Kal the Guardian

@Eyru Krrenchk's Profile is updated.

On 1/25/2021 at 12:04 AM, Unreliable Narrator said:

@Kal the Guardian your Far Shore Adventure with Sorilax was very interesting. While the use of the optional matoran principle Prosperity felt loosely attributed, I see the intention and will award the loot point for its incorporation. Next time, try to more clearly emphasize an optional prompt like you did with the other two. Your rolls are: 11, 16, 9, 15, 17, and 16.

Kal returns from the Far Shore at the time of your choosing in the same physical condition as he embarked on the adventure. He has the following new items in his possession:

1. +1 Psychological Flaw of your choosing and a pair of Echo Forks

2.  Great Kanohi Mask of Water Breathing (kaukau)

3.  Vial of Visorak "Hordika" Venom (same thing as with Sidra NUVA)

4. An elemental longbow of Ice. Its arrows are conjured icicles, and it functions like an elemental weapon.

5. Taboo Rite: Infected Kanohi Affinity. This Taboo allows Sorilax to wear and use infected kanohi masks. (see a future PM for further details regarding symbol, stanza, and official rules text)

6. Noble Mask of Shielding (Hau)

 

 

Now these are some awesome rewards! Alright!

For the Elemental Longbow of Ice, you say it functions like an elemental weapon. What is the definition of an elemental weapon? Or is the conjured icicle description already telling me all I need to know?

@Unreliable Narrator @Vezok's Friend @Eyru

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou, Stannis

“Really?” Viltia leaned forward slightly, excited, “No way!” She paused, “Oh, well I guess it has been over a month since we saw Sala and him. I have no idea what they’ve been up to. Hey, when did you last see him? Was he doing well?”

OOC: @BULiK @EmperorWhenua

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou

"You see that airship?" Knichou asked her as he pointed his ship. "The Taku is the highest concentration of firepower out of anything on this island that can move.”

This Toa had no idea the dangers on this island. She had seen Nektann’s memories, she knew his thoughts. The war skaks didn’t raid for loot. That was only secondary. They raided because they liked it. They loved to destroy. They loved to kill. If they ever found out about Le-Metru Nuva, it would only be a matter of time.

And that wasn’t even to mention Tahtoraks. More than one could be made, and no amount of defenses would be able to stop it if it knew where Le-Metru Nuva was. It was invincible to normal damage, after all. No, secrecy was the only thing keeping them safe. If they couldn’t be found, they couldn’t be destroyed. This Toa didn’t know what he wanted from her.

“If your village is ever in danger, y'know, from whatever monsters make the Fau swamp so inhospitable, it would certainly be nice if I knew exactly where your village was, who to contact, and how to do so, so we could fly down and help you out. That's all I want to know."

The engineer crossed his arms.

"We're all trying to survive out here, and quite frankly it's concerning that you want to buy weapons from me without giving me more information about who it's going to. Because no, you already said this is for others in your village, and if I'm arming people I don't know in a village that doesn't have any formal alliance with Kini-Koro, well, I'm sure you can see the potential problems there. If it turns out this is being used for more than rahi... well let's just say I don't need Vulimai on my ### about my business any more than she already is."

“Oh.” Viltia visibly relaxed, all doubts dropping from her mind. She knew the bearer of the Mask of Creation would never be bad. She never doubted it. Not one bit. Well maybe just a little bit, she had no idea what she was doing for the most part. It wasn’t her fault.

“Well you should have just said that first.” She looked around to make sure they weren’t being listened to. There was only this tall, incredibly sagely looking Toa of Stone nearby. His wizened face told her all she needed to know about him. He could totally be trusted. Not all all like that creepy cloaked Toa from earlier. She thought of how she knew where the village was and spoke so only Knichou and the nice Toa of Stone could hear, “Okay, so you go south. Then, when you get to the trees, go to the right. Once a two headed Gukko comes out to attack you, you’re basically there.”

Viltia nodded, confident in her directions. “Sorilax unintentionally set up a group of village elders who run things based on his moral code. And as for surviving the dangers of the swamp, we get healed via healing Rhotuka once a week just in case, I protect the village with this-” one of her tethers grabbed her mask of Rahi Control from the back pouch, “-and Apex has helped out a ton too, getting a portion of Rahi not to attack us. Oh, and you don’t go to the swamp floor.” Viltia vigorous shook her head no, “Especially not the puddles and ponds.”

Suddenly the Toa of Stone talked, completely shocking her. It was the voice from the creepy cloak guy from earlier! Wow, she was misjudging everyone today.

"Toa Viltia," the old toa said, "I would be interested in doing some trading with you as well, and unlike my fellow Knichou here it's not my style to to brag about the size of my guns." His voice was so soothing, like sitting out on a stone slab that had spent all day heating in the sun, surrounded by desert flowers.

"You and I have friends in common, and any friend of his is an acquaintance of mine," he lied genteelly. "May I have the pleasure of trading with you?"

Viltia's mind focused on the word 'friends' and she looked at him in surprise, “What? We do? Who?”

OOC: @BULiK @EmperorWhenua

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou

Viltia frowned once more. She noticed behind Knichou that the dangerous Air Toa was maybe moving to board his vessel. This Mask of Creation bearer was growing far more dubious by the sentence. Should… she maybe take the mask and find someone better to wear it? No, she couldn’t steal it, it wouldn’t be right. She didn’t really know this Toa well enough to make judgements about his character, anyway. This settlement seemed to accept him, so that was good enough for her for now.

“Well then you’ve never been to the Fau Swamps. There is no light below the canopy, just pockets of dusk and tiny shafts of sunlight that are scarcely able to filter through. And about my village, you don’t need to know anything.” Tone crept into her voice. If there was one thing she was going to do, it would be protecting her friends from potential harm. “You’re trading with me, not my village. I would kindly like three Rhotuka Launchers in exchange for these six Kanoka, please. If you don’t want to trade, I’m sure someone else in the village needs them more than someone with the Mask of Creation.”

OOC: @BULiK

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou

“Oh, oops. What were they again? I kind of got distracted by Kanoka forging. I kind of love it a lot. It’s been so much fun. You should have seen when I first tried merging three discs together for the first time. You couldn’t even tell it was supposed to be a disc!” Viltia laughed sweetly. “Oh, right. The questions. Something about Rhotuka Launchers not being good? What could be better than a Rhotuka Launcher? Don’t all other weapons need ammunition?”

OOC: @BULiK

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou

"Rhotuka are... unreliable. If ammunition is a concern, I know what weapon you truly wish for." Knichou paused for a moment.

Viltia was confused. How were Rhotuka unreliable? Sidra could even ride hers. They were very versatile. And what would be better? Did he mean Kanohi machines? That might be perfect. A large Kanohi machine of Shielding and several Kanohi machine turrets of Repulsion would be a perfect non-lethal defense against Rahi.

Knichou continued, "But for that, I don't just want your Kanoka. I want answers. Tell me more about your village. Where exactly is it in the swamp? How have you survived in there? Who is in charge? How are you making Kanoka? Can you make more?"

Viltia frowned. Le-Metru Nuva’s greatest strength was its anonymity and stealth. Why would this Toa want to know all about it? Could the bearer of the Legendary Mask of Creation possibly have shady intentions? The last bit distracted her from her concerns, though.

