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I'll leave the discussion open and won't rebut anything here, but I do want to offer a perspective to this remark, Nato: Yes, we are admittedly on a time crunch. But in my opinion, that's reason to be creative, not desperate. This game isn't about any one character achieving their bucket list, it's a collaborative effort featuring all our characters across this setting; we cannot prioritize our own PC to the detriment of everyone else's, and especially not to the detriment of good storytelling. Every role-player should be working to collaboratively engage with each other and not push our own agendas just because we see the time tick away. EDIT: Also, that hastiness is a direct pull from the metagame. We should not be using OOC information to direct our IC actions.

I have to air some grievances—sorry not sorry—and call a slight foul about the last Okuo post. I wonder if anyone else shares similar trepidations. @Onaku, is Okuo a Disney princess? I ask because it's wholly implausible for anyone less than Cinderella to charm a wild bird-thing with a few pieces of jerky and claim it as a friendly steed in about as much time to watch the opening theme to LOST. That's just not how that's supposed to work. Even a D&D ranger character at high level would not be able to do such a feat without some practice and really good rolling, and Okuo is definitely not a ranger-type character with animal handling skills—his profile doesn't suggest that at all, anyway. Finding a weird creature wandering alone in the underworld is fine enough, as is traversing across a subterranean border, and even befriending the creature is cool storytelling, but the sheer number of things done in such rapid succession is troubling to me. And I find any of this incredibly unlikely to have been cleared by either of the GMs, either. It seems cheap, doesn't it? A deus ex machina that not only begets a character an ally but also conveniently was used to allow said character traversal across three (at least) whole hexes into a whole other section of the game. All that in the course of a single post. If this were an epic-style story where Okuo (or any other character who does such stunts) was the singular protagonist this would be A-okay, but this isn't just Okuo's story, it's everyone's, and the narratives should be governed by what we write and plan well in advance or worldbuild after getting inspiration and clearance from what we already know about the setting. This chapter of Okuo's story does not appear based at all on what already exists in the setting and if anything stands in stark contrast to the mechanics already set in place for mass-traversal. Once could make a comparison between this bird-thing to an airship, but airships (or mutated wings) are pre-ordained by GMs and have mechanics for how quickly they can carry someone over land. All in all, I just want to point out how this latest stunt purely abuses the freedom of worldbuilding we already possess in this game, and thoroughly appears to be a simple asspull of a random perk that doesn't add anything interesting to the character and instead invalidates the careful, measured storytelling of arcs done for characters like Korruhn, Stannis, and Knichou (to give but a few examples). If we all could just make stuff up without caring for the plausibility of it and dump our characters willy-nilly about the landscape this game would be a lot less fun—a fun that the post was not. This is a collaborative game where everything takes roleplaying and time to keep things fun and exciting for everyone involved. Leg godt. And yes, I'm directly wondering what other people think about this sort of thing.

Yeah, the entire aspect of nearly-instantly befriending a flying animal that happens to decide to give you a ride feels extremely implausible, and I'm glad EW brought it up. One of Pixar's rules of storytelling is "Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating." This summarily explains why the 'useful' outcome of the rahi providing a way out for Okuo here is unsatisfying to me, even if it may seem on a surface level to be 'balanced' by other unexpected 'bad' things happening to Okuo in the same post (His vehicle breaking down due to battle damage, him getting shot by a rhotuka, and crash landing in a place he didn't want to go). While a push and pull, give and take attitude works well in many situations (Such as PvP, where allowing a hit to do some damage, etc. can provide for a much more realistic and satisfying encounter and encourages both sides to give each other some leeway), doing it with unrealistic results doesn't really work. Overall, to me, the way Okuo gets out of Metru-Nui feels very contrived and overly complex - the same result could be accomplished by Okuo using the hoverboard to get out of Metru-Nui, but getting spotted by the same guards or beset by some other obstacle on the way that causes him to lose control and get lost in the Fau Swamp. That would feel more realistic and more likely an outcome than surprisingly being the Kahu whisperer. Okuo riding the rahi out is an implausible solution to a problem that's created in the very same post, there are plenty of ways to do effectively the same thing while not breaking a reader's suspension of disbelief as hard. Well, kind of? Yes, generally speaking, in many instances throughout the past two games, NPCs have been portrayed to be weaker than some (myself included) would prefer, but also a lot of these situations are involving characters whose skills are combat-related, or is overall done in a way that makes sense within the world given the powersets at play here. As far as meta-gamey decisions for characters to end up in the right place at the right time, that is certainly irritating and shouldn't be normalized. Even if Okuo's unlikely actions in this post don't directly change the outcomes of the larger story or his involvement with other characters (As I said, there are ways to get out of Metru-Nui without breaking your hoverboard, flying on a friendly rahi you just met, then getting shot, then getting saved by the rahi again) the method it's done does feel in stark contrast to a lot of other characterizations of the world and it's rules, as EW stated.

