BZPRPG - Ko-Wahi

[Palm]

IC: Agrona

"Very good."

Agrona stood up, "We'll do more later. We'll have to start basic and work up to more complex words and phrases."

IC: Pae

The trip from Ga-Wahi was satisfactory in that it was uneventful. Pae's route took him to the Mangaia's base, preferring to skip all usual roads between the villages and wahis. The Toa of iron opted onto the main roads only upon entering Ko-Wahi. The chill winds of the ice wahi reminded Pae that he was wise to invest in a new cloak to carry with him.

He thumbed the clasp that held it together to check if it was tight enough. It was as normal looking as any other travel garmet. A worn tan color, and with many pockets. Pae wore his satchel around it to keep the material closer, hoping to keep warm.

Pae looked up as he rounded up the frozen pathway. Ko-Koro stood before him now.

He'd have a few hours before Jin and Nika arrived.H was happy to have the time to himself to scout ahead. A part of him wanted to go ahead and steal the official documents on his own, but despite his distrust in his associates, it would be best to have their support in his endeavors.

But, it would be some time before they found him again. In the mean time, Pae would look up all the potential locations they'd need to access. he wanted to see if there was any special requirements or potential complications they'd have to work around.

If Vera could truly give him what he asks, Pae figured it was worth a try. This life had begun to wear on him. Truth be told, he was tired of it. But he shrugged that thought from the fore-front of his mind. He - as always - had a job to do. Pae was here for one reason:

To begin building connections that surrounded the death of Akiri Matoro.

Edited August 10, 2014 by Palm

[Ghosthands]

IC: Ishi Polzin

 

As the doors opened Ishi beheld the magnificence of the necromancer's aberrant laboratory.  Revulsion and wonder intermingled as he gazed at the instruments of fiendish study.  The beakers and boilers, the alembic and bunsen burners, all of the items begged for inspection from the informant.  Instead, he sat down, eyes facing the doorway until Echelon swooped down and stole Ishi's gaze.  

 

"Alright," Ishi said with determination.  "What's next?"

 

 

IC (Echelon)

 

Echelon replied with a wave of his hand, accompanied by a brief flare of shadows around it as shackles sprang out of the arms and base of the chair, clamping down all four of Ishi's limbs.

 

He walked to one of the nearby worktops, on which a cylindrical object sat covered by a black cloth, which he removed, revealing a jar in which something greenish-black swirled.

 

The Dark Toa's supply of Antidermis was running low - the jar was about seven-eighths empty. Echelon knew that by using it to test the Matoran, he might well be wasting the precious substance—but that was a risk he was willing to take.

 

Picking up a syringe, he extracted all but the last drops of Antidermis from the jar. He held it briefly up to his face, staring at the distilled evil as he gave the needle a flick of his finger.

 

He returned to the Matoran's side, and pulled up the left sleeve of the Matoran's coat to bare the forearm beneath.

 

"The test will be excruciatingly painful," he stated calmly. "And that is assuming you pass. Should you fail, the excruciating pain will be shortly followed by death.

 

"Do you like your odds, Hapaka?"

[They]

IC Ishi Polzin

 

Ishi stared at the syringe hovering above his exposed forearm.  The ambient light caught on the metal needle, refracting in tiny lines, oblivious to the darkness contained within the crystal vessel.  He was anxious.  A strange heat flowed from the green liquid as it came close to his skin, and Ishi was at first afraid; but the longer the needle remained poised to inject the more the po-matoran felt a certain affinity with the green substance.  Somewhere in the back of his mind Ishi even longed for it to invade his system, to experience the effects for ill or evil.  Ishi had an awkward faith in the antidermis and what it offered: a future, dark and dangerous. He liked the idea.

 

"I've always been one for bets of all or nothing."  Ishi replied.

[Razgriz]

IC: A brief period of silence followed my statement. Typically I'd have just chalked it up to, you know, it being vastly profound and all, but this quiet had a different taste to it.

Like a half-awkward-half "we all just zoned out" sort of taste. Thankfully the throbbing of my rolled ankle brought me back to reality in a timely manner. 

No, I don't care what Cancer would have to respond to that it was timely.

We speak in relatives here, don't bully me.

...

Where was I?

Oh yeah, quiet.

Well, can't have that, can we? I'm a Matoran of Sound, it's my job to remind people it exists. That's how it works, right?

In order to rouse my friends from their lulls, I turned to one of my favorite phrases, one that morphed into a greeting, a threat, a method of tormenting those trapped behind a locked door or some rubble (more on that later), basically whatever the karz you want it to be.

