That Matoran with a Vahi

IC: Tarutu - Outside Tesara guardhouse "I..." She shuffled her feet, her attitude a contriteness that was at least partially sincere... enough so, at least, that she wasn't at all used to it. More than anything, Tarutu had become accustomed to being her own boss, not answering to anyone and not apologising for her often sharp tongue; the experience, therefore, was new and uncomfortable. "...may have been a bit hasty earlier. If you're still recruiting, Paju and I are interested after all." Was he still recruiting? He already had at his back the Ko-Matoran from earlier, and a Skrall warrior who looked like he slept with knives; but Tarutu could only figure that, on this kind of mission, strength in numbers could be no bad thing. If it meant she and Paju would have a slightly harder time of slipping away any plunder they found without it being noticed, well... she'd cross that bridge when she came to it. "We... talked it over," she added lamely, not sure what other explanation she could give for her abrupt change of mind; not that the Agori would actually believe, at least. IC: Kastir - Capstone Bar "Mm." For another long moment, Kastir couldn't tear her eyes away from the twisted horror of a being. A part of her - the part that she shut down when she was in the middle of a job, the part that believed in standing up for the little guy when she could - felt like she should do something, should offer the shambling Agori her help; but two things stopped her. The first, she didn't want to lose the job Drukann had for her, and he clearly had no interest in a charity case... and the second, the broken being honestly looked like he(?) was beyond any help she could offer, anyway. Beyond possibly scaring him the rest of the way to death if he found her toothy visage too close to his face. "You're right, you're right." She followed her new employer's lead, carefully picking her way between the tables and making for the exit. Her Huntress' Pride was parked only a short walk from the bar; assuming nothing delayed them, it would take her a matter of minutes at most to reach it and be airborne. "Meet you in Tesara, then?"

Well... three things, I guess. - Nostalgia. BZ was a huuuuuge part of my teen years, and seeing the site still kicking around, still being able to get into the discussions and throw ideas around and share recollections like that WASN'T all of ten-plus years ago? It's just... great, honestly. It's just nice, too, to have somewhere I can still talk about this thing that meant so much to me back in the day; none of the other friends I've made in other places had any interest in Bionicle, so BZ's unique to me in that way. I guess the chance to share memories, as much as anything else, keeps me coming back. - Inspiration. The Bionicle aesthetic has always been such a big inspiration to me; whenever I try my own story projects - even unrelated ones - you can bet there's at least SOME little thing in their DNA that couldn't have come from anywhere else except my love for the old MNOG aesthetic. Likewise, BZ was the first place where I ever tried my hand at seriously making up stories, and though my old work was awful - does anyone remember it? No? ...well, GOOD xD - it was still the beginnings of my creative journey, and I still find something of that *spark* to write when I'm on here. It's a big part of why I recently got myself involved in the RP forum here - and also why I have two different Bionicle epic projects slowly developing, though I can't guarantee either will ever see the light of day! - And third... I just like the fact that Bionicle's become one of those things that's obscure to most people but has this tiny dedicated cult following, and it amuses me so much to be a part of that xD

