The Great Spirit DM

This would make a really awesome story premise. An Onu-matoran forced into service with the Hunters who one day is zapped into a Toa and takes the chance to throw off his erstwhile masters and become his own person for the first time in aeons. Now THAT would have made a sweet story serial!

Hey guys, Most of my creative energies have been spent on a d20 BIONICLE tabletop strategy game. One of its main strengths, I've noticed, is its visually impressive pieces. Even though my boards are rudimentary grids, the BIONICLE sets still just look really cool. Among the steps that I've taken to accentuate this advantage, I've decided to try a custom paint job. I had acrylic paint on hand, so I used that with some painter's tape to specify which areas would be affected. I like the overall effect. I've always found it odd that Tahu's whole face is glowing through the slits in his mask. This way, we get a nice, satisfying set of BIONICLE-y glowy eyes without the luninescent cheeks. I'm not a huge fan of the paint's texture, but since it's largely covered by a mask, I don't think it'll bother me much. In the future I may take a look at Takanuva Stars as well. I would likely try to make it a darker grey with more black mixed in to make it closer to the set's other grey pieces and to provide some contrast with his silver Avohkii.

Vakama snapped out of his reverie as he approached the sunken ruin of the warehouse. This was the place. Nuhrii must be buried somewhere down there. He slipped an Akaku out of his pack and switched masks. Blinking as the scope adjusted to his eye, Vakama pinpointed helpless Nuhrii. After a few internal calculations—all mask makers are mathematicians—Vakama slipped on a Matatu and set to work, carefully lifting and shifting rubble until finally Nuhrii could drag himself out from the dust. “Nuhrii, we need to go, right now.” He could feel the threatening vine more than see it. Suppressing the almost primal urge to blast it with fire, Vakama pulled a freeze disk from his pack and, with a fluid motion, nailed the offending vine. As it retreated, he grabbed Nuhrii by the arm and bolted down the street. “Vakama! What’s going on?” “What, aside from the fact that the city is besieged by shrubbery? Quite a lot, actually.” Once he had reached a corner before the main road, he slowed to a walk and switched back to his Huna. “You need to stay with me. You’re in danger because you know that the Great Disk is in the Fire Pits.” “How did you—” Nuhrii was cut off by the clatter of a Vahki patrol rounding the corner. Vakama whirled and glared. The patrol fell apart—decapitated and disarmed, with the newly-detached joints still red hot. “We’re going to the Great Temple. I’m going to keep a low profile.” Nuhrii looked down at the smoking Vahki remains. He turned around and… Vakama had vanished. Nuhrii was close now to the Great Temple. Just a few more blocks. He squinted down alleyways and kept careful note of strangers as he went. Vakama emerged from one of these dark byways. “You are going to tell me something now.” “I found the disk.” Nuhrii was dumbfounded as he gazed at the item of awesome power. “It was really quite easy. Once you were out of eyesight, I stole a mask of speed and from a nearby forge. Then it was quite simple. Use the Kakama in the sewers to cover a great distance in little time without disturbing the matoran, using invisibility to get past the Vahki guards, and then the Matatu to retrieve the Great Disk without climbing down into the pit.” This was Vakama? The nervous apprentice that he’d taught for years? When the maskmakers’ quality control board had given a presentation on impostor syndrome, everyone had thought of Vakama. Extra height and a new set of powers wouldn’t change that. “Vakama, what happened to you? You clearly are not the same Matoran I talked to just a few days ago at our game of pick-up Aklini.” “Sufficiently stressful conditions can make a Toa age an aeon in a week.” … … … … … … “Did you do anything else while you were out?” Takua rushed into Jala’s forge. The industrious matoran was double-checking a shipment of tools for the stonefields of Po-Koro which he had obviously newly packed. “Jala! Guess what just happened! I ran into Vakama and he’s a Toa now and he needs our help finding the Mask of Light and he’s a Toa and—” “Woah, slow down.” Jala realigned Takua’s Pakari. “From the top.” “Vakama is a Toa now. He proved it by telling me the story about our adventure in the archives.” “Which one?” “THAT one.” Jala stroked his Komau thoughtfully. That one particular time it was impossible for even the Vahki to have spied on them. “Ok, so what did Vakama say?” Takua’s eyes were wide, with an amber gleam that gave Jala a chill of foreboding. “Jala, have you ever heard of the Rahaga?”

