Daniel the Finlander

IC: Oliphko (Onu-Koro) She listened closely to Ferron's tale and tried to consume the mushrooms as quietly as possible. By the end of it, she was staring at him with her mouth hanging open. "Thats... a lot to digest. And I don't mean the mushrooms..." The flat delivery made it sound less like a joke and more like a slip of the tongue. "I'm... sorry for your loss. Losses. You... you did what you had to do." Her voice was frail and wavering and she seemed to have lost her appetite, too. "I don't think I would've been able to recover from all that like you did. Being a Toa clearly requires... strength, not just physically, but mentally. I'm not sure I have either." She looked away, having run out of things to say. OOC: @Geardirector

IC: Oliphko (Onu-Koro) She was busy consuming more mushroom when he asked a question. ”Mwoh, myes, Ih dhid… hould onw…” She swallowed, emptying her mouth before continuing. ”Sorry about that, I actually quite like the taste. Anyways, I… think I mostly wanted to hear about what you did? Like, uh, did you fight much? Did you… k-kill anyone or anything?” OOC: @Geardirector

IC: Oliphko (Onu-Koro) She took a deep breath as if she was preparing to take a plunge into water. "Alright. I think this will be fine... mushrooms can't be sentient, right? I know the Daikau plants for example are rumoured to be sentient, but they're not edible... but you know, hypothetically speaking. It's not possible for mushrooms to feel pain I assume? From what I know the edible part is just a small section of a larger organism that lives in the earth." It was clear she was moreso trying to convince herself that it was fine rather than actually asking Ferron about it. This became obvious when she grabbed a dish of stew and sipped some of its contents before hearing his response. She then slowly lowered it back on the table, her expression unreadable as if she was trying to process what she had just done. "You know... I kind of like it!" OOC: @Geardirector

IC: Oliphko (Onu-Koro) Once again Oliphko obediently and closely followed after Ferron, happy to escape from the den of death. She said nothing as they walked, though it was unclear if it was because she was impressed by the great outdoors (a damp cave with poorer ventilation than the more developed part of the Koro) or because she was thinking deeply about something. Whatever the case, she broke her silence once they arrived at a table. ”Yeah, there’s no one else here, and its almost quiet except for the soothing sound of flowing water. You picked a good spot!” She smiled as she sat down while Ferron readied the meal, though her expression hardened when the odour of the stew seeped in through her mask. ”That’s… certainly a smell. N-not bad though!” OOC: @Geardirector

IC: Oliphko (A-Poor-And-Innocent Rahi-On-A-Stick) She followed him to the isolated corner and breathed a sigh of relief now that the social situation had concluded. "That's uh, alright, I'm not upset or anything. You're a Turaga, I should be the one being more upfront and reminding you of things..." Her orange eyes darted in panic a little. "Um, I mean, no offence, you're the wisest person I know!" OOC: @Geardirector

IC: Oliphko (A-Poor-And-Innocent Rahi-On-A-Stick) She froze for a moment when the Matoran asked her a question. ”Uh, me? What about me? If you uh, mean about the food, well um, I guess I’ll share with him so…” There was awkward silence from her as she glanced around herself and hoped no one was paying attention to her. If she was making any meditative attempt to calm her anxiety, it wasn’t outwardly visible. OOC: @Geardirector

IC: Oliphko (A-Poor-And-Innocent Rahi-On-A-Stick) ”Mushrooms?” she said with a frown. ”Don’t think I’ve ever had those, they don’t grow in the desert. But uh, those don’t count as plants, do they?” When Ferron opened the door and unleashed the aromas contained within, Oliphko resisted an urge to retch. It stank like death, so she quickly covered her mask with her hand. Somehow the place hadn’t been completely deserted, and the customers inside didn’t even seem to mind the stench at all. She reluctantly followed Ferron and said nothing as he introduced her to the Matoran running the place, but did wave to them awkwardly and tried to offer a friendly smile. All the while still keeping a hand on her mask. OOC: @Geardirector

IC: Oliphko (Onu-Koro) Her mask twisted in a grimace when she heard the name. ”Rahi… on a stick…? Is that the kind of ingredients they use? Do they… have any plant-based options?” She rubbed her arm anxiously and seemed more hesitant about this whole idea. OOC: @Geardirector got no clue if the timeskip applies here so i just rolled with it

huh? bzprpg is alive again? cool… the darkwalk quest has been going for almost 3 years i think, looking forward to seeing that getting wrapped up

