Eiji Hino

--IC: Gairu--

"What am I?" Gairu asked.  "I'm not insane, that's for sure."

--OOC:--

Shots fired.

--IC: Viis--

Clatter.  The sound of another Kunai missing the target and sliding across the floor.

Viis sighed.  This was not going well.  Not well at all.  Though it was her first day practicing Unseen Fighting, she reasoned.  She couldn't expect to be good at it on her first day.

She drew what she thought was another Kunai and threw it.

Crash.  The sound of glass being broken.

That was a test tube, not another Kunai.

Viis stamped her foot in frustration.  For five hours, she had been practicing throwing Kunai, trying to hit a target.  She had only succeeded once, and that had barely stuck to the outer ring of the target.  She needed a break.  A loooong break.

Feeling the walls of her house, she groped her way to the door, opened it, and grabbed the sign she kept under the coat rack as she exited.  She held it up, revealing the slightly crude words written on it:

"Pls Guide Me To The Nearest Bar."

--OOC:--

Viis is officially Open For Interaction.  Won't someone please guide her to the nearest bar?

--IC: Gairu--

Gairu chuckled.  This red guy really was completely insane, if he thought that nobody could harm him because he was "invisible."

"Invisible, are you?" said Gairu.  "Then if nobody can see you, how come I can see you well enough to know that you look weird?"

--IC: Gairu--

Gairu covered his ears as the red guy shouted at the top of his lungs, "IT WAS BECAUSE HE LOOKS WEIRD!"  He could see the target of that rude remark, the orange-and-white guy, cringe as the red guy threw the insult at him.

Once the yelling had stopped, Gairu replied in a perfectly reasonable tone, "OK, so you think he looks weird.  I think you look weird, yet you don't see me throwing insults across the room at you.  That's because it's not a nice thing to do.  I'd suggest that you start doing the nice thing, like me, before somebody throws something at your head.  And by somebody, I mean me."  That sinister grin was back.

--OOC:--

Sup, McCree.

--IC: Gairu--

"Sweet.  Thanks," said Gairu.  Then...

"Dudes, I've been waiting for you to sit, so... C'mon, what'cha talking about?"  The little irritable red troublemaker had walked over to the table where Gairu and Kultax were talking and had rudely made his presence known.

Gairu smiled a slightly sinister smile.  "Hey there, little red dude.  I'm Gairu.  My friend Kultax here says you've been giving that orange-and-white guy over there a hard time.  What's up with that?"

--OOC:--

Sup, Tahu3.0.

--IC: Gairu--

"Well, would it help if I went over there and tried to reason with him?" Gairu asked.  "If it doesn't work, at the very least it'll be interesting to see how it plays out."

--IC: Gairu--

"Ah."  Complete insanity wasn't really something that Gairu had been overly exposed to in the past.  "Well, just because he's completely insane doesn't mean he can harass that poor orange-and-white fellow over there.  I assume that's what you were reprimanding him for a second ago?" he asked Kultax.

--IC: Gairu--

The phrase "missing at least half his deck" was unfamiliar to Gairu.  "What's that mean?" he asked.

--IC: Gairu--

"Hey, Kultax.  Name's Gairu."  Gairu offered his hand for Kultax to shake.  "There's not much you can help me with at the moment, other than telling me what's goin' on in the corner over there.  Your red buddy doesn't look like he's having too great a time."

--OOC:--

Sup, Nightbeat.

--IC: Gairu--

Gairu saw one of the people in the corner looking at him while simultaneously reprimanding one of his buddies.  He waved at the person cheerfully.

"I'm not completely worthless!  Let's sacrifice Nuparu in the Chamber of Death instead!"

Sidorak

--IC: Gairu--

Gairu strolled up to the door of his old house (it was a surprise that he still remembered where it was; it hadn't changed a bit), and was just about to open it when he realized something... He didn't want to go home just yet.  Instead, he wanted to interact with everyone else here in Onu-Koro.  He hadn't been here in some time, and it would do to get to know as may people as possible.  After all, meeting new people was something he loved to do.  Who knows, maybe he'd even be able to form an alliance with someone.

