BZPRPG - Ta-Wahi

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"I get to be captain, then."

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Alfon

 

"Think you can handle that responsibility?"

[Krayzikk]

IC:

Jaller's eyes grew narrow indeed, both at Tuara's comment and her hasty departure. He didn't move for a few minutes, instead thinking in silence. He didn't go back to his desk when he finally moved instead opening the door to his office and stepping out, turning his attention to his secretary.

 

"Contact Loren. Send him to take a look behind the old smithy, and take an Inspector with him. Tell Angel that I need to speak with him as soon as he has a spare minute." Turning away and beginning to stride down the hall, he added over his shoulder; "I'm going for a walk. If anyone comes to see me, they can wait. Send a courier if there's an emergency."

 

IC:

 

"I can't say I really care who the captain is as long as we get where we're going."

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"I make no promises of anything if I become captain. I just should become captain."

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Alfon

 

"Alright Plag, you're captain now. Orders?"

 

I was basically begging to leave.

[Snelly]

IC: Taleen 

 

"This is the most peaceful and fluid mutiny I've ever seen." Taleen commented as she spun a dagger in her palm. "I like it." 

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"I order this ship to head to Ko-Koro immediately!" I said. "The other captain may continue his speech in the meanwhile."

 

-Void

[25K Now!]

IC: Ril

 

"Plag, it's like you're trying to steal a guy's wife. A bit homewrecker of you."

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"Ril, it's a boat."

 

-Void

[25K Now!]

IC: Ril

 

"Someone else's boat."

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"It'll just be a temporary mutiny, how 'bout that? Just long enough to get to Ko."

 

-Void

[Silvan Haven]

Loren- Ta-koro

 

"Sir."

 

The sound caused the new Commander to look up from a never ending stack of paperwork that had become depressingly familiar over the last couple weeks. In the doorway stood one of the Matoran couriers used to send inter-departmental messages. The Guardsman was standing at relaxed attention and the evening pouch was not due for some hours yet. All told it meant that the message was of a medium importance. High enough to get it's own pouch but not so urgent that it would entail the calling out of the RRF. Whatever the case was, it would provide at least a couple minutes relief from the small mountain on his desk.

 

"Guardsman, you have something for me?"

 

"From the office of the Akiri" Came the reply, the courier stepping forward to hand over the parchment in question.

 

Loren took the offered piece of rolled up paper and checked the seal. It was genuine and did not appear to have been tampered with. It was not that he was a suspicious Toa, but it was not unheard of for Mata Nui's criminal underbelly to attempt to interfere with Guard mail. After a while one just got in the habit of checking.

 

A nod sent the courier away to his next assignment, leaving Loren to open the letter with a knife from his desk. Not even mountains of paperwork could make the career Guardsman resort to something of bureaucratic as a letter opener. The contents were simple, bare bones even, and he recognized the handwriting of Jaller's secretary. He was to pick up an Inspector and check out the old smithy. Details on why Jaller wanted him to check it out or what he might find there were not forthcoming.

 

The Toa leaned back and let out a sigh. It might not have been a top priority task but well...his eyes drifted back to the piles of papers on his desk. Piles that he could have sworn were several sheets lower before he started reading. His eyes went to the belted pair of short swords on a nearby peg in the wall. To be honest he was already missing going out on patrol. To be sure, being rewarded with the command of a cadre of Ta-koro's finest after decades of service was a great honor. But sitting around all day waiting for the action had never been hit style. In fact he had often requested extra shifts during his time as a grunt.

 

With a thought he was gone from the chair and at the peg, grabbing the blades that rested there and belting them on. He refrained from teleporting out the nearest window, he had responsibilities now after all, and went for the tried and true door instead.

 

"Jaller has a job for me." He called out to his own paperwork dispenser secretary as he swept past. "Xion will be in charge until I get back."

 

He was gone before the Matoran could protest.

[Wade.]

IC: Alfon

 

I lit up at Plag's orders. 

 

"Alright, let's get this baby moving!" I whooped, setting off to work alongside everyone else.

 

OOC: Infernavika to Ko?

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Ey, good on you, Plag. Wife thieves unite."

 

-Tyler

Edited December 30, 2016 by April Schwarz

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"Oh my God, Reo."

 

OOC: Infernavika to Ko.

