GoSP

IC (Huntsman): As the fog descended, Acanon recoiled from it, but could do nothing to stop if from forming all around him. Within the haze, he could barely see to the end of his blade. All of a sudden, Nidhiki's earlier comment made a lot more sense. What to do then? He couldn't stand around and wait to get hit, but moving would be difficult too. It would be comically easy for him to blunder into a trap like this. He chose to compromise and rolled behind a low wall to give himself a bit of cover while he looked for a way out. Pushing on the fog with his mask didn't help at all, and Odina held few rahi that might be useful to him. That left his illusions. If Kohu wanted to turn this into a game of hide and seek, well, two could play at that game. Acanon had obtained his mask back when he had served with Carapar, so it was possible that Kohu could know of his illusion. That didn't make them useless, though. He conjured up an image of a dozen stone rats, all scurrying away from his position in different directions. As soon as they found somewhere they might conceal themselves, in a pile of planks, or within a hole, they faded away. With a dozen false trails, any of which, to an outside observer, might have been him in disguise, he could now go about his real movements with a little less worry of being immediately shot at. His real disguise would be to take on the appearance of another recruit, a small black-armoured Matoran he had seen coming towards this area. Nidhiki had instructed them not to interfere with any duels other than their own, so this should give him a measure of protection. Wearing the Matoran's appearance, he ran around a couple of corners, threw a look back over his shoulder as if he were being chased, and then grabbed onto the scaffolding to haul himself up. Perhaps, from the high platforms at the top of this structure, he could get above this magical mist and see what was going on. IC (Mimic): Quick as a flash, Mimic swung his sword in an arc that caught all three plasma bolts. The sticky substance hardened around it, turning the weapon from a blade into a club. As Erox came down from his jump, Mimic was ready to smash it into him just as he landed.

OOC: Sorry for the delay on this one. IC (Mimc): Mimic mirrored Erox's movements, dashing suddenly to his left to avoid the gouts of plasma. The Dark Hunter then changed direction suddenly, taking three quick bounds to close the gap between them and swing his blade at the Vortixx's midsection. IC (Huntsman): "The Makuta" he grimaced, taking step forward as he swung his blade at Kohu for a second time. "They were the ones that... changed you?"

IC (Huntsman): Acanon followed Kohu into the arena, and readied his blade for their duel. He had seen Kohu train many times, back in Carapar's army, and even sparred with him a few times. For him, this exercise would be almost like old times. Almost. Not for the first time, he quietly cursed the Shadowed One and his price. The years had clearly changed Kohu, most notably by leeching all of the colour from his armour, but Acanon was pleased to note that he still carried a crossbow, his signature weapon. It wasn't the same model, of course, but it still made him smile slightly. Some things didn't change. "So, Kohu" Acanon said as he closed the gap between them, swinging his blade experimentally. "I told you my story on the run, but how did you come to join the Dark Hunters? Odina seems an odd place to find an old comrade."

IC (Mimic): Mimic didn't wait for Erox to initiate pleasantries. He just walked into an open spot in the arena, drew his weapon and took up a guarded stance. "When you are ready" he said evenly.

IC (Screamer): Skondh was answered by a loud, grating screech, coming from somewhere in the back. It sounded again, harsh and shrieking, before a loud buzzing rose up to cover it. The creature that emerged from the dark doorway could only have been one of the Dark Hunter's twisted mutants, and one could hardly guess what, or who it had started out as. Screamer had the body of a great blue-grey mantis, with huge, staring compound eyes, four iridescent wings like a dragonfly, and dozens of angular, pointed legs like a centipede. The creature buzzed around the centre of the room, hovering back and forth as it took in the pair with apparent displeasure, before zipping forward to land on Skondh's shoulder. It stared him in the face with insectoid eyes while its back legs went to work on his upper arm, kneading and needling at the raw flesh. Each touch of its legs flared for a moment, stinging like the bites of a fireflyer, before fading again. Within a matter of second, the creature withdrew, and Skondh's gashes had been reduced to a network of crusty scabs. The pain subsided too, remembered only in a lingering itch. Not waiting for a response, Screamer crawled around the back of the Vemosai's neck to rest on his other arm and repeat the process. As she worked she tapped Skonhd's face with one mantis like claw and hissed at him. "Go. Away. And don't. Do it. Again." So saying, the healer and storemaster buzzed off without a second glance, returning to her work somewhere beyond the musty doorframe.