"Hello?"

[NorikSigma]

IC: Greisk

 

The Fa-Toa nodded as Agrona stood.

 

Strangely, he felt nothing now. After the initial panic, he was now... Focussed. Not necessarily ambivalent, but he was in control of his emotions now.

[Ghosthands]

IC (Echelon)

 

Echelon wasted no further time on words. With a swift jab, the syringe's needle punctured into the Matoran's arm. Slowly, the Dark Toa's thumb pressed down on the plunger and the Antidermis began to seep into Ishi's bloodstream.

[They]

OOC:  Antidermis use and survival approved by Nuju Metru.  

IC:  Ishi Polzin

 

As the needle pierced endodermis Ishi clenched his forearm and jaw, biting his tongue on accident.  The taste of his own blood was metallic and sweet and it slid like oil down his throat.  The antidermis entered his bloodstream like fire on a dry mountainside, burning its way up his arm and toward his heart-light with a vengeance.  

 

“More... give me more.” Ishi growled with a heavy slur.

 

Almost immediately his vision doubled, tripled, and grew out of control.  Echelon and the others became translucent specters, an indistinct wraith along with the rest of his laboratory.  From the corners of the room a darkness approached, and Ishi felt himself vomiting and shaking under his restraints.  The darkness brought indiscriminate and absolute pain.  Ishi froze and burned, exploded and imploded.  He felt endodermis peeling from his fingers; and when he found the control to look, saw the tips were raw and fleshless, crumbling like hot coals surrounded by green fire.  His screams echoed throughout Echelon’s glacial fortress, full of anguish and torment.  

 

Only echoes lived in the darkness enclosing Ishi.  It echoed back his terror of the unknown, his worthlessness, his unbridled fear of being unimportant.  It was chaos, and it was Kharzani.  The torture could have lasted for a second or a year; the pain overrode any sense of time or place, or even self.  Finally, above his own screams and tears came the sound of another voice.  It ate up his screams greedily and grew more in volume, consuming his voiced pain and fear until Ishi could hear the mantra out of the surrounding dark.  

 

More…  More…  More... More..

 

The words grew faster quickly replaced the beating of his heart-light.  It became a feverish chant.  Ishi coughed and spluttered and ceased to breath, foam forming at the mouth.  His body twisted under its metal restraints, but his soul broke free and went to the darkness.  His fingers kept burning and peeling away, knuckle by knuckle.  The pain increased until colors burst from black and with a rush Ishi’s vision returned.

 

—

 

Ishi Polzin was not in Echelon’s laboratory.  He stood walled in on two sides by bookshelves so tall he couldn’t see the sky.  A green mist floated in the air, and he felt his endodermis prickle on end at the eeriness of it all.  Realizing he could move, Ishi cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted;

 

Hello?

 

His voice echoed into the unknown without answer.  Time passed and Ishi began to explore.  He first went to the shelves and found the tablets immovable.  Next, he stared into the gloomy hallway in either direction and then began walking.  Each step was slow, as if moving through thick mud, but the shelves flew past in a blur.  Suddenly the shelves gave way to a large room with four pillars shaped like matoran rising to the second level.  Two of the matoran he already knew: Caerus and Ambages.  The other two were, as before, unfinished.  A dark figure sat on the grand staircase at the room’s far side.  From their size Ishi deduced it was a matoran, the first he'd ever seen in this particular room besides himself.  As Ishi came closer the being lifted its head and everything became clear. Two pairs of mismatched eyes stared at each other.  

 

This is my mind palace, Ishi said.  And this is the room of the Peers.  Why am I seeing this?  Why am I seeing you?

 

The other Ishi laughed on the stairwell, stopped flipping a coin, returned it to a pocket within the folds of an exquisite coat, and stood.  You see what I want to see, matoran.  These are faces of those who oppose me…  Yours is not among them.  

 

You’re Makuta.  Ishi stated, stepping forward toward his counterpart.  The sound of his footsteps echoed loudly through the room.  The Ishi on the stairs looked down on him with a smirk.  He was black and gray of color, and without physical flaw.  His fingers danced with a foggy incoherence, at once finite forms and shadowy outlines. He spoke as he walked down the stairs.

 

I am; and I am the darkness inside you and in every other who walks this land. Some many think they are without darkness, what folly.  Shadow is everywhere, and I am Shadow.  I have explored all there is about your body and mind already, weighed your spirit through trials, searched your measly past for anything of value while you jittered and spluttered in pain— there’s more than meets the eye to you, little-one.  Your knowledge of finding secrets is…  Impressive.  The voice was luxuriant, enthralling.  Both stepped closer until they were only an arms length apart.  I would give you what you seek, for it serves my purposes well.  You will give me what I desire.

