Timageness

IC: Finally, a way out of this maze. Verulas leaped up the rungs before struggling to open the hatch. He managed to get a glimpse of Ko-Koran architecture as he felt the wind hit his face, but try as he might, it would not swing all the way out. He began to hear the echoing voices of the guards he had just escaped, but he couldn't tell if they were actually coming his way or not due to the acoustics of the chamber. Verulas tried pushing harder, knowing that they would find him sooner or later, and he would be stuck in a cell throughout the rest of the battle if he didn't get out of there right now. Ugh... What the Karz is on this thing?! An Ussal Crab?! OOC: Your call if you want to have Verulas hanging out around the hospital, Uncle Chael.

IC: A cell? Really? Verulas did not like the sound of that one bit. Time for Plan B. Seriously doubting that they would turn around if he pointed behind them and yelled, "Hey, look! A Makuta worshipper," he created a mist-bomb plant and crushed it in his hand. He used the distraction to kick the spear from the Matoran's grasp and rolled away from the blinded guards before standing up in an attempt to run past them, A blindly-fired Patero round grazed his left shoulder as he moved, ducking down a side corridor and narrowly avoiding a wall of sound that was boosted in power due to the structure of the tunnel walls. He concentrated on activating his mask, muffling his footsteps so the other Toa would have a somewhat difficult time following him as he continued ducking through side passages before eventually stopping for a breather. He noticed that the tunnel he was in was a dead end, and was about to curse his luck when he saw a metal ladder that led up to a surface hatch built into the wall on his right.

Okay, I was under the impression that the hospital was within the city walls...

IC: "Those little darlings are specially bred to protect this area from intruders," the Vortixx drawled, staring deeply into Verulas' eyes. "Intruders like you." He couldn't tell which disgusted him more; the rats themselves, the fact that the Ko-Koro Guard had been breeding them, or the Vortixx's apparent fondness for them... It was about time for him to leave. "Well, it was nice chatting with you folks, but I should probably be getting out of your hair. I wouldn't want to distract you from guarding this... lovely... underground... paradise now, so if you'll be ever so kind to point me to the nearest exit-" "How do we know that he's not with the other psychos attacking the city? We can't just let him by us," the Toa of Sonics said to his companions. "Old boom-box makes a mighty-fine point," the Vortixx said, never taking her eyes off of him as she rested a clawed hand on her hip. "We can put him in a holding cell until someone comes by to take him to the ciy prison. They can sort this mess out there."

IC: "This is a restricted area," growled the Matoran as a frown morphed itself across his powerless Hau. "You're trespassing. Who are you and what are you doing here?" "The name's Verulas," he said as he touched the blade of the spear and moved it slowly away from his face. "I'm what you'd call a "privateer," and I was hoping the Ko-Koro guard was willing to pay for an extra set of hands to help defend their city." "Pfft. Mercenaries," the Toa of Sonics scoffed as he turned his head for a moment. "Only running into the fray when they smell money." "That still doesn't explain what you're doing in my tunnels," the Matoran said, clearly in charge of the other two. Verulas laughed. "Have you been to the gate lately? Total warzone. I get paid for risking my hide, and try not to risk my hide to get paid. And while we're on the subject of "your tunnels," Verulas said before pausing. "You should seriously consider bringing an exterminator down through here. Have you seen the size of the rats?"

Ninja'd by Krayzikk on the Kentoku part.

IC: Verulas pulled himself up carefully, knowing that one wrong move meant certain death. He had one leg over the platform before he heard the sound of the metal straining to support his weight. Uh oh. His foot propelled himself further into the tunnel as the metal beneath him gave way and disappeared into the darkness. He picked himself up, gasping for air as he laughed before stumbling further down the path. He eventually came across an area that was relatively safe, not to mention that it wasn't covered in filth from the city above, and decided to sit down for a moment of rest. His eyes closed for only a second while he wiped the sweat from his face, but when they opened again they found themselves staring down the shaft of a spear held by an unusually buff Ko-Matoran. Standing to his right was a male Toa of Sonics armed with a very intimidating war-hammer and a Pakari as a somewhat attractive female Vortixx with two Patero Launchers graced his left flank. And Verulas thought he was sneaky.