IC (Nidhiki): The Toa of air emerged from the maze and stalked towards the group of chatting recruits, dragging a rather sorry-looking blue steltian behind him. "Right everyone, sorry for the delay" he growled, "But Smasher here had the bright idea to punch his way through the electric spider nest, rather than going around it like any sane person would, and needed rescuing." He shoved the moronic trainee towards the group, and Krekka obligingly stumbled over, before sitting down and looking dumbly back at Nidhiki. "Anyway, congratulations to the rest of you on making it through. Between what we've seen here and the reports we've heard on how you got recruited, we should have enough information to start polishing your strengths and mitigating your weaknesses. Before we do though, there's one more test for you, and for that, we'll be heading over to the combat arena. Bruiser, Sting - you stop by the storehouse on your way. Screamer will see to your wounds."

Ok, here's a preliminary lineup. In no particular order... Exile v Bug-Eye Specialist v Mimic Whisper v Spirit Bruiser v Shadowboxer Commander v Valkyrie Hijack v Mirror Ghost v Huntsman Sting v Reaver Metronome v Psyker It wasn't totally random, because I wanted to avoid particularly uneven match-ups. Changes are still possible.

Fair enough. Though, given that we have an odd number of characters, at least one person will need to take a canon hunter. Feel free to yell if you want that to be you, and have ideas for which one. Also yell if you have preferences for which PC to fight, and I'll take those into account. I'll allow some time for people to get back to me before I go ahead and run the numbers, but it shouldn't be more than a day. Hopefully, that will also be enough time to get the last few PCs through the maze.

Wouldn't she prefer to fight a Steltian, though?

Important Announcement: Hi everyone. I'm just popping in here to say congratulations on really rising to the maze challenge. Lorax and I have really enjoyed reading your posts been impressed by the creativity shown, both in coming up with obstacles and how your characters overcame them. Really, these guys are going to make such a team of Dark Hunters. While the last few characters make it through, I wanted to give you all a heads-up about what's coming next. After looking at the new recruits' skills in the obstacle course, the next stop is going to be the combat arena, to test their fighting skills. To do this, the recruits will be asked to pair off to fight either each other, or one of a few canon DHs, to be played by us GMs. We're giving a bit of advance warning on this so that you can set up your fights, and maybe plan some jams. To make the process as smooth as possible, could you please shoot a PM at Lorax or me once you've got a pair to fight, or you want your character to go against a canon hunter. That way we can know who has fights set up and who doesn't, and help the last few pairings come together. So, get hyped, get organised, and pretty soon, we'll get going.

Sorry for the delay on replying to this one. Let's get into it. Votadox's character and backstory look fine, but all those weapons might be a bit much, especially how he was a slave right before being recruited. How does a slave happen two own two such powerful, high-tech launchers and a pair of protosteel swords? Those are incredibly rare and valuable items, more of the type that might be given at the end of the mission than what a former slave might start out with. If I were to make a suggestion (one you don't have to take, and feel free to come back with your own), I would say drop the rhotuka and reign in the specs on that gun a bit, maybe to two shots in ten seconds, and a dozen before reloading. It also would be nice to add a little to the backstory as to how he got that fancy launcher. The only other thing I'd say is that you should be careful with the hypnosis ability. Takadox got his power "vastly increased" with his mutation in the pit, so Votadox's should be played as weaker that what we saw Takadox do. It should require significant eye-contact, and a bit of a struggle to bring someone completely under his sway. So Votadox isn't quite approved yet, but he's not too far off.