IC: Taturu - Tesara Marketplace "You got it." And that, it sounded like... was that arranged. Not bothering to watch further as Paju headed out of sight, Tarutu instead turned to scan around for the direction in which the recruiting guard had gone. A part of her, she had to privately confess, wasn't particularly thrilled with the thought of crawling back to him after she'd effectively told him where he could stuff his offer of working for free; but at the same time? She'd never let her own feelings interfere with business. Blowing out a short breath, adjusting the fabric strip around her chest so that it just looked decorative and not as if it was hiding a tiny crack in her armour, she ventured in the direction she'd last seen Tekmo heading, towards the local guardhouse. No point going inside... he'd be heading out again any moment now, right? IC: Kastir - Capstone Bar "Right, right..." She idly ticked the details off on her clawed fingers as Drukann mentioned them, committing them away to memory. The settlement sounded, perhaps, a good place to visit when she was bored and not specifically looking for a job; somewhere to hang around, meet some more of the little guys, spend some of her earnings once she had some... maybe beat off a few raiding parties or two, for fun. That sounded like a riot of a time, honestly. Watching her companion - and, currently, employer - stand, Kastir followed his lead. She flexed her shoulder muscles just a little, subtly stretching them after the way they'd been hunched, but otherwise made no big show; she was simply ready to head out at a single moment's notice. "Sounds like a plan. You have your own ship?" Of course he did; everyone on this dust-ball had a ship, just as long as they could afford it... and with the amount of money he was offering for this job, Drukann certainly wasn't strapped for cash at present. "I'll meet you--" She trailed off mid-sentence, her gaze wandering to the peculiar sight of the newest occupant of the bar. A bent and broken Agori had entered while she and the skakdi had been talking; one who, for that matter, seemed to be acting incredibly weirdly. Tooth-filled maw opened for a moment, the giant looking as though she wanted to say something; no words, however, seemed to find their way out for a moment, as she simply watched the damaged being staggering from one table to another. Finally, after long moments of silence, she rediscovered her tongue. "Uh... a friend of yours?" she asked Drukann tentatively.

Oh yeah, I loved those back in the day! I don't remember a whole lot of them now - I meant, a while ago, to go back and play them again... and completely forgot - but they were a lot of fun to me. Especially, like you say, the way they captured the Piraka team dynamic - and, for that matter, did it so effectively without using a single line of dialogue. Though I have to say, it's still bizarre to me how much non-canon material was produced for 2006. Between those, Bionicle Heroes, Piraka Rap, 'Free the Band'... with all that contradictory material floating around, I feel like it must have been a confusing time to jump into the fandom xD

Here! https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/download.page I've been playing around with stud.io for a bit myself; and as someone who could never get the hang of LDD when I was younger, I find this one a lot more intuitive. It's helpful, too, that its part inventory correspond with BrickLink's numbers and descriptions, making looking for specific parts a lot easier in my experience ^^

I'm one of those weirdos who adored the style of the Miramax movies, so my answer practically gives itself xD Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to the more set-accurate styles too, but... sometimes those just feel like they lack life, to me. The movie style, with its expressive faces, its way of making characters feel more like something that was alive and beathing rather than simply animated toys... I'd be all about something like that. Maybe not exactly the same as the Mirmax style; but something that retains the impression of the Toa and Matoran as living, breathing beings feels almost essential to me, by now. Although, that said... I'd alternately be really interested to see Bionicle adapted into a traditional animation style, too. That would, perhaps, necessitate even greater liberties being taken with the character design, since the amount of pencil-mileage required to fully hand-animate them with total set-accuracy would be nothing short of insane; but I would be really, really fascinated to see what could be done with them in that medium. CGI's great, of course; but Bionicle done in classic hand-drawn animation would really win me over.

Ooh, sounds cool Count me as interested! ^^

Not counting basic brick buckets (otherwise my first would be 4146 Freestyle Bucket), mine was 6518 Baja Buggy. Such a simple little set... but, in hindsight, I have a huge fondness for it now.

I didn't hate it. I'll admit that I didn't think very highly of it, but... I also think a lot of it is perspective. Let's see if I can explain. The first three movies came around when Bionicle was still, to me (and to a lot of us, I guess) this HOT NEW THING and seeing the characters I was learning to love turned to a more 'living' appearance than the sets allowed, and actually given voices and life and a whole three-dimensional world quite literally blew me away. It didn't have to work hard to impress me: I wanted to be impressed. TLR, in contrast, came around when I was (and possibly others were) getting tired of the franchise; Bara Magna hadn't hooked me, my interests were wandering, the true-to-the-sets style did very little for me, and I was more watching it 'because I ought to keep up with the story' than because I genuinely wanted to like it... so it would have had to be really spectacular, by that point, to have delivered the same emotional punch to me that the earlier movies did so easily just six years before. And it didn't manage to be that spectacular. It was by no means awful; but by that point, I feel, we as a fandom were much harder to impress. I think a lot of more recent comers to the fandom do indeed like TLR better, like you do, because they don't have these huge rose-tinted lenses that a lot of us old-timers still have concerning the old movies; they were able to judge them all on equal footing. But for me... even though I can look at Mask of Light and quite easily see its many awkwardnesses and flaws... I still have an engrained fondness, still can't help but love it in spite of those? And I just don't have that same emotional attachment to TLR, so I'm more inclined to judge it harshly compared to that old nostalgia, than to fairly measure its strengths and weaknesses compared to its fellows? I don't know if that explanation can speak for anyone else... but that's my feeling on it, in any case

