The Island Of Pain

[Magnus Greel]

IC: Shadowtangle

 

Hexxon approached the edge of the forest, where the trail to Haven Cove began. He paused here, triggering his new Akaku to view the battle from behind the treeline. Immediately, he caught a glimpse of the chaos occuring across the once seemingly peaceful beach, saw how bizarre the entire scene was.

 

"Well," the Toa of Psionics said to his camouflaged ally, his eyes fixed on the conflict beyond. "Take a look at this."

 

IC: Haven Cove

 

With the darkness lifted by the appearance of a strange, bat-winged individual, Greel turned to find the presence of their enemy, seeing him straining to fend off various attacks directed at him. His weapon raised, the teal-armored slave prepared to charge at the Shepherd of Flesh, with his pet Rock Lion at his side.

 

However, the ominous counterattack of the Makuta caught his attention instantly, forcing him to switch tactics at once. His arms reached out, Greel pressed his powerful telekinetic abilities against the corpse of the massive, draconic Rahi. It began slowing its pace, two contending forces directing its path: the Makuta with his magnetic energies and the struggling Greel with his mind.

 

IC: Haven Cove

 

Vertan responded to the Rhotuka spinner by battering with his impact vision, knocking it off course into another direction. In retaliation, the Skakdi viciously hurled pairs of energy rays at the mutated Artanian, stomping towards her as he did so. Before he could charge another energy or elemental attack for Nostala, he was forced to shield his eyes from the vivid flashes of lightning above.

 

When the series of electrical bursts ceased and it was clear to look, Vertan witnessed a wonderful sight. Levacius, injured from the intensity of his own attack on the Makuta slaver, was falling from the sky like a star toward the beach. Realizing the perfect, most ideal opportunity presented to him in a long while, the Team Patronage member accepted it by positioning himself beneath the Toa and raising his sword to the sky. A concentrated blast of crackling flames, bluish and white in color, burst from its blade and shot toward the unconcious Toa, enough power supplied to obliterate him completely.

 

Vertan would have his revenge at last!

Edited January 14, 2013 by Magnus Greel

[sonyaxe]

IC: Zaak"No!" shouted Zaak as the Toa of Lightning who he presumed to be the leader of the Wolves. He stopped and concentrated, trying to absorb the heat from the flame that was licking toward Levacius. He saw the fire start to flicker and die...OOC: I tell u again, the Kanohi Dragon isn't dead!

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

OOC: Uh, yeah, it is... TPTI said that the Dragon was dead, and the Makuta was dragging its carcass magnetically. It had its throat ripped out by a shadow powered egomaniac who is about to do this...

 

IC: Kopraga / Haven Cove

 

Kopraga spread his arms wide and began to channel shadow powers as he hovered over the field above, before heading back down once more.

 

The shadow user began to channel out his shadow energy, causing a huge torrent of dark tentacles to appear. A giant pinwheel of dark energy appeared over the field, flashing repeatedly and causing the lights to twist from on and off repeatedly. He flew back down to the carcass of the dragon, and projected a field of shadow energy that temporarily covered it, before he redirected it upwards. What hovered in the air was a perfect replica of the dragon, only made of pure shadow.

 

Kopraga flew into the darkness, and began pouring out his power - as much as he could without going out of control. What began to form was a completely solid shadow replica of the deceased dragon, able to twist and move at Kopragas will and fully under his command. The ultimate focus of his powers took to the air, circling the field from the air.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Constructelf]

OOC: TPTI stands for The Power That Is, an old screen name for Lord of Adders Black, who is the GM.

 

IC: Ketru

Ketru, floating in the air, had absolutely no idea what was going on, so he decided to just kick back and watch. "I need popcorn," he thought.

[Takanuvainika]

OOC: Giant of Lannister This is getting kind of annoying that you keep shrugging of Monik`s mental attacks like they were nothing. You seem to forget that any distraction Monik would have at using his powers would be nothing compared to the distraction that Jilsud would be having. And also Monik hit him in the back not the front.

 

IC: Inta and rahi

 

Inta was relieved that the Dragon had survived but also saddened that it would not submit to his powers but considering the stress on it right now it wasn`t that surprising, so he settled for subtly using his power to make it easier to tame it when the time came. Just then his Ice Vermin showed up with its new allies, smiling Inta took control of them and sent them to strategic locations in the mountains. When the rahi were in position they targeted the now downed Makuta and at a mental prompt fired their spinners at the Makuta.

 

IC: Susik

 

Susik turned at a loud crash that came from farther in the ship, deciding not to check it out herself she made a 'quickie' clone of herself and sent it towards the noise.The clone come to a broken door and saw someone (Arillan) looking at interesting sword.

