Looking up, Mazor saw what had made the strange trail, a large floating sphere. Mazor drew his Kanoka launcher and pointed it at the sphere, looking through his sniper scope, hoping to get a better look at the strange flying object. OOC: FYI, I probably won't be able to post again until monday

That's a good point. We eerie as all this stuff is, compared to the real world, LEGO did a pretty good job at making BIONICLE escapist action/adventure fluff to retreat to. After the Rahi battle, when no one will talk too much to Takua, sort of recreates what it's like to have anxiety for me. It briefly reminds me that Takua, for all his heroics, is still an outcast to everyone else. Just the way that everyone isn't explicitly mean or rude to him, just short in their responses, really feels to me like they're brushing him off. Like, he's served his purpose, now we can go back to ignoring him. Maybe I'm reading too much into this. For what it's worth, I always felt like Takua himself would take this in stride.

Name: Whisper Species: Aspect of Makuta Faction: Aspects of Makuta Brief Description: One of the first things Whisper witnessed at the beginning of her existence was two Lohrak fighting in the Fau Swamps, and this conflict inspired her chosen form. Her armour is akin to several serpents twined together, metallic tendrils writhing and wrestling for dominance, their frilled heads fused into a horrific multi-jawed monstrosity. Three twisted, mismatched wings sprout forth from the mangled mass, the only appendages visible on the entity’s oil-hued form. Following contact with energised protodermis, her tendrils have permanently turned pink. Background/Occupation: Whisper was always more fascinated by animals than sapient beings. To her, the lives of animals appear primal and purposeful, whereas sapient beings have so many complicated wants and needs and desires, all conflicted and contradictory. Her favourite hobby is toying with so-called civilised beings, breaking them down to their basest desperations to earn her favour. She has carried out her fair share of desecrations in her time, often sending her victims on dangerous scavenger hunts to retrieve trophies from the nests or lairs of dangerous rahi. Flaws: Like all aspects, Whisper is inherently manipulative and prideful. She also struggles to grasp concepts of morality and kindness, a trait which makes it difficult to anticipate or understand the actions of others. Her physical form is lithe and spindly, making it more vulnerable to damage. She also, obviously, lacks any opposable digits, making it difficult for her to grasp or manipulate objects with any measure of dexterity. Powers: Like all Aspects, Whisper wields the power of Shadow. Her inherent kraata power is Insect Control, now operating at level three. Like all Aspects, she can carry out the Rite of Desecration, and possess an empty vessel or willing host. As a level three Aspect, she has the ability to carry out telepathic audio communication with an individual desecrated follower currently on the same plane of existence, and remotely possess her desecrated through shadow puppetry. She has also learned the Taboo of Infection Kraata, which allows her to create kraata by breathing her gaseous essence over a heartlight and immersing it in energised protodermis. Equipment: None. Her only ‘weapons’ are small, blade-like protrusions at the ends of her tangled tails, and the hooked fangs packed into her mouth. Grand Wish Tired of the talk of patterns, and inspired by the simple, finite lives of the rahi that inhabit Zakaz, Whisper’s ultimate wish is to break the cycle, to change what it means to be an Aspect. She wishes to live, and eventually die, free from the curse of rebirth and repetition. Specifically, she wants to be freed from the fear of being absorbed back into the antidermis pool, free from the threat of losing all that she is – and for the rest of her kin to be able to enjoy that same freedom. Desecrate a being with their own heartlight. Acquire forbidden knowledge from a temple on the mainland. Spend a day sharing the body of another being, to learn what life is truly like. Learn the true nature and origins of Aspects. Return to the Kumu Islets and uncover proof of her past incarnations. Desecrate another Aspect, and be desecrated in turn. Sever herself and all currently living Aspects from the antidermis pool. Kraata Maker: Whisper Kraata Type: Ice Resistance Kraata Stage: Stage 1 Kraata Maker: Whisper Kraata Type: Stasis Field Kraata Stage: Stage 1 Kraata Maker: Whisper Kraata Type: Sleep Kraata Stage: Stage 1 Kraata Maker: Whisper Kraata Type: Laser Vision Kraata Stage: Stage 1