“Oh! I make Kanoka from raw protodermis ore. And I can make a ton more if you want me to. And turn them into masks, too! I’ve made all kinds of masks if you need any. I mean trade for any. Although I don’t have a complete list of possible masks, so I’m sure there’s a lot I still don’t know how to make.”

She remembered who she was talking to, “Oh, not that you would need any other Kanohi.”

OOC: @BULiK

YES! Can't wait to see what might be on the drop tables.

I keep hearing in passing that Barius' War Skaks are in need of more members.

PC Profile:

Retired

Name: Krrenchk
Breed: Skakdi
Faction: Barius’s War Skaks 
Brief Description: Mostly tan with brown as a secondary color. Orange optics. Deep scars cover the front of his organic protodermis muscled face. Lesser scars cover the rest of his mechanical body.
Background/Occupation: Scarred most heinously on his face in a non-honorable way, Krrenchk is heavily ashamed of it and self conscious about it. He hides the scars by wearing the mask of a fallen foe. Ironically, he proudly wears his other, well earned, scars on the rest of his body.

He loves fighting above all else, as most Skakdi do. To maximize on this, he has followed Nektann the first, the second, and now Barius.
 

Flaws: 
Psychological issue: He is severely self conscious of his facial scars and will retaliate if they are mentioned.
Physical limitation: Is missing two fingers on his left hand and one finger on his right.

Powers: 
Primary power: Inaccuracy Vision. When active, if someone can see his optics, or if he can see them, the farther they are from him, the more inaccurate they are in whatever they do. Within five feet the power is so weak to be essentially non-existent. Must be within unaided sight. Dots in the distance don’t count, he needs to be able to tell at least that they have limbs.

Secondary power: The Silver Blade. When active, a single section of his body becomes as durable as protosteel and as sharp as any blade despite not changing shape. He needs to actively mentally swap which body section possesses the power. He can easily swap between his legs in combat as he has trained the most with them. Body sections are as follows: Head, Torso, Right Arm, Left Arm, Right Leg, Left Leg. The section of his body that the power is active on turns silver.
 

Breed quirks: Element of Stone accessed through the consensual sharing of power with another Skakdi through physical contact or through special equipment. Ability to chew food as opposed to absorbing it. Larger than Toa and as strong, if not stronger, than most Toa. Cannot access Kanohi powers.
 

Equipment: Protosteel boots of elemental channeling. They can also channel his Silver Blade, becoming as sharp as any blade.

Great Kanohi of Repulsion.

A normal sized backpack that looks comically small on his back.

---------

ACR Profile:

Destroyed by Marrow

Name of ACR: Crushing Foot (Though many instead call it Krrenchk’s minivan, or the support van, or sometimes the healsmobile)
ACR’s Faction/Homebase: Barius’s War Skaks 
Pilot of ACR: Krrenchk
Type of heartlight: Vortixx
Physical Description: Heavily armored war rig. The epitome of wheeled combat. The… the strongest in…

…

It’s a minivan.

An heavily armored minivan, but a minivan nonetheless.
 

Onboard Weapons Systems:
 

Primary (+weakness): Rhotuka Launcher. (Must have one hand on the controller in order to channel the user’s specific Rhotuka power/mentally guide the Rhotuka mid flight.) Krrenchk’s Rhotuka power is healing.

The healing Rhotuka is designed to cure the physical ailments of living beings. Therefore, it can cure disease or plague and insanity when it is caused by physical ailment, but not mutations by the Pit mutagen, Visorak venom, or infected Kanohi. Users cannot use their healing Rhotuka to heal themselves. The time it takes for the Rhotuka to heal an injury depends on its severity.
 

Secondary (+weakness): Zamor Launcher. (Mounted on an extendable arm on the roof. Must be pulled down and manually loaded and fired.) Krrenchk has a supply of yellow-orange Zamor Spheres that nullify the effects of enemy weapons. (Jovan’s Zamor Sphere power)
 

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou

Viltia tilted her head in slight confusion, “For my village. The one I told you about. I already mentioned how dangerous the Fau Swamp is, right? Uh…” Viltia’s optics went wide and she lowered her voice far too late, “Which may or may not be where my village is.”

Well, this Toa bore the Mask of Creation, he was probably trustworthy. “But if it was, there are crazy dangerous mutated Rahi there and we don’t have many weapon defenses. The swamp has already killed too many of us. We have the one Rhotuka Launcher, but our healer needs that. And Rhotuka Launchers don’t require ammo, right? So that’s probably what we would need the most.”

OOC: @BULiK

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou

Viltia shifted as she thought about what the village might need. She had gotten electronics already… Perhaps more defenses? “It’s Viltia, and in exchange for three Kanoka of Levitation and three of Increase Weight… How about three Rhotuka launchers? Or… maybe some Zamor Spheres? We’ve been using Madu Cabolo that I’ve been growing so we could something less explodey. Orrrrrr…. I really don’t know much about weapons or types of weapons, honestly. What do you think is fair?”

OOC: @BULiK

Sorilax's Far Shore adventure has been completed. 

His prompts: 

Timeline: A (optional prompts: destiny, prosperity, strength)

Element: Ice

Conflict: Character vs Supernatural

Twist: "be careful what you wish for"

---------

Sorilax has realized his Destiny to create Life, that Life abounds only through the Prosperity of the application of his Destiny, and that he holds Strength inside himself. He traveled through a frozen world of Ice and snow, with a mystery woven into it of a dead and forgotten world that had created below absolute zero technology through taboo means and suffered the consequences. He fought the detached shadows of beings that had disappeared from the planet. And his goal of finding Sala in the Far Shore was twisted upon him, as what he wished for turned out to be the source of his opposition.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

@Unreliable Narrator @Vezok's Friend @Eyru

IC: Sorilax - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Far Shore

Stars played in the void that made up Sala’s body as he lazily eyed Crystal. With the force of a collapsing and frozen waterfall, she yelled a war cry and blasted him with both Water and Ice. A stasis field enveloped him before the blast hit, blocking all damage she sought to inflict. As her attack faded, the stasis field dropped and Void Sala raised the emerald Air Hatchet, wind picking up and chucking Crystal away. He motioned with his blacker than black hand and several shadowlings sprung from their hiding places around the gleaming glass vats, dancing in the scant light as they obeyed him and surged forward towards the Toa of Water.

As Sorilax watched the exchange, suddenly the powers of the shadowlings made sense. The wind from Sala’s Air Hatchet, the stasis field from Sala’s Kraata. Their powers stemmed from Sala. Sala… was their source.

No. No he wasn’t. This wasn’t Sala. He refused to believe so. This was a Far Shore apparition summoned from his mind just like his other creations. Sorilax raised his long arms, Light bristling along them. In a near instant attack, beams of Light shot forth. Sorilax tried to inflict damage, to disperse the dark.

Void Sala laughed cruel and harsh as the pithy Light struck him and was absorbed just through the power of his shadow body alone. And then he was upon Sorilax, smacking him with his hand.

Suddenly Sorilax was frozen in stasis, unable to move. He tried to wiggle, to summon his element, but he remained frozen in place, his element not manifesting outside the field. Though he wasn’t fully in stasis, as he was still aware of his surroundings and could look around and hear.

Void Sala cackled and turned from him as the struggling form of Crystal was dragged across the ground by the subservient shadowlings. Her mask was gone and her head looked damaged.

