Kal the Guardian

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou, Atamai, Stannis, Taja, Whisper

 

"Taboo? Is that an aspect power that... non-aspects can wield? How does that work?" The mask bearer spoke again.

Viltia was glad to turn and look at his Kanohi again. She shrugged, “I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be just for Aspects. But Sorilax didn’t know much about them since he didn’t know any. Otherwise I’m sure he would have told us everything about them. Like I said, I have absolutely no idea how I know one. I think they must be secret techniques or powers or something.”

Viltia reached down to her left thigh, where a large mass of glowing silver patched up a particularly nasty wound. She pushed the tether there out of the way so the others assembled could see the three squiggly lines carved into the silver mass. “I know this symbol represents my Taboo. It’s just something my brain now knows. I have no idea where the knowledge came from. It’s just kind of there. Now I’m just guessing here, but if other Taboos are like mine, then you’ll be able to see them engraved on the beings that know them.”

A memory came to Viltia’s mind, “Oh yeah! Also, when I was talking with the Admin. Or, uh, the Administrator, it said that Mata Nui was known for having this Taboo. It apparently mistook me for him at first. Which- Just wow. I don’t know what to make of that. No way it’s our Mata Nui. Probably just some old Aspect with the same name.”

 

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

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou, Atamai, Stannis, Taja, Whisper

 

Viltia turned at the sound of the new, airy voice. And jumped, her tethers stretching out to pull her back a few feet. It was that floating, tentacle thing. She smiled sheepishly and held a hand to her chest as she calmed her breathing. “Sorry, I’ve never seen one of your species before. Back in the… giant robot, I spent all my life in my secluded village.”

She moved back to her previous position, stealing a glance to appreciate the Mask of Creation again. All these questions had distracted her from appreciating it.

“But you’ve met Apex too? She doesn’t seem the kind to make a lot of friends. That’s good to hear. As for befriending beings… Uh, I think it must be luck. Because I have no idea what I’m doing most of the time. I garden, I forge, I protect my friends, and then everything else I have to improvise.”

Viltia thought about it some more, “Actually, yeah, luck makes a lot more sense, if you believe in it, anyway. Nektann would have killed me if not for my tethers. Or, well, I guess Taboo is the proper term. It was kind of a stressful night and I’m not sure how I got it despite Taboos only being for Aspects, but something was eating my leg and suddenly these tethers sprouted from me and my head filled with the knowledge of what I could do with them. When Nektann swallowed me and I entered his pocket dimension, I was able to comfort him by merging with him and controlling his body for a bit.”

She had absolutely no idea how crazy all of that sounded.

She nodded, “Yeah, definitely luck. Or Destiny. Maybe.”

 

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

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou, Atamai, Stannis, Taja, Whisper

 

Viltia had momentary been fondly remembering being merged with Nektann. She sure hoped he hadn’t forgotten her, though she feared he had. She had barely been able to remember her own friends as the Tahtorak. Nektann was probably faring much more poorly than she had. The mask bearer’s question snapped her focus back to the conversation.

“Miserix was this Aspect of Makuta that Nektann somehow had trapped in a spherical toy. She was going to help him create a better Zakaz. Though she might have been lying to him. I’m not sure yet.” Viltia held up her hands to imitate the size and shape of the toy. “Oh, Aspects of Makuta are these dangerous shadow/gas beings from down south with these world shaping powers called Grand Wishes. Sorilax says not to trust any of them since it’s hardwired into their nature to be selfish above all else, but Sorilax himself sure doesn’t seem bad to me, since he’s the one that warned us about his own species, after all. And Apex is pretty nice too, though she hates anything that isn’t natural. And she is… well, she’s quite scary up close when you aren’t piloting a Tahtorak. Okay and she can be quite fierce and angry, too. I still like her, though.”

Viltia slowed as she realized the conversation had strayed from the original question, “Wait, what were we… Oh, right, Miserix. Yeah I have no idea where Miserix is now. I assume she’s still trapped in that toy and probably with Barius now in his oasis fortress to the northeast.”