Well, all Makuta can possess robotic bodies, right? So this is what happens (footnotes included for any problems): Palpatine is from a very rich family on Naboo, not to mention the system's Senator for the Galactic Republic. He's got lots of money to begin with, any resources available to the Sith, plus he's an influential politician. He probably has a bunch of staff working for him, which would include droids and computers. This is where Teridax comes in. As for having no knowledge of the Star Wars universe at first, Teridax is pretty resourceful and can probably deduce things about both the universe and Palpatine fairly quickly.* Teridax possesses one of Palpatine's droid workers (or computers, if he can do that; there weren't really any traditional "computers" in BIONICLE), and commissions a Human Replica Droid that looks like Palpatine.** The android would ostensibly be meant for security purposes, as a decoy to protect the Senator from violent protesters, angry political opponents and would-be assassins. Provided Palpatine simply disappears as soon as Teridax appears, this could all be done immediately, but if not, Teridax would have to "dispose" of the real Palpatine. An epic battle would have to ensue. Can lightsabers cut through protosteel? If so, would the blade cause the antidermis to ignite? And since Makuta don't natively exist in the Star Wars universe, would Teridax be connected to the Force or be affected by Force-based attacks once he got there? He can't be choked, obviously, because he doesn't have lungs anymore, but what about lightning? Anyway, let's assume Terry kills Palps, destroys the body without a trace, hides his armor and begins controlling the HRD. He has another problem on his hands now: Darth Plagueis, master of Darth Sidious, a.k.a. Senator Palpatine. Surely Plagueis would sense his apprentice's death, and possibly even his absence if he simply disappeared. And once they met, he would surely be able to sense that Teridax was not the real Palpatine. This would also apply to Darth Maul, and possibly to any Jedi that has met or spent any significant amount of time with Palpatine. That also brings us back to the Force: if Teridax lacks Force connection, then any trained Force user would be able to detect (or, rather, not detect) it.*** As far as actually using the Force to reassure Plagueis and Maul, it should be obvious that Teridax can't do so. He does, however, have tons of Kraata powers, so maybe he can fake them somehow, though that wouldn't be much use in training Maul. Anyway, let's assume**** the rest of The Phantom Menace and its concurrent events go as they would. Teridax, like Palpatine, ousts Valorum, is elected Supreme Chancellor, and kills Plagueis that night. Darth Maul dies (well, as far as anyone knows...) and Naboo gives the Trade Federation the boot. The Jedi learn that the Sith still exist (though technically, in the context of this story, they actually don't because Teridax isn't one of them), and are on the lookout for Sidious. Around this time, Master Dooku leaves the Jedi Order and accepts his birthright as Count of Serenno. This is where things start to fall apart for the rest of the prequel era: Teridax doesn't care about the Force, so why would he accept Dooku as his Sith apprentice?***** Let's just say he does to keep up the "Darth Sidious" part of the facade (after all, the Trade Federation took orders from Sidious, so they'd expect to hear back from him). The Confederacy of Independent Systems forms as expected, and the Clone Wars start. Maybe this is right up Teridax's alley: Palpatine was essentially in control of both warring factions, so whether the Republic or Separatists won, so did Palpatine. Teridax loves trickery, deceit and manipulation. But then there's the whole "secret Sith Lord" subplot. Like I said, Teridax doesn't care about the Force, so why would he try to seduce Anakin into replacing Dooku as his Sith apprentice? Well, continuing Sith tradition isn't the only benefit to this: Anakin also effectively wiped out the mainstream Jedi Order. The Jedi would be a threat to Teridax, and once it was clear the Republic was winning the war and "Palpatine" (rather than "Sidious") would be the victorious leader, he'd want them out of the picture. Besides, Teridax liked using pawns. Vakama, Ahkmou, the Piraka and the Toa Mahri, anyone? But on to our next obstacle: Mace Windu and his Jedi posse. Mace comes to arrest "Palpatine" for being a Sith Lord. Teridax has to keep up the ruse in order to convince Anakin to join the "Sith" so he can wipe out the Jedi for Teridax. This means Teridax must engage four Jedi Masters, led by legendary lightsaber warrior Mace Windu, in lightsaber combat. Now, Teridax is a decent combatant, and he's smart and catches on to things quickly, but at this point he's never used a lightsaber in his life, other than maybe in some non-lethal duels with his sham