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern edge of the toxic lake with Atamai Axxon's face darkened as he considered Atamai's words. So few spoke plainly and openly about secret knowledge and the lore of the cosmos. Most preferred to hold such nuggets of intellectual power close to their chest, hoarding whatever little abundance of security it provided. It bothered Axxon to be in Atamai's presence, not that he made it known. Instead he spoke once the rolling echo of the great roar became fully replaced by the lakeside tide and the popping and fizzing of the silvery waters; "You believe Forgemaster Dume will make more. That is fair. You do not know what labors were taken in their creation. Many dark bargains were sealed in the blood of our people for the relics in your possession. They are not simple trinkets, forged by simple Smith's: they are our culture's pinnacle. And like all things of such power, are far too dangerous to be made en masse. While you truly believe he will make more, I believe something different. I believe you will give me these great disks back, and they will be returned. Are you willing to fight to see who's belief is stronger? I will warn you, I -" The thrumming of an engine made Axxon pause and survey the view from the half broken hodgepodge once called a fortress. He saw two hovercraft and three toa zipping closer, following the water's edge on some errands. Dust clouds kicked up behind them. Toa always moved in groups, and it made sense Atamai brought him somewhere he would be outnumbered. "Are these your reinforcements? Do your friends arrive in time to even the odds? It makes no matter: give me the disks, Atamai," Axxon said and he rested his large gauntlet threateningly upon Atamai's shoulder, "before it's too late." Ooc: @~Xemnas~, @EmperorWhenua, @Crimson Jester, @The Captain

*Looks at profile* "DAYS WON: 1" Wow, that's new. Didn't think I of all members would "win" a day at BZPower! Even if it is just content likes. Man, now I wish my old forum posts still existed; think of all the upvotes and likes my massive postings on Toa-Bohrok relations, arguments for the Matoran Universe being a big robot, and the glue that unites us all as BIONICLE fans would get nowadays. Alas! I miss the old days. There, I admit it!

Oh, absolutely Mata Nui. I'd make my home in Ga- or Onu-Koro, for sure - they both feel like really soothing environments to me - but I can't pick a favourite location; I love the sense of atmosphere and depth to the whole island world, from the jungles of Le-Wahi to the volcano with Ta-Koro at its heart to the central Kini-Nui temple. It was just such an amazing - and, as Bionicle Guru says, exotic - place that you feel like you could spend weeks, months, even years exploring it and still not have seen everything. It's just such a fascinating world. Also? That concept art of Ga-Koro looks amazing

IC: Mazor-Metru-Koro At Nale's offer Mazor sighed in relief. "Thank you so much, what would you like us to do?"

IC: Sidra - Le-Metru Nuva "Alright, hold on," she activated her mask, and the two of them descended through shadow. The universe bled away into a void of bitter cold and blanketing blackness, only the dim light of Sidra's iStone screen, depicting the patch of jungle they would soon emerging from, providing any illumination. Shapes and sound swam and slithered at the very edges of their awareness, withdrawing from view if glanced at or stepped towards. After only a few seconds, the blackness began to filter away again, and the pair rose back into the patterned shadows and tropical warmth of the swampy forest floor. With the journey now complete, Sidra released Viltia's hand, looking around for any sign of danger, or her nektann. The mangled machine was lying across a tangle of roots a few bio away, still in the process of reattaching its limbs that had broken off in the fall. "Are you alright?" She asked Viltia, once she was sure they were the only ones nearby, "I know that can be a little... discomforting." @Kal the Guardian

BZPower article 20 years from now: "Turkish BZPower member discovers LEGO released Mutated Brutaka in 2011!"