A loud grumble sounded from Gairu's stomach.  "Heh heh.  Maybe I should go meet people someplace where there's food," he said to himself.  Turning away from the door, he shrugged his backpack higher up on his shoulders and headed back into the village.

Now he was able to take a good look at his surroundings.  He was surprised by how little change had happened in the time between his exile and now.  Granted, new houses had been added for all the new residents of Onu-Koro, and the signs for all the shops had been updated into a more modern style, but other than that, everything looked pretty much the same.  That wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

A delicious smell found its way to Gairu's nose.  He looked around, trying to see where it had come from.  His eyes landed on a restaurant which several people in brightly-colored armor had just entered.  The smell was coming from the open door.  Gairu made a beeline for it, opened the door, and took a seat, waiting patiently for a waiter.  He observed a bit of a kerfuffle going on in the corner...

--OOC:--

Aw yiss!  I'm finally here!

Gairu is Open For Interaction, in case anyone wants to officially break me in to the game.

OK, I know this topic hasn't been touched in a while, but I need a confirmation on something.  Reading the posts from earlier, I saw that to upload from your computer, you'd need to upload the picture to a hosting site of some kind and add the URL from there to put it in your post.  My question is, would Google Drive be considered a valid hosting site for me to put my pictures?  I tried adding the URL from there to my post, but the picture doesn't seem to show up; in its place is a little picture box that says "view", and it pops up the picture if I click on it.  I guess I don't know if that's normal or not, so I just want to know if Google Drive URLs would work for adding pictures.

As a new user who absolutely loves RPGs, this was the first thing I had to do.

I'm excited to get started!

NAME: Gairu

SPECIES: Toa

GENDER: Male

ALIGNMENT: Lawful good

POWERS: As a Toa of Sonics, Gairu has the ability to create, control, and absorb sound.  

APPEARANCE: Short.  Weak-chinned.  Frail.  These are NOT words that would describe Gairu.  Gairu stands at an imposing six and a half feet tall, with an impressive musculature to match his impressive height.  He has green eyes and a defined jaw behind his Kanohi Volitak, which has three parallel scratches across the left eye.  In the middle of his chest, he has a green heartlight, right next to the Matoran letter 'G.'

     Gairu's body is primarily covered with silver and black armor, decorated with green and blue details that glow when he utilizes his sonic powers.  He has a plasma burn on his left shoulder, which he got in a fight with a jittery Toa of Plasma.  On his blue leather belt are black scabbards that hold his sword and knives.  He carries his other gear in a tan backpack.

     When he's making a dramatic point, Gairu takes to wearing a billowing red cape that he seems to pull out of nowhere.

WEAPONS/EQUIPMENT:

• Saber of Alatar- Despite its name, a two-handed Protosteel broadsword with a Gukko feather carved into the pommel.  It is capable of channeling and amplifying Gairu's sonic powers.
• Kukri (x2)- A pair of small fleshing knives that Gairu carries for up-close-and-personal combat.
• Kanohi Volitak- The Great Mask of Stealth.  This mask is capable of shielding Gairu from unfriendly eyes, blending him into his surroundings and muting his noises.  It does, however, have a significant drawback.  See the Weaknesses section to find out what it is.
• Red Cape- A red cape with the Matoran letter 'G' emblazoned on the back that Gairu keeps in his backpack.
• Flash Bomb (x3)- Three small balls filled with flash powder.  They don't do anything other than make a lot of light and noise.  They're handy for making quick escapes.
• Fire-Crystal Lantern- An ornate lantern with a glowing crystal at its core.  It is said to give enough light to brighten up the bearer's surroundings for up to 100 feet.  Gairu bought this lantern from J'erbok in Po-Koro.

HISTORY: A Matoran of Sonics is as out of place among Matoran of Earth as a Zivon in the plains.  So it was with Gairu.  No matter how hard he tried, he could not fit in with the Onu-Matoran in Onu-Wahi.  Perhaps it was because of his ineptitude.  Yep, that's it; it was his ineptitude.  Gairu failed at every task he was given.  He kept mapping tunnels wrong; he couldn't put together machinery; and don't get me started with mining.  Mining was the last straw.  After his failed attempt to mine a cool-looking rock nearly cost the lives of an entire mining crew, the Onu-Matoran kicked Gairu out of Onu-Wahi, along with his cool-looking rock.