Around Sorilax, in the distance, he heard the sound of battle. From his position, he couldn’t tell how it fared, so his mind remained focused on his Ga-Toa.

Void Sala lifted the Air Hatchet, sweeping up Crystal and dunking her in one of the glass vats with the wind. He secured the lid and moved to a console attached at the base. It had a tiny screen with only room for one line of text at a time. The keys were thick and well worn. Off to the side was a temperature gauge that had a temperature that kept shifting and changing. He tapped a few select keys with loud clicks and pressed a large button off to the side. A warning beep sounded and the vat filled with energy.

The liquid in the vat remained whatever gel it was, but Crystal started to convulse. Her optics started to glow light, ice blue and ice formed from her mouth. She grew rigid, her very body freezing and becoming ice. The temperature gauge in all timelines, except one, crept down to zero.

Void Sala strode over to Sorilax. As the stasis field gave out, he quickly smacked Sorilax again, reforming it. Then he moved back to watch Crystal.

She had started to glow, growing to a pure white color. Then in a moment that shook Sorilax, he saw as her soul was stripped from her body, traveling through a translucent tube. As her soul left her body, her body became a void star field just like Void Sala. But unlike Void Sala, it sealed over, leaving only her shadow behind.

Her soul found its way into a compressor which produced a liquid. The liquid slowly dripped into a vial which Void Sala picked up, inspecting it. Then, like a giant pill, he opened his mouth and swallowed it, his stars growing brighter on his body and his already dark body growing darker. Sorilax tried to yell out in pain at the loss of Crystal, in defiance of Void Sala, yet he couldn’t move. His soul ached. He had lost her once already. And now he knew she was truly gone.

Void Sala turned to Sorilax, offhandedly commanding Crystal’s shadow to join his ranks. He drew close, a starry smile splitting his face, “The former inhabitants of this now dead world think they can hide from me. But I will not be so easily left behind. As you can see, my friend, I can go below zero now as well. The secrets of Project Frostelus are but mundane facts to me. I know all their secrets, and I will find them again.”

Void Sala spun Sorilax around with the wind from the Air Hatchet. Sorilax’s creations were fighting desperately in the distance, but were vastly outnumbered. Though Sorilax hadn’t hesitated to follow his Destiny and create a prosperous following, still they were being defeated. And he was trapped, absolutely powerless to help them, or even himself. Void Sala whispered in his audio receptors, the sound creeping into his very soul like the poems of his Taboos, “Your creations will make the perfect fuel to help me ascend. I’ve waited so very long to get this opportunity. I thought it would never come. I thought I would have to strip this planet to its very core to find where they hid their bodies so I could get my fuel. I know they didn’t take everyone with them. They couldn’t have.”

Sorilax wallowed in grief as he was forced to watch his creations fall before him. He had had the opportunity to end this. He had been able to attack Void Sala. And yet it had done nothing. He was too unfamiliar with his element. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t stop the manifestation of shadow, or space, or whatever it was that Sala had become.

As he watched his creations valiantly giving their all for him, something slowly came over him. His creations were giving their all for him. Absolutely everything. How dare he sit here and think he had already done his best. That he had done all he could. He most certainly had not. No, not at all.

He had more to give with his element. He knew he could damage these flimsy shadowlings. He had to. Sorilax steeled himself. He didn’t need anyone to save him. He had his own well of strength to draw from. He wasn’t just some dusty professor, he was a well practiced elemental user, who now offhandedly used his element like it was second nature.

Sorilax slowly built up the light in his already glowing optics. Sorilax poured all his focus and elemental energy into his optics, using his righteous anger at the destruction of his creations to turn the harmless Light into the fury of a barely contained laser. The process was alien to him, yet at the same time felt right. The energy swirled around inside his optics, only the stasis field keeping it from flying forth.

And still he poured more energy into it as he thought of Sala, real Sala, still out there in the Far Shore, potentially still in need of his help. It built and built and built, until he felt he might damage his own vessel.

Then the temporary stasis field was gone. In the few seconds it took for Void Sala to strike him again, twin beams of pure laser burst forth from Sorilax’s head. They shone like the sun, illuminating the whole of the massive building. They struck the void of Sala’s form, initially just being absorbed like before.

Sorilax pushed harder. He was strong enough to fight, to win. He hadn’t lived thousands of years just to fail in his Grand Wish, to cast aside what he had learned in this place.

Void Sala was frozen in place, concentration playing across his constellation face. He tried to raise the Air Hatchet, but failed in his efforts as he was flooded with Light.

Sorilax reached out his long arms and grabbed his faux friend to keep the void being still, his body starting to glow as well.

Void Sala started to scream as the stars on his form started to grow bright. Too bright.

And then Sorilax’s lasers tore through the floor as Void Sala was dispersed like a puff of smoke in the wind.

Sorilax slowly stopped the flow of raw elemental energy, not used to the application and so not sure how to pull back the power. As he came back to himself, he looked around the massive room. Most of his creations were dead, but many still lived. Thankfully all the shadowlings were gone, or appeared to be.

He slumped to the ground, back against one of the ice covered, glass vats as he pondered what had just transpired. Too many emotions were running through him. Yet he felt numb at the same time. He had won, but he hadn’t found what he had been looking for, and he had paid a terrible price.

As his creations gathered around him, tending to their wounds and cheering for their victory despite, or perhaps because of, their fallen comrades, Sorilax realized his next Grand Wish step. He needed to be able to create Life, not just in some alternate reality, but for real. And the best place to figure that out would be in the Aqua Sphere. Its rain brought about a reversal of time, possibly a renewal of Life. He needed to go investigate what was going on there.

Sorilax stood, fondly regarding his creations. “Thank you all. I know your decisions are your own, yet you decided to stand by me. I wish I could stay here with you, but my place is elsewhere. I shall never forget you nor your sacrifices. I wish you all full and joyous lives.”

In one of the shifting timelines, his creations were all dead, Void Sala standing over them victoriously as his shadowlings dragged them to the vats. Sorilax shuddered. How many other timelines of this world existed? And in how many of them had this world died, leaving a remnant of supernatural oddities behind? He hoped he never found out.

He pushed the thoughts aside as his creations looked on in awe at something behind him. Sorilax turned, the glittering rainbow portal that was his exit glimmering before him. Sorilax turned back one last time to look at his creations and this world. He was sad to leave, but hopeful for the future. He had learned much, and in only a few days. He was ready to stride forward and help all Life.

Sorilax bid a final farewell and stepped through the portal, not noticing that his flower crown, the shadow lizard, and his backpack had returned to him. As he stepped through the portal, his creations disappeared. For despite his revelation about his Destiny as a Life creator, that was only a small part of his ultimate Destiny. He was no Life seeker, no mere Life creator, he was it all. Seeker, creator, and sustainer. Without him, Life would not be able to live. To keep going. To be sustained. And so as he left this world, so too did his creations, traveling with him in his mind, where their Life had truly been born and now resided.
 

OOC: Sorilax Far Shore Adventure Part 4 - Final Part

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

@Vezok's Friend The mutated Matoran are being kept in Ko-Pou, not in Kini-Koro. Nixie couldn't have seen Taja.

Unless I'm mistaken about locations. @Sparticus147?