See, now, THIS is the sort of thing where my memory for miscellaneous trivia really comes in handy... I can remember the order of most of the sets I got, honestly. Long post incoming. My very first was Onua Mata, back in January '01. Lego World Club magazine had presented me with not only a full double-page-spread of all six Toa but also a separate comic starring Kopaka. Between the fact that they looked kinda like Slizers, who I had become a fan of not long before, and the intriguing story and designs, I was hooked. Although, I will admit, there was one reason and one reason only why I chose Onua as my first Toa over any of the others: because, from his main picture, I could not figure out quite how his anatomy worked and I wanted to resolve that puzzle. I got him from out (now long-gone) local toy and model shop, after school the following day. Continuing into '01; my second was Turaga Vakama, I don't remember the context in which I got him. Third and fourth, come closer to summer, were Pohatu and Tahu, in that order, who I both got on a trip to Torquay - Pohatu at a service station on the way, Tahu from Woolworths once we got there. A whole load of my Bionicle sets came from various Woolworths' stores for that matter... that chain is still missed. In any case, I later in the year got Kopaka for my birthday; then Gali in the after-Christmas sales. For 2002... I didn't, initially, intend to buy any of the Bohrok, they didn't particularly interest me; however, my local Woolworths (any bets for how many times I'm gonna mention that chain in this post? xD) had Bionicle sets on a Buy-One-Get-One offer; so when I grabbed Lewa to complete my Mata collection, I took advantage of the offer to pick up Tahnok too. '02 didn't see me buy many other Bionicle sets; only the Boxor, with money I got for my birthday when October rolled around, and Kopaka Nuva from that year's Legoland trip. Over the course of the following year, I would pick up the rest of the Nuva too. My first sets of 2003 were Nuhvok-Kal and Lehvak-Kal. For reasons I'm still not quite sure I can explain, the Kal appealed to me far more than the traditional Bohrok; perhaps because of their silver colour schemes, or because they were individual entities rather than just one of a swarm. I don't quite remember which order I got those two Kal in, but I know for sure that the first one I got in a buy-one-get-one offer with Tahu Nuva (Woolworths again!), while the other was an Easter present. Following on from that, I grabbed Matoro, Kopeke, Hewkii and Hafu all at once when they came around - I have always had a soft spot for the Mata Nui Matoran - and, subsequently, both Takua & Pewku and Jaller & Gukko, as quickly as I was able to save up the money to afford them. Takanuva, Macku, Hahli and Panrahk were all birthday gifts... and, aside from rounding off my Toa Nuva collection, that was it for that year. The rest of the sets would be picked up at various later dates over the following years. 2004 was the first year where it, somehow, became a goal of mine to collect every single set. My first were Toa Whenua and Ahkmou, who I bought on a Legoland trip early in the year, and in short order picked up the rest of the Metru and Matoran locally... Vhisola, I believe, being second; then Onewa; Nuju, Ehrye and Tehutti all together; Vakama and Nuhrii; then Nokama, then Orkahm. Matau was the last, and by that time I had already picked up my first Vahki, Keerakh. They would be followed, not too long after, by Turaga Dume; and then, Vahki Zadakh and Bordakh. A second Bordakh, as well as Nurakh and Rorzakh were added in short order as birthday presents from my school friends; Krekka was picked up on a trip up to the Blackpool Illuminations in the November. Toa Lhikan only appeared a few days before Christmas, and was eagerly snatched up as soon as he appeared; Vorzakh was collected in the after-Christmas sales; and Nidhiki was very much an illusive final piece, the search for him taking me around several local towns with no success before my parents let me buy him off Lego Shop@Home instead. 2005 started off with the Rahaga - five of them sold together in a lot (Pouks was absent) by Argos, a few weeks before their actual UK release date. Oonhurak and Keelerak followed along as that year's Easter gift, I think Pouks, then Keetongu, came not long after... and then I kind of fell off the Bionicle fandom for the rest of the first half of the year, as the Revenge of the Sith hype consumed all my interest. Even after the movie came out, it took my ages to return my attention to Bionicle - though I did still pick up the Visorak Battle Ram playest during that time, if memory serves - and that was only achieved when the Toa Hordika finally made it to the UK and I snagged up Matau first. Toa Iruini would follow, as would Onewa Hordika and Toa Norik; the Battle for Metru Nui playest was my birthday present that year; then came Whenua and Sidorak, together, in pre-Christmas sales; and finally Roodaka was found just before the end of the year. For 2006, Garan and Kazi, bought