     Alone, Gairu wandered Mata Nui until he reached Kini Nui, the Great Temple.  It was there that he found out that his cool-looking rock wasn't just a cool-looking rock; it was a Toa Stone.  Placing the Toa Stone on the shrine, Gairu was transformed into a Toa of Sonics!  Gladdened by his new abilities, he rushed back to Onu-Wahi, determined to convince the Onu-Matoran that he wouldn't be the cause of any more problems there.  He arrived just in time.  A dangerous Rahi was going on a rampage, tearing apart several vital mining tunnels.  Gairu fought the beast, and managed to beat it into submission, thus saving the underground village.

     The Onu-Matoran apologized for their rudeness to him and for kicking him out, and expressed their desire to keep him around.  Gairu accepted their offer, their apologies, and their friendship.  This is where we find him right now, and where I'll be picking up with his new adventures.

PERSONALITY/TRAITS: Introverted.  Selfish.  Cowardly.  Again, these are NOT words that would describe Gairu.  Gairu is very outgoing and loves to make new friends.  He claims it's to make up for the lack of them when he was a Matoran.  He enjoys sharing things with those he meets, whether it's a tall tale, something cool he found on the road, or a recipe for Dermis Turtle Soup.

     He isn't afraid to take on a new challenge or protect those he cares about... mostly.  He has a deep-seated fear that he's going to fail, and that his failure will cost the lives of others, due to that almost happening several times as a Matoran.  

WEAKNESSES: Gairu's sonic powers are weakened in water, almost to the point of uselessness.

     He is weak against Electricity- and Fire-based attacks, as both will heat up his armor to a very uncomfortable temperature, and he'll need to wait for it to cool down before he continues fighting.  He has significant chinks in his armor at the back of the neck and the bends of his elbows and knees.  If he gets hit there, he's in big trouble.

     In addition, Gairu prefers to not use his Kanohi Volitak regularly.  This makes most stealth missions hard, because his large self is almost always visible.

NAME: Viis

SPECIES: Toa

GENDER: Female

ALIGNMENT: Neutral good

POWERS: As a Toa of Electricity, Viis has the ability to create, control, and absorb lightning.

APPEARANCE: Viis is tall for a female, about five feet nine inches.  Her eyes, once a shining, cheerful magenta that matched her heartlight, now lie broken and useless behind a white blindfold.  Scars mar her Kanohi Rau’s eyeholes, a testament to the accident that cost her her sight.  Her lips are constantly pressed together in a tight line.

     Viis’ body is primarily covered with shiny, almost translucent blue armor accented with magenta.  Atop this, she wears a stainless, calf-length white lab coat, revealing her high-heeled boots.  Test tubes are strapped to her belt, along with her Black Blade and Kunai.

     Tattooed across the back of her hands and neck are Matoran characters, denoting the number “144.”  The significance of this number is unknown.

WEAPONS/EQUIPMENT:

• Black Blade- A long, black-bladed dirk decorated with magenta.
• Kunai (x10)- Small black throwing knives.
• Kanohi Rau- The Great Mask of Translation.  It is now useless because Viis cannot see anything that might need translating.
• Lab Coat- A pristine white lab coat with several pockets.
• Test Tubes (x4)- Four small glass test tubes strapped to Viis’ belt.  Sometimes she confuses them for Kunai.

HISTORY: Viis was once a scientist stationed in Ga-Koro.  She spent her time cataloguing the marine plants and animals there, figuring out their chemical composition and how they interacted with each other.  When she was feeling particularly experimental, she would extract a certain chemical from one species and see how it reacted to a different chemical from another species.  These experiments were usually harmless, and produced several intriguing results.

     Unfortunately, it was one of these experiments that caused her downfall.

     Viis made the mistake of combining Ruki pheromones with a particularly volatile buoyancy compound found in lily pads.  The two chemicals reacted violently, causing an explosion that caught her right in the eyes.  Much of her lab equipment was damaged or destroyed, and she was rushed to the nearest doctors.