IC: Zaliyah - Metru-Koro She'd been fully expecting Ostrox to rant and rage, to accuse her of compromising her allegiances and sympathising with the enemy. There was probably some validity to that argument; Zaliyah had never shared Pridak's desire to see the Matoran species snuffed from existence, she just wanted them to accept that they weren't the supreme species, that they were just one race among many. Still, she was glad Ostrox understood the logic of her decision. She offered him a grateful nod, before turning to Iradra, "We'd best be setting off. It'll take a while to reach Metru Nui on foot, unless your village has some means of transport left to it." @Toru Nui @Onaku IC: Whisper - The Desert "That's fine," she replied, "Not every problem needs to be solved with violence. I'm sure we can contrive a way to avoid or distract them, once we get there." @Eyru IC: Sidra - Le-Metru Nuva "Well, I was supposed to be going scouting anyway," she finished off her pancake and turned to Viltia, "Tracking isn't at the top of my skill list, but I know how we can get us a bird's-eye view that should be able to narrow down the search for us." @Kal the Guardian

I point to two big issues in worldbuilding in G2 and that is one of them. I think the Skull Villains once built in hand, are actually really great sets; they are all unique and certainly are fun to build and play with. But... compared to the Bohrok they lack the same story punch. The Skull Villains as depicted in most media really had about the excitement of punching any skeleton warrior in any generic RPG game. The Bohrok felt alien, they were remorseless and ruthless. Their lair was insectoid, they were a swarm and something about them made the audience feel uneasy as they read the comics and watched the animations, the Bohrok were truly other. As the years went on and the mythology of G1 was slowly peeled back we got to see the Bohrok in a new light, eventually realizing that they had noble goals and were as critical as the Toa in the journey to re-awaken the Great Spirit. It was certainly a cool bit of story, and kudos to Lego for nailing the use of the Bohrok in 2002 in particular. The second issue I take up with G2 is the lack of life in the villages. MNOG was a story set from the villager's point of view, and it humanized the Matoran life style and highlighted why they needed to be saved from Makuta. The Toa were greater heroes once we knew what they were defending. It was a mistake to release the Protector's without proper names, as "Protector of Fire" and "Protector of Ice" dehumanized the supporting cast. I think a lot of credit has to be given to Ryder Windham and his novels for G2, I think he tried to fix the issues. The Skull Warriors in his book became an ancient un-dead Pirate gang lead by Kulta the Skull Grinder. The six Protectors were given real names, and in a subversion of the tropes of G1 we found out that in G2 the Protector of Earth was a woman named Korgot. There were archaeologists such as Harvali, and stories of ancestors and families. It seems Ryder understood G2 was lacking in world building, and he was trying to flesh out the universe Okoto sat in and make it come alive more like G1's had. I think though that unfortunately Ryder's work was to little to late. Since so few people read the novels compared to the primary media (online animations and the Netflix show) it meant that the world building work Ryder had done had little impact on the rest of G2's story and couldn't help make the line more appealing in time to save it from cancellation.