together, were my first. Then Reidak, who turned up in a different Woolworths a handful of days before the Piraka's projected UK release date; Brutaka, I believe, was next, then Thok - though not sure if he was after Balta and Dalu, or before - and was followed, over the next while, by Piruk, and then Velika. This, too, was the year I discovered eBay, from where Avak was purchased as Summer approached; and Axonn was somwhere in amongst those, too, though I forget exactly where. That year's summer holiday saw me pick up Vezon and Fenrakk from my first trip to an official Lego store, and five out of six Inika were picked up over the course of the rest of the year. (In order: Nuparu, Hewkii, Jaller, Matoro and Hahli. Not intentionally the exact same order I'd got the original Mata in, but that was the way it panned out.) Hakann, Vezok and Zaktan were grabbed from eBay too, just before Christmas (at the same time as some surprisingly cheap '01 Rahi), and The Race for the Mask of Life playset, too, was scooped up in the post-Christmas sales. 2007's start was Kalmah, though not entirely by choice; he was the only one that Argos had in stock, and he was followed in short order by (and this may not be the exact order, but it's close) Dekar, Pridak, Defilak and Morak. Mantax and Carapar both came around Easter time (one of them was an Easter present, but I forget which); and Ehlek and Takadox, if I remember correctly, were both grabbed during a trip to visit my grandparents in Scotland, along with last year's Umbra. Again, my interest in Bionicle waned in favour of Star Wars for most of the summer, only returning with the Mahri, of whom I captured Kongu first... a choice dictated by the fact that he was the only one I (still) didn't have the Inika version of. He would be followed by, in rough order, Gadunka; Hewkii and Hydraxon; and Lessovikk. Karzahni and Thulox were both birthday gifts, and Maxilos was bought subsequently with an Amazon voucher (for literally his EXACT cost) I got for the same birthday. I had intended to leave my Mahri collection there, satisfied with just the two; but Matoro's in-character sacrifice abruptly changed my mind when the comic was posted here on BZP, and I'm pretty sure I made it my top priority to add him to my collection due to that. Jaller, too, would follow not much later. And 2008 was entered with Pohatu Phantoka, Antroz and Icarax, all at once... I had Christmas gift money to burn, and, not expecting so see them all in one place on a trip to the Toys R' Us in Bristol, kind of splurged. I was somewhat more controlled after that, picking up Tanma, Kopaka, Vamprah, Gavla, Toa Ignika, Mutran & Vican, and finally Lewa only rather more intermittantly as the year progressed. My interests took another major shift in the summer of this year - towards, to my great surprise at the time, The Lion King of all things - but I was still determined to gather Bionicle sets all the same. Onua and Gali, together, were my first of the summer wave, followed by Takanuva; then Bitil, Tahu and Vultraz (the Woolworths chain was going out of business, and their closing down sale had all toys on buy-two-get-one-free offers, otherwise I may have been more restrained. MAY have), and later, Gorast. Mazeka was a birthday gift, the Rockoh a Christmas one, and Chirox was nabbed from BZP's own Buy-Sell-Trade forum just before the year closed... more to justify the shipping costs involved in grabbing a cheap Mctoran Kongu and a couple of other pieces we'd never got in the UK, than any other reason. 2009 was where I really started to wind down. Bara Magna didn't hook me, and while at first my intention was to give at least a few of the sets a chance... my first purchase, Fero & Skirmix, killed that intention pretty quickly. They weren't a bad set, but they were, to me, just... boring. Of the 2009 sets, all I picked up subsequently was Attakus (second-hand from a car boot sale), Click (free with The Legend Reborn DVD) and Kiina... whose unique design interested me, but didn't re-inspire me. Eventually, I would get my hands on Glatorian Mata Nui, too... many years later, by which point I was thoroughly underwhelmed by him xD And 2010... Tahu Star. And Only Tahu Star. My interests were elsewhere, it was only the nostalgia that let me go as far as getting him at all! And then, finally... Lewa Uniter, my only Gen 2 set, who I got just a month or two ago, as a reward for participating in last year's BZP fanfic exchange ^^ That isn't... my whole collection listed, of course. Most of the ones who I only picked up in subsequent years to their release, I don't remember exactly when they fitted in. I could tell you, for instance, the exact order I aquired the other five Bohrok from, and from where I got them, but I don't remember when their purchases actually took place, other than between 2006 and 2008. Same with many of the others I got only after their release years had passed. But, haha, this was a memory trip, for sure! This, right here, is the kind of useless knowledge that my mind never lets go of xD