 

OOC: @BULiK @~Xemnas~ @EmperorWhenua @Nato the Traveler @Eyru I figured I better tag everyone in the group again since Viltia just dropped some Miserix and Sorilax knowledge.

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou, Atamai, (Stannis, Taja, Whisper)

 

Viltia set down the removable portion of the crate on top of itself. Her voice grew warm, “Yeah, Nektann. He used to rule Zakaz. This island Zakaz, anyway. Then Barius betrayed him and turned him into a Tahtorak in Irnakk’s Tooth.” Her voice spat out Barius’ name as she pointed at the very obvious volcano that towered above all the other mountains on the island. Even now blackened smoke billowed from its top, like Irnakk was active and watching something devious unfold.

“Unfortunately, as a Tahtorak, he has a hard time even remembering himself. Luckily I was able to merge with him after I got these-” She wiggled her tethers, “-and was able to steer him clear of our village and help guide him to go find his rose, Miserix.”

She shook her head sadly, “I hope he’s doing well. He wasn’t able to help this island grow like he wanted when he was alive as a Skakdi, and now with his memory loss, I fear he won’t even be able to find his Miserix.”

Viltia perked up, “I’m surprised you haven’t seen or heard of him. He’s like 300 feet tall and it rains for miles around him wherever he goes. Hopefully he’s stayed out of trouble.”

 

OOC: @BULiK @~Xemnas~

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou, Atamai, (Stannis, Taja, Whisper)

 

“You... made that Kanohi out of a great disk?" The fair voice of the mask bearer asked, subtle surprise evident in his tone.

Viltia nodded, turning around her mask of Growth to look at it herself again. “Sure did! It took me three months and a lot of learning, but I finally did it.” She looked absolutely full of joy. In her voice you could hear the passion for mask making. As she emotionally returned to her normal self, her tethers slowly extended, flowing as if in some kind of ocean current. “After I figured how to make Great Discs a little over a month ago, I knew I had to try making a Kanohi out of one of them.”

"A Great Disk? You wouldn't happen to know Sidra, would you?" a second Toa asked. He was tall, kind of like Sidra was after she became NUVA, but different proportionally. He was all silver, polished and gleaming like her masks before they were worn. He wore a cloak, but the way it rippled and shimmered implied it wasn’t made of cloth.

And his mask, oh! Viltia’s optics widened in recognition as she looked at the second Toa. His mask was organic looking just like Sidra’s. He must be NUVA too. For a moment, she appreciated how his mask turned upon itself in flowing folds, then she responded, “Oh hey! You have a NUVA mask too. You must be…” Viltia scratched at her mask, Sidra had told her his name a while ago, “Atamai! I’m Viltia.” She gave a quick little wave, “But yeah, Sidra and I are great friends. She said she was coming here, actually. She wanted to ask Nuju more about that ‘Far Shore’ stuff. I don’t know where she is now.”

Viltia peered towards the shimmering, rainbow portal in the center of the clearing, but she only saw a white Matoran. “Her making her Great Disc from that Ice sword inspired me to find my own way to make Great Discs. Before that I didn’t even know they existed. Actually, it was Sidra who helped me realize I even wanted to learn how to forge at all.”

She put her mask of Growth back in her left pouch and leaned down, sliding a side off of one of the crates she had grown herself. The action revealed the six Kanoka nestled securely inside. “I’m here with some normal discs to trade for stuff for our village. We can’t exactly make everything we need in the Fau Swamp.” Viltia paused, momentary concern on her face, “Not that we live there or anything, in case that information gets into the wrong hands. We’ve already had enough trouble with those undead attacking and Nektann showing up and destroying things on accident. Not to mention all the defiled energized protodermis and mutated Rahi we have to deal with. Uh... that is, if we lived in the Fau Swamp.”