IC: Sorilax - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Far Shore

Sorilax sat, despondent. The last few days his Toa of Water, which had named herself Crystal, had basically been leading him slowly closer to the observatory while he spent the hours wallowing in grief. Why did they have to die? He had thought he had come to terms with death. It was part of the natural cycle of life. But then why did it hurt so much to lose those he had created?

One day, as he fondly watched Crystal practice with her ABZIS power as they stopped inside a destroyed storefront to let her rest, it dawned on him. Just as he loved to study living beings, or just as he loved to experiment with his element, so too did he love those he had created. No, not just like he loved his silly, foolish pastimes. This love was deeper, something few would ever experience. It was the love of a creator towards his creation. Of a life giver towards the life recipient. It was something deeper in range than he thought his new emotions could ever go. To lose those he created was like losing an integral part of himself.

For they were him, in a way. Born of his mind, created by his whim. He was fully responsible for their wellbeing, though not their actions. That was a double edged sword right there. He was in charge of their lives, yet they were able to choose to give up those lives in his defense.

Suddenly pride swelled up in him. Pride for his creations, and the method with which they had lived their short lives. They lived in purity and honor and had died in the same way. He couldn’t be more proud. They had made their own decisions, he had to accept that. Death came for all eventually. Aspects knew that far more than others, who got to live for hundreds of thousands of years.

His Toa hadn’t been at fault. They had bravely stood up to a force far greater than their own. In fact- Sorilax paused in his thoughts as a realization lit up his mind like his element change had warped his very nature. Why had he stopped at six Toa? Life was not some scarce, hidden thing. Life abounded. It spread like a wildfire across the landscape. It sprung up wherever nature couldn’t beat it down. Life was at its best when Life had prosperity. When Life was able to lean upon itself to reach greater heights.

He had been thinking too narrowly. His Destiny was not just to create Life, but prosperous Life, full of abundance.

Sorilax stood, plans slowly forming in his knowledge cluttered mind.

Crystal looked up from her experiments with ABZIS, happy to see Sorilax moving on his own. She cautiously decided to test the waters and see if he was feeling better, “Creator, how are you doing?”

Sorilax looked to her with a new inner glow to his optics, “I do say I am quite well now. Thank you, Crystal. I dare say that without you, I might have been lost to this place. You are well loved, deeper than a love for any friend, object, or hobby. A type of unconditional love I daresay my universe doesn’t quite have a word for.”

He felt happy again, kind of like ever since he had met Sala and they had explored Zakaz together. He felt like it was time to get moving, to discover the secrets of this world and find Sala. He beckoned Crystal over, “Let me see your Kraata. I have something I want to try.”

Crystal complied, showing the two Kraata attached to the back of her neck. One was a colorless gray, and the other one shifted between all the available colors of a Kraata. Sorilax called upon his Taboo knowledge once again, shadow jumping from his hand as he neared the powered slug. If the Desecrated Kraata had lived in his past experiment, then instead of duplicating it, could he instead pry it from Crystal’s neck with its power intact?

He pulled on it, warping the power behind Taboos into the action. As the Kraata slowly separated from Crystal’s back, strands of shadow stretching to their limits and then snapping, Sorilax felt words come to him unbidden. Fickle Friend. Love. Star. Light far above. The words felt like they were right there, their full meaning just out of right and waiting to be realized. A poem of sorts. Perhaps just like the poems for his other Taboos.

The Kraata came free and he felt his Kraata Creation Taboo activate. He had done it!

Crystal slumped to the floor.

“No!” Sorilax shouted and moved to her, turning her onto her back. Her Heartlight wasn’t powered. “NO!”

She couldn’t die. He wouldn’t allow it. He knew his Destiny. He was going to be Life itself. He called on the power behind Taboos, he called upon whatever the Far Shore would offer him. She would not die. Sorilax put a hand to her Heartlight, never so singularly focused in his life.

He felt something happen, but he wasn’t sure what. A power moved through him. Then the moment was over, the feeling gone.

Crystal lay there, still.

Sorilax stared at her Heartlight, wishing it to beat.

Several seconds of silence passed, the massive skyscraper in the background groaning as it shifted in the heavy outside winds.

Then Crystal took a shuddering breath, optics lighting up once more.

Sorilax cried out in joy, hugging her with his elongated arms as she looked about, confused.

He eventually broke from the embrace, helping her to her feet.

She looked at Sorilax, confused, her color still shifting between blues. In one of the timelines, she still lay dead on the floor. Sorilax didn’t like that. She turned to him, “Sorry about that. I must have passed out.”

Sorilax laughed, a mixture of happiness and pain, “Bwahahaha!” It was deep and genuine. “Not quite so, my Crystal. Now come, we had preparations to make.”

Sorilax spent the next several hours making hundreds of beings. Toa, Matoran, Skakdi, Vortixx, Steltians, Tiokaha, and several others. Using his single Kraata, he Illuminated all of their masks, giving secondary powers to the ones that had elements. They moved in groups of twelve, traversing the massive skyscrapers with minimal resistance at first. The closer they got to the observatory, the more shadowlings they ran into.

Prosperity saved them, for if one forward team grew outnumbered, a backup team would be able to quickly help them. Using numbers to their advantage, they clawed their way up the skyscraper over several days, eventually finding themself in the mountains of snow that had piled atop it.

The gigantic telescope pointed to the sky. It looked like a tear in space, so black it was and devoid of any coloring. Just like the shadowlings. Sorilax’s creations were spread out across the miles of snow surrounding the structure, dug into the snow to both hide and to escape the nonstop and dangerous wind.

Crystal turned to Sorilax, “Where are they all?”

Sorilax scratched at his chin. They hadn’t seen any shadowlings since making it atop the building. “I do not know. And it vexes me to be devoid of the knowledge.”

A red armored being came into existence next to them, his mask of Quick Travel revealing how he had done so. He came to lay next to Sorilax and Crystal, who were peaking their heads over a snowbank to peer at the observatory. “All the doors are unlocked. And I don’t see any of those shadows. But there is a machine out front. It looks just like you, creator, except a little bigger.”

Avagah? Sorilax’s expression looked hopeful, “Then let us go forth! Battle ready, of course.”

The being nodded, “Of course. I’ll tell everyone.” Then he teleported away.

Sorilax glanced at the beings around him. All of them of his own creation. He was so proud of them. He cared for all of them. And he knew what might await them there. Death. Or worse, that doorway from beneath Kini-Nui. Still, if Sala was in there, he had to protect the Matoran at any cost. Sala and he were friends and fellow chroniclers, after all.

Following the lead of more tactical minds, Sorilax and his creations carefully traversed the miles of rolling mountains of snow towards the observatory. The impossibly large telescope only grew larger and larger as they approached. How could anyone create lenses large enough to fit within it? Sorilax shook his head. No, he needed to focus upon other things.

At one of the many entrances, Sorilax saw Avagah lying there, thankfully undamaged. His emotions wanted him to run in there as fast as possible to find his friend, but his concern for his creations held him back. Crystal slowly cracked one of the doors, peering in. She gave Sorilax a thumbs up, then slipped into the building. All around him, his other creations did the same as a group.

Sorilax followed them into a singular massive room. It was so large that it warped the mind. Surely this had to be a mountain or an island itself. There was a central point where one could peer into the telescope. Around it sat even more of those glass vats, all empty, but very much intact. And there, with his back to Sorilax, was Sala. It had to be, though Sorilax couldn’t tell for sure from this distance. He even held what might have been the Air Hatchet.