 

-Void

[Silvan Haven]

Loren- Ta-koro- Guard Headquarters

 

IC: The RRF Main Branch had been set within the Guard headquarters for a variety of reasons, logistics, it's central location, proximity to other branches of the Guard. It was that last item that Loren was taking advantage of now.

 

Barely three minutes of brisk walking had the heavily armored Toa standing in the section of the building belonging to the Investigators. Before him sat a large room filled with desks sectioned off from one another by low wooden walls. Here and there some of the walls had been taken down to allow for better communication between team members. At several points around the edges of the room were doors leading off to a variety of other chambers of equally varied purposes.

 

Immediately before him however, was a rather large desk, behind which sat a rather striking female Vo-Toa. While not an Investigator herself she still performed a vital role for the department. Namely that of an organizer. When Loren needed an Investigator for some reason, it was through her that he sent his request.

 

"Afternoon Aetha." He said as he approached the desk. "I find myself in need of one of your people. Anyone not too busy that I could borrow for a few hours?"

Edited December 30, 2016 by Silvan Haven

[Onaku]

IC: Arnai

^{Location: Guard HQ}

Arnai looked up from her desk at hearing her name, noticing that she was being waved over by Aetha. She stood up and approached her and the individual she was talking to. She recognised him as Loren, and gave him a respectful nod. "Is something required of me?"

Edited December 30, 2016 by Oko the Matoran

[Silvan Haven]

Loren- Ta-koro- Guard Headquarters

 

IC: "Orders, got a tip about something fishy afoot behind the old smithy and you and I are going to go check it out. Grab your kit and we can head out."

[Onaku]

IC: Arnai

^{Location: Guard HQ}

Arnai nodded and quickly returned to her desk where she equipped her weapons and grabbed her bag, before returning to Loren. "Alright, I'm ready."

[Silvan Haven]

Loren- Ta-koro- Guard Headquarters

 

IC: With a nod of his head and a sweep of his cloak, Loren turned and left the room. His new companion followed behind as they made their way out of the building and onto the ashen streets of Ta-koro.

 

As they walked away the grey and black Toa could not help a smile from edging it's way onto his face. It felt like it had been days since he had last been outside Headquarters. It had certainly been several weeks since he had been out on business that did not involve setting up the Guard's newest branch. Maybe there would even be somebody something there for him to let out all his paperwork induced stress on.

 

It was a solid fifteen minutes walk to their destination. An old run down smithy in a quiet section of a less well off portion of town. A good place to dump a body if one could not get access to one of the various pools and streams of lava in the area. Loren could make made a trip in a fraction of the time had he been working alone, but honestly, that was hardly a fair thing to say when one considered what his mask was.

 

Everything was as expected on their arrival. A few homeless Matoran wandering the streets were the only signs of life as they approached the rundown structure.

 

"Stay behind me." Loren said as he drew his swords. "I'll call you when I've confirmed it's clear."

[Krayzikk]

IC:

"I'd appreciate it if you do it quickly."

 

The statement was probably the most understated entrance he could have made, but Jaller wasn't in the mood for grandstanding. He was usually friendly at all times but the Akiri's face was deadly serious, and he hadn't come in his usual attire. The Ta-Matoran had brought back out his service armor, lacking of course his old Captain of the Guard insignia but not lacking the blades he had used during his service.

 

"I'm sorry for the oversight, Commander, but this one's important."

[Silvan Haven]

Loren- Ta-koro- Guard Headquarters

 

IC: Instantly a bubble of elemental energies formed around the trio. Nothing said inside Loren's sphere of influence would make it to any listening ears. Despite his surprise the veteran Toa let none of it show on his face or body posture. This entire thing had possessed a clandestine feel to it from the beginning. It was a rare day that the head of Ta-koro's Rapid Reactionary Forces was called out for a simple crime scene after all. With the Akiri himself here it would not due to let anybody who might be watching any more information than necessary.

 

"I've blocked off our noise sir. I can't guarantee that nobody around can read lips though, so it would be best to avoid talking about sensitive topics until we reach somewhere more out of sight."

 

There was a wordless statement in his eyes as he passed by his superior though, on his way to enter the back alley first. No way was he going to let the Akiri go into the unknown like that.

 

I had better start getting some answers about what this is all about.

[Palm]

IC: Tuara Drigton - Ta-Koro

 

'Can I put a stop to this?'

She had friends, people who would stand up for her in court. Dorian, a man who had murdered, now walked - mostly free. There was coming back from this wasn't there? There was always a solution. There had to be. Tuara knew what it was. She had to come clean.