[NorikSigma]

IC: Wullus

Aas the first dtrikes hit, Wullus increased his armour's thickness to stave off the attacks, momentarily blocking off the Iron attack. He activated his Volitak and continued his attack, forcing the armour to constrict around Jilud's entire body.

IC: Joltan

Joltan was wracked by pain. He was simply not prepared. for it. This, however, helped him. The vines were pulling him back to snare his momentum, so when his legs simply gave way, the vines pulled him to the ground. This allowed the stony arm punch to miss.

Joltan fought against the pain and sliced the vines off. He launched a shot at lightning at another Skakdi he had spotted, probably the other controlling the vines, while on the ground.

[The Lorax]

IC (Shadowtangle): Krokk was still standing behind the forcefield that Keevak had conjured earlier, so the lightning just bounced off and did no harm to either of them. Seeing that the toa was starting to go down, all three Skakdi kept up their attacks. Krokk brough forth more thorny vines from the ground, this time ensnaring the toa's arms as well as his legs. Keevak kept on pumping waves of pain into his mind, While Malok got to his feet and, taking advantage of his adversary being bent over backwards on the ground, aimed a vicious stone uppercut at Joltan's mask.

Edited January 14, 2013 by The Lorax

[NorikSigma]

IC: JoltanJoltan grunted and twisted, allowing his right arm to come free. The vines started tothicken. He ppumped electricity into th vines, and he smelt it burning, as he activated his Hau, hoping the uppercut to bounce off. He griited his teeth as the waves of pain continued in.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Norik Astartes

[The Lorax]

IC (Shadowtangle): The punch was replelled, but none of the Skakdi let up on their attacks. More vines sprung up to replace ther predecessors, while Malok continued to hammer against the shield, now having created an iron bar to help him. They would wear this toa down until his defenses collapsed.

 

IC (Parched Wastes): Following the directions given by the other slaves, Tuano and Pukena wandered east in search of some ruins where they could rest a little and wait out the heat of the approaching day. It was many hours before they saw anything, but from on top of a tall sand dune, Turano thought he spotted something away to the north. He pointed it out to Pukena, who looked up for a moment and then wearily changed direction, her footfalls causing streams of dry sand to run down the dune in front of her.

 

It soon became apparent that Turano was correct – there was a ruin concealed among the sands. Its crumbling stone walls looked like they might once have formed some sort of barracks. It was a squat building with a few small, square windows and a roof that, though littered with cracks and holes, looked sound enough. By straining his ears, Turano thought he could make out the sound of running water – an oasis.

 

The pair approached the edifice carefully. Such a valuable spot was likely to be occupied, yet there were no footprints but their own leading up to the ruin, not even from rahi. No noise came from inside – perhaps the occupants were asleep? Pukena dissolved her body into a cloud of sand and slowly moved her grains over the threshold, while Turano used his faxon to mimic the powers of a roporak to change his body colours and blend with the background.Inside, all was dark and still. Only a few beams of moonlight reached in through holes in the roof, until a dim orange glow lit up in a corner, slowly growing in size and intensity. There was a scratchy, chittering noise, and then the glow launched forward, towards the two intruders. There was a searing wave of heat, and the next moment the wall behind them collapsed under a barrage of rock and lava.

As Turano stumbled backwards out of the ruin, he realised why the ruin wasn’t in use by anyone else. It was the lair of a catapult scorpion, a creature known for being the natural enemy of almost anything that moved. Even other rahi left the place alone, fearing its cranky, vicious occupant. He looked around for Pukena, and saw that she had also had the presence of mind to evacuate before the giant jaga could strike a second time. Her eyes flashed with anger and determination, and he could see her desire to go back in to face the rahi, not to concede anything to it. While he admired her spirit, he quickly put himself between her and the door.“Pukena, wait” he hissed. “That’s a catapult scorpion in there.”“I noticed” she bit back. “We’ll drive it out and have a place to sleep tomorrow.”“Not happening” Turano replied as quickly as he could. “That’s one of the most brutal, bad-tempered rahi there is, and now that we’ve entered its territory, it won’t leave us alone. Try fighting it in there, and it will bring the whole place down on top of us. All you’ll have left is a…!” He stopped himself before he could say ‘ruin’. “…pile of rocks.”

Their conversation was cut off by another chittering, and the scorpion rounded the corner of the ruin, tail raised to strike. It seemed that there was a hole in the back wall big enough for the rahi to get out of, and now it was coming to slaughter the ones who had disturbed its rest.

 

OOC: Anyone else want in on this? Pukena, Turano and the catapult scorpion are open for interaction.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

OOC: I think that physically striking a Kanohi Dragon would melt your arm off... and I now admit it is dead because I didn't know what TPTI meant.OOC: Not sure if I said this, but TPTI completely ignored Zaak's plasma beam.