 

OOC: @BULiK @~Xemnas~

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou, (Stannis, Atamai, Taja, Whisper)

 

Viltia’s optics widened with wonder as she saw the mask put to use. Her mouth hung open, a smile warping the motion. The glass was perfectly formed. And the water was real, as the Toa displayed by taking a sip. And he didn’t look like any Toa of Water she had ever seen. Though to be fair she had only ever seen the resident one back in her old village. The closest she could get to the action was making a coconut and a wooden cup. Glass needed to be blown. Water needed to be pure. She just appreciated the action for a bit, optics trained on the glass.

To think that before Zakaz she had only heard of Great Discs in passing as a for sure fable was mind blowing now that the actual mask of Creation was being used in front of her. This island never ceased to amaze her with its possibilities.

But she kept some semblance of coherence this time, eventually responding to the mask bearer’s question. She held up her mask of Growth, turning it for him to see. It was finely crafted, itself a step above most all other masks, though below the MoC. Perhaps the only mask on par with it being the NUVA mask Sidra now wore (And that Atamai next to Knichou wore, but she was too awestruck to notice). It appeared as if it was polished, though it wasn’t, and there were ornate sculptings along its surface of leaves being struck by drops of rain.

“I made this yesterday. It’s a mask of Growth. I made it from a Great Disc of Enlarge and it turned out to be twice as powerful as a normal mask of Growth, so I guess technically it’s a ‘Legendary’ mask and not a Great one, but…” Viltia stared at the mask of Creation again, “Maybe I need to think of a new name in light of finally seeing a true Legendary mask.”

 

OOC: @BULiK

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning and Mind Reading

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whira, Tekmo

 

They found themselves near the rock again. It was conical, growing wider towards the bottom even as it tapered slightly at the top. Kind of looked like a drill bit. The gash where Cravious had struck it earlier was still evident, marking it as the same rock. He turned his X-Ray Vision from the mists to the rock and the earth below, scanning layer by layer until the true lay before him. He laughed, harsh and grating. How had he missed it? It clearly even showed up as a ping to his Kraata Power of Mind Reading that another mind was nearby. “It’s a Rahi, not a rock. Look at the disturbed ground around it where it’s burrowed into the ground.”

His mirth was not without restraint, though. This far south, all Rahi wanted to kill you, and his weapons were always ready to be used. “Have we cause for concern, Whira? This thing didn’t retaliate when I took a chunk out of it before, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t attack us later.”

 

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

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning and Mind Reading

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whira, Tekmo

 

Cravious dangerously scratched at his frills with his Seismic Pickaxe as Whira answered him, “I did not mean to imply Irnakk’s direct involvement so much as try to imply that there may be other forces at work here on the same level as my species’ god.”

He walked over to the rock and struck it with the pick part of his Seismic Pickaxe, a large cleft left where he had just gouged out a piece of the obsidian. “As long as we remain alert and aware of any potential influence, we should be fine. I hope.”

 

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

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou, (Stannis, Atamai, Taja, Whisper off to the side)

 

"It... it is perfect," the mostly gray Toa said with his own air of awe, "But I didn't make it. It's Artakha's Kanohi. Are you new around here? Surely you've heard of m-this Kanohi by now - I used it to build most of this village, after all." 

Viltia tilted her head in confusion, “What? But Artakha’s not real. How-”

The Toa of the Green staggered as if struck, dropping all three of her crates into the soft grass, her tethers shortening to their smallest. Thankfully none of the Kanoka inside the crates activated.

Artakha. Building. 

Artakha… No. NO.

NO WAY.

NO WAY!

“Are you.” Viltia’s hands were shaking. Whether out of joy or out of shock she knew not. “Are you telling me that’s the mask? The one and only Legendary Mask of Creation?”

She felt light headed. It made sense. The craftsmanship was superb. It made sense a legendary and mythical figure had created it. That Artakha was real.

Viltia grabbed her newly made Legendary Mask of Growth from her left pouch. Her work paled in comparison. Even the garnishes she had added were nothing to the stories told so expertly on the Mask of Creation.