     Several weeks later, her wounds had healed, and she was ready to be released, but there was a major complication in the procedures… Viis was left permanently blinded.  The doctors tried everything they could to restore her sight, but to no avail.  Viis accepted her fate, albeit not without some strong emotion, and went back to her home in Ga-Koro, now a melancholy shadow of her once cheerful self.  She decided to take up the art of Unseen Fighting, a combat style developed by those who could not see, because she wanted to at least try to contribute something to society despite the loss of her scientific career.  This is where we find her right now, and where I’ll be picking up with her new adventures.

PERSONALITY/TRAITS: Viis used to be cheerful before the accident.  Now she’s very melancholy and resentful, because her blindness has taken away the thing that brought her joy in life: the ability to do science.  She desperately wants to find a solution for her problem, and that means finding a Kanohi Arthron, the Great Mask of Sonar, which will let her sense her surroundings and give her back her scientific career.

     Despite her almost constant melancholy, Viis will share an occasional jest with a friend if the day is going well.  She will also turn quite fierce if someone she loves is in danger, and will try her best to get them out of their trouble, even though she’s handicapped by her blindness and her efforts are only successful about 20% of the time.

WEAKNESSES: Viis cannot see.  ‘Nuff said.

NAME: J’erbok

SPECIES: Barcudo

     This species needs to be approved by a BZPRPG Staffer before I can play as J’erbok.

GENDER: Male

ALIGNMENT: Lawful neutral

POWERS: Not exactly a power, per se, but J’erbok has a natural resistance to Water-based attacks and high temperatures.

APPEARANCE: Like the majority of the Barcudo species, J’erbok is a beanpole.  He is very skinny, with little extraneous flesh on his bones.  However, just because he’s skinny doesn’t mean that he’s weak.  His muscles, toughened from supposed years of hard labor, ripple under his blanched white, scaly skin.  He has an elongated, Alien-like skull, red eyes, and an under-bite that exposes four yellowed teeth.  A row of small black spikes lines his hunched back, which match the nails on his three-fingered hands and two-toed feet.

     J’erbok doesn’t wear much.  His only clothing is a ragged tan loincloth, held up by a worn leather belt, and tan cloth wrappings around his wrists and ankles.  A yellow crystal is tied around his neck; three more crystals- one red, one green, and one blue- are tied to his belt.  He carries a rugged tan knapsack which holds his other stuff.

WEAPONS/EQUIPMENT:

• Staff- A long wooden stick patched with metal, with a noticeable kink at one end.  Two pink crystals are tied to the bend of this kink.  J’erbok primarily uses it as a walking stick, but it doubles as a blunt weapon in a pinch.
• Crystals- Several crystals of various colors that J’erbok carries with him.  They are supposedly from his home island.  They don’t do anything special; they just look pretty.  And they sell for a good price.
• Oddities and Bric-a-brac- The name says it all.  J’erbok keeps his knapsack full of various trinkets and other small objects that are also supposedly from his home island.  He peddles them whenever he’s running low on coin.

HISTORY: J’erbok hails from a faraway island with no name.  He doesn’t remember much about it, other than it always seemed to be in a state of turmoil.  The reason he doesn’t remember much about it is that he was conked on the head hard and woke up Mata Nui knows how much later in a sea-bound crate with amnesia and a knapsack full of stuff.

     This crate, battered and broken, eventually washed up on the shore of Po-Wahi, dumping him and his knapsack on the sand.  When he regained consciousness, he began to wander the desert, wondering where he was and if he could find someone to help him.  He reached Po-Koro a month after, and opened up his own curio booth in the city.  This is where we find him right now, and where I’ll be picking up with his new adventures.

PERSONALITY/TRAITS: Despite being stuck in that crate for so long, J’erbok is actually pretty smart.  He knows how to survive in harsh environments, which is what kept him alive in his wanderings.  More importantly, he knows the value of money.

     J’erbok has a desperate need to be liked.  He’ll always try to impress others with a (made-up) story about something awesome he did, in order to hide the fact that he doesn’t remember his past.  Most of the time, people believe his stories, which is why he fears that if they found out that he was lying, they’d stop liking him.