Sorilax ran for him, causing Crystal to cry out a warning, then an order for the others to carefully advance as she retrieved their maker. Sorilax ran like he was possessing the Rahkshi again, legs pumping. For some reason Sala didn’t turn as he approached, but he knew it was his friend, there was a Kraata on the Matoran’s back.

It took a good half hour, but Sorilax eventually reached the middle of the space. He laughed in joy, so glad to see his friend. But Sala still stood facing the other direction. “Sala! Sala? It is I, Sala, Sorilax.”

When Sala still didn’t respond, Sorilax grabbed the Matoran’s shoulder and turned him. As his front came into view, Sorilax’s emotions felt gutted, like he was his Rahkshi again and crushed by a shadowling. Sala was made of space, a wicked grin of stars adorning his face. Suddenly hundreds of shadowlings slid down the walls of the observatory, cutting off escape for Sorilax’s creations in his peripheral vision.

Sala stepped towards Sorilax even as the Aspect involuntarily backed away, cackling, “You wanted to find me since you stepped foot in this realm, didn’t you? Why do you flee, Aspect of Light and Silence? Aww, you didn’t expect this, did you? You weren’t able to form a coherent thought in that information dense brain of yours that might have warned you about this outcome. Well, you got me. You wished to find me and here I am.” He tilted his void head down as he spread his arms, giving off a menacing vibe as his star filled optics stared Sorilax down, “Well you should be careful what you wish for.”

OOC: Sorilax's Far Shore Adventure Part 3

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 4

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location -  Kini-Nui

With - Taja, Whisper, Knichou

“OH!” This was another potential opportunity to see the Mask of Creation in action. She totally needed to go talk with him again. This Knichou. If he and Taja weren’t scared of this Skyra, then perhaps she shouldn’t be worried, either. “Yes, thank you. Maybe we can talk later.” One of her tethers waved goodbye to the Aspect and Toa duo as she swiftly moved away.

Knichou had moved a bit farther away from the village, but he was still relatively close. He was easy to find, the craftsmanship of his mask sticking out like the fluorescent mushrooms in the Fau Swamp. She made sure she wasn’t interrupting anything, it seemed like no one was currently talking to him, and injected herself, “Uh, hey. Me again. I’m told you’re the pilot of that airship.” She nodded her head towards the larger airship as she lifted up her final crate of Kanoka, “Would you like to trade for some Levitation and Increase Weight discs?”

OOC: @Eyru @Nato the Traveler @BULiK

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning and Mind Reading

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whira, Tekmo, Rock Rahi

“Well that doesn’t look safe.”

Cravious peered down at the roiling Caldera, disappointed that it looked nothing like what they wanted to find. But what did he expect? They followed a talking Rahi for crying out loud. This certainly did not warrant a reward of food, though that smug Toa might reward the rock beast anyway.

His mind jumped through solutions as he tried to ignore the smells around him, each idea being tossed out as soon as he realized their faults. If that liquid ate everything it touched, then any bridge he made would be useless if he wanted supports to make it sturdy. The Toa of the Green might be able to craft them a wooden bridge, but Cravious doubted the fool would be able to build one sturdy enough. He turned to Whira, “If we wish to investigate that plinth, I’m thinking we’ll have to rely upon an elemental bridge. You made physical shadows before, do you think you could do much the same to get yourself across?”

OOC: @~Xemnas~ @Toru Nui @Unreliable Narrator

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Taja, Whisper

“Well I’d love to hear your story sometime.” Once again there was another Aspect that had helped out someone. Maybe Sorilax had been wrong about Aspects? Or… could all these nice things secretly be selfish things? Ugh, she didn’t want to think too hard about it.

Viltia shrugged, “Nope. Like I said to…” She didn’t remember what she said to who. There had been so many new people, “Like I said earlier, I just woke up with these. Something had been eating my leg. Then Nektann ate me and I was healed with all these tethers.”

Viltia noticed past her was flying back down to her. Good, so the crates had been delivered.

Then Cordak exploded in the air and Viltia pulled her laser crossbow far, far faster than when she had first become a Toa just a few months before. Her tethers extended and picked her up into the air so that she was suspended by them and ready to move. Any sudden noise, especially loud ones, in the Fau Swamp meant potential death. And it didn’t help that the sound of Cordak exploding brought back painful memories of not just being enslaved, but of when the war rig had been shooting at the giant undead below the village on that rainy night.

She realized it was just some troublemaking Toa, which didn’t really make sense to her that a Toa would cause trouble, but Viltia slowly allowed herself to relax, her tethers depositing her back onto the ground. 

Oh, oops. She had lost focus on her mask. Well, hopefully past her hadn’t needed to tell her anything important.

She put her Toa tool back on her back, switched out her mask of Time Duplication for her mask of Flight, then picked up her crate. She turned back to Taja, voice no longer as casual as it had been. The other Toa could probably tell the sudden explosions had removed the illusion of safety for the Toa of the Green. Now Viltia kept glancing around. “Hey, um… Do you know where I can find the pilot of that bigger airship over there?”

OOC: @Eyru @Nato the Traveler Viltia has been properly spooked. 

1 hour ago, Harvali said:

Maybe Knichou could direct her to the Fau Swamp, since he now knows there is a village there? 

A village there... allegedly. 

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning and Mind Reading

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whira, Tekmo, Rock Rahi

Despite Tekmo’s foolish interjection -did he really not think Cravious had a backup plan should the Rahi not eat plants?- it appeared they were still going to be able to benefit from the proposed transaction. Good.

At the mention of the Rock Rahi eating anything, a particularly nasty Vortixx popped into his memory. The Vortixx had carved out a life for himself on the Rig stealing tech from others and trying to sell it for double or triple the price. Of course that meant hitting Cravious’ own supply trucks whenever possible. The amount of times that Vortixx had tried to sell him his own products was infuriating. And unfortunately, the Vortixx was well enough connected to keep Cravious from just getting rid of him outright.

He wished that Vortixx was right here right now so he could feed the little thief to this rock. The idea seemed really fitting for some reason.

Whira agreeing to follow the Rahi took him out of his thoughts and he got back to walking, X-Ray Vision sweeping out in front of them and his Kraata of Mind Reading actively seeking out nearby minds.
 

OOC: @~Xemnas~ @Toru Nui @Unreliable Narrator

11 minutes ago, Unreliable Narrator said:

IC: Reliable Narrator | Nightmare Pits

Marrow and his mesi warriors stood gathered on the precipice, their backs to the swirling steam and gasses of the volcano. They stood on the slab of stone that was once part of a great forge, and the very lip of it before the chasm still hinted at the beginning of a staircase rising up. The underside of this precipice rattled with dangling chains. The darkness of the hallway where they tread through nightmares seemed to crawl from the very hole in the earth itself and reach towards the Mesi. They did not need sight to feel the creeping fears like metal barbs stabbing into their souls. 

Yumiwak’s skakdi found themselves on the other side of their own revealed traumas, with the leader of the posse seeing the dim light of an exit before her. The ground leveled out beneath her feet, and the piles of broken bones gave way to solid flagstones and warm dirt. It didn’t take a master tactician to realize whoever she chased down the hole would be on the other side of the exit.