HEWKII & MACKU FOREVER. Sorry not sorry: it may be boring and traditional, but I have been on this ship since maybe 2003 and I have no intention of getting off it anytime soon xD

ooc: I keep checking in on this thread, but not actually sitting down to write the posts I owe... I'm sorry, again, to keep both of you waiting ^^;; IC: Kastir - Capstone Bar Okay, that seemed fair. Coercion was off the table simply because it wouldn't yield the desired results this mission, and Kastir had no objection to that. While she knew there were some beings out there who might feel disappointed at not being able to blackmail, bully or threaten someone into taking on the role, the toothy giant wasn't one of them; to her, they were simply necessities of the business, and she could live without them just as easily as with them. Granted, it made finding volunteers a little more tricky if they had to be willing; but with the amount of money Drukann was offering? She couldn't see that being too huge of an issue. Her ear-like appendages pricked, however, as Drukann revealed he already had an idea. Visiting the other settlements... wouldn't that be more likely to get them an overly-ambitious Matoran than anything else? Not that Kastir had anything against Matoran, she rather liked the little guys - at least, when not on a job that involved killing any of them - but they weren't really... suited for venturing into the dangerous unknown. She doubted one of them would even survive in the desert long enough to reach the arena; but she also supposed that Drukann knew what he was doing. "Tesara..." She had to rack her memory for a moment. "Oh, that was the one up in those old trees, wasn't it? I've been there, but not in a long time; I've been trying my luck in a different region of the desert until recently." IC: Tarutu - Tesara Marketplace "You never know... I'd expect whoever sent those guys to be pretty much rolling in it; robots don't come cheap." She lowered her voice, glancing around to make sure no-one but Paju was within hearing range. "There's probably all sorts of valuables around their base camp, whatever it may be... swipe a few, sell them to the highest bidder, and you've got enough widgets to last you a good long while. Or you might find the remains of some other poor unfortunates who didn't make it out in the mountains, and happened to have some valuable weapons or armour on them that can be salvaged. Nothing's guaranteed, of course; but if you and I signed up with him after all--" She jerked a finger back in the direction Tekmo had gone-- "I can probably make sure we pick up something that'll make it worth both our whiles. Trust me... it's one part of how I make a living." Technically, she could sign herself up on her own, and didn't need to cut Paju in on the deal... but that would just be rude. All Ga-Matoran were sisters, essentially, and Tarutu didn't like double-crossing sisters; besides, Paju was the one who needed the income, and Tarutu was at least hopeful that she could find enough on such a trip to cover them both for a while. Not that she'd yet committed herself to the idea, but it was showing more and more promise, the more she thought about it. "But if you'd rather not... well, I'm based in Atero. I can stick one of your posters up in my shop there, if that'll help."