OOC: To your first point: why? Kanohi Dragons do not radiate high temperatures. They breathe fire yes, but they don't have some fiery aura around them.

To your second point: I did point out my reasoning for that. You attacked while the field of darkness the Makuta had created was still up, Kopraga hadn't absorbed it. Yet you were somehow able to see everything with no explanation as to how Zaak's eyes were somehow penetrated a field of deepest shadow. Since you would have had no way of spotting the Makuta to throw the plasma blast, I ignored the plasma blast. I explained that in my last post.

Oh, and I would appreciate it if you did start handing yourself random mutations even if it is just your arm. The last character to go Hordika earned their supply of venom fair and square

 

 

IC: Arillan suddenly felt biting pain in his arm. Funnily enough biting was an appropriate word. The Vorahk-like pincers around the hilt had snapped shut around his arm! He could feel the spines digging into his forearm and wrist. Small plates from the hilt opened up and started sliding down the sword and onto his arm, fusing weapon and Toa together. The blade of the sword was now some extension of his person, and who knew what else it could do. The Makuta probably would have explained how the six swords worked once he'd handed them out, but Arillan had got greedy

 

 

IC: As the first few moments of lightning struck, the Makuta's body turned a solid and uniform grey as his invulnerability powers kicked in. While the power lasted it let him shrug off the massive surge of power, and the Ice Vermin spinners...or at least would have if he hadn't forgotten about the tiny chink in his armour caused by Kairan's sword. It let some of the lightning bypass his defences, searing away a small part of his antidermis. His attention was taken off the dragon carcass, letting Greel stop it in his tracks. He seemed to recover just in time to see the oncoming Zaak, hitting him with enough confusion power to stop him remembering which way was up

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Kairan==-Kairan, struggling to even remain conscious through the poison that had been channeled into his body, barely managed to see the Makuta's downfall. Kairan staggered over toward the Makuta, as he pointed his sword toward the break in the armour."If I fall... You're going down with me..." Kairan managed to say, as he sent a stream of lightning energy toward the Makuta quickly, intent on finishing it off for good."Attack!" Kairan attempted to say, but whether it got above a low whisper was a different question.

[Simulacrum]

OOC: Ah, I didn't notice the attack was aimed at Jilsud's back, my apologies. On the topic of focus, some of the attacks and actions Monik has been preforming would require intense focus. Enhancing a punch with telekinesis, teleporting forward (while still focusing on telekinesis), landing the blow, then teleporting back, and then attempting to create a powerful mental assault, all the while weakened? I'm sorry, but I don't even see a Toa Nuva being able to achieve a chain of attacks as mentally demanding as this without having to focus. If you were discussing pervious mental attempts, your character was talking while attempting to attack psionically. Elemental attacks take focus, the more complex, the more focus required. If they didn't take focus, and a Toa could preform an elemental task as easily as he could punch someone, why wouldn't Lewa create a vacuum around an attacking Rahi? Why wouldn't Gali create water in an enemy's lungs, instead of facing them in melee combat? The answer isn't "because Toa don't kill", both of those attacks don't have to be fatal, the point is that Toa, perhaps even Toa Nuva, do need to focus to use their elemental powers. And Jilsud hasn't be ignoring the attacks; he's been dealing with the troublesome ones, coping with the hindering ones, and ignoring the useless ones.IC: Dragon's Roost

Fire and ash, as fire as the eye could see. A truly apocalyptic landscape, with streams of lava and spires of blackened rock. Sothriaem felt oddly at home. Twirling the Dahong Palay in its hand, Sothriaem observed the world around it, alert, yet calm and collected.

OOC: Open for interaction.

[ObfuscatedCubeEntity]

IC: Myr focused on the makuta's armour, bringing the centuries of experience to bear on the one nick in the Shepherd's armour.

[sonyaxe]

OOC: Ok, edit time for me. My bad about plasma blast, changing hordika back, but it is true about the Kanohi Dragon aura of heat. Bionicle Legends #4: "The heat generated by the now fully thawed creature melted most of the city's guardians. Pg. 56. Took four toa of Ice to knock it unconscious. I think something would have happened to his hand. Also- Pg. 60-61: "While the fate of the dragon was being debated, Nidhiki took it upon himself to try and kill it. But the armored scales that had deflected so many blows during the fighting prevented him from ending the creature's life." Its scales are extremely hard. If you could prove to me beyond reasonable doubt that the dragon would be dead, list your reasons. And do not just say, "because the GM said so." If the everyone ignored basic rules/bionicle lore (read the books/ do research on it if you don't know), it detracts from the experience of the RPG, and also makes it unfair for others, even if it is an NPC dragon. I still admit it is dead, but I think it is unfair that it died like that. *cough*godmodding*cough* (I think it is, at least)

 

IC: Zaak

 

Zaak tripped as he suddenly lost all sense of... well, anything. He looked around, confused. Was I doing something important? Thought Zaak. He felt woozy, and when he tried to stand up, he sat down hard. What happened? he thought. After recollecting his thoughts, Zaak figured it must have been the Makuta that had did whatever had just happened. He staggered to his feet, and stumbled towards the Makuta, groggily raising his sword and walking more slowly this time than his last reckless charge at him.