IC: Ostrox (Metru-Koro, The Razorfish, Exterior) Various scenarios began to formulate in Ostrox’s mind. They couldn’t actually make peace with the Toa, they may as well try to squeeze water out of a stone. They had made it clear long ago that they wouldn’t accept any arrangement that didn’t involve total supremacy, no matter what lies Skorm peddled. Not to mention the more power they held and the longer they were allowed to exist increased the likelihood of the 'Great Spirit' returning. But they couldn’t refuse - after all, they had just tried to wipe them out and failed. If Pridak had waited the three days Zaliyah had so generously assigned, they might have had time to build up a sizable force. Then again, three days might have been too late. He didn’t know how much time they had left. Mata Nui could re-emerge in a thousand years, he could re-emerge right this second. Mazor, the only person in all of creation who might possess even a slightest inkling as to the actual time-frame was being shielded by the Toa, who were clearly buying his act. Not that they’d ever listen to the truth, the idea that they could ever be wrong was anathema to their 'superior intellects'. The shiny narcoleptic’s first reaction to inadvertently damaging the Tranquility's controls was to blame him, for crying out loud. Irna knew the truth, but she seemed perfectly happy to let her newfound comrades march to their doom, and the entire universe with them. Granted, he didn’t tell anyone else either, but that was because it was classified information, and the only person he would ever tell about it was dead. Besides, he had a suspicion that Pridak already knew. He was the one who told Mazor to deliver the Krom Sphere to the flesh labyrinth, after all. Speaking of whom: Pridak. He was without question a great man, he had earned his place in the executive suite, unlike certain 'wise elders' he could mention. But he wasn’t his king, and it seemed as if recent events had taken a toll on his sanity. Not that such a response was unwarranted, but explicable or not, it had clearly taken some of his greatness from him. He would be rather unhappy to learn that not only did the attack fail, but that parley was left as the attacking force’s only option. Pridak wouldn’t agree to a ceasefire, and the Toa wouldn’t either. This course of action was doomed to a violent and nasty resolution, with or without 'divine' intervention. Yet, what other options were there? Refuse to cooperate, and be imprisoned, or worse? Desertion? Oh, Skorm would love that, wouldn’t he? It seemed the only course of action was to follow Zaliyah’s lead… for now. He’d think of something. He always did. For the next few moments, as he mulled this over in his head, Ostrox's face and body language betrayed - perhaps intentionally, with some exaggeration - hesitation and reluctance, shifting into resignation and acceptance. "Very well. We're in no position to refuse." One way or another, this would the end of Matorankind. Small victories. @Nato the Traveler@Onaku@Smudge8 IC: Tekmo (The Moat Airspace, The Wombat) "Of course, captain. For now, however, do not let go." Tekmo took the plunge out of one of the various holes in the Wombat’s hull, both Vulimai and the makeshift parachute firmly ahold. "Pleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework-" He had lied to her. This had never worked. This time, it did. Because someone other than himself was in danger. With a tug, the floral facsimile sprung into action, the leaf being suspended in the air by wind currents, the vines successfully suspending Tekmo - and by extension, Vulimai - under it, against the will of gravity. "YES! YEEEEES! IT WORKED! IT ACTUALLY - erm, well, of course it worked. Why wouldn't it?" Tekmo used his powers to herd the leaf and thus themselves towards an unusual landmass nearby. One that Tekmo could have sworn uncannily resembled Keitara. @Sparticus147@BULiK@Onaku

Well, obviously, the island of Mata Nui is a huge favorite. I liked the beaches in particular. I grew up not seeing the ocean until the Christmas before BIONICLE was released, so being introduced a landscape surrounded by ocean gave me good feelings, a sense of the exotic that in my mundane world, had gotten to experience (albeit briefly). Bara Magna, however, probably was my favorite setting. Long before the LEGO Movie 2 introduced us to Apocalypseburg, Bara Magna was the original post-apocalyptic LEGO wasteland populated by fierce warriors, feral survivors, and cobbled-together technology. Plus, there were all those mysterious colossal robot parts sticking out the sands! Almost as much an air of mystery as the original setting on Mata Nui.