 

And what is that? Ishi said, staring at the perfect face of his counterpart.

 

Truth buried away in places I cannot reach.  I recognize your potential.  I will give you what you see, and you will give me more, always more.  The dark beauty stepped forward and into Ishi, passing through as if made of smoke.  There was a melding of beings, a shudder, and then the acceptance of a new future.  Ishi, now a single entity once more, looked at the room in his mind palace for a last time and then the vision faded. 

 

Break Virtues, bring darkness.  

Take secrets, leave chaos.

 

—

 

He was back in the laboratory and a ragged gasp filled his lungs with air.  Somehow Ishi realized he was looking at the ceiling and redirected his gaze forward.  A difficult expression was on Echelon’s face.  Ishi looked down at himself and saw the metal restraints had broken during the test.  His body was dark and dim, as if the light in the room reflected less off his body than other surfaces, and he saw the stubs of his fingers twitching as he tried to touch his thigh.  They were burned to the palm, all ten.  His fingers, the finest thieves tools ever made, had been destroyed.  And for what? 

 

I’m alive he thought.  Alive and changed.  But how?

 

Break the Virtues, bring the darkness.  

Take secrets, leave chaos. 

 

OOC: I will update Ishi’s profile to reflect the transformation.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Kughii

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"You're an impatient little Matoran." The Titan grumbled, turning his head to stare at Kellin... And instantly wishing he hadn't. World decided it was a good time to start swimming. Inconvenient. He also, now that he had stopped moving, noted that he may have had a broken rib that he hadn't notice. Or it might just hurt. Hard to tell. Such thoughts, however, were only minor distractions from the true absurdity of the situation.

 

The doctor was alive, and the Matoran he'd had to rescue already knew her. And furthermore, that meant the aforementioned doctor had been here a while. Which meant he'd have met her earlier if he visited the hospital, rather than self-patching.

 

Typical.

[Razgriz]

IC: What'd I just say about bullying, you overgrown donut?

"I could be worse." I offered, very truthfully. Impatient would be like, I dunno, a second or two.

This was at least like thirty, gimme a break here. You're lucky I'm such a nice guy, this ball-busting's the sorta stuff that'd get you slapped in Onu.

Don't look at me like that, those tunnels make a man crazy.

...

Moving on.

 

"We gotta keep the flow of convo going, man. If it gets stagnant, we'll have left it off where it could have gone so much further. We can't just let that potential go to waste, right? That'd just be shameful."

I turned to our neighborhood friendly smokestack, my intent obvious.

"Your turn."

Edited August 13, 2014 by Snoop Razz

[Hanako Herupa]

IC: Lana 

 

"Hmmmmm..." Lana mused, as if in deep thought. "I think we were right at cuddling."

 

IC: (Braen)

 

"Really, then why don't you come over here," Braen chuckled, motioning for Lana to join him on the couch. "It'll probably be sometime before we have guests."

[Palm]

IC: Pae - Ko-Koro

As he entered Ko-Koro, Pae plotted out his stay in the village of ice.

The team would certainly spend some time consulting criminals in the city to see if the underworldly knew anything about the kill. The quiet toa hoped his partners had begun thinking past that. He'd have to ask the others about their own previous contracts so they could begin constructing a list of potential offenders. Pae mulled. The man had lived a life without a desire of payments. Drifting from one world to another with only wit and skill. He had no contracts. Only contacts.

He considered asking Echelon. Pae mused. He had abandoned Echelon and his people. He considered whether or not ths Dark Toa would harbour harsh feelings towards Pae for it.

He filed it away. It would have to be done eventually he was sure. He knew of a variety of Echelon's hideouts ala Fist of Makuta.

Next to contacts and consultants, they'd need to uncover the details of the death. Pae felt strongly about getting their hands on official documents. It shouldn't be too hard. With a simple plan they should be able to access a filekeep easily enough: If his partners were truly competent.

Pae stopped.

Maybe he would have time to check Echelon's Ko-Wahi cave. With his mask it wouldn't take long to get there, and he could be back in time before Jin and Nika arrived. But, if the fourth was in proximity, they might miss one another.

He silently waited for his mind to decide what to do.

Pae turned around, and walked out of the village.

* * * * *

He took a road unmarked. It was slow going with the snow, but by the time he reached Echelon's lair it had only been about an hour.

Pae approached the entrance.