I was thinking along those lines as well, classifying them as a really, really disturbing choice for a pet and thus sticking them in the animal companion section on the PC profile. Bonus points if you can teach it to roll over and play dead.

IC: Verulas shot out a vine at the first pipe, commanding it to wrap around the metal structure as he looked over his shoulder and saw the swarm emerge from the intersection. Here goes nothing... He leapt, swinging through the air and sending out another vine as the rats chased after him, stopping only after a few of them fell into the darkness below. His weight rested on the second pipe out now. leaving him about half-way over the gap and completely surprised that the plan actually going far better than he had actually expected it to. After he went to put his weight on the third pipe however, a section covered in rust snapped and threw off his swing. He sailed unexpectedly to the right, forcing out one last vine before it snapped completely and took the one he was on with it while he was still sailing through the air. He didn't get enough distance, and fell mere feet from landing on the platform before him. Luckily, his out-stretched hands were able to catch the edge, leaving Verulas dangling above the pit.

This looks amazing! One thing though about the wing design; it's cool as is, but I suggest using some more pieces to reinforce the connection between the ball-socket piece and the Brutaka blade. I tried building wings for a titan moc once using the Lhikan blades, and the axel on one of the weapons snapped off when I went to change the pose it was in.

IC: Okay, maybe there was a reason nobody tried coming this way after all. Verulas had been wandering around this maze of tunnels for about an hour already, and he had just ran into a swarm of rats the size of large dogs who seemed pretty intent on making a meal of him. Not today. He sprinted back the way he came, figuring he would have been over-run if he had stopped to fight, but unfortunately the complex system of tunnels made it hard to tell where he was going. He knew that using his Volitak to duck around a corner in an attempt to lose them wouldn't work, as they were following him by scent. At least it was still better than knocking on the front door. Unfortunately for Verulas, he took a wrong turn back at one of the junctions and emerged in a large chamber, one of which he couldn't see the bottom. His options were either jump, using vines to swing from the rusty pipes on the ceiling in an attempt to reach the tunnel on the other side or chill out here and become food, and he really disliked both.

I went with Teridax (for obvious reasons), and Krika (since he makes you wonder where the Makuta would be if Teridax never took power). Honorable mentions: Miserix (he would have gotten more rep if he "ate" Teridax, and it would have been a complete surprise to everyone seeing the main villain who's come back so much suddenly get killed; also, a three-way fight between him, Teridax, and The Shadowed One would have been awesome), Gorast (might not be here if she wasn't the only female Makuta), and Mutran (because he created the Mountain of Xia, which is part of Roodaka's backstory, and she's pretty high up on my favorite villains list; I admit it, he's only here for that).

IC: Success! The grate had popped out after a fierce struggle, the Toa brushing his sweating brow with his hand before sitting down and sliding his legs through the narrow opening. If his shoulders stuck out a few inches more, he wouldn't have been able to fit through the hole. His feet became submerged in the freezing, ankle deep water below him, sending chills up his legs as he swiftly turned around and replaced the grate. He didn't plan on leading anyone down there after him, since it's usually frowned upon to let invaders into a city when you're trying to convince the guards that you're capable of helping them to protect it. People just tended to be uppity like that. He started on his path through the sewers, treading carefully as he knew not what lie ahead.

How do you feel about not being one of the BZPRPG villians so far?

IC: Verulas had arrived outside of the burning city, ducking behind a snowbank so he wouldn't be spotted on his way towards Ko-Koro. From the sounds of battle and the explosions coming from the gate, he could safely deduce that going that way was no longer an option. His best bet would be to try sneaking around the back of the fortification, away from the area that would most definitely get him killed. However, as caution was not to be ignored, he activated his mask before trudging silently through the snow as he took the long way around and came up the back of the mountain. As he came upon the rear wall, he noticed a grate that most likely lead to the city sewers. Pushing aside his bewilderment that nobody had tried to use this previously to sneak in, and silently kicking himself for not finding this the first time he was here, he removed his sword from his belt and began trying to use the weapon to pry it out of place. OOC: Please let this be an acceptable way in... Oh, and Verulas is open to interaction.

