The Lorax

GM IC: "He is currently in a meeting with Turano, discussing that very event" the Tarore guard replied in an even tone. "Or should I say, non-event. I shall show you in." The pair was found in the same conference room where the presence of Dark Hunters had first been announced, although now all of the chairs were empty. Turano was leaning back against the far wall with a hand to his brow, while Turaga Tawhito stood defiantly at the head of the table, looking up at the much taller Hirohi. "You can't be serious, Turaga" Turano graoned. "The Dark Hunters will never keep a bargain." "I am completely serious" Tawhito shot back. "We have performed our test, and the result is clear: this Makuta has rejected our diplomacy and at the very least, kidnapped our scouts. I know that the hunters are hardly the most desirable allies, but as Lariska said, we need their skills." "They won't be allies!" Turano shot back. "They might act like it before we leave town, but once we meet this Makuta, who knows what they'll do? We know they want the stone, and don't have any morals at all. Do the maths on that one. In order to retain their loyalty, you would need to promise them something better than the stone, which we don't have, or keep a blade at thier necks the entire time, which you can't do if you want to have them fighting. There is no sense in this at all." "I don't much like it either" Tawhito confessed, "But what other options do we have? You said yourself that our guard alone couldn't pin down a Makuta effectively, and the Dark Hunters are feared the world over for their combat prowess." The guard accompanying Teota gave a slight cough, alerting the two to their presence. "Teota" Turano greeted her. "Please help me talk some sense into our Turaga. He wants to set the Hunters loose, for Mata Nui's sake!"

But nonetheless, that does sound awesome.

IC: When the riders retreated, there was one left behind - the one whose mount Kitano had frozen. A large square of metal was still flying towards its rider.

It's not actually a recent thing, nor is this the first time a change has been suggested. Neither was there in the rulebook when I joined (I checked through everything quite thoroughly before trying to form a kaita, and getting called out in GD).

IC (Tara): Amaki may have been staring, but Tara didn't mind. The Dasaka wasn't the only one who was tired and hungry, and she had walked up the track on much shorter legs. She wanted to chow down on some good food on a cold night, and she felt she deserved it. Back country huts had never been settings for high culture anyway. Tara continued eating.

"Mmmh" Tara replied, with her mouth full of food. 'Brum Ghrrh".

IC (Tara): "Fine" Tara replied, passing over the larger of the two plates. "You'll feel better once you've warmed up a bit."

IC (Tara): "Oh, is that all?" Tara teased. "You really need a better story. When you walk out of the forest covered in muck from head to toe and looking as tired as if you'd walked to the peak and back, you want something exciting like... you stumbled into a kanohi dragon's nest and had to fight your way out when the mother got home, or you were caught in a landslide, or you were tracking a really big boar through the densest bit of bush ever so you could bring it back here for dinner, but then it got away because of the landslide. If the best you can give is a muddy puddle, everyone will think that the mighty Dasaka warrior has gone soft."

IC (Tara): "No problem" the Dashi shrugged as she started serving up plates of food for both of them. "By the way, what happened to you? You look like you fell halfway back down the mountain."

It has been more than "a little" dubious since the beginning of last arc, when Tuck posted this on elemental sub-powers. It mentions that same trick, along with others like it and some general guidelines on the application of elemental powers in unusual ways. It is an old post, but I think we can assume that most of it still applies.

Actually, when he arrived in the Kini-Nui topic, we got this.

Staff ruling on the issue:

Yeah, he's got a lot of stuff to keep track of and a lot of people to reply to. Don't be too surprised if that slows his posting down a bit.

IC (Tara): "Hey" she replied. "You look absolutely haggard. Come in, sit down and get some food into you."

The leader of the defenders outside the gates is badabababa obesity. For inside the village, that would be Visaru.