apprentices. How's he going to defeat four Jedi Masters using this weapon, and without using his true powers? I guess we just have to assume he does defeat the first three, and Mace beats him back until Anakin arrives. Well, the rest goes as expected: Anakin kills Mace and becomes Darth Vader, he kills everyone left in the Jedi Temple, then goes to Mustafar and kills the Separatist leaders. "Palpatine" appears before the Senate, disfigured (the only difference here being the combined heat of Mace Windu's lightsaber and Teridax's chain lightning masquerading as force lightning melted the droid's plastic Palpatine face) and kills democracy to thunderous applause by converting the Republic into the Empire. Obi-Wan follows Anakin to Mustafar and they have their duel over the lava. Obi-Wan has the high ground and Anakin tries it. Anakin loses his limbs and falls in the lava, which terribly disfigures him and Obi-Wan leaves him for dead. And this is where everything changes. Teridax does not come to Mustafar and Anakin dies. The Brotherhood comes to the galaxy and the Imperial government is quickly dismantled. The Senate is dissolved immediately, rather than 19 years later, and replaced with the Brotherhood members. In order to keep the loyalty of the public and, more importantly, the military, Teridax still gives control of the systems to the Grand Moffs, but the real Grand Moffs have been quietly disposed of and replaced with, you guessed it, more Human Replica Droids designed to look like them, which are then possessed by the other Makuta. Eventually, the Clone Troopers grow too old and are retired. But instead of recruiting Imperial citizens as Stormtroopers, Rahkshi and Visorak become the military might of the Empire. They couldn't do this while the Grand Army was still in commission, because these creatures were clearly alien to the universe. The Clone Troopers would know something was out of place and could have posed a threat. Basically, at this point, it's the Empire in name only, and the Brotherhood of Makuta is running the show. But the original Empire had some good ideas, thinks Teridax, and he wants to be rid of those pesky other Makuta at some point so he doesn't have to share. I haven't read it, but there was a story in the original EU where IG-88 transfers his mind into the second Death Star's computer system. He essentially becomes the Death Star, a giant, mobile space vessel capable of devastating destruction. He had total control over the entire station, and only complied with the Imperials' commands because he didn't want them to know it yet. This should sound familiar, because that's pretty much what Teridax did with the Great Spirit Robot. If Teridax can possess a Death Star, he's basically on top of the world and doesn't need the other Makuta. But during all this, there's still room for the Rebel Alliance to form. And remember what the Rebels did to the Death Star twice? When I read "Teridax in the Star Wars Universe," I almost immediately made a parallel between Teridax/GSR and IG-88/Death Star II, so that's really what I was building up to and so I guess this is the end. Anyway, thanks for reading my long, dumb rambling. Thank you and good night... *Except Teridax speaks Matoran, not Basic, so he couldn't just read up on history or eavesdrop on people's conversations; he would literally have to observe, by watching people, to learn about the universe, and learn Basic the same way (and even if he brought a Rau with him, it wouldn't work on languages not invented by the Great Beings). Hey, Krahka learned Matoran over the course of a few hours, so at least we know certain Matoran Universe beings are capable of learning new languages really, really fast. **According to Wookieepedia, however, Human Replica Droids were not perfected until after the Empire was already established. Let's just say this is a prototype. ***There are beings like this in the original Star Wars Expanded Universe ("Star Wars Legends"). They're called "voids" and are able to prevent Force users from tracking them via the Force, and people who meet them are often unable to recall what they look like after parting with them. (Note that while voids have no apparent connection to the Force, they are, in fact, connected to it, as being a void is an inherent Force ability affiliated with the Dark Side.) So maybe the Jedi can consider Palpatine a void now, though that should make them immediately suspicious anyway. ****It's inappropriate to start two paragraphs exactly the same way, but it's late at night and I don't care right now. *****Of course Palpatine, while caring about the Force, only followed the Rule of Two as tradition. In both Legends and Disney canon, he had absolutely no intention of being replaced by his apprentice or even dying at all. Also, like Maul, training Dooku in the Dark Side of the Force is going to be hard when Teridax has no way of using the Force.