Edited January 16, 2013 by sonyaxe

[CAPUA]

IC: Toothy Bane/Haven Cove

 

Mirax's blood was pumping and he had his sword raised high as he ran out on to the beach, prepared to fight to the death to earn his freedom, but he suddenly stopped in his tracks. “Wait what!?” He shouted to Vinathli, seemingly outraged by what she had said. He hadn’t went down his ice slide yet and luckily he hadn’t for he had heard the creature’s words. He pointed his sword to the fierce battle that was being fought on the sands, blood being spilled on it as he spoke. “You mean to tell me that you don’t even know what side I’m supposed to be on? And that you’re not even going to get involved?” He told Vinathli, confused by all of this. He then noticed the creature’s wings and although it was intriguing along with somewhat alluring, he was mystified.

 

“What exactly are you, anyway? Truthfully.”

Edited January 15, 2013 by CAPUA

[Simulacrum]

IC: Toothy Bane/Haven Cove

 

"I suppose you could call me a being. A sapient lifeform." Vinathli smirked coldly, her penetrating eyes slowly searching Mirax's body. "There isn't really much more to know. Mystery is the spice of life, or so they say."

"My name, if that is what you are requesting, is Vinathli. What I am is something even I have yet to decide upon."

[CAPUA]

IC: Toothy Bane/Haven Cove

 

As her eyes scanned him, Mirax’s eyes did the same to her. “Does there cause not rally you like it does to me? Do you not desire freedom from the chains of this island?”

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

IC: Arillan / Shepherd's Boat

 

Arillan looked down in horor at the sword that had gripped itself to him. Suddenly, he let out a scream of pure rage. How had this happened to him? How had be been so careless? Now, with his hand occupied, he could never use his bow - he had lost his most powerful tool!

 

He had a certain way to get away from the rage. As the clone of Susik appeared behind of him, he let out a roar and swung the new blade.

 

IC: Kopraga - Shadow Dragon / Haven Cove

 

The shadow dragon that appeared suddenly descended upon the field. It opened its maw, as it flew down towards Levacius, Vertan, and Nostala, sending out multiple tendrils of shadow that flew out, attempting to nab those in the area. The unconscious lightning Toa had no way to avoid, and Vertan, focusing on his attack above, would be at a disadvantage for dodging; Nostala stood he best chance of dodging.

 

Kopraga landed the animate in the process, before sending a much longer tendril out from the center, heading towards the fight where the Makuta and the others were...

 

OOC: Is the stasis field on Elynirus something that could have been knocked out of the Makuta's ability to concentrate on, or is it a timed effect that will need to be waited on?

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Parugi]

IC - Nostala - Haven Cove: Luckily, Nostala had already started moving following Vertan's retaliation, and as such was able to dodge the attack from Kopraga. With Vertan occupied now with the shadow tendrils, and with no way for her to save Levacius, she focused again on the Makuta, strafing on the outside of the battlefield to get closer to his position. As she moved, she charged her Rhotuka again, driving it to maximum power before launching it at the Makuta from the side.

 

IC - Okena - Shadowtangle: Okena used his own scope to observe the battle, his face remaining expressionless as he noted the myriad of beings on the beach--including, from the looks of it, a Makuta.

 

"Very interesting," he said. "I suppose the question now is... who do we help?"

[Void Emissary]

IC: Plagia - Haven Cove

 

At long last, the darkness had lifted, and the gravity well was gone, allowing me to operate freely again. Without waiting to warm up my cramped muscles, I kicked off from my perch. I already had my bow in one hand as I hit the ground, running along the rocky bluffs surrounding the beach, tossing it over to my left hand in a simple, but well-rehearsed gesture, before I snatched up one of my last arrows from the quiver.

 

I kept strafing the battlefield, my eyes fixed on the Makuta, analyzing the situation. Levacius was running low on energy, and didn't look like he would last much longer. Greel was still going strong, doing his best to fight off the enemy. Kairan seemed to have already fallen, and Nostala...dear god, Nostala. What on this insane island had happened to her? She had been transformed into something...was it the Makuta's doing or...no way, she couldn't be that desperate...could she?

 

Aren't we all?