Nokama padded through the streets of Ga-Metru, her stealth a habit perpetuated by fear of a particularly nasty plant. As she picked out Vhisola’s house, Nokama was dismayed to see a squad of vahki surrounding the hut. Time to find out what I can do, exactly. Nokama focused on the water in the drainage ditch to her left. In researching for her classes on water rahi of the region, Nokama had found interesting notes about Vahki responses to emergencies. Specifically to the Gara Rui, which has been known to eat through some of the gaskets that control water flow in the neighborhood. In reading through the correspondence between Nuparu and Marka, Nokama had found that the Vahki were wired to check for Gara Rui infestation whenever a significant deviation in waterflow occurred. If she could send a spurt of water from it to hit the vahki around the hut, that might do the trick. It wouldn’t be the kind of thing that would look like an actual infestation, but it should be a significant enough deviation from the norm to get the vahki away from that hut long enough to get inside. With a great effort of will, Nokama managed a small spurt of water. Steeling herself, she raised a tenuous arc of liquid protodermis, which fell with a splash behind the feet of the squad leader. With a quick chattering, they rushed north. Nokama was slightly puzzled at the fact that they all left, but took it as a fluke of programming. She had not been consulted, and therefore felt no responsibility. Of course, the fact that vahki were there in the first place filled her with foreboding. She nudged the door open and came face to face with… Well… herself. An enormous image of her Rau, with an artistically rendered soft glow in each eye. As she looked around, Nokama came to realize that this whole hut appeared to be as much a shrine as a domicile. The walls were decked with tokens of the days which Nokama had spent with Vhisola, walking her through the finer points of protodermis purification or rahi ecology. Vhisola had been an excellent student when Nokama had dedicated additional time to her education. Sifting through Vhisola’s desk, Nokama found a sheaf of papers with an unintelligible writing on them. After a quick initial scrutiny of the frequencies of symbols and relative placements, Nokama judged that this was a simple substitution cipher, similar to the method which Codan had used when passing secrets to the Toa Mangai. She quickly translated the most recent entry, distinguished by Vhisola’s particular way of piling papers. "Now that Nokama has become a Toa, she has no time for me. But she'll be sorry. Once I find that special Kanoka disk, everyone will forget about her... just like she's forgotten about me!" Nokama shook her head, exasperated. Vhisola’s jealousy was her other distinguishing trait. Nokama read a few more entries, then placed the papers in her bag. Vhisola was clearly in trouble, as it was not her habit to leave important papers lying out in the open when going out. Vhisola had expected to come back, and shortly. Vhisola kept important notes in only one other place: her locker at school. Since the notes she’d discovered implied that Vhisola knew a great deal more than she had previously let on, Nokama needed to find out precisely what. As she placed the notes in her bag and left the house, her mind traipsed back over the day’s events. “Metru Nui… the whole city… will fall. The Great Disks… the Great Disks can save it.” His ominous, eerie tone shocked the others into silence. “What is it, Vakama? What’s wrong?” Nokama’s voice tremored slightly with concern and fear. In the City of Legends, proclamations of doom are not to be treated flippantly. Vakama paused. “I had a vision. I saw Metru Nui in ruins… and then restored, through the power of the six Great Disks. Nokama, we need to find those disks!” “You’ve been spending too much time in front of a forge, firespitter. Sure, everyone knows the legend of the Great Disks—the six powerful Kanoka disks, each hidden in a different Metru. But that might be all it is… a legend.” Onewa’s voice was tinted with disdain. “Perhaps,” Vakama replied, “but can we afford to take that chance? The Morbuzakh has been devastating the city, destroying our society, and resisting all of our conventional defenses. The Matoran sent to fight it never return, and even the vahki seem to fear it. The benefits of acquiring ancient relics of great power are uniquely valuable right now.” “But how do we know where to find these disks?” Nuju asked. “Legends generally have some basis in fact, but they also tend to be broad and vague.” Vhisola’s notes were anything but vague—her research should be quite specific. Still, Nuju had had a point at the time. A fellow academic, Nokama had occasionally noted Nuju’s name amoung the contributing authors of various studies. What was his specific area of study again? She should have asked. “Six matoran know the way. I saw each in peril, the holder of a secret more precious and dangerous than most. We must find them.” With the erratic manner of a psychic reading knowledge given from evanescent prescience, Vakama proclaimed the names of six matoran. Everyone but Nokama had winced. Why was finding Vhisola so difficult? Nokama was normally her first resort. As she entered the academy, Nokama sighed and shook off her reverie. Fitting her key into the door, she entered the long-beloved haven of learning. In this place she had discovered the wonders of the world and her delight in bestowing them on others. She smiled at the building's reminders of fruitful toils. Though her Metru’s citizens could often be denigrated as chalkboard surfers in the midst of a heated Aklini season, deep down, most Matoran respected, almost venerated, the scholars of Ga-Metru. Nokama found her classroom door ajar. Summoning her energies, Nokama suddently thrust the door open and brandished her hydro axe at the figure in the corner by Vhisola’s open vault. She could make out an azure Kaukau behind the disk launcher pointed at her. That mask looked familiar. “Hahli?”

