Unreliable Narrator

IC: Nuju | Kini-Nui "It's your choice of course," Nuju replied to Skyra's refusal to explore the Far Shore. "Although, I'd hoped you might show a little sense of adventure at the idea. Don't get me wrong: the idea of fixing this portal is quite intriguing. I would be interested to know what you might explore first upon restoring it." Then Sala returned to the Time Between Time. Nuju looked at him as the matoran fell from the portal and landed in a heap at the bottom of the small flight of stairs leading into the swirling light of the Far Shore. "Sorilax?" Nuju repeated. "Now there's a name I've not heard uttered for some time." Mazor stepped out of the portal and stood at the top of the steps. Nuju looked at Sidra NUVA and gave a thin smile. "You were right about one thing: time is different here than in there." OOC: @Snelly, @Gecko Greavesy, @Sparticus147, and @Smudge8

IC: Nuju | Kini-Nui Mazor stepped through the portal to the Far Shore and vanished. Dawn's light began to crawl across the tips of the mountains to the east. “After all this time you still believe what you experienced to be a fantasy? A shame. Just because it is not of our world does not make it any less real, Sidra NUVA.” Nuju shook his head and addressed Skya NUVA; “You wish to fix this machine? Perhaps the right components to fix this machine could be found within the Far Shore itself. Would you care to search?” OOC: @Gecko Greavesy, @Snelly

IC: Reliable Narrator | Ehlek’s Flying Fortress The infiltration team flew through the opening rent by Patiwairutiki’s claymore. Icicles clung to the shredded metal and concrete. They found a space to land: a hallway littered with coiled wires and discarded fire extinguishers. Several vahki lay strewn about the hallway, broken and shredded from the attack. They found one still operating. It dragged itself down the hall away from them with it’s only remaining limb. “Please,” it spat out in vahki-speak. “No harm. No more harm. Please.” Beyond it, Knichou, Vahsni, and Nale saw a sealed blast doorway. It didn’t take an engineer to know the area they were in got sealed off immediately as part of a standard emergency response plan. Before they could make their way to the door though, Patiwairutiki performed a tactical evasion and the three infiltrating toa found themselves in a spinning hallway. Vahki frames and sparking wires flew past them, suddenly becoming a dangerous field of debris between them and the only visible sealed exit. Outside the Flying Fortress, the Inferno continued in its course and opened fire across the distance. A barrage of projectiles flew towards Patiwairutiki. Before it passed the large biomechanical machine that looked similar to Mantax threw themselves from the top and yelled as they fell towards the Fortress itself: "At last! A worthy opponent! I will enjoy honorably defeating you and claiming your skull for my bar ware collection." OOC: @pokemonlover360, @Tarn, @Snelly, @BULiK

(It's been more than 24 hours so I am posting again) @Smudge8, here are the Far Shore Adventure Prompts for Mazor: Timeline: A Element: Fire Conflict: Character vs Supernatural Twist: The Story That Never Was Optional Prompts (may choose up to 3) Accuracy Creation Duty Faith Peace Purity Speed Stamina Strategy Unity @Gecko Greavesy, please see below for the rewards for Xaril: 12, 5, 1, 6, 3, 15 Cordak Blaster Xaril’s main melee weapon is now protosteel Wounds Remain +1 Vuata Maca Crystal +1 Psychological Flaw (player choice) Elemental Cast Iron Skillet This cast iron skillet can be used to channel the elemental powers of iron at the strength of the user, but only when it is in use preparing a meal. @Sparticus147, please see below for the rewards for Sala: 2, 10, 9 Void Sickness +1 Psychological Flaw (player choice) +1 Vial of Hordika Venom (single dosage) EDIT: total side note, but I really enjoyed reading the nightmare paragraphs for your characters entering Irnakk's Tooth, @Toru Nui