(I'm a bit slow recently; sorry for holding things up ^^; ) IC: Tarutu - Tesara Marketplace That took some of the wind out of Tarutu's determined stance. It hadn't really occurred to her that Paju simply needed the job, no matter how much or little it earned her; as a businesswoman herself, she'd been so caught up in making sure her fellow Ga-Matoran didn't get cheated out of the deal that she just hadn't stopped to consider that maybe the other didn't see things quite the same way as she did. Behind her Komau, she frowned, rubbed her neck... not guiltily, exactly, but there was certainly a trace of regret there that she hadn't helped. "Sorry. I just didn't want to see you get the bad end of the deal." Actually though, now that she thought about it... even if the expedition wasn't paying, that didn't mean that the participants were necessarily going to come out of it empty-handed. In any kind of expedition, there was the prospect of making finds along the way that, perhaps, a member might just forget to enter into the log. Probably not valuable treasures, unless whoever had orchestrated the attack was rich; but maybe weapons, armour, or the sorts of things you could secret in a bag without your glorious expedition leader being any the wiser. Perhaps, just perhaps, enough to make it worth even a businesswoman's time to investigate. Maybe. She glanced at Paju again, shrugging slightly. "I don't know. If there was a way to profit out of this guy's expedition... would that make his offer sweeter for you?" Don't get her into your bad habits, Tarutu. Just because you'd steal from these apparent attackers when the expedition found them, doesn't mean you should corrupt her to do the same. IC: Kastir - Capstone Bar "I can't speak for the... legality of those other ways, if you catch my drift. But they'd definitely get us our third." Willingly or otherwise. Here in Cliffside, it wasn't likely anyone would object to a surreptitious bending of the law... the most likely response, in fact, would probably be 'what law?' as the precarious settlement seemed happy to let its inhabitants do whatever, as long as it wasn't done within the Capstone itself. She certainly didn't expect Drukann to object her suggestion on moral grounds; though he may have other reasons to do so, and Kastir would willingly accept that if he did. He should, though, at least have got the gist of what she was suggesting by now. "Hm." She changed track, however, as the Skakdi answered her question. One clawed finger tapped her chin, as she turned the words over in her mind. The arena itself was a safe spot, though the journey to reach it would be another matter entirely... and, essentially, who the karz knew once they got the thing working. That didn't exactly answer many of the questions she had; but since he was going into most of this just as blind as she was, there seemed no gain from pressing the matter. Instead, the giant simply nodded. Actually, she might, at least, not be quite as blind as he was, when the time came. Her Akaku, currently pushed up on her forehead out of the way, was a very useful tool after all.

IC: Blizzard "Sure thing." She wasn't afraid to ask, for sure; but Blizzard also didn't feel like she needed to ask too much. So far, everything seemed straightforward, and her typical casual confidence was slowly becoming more genuine again. Sure, there were still some parts of being here - so she'd gathered before arrival - that she had reason to be concerned about... but she was finding her stride, was adapting to her circumstances. By the end of the day, she felt quietly confident, she would have a fair idea of how things worked here. That didn't mean she didn't have a question or two of her own, as well. Swallowing another mouthful of gruel - and pulling a face that was more for effect than anything else - she straightened up to regard Draco more evenly again. Once Explota had voiced his question, she spoke up with her own. "Actually, I was wondering about living space. Do we get assigned rooms? Or is it a free-for-all with everyrahk fighting for a place to sleep?" She could hope for the former, at least... though she also wouldn't be too opposed to the latter. She could do well enough in that kind of environment, Blizzard figured.