She looked back up at Knichou, “No way. No way.” Her shocked face slowly turned into a beaming smile. “No way. No way.”

 

OOC: @BULiK

 

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whira, Tekmo

 

The pure black form of Whira turned to him, standing out in the cool gray/white of the mists. Her purple optics swirled with unknown thoughts. Her cool and striking voice sought an answer to his silent observations, "What is it, Cravious?" she asked. "Is there something peculiar about this rock?"

Cravious inclined his head towards the rock in question, his naturally cruel voice pondering the situation, “Potentially. Either we’ve passed this rock before, which means this mist is playing tricks on us, or potentially it’s a rock I’ve seen enough in my past to be able to recognize it now. Though that would make it some kind of mental projection. I can’t rule out any potentiality after Irnakk’s machinations.”

His gaunt looking face turned to Whira, “Is your home known to play tricks on its inhabitants?”

 

OOC: @~Xemnas~ @Toru Nui

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kini-Nui

With - Knichou, Stannis, Atamai, Taja, Whisper

 

"Hello... Toa? Can I help you?" the mask bearer spoke.

Viltia’s mouth moved as it tried to form words, but her awe kept her speechless for a few seconds. She only knew the mask bearer spoke, not the words he or his companion had said nor the weird tentacle thing and another Toa joining the group. The mask was just so glorious.

She finally found her voice, “I- Uh, yeah. Did- Did you make the mask you’re wearing? It’s… the most finely crafted Kanohi I’ve ever seen. It’s… it’s perfect.”

 

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

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Le-Metru Nuva

 

Circuit helped her load Kanoka into the crates she had just grown. Viltia made them so that the Kanoka were snug and wrapped up tight. She couldn’t have them activating on her accidentally.

Circuit continued talking, “And don’t settle. Your work is better than most others. You deserve a higher price for quality alone. Your time and level of skill is valuable and needs to be factored into the trade.”

Viltia slid a Kakoka into a second box. Each crate held six discs. She was kind of getting overwhelmed by all this trading and price talk. In Le-Metru Nuva, everyone worked together to survive. They didn’t have the luxury of commerce yet, though they were getting there, even with their small group. And back in her original village, it had been her job to grow food and flowers for the village. She didn’t get paid per plant, just per week by one of their Turaga, and she hadn’t even cared much about widgets, not really spending them other than on food and gardening supplies.

Meanwhile the Vortixx before her thrived on commerce, on creating high end products and charging even higher for them. “Maybe you should go instead?”

Circuit shook her head, intense optics drilling into Viltia’s, “I don’t sell things. I create them, with elegance. Plus beings are more likely to accept a strange Toa into their midst. Even one with… what are they called?”

Viltia looked down at herself, “Tethers.”

Circuit snapped her fingers, “Yes. Even a Toa with tethers. Don’t fret, I’ve just taught you well. If you trade with another Toa or with Matoran, odds are you’ll get a fair offer first go ‘round anyway.” She closed up the third box, “Alright, we’re done. Go get ‘em. You got this, Viltia.”

Viltia rubbed her fingers together, starting at the crates before her. She wasn’t much one for going out and making friends. Generally friends just kind of showed up for her. And this would be her talking with strangers. Trying to negotiate trades. Viltia started to freak out a little bit, her mind racing with what could go wrong. Then she remembered Sidra had just gone to Kini-Nui too. That eased all her fears. If she got in over her head, she could just scream SIDRA in her mind and her friend would come running. Yeah, okay, She had a lifeline if she needed it. She could do this.

Viltia grabbed the three boxes with her tethers, forced to readjust under the weight with her legs as most of her tethers were now occupied. “Okay. I got this. Thanks, Circuit. I’ll see you later.” Viltia activated her mask of Flight and wove through the canopy and into the light of day. When she got sufficiently high enough to see the mountain range where Kini-Nui sat, she swapped out her mask of Flight with the mask of Quick Travel in her front pouch. Having already practiced this maneuver several times, there was no panic as she started falling during the swap.