 

Tuara pushed open the front door with a huff, and Kitea poked his head around the door from her and Dorian's bedroom. She began to march inside with some renewed determination, but stopped when she looked up at her brother's face.

 

Coming clean meant burying Kitea beneath miles of granite in implications in crimes against Mata-Nui and its people. Burying one of two Drigtons left standing: Tuara's only family.

 

Kitea stepped out and asked, "What's wrong?"

 

She looked him in the eye and spoke, her mouth dripping with magma, "Tell me everything, this instant. No secrets. I need you to explain to me exactly what happened to that Guardsman you killed." Kitea wrung his hands together, but Tuara pressed onward. "Kitea, they know what happened."

 

His expression changed harshly, and he asked incredulously, "How?"

 

She stepped towards him, closing the door behind her. Tuara faltered a little, and put her hand to her brow, "I... I let slip that something was at the smithy. Jaller took it pretty seriously."

Kitea advanced down the steps into the living room, "You told the ###### Akiri?"

 

Tuara suddenly felt herself falling to her defense, "Not exactly! I just told him something was-" she stopped, pushing back, "It doesn't matter. They know, and we need to make a decision right now. I have friends, I can protect you but-"

 

"You can't protect me! You can't protect us! We're ###### because I wasn't there to hold your hand? Are you kidding me?" Kitea growled, "Tuara, if your plan was to talk to your friends, you had to do that before you ###### hid a body for me." Kitea began pacing, his own hand pressed hard against his forehead.

 

Tuara stepped forward, gripping her fist on Kitea's collar, and yanking him towards her, "Shut the ###### up. Tell me what happened."

 

Kitea stammered, "He-e was my c-contact."

"You've been spying on the Guard." Tuara hissed, her tone sharper than knives.

"He got cold feet! Said he was going to rat me out-t!" Kitea struggled to defend himself, "I had no other choice!" Tuara looked into Kitea's eyes, sensing a sadness growing. "The entire world would fall upon me in an instant! I would never see the skies again, or even you!" Tuara was taken aback and was about to retort, "I know I should have come to you. But I never wanted you to get involved in this war."

"I got involved without your help."

"But not because of me!" Kitea growled back, "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I pulled you into the crossfire. I should have never come to you for help. It was selfish and terrible and now you're going to burn because of my choices." Tuara released Kitea's collar. He took a moment to stand upright, sheepishly, "I don't deserve your help."

 

Tuara looked away for a moment, glancing at her front window with a renewed nervousness, "I can still give it." He looked back up. Tuara's fist clenched. Harder and harder. Shaking. Finally she spoke again, "We're leaving."

 

Kitea shook his head, "We're not making it out of Ta-Koro in time." Tuara reached forward and grabbed his arm, yanking on it as she turned around towards the door, "Tuara, what are you-"
 

"I've done impossible things before. I'm taking you out of here, and we're going to work this out."

 

Tuara shoved the door open, and the two walked out into the streets, turning east towards the gates.
It would be quite the walk.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Palm

[Krayzikk]

QUEST IC:

 

I’m still not quite sure how we managed to kill that thing.

 

Loraan paused from her writing to dip her pen in the inkpot, and took a moment to look out the window of her Guard HQ office at the afternoon sun glancing off the rooftops of Ta-Koro. It was funny how a good night’s sleep and the comforting familiarity of home could make what happened yesterday seem so long ago and far away.

 

She pulled her attention away from the window and back to her report, dabbed an excess drop of ink from her pen, and resumed writing.

 

Once all of the thralls were freed, we were able to focus on the monster itself. Easier said than done: for each one of us there was a dozen tentacles thrashing around, and no matter how many we cut off, the creature just kept pulling more of them out of tunnels and cracks in the ground and Mata-Nui-knows-where-else. We were holding our own, nobody was getting latched with those mind-control pod things, but we needed a plan if we were going to take the monstrosity down.

 

Just thinking about it brought back a mix of feelings. Fear, revulsion, but most of all exhaustion. Even for the Ta-Matoran just thinking about fighting in the depths of that volcano called to mind the leaden, sweaty feel of her limbs as the battle of attrition continued. It wasn’t an experience she ever wanted to repeat.