 

I shook those thoughts away as my right hand gracefully notched an arrow, my body already aiming for a shot at the one target I could think of: the Makuta's eyehole. It was a mad idea, to try and fry his antidermis from there -- but it wasn't like I had any other way to do it. It was this, or lose and stay trapped here. Do or die.

 

Was that how Nostala had felt? That using that venom on herself was only option?

 

I pulled the bowstring back, lining up my shot.

 

Was this what everyone here was thinking; us, the self-proclaimed "heroes", so desperate to escape that we're willing to do anything no matter how insane it seems?

 

White, crackling strings of lightning danced out from my core, across my arms and through the wooden arrow. There they stayed, leaping and swaying in a chaotic dance around the shaft of the projectile, obviously not used to being contained.

 

Was this the whole point of the Island; to bring us to the point where we did whatever we needed to do to survive?

 

One eye was closed, my vision changing from that of your everyday person, to one of a sharpshooter. An eagle's eye, where the lines of trajectory become as real as the target itself.

 

Was this the final victory of the Shepherds, in which we'd escape their island, but be forced to live with what we had done to free ourselves, forever?

 

I let go of the string, and with a sharp twang! the deed was done.

 

The arrow flew straight and true towards the Makuta's eyehole, a stream of lightning following it obediently, dancing to my tune.

 

As I feared we were dancing to Shepherds'.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

IC: Rynekk - Pale Burnak

 

This island...it changes you. In the deepest, most profound, most intimate ways possible. It's taken ages for me to realize that, but I think I understand now. Where once I would have deplored such senseless bloodshed as the spectacle before me, now, I barely batted an eyelash. This change...disturbed me. Deeply.

 

But still, I suppose somethings can't be altered, not without more drastic measures (and no, I don't want to know what's more drastic than a bloodbath of an island). I was a Toa, and to me, that will never be just the name of a species, nor a way of rationalizing the abuse of power. It was a title, and a promise -- to do what's right, no matter the cost.

 

But where does this all lead, you must be wondering? It all means, no matter what the circumstances, I will not allow Arillan to kill Susik (as would later learn their names to be). Maybe it's the wrong thing to do; I don't care.

 

As I raced down to the store, I found myself to the back of a being about to skewer another. Without thinking, I swung my sickle up, hooking it onto Arillan's sword, and bringing it down to the ground, before it came close to hitting Susik's clone.

 

"What...is going on...here?" I gasped, still out of breath from entering the ship.

 

-Void

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

IC: Arillan / Shepherd's Boat

 

Arillan pushed back with all of his strength, enough to normally yank his own sword out, but in his current predicament... less so. He stared with pure rage at Rynekk, declaring, "My hand! My hand is gone!"

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Void Emissary]

IC: Rynekk - Pale Burnak

 

I glanced down, and realized with dawning horror, how right this Toa was -- the sword had somehow fused to his arm, eliminating any potential use of the hand. A tight ball of nausea formed in my stomach at the sight, but I managed to steel myself, glaring back at Arillan.

 

"I sympathize, and I swear we will find a way to fix you," I said calmly, not allowing any fear or anger to enter my voice, "But I can't let you kill this person. Please...stop, we're on the same side."

 

-Void

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

IC: Arillan / Shepherd's Boat

 

"And whose side is that?" Arillan asked, pointing the sword to Rynekk. "Because I'm only on my own side. And my own side is telling me this Team Patronage gig isn't enough. I'm going to pilot this boat off this island, and I swear I will find some way to repair this arm. On. My. Own. I would bet you're one of the fools who lured his boat here in the first place! But it matters not - I will be taking this vessel, and will on my own accord leave this Island of Pain. And nobody can stop me."

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Magnus Greel]

IC: Shadowtangle

 

In answer to Okena's question, Hexxon deactivated his Kanohi Akaku in favor of a mental search of the combatants. Due to the recently erected barriers shielding his mentality, the Toa of Psionics was prevented from access the powerful-looking and black-armored Makuta, and so decided to review the recent thoughts of two others present on the beach. What he found interested him, though he did not take his time in procuring information from their minds.

 

"Remember when you had the idea that something big was happening?" Hexxon said, his elemental energies receding back from his targets' minds. "Well, it just so happens that a slave rebellion is occuring on those sands, and the diverse assortment of beings appear to be the slaves, whose attacks are directed at a large and rather dark individual that I guess would be a Shepherd from the looks of both him and the beached ship." He gripped his Rhotuka staff tightly with the hand clad with the Nynrah Gauntlet. "I'd say a fight for freedom sounds most appealing right now."