Then the mask of Quick Travel was on her face, her target optically acquired. A short activation later and her atoms lost locality and then regained it in a completely different place. She stood waist deep in the snow, overlooking a lush jungle in the valley far below her. The jungle parted to a large clearing, revealing a large lake with several structures on it. Around the clearing, and built into the cliffs, was a village of a few thousand Matoran and various other species. They were small specks of color that swirled around, living their lives and oblivious to her.

Viltia sure hoped they wouldn’t be freaked out by her tendrils. It had taken the beings of Le-Metru Nuva a bit to get used to. What if she was immediately attacked?

She steeled her mind. She had to take the risk. The village needed certain supplies they couldn’t make themselves.

Okay, she was getting awfully cold up here in the snow. Less than a second later she was amidst the village, Matoran stepping around her as they went about their lives.

Viltia braced for the cries of alarm, of fright. Surprisingly... none came.

Why wasn’t everyone freaking out? Viltia turned to look around. Tethers weren’t a normal thing here, were they? A splash of pink caught her optics. Something floated in the distance, black and pink. It had a dome and tendrils trailing below it. No one was freaking out about it, despite Viltia knowing for sure that that wasn’t normal. Viltia closed her mouth, which she just realized had been hanging open. Maybe she wasn’t the weirdest thing to see here after all.

Okay, now where looked like a good place to figure out where to trade? Viltia slowly spun around, noticing not just several potentially good looking shops to start her trading process, but also that a large portion of beings around her had pitted and tarred masks, just like Morangad had had. Was that a Zakaz thing? It certainly hadn’t been normal where she was from.

Something golden caught her attention. It was someone’s mask, or at least parts of the mask. She took a couple strides closer, intrigued. She grabbed one of the crates from her tethers with her arms so she could move around more easily if she needed to.

Had someone painted parts of their mask gold? She wove through the crowd until it petered out and she left it, stepping down the grassy hillside. The being with the crimson/golden mask turned from one of his compatriots to the next. They all looked to be Toa. As he turned, the glint from the gold in the sun faded and Viltia saw the mask in its full majesty.

It. It. It was- It was PERFECT.

Viltia numbly and unknowingly took a couple steps closer to get a better look. Her mouth hung agape as she gawked at the mask. If the Legendary Mask of Growth she had just made was a tier above every other mask, then this one was at least two tiers above that. She didn’t even have to touch it to know it was perfectly smooth. Every crevice pristine, every corner just ever so slightly rounded. The forms used in its design were revolutionary, displaying a level of grandeur she didn’t think was possible. It was a crimson mask, but parts of it seemed as if they were gilded with gold, perfectly accenting its design. It was bold where it needed to be and subtle everywhere else. It was everything a mask could be and more.

She knew she would never be able to make a mask like this. This was the mask all others looked up to. One mask above the rest.

As she came close to the group unintentionally, a faint floral scent gently wafted from her, like an oceanside garden in the summer. Viltia paid no mind to Stannis or Atamai, focusing solely on Knichou’s Mask of Creation, though she knew not their names, nor the true nature of the mask.

She was severely geeking out.

 

OOC: @BULiK @EmperorWhenua @~Xemnas~ Viltia says hello to the Legendary Mask of Creation.

 

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whira, Tekmo

 

As they walked, Cravious’ X-Ray Vision easily cut through the mists. The land around them was intimidating, all black and hard angles, but after Irnakk’s Tooth, nothing fazed him. Everything else had been easy street so far.

He did see a rock that looked suspiciously familiar, but whether that was because he had seen it before or whether he had seen a rock just like it somewhere else he wasn’t sure. If it was the former, it made sense. Beings without X-Ray Vision were leading this expedition, after all. If he saw the rock for a third time, he would mention it.

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

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Le-Metru Nuva

 

The next morning she looked around to see if anyone was watching. She was alone. Which made sense, she was on the swamp floor, after all.

