Shadowhawk

om nom nom tastes like dumplings

Transferring all widgets from Koburg to Matoro-Koro.

I don't think Tyler's signed up. Someone PM Tyler.

Yeah, nice job. You used a Gambling Stone to pull that off, I assume? And BTW, if it's any small consolation, two kills is better than what I got.

Awesome. Let's all place bets on who's first to die, shall we?

Just a random thought concerning Bionifight Infinite... Once upon a time, back before I joined BZPower, I was involved in a BIONICLE-based fight-to-the-death RPG. And the gimmick that was used to prevent the combatants from escaping the combat zone, was a thick black substance called 'Shadowdermis'. It wasn't really metal-based or plant-based or anything-based, really; it was just a sort of exotic black evil gunk that couldn't be manipulated by any known elemental beings or mask powers or whatever else. A dose of this substance was injected into each combatant's bloodstream upon arriving at the arena. It didn't have any directly harmful or even noticeable effects; it simply worked its way into the body tissues and remained there. Permanent and untouchable, but dormant and completely benign. Unless it was 'activated' by the arena's overseers via some sort of signal (might have been of the 'psychic pulse' type; I don't remember for sure), in which event it basically turned into Shadow-enhanced black plasma and burned the combatant to death from the inside out in a matter of a few extremely painful and gory seconds. It was the ultimate overpowered Gamemaster's fail-safe device And it was pretty awesome.

IC: [ Hammerlock ] - Onu-Wahi / Tunnel network Adrenaline hits my bloodstream, burning a trail of fire down my arteries. In less than a second I'm in a half-crouch, heavy muscles coiling for a strike, head slightly bowed, shoulders and hips and spinal column swinging into a bladed combat stance. Left hand slightly raised, left forearm poised, and right hand blurring downwards at my side in a cobra-fast blaze of motion. I'm locked in point position, head of the group. If the De-Toa's hostile, he'll be hitting me first. Or vice versa. One second and counting, and the twelve-inch blade of the survival knife gleams dully in the shadows, cutting edge uppermost. My own voice rips the air just a second after Small Green's does. Hers was tired, jaded. Mine's hard and flat and brutal, an ugly deep-seated growl in my chest. "One false move and I'll cut your face off, stranger! You heard the woman; who the are you, and who the are you workin' for, and what the are you doin' here? Talk fast!" Intimidation tactics. The idea sounds silly and mebbe just a mite useless... until you're on the receiving end, backed up to the wall in a tight dark tunnel facing a tall rugged bruiser with an absolute beast of a blade clenched in his fist, who's only ten feet away and knows just what he's doing. And believe me, I do know.

*reads chapter 3* Well, look at that. I'm still alive, ha ha. *gloats* ... (sorry sorry sorry I just couldn't resist making a comment like that)

IC: [ Hammerlock ] - Onu-Wahi / Tunnel network We keep moving. The tunnel splits and branches a few times, like a maze of sorts, and in each case I go with the path that's got more signs of travel. More wear and scuff marks underfoot, more dents and scrapes on the walls where such things don't naturally occur. Seems like we're taking a backdoor entrance, for some reason. Just a hunch. The general inclination is downwards. I don't how deep we're going, but it's quite a ways. Four hundred, five hundred feet? And after a while, the tunnel we're in levels out and widens a bit. Far up ahead, I spot the distant yellow-gold glint of a lightstone on the wall; a sure sign of intelligent life... and a second after that, my ears start to pick up vibrations. Noises in the earth. Rocky's hearing it too. I can sense the subtle shift in his gait, the slight tilt of his head.

I'd like to purchase an Army for Marauder's Waste, with x3 Heavy Attack and Water Resistance.

I acknowledge that I perhaps overreacted defensively (I have a tendency to do that), and apologize for any hurt caused.