Actually, Marrow and his warriors moved into the tunnel, since they have the advantage with tunnel warfare. You can see that being stated in Nato's post here: 

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning and Mind Reading

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whira, Tekmo, Rock Rahi

Suddenly Cravious’ attention was snapped back to the Rahi. It needed food? Food was a resource, and that meant commerce could be had. His savage grin returned. He no longer cared how ridiculous this was. He could profit from it.

“We’re going to any place with purified energized protodermis. If you can lead us to a place that has that, then in exchange, this Toa here’ll grow some food for you.”

OOC: @~Xemnas~ @Toru Nui @Unreliable Narrator

IC: Sorilax - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Far Shore

Sorilax stared at the Toa of Ice, not believing his optics or audio receptors. The Toa was colored as white as the freshly driven snow. His small, secondary accents jumped from varying shades of gray to cold blues from light to dark. It seemed that this Toa was real, and a part of the several timelines Sorilax saw constantly shifting around him.

He paused, the Toa of Ice patiently awaiting Sorilax to speak. After a couple minutes, Sorilax composed his thoughts, “You say I created you?”

The Toa of Ice gave a crisp, quick nod, “Yes, creator. I am but a few moments old.”

Sorilax frowned. Had he really created Life itself? It… it seemed far too easy. A hardlight hand scratched at his chin. The Matoran had appeared when he willed it, too. Did the Far Shore have some kind of wish granting powers?

He focused his mind of Sala, on bringing his friend before him. The memories of Sala paled in comparison to when he had imagined the Toa of Ice and subsequently Sala did not appear. Sorilax tried to summon up his Rahkshi again, imagining their sharp edges and slender bodies. None appeared.

He tried to make a map of this place, or a map of Zakaz even. Nothing appeared. He tried a Kraata. Nothing.

Sorilax crossed his arms as his Toa of Ice patiently waited. He tried thinking of a Toa of Water, graceful and flowing like the ocean waves, armor a lovely teal. Once more it was as if his imagination leapt to life, and with a voice like the gentle waves upon a sandy shore, the Toa of Water spoke, “Creator, you have need of me?”

Creating a chair of hardlight, Sorilax sat down, dumbfounded. As he moved through possibilities in his mind, he thought more and more of his Grand Wish. Ultimately, he realized something that changed his outlook on himself. He always thought he was chasing after Life, seeking it and its creations. That his Grand Wish was to subtly nudge things into what he thought was the proper direction. But he was more than that. He was no Life seeker, he was a Life creator. It was his Destiny to become one. Life didn’t sit in the back with the supporting troops, Life waged war first and foremost on the front lines. Death was after and lesser, Life was paramount. And so he too needed to fulfill who he truly was. He needed not to be afraid to create, nor did he need some Taboo to create Life twisted from something else.

No, he was Sorilax, Aspect of Life. He would create under his own power, and at his own discretion. As was his right as per his Grand Wish. It was his Duty to accomplish such a thing. His Destiny to fulfill.

Sorilax nodded to himself. He imagined four more Toa of the main six elements, all of them springing to Life with a mere thought from his mind.

They all looked on in respect and adoration as he added to their members. Then the Toa of Ice spoke once more in his cool, crisp manner, “What is it that you need of us, creator?”

Sorilax outlined his knowledge of this place, his shadowling foes, and his current objective to find Sala. His Toa all quickly picked up on the gist of things. Sorilax couldn’t help but to be proud of them.

“Very well, Ice, Air, take the tunnel and scout it out. We need to know where it leads and if it is safe.”

The two Toa voiced affirmations and climbed down the ladder, quickly moving off into the service tunnel.

Sorilax stood near one the wall of still beating Heartlights, beckoning over the Toa of Water. Her graceful form shifted between various blues and blue-greens as she walked over. Placing his hand upon a Heartlight and his other one upon the back of her neck, Sorilax performed the Desecration Taboo upon her. As expected, the Kraata on her back refused to stay as one power, but that didn’t concern him.

Calling this time upon both the Desecration and Kraata Creation Taboos in his mind, Sorilax once more tried to duplicate a Kraata. Shadows swirled around the Ga-Toa’s neck as the dark mass of the Kraata morphed as he pulled. The Kraata spilt, just like before. And just like before, the Kraata in his hands shriveled up and died. Not even his mind could keep it alive.

Sorilax had felt the subtle nuances in the Taboos as he performed the action, though. He was getting closer to a new Taboo, he could feel it. Peering at the Kraata on the Toa’s back, which was thankfully still alive, he realized it was completely gray, as if it had lost its color.

The Toa of Water frowned, “That shifting power I felt is gone. Is it supposed to be gone, creator?”

Sorilax shook his head, “No indeed. Hummm… Well, you others get over here.”

Sorilax proceeded to Desecrate twice all of his creations, sans the Ice and Air Toa. As he gave the Ga-Toa a second Kraata, a different idea popped into Sorilax’s mind. Before he could act on it, one of his scouts came back. The Toa of Air sounded excited, “You should come see this, creator.”

He nodded, though his mind was still on the new Taboo he was trying to uncover. But at the continued insisting, they all climbed down into the service tunnel, following along after their green Toa scout. Minutes felt like they stretched into hours as they walked. Pipes ran along the walls, all of them frosted over. Power lines also ran along the ceiling, diving off into side tunnels as they moved along.

Sorilax noted that he could see all of his Toa’s breath. It must really be cold in this world. He hoped they would stay healthy.

They came to an ending of the tunnel. It certainly wasn’t the ending, as a giant section of the building was just missing. Not quite a proper ending. Once more a gale of freezing wind ripped through the place. Snow was piled high, and giant icicles adorned the ceiling. But this time it wasn’t a clean cylinder of the building missing. No, it was destroyed in a jagged manner, blasts of ice here and there as the obvious causes of most of the damage.

On one wall almost a quart mile away, a large hole was ripped through to outside, letting in the blinding light and mostly illuminating the destroyed space. The Ko-Toa was inspecting what was once a large glass vat.

Sorilax went over, looking over the several stories of destroyed building. This area was once sturdily built, as if it was someplace that needed to be secured just like that vault had, or that other room that had been destroyed. Where the damage was kept shifting, but the damage was still present in each timeline.

He noticed a clipboard frozen to a table. Trying to use his Light as a laser to free it, he eventually gave up his attempts. He needed to practice his lasers. He called over his Toa of Fire. A quick, controlled burst of flame later and he was reading what had been written.

As his optics scanned the papers, he realized there was a lot of data that went far over his head, but he saw a line that stuck out to him: ...and so ABZIS is proven to be a necessary step in the evolution of Project Frostelus, not just a beneficial, though unforeseen, side effect. For to achieve below… It moved on to words he couldn’t comprehend. But once again, there were the words Project Frostelus and whatever ABZIS was.

Sorilax looked at all the broken, glass vats. Large tubes ran along the ground, plugging into several locations on each vat where they weren’t damaged. Off to the side, Sorilax noted electric connectors just like he had seen in the vault that were connected to the Heartlights.

His Toa of Earth called him over. As Sorilax moved to him, his mouth opened in shock. One of the vats still held liquid, and in it was a Vortixx, Heartlight indicating he was dead. From his mouth and optics, ice spilled forth. Actually, upon closer inspection, it seemed as if his whole body had turned to ice. In one of the timelines, the Vortixx was a Matoran, then it shifted back to the Vortixx once more. He looked like he had been in pain when he died.