(OOC: I'm sorry, I'm slow ^^; ) IC: Tarutu - Tesara Marketplace Did she feel, perhaps, a little bad about her rudeness? The guard was only doing his job, and if that included the unenviable business of recruiting civilians for a mission with no official resources behind him, then... she pitied more than resented him for it. Still, the Ga-Matoran's expression didn't soften any as she stood back, letting Tekmo and Paju negotiate. Again, it was none of her business... so this time, she didn't butt in. At least, not until the guard directly turned to her. Tarutu supposed she shouldn't be surprised; nonetheless, after she'd clammed up after her bout of sarcasm, she hadn't expected to become a part of the conversation again. "That's right." Her hostile tone from before was markedly absent. There was no point getting any further on the guard's bad side, she reckoned; particularly when he'd done nothing more to earn her ire. Still, she shot a questioning look in his direction. If this was going where she thought it might be... well, she wasn't sure Tekmo stood to gain much from it. But she had no reason to not answer his questions evenly. "I saw the explosions, and ran over to do my bit to help. Despite what you may have heard, not all Matoran race for cover as soon as the shooting starts. Some of us -" she indicated Paju as well as herself in this "- are good at handling ourselves."

Perhaps it's just because I haven't kept up with new story material beyond a couple of the movies... but for me, when you say "Lego Villains", my first thoughts are always going to be Vladek, Ogel, the Brickster, Sam Sinister (or Baron Von Baron, if you prefer), and their ilk. Maybe there were others back then, too... can't remember right now. I'm not in a position to assess how they stack up against current villains; I don't doubt that the more recent ones are indeed more interesting and better developed than many of their old late '90s - early '00s counterparts. But I think, somehow, I'm always going to be found favouring those ones who I grew up with... nostalgia's a powerful thing xD

IC: Tarutu - Tesara Marketplace "Wow." So much for not speaking up; but at that little - and unpleasant - revelation, Tarutu simply couldn't hold her tongue. Sarcasm - her other natural language - practically dripped from her tone. "Is that your usual approach? 'I know you're looking to actually make a living in this Karzahni-hole, but I've got a job for you that I expect you to do for free instead'? You must be such a big hit with independent business-Matoran everywhere." A part of her, the part that most often spoke common sense, warned Tarutu that she was likely to get into trouble for this. Sassing someone who was clearly in a position of authority rarely ended well, and she did try to remain civil around anyone who could make life too difficult for her if they got it into their heads to dig into her background; but, at the same time? From Tarutu's perspective, what she saw was Tekmo trying to take advantage of a fellow businesswoman... and that wasn't okay with her. Sisters - even sisters who barely knew each other - stuck up for one another. (OOC: I feel I should apologise for her! I wasn't going to butt in; but Tarutu just refused to stay quiet xD;; )

(OOC: Sorry, sort of fell out of things here for a little bit ^^; ) IC: Tarutu - Tesara Marketplace She couldn't help there, really, Tarutu figured. As much as she empathised with Paju's need for work - not only as a way to make a living on this Great Spirit-forsaken dustball, but because Matoran like them were, quite literally, made to work - the Komau-wearer tended to do all her own piloting. To hire her fellow Ga-sister would help Paju out, for sure, but the only tasks Tarutu would have been able to employ her for were routine errands that she could just as easily do herself. That would hardly benefit her, and it certainly wouldn't be satisfying work for a pilot of Paju's presumed calibre. All the same, Tarutu nodded, gave a little 'hm' noise in response. "Well, I wish you all the--" She was interrupted by the sudden approach of one of the native Agori, calling for her companion's attention, and Tarutu let her sentence die off unfinished. Apparently the 'all the best' that she'd been about to wish Paju in her search had already found her, and Tarutu took a step back, so as not to intrude on the pilot's crucial negotiation for her employment. Nonetheless, she kept one ear open. The fact that a lead had turned up so quickly was probably good news for Tesara; but, to her, it sounded almost suspiciously quickly, if indeed it was genuine. As if those behind the attacks didn't care if they were found... and that didn't bode well for anyone getting involved in any such search for them. It was none of her business, of course - and she certainly didn't doubt Paju's ability to handle herself - so she didn't speak up. It wasn't her conversation. She simply listened. IC: Kastir - Capstone Bar "Oh, yeah. It's right where I found it." Or at least, that's where she left it; Kastir couldn't account for anyone else - or even just a freak gust of wind - that might have snatched the paper off the board once she'd entered the bar itself. But the Capstone seemed almost surprisingly quiet today, and she certainly hadn't noticed any further activity outside; so the giant figured it was a fairly safe bet that the notice hadn't gone anywhere else. But the fact that it was quiet also meant that they might be waiting a while for anyone else to come along and register interest. She leaned closer, dropping her voice for a moment. "If the notice doesn't turn up anyone else, there are other ways to get a third party member." Coercion. Blackmail. Kidnapping. Kastir wouldn't necessarily say that any of those were a sensible plan, but Drukann seemed fairly certain that they needed three people on their team... and those were all things that Kastir had become good at since she'd entered the bounty hunting trade. With a little free reign - and some questionable ethics - she could turn up a less willing third member, should the need arise. Until then, though, she could be patient; of course she could, it was a skill you needed as a hunter. And Drukann seemed pleasant enough company to make small-talk with. Still, in her business, time was money. Making idle conversation was nice and all, and she had no difficulty doing so; but she was already more interested in making a plan of approach, in gathering her gear - such as it was - for the task ahead, in making sure she was on the top of her game for anything the arena might throw at her. Thinking of which, actually-- "What else can you tell me about the arena? What are we going to be facing?"

