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Above the Caves, What is the Surface Topography of the Earth Realms?


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Something that has bugged me about Bionicle since I was a kid, was that we never have gotten any good description of the surface above the Earth Realms in the story (i.e. Onu-Wahi, Onu-Metru, and the Earth Region of Okoto). We know very well about the caves and villages beneath, but it is still a mystery what lies exactly on top. First I'll mention all that I know about each realm's surface, and then see if you guys know anything in addition

 

Onu-Wahi, in the MNOG we see a bit of the surface of Onu-Koro near Midak's hut. All that is noticeable is that it  the rocks are gray, hinting that perhaps they could be a formation of granite-like rocks. At the upper edge of Onu-Koro is the Papa Nihu Reef.

 

Onu-Metru, this might be the surface we know the most about. The surface is pitted with mines and tunnels which lead down into the Archives, with towers coming out of them. 

 

Region of Earth, on the maps of Okoto, this area is gray. 

 

So anything else to add to this info? Speculation on what perhaps lies above these areas, (particularly Onu-Wahi or the Region of Earth?)

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The only above-ground depiction of the Region of Earth that I know of is this frame from those "Get the Mask" comics:

 

i6gDFys.png

 

Here is the rest of this comic (warning: massive image)

 

Then there is of course the description from bionicle.com:

 

"The western part of Okoto is rich with obsidian fields. It is a black, glasslike and nightmarish place full of treacherous ravines, crevices and deep rifts."

 

It just looks and sounds like huge, empty, obsidian plains riddled with entrances to the hollow underground.

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the region of earth is barren and coated in obsidian from the nearby volcano range, big slits cut into it to let light through into the cavernous network of tunnels and villages below,

 

tbh i think Okoto's Earth region is the one we have a most definite picture of the surface of, and that's just 'cuz it's kinda bland. o:

bnnrimg1.pngbnnrimg2.pngbnnrimg3.pngbnnrimg4.pngbnnrimg5.pngbnnrimg8.png

 

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Considering Onu-Wahi's proximity relative to the Mangai Volcano, I'd hazard a guess that the 'above areas' of Onu-Wahi are punctuated by thick layers of basalt, which would perhaps explain the granite-like material that Onu-Koro is most likely surrounded by. As for the above area of Onu-Wahi, I think that it would look like Onu-Metru but... well... less technologically advanced with all it's cliffs, canyons, Protodermis falls and crevices.

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Considering Onu-Wahi's proximity relative to the Mangai Volcano, I'd hazard a guess that the 'above areas' of Onu-Wahi are punctuated by thick layers of basalt, which would perhaps explain the granite-like material that Onu-Koro is most likely surrounded by. As for the above area of Onu-Wahi, I think that it would look like Onu-Metru but... well... less technologically advanced with all it's cliffs, canyons, Protodermis falls and crevices.

 

Well for all we know Mt. Ihu is an inactive volcano (explaining its height, being a Strato-Volcano like those found in the Cascade Mountains or Los Andes) and that Onu-Wahi is on the former lava-bed of the the Ihu/Mangai lava flows, with the active lava flow going into modern Ta-Wahi. Deeper underground there could be granitic batholiths and rills leading right up to that mysterious layer of Big Giant Robot Strata...  (Then again, seeing that the island was nothing more than an artificial construct to hide a sunken robot, that geologic history would seem overly complex, but a fake geologic record would do wonders in hiding the fact it is artificial wouldn't it?)

 

Also do we know if Onu-Koro has any areas exposed to the surface? The cutscenes from the cancelled 2001 video game show the sky while Whenua and the Tohunga are busy disco dancing... but it hasn't shown up since.

Edited by Xboxtravis

52641688958_d61c0bc049_w(1).jpg.c0871df0de376218d7ca2bc4f409e17d.jpg

All aboard the hype train!

 

 

 

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Considering Onu-Wahi's proximity relative to the Mangai Volcano, I'd hazard a guess that the 'above areas' of Onu-Wahi are punctuated by thick layers of basalt, which would perhaps explain the granite-like material that Onu-Koro is most likely surrounded by. As for the above area of Onu-Wahi, I think that it would look like Onu-Metru but... well... less technologically advanced with all it's cliffs, canyons, Protodermis falls and crevices.