     He walks with a limp and sounds like Sean Connery.

WEAKNESSES: J’erbok is easily distracted.  That’s not a good thing to be, especially in combat.  He’s also not the best at combat, has no armor or real weapons, and tends to break his staff if he swings it at something too hard.

NAME: Nikonn

SPECIES: Vortixx

GENDER: Female

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral

POWERS: None

APPEARANCE: Nikonn stands five feet five inches tall, and manages to look quite regal at that somewhat lacking height.  She has pale blue skin, vaguely reptilian facial features, and silver “hair” styled in the traditional swept-back Vortixx fashion.  Her curvy figure is the envy of other Vortixx females, and desired by males of all species.

     Nikonn clothes herself in a tan bra-like garment with a chocolate-brown fur collar, tan, knee-length cargo pants, tan cloth wrappings on her wrists and feet, chocolate-brown fur bracelets and anklets, a chocolate-brown cloth belt, and silver armor on her biceps, belly, and shins.  All of these, bar the fur, are trimmed with a shade of aquamarine that exactly matches her eyes.

WEAPONS/EQUIPMENT:

• Zamor Spheres- An assortment of Zamor Spheres of various powers, including Targeting, Freezing, and Binding.  Nikonn uses them as projectile weapons, but see the Weaknesses section to find out why they usually never work.
• Spear of Siphoning- A spear with a weakened Siphoning Zamor Sphere in the head, intended to steal others’ powers.  Nikonn uses it, or attempts to use it, when she knows a fight is coming on.  That prevents her opponents from using their full powers on her, so she can effectively manipulate them without worry of getting burned entirely to a crisp.  It doesn’t work instantaneously; instead, it will draw out her opponents’ power a little at a time, usually taking fifteen minutes to do significant damage.
• Makeup Kit- A set of exotic Vortixx beautifying products, including Bula berry extract (hair conditioner), Madu fruit paste (mascara), and Visorak poison (exfoliating cream).  This gets the most use, because Nikonn knows that her beauty is what makes males bend so easily to her will.

HISTORY: Born into a high-class, well-respected Vortixx family, Nikonn was taught from an early age that she could and should have whatever she wanted.  For Nikonn, what she wanted was knowledge.  She kept her nose in all the books that her parents’ money could buy, retaining every piece of information that she read.  Her parents were proud of her growing intellect, and encouraged her to pursue her quest for knowledge.  As she grew in intellect, Nikonn grew also in age and beauty.  Males, not just Vortixx males, but males of other species as well, began to take notice of her and desire her.  And why shouldn’t they?  After all, she was very smart, very beautiful, and (most importantly) very single.  But Nikonn would not return their affections.  No, her only affections were for her books and scrolls.

     Eventually, Nikonn exhausted her parents’ supply of knowledge and left to seek out new books, new scrolls, and new information.  (Her parents were secretly glad that she was gone, so that they could sell the massive pile of books that she had bought with their money.)  Her quest led her to the Ko-Wahi Academy and Hospital, the largest knowledge database on Mata Nui.  She practically took up residence there, up to her neck in new subjects and new information on familiar ones.  For a time, she was happy.

     Then Echelon came into power in Ko-Koro, heralding in the arrival of several unsavory characters.  Nikonn was the target of much harassment from said unsavory characters, who claimed that a beauty like herself shouldn’t be wasting her time with becoming smarter; instead, she should be off somewhere else getting married.  Nikonn couldn’t stand this harassment for very long, and after three days of putting up with it, she left Ko-Koro, determined to stay away until something was done about the harassing riff-raff.  This is where we find her right now, and where I’ll be picking up with her new adventures.

PERSONALITY/TRAITS: As a result of her high-class upbringing, Nikonn is very graceful and deliberate with her movements.  Her actions are always purposeful, and she makes no unnecessary movements.  Even her habit of toying with her hair has a purpose.  Males love that about her.  They also love her throaty voice and her other deliberate habit of rolling her ‘r’s in a seductive manner.  Combine those with her beauty and brains, and it’s no wonder that males go wild for her.