 

IC: Haven Cove

 

The Makuta's concentration on the deceased Kanohi Dragon dropped for the time being, Greel focused on depositing the huge carcass into the sea and away from the battle without any protest. It was a struggling task, due not only to the Rahi's size but also the strain of battle wearing on his physically and mentally. He would have revelled in the disappearance of the dragon, but the sight of an ebony replica of the creature killed any hope in doing so.

 

When it had been placed far enough from the beach, he regained hold of his machete and aimed another Rhotuka spinner at himself for protection against the other forces opposing the Wolves. Once more he made use of his telekinesis, this time to damage the shadow construct with invisible blows to its body.

 

IC: Haven Cove

 

As the tendrils of shadow neared and chance to dodge their grasp by moving passed, Vertan was forced to blast pairs of eyebeams at an incoming appendages to avoid capture. Then, in a proceeding endeavor, he converted his burst of fire from an offensive technique to a defensive one, wreathing the space surrounding him in a blazing wall of flames to fend off the tentacles.

 

Luckily for the Skakdi, as he had positioned himself under the wake of Levacius' fall, he found the Toa entrapped in his fiery ring, and also protected from the dragon's attack. A nasty grin appearing on his reddish face as he realized this, Vertan raised his blade (still glowing from the heat focused through it) to deliver a killing blow...

[NorikSigma]

IC: JoltanJoltan increased the power of the shield. The vines were cut off the by repulsing field. He got to his feet made a charge at the Skakdi. He parried the iron pipe blow and swept his legs below the Skakdi's feet.

[Parugi]

IC - Okena - Haven Cove: "I concur." Without another word, the Toa of Plant Life raised his slingshot, placing one of his metallic spheres in it before drawing the band back. Taking careful aim at the Shepherd, he summoned his newly-acquired Sanok, allowing its powers to guide his shot as he launched the sphere at the Makuta's eye.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: The Makuta had teleported when the dragon had first shown itself, guessing that whoever had used his shadows for their own ends was not his friend. Again the site of his reappearance was no made readily obvious as all those present on the beach felt a sudden weight on their minds. Their sight began to waver and blur, and the scene of the beach started to warp before them...visions of their homes, of their friends started to dance before them. The Makuta was using his telepathy and illusion powers to try and trap them in a mental alternate reality. Perhaps one in which they'd gladly retreat to if it meant escaping from this nightmare of an island...

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

IC: Elynirus / Haven Cove

 

The stasis field began to wane, causing it to drop and allowing Elynirus to stumble forward from her lock. As the illusions and the like spread out, the effects manifested at half their strength, as her mental shielding assisted her. The illusions and the like still appeared and flickered before her, however, and she was taken aback by their appearance. Old things she had forgotten surfaced.

 

Her fist clenched. She remembered now. Everything. This Makuta was trying to trap her - but that didn't mean much.

Still, she knew the thing she needed to do for now. Bolting from the rocks, she headed toward her nearest fellow Wolf - Plagia. As she moved near her, she allowed a release of white energy from both hands - one bringing back slight amounts of spent elemental power, the other healing the numerous scrapes and scares that had been inflicted. "What's happening here?" she asked.

 

IC: Levacius / Haven Cove

 

Levacius' eyes opened up slightly as the illusion powers struck out near both him and Vertan, whose blade was still raised high for the killing blow. Normally, he would be trying to resist the powers targeting his mind; now, however, he was too weak to do so. Luckily, the combination of that mental stimulation and the shaking from the tendril and shocked him up enough that he was starting to stir; he weakly held out his hand, as though he were reaching out for something. There was a slight smile.

 

At the moment, the Skakdi's distraction by the same powers affecting him were all that could stop the blade.

 

IC: Kopraga / Haven Cove

 

It was impossible to tell what passed through Kopraga's mind; whatever the case, he would pay no heed to the illusions and mental voices. Too many years of illusions and falsehoods across the Matoran Universe in his quest for power.

 

The shadow construct he controlled did nothing in response to Greel attacking it; instead, it simply filled it in with more power - indeed, it appeared to be growing stronger, as Kopraga added more and more control.

 

At the moment, it took all of his mental will to focus on his actions at the moment - there were three vital things to do. The first was to control the construct. The second was to observe the shadows in the area, painting a picture in his mind based on the darkness under the feet of everyone who stood on the field. The third was to keep the construct under his full control, so the Makuta couldn't attempt the same thing as earlier. He had little fear of attempts at absorbtion, or a shadow hand; if such a thing were to happen, Kopraga would simply send it all at once, as a fully physical manifestation. Such a backlash from attempting such would make his enemy weak enough to move in for the killing blow.

 

The dragons head turned to the closest group to him - a few Caretakers that were firing chain lightning bolts at it. The tendrils that had emerged before were suddenly sucked back in, and then released as a flame-like jet of shadow energy that would constrict around the targets own shadows, pulling them to pieces.