Thanks for pointing out that flaw in the second chapter. I should definitely revise that at some point.

Could you provide a better picture of the Golden Pakari? It looks damaged, but I can't tell from your pictures. If it's not in too bad a shape, I would consider buying it and the gold kaukau. The two Kakamas that you have--one is obviously red, but I can't tell about the second one. Is it teal or is it green? If it's green, I might be interested in both.

Nokama opened the door to the inner sanctum to see a figure growing amid a whirl of energy. She cautiously stepped into the room as the light slowly faded and the red and grey tones of the Fire Toa’s armor coalesced. Footsteps of other Matoran sounded in the hall, attracting the Toa’s attention. As he turned, Nokama sized him up. The small torch-like device that hung at his waist clearly identified him as a mask maker. Most Toa don’t carry such a device, so this be a former Matoran from Ta-Metru. She examined the delicate curves of the Great Kanohi Huna which he wore. From her studies of Kanohi, they bespoke a student of Nuhrii. Vakama, perhaps? He wore a Huna and had a reputation as a crafter of Kanohi. If Lhikan were to pass off a Toa stone to some mask maker—and the stone in her hand was proof that he was giving them out—then Vakama was one of the more likely. “Hello Nokama, Matau, Nuju, Onewa, and Whenua.” “So you too were given a Toa Stone?” Nuju’s question was obviously rhetorical, a product of his classical education. Matau interjected “What’s a Toa Stone?” “Well Matau,” Nokama replied, “a Toa has two kinds of energy. One of them is elemental, and fuels their powers over the world around us, while the other is a less well characterized power which is generally described as ‘Toa energy.’ Toa Stones contain a certain amount of this energy and can discharge it and thereby turn a Matoran into a Toa.” “Thanks for the lecture-talk teacher. So how do we become Toa-Heroes?” “Place your stones in those alcoves and become Toa Metru,” Vakama replied. The five Matoran circled the suva and each placed their stone in its slot. Beams of energy emanated from the Suva. Where once stood five Matoran now stood Toa. “Why are we made Toa, and why now?” Nokama pondered. “Who cares? We are Toa-Heroes now!” Matau replied. He raised a pair of Aero slicers in a triumphant gesture. His infectious enthusiasm spread through the group. They were Toa! Defenders of goodness and light. They would defend the city from harm, just like Lhikan and Naho and Dume and all of the other heroes whose valiant deeds lay in the records of the Coliseum. Everyone was talking at once. Matau jabbered about all of the great deeds to be done. Nokama discussed the ways in which they could help the Matoran. Nuju postulated about all of the discoveries which they could make with their newfound abilities, and Whenua regaled them with tales of the great Heroes of old. Only Vakama could not share in the celebration. Abruptly, he cut into the conversation. “Metru Nui… the whole city… will fall. The Great Disks… the Great Disks can save it.”