I think what you said right there is the closest you'll get to an answer. Iruini had some fight with the rest of the team about what they were doing, something so serious that he abandoned (or at least planned to abandon) his Hagah teammates (though Comic 25 makes it seem like he never actually left, implying that the Hagah were captured during the raid instead of after). Iruini was on another Toa team before being reassigned to the Toa Hagah by the Brotherhood, the same organization that he was now fighting against; it's possible that he missed his old Toa team and manifested that in a resentment for his new teammates, teammates who he only fought alongside because the once-good Makuta had ordered him to. BS01 says he thought the Hagah were chasing after "large threats" and ignoring "ever-present dangers." This is extremely vague wording (and is seemingly contradicted on BS01's "Raid on Destral Fortress" page). I interpret this as the Hagah, dizzy with success having just raided Destral Fortress - the Makuta HQ, protected by the Dark Hunters, seemingly impregnable, yet defeated by the Hagah - deciding to immediately begin chasing other major Makuta/DH targets, convinced that they were nigh untouchable. Iruini alone believed that the six Toa were still vulnerable, and perhaps wanted to recruit other Toa to their cause before launching another attack (perhaps he wanted his old Toa team to fight alongside them or at least wanted to ensure they were protected against possible Makuta retaliations against Toa teams). I think this theory makes the most sense, given what we know - even after having captured the Mask of Light, the key to defeating the Makuta, Iruini still asks in Comic 25: "Is this thing really worth all this?" It seems like Iruini would have preferred a more cautious approach, letting the Makuta keep the Mask of Light indefinitely while the Toa assembled a stronger, more effective fighting force to oppose them. Whatever the reason, it seems that Iruini was at least partially right - the "overconfident" Toa Hagah had ignored "ever-present dangers" - they were ambushed, captured, and mutated, imprisoned by those they had just successfully raided. Norik is also partially right in saying that the Mask of Light was worth the risk, although perhaps the assault would have gone much smoother if they had spent a few days or weeks recruiting others to their cause. We don't get to see Iruini's initial disagreement with the team, but we do know that he had a strong enough sense of duty to the Hagah that Norik was able to persuade him to help free the now-mutated Toa Hagah, a mission that succeeded at the cost of mutating both Iruini and Norik. The now-mutated Rahaga Iruini then had a second serious disagreement with his teammates - he was the only Rahaga who didn't believe in the existence of Keetongu, and was therefore convinced that the Rahaga's search for him would be pointless and vain. He probably once again thought that the Rahaga were wasting their time chasing a major but unachievable goal (finding a non-existent magic Rahi) when they could work much better by focusing all their efforts on the immediate threats - namely, beating the Visorak horde. Crucially, though, Iruini this time never told his teammates that he thought they were wrong, and he never left them even though his new mission seemed impossible. And I think that the reason he stayed is because he felt strong remorse and guilt over having left the Toa Hagah all those years ago, and probably blamed himself for their capture and transformation into the Rahaga. Any resentment he might have had for his teammates probably disappeared when they were captured, and he became closer than ever to them when the Hagah were all stuck as transformed Rahaga, no longer Toa but not yet Rahi, unable or unwilling to converse with anyone sentient until the Toa Hordika were mutated.

I've never seen that concept art before, that's really cool. (though I'd imagine it'd be pretty loud with all those waterfalls rushing over your house ) I'd have to say my favorite place would be Mata Nui. I'm sure nostalgia has a lot to do with it, but also the rich variety of biomes to explore, from the extreme cold to the extreme heat and everywhere in between. I suppose if I had to choose a Koro I would choose Ga-Koro, it's got the most unique architecture and the best climate IMO, and I've got the most nostalgia for it since it was the starting point of MNOG2, which was my first exposure to Bionicle.

@Unreliable Narrator @Vezok's Friend Has it been stated what hex the Grand Temple is located in? I'm trying to work out if Taja and Whisper's trip from Metru-Koro to the temple will take them through the irradiated hex. If it will, a couple of follow-up questions. Being shadow elementals, would Taja and Whisper be able to sense that there's residual light energy in that area, and know to avoid it? If not, will they be more adversely effected by the radiation, due to shadow canonically being weak to light?