OOC: only took two years huh also i had the wonderful problem where you are auto-logged out while writing so i had to rewrite the dartakh section from scratch, love when this happens IC: Sir Dahkapa (Ko-Koro Gates) It had taken a while, but Dahkapa was finally back home. The cold and clean mountain air was a welcome relief from the hot and dusty winds of Po-Wahi. He had been right, leaving the Blackrock Canyon. There had been plenty of time to think about many things. Which included not going to Ko-Koro in the first place. Part of him expected the guards to already see him as an enemy instead of a friend, yet thankfully they seemed to let him enter. He had thought about how difficult it was to convert followers of Mata Nui without the conversion methods of the Brotherhood. Now he understood their grim necessity. But he still refused to use them. He had to be better than that. The easiest path was never the route to salvation. True redemption required trials and sacrifice. If it meant sacrificing a potential friend, so be it. He was willing to sacrifice so much more for Ak'rei'an. He looked around the gates of Ko-Koro, partially expecting to see Joskander. But he was nowhere to be seen. It did not matter. His mind had been set in stone. Fitting, after visiting Po-Wahi. His long steps followed the shortest route to a certain unremarkable alleyway. IC: Dartakh (The Dark Walk) While Dartakh was satisfied to be offered a free meal and hear his name pronounced correctly, he did not let it distract himself from what was happening. He watched closely as the Lieutenant fired the perfect shot. "Impressive," he muttered. Then came the order to move. In his mind, Dartakh criticized the Lieutenant for giving an unclear order. Who should move, and where? But now was not the time for lessons in leadership. They had to survive this ordeal first. Obeying his first order, Dartakh remained close to the Lieutenant's clone. But also obeying his new order, he moved in front of the clone, his shield raised and mace ready to strike. His eyes fixated on the enemy, yet his senses remained aware of his surroundings. He was ready to either attack or retreat if ordered to do so. OOC: @Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)@Light

IC: Xani (Streets of Atero) Xani offered a polite smile to Jeizmel. "Thank you for the compliment. Good luck with your endeavours, you two. I don't plan on leaving Atero just yet, even if I've already made a profit. Perhaps you two were just the first two customers of the day, and I'll find many more." She didn't believe her own words. She bowed respectfully to each of them, then turned to her chariot and the Spikit guiding it. The ravenous creature snapped its jaws at her, startling Xani. "Oh, right, I should go buy some food for this savage creature." She calmed herself and took out a whip from the cargo sled, then skillfully lashed at the Spikit several times. The creature whined from pain and bled a little, which seemed to subdue it somewhat. Xani then started to guide it back inside the stable, keeping herself at a safe distance from the twin-headed beast's salivating mouths. OOC: @That Matoran with a Vahi@Toru Nui

@Light be like

IC: Xani (Streets of Atero) Xani nodded gratefully and gave Vraek the shimmering crystal necklace. Her remark about Iconox was so relatable it made her chuckle. "Thank you, thank you. Maybe this trinket will give you luck in battle." Then she turned to face Jeizmel, pleased to see she was already admiring her bracelet. "Thank you as well. As for Tajun... well, I haven't been there in a while, so maybe I should revisit it." Of course, she had no reason to go to a place that did not participate in slave trade. But maybe they'd appreciate her works as much as these two did. Already, she was fantasizing about returning to her old life. But these two felt like exceptions. Who could say if she'd find more good customers like this? At least, there was always demand for slaves. Always. At the very least, this "vacation trip" to Atero had already turned out better than she had expected, she thought as she counted the money. Now she could take it easy. "So, I suppose that's everything? You probably have places to go to or things to do. When's that tournament starting, anyways?" OOC: @That Matoran with a Vahi@Toru Nui

IC: Xani (Streets of Atero) Xani smiled when Vraek pointed at a necklace and Jeizmel asked about the bracelet. It wasn't a wide smile, as they were far from being her most elaborate or laborious creations and thus she couldn't charge too much for them, but money was money. She did think about the fact that a single slave was worth about a dozen or more of her necklaces or bracelets. She offered the necklace to Vraek and the bracelet to Jeizmel. Both of them had small paper price tags attached to them. "Wonderful choices! Of course, I accept payment in any currency you have. I'm sure you two find the prices to be reasonable." They were rather expensive trinkets. OOC: what currencies are even used in bara magna coz i forgor and cant find any info so i improvised @Toru Nui@That Matoran with a Vahi

IC: Xani (Streets of Atero) "Well, of course, of course," she said to Vraek with a slight chuckle. "My crafts are meant to be admired, not used in battle. Though you shouldn't underestimate the sharpness of crystal, either." She then turned to Jeizmel with a smile. "Anything helps. Money is hard to come by these days." Unless you were a slave trader, of course. Finally, she turned back to face the direction she had come from, and urged the two to follow with a motion of her hand. "Come, I have not yet unloaded by goods since arriving here, so everything is still in the stables. Follow me..." After a short while of walking, she arrived near the city gates. "Wait here," she told the two and walked inside the stables. Not much time passed before a rowdy two-headed Spikit pulled a chariot outside, guided by Xani. She then started to unload some of the crystal crafts from the cargo sled that was attached to the chariot. "Don't mind the Spikit, I haven't fed it in a while, I really should go buy food for it before it eats anyone... which you can help me with by buying any of these!" She showed various crystalline items to the two, such as rings, bracelets, masks, ceremonial weapons, necklaces, drinking glasses and so on. They were all polished to perfection and expertly made. "What do you think?" OOC: @That Matoran with a Vahi@Toru Nui