Edited August 16, 2014 by Palm

[NorikSigma]

IC: Greisk

It was about two minutes later when the screams hit him.

 

Greisk sat up as the sheer agony of Ishi's screams struck his ears. The others did not so much as look up.

 

The screams echoed for a long while. When they subsided, he heard footsteps scraping outside the main entrance.

 

Greisk debated alerting them. On one hand, if he didn't, and assuming it were enemies, he would be lumped together with this group and killed. If he did, he would live, and any enemies would not have the element of surprise.

 

But this was Echelon's lair. If anyone came here it was either a madman or an ally. Neither would pose a threat.

 

Greisk used his power to raise his sticks, disarmed from him and near Agrona, and clacked them together. He pointed to the closed entrance door.

Edited August 16, 2014 by Norik Of Celtania

[Eyru]

IC

 

Unexpected.

[Ghosthands]

IC

 

As Pae's footfalls in the snow brought him to the spot where, according to his memory, the entrance to Echelon's complex must be, his sharp senses immediately noticed the discrepancy between what he remembered and what he saw.

 

Where once had been a monolithic metal doorway set into a slope of snow-clad ice, Pae now stood at the edge of a precipice. Looking down, he saw only the titanic sprawl of the glacier several dozen feet below.

 

The wind howled around the edge where he stood, but the ice there was still jagged, like a rock-face, and not smoothed by the elements like the strange scooping shapes that rose from the glacier's snowy blanket. It had been broken recently. Below it, exposed rock of the valley-side could be seen.

 

If Pae knew a little about glacial movement, then it might occur to him that a shift of the great ice flow, releasing pent-up energy, could have caused this sheltered section of ice to collapse and fall.

 

It might also occur to him that that most glaciers had a network of meltwater-carved tunnels in their bowels.

Edited August 16, 2014 by That Ghosthands is a spy

[Palm]

IC: Pae

 

The Toa of iron discerned calmly. This was the place, there was no doubt about it. He felt confused for a moment while considering if he had perhaps made a mistake or something had changed. Pae approached the edge and knelt down. He examined the ice, still rugged and clean. While comparing it to the entrance, Pae found the other ice was much smoother and worn from the weather. He knew that this edge was newer than the rest.

Either it had fallen away or Echelon moved it. Or - less likely - Pae simply was in the wrong place.

But just to be sure, Pae looked over the edge again. Maybe he could find some information to confirm whether or not he was in the right place. Pae tightened the clip around his cloak and stepped out over the edge. The cloth he wore whipped in the wind, but before he hit the curve of the rocky valley, he used his hands to create a sort of slide of iron. His feet kissed the vertical plane before sliding along it as it bowed out.

Coming to a stop safely above the roaring glacier waters Pae leaned over the edge, hoping to find the large door somewhere in the basin of freezing water. Without any luck, he crouched, scanning up and down the glacial hill, hoping to spot some detail.

 

IC: Agrona

 

Agrona gave Toros a glance, "Did you hear something?"

[NorikSigma]

IC: Greisk

Greisk frowned. He thought he did.

 

He signalled yes, then shrugged.

[Snelly]

IC: Lana 

 

With a happy grin, Lana plopped down next to Braen, getting as physically close to Braen as she could. There was nothing she loved more. 

 

"Sooo...will be meeting this dark Toa soon?" Lana didn't like most guests that came to visit but this 'dark Toa' sounded intriguing to her, especially if it was vital to Braen's plans. 

Edited August 17, 2014 by Princess Anna of Arendelle

[25K Now!]

IC: Iegasa

 

"There is little to discuss, I'm afraid," remarked Iegasa.

[flynn58]

OOC:

 

Flynn entering Ko-Koro.

 

IC - Flynn - Ko-Koro:

 

Flynn sailed his boat into the dock, and found someone who was willing to buy the boat, no questions asked, for 5000 widgets.

 

"I hope you enjoy it. Also there's a comatose matoran inside enjoy!"

 

Flynn heard a faint "what?" before he jumped away using his Kualsi. Walking through a series of main shops, he walked inside what appeared to be a library.

 

"Hello, welcome to The Wise Man's Archive! How may I help you today?"

 

Flynn smiled. Hooray, nice customer service.

 

"Well, I was hoping I could find a map of the island here! I tried to find one back in Ga-Koro, but the marines just wouldn't let me inside the village! I had to hitch a ride on a boat to get here."

 

The shopkeeper looked puzzled.

 

"You're...new to the island? But you're a matoran! Where else could you be from?"

 

Flynn smiled.