She had already made sure the area around her was clear and neatly stamped down. Waihura was secured nearby. With a thought, she began to grow. She approached and passed sixty feet tall. Still she kept going. She reached the height of Waihura when the mech was standing, and still she kept going.

As her head broke through the cleared out canopy above, she guessed she was about 120 feet tall. Now she felt like when she had controlled the Tahtorak. Power filled her limbs, just like when she wore a mask of Strength. Possibly on the same level.

She moved her hands, noting how her increased size slowed her actions, since there was literally more of her for her brain to send signals through her wiring. She squealed in joy, the noise far deeper than she was used to. The sound, though deadened by all the leaves, branches, and trunks, still carried through the swamp for a way.

Viltia covered her mouth, the action delayed slightly. Just like her other masks, she was going to have to train with this to understand how to use it properly.

Her feet, though on packed mud, still sunk into the ground. Her tethers were massive, lighting up the dark under canopy with their meager silver glow.

Well, that was enough of that. Wing needed her for something. Viltia deactivated the mask and slowly shrunk back to normal. She placed it in her left pouch, making sure it was secure before heading towards where the guard leader had told her to go.

A minute later she arrived at the fetid pond near the freshwater stream, surprised to see several villagers there with shovels and several large piles of fresh mud. Even Torch was there, standing tall in his new form, his staff on his back. Wing turned to her, “Ah, good. Viltia. Torch and I figured out what to do. When I remove the water, use roots to churn up the muck that’s left over. Try to pull it down so none of it is left over. We can’t have any mutagen left over or this won’t work.”

Oh! Okay. That’s what Wing wanted her for. Viltia nodded in affirmation. She was ready to help. She was glad Wing had come up with a plan. She had been a little busy the day before.

Wing took a deep breath to ready herself, “Okay, in 3… 2… 1… Go!” Wing raised her arms and summoned her element, a strong gale suddenly roaring through the air, the leaves and branches above them rustling furiously. The water of the foul pond was cast away, funneled off deeper into the swamp. Wing’s optics scanned quickly as she constantly checked to make sure none of the water reached the beings standing next to her.

The pond slowly drained, the water forcefully making its exit. When there were just a couple puddles left, Wing kept going, now chucking hunks of mud off into the swamp. She lowered one arm, now focusing on keeping the stream of fresh water from ruining their plans.

Viltia immediately got to work, calling upon her own element. The roots of a nearby banyan tree broke from the muck, scooping, puling, and curning the bottom of the former pond. Great loud slurping noises could be heard from the mud as it was moved. This went on for a good thirty seconds. Then the roots settled, slipping back below the ground.

Torch stepped forward, raising his staff. From its tip leapt flames, rapidly drying out and baking the newly churned mud. Hopefully that was enough to cleanse it of any lingering mutagenic taint. His flames were fewer than when he had been a Toa, but they still burned just as hot. The mud grew hardened and turned a different color. When finished, he lowered his staff, though he didn’t lean on it.

Viltia could see a glint of pride in his optics. She wondered what he had just proven to himself. Wait… had he even used his powers since becoming a Turaga? She couldn’t remember even one instance of his using his element in the last month. Huh, maybe this was the first time. That might explain a few things.

As Torch ended, everyone started shoveling, piling high the fresh mud. The beings with larger feet moved in and stomped it down, trying to pack it in as every else continued shoveling. In five minutes, the pond was gone. In its place was a pathway for the stream and a gradient hill that would hopefully keep another pond from forming.

Everyone moved away as Wing lowered her other arm, letting the freshwater stream flow once more. It slowly found its way over the new patch of ground. As it found the other side, Viltia leaned down close, inspecting it. A smirk formed on her face, blossoming into a smile. “It’s clean! We did it!”

Everyone cheered for a good three seconds before something shrieked ferociously in the distance, reminding them of where they lived. They quickly stopped and shifted to handshaking and pats on the back, giving quiet congratulations to each other. Then, to stay on the safe side, they all picked up their shovels and carefully made their way back to the village.