I love it, I really do. After the way you'd built up to it, seeing Tamaru overcoming her fear of heights was such a satisfying moment; and, as a whole, I really like how you pulled it all together to create the scene

And, it continues to be good I have to say, I particularly like the way you're treating Taipu as a valuable, contributing member of the party; I feel like, back in the day, he was never really taken seriously - or maybe I just didn't read the right works. But in any case, it's really nice to have the chance to see him confident and in his element. Continuing to look forward to where this is going! ^^

IC: Tarutu - Tesara Market "Mostly? Business." She could have left it at that; and, perhaps on other days, would have. It wasn't often, however, that Tarutu found an individual who she thought of as being even just somewhat of a like mind to her; and that made her feel a little more comfortable around Paju than she would have around others. She didn't think the other Ga-Matoran was anyone she recognised from Mata Nui, though she might have been mistaken; all the same, it loosened her tongue. "I run my own shop in New Atero, providing... speciality wares. This seemed like a good chance to look around, see if I couldn't pick up some new inventory." She'd not seen anything that stood out, so far. It didn't surprise her that many of the vendors were selling fruit, meat, other produce, but that held little interest to her; no, it was the other stallholders, the ones who sold trinkets, valuables, or even weapons, that would attract the matoran's attention more. She was, really, on the lookout for anything rare enough that she could turn a profit on it back home - or anything she could buy here that wouldn't be legal to do so in Atero - particularly if the seller didn't realise the worth of what they held. She had an eye for such opportunities, Tarutu would boast... or, at least, that was the sales pitch for her business. "Didn't introduce myself, did I? Tarutu." IC: Kastir - Capstone Bar "Oh, of course. Kastir, at your service." She hadn't been deliberately withholding; but all the same, Kastir sometimes felt, it paid not to let out too many personal details all up front. Now that she was onboard for sure, she had no qualms about relaxing that; while she still couldn't say much about her new employer as a person, he seemed genuine in his expressed sentiment. It had been a long time since Kastir had directly worked with anyone - longer than the several years she'd been away, that was for sure - but she found herself not at all opposed to the idea. Company was often pleasing to her; and, as such, she returned the other's small smile. Though hers was, perhaps, more professional than it was warm... her features weren't really made for looking friendly. She scratched her chin for a moment, her expression becoming thoughtful. "If we need a party of three, I suppose there's not much point planning on ahead until our final member shows up, is there?"

Oh wow, this is NICE! I love the effect, you can almost feel the energy radiating around him; and the way it's disturbing the ground around his feet is a really neat touch, too! I also really like how you convey such life in the character, particularly the way you do it without deviating at all from authenticity to the set design. It's really effective