 

OOC: EDIT: Had to bold the word 'Plagia'.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

Edited January 17, 2013 by Toa Levacius Zehvor

[sonyaxe]

IC: Zaak

 

Zaak stopped short as he saw his old home and friends came into existence around him. Something at the back of his mind told him that this wasn't possible, but there were still some residual effects of the confusion powers, and he disregarded it. His home... his pet lava eel (he was the only one who could hold it) and his only true friend, Ferrus, a young matoran that had shown him the nuances of making explosives. He walked towards these illusions, and entered his house. His armor was once again a golden color, and he saw Ferrus. He said, "How you doin?" With a smile on his face. Zaak frowned. Ferrus had never used improper grammar before, or smiled. Flashes of reality started to intrude, but Zaak didn't want to believe them. Then, a memory of torture at the hands of the Shepherds came to him. Zaak started to try and free himself from his mental bonds, struggling against the Makuta's influence. The vision of his home started to blur around him, and he saw flashes of a beach. Zaak estimated that he was about halfway out, but a full breakaway would be extremely difficult. He halted his progress, not allowing himself to slip back into the vision, but not wasting energy getting out, in a sort of limbo state. He started searching his mind, looking for where the Shepherd had entered his mind. Inexperienced at such things, it took Zaak a while to find it, but once he did, he followed to the Makuta's mind, looking for a way to halt the mental intrusion he suspected had also imposed on the other Wolves.

 

OOC: Would that be possible? Because the Makuta is actively using telepathy on them, wouldn't it be possible to find and follow an intrusion back to it's source? Takanuva did it in one of the books, more or less.

[Simulacrum]

IC: Toothy Bane/Haven Cove

"What else what would I desire?" Vinathli yawned and stretched, almost feline in manner, before resuming her talking. "It's just I don't think attacking your captors while screaming bloody murder is a particularly succesful way to gain your freedom."

[ObfuscatedCubeEntity]

IC: Myr's concentration wavered and eventually broke. He looked around, startled to see his old shop. He picked up a sword and swung it at a shelf, testing it's quality. He stopped in mid-swing when it occurred to him that the building he was standing in had been destroyed on the day of his capture. "It's not real!"

[Techn0geist]

IC: SayltSaylt promptly fell unconscious, having willingly embraced the dreamworld, the world of freedom.IC: DanaveBeing a Toa of Psionics, she was able to see through the illusion. She gathered up a ball of pure psychic energy in her hands, drawing on the illusionary world that everyone else was dreaming of, and launched it at the Shepherds's chest, hoping to break his armour.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: The blast of psychic energy didn't do anything physical, being psychic and all, but it clearly had an effect as the illusion around the others shattered into the wisps of forgotten dreams, and the Makuta took a few stumbled steps, rocked by the assault. The sheer strength was so much that some of the backlash filtered along the psychic trail Zaak was trying to use, hitting the Toa with similar results

[CAPUA]

IC: Toothy Bane/Haven Cove

"What else what would I desire?" Vinathli yawned and stretched, almost feline in manner, before resuming her talking. "It's just I don't think attacking your captors while screaming bloody murder is a particularly succesful way to gain your freedom."

 

IC: Toothy Bane/Haven Cove

 

Mirax blinked slowly. He supposed that did make sense. He sheathed his swords and the simmering rage and excitement inside him slowly boiled down to a controllable level. "Well then... what would be your plan of action? On how to earn your freedom?"

[Magnus Greel]

IC: Shadowtangle-Haven Cove

 

Hexxon, unaffected by the Makuta's telepathy or illusions thanks to his natural mental shielding, sought his adversary out from his hiding spot with his eyes. When he finally did spot him, he focused the corrosive power of his Kanohi Jutlin on the Shepherd's armor plating to rob him of at least some of his protection.

 

IC: Haven Cove

 

While spellbound by the Shepherd's illusory power, Greel didn't witness a home or friends at first. He hadn't really known a home, being a lone traveller who traversed the world for a life. What he eventually saw were bits of the Island of Pain where he had experienced the pleasure and rush of battle, as well as images of his first two allies -- and later friends -- Kairan and Nostala riding on the back of Rocky. It was in this dreadful spot in the entire universe that he had realized the better aspects of life and actually experienced them, rather than observe them during his journey.

 

He was allowed these few moments of happiness before Danave's mental assault disrupted their enemy's focus on the synthetic realities. The scene of battle on the beach flooded back into his head, along with the plan to find and kill the Makuta. His eyes swept the area, searching for his quarry, blade gripped firmly, protective aura glowing, and mind alert.