IC (Huntsman): Acanon moved quickly into the course, moving straight ahead. At first, he found little to challenge his physical abilities as he navigated over three deep pits. He leapt from platform to platform above one, propelled himself between two vertical walls above another, and used a series of hanging ropes to swing most of the way across the third. Things only got interesting when the ropes started moving. Each of the dozen began tracing out a seemingly random path around the ceiling, leaving the Huntsman clinging on tightly as he tried to get his bearings as he swung unpredictably back and forth. Eventually, he saw his opportunity to advance. Another rope swung near in front of him just as he was moving towards it. He leapt out and caught onto it, and pulled himself up to wait for his next opportunity. As the ropes moved back and forth, it was difficult to spot which ones might be within his range and get him closer to the other side, but with patience, he learned to spot the ones would help him along among the many that would not. His shoulders were burning by the time he made him final jump to safety, but he was pleased to have passed the test. Around the next bend, he came to a locked door, and a high but precariously balanced pile of rocks stacked up near to the far wall. Just above the top of the cairn, he could make out the glint of a tiny golden key. At first, he tried using the telekinetic power of his mask to simply lift the key down, but it was well-secured. There seemed to be some sort of puzzle-mechanism holding it in place. Perhaps he could simply rip it from the wall by force, but that would risk damaging the key. He would have to climb. Approaching the pile, Acanon tested one of the stones with his foot. It shifted slightly under his weight, but held for now. Cautiously, he pulled himself up. As he searched for the next foothold, he had great difficulty. So many of the stones were loose, or caused the tower to sway alarmingly when he put his weight on them. He was quickly coming to realise that the Murau's size and strength would be a curse here, rather than a blessing. When a Matoran might have been able to scamper up, he was more likely to bring the whole thing down than reach half way. Lowering himself back down to the ground, Acanon walked slowly around the cairn, considering his options. Eventually, he came to what he thought was a workable solution. Pulling himself back up to where he had been, he activated his mask again, not to move a stone, but to hold it in place while he stepped on it. It was tricky to keep it from shifting and knocking into its neighbours, especially when he had to hold several stones at once, but he managed it. By repeating the process, he was able to scale the tower and unhook the key from its convoluted little hook. Leaping down from the top, he landed in a roll and triumphantly slotted his key into the door. It led to a climbing wall, where some of the handholds were really punching fists. When he reached the top, however, he found that there was no way down into the next courtyard but a sheer drop. Obligingly, he leapt down, landing in a roll. Even so, his landing caused a mighty crash and really rattled his bones. Getting up, he looked around. The courtyard had high, sheer walls, and a barred gate at the opposite end. It looked solid enough, despite the fact that it had several large dents, where the thick iron bars were twisted and bent. The only other feature was a dark recess into one of the high stone walls. A recess that contained something that had been awoken by the noise of Acanon's landing. A moment later, a large Kane-Ra charged out, looking for the source of the disturbance. It was a huge bull, old, scarred and ugly as sin, with beady red eyes filled with rage and violence. A chain around its neck held another tiny key. The bull charged at him, blowing heavily, and Acanon stepped back and triggered his mask, this time using the illusion power. He cloaked himself in the appearance of a small stone rat that scurried away along the wall, while a duplicate of his normal appearance ran off in the other direction, narrowly avoiding the bulls's horns. As he had hoped, the Kane-Ra ignored the stone rat and chased after the illusory Murau, gearing up for another charge. While the bull was distracted, Acanon made his way around to the gate. Quickly, he saw that he wasn't going to get through without the key. The gate and its mechanism were well-fortified, and he didn't have the skill to pick the lock. He would have to confront the bull. He kept up the illusion, having the bull keep chasing it round and around the enclosure, while he slowly moved towards it, unseen. He quietly drew his blade, and waited. His puppet changed direction slightly, bringing the Kane-Ra closer to where he stood, and making the bull charge it. Just as the rahi slipped past him, Acanon extended his blade and slipped it between the bull's neck and its chain. The chain pulled tight and then snapped as the Kane-Ra galloped away, leaving the chain hanging from Acanon's blade. He raced for the gate, while pushing his illusion down to the wall at far end. Acanon slipped the key into its lock just the the rahi finally caught up to his false image and rammed right through it. That had been carless of him, but it wouldn't matter now, if he was quick. The Kane-Ra was truly enraged now, and it was barrelling down at him with impressive speed. Just before it reached him though, Acanon slipped through the gate and slammed it shut behind him. The rahi put another large dent in the metal, and snorted at him through the bars, but for all its effort, it could not get to him.