IC: Reliable Narrator | Ehlek's Flying Fortress Glass and steel shattered and screamed as Pati's claymore carved through the exterior of the fortress. The Kaita ACR's body smashed into the surface with all the force a reduced-gravity mech could contain after such a throw from the giant toa time duplicates far, far below. As the blade tore into the fortress it began to lilt in the direction of the added weight. Flames sprouted from the opening. Strangely, there were no alarms. So why did Kilo-M9 detect distress signals on the audio frequency channels? A black dot was descending from the sky, difficult to see as it approached in alignment with the rising sun of dawn. It grew steadily larger and with surprise Knichou, Nale, and Vashni realized it was an airship rapidly descending. An airship they knew: they'd fought it during the bombing of Metru-Koro. A towering bipedal machine with arms crossed in a powerful stance stood atop the ghostly airship that fell towards Patiwairukiti at full velocity. It's massive frame -- easily fifty feet -- bore a striking resemblance to Barrakai Mantax from during the war, and glowing runes covered it's armored plating like tattoos. OOC: a new challenger approaches! Profile coming asap. You've ripped open a hole in the fortress that's easily bid enough for a toa to slip through, and there's a falling, heavily damaged airship falling straight at Pati! @pokemonlover360, @Tarn, @BULiK, @Snelly

(Posting again b/c it's been more than 24 hours) @Gecko Greavesy, your character has placed Two Makoki Stones in the Wall of Prophecy at Kini-Nui and returned the game map to the following state: All play may continue using the above map.

IC: Nuju | Kini-Nui "Your fail montage was a real hit among Ko-Matoran," Nuju said offhandedly in response to Skyra's statement of surprise. His eyes were focused on Sidra as she approached the wall and reached out to return the fragments to their rightful resting place. The stones settled into the depression in the wall, and a pulse of glowing energy passed through Sidra and washed across the temple. Dust wafted into the night air, and a soft breeze rushed outwards from the temple grounds to cover he entirety of the valley. Mountains returned to the South, and the ocean vanished as the world began to heal. "Collect the Makoki Stones. Fix this world before all is lost. I've said it more times than I can remember. At long last, we get closer to salvation. Sorilax and Sala placed the first fragment. Two more join it. Perhaps there is hope after all," said Nuju with a sigh of relief. OOC: @Gecko Greavesy, @Snelly congratulations, two makoki stone fragments have been placed.

IC: Nuju | Kini-Nui In the dark of night what stood out most to the ghostly scholar were the golden eyes of the toa and the light from the Makoki Stone Fragments sitting in Sidra's outstretch palms. Of course it would be in the dark that light finally found purchase. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Skyra NUVA. I heard stories of your exploits during the war. Your sister Sidra NUVA here has just returned from a very important mission. Our mutual acquaintance took this artifact and ran away. He showed more selfishness in that moment then you may ever know. Thank you for bringing these back. I would take them, but I can't," said Nuju. He pointed towards the Wall of Prophecy at the far end of the temple where it was enshrined in the jaw cavity of a massive kaita's skull. "We are now two steps closer to a revelation." OOC: @Gecko Greavesy, @Snelly

IC: Reliable Narrator | Mi-Kiri As the chaos within the darkened temple unfolded, Sorilax basked in understanding as the knowledge teased from temple frescoes and learned from kin and allies came together. Perhaps it was the curse, perhaps it was the poem inscribed on the inside of the mask of life itself, or perhaps it was the strange wall from moments before, but the dots of knowledge represented by each taboo’s shape he knew connected into a blossoming pattern that emerged in his consciousness. It was a map of iterative stability. Dreams were a changing constant in a sea of squared values, fluctuating between stable and unstable. Aspects existed because of this fluctuation, they were the opposite of protoderms like the Builders who dreamt them. Aspects were Nothing made manifest into Something. They were Null come to life with a will of their own, driven by the fervor of unconscious belief. As they grew in strength and power, their will changed the world around them and bent reality into a new form. So if that consciousness of nothingness formed through dreams was expressed fully, if that unique distillation of collective subconscious intention manifested time and time again through the cycles of creation and decay and then multiplied its will upon itself, what pattern emerged? What destiny etched itself upon the blank space of time? Sorilax beheld it in a flash of insight. A beautiful shape repeated itself forever the longer he held the image in focus: the impossible machine of creation. A fabric of the universe woven from choices and dreams. The shapes of the taboos were echoes of a grander design, he realized. That grand design was a hidden order made from the chaos of existence. It represented the lives created and lost, the momentary choices and their slightest variations. If he could make the impossible machine, if he could make it a reality then what could hold him back from finally achieving his greatest wishes? His nothingness would mean something at last. In fact, it could mean everything. It all started with the pattern of the machine. Light was something that traveled without form but made its energetic will into something. He’d bent light into physical shapes plenty of times before, and summoned his willpower to maintain those shapes. Was it a matter of willpower then? Was everything just grit and happenstance? What elements were required for the creation of the design? What fundamental forces of reality needed to be summoned to bend all possibilities to his singular intent? The impossible shape of creation existed everywhere, but he could not control it. He accessed it as an individual within the pattern, as a dot on a line. He was living in the pattern of it all along. Now it was a matter of creating a way for himself to harness it. To graph his own course across the planes of all existence. But some places might be easier than others for performing such a feat. This darkened temple to the element of light, for example, already had a way of accessing incredible power, and perhaps could be improved upon to harness other fundamental building blocks of reality. OOC: @Kal the Guardian I believe that's the next milestone for Sorilax given the prerequisites being met. If you are interested in the math behind what I'm describing, I recommend this video on the Mandelbrot Set (Flashing lights, potential seizure warning).