Was ABZIS a disease of some kind, pawned off as a power?

Suddenly his Toa of Earth was thrown into the vat, shattering it and knocking the lid on top of Sorilax, pinning him. Shouting ensued from his Toa as Sorilax struggled under the vat lid, before realizing he could just create a large hardlight hand and move it away.

As he stood, he saw his Toa fighting roughly a dozen shadowlings. At first it was an even fight, wind buffeting his Toa and the shadowlings hid behind their indestructible fields, but his Toa worked together flawlessly. All of their elements flew around the room, hitting shadowlings right as they came out of being indestructible. The shadowlings, when struck head on, dissipated with nary a sound, never to reappear.

Sorilax looked on in awe as the battle unfolded, not able to really do much to help out as everything was moving so quickly. Before he knew it, the fight was over, his Toa were victorious. They all smiled at each other, celebrating their victory. Sorilax was just glad they hadn’t died. He wasn’t sure if he could bring them back.

Eventually they all calmed down enough to start exploring again. As they continued to pick through the several stories of destroyed building, his Toa of Ice found something quite useful. It was a doorway labeled: To Observatory. Sorilax congratulated him, patting him on the back, “Good show, old chap!”

They were able to follow a well marked route from there. It took them several hours of walking, but they were moving on their way, no more shadowlings in sight. Sorilax was feeling good. He had created Life and figured out his purpose at the same time. And his Toa were happy to be alive.

Along the way, an odd machine chimed out to them as they passed. Sorilax knew not what it was. In actuality it was a vending machine, though one for a sole product. Where one would insert widgets was instead a slot for a card. Above it read: For Authorized Personnel Only. The card slot had been ripped out and was hanging there from several wires. Two of the wires looked like they had been spliced into each other.

An odd, cheery voice spoke from the machine: “Ice is twice as nice! ABZIS can be used in the home or around the office. Don’t let your friends pass you by, ask your manager what you can do to get your own. If you help us on our way to achieving the Absolute, then you too can experience what all your friends are talking about. Remember, together we shall fall below zero.”

His Toa of Water pressed the large, color changing ABZIS button. The machine dinged, then deposited a large bottle of liquid with a way too big syringe on the end. The liquid remained the same color in all timelines, an ice cold light blue.

Before Sorilax could even begin to speculate on what its purpose could be, his Toa of Water lifted up her hand to reveal the small gap in her mechanical wrist where you could see her organic protodermis muscle beneath her wires and gears and shoved in the syringe. 

“Oh, my!” Sorilax said in shock as the liquid in the bottle quickly drained.

As it emptied fully, his Toa of Water let the bottle fall to the icy ground, flexing her hand. She opened her mouth to say something, then tensed up as her body started to produce ice in large chucks from her left arm. She then started to spasm and Sorilax moved in to help in any way he could, but she held up a shaking hand to stop him. After a few moments, the ice fell away and she was back to normal. She panted as if she had just run for miles or been in a battle, but at least she was still alive.

Sorilax harrumphed in discontent, “Whatever caused you to pursue such a course of action?”

The Ga-Toa stood up straight, flexing her left hand, “We need to learn everything about this place if we want to survive, right? I’m doing that, creator.”

Sorilax didn’t like it, “Well I don’t like it. We could have figured things out some other way.”

His Toa of Ice spoke up, “I agree with my sister, creator. We are here to serve you. After all, you gave us life. We would happily give up that life to ensure your safety. And knowledge is its own form of power.”

That stung Sorilax a little bit. Give up their lives for his? That was so touching, and out of nowhere. He was not worthy to be praised or looked up to. He was just an Aspect applying his power while in this realm of possibilities. Sure, he had created them, but seemingly only through the power of the Far Shore, not under his own power.

He wanted to ponder this further, but his Ga-Toa raised her arm. Frost covered her hand and with a sound like an iceberg cracking apart, a white flash jumped from her fingertips. Where it struck the ground, a giant burst of ice formed, just like the ones he had seen damaging things throughout the entire building.

“Whoa!” She said in shock and with a little bit of joy, “Hey, I can control ice now, too!” She flexed her hand again, “It’s so weird. I can feel the power in my muscles. Kind of like my elemental energy, but it’s more of a physical feeling.”

His Toa of Air moved over to hit the ABZIS button for himself, but Sorilax raised his long arm to stop him. As he did, the machine chimed again and spoke a different phrase: “ABZIS, or ABsolute Zero Integration System. Through the marvel of modern science, we have discovered how to create a material at absolute zero. And now you can hold that same power within yourself! Why let Ko-Toa have all the fun? Try ABZIS today! Just talk to your manager to see if you can qualify.”

Absolute zero? Sorilax didn’t like the sound of that, whatever it was. And he didn’t like that his Ga-Toa had just injected herself with it. But Life wasn’t about getting what you wanted, instead it was about choosing to react with the proper attitude. “Alright, well, you should study what you can do with that further, but I forbid anyone else from taking any.”

The Toa of Air deflated, “Awwww.”

“Now let us venture forth. We need to find Sala before those shadows do.”

So they journeyed onwards, the many corridors and shifting locations all covered in varying layers of ice and levels of destruction. Everything was empty and left in its place, as if the residents had simply vanished instantly. The massive skyscraper led them along for a while, all with markers pointing their way closer to the observatory. As walked, he wondered if perhaps there was a much more efficient way to get around these giant buildings. If there was, it most certainly wasn't self evident.

As they walked, every so often his Toa of Fire would raise the temperature to offer the other Toa a reprieve from the freezing cold. Electricity in the building worked, but for some reason none of the heaters did.

Eventually they were led to a flight of stairs that took them upward several stories. At the top, there was a door off to the right. Once they broke through the frozen doorway, they found themselves in the massive tunnel that Sorilax realized he had been in in Rahkshi form. They couldn’t see the one end so long and dark was the tunnel, but the other end was blindingly bright, the void of the giant telescope the only visible thing in the distance as they trudged near the opening.

As they climbed up the large snow drift to begin crossing to the next skyscraper, his Toa of Stone flew past him and off the edge of the snow bridge that sat atop the skyscraper connectors. His brown body was quickly lost to the blinding reflected white of outside.

Sorilax froze, mouth agape, not sure whether to feel loss or surprise. The action was so sudden, so devoid of noise that it didn’t seem real. Had it even happened? Was his mind playing tricks on him?

Then his Toa of Air was flung forward, though the Le-Toa was able to start flying. His Toa of Ice shouted a warning and his Toa of Water grabbed his arm, dragging him outside and into the light as his Toa of Ice yelled for her to get as far away as possible and keep him safe.

The Toa of Water gripped his arm and drug him through the giant hills of snow on the bridge despite his want to return to the sound of battle. His Toa of Air cried out a fierce war cry and swooped back into the obscuring black. It didn’t sound like things were going well and it looked like the entire tunnel was writhing and moving. Eventually, he and his Ga-Toa came to a slope that dropped them down and out of sight of the mouth of the tunnel. His Toa of Water continued to drag him forward. He stumbled as they moved, his optics having a hard time focusing as pain filled his soul.

Behind him in the pitch black of the tunnel he only heard screams.
 