 

It was Venemi, the Lesterin of Plant-Life, who finally figured it out. For whatever reason the creature, I struggle to call it a plant, was actually thriving off of the heat. Not just the heat but the lava specifically. Given that it had proven almost invulnerable to anything else, this fact was the closest thing we had to a plan. Depriving it of the lava seemed to be the only solution.

 

Those of us without any relevant powers, myself included, acted as a distraction. The creature seemed to be motivated in large part by its wrath, so while it of course did not ignore the others it did not pay much attention to them. Mirin, the Toa of Water, was essential in cutting off its lava supply. Our other Toa aided as well, one of our more bombastic Ta-Toa helping by reducing its temperature in the first place, but without Mirin’s water dealing with the lava would have been much more difficult.

 

Loraan paused again, a drop of ink splattering on the page as she unconsciously shuddered. The creature’s screams of rage still echoed in her head when she recalled them, the sheer hatred behind the sounds.

 

Once cut off from the lava, we struck more directly at the weakened creature. It seemed to expire shortly after, though I cannot say whether or not this was due to cutting it off from the lava or our efforts. I must also note that my report of its demise is difficult. As the nature of the creature defies anything I am familiar with, it is impossible for me to verify with absolute certainty that it is deceased. Pardon the break from professionalism, but I dearly hope that it is.

 

I am advising a quarantine of the area for the moment, until we can be certain.

 

I digress. After its defeat we explored the dig site of its thralls, and in doing so Vaisaga’s Arthron detected that one of the ‘walls’ had a hollow space behind it. Breaking through to it did not take much effort using the thralls’ equipment. The chamber contained a number of artifacts of varying natures, and most notably a pool of an unidentified fluid-like substance.I must emphasize ‘fluid-like’ because while it exhibits primarily the characteristics of a fluid, it has some… Abnormalities to it.

 

I have attached a vial containing a sample from the pool, and advise extreme caution in its handling. For reasons that I am unable to properly express, I am quite suspicious of it.I did my best to lock down the pool but due to the disorganization that occurred when he discovered the chamber, owing in large part to the group’s curiosity, I cannot say for certain that this was the only sample removed from the premises.

 

I permitted those involved to take something from the chamber. There was little I could do to stop the more curious ones, anyway, and as no crime had actually occurred at the site I had no jurisdiction to claim the artifacts as evidence. Locking down the pool was done under suspicion of its connection to the creature we encountered. We collected the ex-thralls on our way back to the village, and brought the deceased to the Corp for autopsy.

 

In closing, I have already dispatched Guards to secure the area and informed the Investigative Corp of the sample’s impending arrival. I am, at my immediate superior’s request, submitting a copy of this report directly to the Akiri. In addition to the sample a list of what was found at the dig site is enclosed, with the knowledge that its completion is not guaranteed.

 

Penning the last words, Loraan spent the next few minutes busying herself with making a second copy. As always she was dedicated in her work, and ensuring that the two copies were identical in content was no different. It was important that the information she conveyed was the same.

…

Strictly speaking, she could have handed it off to a secretary to do the job for her. The secretary, in turn, would hand it off to a courier who would bring it to Jaller. Her duties could be finished as soon as she handed the report to a subordinate.

 

Copying it by hand was soothing, though, something she was in real need of. The day before had challenged what she considered to be impossible and taken her very far outside the usual scope of her duties indeed. It was calming to be doing something routine, something to get her back into the groove of everyday work. The creature was dead, and the relevant materials isolated. The assignment was over.

 

It just might take some time for her to get past it.

 

Loraan interrupted her own thoughts when she finished writing, and carefully folded both reports before rolling them up and tying a short bit of twine around them. The two reports were sealed immediately with hot wax and the Investigative Corps’ official seal to ensure that they were not tampered with, and Loraan dropped one on her boss’ desk before leaving the office.

 

Jaller, it seemed, was out of his office too. Once she reached the Akiri’s secretary she was apologetically informed that the detective had just missed him, and he had left instructions not to be disturbed unless it was important. Her report, while important, was not urgent; she left it in the care of the secretary and started walking back to her office.

 

Soon, she hoped, the whole extended affair would seem like a bad dream.

 

OOC:

 

As promised, an end to the quest.

 

I apologize if this post seems a little lackluster, but the goal was to wrap it up rather than protract it. Ghosthands might have written it a little differently, but the basic premise (that it was written as an after-action report) remained the same.

 

The handing out of any rewards should be taken up with Ghost, as I have no knowledge of what he intended. I was just handling wrapup duty.