IC: Tuyet | Kini-Nui She grabbed Axxon's wrist tight and winked at Atamai. "See ya around," she said, and then Tuyet and Axxon were gone. She pulled her quarry through a sea of stars and the rippling waves of time. They cut through the curtains of reality and ran the catwalks of the strangeness beyond. She dragged him forward as far as she could go... OOC: Axxon and Tuyet are gone from Kini-Nui. You may all continue as you see fit.

IC: Nuju | Kini-Nui “I’m Nuju, a researcher from Metru-Nui. Who are you?” He had a feeling this encounter was going to be worse than Katrin NUVA Proxima. Come to think of it, this tall being could be useful. Nuju asked; "I'm sorry to bother you having just met, but the capstone of the Suva Kaita was removed and it fell into the lake. Would you be able to fetch it and place it on that open hole over there?" Nuju gestured towards the opening in the center of the floating temple where a maleficent shadow seemed to linger. OOC: @Snelly IC: Reliable Narrator | Mi-Kiri, Elemental Temple of Light As Mi-Kiri fell, Turaga Lhikan was pulled wordlessly backwards from the hallway and out of the core of the floating city by the cables attached to his body. It gave the strange appearance of an old man on a retractable leash, or a fishing lure on a line getting reeled back in. He dangled from the vahki hive fortress on his marionette strings, limp and awaiting control. The drop didn’t bother him: he was already dead. In the darkness of the Elemental Temple of Light, gravity sloshed the waters about like a chaotic, evil dishwasher. Two rahkshi, a matoran, a flummoxed aspect, and several vahki rattled about the room and slid across the walls. One vahki crashed into a crystal pillar, and electrical sparks surged from the impact through the water shocking everyone. “What were you thinking,” shouted Kas as he struggled to keep his head above water. “You just cut the power, my friend. Now we’re all gonna die. There’s nothing keeping us aloft anymore!” OOC: @Kal the Guardian, @Harvali

IC: Spiriah | Kumu Peninsula “Ah, you see now, Parnassus. You see,” said the shadow of Spiriah as the younger aspect attempted to beguile his so-called friend. To Ostrox he said; “where the earth meets the water, and your feet can walk no more to the South is where you shall find Desecration Rock. You literally cannot miss it. You’d have to be blind.” Spiriah laughed at his own joke. “I will see you then. For now, I must descend upon the fortress of a sibling I have for too long allowed to sit idly by. Spiriah vanished. OOC: @EmperorWhenua, @Void Emissary, @Toru Nui, @Keeper of Kraata, @TL01 NUVA

@Snelly, Howai is approved!

Huh. Weird. Looks fine to me. If by Scroll of Preparations you mean the crumpled up piece of paper that Mahrika found, then no that is a unique item found only in one location. If you mean the steps written on it, then yes there are a few ways to uncover those instructions. Hafu Statues are scattered across the island. They provide hex-based effects depending on the kanohi placed on their faces. Finding a Hafu statue is a little quest in and of itself, or it can simply be randomly found when passing through certain hexes or areas of the map. Mata Nui's name is Mata Nui. There are many archipelagos in the Bionicle universe. In SKA, it kinda looks like there's one forming now. In this case, what I will say is that this is a clue regarding something else. The ascended aspects would have the wonderful opportunity to explore the combinations of their grand wishes all coming true. This is a possible ending. I mean, if you consider the implications of Stannis infected the Mask of Creation and therefore all who wore it were destined to work in Stannis' favor then maybe that would give the trilogy a different sort of tone or flavor. If you infect a mono-reality item I may have to do a lot of reading before posting. Try it and find out. EDIT: @BULiK reminded me there are no labels on the map! How dare I! Here's a labeled game map, with the elemental ruins removed b/c current events... and also Fort Nektann removed because Marrow.