Concerning Bionifight... I personally, probably won't have time to play it. But I do heartily support it, and think it'll work out great. I was a fairly regular player back when the 'Ultimate' and 'Drift Force' editions of the game were running in G&T, and I know, first-hand, that it worked. And worked well. There is no clear-cut formula for a 'perfect' or 'successful' RPG; ergo, it's impossible to say that it 'won't work because of' this, that, or whatever doesn't fit one's personal philosophy. If you haven't seen it in action, how do you know? Or how can you even make an educated guess, if what's being proposed is something that's never been done before, ever? You can talk all you want, but when it really gets down to the nitty-gritty, sometimes it's the things that seem ridiculous in theory, that actually work the best. Think back to WWII, when the Nazi forces absolutely threw the established 'rules' of warfare down the drain and steamrollered much of Europe via unorthodox 'lightning war'. Things like that. In the end, just like in a free trade economy, it's the RPG forum playerbase (i.e. the consumer) that eventually decides what lives and dies. No matter what the RPG is, or how atypical it is, if the people like it, it survives and thrives. And who's to say what the playerbase likes? Does any one of us represent the playerbase? I think not. But I would (tentatively) recommend that the rules-heavy HP system be dropped. Such a thing worked great in G&T, but battles do tend to function somewhat differently in the RPG format. E: Ninja'd by Tyler. He does make a really good point. But I'm still going to post this; feedback is always great.

IC: [ Hammerlock ] - Onu-Wahi / Tunnel system The cavern's obviously a natural feature of the land, but as we move on through the long dark passage I start seeing signs of intelligent presence. In some places, debris has been cleared away to facilitate travel; in others, the old scars of pickaxes mark the walls. I point them out to the group, keeping my voice quiet. Stealth, for me, is pure second nature. "See here? Prospectors been around, scratchin' the rock. I'd say we're gettin' close to somewhere."

Profile and kill selection sent.

IC: [ Rhea / Nero ] - Po-Koro / Train station Rhea yawned, blinked at the ceiling, and got up and worked her major joints a bit to get the blood moving through cramped muscles. Then, flanked by the Axe, she walked to the door at the rear of the train car and prepared to disembark.

IC: [ Hammerlock ] - Onu-Wahi / Cavern entrance No one responds to my comment right away, and I'm fine with that. I don't need anyone's feedback; I know, and that's plenty good enough for me. And anyway I was really only stating the obvious. I drop the nice guy smile, because my facial muscles are starting to hurt, and simply walk right past Rocky & Co. and deeper into the cave. There's no immediate end to it, and as I turn a corner into darkness I see that Tall Green's suspicions were correct. This thing is a tunnel to somewhere. It's pitch black, and I'm no Onu-Matoran. I pause to slip a crimson lightstone from my pack. It's cut in a broad, flat shape, something like a chisel head, and fitted with an adjustable leather strap. I cinch it down snugly on my left wrist. Leaves my hands free, and ensures I won't be separated from my light source in a pinch. Little details, but they get big real fast when the hits the fan. "You folks comin' or what?" I ask, and without waiting for an answer I step into the tunnel and start moving. Eyes wary, nervous system casually alert. The heavy semi-serrated blade at my belt is a comforting thing, and without breaking pace I reach down and loosen it a bit in its sheath. I don't look back.

Burger. As long as it's cooked right. And hold the ketchup, but go heavy on the onions. Would you rather be a fool or a knave?

Slot 21, please.

IC: [ Hammerlock ] - Onu-Wahi / Cavern entrance "Smokestacks...?" I ratchet my gaze around and follow her pointing finger until I see what she sees. And she's right. Smokestacks, of all things. I must have missed them somehow, which was a stupid mistake but forgivable, considering the pouring rain and the pitch blackness and the nearby group of potential hostiles. I'll have to be more careful next time. ... "Ma'am, I honestly don't know. I'm a stranger to these parts. But 'tech' means basically the same thing as 'civilization', don't it?"

IC: [ Hammerlock ] - Onu-Wahi / Cavern entrance ... Wow. Okay. At this point, it's not takin' much effort to make my smile genuine. These people are great. So first off, some inane Toa of Stone with a Noble Komau (or what looks like one anyway; since when have Toa made a practice of wearing Noble masks?) blusters over and decides that just because I'm packin' a blade (like, who doesn't pack a blade?) I must be out to mercilessly butcher him and his teammates in their sleep some night. Which I'm most certainly not, because mindlessly offing people without a half-decent reason is just asking for trouble, and I've not survived this long by pushing matters that didn't need to be pushed. I mean, yeah, I am a Darksider. But I ain't stupid. And back to our story, and speaking of such... It's a good thing ol' Rocky here never took debate class. His logic has less shine and more holes than a rusty sieve, and I can't quite keep the mild disgust out of my voice as I point out the obvious. "Hark who's talking. Brained anyone with that mace lately?" Having retorted thus, I swivel my skull slightly and focus on Fireboy. Who is actually being polite. If just as foolish. In a sophisticated way. "Ach, sorry. I don't think you understood. I meant, my name is 'Rhuk'..."