OOC: Sorilax Far Shore Adventure Part 2

Part 1 - Part 3 - Part 4

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Taja

Viltia was distracted from the Kanohi wearing Matoran by yet someone else new. She was also a Toa, though not like one Viltia had ever seen before. Not that she had seen very many. The amount of Toa she had ever seen had almost doubled since she came to Kini-Nui.

This Toa had armor that absorbed all light, or at least appeared to. What remained was a black void where the light bouncing off of the armor was supposed to hit her optics to display color. It was super weird to look at, or technically not look at. Not that Viltia understood what was technically taking place, she had no idea how light functioned.

Underneath the stunning void armor the Toa was a deep wine-red. It was very beautiful to look at. Viltia guessed the Toa’s element was either Earth or Fire.

"Hey," she said with a tone that suggested she was very aware of how sounds worked and how to apply them. "I was going to ask if you needed a hand, but you seem to have more than enough to spare." She smiled. "I'm Taja."

Viltia glanced in the direction of the Kanohi covered Matoran, but he had moved away, so she set down her final crate. “Hey, I’m Viltia. Your armor coloring looks absolutely amazing. How do you get it to be so black?”

OOC: @Eyru

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Koro

Viltia had scored big. Or, at least she was pretty sure she had. She had found a ton of scrap technology that she had traded away 12 Kanoka for. It all looked like an even trade to her. The pile of electronic parts was all mostly intact, with only minimal amounts of wiring sticking out everywhere at odd angles. Some of it even only sparked a little bit when it was turned on. There was even one of those iStone things like Sidra had. The screen was cracked, but Viltia was hoping that wouldn’t be a problem.

She smiled. Yep, she had done great.

She loaded up two of her now empty crates with the scrap, setting them to the side as she swapped masks again. This time she put on her mask of Time Duplication. She mentally focused on the power, pulling a past her into the present. The past her was laying down, sleeping.

Viltia was ready for such a circumstance, however. She had been able to hone down when the mask pulled from, but making things more specific than a sometime in the last two months was still really hard. She sent the past her back, then pulled forward another one. This past her was awake, but didn’t have the belt with the pouches.

She let past her return from whence she came even as past her opened her mouth to speak and tried again.

A past her showed up, face full of awe and wonder. When she realized what had happened to her, she turned to present her, “Hey! I was trying to look at the Mask of Creation. That Toa just made a glass of water from thin air!”

Viltia beamed, “Oh yeah, that was great. I want to go see if he’ll make something more complicated just so I can watch, but it sounded like an argument was about to break out when I left. Not to mention that group kept side-tracking me.”

Past her frowned, “Awww, he only makes the one thing? That’s a shame. Do we at least trade…” Past her looked around, noting the two crates with electronic parts, pieces, and whole sections shoved inside, “Oh hey we do! So, what am I doing? Taking it back to the village?”

Viltia nodded, “Yup. Take it to Circuit. Or I guess Spark. Whomever. Then come back here so I can dismiss you.”

Past Viltia nodded emphatically and gave herself a thumbs up, “Alright, got it. I assume the last crate is the one with Levitation and Weight Increase Kanoka?”

Viltia smirked, “You know your stuff, me.” She turned to point out the large airship parked outside the village in the clearing, but the marketplace buildings were in the way, plus this past her already knew about the ship anyway. “I’m going there next. Hopefully the pilot has something to trade for too.”

Past Viltia put on her mask of Flight and picked up the two crates with her tethers, “I’ll see you over there in a couple minutes. Bye!” She gave a quick little wave and flew off.

Viltia picked up her final crate with her own hands, meandering as she walked through the village built into the mountain. Everyone seemed so at peace. And loud too. She didn’t realize how quiet they all still were in Le-Metru Nuva. It must be nice to not be constantly under threat and to be able to just live.

It made Viltia think of her old village back in the giant robot. But this time, the nostalgia didn’t hit her as hard. It seemed she really loved her new life in her new home, even with all the hardships that came with living in the Fau Swamp.

She eventually walked past the group she had left earlier as she headed for the larger of the two airships. It looked like there were even more beings there than before. She slowed as she drew near, optics caught this time not on the mask of Creation, but on a Matoran who wore masks as armor. Was that a fellow mask maker? She was torn. Should she go to the airship to trade, or try to wedge herself back into the mass of beings and talk about the wonders of Zakaz Kanoka and Kanohi forging?
 

OOC: @BULiK @~Xemnas~ @EmperorWhenua @Nato the Traveler @Eyru @Sparticus147 @Harvali @Snelly @Tarn @Toru Nui To sum up for those who don't want to read the post, Viltia has traded away two crates of Kanoka and the last crate has Levitation and Weight Increase Kanoka in it. The last crate she is carrying to the Taku to trade with the pilot, who she doesn't know is Knichou. As she was walking by the group on her way to the airship, she slows down as she notices Kanohi is wearing masks as armor. She is considering talking to him.

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning and Mind Reading

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whira, Tekmo

Cravious sighed. This was ridiculous. You don’t just talk back to a talking Rahi. That wasn’t normal. Instead it was probably unnatural. Not to mention you couldn’t exploit a Rahi to get widgets, so for him, this interaction was best left up to Whira and this smug looking Toa of Plantlife.
 

OOC: @~Xemnas~ @Toru Nui @Unreliable Narrator

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou, Atamai, Stannis, Taja, Whisper

While he may be creepy in appearance, his voice was oddly soothing. And he sure knew his way around the village. Viltia nodded in thanks as the tentacle being began speaking to the tall, cloaked figure. She slid the side of the crate back into place and swapped her mask of Quick Travel for the mask of Flight in her front pouch. She picked up her crates, gave one last longing look at the mask of Creation, then activated her mask and flew off.

From the air, she easily saw the green flags gently flapping in the cold mountain breeze. The location certainly looked like a marketplace, full of noise and widgets exchanging hands for those that still had widgets. Other places she could see trading taking place. She was definitely in the right place.

Her tethers stretching out to ease her landing, Viltia moved forward, looking for items her village might need. They needed to be valuable and sorely needed, but small enough to carry back in the crates.
 

OOC: @BULiK @~Xemnas~ @EmperorWhenua @Nato the Traveler @Eyru

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou, Atamai, Stannis, Taja, Whisper

"Toa Viltia," another new being asked, "can you show that sigil to us again?"

Viltia subconsciously let her tether settle back into place, actually widening it to further obscure the symbol. The… Toa? talking to her was tall and foreboding, a dense, dark gray cloak covering his form. His white optics seemed to peer a little too deeply in her direction. He seriously creeped her out, as did most beings who decided to wear cloth and hide their bodies. Especially to the level this being did. Only his mask, hands, and feet were showing, though even they were partially obscured by the cloak.

He gave off this weird, creepy vibe with the way his face was shadowed, yet his white optics pierced through. She didn’t trust him. She trusted the floating tentacle being more than this new Toa.

“Umm… No thank you.” The tether on her thigh wrapped around her thigh several times, completely covering the symbol. She turned to the others, optics occasionally darting back to the tall, creepy Toa in case he moved towards her. “Anyway. Like I said before, I’m here to trade Kanoka. Do any of you know where I should go to do that?”

OOC: @BULiK @~Xemnas~ @EmperorWhenua @Nato the Traveler @Eyru