I've long been toying with the concepts of alternate dimensions in BIONICLE and, especially, what happens when characters cross over. So this is my first attempt at making an epic here on BZP, and it's based on my musings. I hope you all enjoy! Link: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/25295-firespitter/

A golden glint from the field beyond was the only warning Vakama received before he was plunged into the void between dimensions. Vakama’s combat instincts were on high alert as he tumbled into a cluttered forge in Ta-Metru. He was invisible before he hit the ground. Even his battle-hardened reflexes, however, were insufficient as he watched Krekka bind Lhikan’s hands with energy. Nidhiki dropped Matoran Vakama, and Lhikan kicked his hoverboard towards the falling Matoran. With a vindictive hiss, Nidhiki contemptuously knock the board off-course with a force bolt. Turaga Vakama rushed towards the vat of flames, but he was too far away. In horror, he watched himself melt and burn. The stench of burnt flesh wafting towards him as the agonizing screams echoed in the ears of a beaten, broken Toa Lhikan. Again Vakama was reminded that he wasn’t all machine, and that a Ta-matoran’s heat resistance only goes so far. And so it was that the invisible Turaga looked up too late as the Dark Hunters soared off with their prisoner. In the aftermath of the heated action, his mind took stock of his situation. Thanks to centuries of Matau’s pranks, Vakama had a great trove of experience with illusions. This was either reality or a superb fantasy. He reasoned that Miserex was the only living being who could so thoroughly deceive him. So this was probably real. And Lhikan had been taken away while he stood by. Again. And this time, he was an ancient warrior Turaga, not a scared young Matoran, created only after the Civil War to repopulate Metru Nui. This time he could have saved Lhikan. At this point another thought crossed his mind. Where had he hidden his Toa Stone all those years ago when he had done this the first time? Picking his way through the clutter, Vakama found the odd little package underneath a half-finished Kanohi. He smiled and tucked it into a fold of his cloak. Vakama was glad that Nokama had conceived of pockets in their honorary Turaga apparel. Now what? Assuming this was an alternate dimension, five Matoran are headed to the Great Temple. An ancient, overpowered supervillain has captured and impersonated the beloved Turaga Dume. Moreover, this Makuta has control over the entire Vahki force. And he has the commissioned the services of two Dark Hunters. And a giant matoran-eating plant based in the Great Furnace. To add to the difficulties, the only Toa left on the island has just been seized. Turaga Dume is comatose and the Rahaga are skittering around the sewers. Keetongu and Krahka are hiding who-knows-where. Saving Metru Nui mght be difficult. But Vakama knew his enemy. Last time he had charged up and simply attacked the Makuta in hopes of stopping him. His time as a bestial horror reminded him how horribly that had turned out. Vakama had failed to make the fundamental connection at the time: the enemy is smart. It was probably because the only thing Vakama had known at the time about the Makuta was that they had ended the Civil War through slaughter. Well, now Vakama knew better. As he walked towards the Great Temple, the unseen Turaga plotted a number of courses, all tenuous. In all fairness, however, that was how most Toa plans started. Raw heroism had usually carried the day for him. Usually, it had to.

Ask your wallet. If I were rich enough, I'd have a ton of copies of each Bohrok, for example, so that I could have a big swarm. I'm not rich, so I don't. Basically no one here is going to have a good answer here unless you give us details on your private financial life (and I would advise not disclosing such information.)

How did you make it? What materials did you use? The result is impressive. I like it. The only criticism I have is that the sword seems too short.