Meanwhile Viltia followed the stream as it meandered towards the village. It  eventually hooked south and Viltia was led to the wall of trees surrounding the Vuata Maca Tree. The stream disappeared through a gap in the wall and she climbed over it, having to go up a good sixty feet to get over.

Inside the clearing stood the Vuata Maca Tree, strong and proud. Wiring was wound around the branches and running off into the canopy. The tree provided most of their power now. Viltia walked up to it and placed a hand on its moss covered bark. Water trickled behind her, forming a small pond in the walled in clearing before finding another small hole in the wall to escape through.

As if in response to her unasked question, the bark started to part as a new crystal was formed. Viltia clenched her fist in victory. YES! This proved the tree indeed needed help. This wretched swamp was probably constantly trying to corrupt it again. Who knew what else she might need to do to get another crystal to form.

She gently tapped the crystal and like before, it fell into her hands, the bark closing up as it left. It vibrated almost imperceptibly with power, faintly glowing. Viltia held it to her chest. This was one more Great Disc. Or perhaps a backup healing session in case the tree ever needed help. Either way, she was not ready to make any decision regarding the crystal. She put it in her satchel on top of her crude compass, next to her book, and behind the Great Disc of Teleportation.

She turned. Okay, it was time to start branching out. Her plan was to go to Kini-Nui, trade Kanoka for stuff Le-Metru Nuva needed, and then go to Irnakk’s Tooth and meet the Remaker guy the Admin had told her about. She was pretty sure she was ready.

Maybe.

She kind of was waiting for Sorilax to show back up. She wanted his opinion on all of this Admin, Suva, Remaker stuff. Plus she was starting to get worried about Sala and him. They had now been gone over a month. She hoped they were okay.

 

OOC: Vuata Maca Crystal quest completed.

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Le-Metru Nuva

 

She could have used a mask of Fate to make the process easier, but she refused to do so. If she was going to make a Legendary mask, she was going to do it with her own skill. Her hammer rang like a melody, the metallic protodermis she was working on accepting her shaping with flashes of sparks.

Viltia now knew that you could tell how well the creation process of a mask was going through sound alone. The more melodic the tone, the better, and the more flat and empty the noise, one knew failure drew near.

And shape, shape was not a problem. Viltia now knew how to make a Great Kanohi of Growth by Heartlight. She had actually done the process in her dreams several times. Where nuance mattered was in the subtle variations of the curves, the techniques used in folding the creases, and the crispness in the edges. The metal of the Kanohi needed to be perfectly and evenly distributed throughout the entire mask. You needed to be able to bring the mask to a shine before even polishing it, so pure needed to be the ingredients and so careful the technique in making it.

Viltia had done this with the Kanohi of Time Duplication, making a mask above all other masks she had made to that point. Oddly enough, after a month of nonstop practice, that slowly had become her normal level of work.

Her organic protodermis muscles were even more toned now, specifically trained to handle the Kanohi making process. Her hammer came down with a sort of gentle force, neither too hard nor too soft. The angles with which she struck, the ways she gripped the handle, the varying size of hammers she used, these all played their own part.

When the mask cooled too much, it was reintroduced to the forge. Viltia’s optics danced over it as it sat inside, watching to make sure it grew to the perfect temperature and no more. Then it was back in her tongs, being formed once more.

Like with Time Duplication, any small impurity or blemish would immediately cause the power of the mask to manifest, ruining it. She had lost count of the attempts ruined by the smallest mistake.

But all this grueling, straining work merely filled her with joy. She had created her own Destiny. A Toa of the Green, a Kanohi crafter? She never in a hundred thousand years thought she would ever do anything other than tend to her plants. Yet here she was, fueled with an inner energy to continue her work, to try one more time, to never give up. There were still many mask powers she had never made. There were possibly mask powers no one else had ever figured out yet. And the mask she worked on now, if she could make it, she might very well be able to make a mask that stood above all others, or at least on par with the mask of Creation.

