Recently in the BZPRPG, we discovered that Makuta has had two unknown articles stolen from him. The following paragraphs are a collection of my thoughts and deductions on the identity of the artifacts and also the identity of Makuta. This may be vaguely interesting to any BZPRPG player, and may also come in handy when trying to solve the staff plot.

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What is it that Makuta wants back? We have a two clues:

One: there are six that were stolen, but Makuta possesses more than six. Two: these six are more valuable than the others of their kind; they are, as Makuta says, special.

We can also inference a few things: judging from Makuta's anger, these unknown artifacts are extremely precious to him. Why? From what we know of Makuta (which is, admittedly, very little), he is a being of shadow and malice. What qualities give something value in his eyes? If we take what we know of Makuta, it's likely that power is an attractive quality to him. He likes having power over Mata Nui and watching its inhabitants scurry around in vain quests to defeat him.

I hypothesize that these artifacts are either a) a source of his power, or 2) a source of power than can be used against him. Nothing else is likely to incur such anger on his part.

Now, let's backtrack briefly. We can all agree that Makuta likes power, yes? We can draw this conclusion from this fact: Makuta wants to have dominion over Mata Nui. He threatens the villages with Rahi, and he took the island's most powerful heroes so they would no pose a threat to his dominion. If Makuta didn't care about ruling Mata Nui, he wouldn't infect Rahi and he wouldn't have done anything to the Toa Mata when they confronted him. In addition to this, Makuta's treatment of Heuani suggests that he enjoys oppressing others from his position of power.

So if Makuta likes feeling powerful, then why would he lock something in a vault? If you are invincible and all-powerful, you don't have vaults. Vaults are for people not powerful or intimidating enough to protect what is valuable to them. But Makuta, the most powerful, intimidating villain of them all, locks these unknown artifacts in a vault because, despite his power, he cannot risk them being stolen.

Think about it: the Makuta, the lord of darkness, shadow, and fear, is afraid.

So what does Makuta have to be afraid of? From what we know of him, he wants to rule Mata Nui. Therefore, his fear most likely has something to do with losing his dominion.

But wait! How could this happen? The Toa Mata, explicitly named as the six most powerful Toa the island has ever seen, were unable to conquer Makuta. So Makuta has no reason to be afraid, right? If those six legendary heroes couldn't take him down, then why would he possibly be concerned about our chances?

Because these artifacts, as I hypothesized earlier, are either a) a source of his power, or 2) a source of power than can be used against him.

If Makuta loses these artifacts, either he will lose enough of his power to be defeated, or those who find the artifacts will gain enough power to overthrow him.

What could grant this type of power? Golden Kanohi and Toa Stones have already been mentioned, so I'll take a look at them. First: golden Kanohi. The Toa Mata, more powerful than any PC Toa, had golden Kanohi, and Makuta defeated them with ease. So there's no reason for him to be worried us getting the Kanohi, because if the Toa Mata didn't stand a chance with them, then how would we?

Second: Toa Stones. Makuta has nothing to fear from regular Toa Stones, but, as he stated, these unknown artifacts are special. If Makuta has lost six abnormally powerful Toa Stones, then that might be something that would cause him some concern. If we assume that these artifacts are Toa Stones, then Makuta's first concern will be to recover the Stones, and if that fails, his second strategy will most likely be to eliminate any Matoran that could use a Stone to become a super-Toa.

What has Makuta's only measurable action been prior to the release of the Rahkshi? He's ordered the elimination of the Chroniclers Company, the bravest, most likely candidates for Toa. This means that, should we gain possession of a Stone, we'll need to find a PC Matoran eligible to become a Toa.

There are two things that Friar Tuck has said in the past that are extremely relevant now: only Matoran that are roleplayed exceptionally well will be allowed to turn into Toa, and the Staff quest will put your characters in mortal danger. If player A is roleplaying a Matoran well enough to become a Toa, and he's involved in the Staff quest, then Makuta's first action is going to be to try and eliminate that Matoran.

These last two paragraphs are only applicable if the unknown artifacts are, in fact, Toa Stones, but the rest of my post should be taken into consideration when guessing at the identity of the artifacts stolen from Makuta. What else do we know of that can grant enough power to put fear in the heart of the Master of fear?