I think that the significant point at which this occurs is in 2002-3 when LEGO decided to ease back on Templar Studios. Peter Mack, president of Templar Studios, told me the following in an email a couple years ago: I think that if LEGO had continued to conduct worldbuilding through alternative, free media on the scale of the MNOLG, I think that the story would have been higher quality. As a kid without much of an allowance, the books were hard to access. Some friends at my local church owned the first three, so I was pretty well covered on the story from 2001-3, especilally since I got comics too. And I had a friend with Mask of Light. But the 2006 books I couldn't get and the figures were odd, so I dropped out of BIONICLE for the year. I came back in '07, but to this day I still haven't read all of the books from 2006-2008. I really got back into the story in 2008, since I loved my Toa Nuva. But the story would have been much more easily accessed for fans if we had had additional story media to supplement (or replace) the books. The other perspective is a more literary one. The MNOLG is a masterpiece, I think, for a few reasons. Because the game is in first person, you get the feeling that it is you who are saving the day alongside the Toa. You get acquainted with the characters personally as you interact with them. And you are exploring the world as one of its inhabitants, which gives you the impression that you're personally involved in the world in which it is set. The player also only discovers their character at the very end, when the camera focuses on Takua's descent into Makuta's lair. The game is all about finding who you are, which is exactly what Takua is doing. BIONICLE kinda continued in this vein a bit with the Bohrok and Bohrok-Kal animations, showing the world around our heroes. In the Mask of Light movie, the focus of the action was split between the mighty, powerful Toa and the small, weak Matoran. But in 2004 we kinda lost that. City of Legends was all about the Toa Metru. The books aren't much better; they show stuff that the matoran are doing, sure, but they're pretty much completely centered on the Toa. There's no substantial visual representation of the matoran at work and play. We got to walk the shores of Mata Nui, but we only kind of hear about Metru Nui. 2005 was even worse. The City of Metru Nui became less interesting as a setting once it was reduced to a really large spider death trap. The removal of the matoran from the equation leaves us with a very small cast of relevant sentient characters. It's essentially just the Toa Hordika, their enemies, the Rahaga, Keetongu and Krahka. I actually think that the story serials were an excellent thing because they offset the story accessibility problem. Familiar characters are back, and interacting with each other. How cool is that? This is what I really loved about 2008; I got to see all of these complex narratives playing out in thrilling complexity. Alternate Dimensions were thrilling for their opportunities. Think of all of the possible plot lines that could come from them! It's an astounding wealth of potential. In the serials, we got to see the universe at war. That's epic. So yeah, setting got neglected a lot.

This is great. I really appreciate it. Could you do the Legends series?

I'm working on a BIONICLE tabletop roleplay system similar to D&D 3.5. I don't think that fancy dice are too much of a restriction, since it's really easy to get the dice apps to cover that function. I intend in the process to craft some sample encounters to play through. I'm toying with the idea of using the fall of Ta-Koro for one of these, since I own most of the sets of the major characters there. You could set it up as Lehrak, Pahnrak, and Guurahk against Gali Nuva, Tahu Nuva,Turaga Nokama and Turaga Vakama. To faciilitate the encounter, I'd have character sheets drawn up for each of the characters, with all of the stats to make it as easy as possible for a relative newcomer to pick up, learn in a half hour or so, and then be able to play whatever else in the game system. If I had all of the sets, I'd love to do one of the scenes from Time Trap. I would post my own topic, but the rule set is not done enough to actually start playing. SO TLDR: I'm working on a similar project. Feel free to compare notes.

PM sent

PM sent EDIT: Nevermind. Posted in wrong topic by accident. How do I delete this post?

My contribution

I'm more or less in your boat. I did watch some of the story episodes and paid attention to the sets, though never cared enough to plunk cash down for them. It was honestly underwhelming for a couple reasons. The main thing is that it felt like it lacked the epic tone of the original line. Partly this is going to be a result of having a short run. Partly this is a matter of presentation. The characters' presentation seemed to be dumbed down, with clearly defined traits. It was as if they said "ok, now here's his strong point and here's his weak point." The episodes' script did little to avert this; the parts that I watched (granted, I haven't seen everything) appeared to not take the story seriously. It felt (and yes, this is all my subjective personal impression) as if they were doing it just so they could check the "we have a plot" box. Given this, I don't really care all that much that BIONICLE has ended a second time. I rather think it was never revived. Well, I guess I care enough to read an article and comment afterwards... Kinda a bummer that I never got into MOCing, but I can always do so later, BIONICLE or no BIONICLE, assuming I have enough cash once I get the time and inclination. EDIT: Ooh, cool. I have an Olmak. That's neat.