IC (Nidhiki): Nidhiki stood at the entrance to the obstacle course. Inside, he saw a few other Dark Hunters and Matoran workers hurry to take up their positions and ready the equipment. The last of the stragglers jogged up, and as Nidhiki stepped forward, the group formed itself into a rough, lumpy semicircle around the Toa of air. They all seemed about ready to hear his next instructions, when the last one finally staggered into view, hunched over and breathing heavily. Nidhiki scowled at the recruit as he noted the disruption. That one was Reaver, he remembered. He would have to put some extra work into that one. Well, into most of them, really. "Alright, listen up!" he called as he gestured to direct their gazes to the huge, walled maze behind him. "This is the training course, and today it will be showing us where your strengths and weaknesses are, and how your skills hold up under tough scrutiny. There are many ways through it, and though all require a variety of skills, different paths will force you to rely more heavily on, for example, stealth, speed, dexterity, cunning or brute force. For now, you may take any path you choose. the other trainers and I are just wanting to get a look at you in action, and assess how we should focus your training and develop your skills. Well, that's it. Traps are armed, doors are open, off you go." A gust of wind blew up under him, carrying to Toa up to land lightly on top of the huge iron gate that led into the course. OOC: You may have noticed that I have been pretty vague about exactly what is in the course - this was intentional. As each of your characters takes their own path through the maze, you can have them come up against whatever obstacles you think would best showcase what your character is about. You can dream up almost any kind of obstacle you want, within reason. That said, don't make it too easy on yourselves. This is also a chance to push your characters' limits, and show the ways in which they can grow and improve. The course is designed to be challenging, so any character who strolls through the course without breaking a sweat will be considered god-modding. I hope you enjoy this little exercise, and I look forward to reading the results.

IC (Huntsman): "The Dark Hunters could track a mote of dust across a desert, if they so desired." Acanon asserted proudly. He allowed himself none of the doubts Kohu had. The next 10,000 years wouldn't be bearable if he did. "The only issue is giving The Shadowed One that desire, and his desires don't come cheap."

IC (Huntsman): "At ease, soldier" Acanon laughed, "We're not in the league anymore". He clapped his new and former comrade on the shoulder, and now they were running side by side. "But we will be again, and that's why I'm here. Our crabby king and the other barraki weren't killed, only captured and imprisoned. I've been looking for them ever since. Now, the Dark Hunters will join the cause. In exchange for my service, The Shadowed One will have them found and broken out." He had to stop speaking for a minute as the group came to the southern end of the compound, where the wall met the huge stone tunnel that led back to the main Dark Hunter fortress. A set of stairs was carved into the steep stone, allowing them to go over, but though Acanon's long legs could take the stairs five at a time, he had to stop talking and breathe harder until they reached the top.

Nope, that's just my mistake. With so many new characters and players to keep track of, I just got a bit mixed up. I'll change it.

IC (Huntsman): Acanon had left his arrival to Odina as late as he could, and had only arrived in the compound after dark on the previous night. If he was to be bound for ten millennia of servitude, he had been determined to enjoy his last few hours of freedom before the training camp began. He knew that others had been brought in earlier, and so might have a head start on him, but had still waited until the first official day of the new recruits' shared training camp. Acanon found himself roughly keeping pace with a cluster of the taller beings in the group. There was on that looked like a fellow Murau, though blue and strangely mutated. Also present was a Vortixx with mechanical legs and a rifle on his back. At the front of the group ran a sleek and shark-like woman, and just behind her... Acanon rubbed at his sleepy eyes to get a better view. His former comrade had changed in the 75,000 years since they had last seen each other, and yet, Acanon's conviction grew that it was indeed him. "Kohu" he breathed. "My old friend."

Much better. Sukiru is approved.

Two minor issues with this one: First, the location of the Dark Hunter base is a closely guarded secret. One does not simply swim to Odina. Second, characters in this game are only just starting out as trainee Hunters, so there really hasn't been much time for regular interactions with TSO or taking on missions, eking the most out of them or otherwise.

Much better. You're good to go.

Aussie Bane and Nato the Traveller, you're both approved.