IC: Tuyet | Kini-Nui She fell short of reaching Axxon and tumbled into the dust as the titan sidestepped. Her groggy mind didn’t want to get up, but she forced herself to her knees, then to her feet just in time for something to smack the side of her mask. It wasn’t the size of a disk, and her eyes immediately went to the ground where the thing landed. It was a small little pebble. Grey, nothing spectacular. But this wasn’t the first time she’d been thwacked by a rock. In fact, each time a pebble hit her in the past she’d done something: jumped into her past. Eyes wide with the realization she summoned what little energy she maintained and took the plunge. No destination, no consideration. Axxon’s halberd hit dirt. He looked up and Tuyet was frozen mid-air. Zataka walked away in her characteristic manner. Everyone was yelling at everyone else. Back into the past Tuyet fell until her body slammed against something metal with a harsh thud. She groaned, rolled over to one side to get up and was immediately pinned down by a blue toa wearing a familiar looking mask. “What are you doing here? Like, spit it out now. This totally shouldn’t happen, you know that. No wait, do you know that? Which one are you?” “Ow,” Tuyet replied to theTuyet pinning her down. She tapped a hand on the metal floor. It echoed. She was in some sort of ship. Ceiling looked familiar, which was a good sign. “Arm off throat. Please. Now. Her past self relented, but not before pushing a little harder and whispering “I’ll totally clean your exhaust pipe with molten protodermis if you move like a single smidge from where you are, got it?” She nodded, or rather the current Tuyet nodded. This was not what she expected. The room made sense now, she realized: it was the airship Exuse and her just flew to Kini-Nui. “Is he still-” “Exuse? He just left.” “Excuse you,” Tuyet replied. This was getting confusing. “No, Exuse the leseterin. Handy. Ugh I shouldn’t even be saying anything. I call him handy because of the, like, you know.” Tuyet waggled an arm. “Right, right right right,” she replied to herself without really thinking. She leaned up with her legs splayed out across the floor, propped her arms behind her back and looked at the ceiling in thought. Past Tuyet stared for a bit, clucked a couple times impatiently, and then said; “Past or future?” “Future. I think.” “Okay,” said Tuyet to her other self. “So then, like, what do we call you?” “Like, what do you mean, I’m Tuyet?” Past Tuyet scoffed. “Like Karz you are. You’re getting a nickname. Now come on, what’s different about you. We do this all the time, it’s not that hard you know.” “What, like it’s easy? You know just as well as me how much we totally overthink this decision,” Tuyet from the future, no, the current Tuyet who was the one actively traveling through time into her past, replied. “Jacket. You’re Jacket,” Past Tuyet replied with finality while patting Jacket’s shoulder. “Really. Jacket. That’s what’s different,” Tuyet, who we will be referring to as Tuyet because Jacket sucks as a nickname, deadpanned. She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine, then you’re Annoying.” She looked around and sure enough Past Tuyet, nah we’re sticking with calling her Annoying to avoid empathy and insanity, wasn’t wearing a jacket. It was thrown over the pilot’s chair in the cockpit. “I mean, if that’s how you want to think about yourself,” Annoying replied with a shrug. “Okay enough already! Time is moving, you’re gonna time travel back here to avoid dying, and we really need to figure this out alright. I’m so tired.” Annoying pursed her lips; “Time tired or usual tired?” “Weaken disk. Some rahi-boned knucklehead threw it at me from the sky.” “Wow, and you didn’t dodge? Tiny little time jump? Lame.” “Not funny,” Tuyet grumbled in response. She rubbed a hand to her mask in thought. “I should probably check on Handy, see if he’s like on the way back or something? I don’t think we have regen disks or anything, but, like, it’s worth a look right?” “Yeah, no… totally,” Tuyet replied and the two of them began popping open compartments in the airship. Mostly they found spare levitation disks and together they worked to finish changing those out in silence. Both kept their thoughts private, and both were wondering what the other was thinking. “Hey,” they both said at the same time. “No go ahead,” said Tuyet. “After you,” said Annoying. “No, you go.” “No you,” replied