 

"Listen, as a Ko-Matoran, I know you value knowledge. So let me offer you a trade. I'll tell you as much as you want to know about Stelt, and in exchange, I'll take one of those Onu-Koronan Task Tablets I saw in front."

 

The Ko-Matoran perked up.

 

"Deal!"

 

And so, for the next hour or so, Flynn told the Ko-Matoran everything he could about Stelt. Which wasn't much, because Flynn didn't really know much about Stelt except for the fact that it was a hive of scum and villainy. But the Ko-Matoran seemed to greatly appreciate the information Flynn could provide, and Flynn felt proud of himself for providing such a public service to this island.

 

Darn, this is actually a pretty nice guy. I regret thinking of killing him and stealing all his money.

 

The Ko-Matoran handed Flynn the iStone, and explained how it worked.

 

"Now, I've loaded up a general map of the entire island on this tablet, as well as more detailed regional maps of all the Wahis and the Kini-Nui! Sadly, we don't have much geographical information on the Kentoku Archipelago, but I imagine a man with such broad travels as yourself will eventually find your way there. I warn you though, the residents appear to have psionic abilities. Very mysterious."

 

"Psionics? They must be Ce-Matoran."

 

"No, they're not matoran. They're something we haven't heard of before."

 

Interesting.

 

"Listen, Flynn, I can't thank you enough for all this information you've provided me. I can't wait to share this with the other scholars! If you need anything in the future, don't hesitate to come back here!"

 

"I won't, friend. Thank you for your assistance. You say the cable car to Ta-Koro is just up the hill?"

 

"Yes, although it's currently not operational. You'll need to find some place to stay for a while.

 

Flynn sighed.

 

"There are...people, looking for me. You can't tell anyone I was here. Alright?"

 

The Ko-Matoran looked downtrodden.

 

"Flynn, who are you?"

 

Flynn turned to walk out the door.

 

"I told you, Stelt isn't a place for good people. Goodbye."

 

Flynn put his iStone in his satchel, and walked out the door.

 

OOC:

 

Retcon since the cable car isn't operational. Anybody up for some interaction?

Edited August 19, 2014 by flynn58

[Hanako Herupa]

IC: (Braen)

 

Rubbing Lana's back, Brean's lips twisted into a smirk.

 

"I believe so, this Dark Toa is among the most powerful of his kind, a man or something more that has sparred with people of all sorts and survived them all. It is that power, that skill, that cunning I wish to harness. In his own way he'll be a strong leader, the kind of guy people will rally around. Not because he's nice, or devoted to a cause, but because he is good at what he does. I don't doubt if he could stand to gain more by killing me, he would. However he'll have the most to gain by working alongside me, and that is why I am in an advantageous position. I hold more cards up my sleeve than most realize." Braen gave Lana a quick kiss on the cheek. "You're really excited to meet him, huh?"

[Snelly]

IC: Lana 

 

"Yeah...most of our guests I find rather dull...but he sounds quite interesting." Lana rested her head on Braen. "And with his help...our goals will be all the more reachable." 

[Ghosthands]

 

IC: Pae

 

The Toa of iron discerned calmly. This was the place, there was no doubt about it. He felt confused for a moment while considering if he had perhaps made a mistake or something had changed. Pae approached the edge and knelt down. He examined the ice, still rugged and clean. While comparing it to the entrance, Pae found the other ice was much smoother and worn from the weather. He knew that this edge was newer than the rest.

 

Either it had fallen away or Echelon moved it. Or - less likely - Pae simply was in the wrong place.

 

But just to be sure, Pae looked over the edge again. Maybe he could find some information to confirm whether or not he was in the right place. Pae tightened the clip around his cloak and stepped out over the edge. The cloth he wore whipped in the wind, but before he hit the curve of the rocky valley, he used his hands to create a sort of slide of iron. His feet kissed the vertical plane before sliding along it as it bowed out.

 

Coming to a stop safely above the roaring glacier waters Pae leaned over the edge, hoping to find the large door somewhere in the basin of freezing water. Without any luck, he crouched, scanning up and down the glacial hill, hoping to spot some detail.

 

IC

 

Behind Pae, the glacier's white skin of snow stretched up and down its valley. It was strange to think that this huge mass of frozen water, seeming so still and solid, was oh-so-slowly moving with more power than the strength of a thousand Toa.

 

A deep, echoing creak sounded from the depths as if to emphasise this.