     Nikonn is a master manipulator, a skill she picked up from her influential parents.  She’s only had to manipulate a select few people, as others will generally fulfill her requests without question or resistance, especially if those others are males.  But when she does have to manipulate people, she does so flawlessly.  As such, she almost always gets what she wants.  Almost.

WEAKNESSES: Nikonn’s greatest weakness is her vanity.  She knows how beautiful she is, and recognizes the value of it when manipulating others, which is why she’ll go to great lengths to preserve it.  That generally means staying away from a fight.  If she has to fight, or if she can’t get to her Spear of Siphoning fast enough, she’ll usually stay reserved and never get fully involved in it, which is bad if her opponent is a willing pugilist.

     She’s also terrible at throwing her Zamor Spheres.

NAME: Aiduro

SPECIES: Toa

GENDER: Male

ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil

POWERS: As a Toa of Iron, Aiduro has the ability to create, control, and absorb any kind of metal and similar substances.

APPEARANCE: Aiduro is a mountain of a Toa.  Seven feet tall and covered in bulky, fur-lined armor, his silhouette is enough to strike fear into the hearts of lesser beings.  His armor is colored silver and burnt orange, pointing to his status as a Toa of Iron.

     Aiduro’s eyes burn a dark blue behind his Kanohi Pehkui.  A gray woolen scarf wraps around his neck and shoulders.  Gray fur is visible along the edges of each piece of his armor.  His gray leather belt holds his equipment.  Scars in the shape of teeth marks mar his left hand.

WEAPONS/EQUIPMENT:

• Epilogue- Aiduro’s massive Protosteel broadsword.  Where the blade meets the handle, a Mahi head is sculpted into the material.  The Mahi’s horns form the ends of Epilogue’s crosspiece.
• Tangler- A large net made of thick rope.  It is used for entrapping Rahi and opponents alike.
• Kanohi Pehkui- The Great Mask of Diminishment.  Aiduro never uses it; he’s quite proud of his imposing figure.  This mask was briefly lost in Ko-Koro to the Collector, then returned.
• Ogden’s Old- A seemingly bottomless bottle of strong, Ta-Koro-brewed whiskey.  Aiduro is never without it.

HISTORY: A bartender.  A Rahi tamer.  A sell-sword.  A guardsman.  Aiduro has been all these things and more.  He’s lived for adventure since his birth, doing anything that involves roughing up something else.

     Aiduro’s first career was as a bartender in Ga-Koro.  The shady bar was primarily run by gruff and tough Skakdi, so the environment fit perfectly with Aiduro’s rough-and-tumble personality.  (The environment was also where he developed his propensity for drinking booze and harassing girls.)  He was the best at clearing up fights and clearing out riff-raff, but when one unsavory character turned out to be the off-duty manager, he was fired.

     Rahi taming was a logical second choice.  He began to hunt Rahi all across the island, wrapping them up with Tangler and whipping them into shape.  It was during this time that he forged Epilogue.  While the income for Rahi taming was good, Aiduro just wasn’t sure what to do with the Rahi once they were tamed.  After a particularly disastrous incident with a Kavinika, he went looking for another job.

     Aiduro briefly took up a career as a sell-sword, but sell-swords weren’t very much in demand.  When he found out that he could make an even better living out of roughing up others as a guardsman in Ko-Koro, he went straight to Echelon and applied for the job.  Echelon accepted him, and stationed him at Glacier Gate, where he has stood guard ever since.  This is where we find him right now, and where I’ll be picking up with his new adventures.

PERSONALITY/TRAITS: Aiduro loves to harass others, be they Rahi, Matoran, or otherwise.  He makes a tremendous joke out of it, which makes his harassment worse and increases his enjoyment of it.  Most of it is a byproduct of drinking too much Ogden’s Old.  He doesn’t care, though; he’ll just keep on drinking and harassing.

     He has a particular weakness for girls.  True, he’ll harass girls as much as anyone else, but in those cases, it’s to mask his supposed affections for them.  (Harassment does a great job of masking his affections, to be honest.)

WEAKNESSES: Aiduro is deathly afraid of Kavinika.  His hand still bears the scars from that one encounter.  He also utilizes a reckless fighting style that will often leave him vulnerable.