Annoying and then kept talking when Tuyet reached for a small hammer. “Yeah no okay well I mean, like, how am I supposed to help with all this? Handy and I need fuel, and then we gotta find that big guy with the mask.” “Axxon?” “Yeah, him. He’s so weird.” “Yeah no, stay put Axxon’s coming here.” “Seriously? No, really? Oh come on why.” “Time sucks,” Tuyet replied; “there’s always too much when you don’t need it, and then it’s totally gone when you need some. Tell you what, stay here and, like, hide or something. I’ll go. Do something to get my attention, like throw this.” Tuyet handed her past self the small pebble she’d pocketed. Annoying’s eyes widened with realization. “Back at the portal in Onu-Metru. Did you-” “No, no, I didn’t throw that. Did you?” “Would I be asking you if, like, I did it?” Tuyet shrugged. “Okay, then, like what are you suggesting?” “Jacket come on, get with the program. If it’s not you and, like, we know it’s not me, then it’s our future self,” replied Annoying. “Unless,” Tuyet said as the alternative donned on her. “Unless it is me,” said Annoying, shaking her head in confusion. She sighed and leaned against the wall of the airship before sinking down to sit on the floor. “Jacket I hate this. I hate how my memories keep changing. I go to sleep, I wake up, and like what I did the day before totally changes. I hate it.” “I know.” “No, I really hate this. When does it end?” Tuyet thought about it. She thought about how she awoke in another version of herself when she died because of the Nui Stone’s curse. She thought of all the different realities she’d seen and ways she’d died. Honestly, they all sucked. Some themes were common between them all, but usually there was some core twist that caught her off guard. This reality felt like the best shot at ending it, so why was it so hard to fix now that she found herself in the right place and, with a little help from some gullible toa, in the right time? Also, come to think of it, why couldn’t she find any of her Newpuparu minions? “I don’t think it can,” Tuyet replied to herself honestly. “But we can start with fixing our mistakes.” “I guess you’re right, Jacket. It’s not like we have a choice anyway,” replied Annoying. “There’s the spirit,” said Tuyet and slapped her past self’s shoulder. Wow she felt weak, but luckily she felt her strength returning bit by bit. Maybe by the time the fighting broke out she’d be almost better. Maybe. Tuyet didn’t hedge her bets on it. Luck seemed a fickle friend to the toa of time. “Go then. I’ll hide and you’ll totally rock it. Get it?” “Wow you really are Annoying,” Tuyet said and walked out of the airship. Secretly, she was glad to see herself. She was glad she’d been honest. She looked out across the grassy field towards the silver lake and the temple. She knew what came next. With a sigh she took in a deep breath and called out for Handy. Several minutes later Tuyet took a few steps forward and slowed her gate a little. She needed Handy to rush forward. Luckily, Axxon’s words worked just as she remembered and the lesterin who saved her life took the bait. Axxon engaged him instead of her, and she brought herself closer towards Buddy while making her way in Axxon’s direction. A pebble smacked the side of her head, she jumped forward in timeThe disk from the sky flew towards her, Buddy swatted it away, and Tuyet jumped towards the titan with confidence. She’d done it! She’d -- gotten herself stuck in a stasis field and had her cheek slapped by a very rude traitor. Buddy pushed her towards Axxon. That was awkward, but in a weird way she appreciated it. A few minutes of uncomfortably floating in the air as more of a discussion topic than a living being later Zataka left the open grasslands where they all fought in the middle of the night and ascended the hillside to meet with Tentacle Girl. Tuyet felt the power of stasis lose its grip and her body fell towards Axxon with all the precision of a rock kicked off the side of a cliff by a blindfolded Lhikan who’d been spun in circles by Nidhiki until he puked Weird metaphor. Great memory. Annoying stepped into the past -- or was it the future? Who knew where she walked anymore. She only knew that rocks needed to get thrown. OOC: Everyone in the Kini-Nui fight with Axxon, play on. Thanks for your patience. With Zataka leaving the fight and shifting her attention towards the reforging of the Olmak her stasis field would drop.