Over the years, Bionicle became an increasingly more and more complex story: 2004 brought us to a massive city (officially housing unknown "thousands" of Matoran, but with an urban sprawl and build-up large enough for many millions), a city where not everyone got along and the lines between good and evil were blurred. The "good" Turaga and his law enforcers turned out to be evil. The hero Toa Lhikan was killed off (or at least, we thought he was), just like the rest of his Toa team (except Toa Tuyet, who was yet another "good" character that was turned evil). The Matoran, the obedient adherents to Unity, Duty, Destiny, had fought a very disunited and undutiful civil war for 400 years against one another, and each of the six Matoran character sets for 2004 was a direct rival of one of the Toa Metru and had selfish motivations at best, treasonous motivations at worst. Later years saw the creation of alternate timelines, crazy new elements and abilities, a shift in focus from masks to weaponry and equipment, the Order of Mata Nui was secretly way smarter and more powerful than the Toa teams all put together, the whole universe was a giant robot, there were other planets with different physics and customs. In trying to keep the current story fresh and exciting, LEGO seemed to increasingly try to outdo its old work, often to the detriment of those early stories. Oh, you thought Takanuva was cool? Here's a whole tribe of Light Matoran. And now they're turning into Bohrok! Now Takua/Takanuva is no longer a unique character and the entire story of 2002 and early 2003 is rendered unnecessary. That's just one example. Likewise, the increasing number of powers and weapons made the original Toa Mata and Toa Nuva look weak, when they were supposed to be the chosen ones, and the increasing number of characters and factions made the Toa teams collectively an increasingly smaller rudder in directing universe-altering events, except when one was occasionally needed to be sacrificed in order to revive Mata Nui. When Vakama told the Toa Nuva in 2003: "You are not the first Toa!" - that was huge! There were six other Toa at one point? As the story went on, it turned out that there were literally hundreds of Toa running around at various points in time - that makes the six Toa Nuva way less special and cool. This is not at all meant to be a complaint about the later story - I discovered Bionicle long after 2001, and the more complex story is both rich and fascinating. But one of the big reasons that I believe 2001 always had and always will have a special charm is because of its simplicity. After years of investment, I still don't understand all the Dark Hunters/OoMN lore, but I do love and understand the 2001-2003 Mata Nui Saga. Where are we? An island, in the middle of an endless ocean, with six biomes each exemplifying a different element. What's going on? There's these villagers who are good guys, but right now the animals are fighting them. The animals aren't evil, but they're being controlled by an evil bad guy, since the evil bad guy put the good guy king to sleep. What are we gonna do about it? The six heroes have to show up and work together with the good guys to stop the bad guy and the animals and wake up the good guy king. The villagers can't do much on their own, but the six heroes can each control an element, and they can combine their strengths - sometimes literally combining - to beat the bad guy. The Turaga need the villagers to protect them. The villagers need the Toa to protect them. The Toa and Tohunga villagers both need the Turaga to lead and guide them. No one person or group is self-sufficient - that's why they need to have unity. Everything is at stake - no one can afford to forget his or her duty. The war has gone on for eons, but the prophecy of the Toa is finally being fulfilled - there is hope that now, the island's destiny can be secured from the clutches of the evil Makuta, and Mata Nui can awaken. The setting for 2001 isn't crazy complex - it doesn't need to be. The six Wahi are interesting enough, and are full of unique and memorable locations, locations that would be altered and expanded by the events of 2002 and 2003. The conflict isn't some eight-sided war with plot-twisting betrayals - it's good versus evil, and the only traitor is Ahkmou (curse him!). The heroes don't need jetpacks or miniguns or submarines or fighter jets or interdimensional portals or roller skates (lookin' at you, Umbra...), just being able to control the elements is already cool. If you wanted a more complicated story, you had all the Kanohi powers and the Kaita, but if you didn't want to dive into all of that you could keep it simple with elemental abilities. Some of the heroes were super-powerful beings with unnatural abilities. Some of the heroes were seemingly average Tohunga/Matoran who went on to accomplish above-average heroics (I really liked that the Chronicler's Company were later made outright Toa in the 2006-2007 story, with the exception of Macku). Some of the heroes were elderly non-combatants, who though unable to fight on the battlefield, continued winning the war through their vast knowledge, effortless virtue, and preservation of the old traditions and stories. There weren't a ton of characters in 2001. Nor were there a ton of locations. Nor were there a ton of abilities. But everything that was there, was important. It all mattered. And that's what made it so special.