IC (Tara): By the time that dusk had settled over the mountain and Amaki finally arrived at the hut, she would find that it was already lit from within by a crackling fire in the hearth and filled with the smell of frying mushrooms. Earlier, when the Dashi had arrived at the hut and dumped her pack down on one of the crude bunks, she had only allowed herself a short time to enjoy having that weight lifted from her shoulders before she started about the practicalities of staying the night here. First of all, that meant warmth. Even now in early autumn, the mountain could get deadly cold at night, and second, that meant food. The pair would be needing a lot of fuel for their bodies in the next few days, and doing so in the cold would require even more. A hearty meal wasn't just to lift the spirit's of climbers, it was every bit as necessary as warm blankets and shelter from the wind. Tara also had potatoes and dried meant heating in a billy of boiling water that hung over the fire. Lastly, it meant hydration and fluids. A lot of people underestimated the amounts of moisture they lost while tramping, but not the Vilda rangers. It would be impractical for anyone to carry enough water for a trip of more than a couple of days, so large tank collected rainwater from the hut's roof. A second billy held some of this life-giving liquid, boiling away so that they could make hot drinks, to be served in deliberately oversized mugs. Having prepared all of this, Tara was just sitting down with hers and taking a well-deserved rest when she heard a noise from outside the hut.

IC (Tara): By the time Tara reached the head of the valley, the fog was beginning to lift. The peak was still covered, but she could see out over the valleys to her left and right. They were still filled by rivers of cloud running down the mountain, but up above her, maybe a couple of kio away and about that distance from the treeline, she could catch sight of the flattened area where she knew the hut to be. The sun was coming down now, almost level with where she was on the mountain, and shining through the gaps appearing in the mist. Around her, the golden light on the dark greens and browns of the forest brought out all kinds of vibrant colours, and the foliage seemed to glow where the sun struck it. Tara stopped here for a couple of minutes to admire the scenery before turning back into the trees and proceeding up the last, steep slope to the hut.

IC (Tara): It was a grey and overcast day on Odaiba, with banks of mist hanging down like wet tendrils of moss from the solid mass of grey cloud the covered the volcano's peak. Tara took one last look up at the summit before crossing the line between cultivated fields and untamed bush. The road ended and became a narrow path under the tall trees, dangling long trails of moss from their branches. Water dripped off of these, creating small puddles among the roots. The occasional sound of a drop falling added extra beats into the steady rhythm of her feet and walking stick on the leaf-strewn ground. The mist muffled all other sounds, and in the stillness only brief flickers of movement informed her of the movements of a few small animals she disturbed along the path. It was an old place, and solemn, but not hostile. Tara carried on up the increasing slope, her legs carrying her at a steady and enduring pace that she could keep up all day. The path would lead her up the valley and then out onto a ridge.

That sounds an awful lot like Sulov's Kanohi Kimi.

So like a rode without the lie detector? Wherever there is something hidden, the Elda would give its user a heads up.

Even if there are ways to combat it, whoever holds The Tower is still going to be game-breaking simply because of what it would take to match its power - a huge team of other characters bearing all of the other artifacts. I agree it is cool to have a combined ability artifact, but I don't think this is the way to do that, unless it was held from the beginning by a main antagonist. What if The Tower started out powerless, but gained the abilities of other artifacts that it came into contact with? That way, it can still become very powerful, but only if the holder puts in a large amount of effort to empower it through IC interactions. Power comes at a price, and the greater the power, the greater the price of obtaining it IC should be.

IC (Tara): "Great, see you at the hut at sunset then". That was problem solved, she had her climbing partner, and a strong Dasaka as well. It might be good to have one of the stronger species around if things went badly. She turned back inside to check over her gear again and adapt it for a two-person venture. It didn't take long, and soon she was off, walking sticj in hand and whistling to herself as she crossed over the bridge to Odaiba.

IC (Tara): "How about I meet you at the first hut along the Tahurangi trail? You go in from Tarakona castle, and the start of the track is pretty well signposted. If not, someone there can point you in the right direction. It won't be too difficult to get there by the end of today, and then we can stay there until conditions are right for a shot at the peak."

IC (Tara): "Sure, when can you leave?"