IC: Kas, Ignika, Turaga Lhikan, et al | Mi-Kiri, Elemental Temple of Light Two teleported across the space between and grasped the mask of life as he fell towards the water in the pool below. The golden beam of light faltered as the thin wires connecting to the mask pulled taught then snapped like rubber bands. The lights in the room went out. The pool of water beneath where the mask once floated came up to Two’s chest as his body fell. The water felt saturated with the regenerative properties of the mask of life, and yet a painful cold crept through the rahkshi’s armor and seeped into Sorilax’s gaseous being. “W-wait—” shouted Mahrika as she scrambled forwards, but Kas dove after her. He threw himself bodily towards her, desperate to drag her to the ground and pull her back. She didn’t need to suffer, he realized after Sorilax freed him She didn’t deserve it. She’d suffered enough already from the lies of aspects, even though Kas barely knew the half of what truly happened in her past. “Don’t,” he shouted as he tried to grab her by the leg, by the foot, by anything at all. “Let him go.” Two placed the kanohi against his faceplate. Sorilax looked through his rahkshi’s eyes and saw the following written across the interior of the Ignika in a glowing matoran script: Your life is forfeit A greater cause commands But why waste your life When I have a sculptor’s hands When heartlights stop And souls are cast astray Look to the stars above And the dawn of a new age Only those found worthy Who burn bright, and hot, and fast Shall have a hero’s welcome When they don this mask Those who would seek justice Will find nothing to their joy And those who seek their selfish ends Will become my newfound toys For curses I am keen to place With just a touch you seal your fate And if my power you cannot face Your purpose I shall desecrate For all Builders need Destroyers When all is said and done For Bone needs Flesh and Souls need Forms And I am all in one Along with this poem were many instructions, and Sorilax consumed this sacred knowledge in but a moment of thought. He realized suddenly the Mask of Life spoke truly from its perspective: life and death were entwined. For it was made of two such masks. One of Life Creation, and another of Death. Forged together they were the Ignika. Sorilax knew it was possible to create such a mask, and the poem was the key! A wave of energy washed over Two and Sorilax from the Ignika. It bathed them in a violent blast that made the waters around them ripple. Two felt a new hunger: one for kraata. Sorilax felt his gaseous entity suddenly became one with the rahkshi he possessed: he was a prisoner in a cage of his own making. Then the Ignika, the Administrator of the many temples of the Builders, spoke again; “I curse you for your actions! You have chosen to pursue a selfish goal. The connection has been severed, and even now the legacy of the Builders crumbles to dust. There is no way to change the course of destiny now. Congratulations: you have chosen the path of death in your pursuit of life. But not your death! You will live through this. You will suffer in bondage with your creation. And your creation will hunger for his kin. You will be a predator, doomed to hunt the lives of others.” As Ignika's voice increased in volume and command, The waters in the room began to slide towards one end. Kas overshot Mahrika, his body slipping towards the opposite wall. The pull of gravity shifted. Mi-Kiri was beginning to tip One stared through the doorway and saw an aged turaga of fire surrounded by several of the vahki wearing kanohi mask necklaces. More of the dark cables extended from the turaga’s head and neck and slithered away into the darkness of the hallway. The turaga raised a hand, and in it was a mote of flame. “Hello,” said the turaga; “I am MI-8811-04 of the Barraki Empire, and unfortunately I have been sent to entertain you. However, it seems you are occupied with entertainment of your own making. Vahki, the door please. The vahki stepped forward and began to pull the door closed. One knew if the door closed all would be lost. OOC: Two has been cursed with the following Psychological Flaw: "Kraata Cannibal: this kraata has an insatiable hunger for other kraata and will go to great lengths to consume them". Sorilax has been cursed with the following Physical Flaw: "Fused Form: this aspect's inherent gaseous form is physically fused to the kraata Two's rahkshi armor and is unable to leave." I also believe Sorilax has accomplished a Grand Wish milestone in viewing the inside of the Ignika and learning how to create a Mask of Life Creation. @Kal the Guardian and @Harvali, please know this encounter is still a deadly encounter and is not yet over. The stakes have been raised. IC: Reliable Narrator | Elemental Ruins of Air, Earth, Fire, Ice, Stone, and Water Anyone who stood within the elemental ruins scattered across the island suddenly found themselves shunted from the space, pushed out as if vomited by an aberrant force. The stones of the ziggurats shook, crumbled, and then exploded with a rain of boulders, dust, and dirt across the surrounding area. The interior spaces bulged, as if someone placed a bomb inside a bowl of Jell-O and then hit it with a bat before the bomb fully ignited. Starlight and darkness flooded the surrounding landscape like illegal fireworks late in the evening of a holiday, crawled up the sides of mountains, and then vanished. In the wake of the destruction came calm, then shock, and finally panic as to the source of the destruction. Those who lived close to elemental temples would swear they heard the faintest words of thanks on the wind, and that their dreams became wild and full of strange ideas. IC: Reliable Narrator | Suvas of Air, Earth, Fire, Ice, Stone, and Water The suvas powered down as the connection to the servers in Mi-Kiri ended, locking away what treasures were stored within them and notifying those within range with an error message about sudden power loss. Those who lived near a suva swore they heard the faintest words of thanks on the wind, and that their dreams became wild and full of strange ideas. IC: Reliable Narrator | Below Mi-Kiri As the Kaita Acr hurtled towards the floating objects in the sky, the pilots of the divine machine noticed something strange: the larger sphere began to tilt and get even larger as they flew towards it. Or rather, the rate at which it was getting larger indicated it was falling towards them at around the rate they were flying towards it. A collision was imminent. The smaller object, some form of floating fortress built from a mushroom-shaped vahki hive, remained aloft.