 

IC: Haven Cove

 

Vertan's armed paused while he was temporarily caught in his master's attack on the Wolves, visions of the great war on Zakaz playing out before his eyes. Ah, how entertaining it was to watch and see again. He felt a desire to run over and join the frays that he once participated in quite oftenly, though also found comfort on this prison of the Shepherds, where had made life good for himself as opposed to the many others present here.

 

A somewhat surprised expression replaced the ghastly smile on his face as the dream-like illusion faded. However, upon seeing Levacius awake and also affected, yet still weakened, Vertan resumed his vicious strike towards the Toa's damaged body, applying all his Skakdi strength into the assault before he could manage a counterattack.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

IC: Levacius / Haven Cove

 

The illusion breaking let Levacius back into the real world, to be taken away from his fantasy to a Skakdi who was not part of his desires. He had very little that he could do at the moment, save turn a little bit...

 

... allowing Vertan to plunge the sword directly through his arm, pinning him to the ground and also forcing the weapon into the ground. He let out a cry of pain, before reaching up and grabbing onto the blade of the sword with his hand. He couldn't quite gather the strength to speak, but if he could, he would have said - "It's happened before."

 

Unable to concentrate on anything beyond the urge to survive, Levacius clenched his hand - which was getting cut up rather badly - onto the blade of the sword before Vertan could pull it up, releasing as much electrical energy into it as he could at the moment. The blade was protosteel, true, but so was the sword Levacius had used before.

 

The sudden shock going through the blade hit Levacius so strongly in the arm that the armor around the blade began to turn black. His nerves were jolted strongly, rendering him immobile but also causing him to tighten his grip, further causing physical damage as the electrical backlash travelled through the sword to Vertan. In a similar manner to his own condition, the electricity would keep Vertan from letting go, whilst also subjecting him to deadly blasts of electricity. It was likely that by the end of the battle, both would be dead, if not the far more likely scenario of lying unconscious on the beach.

 

IC: Kopraga / Haven Cove

 

The shadow dragon turned toward the group assembling around the Makuta. The being began to shift and take on a new form, twisting and frothing and eventually pulling itself until eventually the entire Dragon had been absorbed by Kopraga, who had once again convereted it fully into physical energy. Feeling the surge going through him, he released a number of blasts of shadow power, causing them to form spheres of shadow across the field that hovered.

 

Moving quickly, Kopraga flew into one of them, absorbing part of it as he moved through and teleported to the next shadow, moving from one to the other rapidly before appearing rapidly from behind the Makuta, attempting to latch through the small holes that were appearing and pull the 'master of shadows' apart with his newly gained strength, much as he had ripped through the dragon.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[sonyaxe]

IC: Zaak

 

Zaak felt his mental assault suddenly get cut off, then he was returned rather explosively to his own mind. If it had been a physical assault, he would have been blow into bits, but this attacked his mind. He reflexively turned on his Huna as he tried to piece together the shattered bits of his mind. When it was done, he felt a new, ferocious anger at the Makuta. Zaak yelled a primal sound that scared even him, and, spotting the Makuta, he released a mass of roiling plasma straight at his chestplate.

[Void Emissary]

IC: Plagia - Haven Cove

 

As the last remnants of that beautiful illusion were swept away like month-old crumbs found under the couch, I glanced over to see another Wolf (Elynirus or something like that) approaching, seeming just as confused as I was.

 

"Not entirely certain," I admitted, "Just keep aiming for the Makuta, and wait for the sea group to commandeer the ship."

 

IC: Rynekk - Pale Burnak

 

"Well then," I sighed, bringing my sickle and sword back into ready position, "I'm afraid I'll have to prove you wrong in that regard. Here's your last chance: help us, or get out of the way."

 

-Void

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

IC: Arillan / Pale Burnak

 

Arillan considered the circumstances. Right now, he had few options. He was outnumbered, deprived of his greatest weapon, and had no idea how to use the sword that was attached to him at the moment. After a few moments, he lowered the weapon and said, "Fine. I'm with you until we're off the island - as long as you swear to find a way to get this off of my hand."

 

IC: Elynirus / Haven Cove

 

Elynirus nodded, cutting off the flow of rejuvenating powers. "Alright. I'll take care of the others first."

 

The pseudo-Toa bolted across the field, heading to the next member of the group - Kairan. "Looks like you need some help..." she said, releasing both healing powers and those to restore elemental powers. It would also take care of the poison that was coursing through him.

 

OOC: At least, I think it was Kairan who was poisoned...

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: The holes steadily appearing in the protosteel encasement of the Makuta weren't big or deep enough for Kopraga to latch onto just yet, and the Makuta wasn't going to stand around while they enlarged. He used his own plasma powers to seize control of the bolt Zaak had thrown, making it swerve round him to strike at Kopraga from behind