 

He now stood near the very lip of the glacier's lowest end. Before him, the ice sloped sharply down, growing bluer and more reflective from the melting of its outer surface in the just-warmer-than-freezing air. Past the ice's end, the valley floor was covered in a coarse grey sand and dotted with chunks of moraine: rock torn from the valley by the unstoppable, unrelenting, impossibly-slow force of the glacier. A white, roaring river of meltwater tumbled down its centre, its noise underlayed with the deep rumble of smaller boulders crashing along in the powerful flow. The torrent sped away westwards to where it would eventually surge into the sea on Ko-Wahi's coast.

 

Looking back up the glacier's slope, the cap of snow was broken only by slivers of darkness: crevasses, cracks that ran down deep into the ice. Any one of them might lead down to the network of natural ice-tunnels beneath the glacier...or it might be a dead-end, and climbing down one would be difficult and dangerous.

 

Pae looked down past the lip again. The crevice from which the meltwater river poured was clearly a direct route to the meltwater tunnels, but that meant clambering along ledges of slippery ice beside the flow, risking a potentially-deadly fall into the raging water.

 

And of course, reaching the tunnels was one thing. Navigating the natural labyrinth they formed would be another.

 

IC (Echelon)

 

The silence after Ishi's screams stopped was broken by a slow, measured clapping.

 

'Welcome to the fold, 'Ahkmou',' said Echelon.

 

If truth be told, as the Matoran's fingers began to dissolve into black ash, the Dark Toa had thought the Hapaka was doomed to the same fate as his original test subjects. But the Antidermis, it seemed, had changed its mind—or had taken his digits for some other purpose. It did not seem conducive to his contribution to chaos to lose the use of his hands; perhaps he would be granted a power to compensate? If so, it would soon manifest itself.

 

No need to inform the Matoran of this, of course. If he was as intelligent as he sold himself to be then he would work it out on his own.

 

'You pass Makuta's test, and by extension ours,' he continued. 'You have my...acceptance.'

Edited August 19, 2014 by That Ghosthands is a spy

[Vezok's Friend]

IC (Kohra):

 

From a corner of the room where she would not hinder Echelon moving around his laboratory, Kohr impassively watched the Matoran take the 'test'. The sight stirred something in her memories, of crawling around in dark spaces, finding a cavern with a pedestal, images of a leathery glove. 

 

She glanced from the remains of the Matoran's digits to her own, deformed left hand. The weapon that was so much a part of her and yet wasn't.

 

We're soldiers in a war - and that means making sacrifices.

[They]

Ooc: posting from mobile. Please excuse any errors.

 

IC: Krios

 

"You got a problem or something?" I asked. Honestly, I've never seen a skakdi stare so long at someone, and in this case myself, unless they had violent intentions of some sort. With luck he was looking at someone behind me, perhaps a muscled skakdi warrior woman.

 

IC: Ishi Polzin

 

His hands. He stared at them long and hard, straining to remember the exact contours of each crumbled digit and his forehead scrunched from the effort. The ashen remains were a small pile on the arms of the metal chair. In the light of the laboratory he could see puffs floating on a soft ventilated breeze. Something seemed off about where his fingers once were, as if the shadows were thicker at the stubs of his knuckles. Soon, as he shifted position and the shadows cast across the back of his hand in a new pattern, ishi realized why: the shadows were slowly drawn in like ripples in reverse, welling up into an untapped potential. For a moment he remembered the rippling hands from his counterpart during the Trial, but his thoughts were broken by the necromancer's clapping.

 

"You have my... acceptance," finished Echelon. Ishi stared up at the nefarious scientist with a hidden sense of pride. He had won something from the claws of Death once again, and in doing so begun to carry some measure of power in the darker places of the world simply by association with Echelon's dark name. He was rising up the ranks. Soon, all too soon, he'd have all the necessary connections and then...

 

"Thank you, but I need to get back in touch with the state of things, correspond with some of my contacts, further the agenda so to speak. " Ishi paused, looking back down at his hands and the pooling shadows. The thought of writing brought to light his handicap. If he couldn't hold a pen or stylus what was the point? The image of those dark, semi-physical hands returned and with them a sudden itch on the inside of his palms, as if nerves were attaching and muscles twitching. Spurred by curiosity he thought again of his lost fingers and how they would look curling inward. At first nothing happened, but the informant was dogged if nothing else. Suddenly, the pooling shadows shifted, spread outwards, and solidified in a crude imitation of his mental action. They lingered for a second, then vanished.

 

Ishi looked back at Echelon. "Seems I won't need to dictate my messages. How long will it take to reach Ko-Koro?"

[Voxumo]

IC: Tivanu

 

Tivanu shook his head

"No no, nothing is wrong. Just surprised at some of the details I had missed prior to getting these goggles."