It seems that outside the BIONICLE story, the symbols were cool marketing graphics to lend some "fresh" identity to these new Toa sets that need to stand out from the ones sold the year before. However, considering the role of the Nuva cube and symbols in the 2003 storyline, it is also entirely possible that the BIONICLE team planned ahead for this and created the concept of the Nuva cube and symbols explicitly to set up the Bohrok Kal story that would tide us over until things could begin for the Mask of Light storyline. BUT, on further reflection, recall other contemporary story imagery from the summer of 2002! Alongside pictures of the Nuva cube and symbols, other images of the Toa Nuva were released, including the infamous one of Tahu Nuva rising from the energized protodermis, only the top half of his Hau Nuva Kanohi visible. It is an iconic image, but it was often cropped. The full image showed two other menacing "bumps" in the protodermis on either side of Tahu, but further behind him. Early theories in mid-2002 suggested these were the other Toa Nuva rising from the liquid, but the sinister, un-Toa-like appearance suggested otherwise. Eventually, Greg Farshtey came out and said the "bumps" were prototypes of the Rahkshi, and most accepted that, as Rahkshi are formed when Kraata are dipped in energized protodermis, just like the Toa were. This never sat well with me because the Mask of Light movie made it clear the Rahkshi were formed around the time of the Mask of Light's discovery, not when the Toa Nuva were created. Furthermore, although we have yet to see these "early prototypes" of the Rahkshi sets, those bumps don't look a lot like Rahkshi at all...they look more like the heads and raised handshields of silver Bohrok! Here's my point: if the Nuva cube and symbols were only introduced to kick-off the Kal storyline, then that means the story team had already planned out the first half of 2003 by mid-2002. Makes sense, considering how LEGO develops sets anywhere from a year to 3 years (or more) in advance. Considering that imagery of the Nuva (finalized imagery, not prototypes) was seen in early 2002, the images of the Nuva cube and the bumps in the protodermis are contemporaneous and precede the design process for the Rahkshi. So in conclusion, the "bumps" were actually the Kal, Greg was just misinformed (he didn't work in set design), and the Nuva symbols were all part of the story planned for the first half of 2003. They knew in early 2002 they had to start working on the movie and related sets, so I bet the Nuva cube and Kal were part of that "holdover story" for early 2003. It allowed the designers to quickly produce sets for 2003 and then focus on really innovative new ones for summer 2003 and the story team had a good coda to the whole Bohrok saga. Problem was, any long-term significance to the BIONICLE mythos was sacrificed. In the end, people look back on the Kal and the Nuva symbols as a mere footnote before Mask of Light: The Movie because perhaps that was all it was ever intended to be.

I personally think G2's biggest story problem was its lack of interesting villains. The Skull Spiders were an attempt to re-do the Rahi from 2001 but it didn't work as well because the Rahi were all unique in appearance, personality, and environment - the skull spiders were all small and samey, except for the big skull spider (but there was only one). Then they had a bunch of generic skeletons, and then shadow people. The Bohrok and the Bohrok-Kal might have all been clone sets, but they were all interesting story components which is why people bought the sets. The Bohrok had elemental powers that posed a serious and symmetrical challenge to the Toa, and the Bohrok-Kal were an assymetrical opponent because they had non-elemental powers. While the Skull Army and the Shadow Horde are objectively better sets, their characters aren't as interesting. The Bohrok-Kal had real personality. The original Bohrok did not, but they instead had a mysterious hive mind whose initial motivations were unclear and only revealed later, in the form of another set: the Bahrag Queens, leaders of the Bohrok. The same could be said about the Rahkshi and Makuta (later named "Teridax"). If your heroes don't have a noteworthy challenge to overcome, you haven't written a noteworthy story. Okoto was interesting. The Protectors and Masters were interesting. The bad guys weren't.

I always interpreted the vast amount of pre-existing cave drawings of contemporary events as the Turaga secretly flexing their prophetic wisdom. The Ta-Matoran don't recognize Tahu after his Nuva transformation,, but Turaga Vakama does. The Turaga clearly understand the importance of the Nuva symbols (they build shrines with assigned guards to "protect" them, even though the Rahi are uninfected and the Bohrok are seemingly defeated), while the Toa Nuva themselves don't (at least, Kopaka doesn't - he dismisses his symbol ("It has no power, Matoro.") and leaves the shrine, only to be quickly robbed of both symbol and power simultaneously). In Comic 7, one of the Toa says "Do you ever get the feeling there's a lot more to this island than we know about?" - and of course there is, most notably the Kraata/Rahkshi and the passage from Mata Nui to Metru Nui; the Toa are frequently oblivious to dangers, while the Turaga always wait to reveal their knowledge until a problem starts. In Comic 13, Turaga Whenua leads Onua and Pohatu to a cave drawing of a Kraata, and inside he reveals a secret prison where the Turaga have spent millennia quietly locking up thousands of Kraata slugs - a revelation that angers Pohatu, who didn't know there were thousands of deadly slugs in a cave "in [his] realm" (Po-Wahi). Whenua's reply: "They were no longer a threat. We did not feel you needed to know." Seconds later, a Kraata-powered Rahkshi opens the prison, freeing all the Kraata slugs... so, now, the Kraata are once again a threat, and we now feel that you need to know. Surprise!! Death slugs! Death slugs - everywhere. The combination of mysterious cave drawings and very mysterious Turaga behavior (When did the Turaga have the time to build a secret cave prison, hunt and capture thousands of slugs, all without alerting their villages to the fact that their leaders have all disappeared in the middle of a huge Rahi war when nobody's supposed to leave the village?!? And you're really not gonna tell the Toa about any of it either? Really?) all helped hype-up Vakama's bombshells in the Mask of Light movie - "The City of the Great Spirit, my island, refound." - and in the last comic - "It is time you knew the truth - - you are not the first Toa!"