@ Lorax: Approved, ridiculous length, foreshadowing name and all. @ Toru Nui: Much better, you're approved. Hold up on posting for a while - Lorax is going to kick us off.

Name: Acanon Codename: Huntsman Species: Murau (Sidorak’s species) Appearance: Powers: Acanon has the strength that comes from his species’ great size, and the ability to use kanohi. He uses a fusion mask he calls the Kanohi Karapu, Mask of The Hunt. It combines the powers of the great mahiki, matatu, and rexa (mask of rahi control). Backstory: Acanon was once a lieutenant of Carapar during the conquests of the League of Six Kingdoms. He participated in many battles during that time, but he considers his greatest achivement to be his victory over the Toa Artidax. He ambushed the three Toa, and used his mask of fusion to foribly combine them into a single being. Taking advantage of the unnatural fusion’s confusion, he was able to slay the kaita, and claimed its fused kanohi as a trophy. When the League was defeated by the Makuta, Acanon escaped and began searching for the place where the Barraki were being held, intending to free them and let the League rise once more. He considers the Barraki to be his clan, and as a Murau Steltian, he places the importance of clan ties above all else, and so is honour-bound to retrieve them. He has travelled the length and breadth of the Matoran Universe, but so far, he has not found them. Becoming discouraged after his long and fruitless search, Acanon looked for aid. He came across the Dark Hunters’ guarantee that they would take on any task, no matter the risk or difficulty, if only offered the right price. He contacted The Shadowed One to enquire about this, and offered what little he had been able to scrape together. The Shadowed One replied with a letter of his own, saying that, unfortunately, Acanon’s offer would not be nearly enough to cover the mission. In order to find and retrieve six of the most infamous beings in history, on a train gone cold for nearly 80,000 years, the Hunter would charge a lot more for their time. But perhaps it could be done, if another price could be negotiated: a price not in gold, but in time. In exchange for 10,000 years of service to the Dark Hunters, the Barraki could be found. This was a steep price, but Acanon had few other options left, so he replied with his agreement, and was brought to Odina. Tools: Acanon uses a long, double-ended blade suitable for fighting multiple opponents at once. He also uses a cordak blaster. Skills: Acanon is an avid explorer who has travelled all over the Matoran Universe. He is vastly experienced, and has learned to solve problems creatively. He is an accomplished warrior, gaining his skills under Carapar, and keeping in practise ever since. Over the millennia, he has achieved mastery over his mask powers, especially illusions.

Gameplay Topic – Discussion Topic This is the profile topic for Project Protodermis. Post your profiles here for approval by a GM. Name: Codename: Species: Appearance: Powers: Backstory: Tools: Skills: You can create your own custom character for this game, or make this game the backstory for how one of the canon hunters came to join (within reason). Before play begins, each character will need to be approved by the GM. Characters that would break the game (like a Makuta) or whose presence would break the BIONICLE story (like a bohrok) will not be approved. Use your own common sense here. Note (Hi, Lorax here, with a note on species, Toa in particular. Toa are a) rare, b) not genrally inclined towards theft and murder and c) have just finished fighting a war with the Dark Hunters, which they won. For this reason, they are rather unlikely to join the Dark Hunters and if they do, they are highly likely to be mutated in the process. In many games, (the BZPRPG in particular), Toa are by far the most common species at around 50%. Personally, I think this is dumb, unrealistic and uncreative. For this reason, Toa PCs will be tightly scrutinised before being approved for this game. Anyone wishing to play a (non-mutated) Toa must provide at least 1000 words of backstory explaining why and how this Toa has come to join the Dark Hunters, and this will be looked over closely. Further, with each Toa character that is submitted and subsequently approved, the higher the bar for approval will be. We might get one on the team, perhaps two if we’re feeling generous and they’re great characters. This is a game about Dark Hunters for goodness sake, the most species diverse and non-standard organisation in all of BIONICLE. Take this chance to play a little outside the box, and give those rarer or custom species some love.)

Gameplay Topic – Profile Topic This is the discussion topic for Project Protodermis. Use this as a place for OOC discussions of the game and game-related things. Do not post your profiles here – they go in the profile topic, but feel free to ask any questions of the GMs here, even if they are profile-related.