And it was no lie, for despite how well he hid it, much of his sight had been fuzzy prior to these goggles, but now he could see the scar on the face of the barkeep, which he hadn't noticed before

 

"So about that drink, is that offer still on the table?"

[Ghosthands]

IC (Echelon and Zadron)

 

'Only a handful of hours, if you know the way,' Echelon replied. 'The Wastes are not known for being easy to navigate, or for being forgiving of those who fail.'

 

Out of the corner of his eye, the Dark Toa noticed Zadron, still loitering in the doorway.

 

'Well then, Zadron,' he addressed the assassin, 'I believe you were about to tell me about this "Braen".'

 

'He's got a mansion, in the mountains to the south,' Zadron replied, with a sort of surly wariness. 'He wanted me to contact you. Said he wants to work with someone with your skills, and that your plans and his might coincide.'

 

'Did he, now? Well. I think we have our next destination.'

 

Echelon looked around at his comrades-in-evil for approval.

[Eyru]

IC

 

I make no outward expression of my thoughts. Echelon knows I will approve of any course of action he suggests, solely by virtue of his leadership. Why waste word on predictable information?

[They]

IC: Ishi Polzin

 

"I'll be making my way to the koro afterward then, if there's no objection. The sooner we leave the better -- hitting a blizzard's the last thing I want, and the southern drifts are notorious for flash storms. I'm no ko-matoran, freezing my gears stiff would be a nasty way to go." Ishi commented while uncrossing his arms. He scratched an elbow with a palm, as if rubbing away a phantom chill. Echelon's laboratory was warm from the boilers and beakers, but the thought of turning into an ice cube brought a nervous cold. The thought reminded him of the broken and shredded coat he'd been pulled out of during the trek from Mangaia. "Where's my gear, Echelon? Please tell me Rorg didn't toss anything. Agrona, I saw you holding my journal in Mangaia... what's wrong?"

 

Ishi paused, cocking his head and staring at the queer sight of Toros and the witchdoctor communicating with simple hand gestures and other rudimentary methods, but Toros seemed to be understood well enough.

[Palm]

IC: Pae

 

Pae weighed his options. He knew he needed to be back in Ko-Koro by the time his associates arrived. Otherwise it'd all make for some pretty terrible management. But he also knew that if Echelon had no information about Matoro, he could at least point Pae in the direction of others that might.

 

He simply didn't have enough time. Pae stood up and began to walk back up his iron ramp.

 

It wasn't a total loss though. At least he knew that Echelon's lab was no longer there.

 

He paused mentally. That gave him an idea about the Polzin woman's operation. He began the long ascent to the Ko-Wahi driftlands above.

 

IC: Agrona

 

Agrona took the journal from her pack, looking to Echelon for confirmation.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Palm

[Ghosthands]

IC (Echelon)

 

The Dark Toa nodded in succinct approval.

[They]

IC: Ishi Polzin

 

"Excellent," said Ishi as he reached for the journal in Agrona's hand. The informant felt a sense of security as he clasped it between his wrists, and then looked back at the necromancer. "And the rest of it?"

[Ghosthands]

IC (Echelon)

 

Echelon gestured to Karnakie, who threw Ishi a burlap sack containing the rest of his personal effects.

[Toatapio Nuva]

IC Kavala

(Ko-Koro):

 

White, the color of winter. It was everywhere, obscuring the vision and taunting the eyes. That, and the howling wind, were all that Ko-Wahi as a region had to offer. Ko-Wahi had never been known for much else among the Matoran of other villages. It was regarded as a cold version of Po-Wahi, except without the beautiful canyons and other landmarks to compensate for the harsh climate. Not that it would've been possible to see any canyons, if there were any. Snowstorms were frequent in these lands, and they reduced visibility to near zero. Kavala squinted, but there was nothing he could do to shrug off the flying snow, even with the glassy part of his Kaukau protecting his eyes. He had to rely on his knowledge of the location of Ko-Koro, not landmarks.

 

Hours later, the snowstorm finally lessened its grip on the land. At the same time, Kavala finally reached Ko-Koro. The place had not changed much, Kavala thought, even though it had been years since he had last visited the village.

 

Kavala had a clear mission in mind. Few weeks ago, he had been released from the Ga-Koro prison, in which he had been sitting for some time due to a conflict with him and the Ga-Koro marines. His sentence was completely undeserved, Kavala thought, as he had only sought to protect the ruins of Xa-Koro from being disgraced by the Ga-Koronans. Kavala considered himseld Makuta's chosen one and had taken care of the Xa-Koro ruins until that fateful day that ended with his detention.