 

Well for all we know Mt. Ihu is an inactive volcano (explaining its height, being a Strato-Volcano like those found in the Cascade Mountains or Los Andes) and that Onu-Wahi is on the former lava-bed of the the Ihu/Mangai lava flows, with the active lava flow going into modern Ta-Wahi. Deeper underground there could be granitic batholiths and rills leading right up to that mysterious layer of Big Giant Robot Strata...  (Then again, seeing that the island was nothing more than an artificial construct to hide a sunken robot, that geologic history would seem overly complex, but a fake geologic record would do wonders in hiding the fact it is artificial wouldn't it?)

 

Also do we know if Onu-Koro has any areas exposed to the surface? The cutscenes from the cancelled 2001 video game show the sky while Whenua and the Tohunga are busy disco dancing... but it hasn't shown up since.

 

 

Yep, that's Onu-Wahi. As for the beaches of Onu-Koro, it would be unlikely that there's any form of permanent settlement on the surface. I wouldn't expect much from the beaches themselves, as they just look like the shores of a volcanic island in the Legend of Mata Nui trailer.

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For Onu-Wahi, Quest for the Toa gives us some insight (see attached image from BS01). The Papa Nihu region, at least, feels like a rocky version of Le-Wahi. There are also some surface images in the story/art cards from the Quest for the Masks/Rahi Challenge TCG. I've attached one of those for reference as well, but there are a couple more involving Nui Rama, etc.

 

Not a tremendous amount of insight, and I'm not sure how canon these sources are, but they make at least the Onu-Wahi coastline feel consistent with Mata-Nui's tropical island-ness. Doesn't the road to Onu-Koro start in a jungle in MNOG, too?

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Onu-metru was (I think) just so covered by the Archives and support buildings that even the island's ground level is cut off from the sun. Like caves that grew from alleys from streets as buildings got bigger.

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Elemental Rahi in Gen2, anyone? A write-up for an initial video for a G2 plot

 

I really wish everyone would stop trying to play join the dots with Gen 1 and Gen 2 though,it seems there's a couple new threads everyday and often they're duplicates of already existing conversations! Or simply parallel them with a slightly new 'twist'! Gen 2 is NEW, it is NOT Gen 1 and it is NOT a continuation. Outside of the characters we already have I personally don't want to see ANY old characters return. I think it will cheapen the whole experience to those of us familiar with the original line...

 

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It seems like Onu- may be shown as barren and empty because they don't want us to know what's going on on the surface... :evilgrin:

 

But really, there could be something there they don't want us to know. A band of exiles setting up some wasteland civilization? A Nui-Ghost-esque group? Who knows for certain?

 

...also, the above would be a great idea for a story. Maybe about some risky Matoran venturing across the Onu-Wahi wastleland, trying to map and explore it... oh, wait, I probably shouldn't have put that there. :P (I do not claim ownership of this intellectual property; anyone can take this idea and run with it if ya want).

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It seems like Onu- may be shown as barren and empty because they don't want us to know what's going on on the surface... :evilgrin:

 

But really, there could be something there they don't want us to know. A band of exiles setting up some wasteland civilization? A Nui-Ghost-esque group? Who knows for certain?

 

...also, the above would be a great idea for a story. Maybe about some risky Matoran venturing across the Onu-Wahi wastleland, trying to map and explore it... oh, wait, I probably shouldn't have put that there. :P (I do not claim ownership of this intellectual property; anyone can take this idea and run with it if ya want).

If I recall, at some point during MNOLG's development there were plans for a shadow tribe that served Makuta. Akhmou was a member of it, hence the infected Koli balls. I'm not sure where they would have hung out, but that seems like as good a place as any. Maybe something to ask Faber about.

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From what I've seen from MNOG, I've always thought of Onu-Wahi having an arid landscape, littered with arid grasses. The land around Flagstaff and White Mountain (Part of the heartland of ancient Apacheria) in the region north of the 'Rim was the site of ancient volcanoes thousand(s) of years ago, and much of the rock of the region is white and grey due to Mount Humphrey's eruptions as well as other now-dead volcanoes (forget about the vast forests that grew from the ashes). Based on someone elses description the areas more approximate to Ta-Wahi, this might be a feature of Onu-Wahi, accompanying the previous description of arid grasslands that would eventually give way to possibly steep cliff coasts and the aforementioned reef.

 

 

There's nothing above. Just more caves.

It's caves all the way up! :P

What, like Utapau? :P

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