My you have all been busy! I'm just settling in to read the past 4 pages of content. Please do not reply to any interaction involving Axxon or Tuyet until GMs have responded with those NPCs. It is polite to allow everyone to post before posting again, as much as it may be exciting to keep going. Thanks for your understanding.

@Void Emissary I'm waiting on you to respond with Parnassus before continuing with Spiriah. No rush.

Looks like a fun build! I also enjoy Spiriah as a character.

IC: Tuyet | Kini-Nui, fight in the grasslands Tuyet’s experience of life got turned upside down pretty quick if she was being honest. One moment Exuse was being a little whimpering sadboi, and the next he rumbled with Axxon like a champ and got bigger with every hit. She stomped forward to join the fight, rolling up her sleeves as she went. Then a friggin kanoka disk clocked her upside the head. “Ow!” She shouted out in pain and staggered from the impact. As she looked around for the source she realized with a sudden dread that she felt tired. So tired. Not like the kind of tired after a long workout or a run around Ga-Metru though. The kind of exhaustion only a disk of weakening provided. She felt her mouth go all clammy. Standing was a chore. Tuyet hated chores. She forced her body forwards, leaning into her gait. She jumped forward, arm outstretched to grab Axxon. All she needed was to make contact. She could still jump ten thousand years into the past after getting hit with a disk of weakness. Totally. Who am I kidding? I’m so screwed. OOC: @BULiK, @Smudge8, @Vezok's Friend, @Eyru, etc. IC: Reliable Narrator | Kini-Nui, Kaita ACR bunker Skyra NUVA dropped to the ground faster than some of Rose's armor. Gosh, what would Rose think of Skyra NUVA's new look? Who knew? Rose, probably. But did it really matter is Skyra was dead? I mean, yeah she was dead but like she was dead in a cool way. Like you see in the posters for romance novels. But just you wait. Skyra had a trick up her sleeve... OOC: @Snelly, indulge us in Skyra's 1st mission as a toa in exchange for one Kaita ACR and a revive.

@~Xemnas~ Whira NUVA proxima is approved

Jojax approved

IC: Spiriah | Kumu Peninsula The shade’s laughter subsided as Parnassus revealed himself and made their connection evident. Spiriah’s shadow-forged body opened its arms wide and the space between its outspread arms became a strange stage of shadow puppetry. It told the story of those who loved unrequited. Spiriah spoke as it went; “Yes, Parnassus, you wish to be loved. That is who you are. You wish to be a great legend, and you know nothing else. Well then I will help you in this once, for you have sworn your kinship with your utterance.” A golden stone fragment rose from the earth on a dais of basalt and dirt. Parnassus noticed how the shape of the object made it look like a portion of a larger whole, perhaps a sphere. It flickered with a yellow light within reach of the young aspect. Spiriah continued; “Take this. Hold it and feel the power it has over the lives of all. Give it to those who you wish would love you. You will see they care nothing for you then. They will not love you. Their time is ending anyways, and it will make no difference: it will only delay their inevitable decay. We will linger as the cycle begins anew. You crawled from the Far Shore through the Caldera in this cycle and still have much to learn. You have a fascination with those that dream, Parnassus. Do not let that fascination turn you into a pawn, my son. Take your power back, Parnassus. You must take it from them in exchange for their worship. There is no other way: only faith in their power to destroy.” Spiriah’s voice grew louder as the aged aspect addressed those assembled behind Parnassus. Leklo, Ostrox, Waveahk, Keitara, Skorm, and Irna all felt the words as if they were meant for each of them alone; “My mesi have found those you hunt, and they have someone I want. You wish to destroy the void-touched nightmare named Korruhn. It will be like putting down a rabid kavinika for his transformation is nearly complete. I will tell you where he is to be found, but you must bind yourselves in worship to me and bring to me the dead matoran at Desecration Rock. I wish to use them as a surprise tool for later. You will find a little faith and goodwill is well worth the effort, for the end is near and my ascension is imminent. All I need from each of you is a little heart and a simple prayer in my name. Bring me what I seek and I will reward you further." OOC: @Void Emissary, in placating and stroking Spiriah's ego you have received a Makoki Fragment. @TL01 NUVA, @Keeper of Kraata, @EmperorWhenua, @Toru Nui your characters are being offered desecration.