IC Ysocla - Tactical Panda II: Truly this was some delicious cake. The spongy moist texture of this yellow confection brought a rare sense of enjoyment to the mind of the stone-faced skakdi. Ysocla was amazed that such a creation could actually come from one of her kind, as she would expect them to be too focused on destroying each other to create something so tasty. Perhaps it had been stolen from one of the other races. She’d have to ask Lady Yumiwak the source later. So caught up was she in savoring this treat that she had almost lost track of the conversation. A question from Zataka clarifying if the land was really called Zakaz had her struggling to avoid rolling her eyes while dutifully chewing away at a forkful of her slice. Of course the island’s called Zakaz. It’s not like it’s a secret. Such questions were delayed momentarily by a loud cry that could be clearly heard even at their current cruising altitude. There was no mistaking it, and Lady Yumiwak confirmed a second later what Ysocla already presumed: there was a new tahtorak on the loose. The indigo skakdi took a moment to set her fork down and consider the situation. A new tahtorak could mean many things depending on who was in control of it. While Lady Yumiwak was probably correct in that Zakaz didn’t become its current wasteland state due to rampaging tahtoraks, a misused one was still an incredibly large creature of destruction, with the capacity for some very quick localized terraforming. They could very well come into conflict with it, and in their current state there wasn’t much the Panda could do against such a monstrosity. She glanced around the assembled beings. Zataka was fuming over something she would no doubt refuse to explain, Lady Yumiwak looked as interested as someone who desired her own tahtorak would. Her gaze moved to Korio who appeared to be having a nervous breakdown. Her fellow crewmate was so overcome with fear that he was chewing on his own utensils. Now that she thought of it, Korio had acted nervous around the subject of tahtoraks before, though he had never mentioned the reason. She have to talk to him about it later. As she studied her compatriot he turned his gaze to her. Their eyes stared into each other for a moment before she realized she was staring at him with a much more focused gaze than was polite. She adjusted herself to try to give the most reassuring glance she could. If there was any chance they’d be fighting a tahtorak in the future she’d need to try to help him through it. Before the prolonged eye contact could get even more awkward the moment was interrupted by Zataka launching into an outburst at people who weren’t there. As the titan stood up to mutter grumpily some more Ysocla noticed that the captive had not eaten any of her cake. Such a waste of good food. Ysocla would not forget this heinous act. “So...are we going to pretend we didn’t just hear some mythical beast roar out there?” the captive asked, dodging the need to explain herself. “That depends. Are we going to pretend that we didn’t just hear you ramble about how something needed fixing only after we confirmed to you that this is Zakaz?” the engineer asked, breaking her silence in the conversation. “From my perspective it seems pretty clear that you know things about here despite being a newcomer who’s killed every native you’ve encountered so far. It doesn’t take a mask of telepathy to know that you knowing something is broken in relation to our world is a big deal, possibly bigger than a new mythical creature roaming around. Thing is, we won’t know for sure unless you give us some information about it. Who knows, if it’s important enough we might even try to help you solve your problem.” Not likely, she thought, But it’s worth a shot. OOC: @Tarn@Vezok's Friend@EmperorWhenua

As long as the narrative demands it, methinks. You don’t have to depend on the GMs to role play every environmental obstacle, just play through the Command function, verbally process it IC, and if Rose’s words strike some more primordial thought process or memory in Saybo’s head then use that to overcome the Command function. Just write stuff out and see what sticks.

If that's the case, Saybo is gonna be in a headlock for a while. (Is there a GM ruling on how long the effect should last with Staffs of Command?)

@Illuminatus Does it help if I confirm that BZPower did not pay Greg Farshtey? I think you overestimate the amount of money this site made, even back in our heyday, haha.