I personally think it'd be kinda fun if it were a continuation. My pet theory is that it's sett in an alternate dimension. That'd be fun because: 1. They'd still have all the freedom in the world to start over. 2. I like the alternate dimension story, especially from '08. 3. LEGO could have Takanuva pop out of nowhere, wink at the fans, do anything they need doing (anything from a deus ex machina to a wink at the camera) then have him disappear into another dimension. I don't think it's at all likely, but I'd enjoy it.

That's a good point. And with the Mask of Time taking a more prominent role, I think we're starting to see that theme bear fruit. Wait, how is "time" a theme? I could see "Striving to preserve the good in the world despite the ravages of time" as a possible theme. Did you mean something like this? Well, it's not so much a narrative theme (i.e. an overall message or moral) so much as a conceptual theme. Time as a concept has been woven through a lot of the story, from explicit plot elements like the Mask of Time and Temple of Time to the description of the Toa as "timeless heroes". That makes more sense. Two notes: 1. BIONICLE doesn't have to have just ONE theme. 2. I would like to comment a bit on the unity vs 'lone wolf' in BIONICLE. It appears to me that BIONICLE explicitly affirms the value of working together to achieve a goal, especially in the UDD virtues, Toa teams (especially the Toa Kaita), and the later story serials' collection of rag-tag people from all walks of life fighting together against Teridax after he has control of their universe. From 2001-2010, BIONICLE has a dominant, overt emphasis on the value of interdependence. BIONICLE does also contain a number of examples of people doing things on their own. In Time Trap, Vakama retrieves the Vahi by himself, for example. Matoro and Ignika reviving and reawakening the great spirit are also examples. There's also the time in the comics (and MoL film) where Kopaka rescues Onua and Kopaka from underground. Finally I present the MNOLG examples of the Toa showing up to save the day--Kopaka beating the Muaka, Gali beating the tarakava, and Onua saving Lewa (because Onua saves everyone!) I don't think that this means that BIONICLE is inconsistent, but rather that one theme of BIONICLE is not necessarily "work together to save the day" but is rather "interdependence is often essential." Given that we live in a division of labor economy, I think that this fits the cultural context of BIONICLE's creation and growth. In a division of labor economy, people specialize in different areas and exchange their goods and/or services, so that no one has to do everything for themselves. While everyone in the market needs everyone else, each is an independent actor (assuming a measure of freedom) and does some things without collaboration. I can (if I choose) paint my house alone, for example, without needing to assemble a team of heroes to help me get it done. That's my two cents.

That's a good point. And with the Mask of Time taking a more prominent role, I think we're starting to see that theme bear fruit. Wait, how is "time" a theme? I could see "Striving to preserve the good in the world despite the ravages of time" as a possible theme. Did you mean something like this?

I like the thesis. "Why not?" indeed! I don't like the mix of silver, gunmetal, and gold. Perhaps you could experiment with removing the gold? The tassels in front also look odd to me. Love the trans-orange propeller blades though.

Looks similar to our eldrazi friend, but a bit... small.

I'd like to note that there is an off-chance that the original story may be continued after all. This is a new location. It could be an alternate dimension, a pocket dimension, or a new planet. If they just said "six heroes arrive on Mata Nui," then a continuation would be nigh impossible. If this is a continuation, the only characters which we have seen before are the Toa. The makuta could be from an alternate dimension--perhaps the Teridax who immigrated with Mazeka. Or Mizerex. I think that it is possible that the Toa Mata (or alternate Toa Mata from another dimension) could have been summoned by some means to this Island of Okoto. The main flaw that I see in this idea is that the personalities of the Toa in the second generation are entirely different from their first generation counterparts. We've seen physical alterations and memory wipes before, but never a full personality change. It would explain why Greg spent time continuing the story after BIONICLE died--to set up plot threads to be addressed later. After all, if the Vahi is involved and more thoroughly used than before, any number of things could occur. Final note: possibility does not grant probability.

This looks like fun! Maku: drag Takua into the boat