 

Kavala had since visited Xa-Koro in secret. The once glorious remains of the village were now an outpost with Ga-Matoran running affairs back and forth. Disgusted, Kavala had sworn to someday reclaim the ruins. Yet, he had a more important goal to fulfill. Makuta's vault fascinated many beings on the island, but few found it as interesting as Kavala. He deemed it a duty to open the vault and use whatever was inside to bring back Makuta's way on the island.

 

The streets of Ko-Koro were quiet as usual. On a bench sat a lonely Toa, soon lonely no more. Kavala walked up him and said. "Greetings. You are Iegasa, I assume?"

 

OOC: Kavala is back!

[Nuju Metru]

CHAPTER III INITIATED!

Henceforth, all events described here are effective immediately. For more information on Chapter III and how it affects your characters, please read the first portion of this post.

[25K Now!]

IC: Iegasa

 

The shrinekeeper, having left the hospital a mere half-an-hour prior, glanced up at the being who had approached him. A bemused smile crossed his face.

 

"Indeed I am," he admitted. "What brings you to me, then?"

[Relapse]

IC: (J'con, Icha)

 

Icha awoke to the biting of cold, sharp air on his face, and the throbbing feeling one gets when all the blood rushes to their head.

 

Nearly jumping out of his skin, the Sanctum Guard commander realized why these feelings had occurred: he, and two Matoran privates to each side, were suspended upside-down by chain, hundreds of feet above an icy death too foggy to see. He tried to move his arms, but they, too, were chained beyond escape. He was stripped of his weapons and mask, effectively helpless to free himself, and the Matoran at his side were in similar condition. Fighting panic, Icha twisted to look at what he was suspended from, and in horror realizing he and his compatriots were hanging from the rock outcroppings of an abandoned watch-tower, several feet from safe land.

 

The watch-tower itself was incredibly hard to reach- impregnable, some would say -due to its separation from the normal ground of the Village. One's only hope- if it can accurately be called "hope" -of reaching the tower was to cross an old rope bridge, and subsequently fight an uphill battle against snow and ice to reach the tower and rescue the guards.

 

Stowed away inside the tower was J'con Donrie, servant of Makuta and oddly overprepared megalomaniac. He had two barrels of Stralix powder, twenty photothermic grenades, a crossbow and twenty bolts, and a Volo Lutu launcher. Surely, however, the saviors of Ko-Koro's bravest could overcome this? After all, a Sanctum Guard private was now running through the streets of the village shouting of the terrors in the abandoned watch-tower, and anyone with any sense of honor was likely taking up arms immediately.

 

J'con was ready for them.

 

OOC: Anyone and everyone invited! Be prepared to get creative, though; I'm not going easy on any of y'all.

[They]

IC: Krios

 

I weighed the price of an average drink in my mind with the value of his words. Indeed, I went so far as to consider the precise monetary exchange of a wink or a great toothy grin, and found little more in equivalence than what might purchase a cheap seat at the local circus. He was an actor, although a poor one. Though it seemed by his gear his trade was of an altogether less wholesome character.

 

"Indeed," I found myself saying, my fingers tapping against the bar for prompt service. Without turning my head I gave the order for a spiced wine and then continued my discussion. "And so what then pray is this issue you encountered if not the Drifts. When I made my way here from Le-koro a blizzard passed by higher up the mountain... glad I'd followed the red flags."

[Voxumo]

IC: Tivanu

 

Tivanu watched as the order was placed, and took a more leisurely pose as he turned to face the vortixx completely

"Well, mainly a blood-thirsty bounty hunter who is after me for manipulating her out of a bounty.. Though not entirely worried about her in all honesty, more so the thugs she keeps company with."

[They]

IC: Krios

"Thugs you say?" I found myself intrigued by the use of a feminine pronoun and leaned forward, an elbow resting on the bar as the spiced cider's mug slid into my outstretched fingers. "And who is 'her' if I might ask?"

 

Just then I remember hearing the sound of a man running down the street outside, shouting words to the wind I never clearly caught above the clatter of the inn.

[Voxumo]

IC: Tivanu

 

Tivanu narrowed his eyes slightly as Krio leaned forward, obviously interested in what he had to say, As a mug of the spiced cider was given to him, he took a short drink of it before continuing

"Her name is Rhea, toa of plasma if her armor color was any clue."

 

His eyes darted to the ceiling where Kive-phu had apparently find a peaceful little beam to perch upon