Slot VII, if it's still available. Also, I'm assuming we get one Gambling Stone of each type for the entire game, and when we use one it's gone permanently? I didn't see that explicitly discussed in the rules...

IC: [ Hammerlock ] - Onu-Wahi / Cavern entrance So. The situation is developing... splendidly. Fireboy Swordsman thinks I'm a brutish cannibal native (and literally said as much aloud, the fool), X-Ray Icegirl is on guard but not overly frightened, and everybody else is just sort of still in the process of realizing I'm here. And best of all, I haven't even said a word yet and I already know more about them than they do about me. Thanks to someone's little offhand comment that implies a whole lot more than the guy who said it probably realized. Thanks, Fireboy. I hear your team's new 'round these parts? ha ha haaa i loooove it even though it's not even useful info that is, not yet ... I squint my eyes against the glow of Swordsman's inquiring reddish flame, and smile crookedly at X-Ray. In a friendly, but vaguely stupid, sort of way. And I make an obvious point of not reaching for any weapons. No point in pretending I don't speak their tongue. That's an embarrassing and potentially fatal accident waiting to happen. But the 'big dumb savage' thing, that I can handle easily. You don't even have to have skills to pull that one off; it's the oldest trick in the book. (and btw i do actually have some skills, just sayin') My voice is hard and clean, masculine, with a definitely exotic accent. Terse but flowing, sparse and deliberate. Brutally elegant, in an oddly hypnotic sort of way. "Name's Rhuk, ma'am. I'm no threat." ... Big. Fat. Lie. ... I've already looked the group over, and I know they're doin' the same to me. My kind, Lesterin, we run on the tall, rangy side of the spectrum anyway, and I'm a shade taller than most, and built. Broad shoulders, heavy-muscled neck, ripped biceps, chiseled abs, blah blah blabbity blah. But not in an overinflated softie gym rat sort of way. In a real-deal military sort of way. Long and short of it is, I'm an athletic combat powerhouse and I look it. Yeah that's right, people. Count the scars. Count 'em. My face...? Well, first you take a skull-shaped block of granite. Then you do basically nothing. Viola! Sculptors love me, I tell you. I'm an easy one. I'm wearing a full set of mid-class spec ops combat armor (minus the helmet) and a backpack. There's a great big knife strapped to my belt. I'm filthy. There's grit and mud and pine needles everywhere. And just like everybody else, I'm sopping wet. Like a drownded rat. Real fun. ... Come to me, babes. You know you love it.

I'd like to purchase the following unit for Matoro-Koro-- 1 Army w/ 3 Heavy Attack and Water Resistance. [27] + [21] + [5] = [53].

OOC: Thought I'd join you folks, if'n you don't mind. IC: [ Hammerlock ] - Onu-Wahi / Cavern entrance So I journeyed all the livelong day through forest (fresh Ash Bear tracks) and dale (wildflowers) and ice-cold tidal rivers (), and after a while it got dark and started to blow and howl and rain and thunder again. The storm sort of catches me in the open, so when I come up over a particularly high ridgetop and drop down into dense thickets on the other side and see, by flash of lightning, a cave entrance in the nearby hillside, I'm more'n a mite pleased. Only by the look of things (wee dark shadows in the night, an' such like) someone else has found it first. Actually, several someones. And right away I'm on guard, but they haven't seen me yet and I've got a second or two to think it over before I commit. I think it over. No you don't get to see my thought processes in action. Too bad. ... I drop all pretense of stealth and go marching straight up to the cave, trampling brush and clattering over shale outcroppings and just generally making more noise than a Kane-Ra in an uptown china shop. Also I wave my left arm vigorously and yell "Helloooo there!" Just so they know I've seen them as well. No cause to make myself look too amateurish.

I'd like to transfer all the widgets from Koburg to Matoro-Koro, please.