Edited January 5, 2017 by optimus1

[25K Now!]

IC: Ophaim

 

"You've healed quite impressively, Mekana. It could almost be a miracle."

[Snelly]

IC: Mekana

 

Mekana stretched her arms and legs, they felt stiff, but she was more than ready to be up and about. "Well you know me Ophaim, I'm too stubborn to stay put for long. I've got money to make." She adjusted the orange fedora on her head and grinned. 

[25K Now!]

IC: Ophaim

 

"Through less than legitimate means, I presume."

[Snelly]

IC: Mekana

 

"Well duh, I'm too pretty to risk my life fighting villains or whatever regular Toa do for a living."

Edited January 5, 2017 by D.Va

[25K Now!]

IC: Ophaim

 

"You have a rather inflated view of yourself."

[Snelly]

IC: Mekana
 

"Ophaim...I hope that's not how you talk to girls you fancy...because they won't want to hear that." 

[25K Now!]

IC: Ophaim

 

"Fortunately, I don't find you to be a particularly appealing romantic prospect in the slightest."

[Snelly]

IC: Mekana

 

Mekana's fists clenched ever so slightly. 

 

"Anyway..." She began, trying not to grit her teeth. "I'm gonna look for work, my funds are getting pretty low." 

Edited January 5, 2017 by D.Va

[25K Now!]

IC: Ophaim

 

"Have your comrades in sin alerted you to any new opportunities?" asked the innkeeper casually, pulling a cake out of his oven. "It would be helpful if you were to pay off your tab."

[Snelly]

IC: Mekana

 

"Things have been...quiet. Since the attacks against the city the guards have been cracking down on all illegal activity harder than ever. Of course this does mean I could charge a lot more for my services since the risks are higher...but I need to find an actual customer first." Mekana paced around the room a bit, it felt good to move around. 

 

"I might head to Onu-koro, before my injuries I was doing pretty well smuggling in iStones into other koro...probably still a good business." 

Edited January 5, 2017 by D.Va

[25K Now!]

IC: Ophaim

 

"Have you been spreading word of your recovery along the grapevine?"

 

He cut a slice of the cake and deposited it onto his plate.

[Silvan Haven]

Loren- Ta-koro- Guard Headquarters

 

IC: At first glance there was nothing unusual about the abandoned alleyway. Scattered bits of windblown detritus were tossed across the ground. There were no suspicious lumps or unusually dark patches of stone that might suggest some past conflict or crime. Even his extra sharp De-Toa hearing was unable to detect anything out of the ordinary.

 

There was however, the still partially filled trash disposal bin that used to service the old smithy. It was quietly sitting next to the chute that formerly allowed for easy disposal of unwanted scraps.

 

Cautiously moving over to it, Loren moved some of the decomposing trash around with the tip of one of his blades. The investigating was why he had brought Arnai along, but it would hardly do to have her or the Akiri stabbed because he got careless. The smell while unpleasant was relegated to a back corner of his mind

 

Something glinted in the ambient grey light as he shifted a mostly rotten piece of wood. His eyes narrowed as he looked at it. The tip of a finger sat there. No twitches or other small movements that might signify life. It seemed unlikely that it was some mugger who had decided to hid under this much trash and then do nothing after Loren started shifting through their hiding place. Chances were good that this was what they had come here to find.

 

"Arnai!" He barked, "Come here. I've got something for you."

[Snelly]

IC: Mekana

 

"Of course! I want people to know I'm back in business. iStones aren't cheap if you buy them through the proper channels, improper ones like me however can give you a deal that can't be beat." Mekana put in hands on her hips as if she was posing heroically. "Honestly it's almost like I'm doing the right thing, selling things at a more affordable price compared to those price gorging merchants. Not that I really care about doing the 'right' thing." 

[25K Now!]

IC: Ophaim

 

"Altruism is a remarkably useful justification for criminal activity."

[Snelly]

IC: Mekana

 

The smuggler nodded. "It certainly is, I love it!" Mekana seemed to be in a cheerful mood, compared to how she had been in the past few weeks. "Playing the hero who sells merchandise for cheap serves me just fine." She laughed.

Edited January 6, 2017 by D.Va

[25K Now!]

IC: Ophaim

 

"How theatrical of you," said the Toa of Fire, before taking a small bite of his slice of cake.

 

He finished eating that bite pretty quickly.

 

"And is anyone needing in your ... heroism?"