IC: Verulas eventually came to rest upon a bench, the cut on his side no longer bleeding but still stinging him a bit as he sat down. Two guards rushed by him, discussing an ensuing attack on Ko-Koro in frantic, but still audible, whispers. He chuckled a bit, finding it ironic that everyone decided to throw a citywide party right after he had left, and no one had the courtesy to invite him back. Well, that just wouldn't do. He could feel his pockets getting fuller already. OOC: Verulas to Ko-Wahi.

Yeah... Using his pay to attack people doesn't really make any sense now if he's constantly broke. Oh well. The death by money concept was fun while it lasted...

IC: "Been there, done that," Verulas mumbled to himself as the Toa teleported away for the final time. He stood, catching the airborne widget again and shoved it into his pocket as he continued on his path and disappeared into the crowd once more. "And I wish that they hadn't."

At least you can start using your widgets as spare ammo when you run out (if it's built so it can do that anyway).

Okay then... Well, at least it saves me a trip to the morgue. Do you remember what page he died on? If I'm going to write in something that gruesome, I'm going to need details.

I went with Macku because I felt romance being taken out of canon was silly, and the Mahri never had another line afterwards anyway so it wouldn't have mattered if there were two Toa of Water and no Toa of Ice. Takanuva would work well with them too, but it's more likely the spot will remain vacant. I don't even know who anyone else on the list is, besides the fact that they are Matoran, because at that age my focus was on the characters with powers.

To answer your question bonesiii, the symbol wouldn't have had anything to do with Makuta, as he wouldn't have created that. The symbol could have been previously etched into all of the access panels above the maintenance hatches. The device, being above the power supply, could have been directly under the hatch, and the symbol itself being there could have just been a fluke (the device working through the hatch however, would either be due to the Rule of Cool or just plain old lazy writing). Honestly though, I like this theory as an Antidermis revival device only (if there was even a device under there in the first place) because Makuta wouldn't build a revival device so anyone could use it, and still support the Kanohi theory that took place above it. Takanuva (being in control of Takutanuva) having the foresight to see his own demise after being unfused just seems more likely to me, because beings fused via energised protodermis on occasion have powers neither individual had previously.

IC: Watching the Toa of Air help the Skakdi was a prime example of how the Toa Code held them back. Why help your enemies when they'll just attack again and again once they've recovered their strength? If you help someone like that knowing what they are, what they would do given the chance, and they come back and do something terrible, doesn't that make you responsible as well? In his eyes, the Toa had only themselves to blame for the misfortunes falling upon their Matoran charges. Some protectors they were. Unity? If beings were truly united, would there be conflict in any form? Duty? Why continuously do the same thing over and over while expecting different results? Destiny? Why follow the fate someone else has laid out for you when you can take your life into your own hands and forge your own path? The Three Virtues were a joke, and Verulas felt like he was the only one let in on it.

That's a shame, Miras. I was hoping on interacting with Celsakh again (you know, besides selfishly saving him to get the guards of Ko-Koro to let Verulas into the city). Oh well. Btw, I was planning on heading back there with the all out warfare going on and I'd like to know if you'd be okay with, say, coming across the morgue, finding Celsakh's journal or something, and convincing some Matoran NPC's in Ta-Koro to name their shop after him after possibly funding them with loot/payment from the battle? I kind of want to show that my character's not totally heartless and that he just tries to distance himself from feeling anything for others, but sometimes his defenses break down and he does some pretty uncharacteristic things.

IC: Verulas watched as the Toa of Air continued to patch up the Skakdi and shook his head in defiance. Just typical. Of course he would take the time to save the thug even though he had just tried to kill them moments before. He would probably still be doing the same even if he had torn a Matoran in half before his very eyes. The Toa of Plantlife remained baffled at how predictable the rest of his species could be. Predictability decreases your odds of survival. Granted, he was telling the truth when he said he wasn't trying to kill their former attacker, but only because he didn't see the Skakdi as worth killing. If it had been a situation where only one of them would be walking away however, that would've been a different story all together. Where most would say "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Verulas prefered to have no friends and leave his enemies six feet under. He would have no one to lose, and others would think twice before gunning for him. It was just easier that way.