Mi-Kiri is located approximately 43,000 feet in the air. Most clouds form below it. This is why when someone tries teleporting themselves towards it, they get a ballpark estimate of where they land and not something specific.

OOC: Music "Wednesday (Is The New Friday)" IC: Barraki Ehlek | Mi-Kiri, Floating Barraki Fortress Broken cells with doors torn away. Slimy rocks slick with silver blood. Deep chasms promising only despair. Haunted. No escape. Hunted. The cold waters rushed past Dekar as he swam between clumps of seaweed. The salty brine of the mutagenic waters threatened to alter him further as his air bubble became tenuous. Air was at a premium in the deep, and what little he collected from the seaweed farms now floated away as carbon dioxide in his escape to get away. His heartlight beat in rhythm with each powerful kick as he swam towards safety. Dekar saw Mahri Nui in the distance: a bubble of light and salvation from the endless dark. Just a little further, Dekar told himself, and he’d be safe at last. He never made it. Vampiric energy squids latched to his struggling form before he reached the safety of the underwater city. He kicked his yellow legs and flailed his arms wildly. His knife slipped from his grasp as strength left him. He gave up with the knowledge the mask remained in safe hands. His part to play in the great story came to an end. Gravity dragged Dekar down to the seafloor of The Pit. His eyes dimmed even as Mahri Nui’s hopeful glow reflected across the tide. He fell softly into the waiting arms of hungry convicts. They tore him apart and consumed what little could be scraped from his frame. Their weapons picked away at what remained fruitlessly and swam through the empty sockets of Dekar’s mask as it shifted deeper into the sands. Barrki Ehlek felt the cold of the water and the taste of a fresh kill. It made him happy to experience these simple pleasures. He saw the other five hunched and mutated. He felt superior at last. This was not such a bad ending, he thought to himself. What made this a doomed narrative? They were still together here, although tormented and wracked with an insatiable need for revenge. He found that common motive again: revenge. They survived in prison for millenia just to spite those who put them there. They survived to get their bitter revenge, but it never worked. They never succeeded. The stories of the Prime Beings always ended in tragedy. It was their curse. Why did the Barraki always require revenge? Why was it never about justice, or freedom, or love? No, it was always revenge. No matter the world, the problem, or the ending the Barraki always sought revenge against those who wronged them. They never learned. They never evolved. He realized that those souls never had the opportunity to realize they were stuck on a path of doom every time. Ehlek snapped his fingers and the world disappeared. His eyes flickered open. The world looked sideways, and his arm blocked most of the view. His back hurt, and he could hear a data crystal falling to the floor somewhere in the lab. No doubt the sound came from one of the new vahki still coming to terms with a syphoned existence. Something sparked at the boundary of his peripheral vision. Monitor screens displayed the text being translated by one of his machines, and in the back of his mind those translations were being recorded and filtered into his memories. Nothing escaped him these days, but what happened between trips always came in a blur. Ehlek yawned as memories settled in their proper place, sat up straight at his work desk, and felt the world right itself around him. His mechanical arms got to work typing on separate keyboards, recording his discoveries and cataloguing the errors in the trials. He stared at the object of his current fascination and spun it slowly with one of his other hands between his finger and the desk. The glowing rock left a small groove in the metal surface. He spun it harder and took note of the distance between the two trajectories. The lines formed ovals that overlapped. Why did they always overlap? What existed in the overlap? Another star system? Another memory of doomed revenge? More to the point of his research: what existed in the between? “Nidhiki,” Ehlek said above the clacking of the keyboard keys. The green turaga stirred in the shadows of the lab but did not speak. Ehlek continued; “Nidhiki please deploy MI-8919-07. It’s time.” Nidki left the room, staff clicking against the cold floor with each stride in the flickering light of overhead LEDs. “And Lhikan, please see to the Wellspring. We have guests.”