To confirm, yes I wish to play as the spooky haunted van. Let me drive my van into your heart

While it's nice to have merch to collect, I find this to be a rather shallow take on all this. No franchise ought to be defined by material objects over the scope and significance of its narrative; if the toys are more important than the story, then the writers have failed at their craft. And, frankly, our wallets will thank us all if we're buying less bonks.

I feel like Umbra would have been one of those "highlight of the year" sets had the designers put their backs into it. Call me crazy, but on paper, Umbra sounds like one of the coolest sets in the entire theme. He's got an axe with a sword on the hilt (both weapons light up too), a spinner launcher in the handle of said weapon, a rare color scheme, and roller skates. He should have been an awesome set, but he's widely regarded as the worst of the 2006 Titans, if he's remembered at all. I don't have Umbra, but I like him. Like I said, though, the designers could have put their backs into him. I actually like his yellow, green, and silver color scheme, but the mask was a lazy move. It's bad enough that the lovely citizens of Voya Nui reused masks from two years ago, but then Umbra shares a mask with Garan, down to the color and everything. Idris from 2007 gave us a cool recolor of the Kanohi Ruru, so maybe Umbra could have had his in green, yellow, or silver? A whole new mask unique to him would have been swell, but I'm sure the designers would have done that if they could. I don't know the full story behind Umbra's development, but he really fell by the wayside compared to the other Titans.

"Closer To The Truth" by Cryoshell

True. People might jump on the anti-Solek bandwagon too much, but I do think, while all the Av-Matoran are pretty weak sets, the problems compound on Solek the most. This is subjective, but I find his mask design and weapon choices to just not look as thought-out as the other two. Tanma and Photok look pretty great standing next to their respective Toa, like Mini-Mes, but Solek just doesn't. The green eyes look great on Tanma and acceptable on Photok, but green and white is probably one of the least appealing color combinations I've seen in BIONICLE.

Wasn't the mismatched arm thing supposed to represent them being sort of a mix of Rahi and Toa? I thought I read that the longer arm was supposed to represent a Rahi limb, while the other represented a normal Toa arm, hence the differing lengths; it was a way of emphasising the imbalance between their Rahi and Toa sides, I believe? I'm not trying to defend their decision; but I think that was stated a while back as the intention behind it?

I think you might be forgetting that they're not base on Earth animals. They're based on Rahi. And there's a ton of rahi with silver armor and disproportionate limbs, practically a full book's worth.

I actually have been preparing to build a CCBS based G2 style revamp of Solek; just because of how much of a meme that character is for in part due to this opinion. More so with a spoof a TTV's jokes on the subject, but it seems pretty universal Solek is disliked. Personally, I think the mask is kind of neat; but it suffers the same problem all masks post 2004 had, they aren't ABS plastic and feel thinner. I am glad I never got the original Av-Matoran though, I feel like my CCBS rebuilds on them will be better since they won't have such weak joints. I don't have Solek really that far along yet, but I am finished with Gavla and Kirop is almost finished... so its kind of my example of how these characters look in a different style. I guess what my MOC is trying to say, is the Av-Matoran and Shadow Matoran had some neat ideas... but Lego executed them poorly in 2008 with the socket design, limited articulation and low piece count; but their silhouettes offer plenty of potential.

I think that Tanma may be slightly worse, due to his lime socket pieces. We all know what happened to those, don't we?

If 2016 counts, Umarak the hunter. He just wouldn’t stand up right and kept falling over, and his blade thing was too long. I ended up using his blade to hold him upright. The studs fell off the ammo holder, too, since it was loose and kept smacking everything. For 2001 Vakama’s faults, at least he stayed together and didn’t fall on his bum.

I've always disliked the Rahaga and 2006 Matoran for not having any new pieces. It comes across as a pretty cheap way to use up pieces left over from previous years and meet the requirement for the 'small sets' at the same time.

Surprised no one has mentioned the mess that is Toa Mata Nui. Only good thing about that lanky pile of yellow scaffolding is the gold Ignika.

IC: Tekmo (Black Spike Mountains) Tekmo and his two 'volunteers' flew back to the first set of pipes, which Paju and Tarutu were still examining. "We came across some more pipes. Another demolition site, a more recent one, hence the smoke. If we head further in that direction, perhaps we'll find whomever's responsible. I take it you have not discovered anything of value?" He tone of voice makes it clear he was not expecting you to. IC: Waveahk (Aqua Magna Shoreline) Waveahk led Vrokdann down the ramp, as they stepped foot on solid ground for the first time in a while. Beckoning for his 'employee' to keep following him, Waveahk crept across the sand, towards the 'Diving Bell'.