An hour passed as she expertly worked on the mask. Then two more. An attempt had never taken her this long before. She wanted to take a break, but something told her not to. So she pushed on, arms starting to strain at the constant movement. Dinner came and went. Hunger couldn’t touch her, however. She was focused solely on her task. Not even Nektann showing up again could distract her.

With the lightest of taps, finished the final flourish of the final form. The mask was done. She had done it. It was a mask of Growth, but it was not just a mask of Growth. It was the epitome of a mask of Growth, full of form and grace. It had small garnishes on it, leaves that bent under rain. They represented herself and Nektann. The Green and Water.

She dunked it in water, hardening it and starting the cooling process. There was still a possibility of failure in this stage, but she could feel it. She had done it.

Viltia couldn’t celebrate though. She was exhausted. The only thing that kept her from napping right then and there was the small possibility of failure. So she sat, staring at the mask as it cooled and settled. For an hour she sat, shifting every so often but never fully moving.

At one point she created an apple for herself to absorb for sustitence, but otherwise her focus was still singular. Finally, the time came and she moved to the mask, reverently taking it in her hands. She beamed when she saw it had the silver luster powered masks had when not worn.

Slowly turning it around, she took off her mask and put the mask of Growth on. Her mind filled with its power, waiting to be called upon and used. Her whole body settled and calmed. She hadn’t realized how tense she had been.

Shakily taking off her gloves and apron, she left the forging hut. Night was in full swing and she headed straight for bed. Her tethers hugged her even as her new mask sat adorned on her face. She fell asleep and dreamed she still was making masks.
 

OOC: GM permission given to create custom “Lesser” Legendary Mask of Growth.

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Le-Metru Nuva

 

Viltia swung her legs while seated on the left shoulder of Wairuha. She slowly absorbed a bowl of stew in her left hand as she wrote down notes in her book on her lap. She, and Sidra’s Kaita mech, were in a clearing of her own making. The trees had been told to use their roots to walk aside and branches had been rearranged to allow the 90 foot tall mech to be able to stand and move without destroying any nature.

The giant mech was down on one knee, arms and legs encased in giant, dead, and hardened ironwood trees. It was as if the trees had grown around the mech, which they actually had. In a way. They just did it at Viltia’s behest and not naturally.

Viltia wrote down another mask on her list. She had taken Sidra’s advice and didn’t go to Irnakk’s Tooth immediately after the Admin had given her a lead to try and figure out how to teach it Taboos so that she could then make Golden Masks. Instead she had stayed home and trained for a month, forging Kanoka, crafting Kanohi, and honing her skills. She didn’t really train her combat skills, instead focusing on using her element with greater control and mask powers better and more fluently while doing other things.

In the Fau Swamp, the Green was king and her mask of Rahi Control was queen. She didn’t really need to train combat skills.

In terms of safety, though, after Apex continued to dominate the Fau Swamp, Le-Metru Nuva was the safest it had ever been to date. Of course that safety came with an offset. After the island had shifted and they lost the marshes, defiled energized protodermis had crept its way into the already mutagenic swamp waters. This meant when a Rahi or giant insect attacked, it was wildly deformed and crazy powerful, not to mention unpredictable, causing heavy damage to the trees and the village.

Unfortunately, they had lost three more Matoran over the month to the ravages of the swamp. For all their Kanoka, Kanohi, and rudimentary technology, they still were only surviving, not quite thriving yet. At least not like Viltia hoped they would be some day. Any deaths were too many. Her Heartlight mourned over any loss of the villagers under her protection. She just wanted to reach out to them, even in death, and comfort them.

Perhaps… she could.

Viltia felt the weight of the Great Disc of Teleportation in her satchel and she thought of how Sidra had said she had died, twice, after becoming NUVA. Maybe if Viltia became NUVA too, she might be able to reach out to her friends and merge with them while she was dead. The idea intrigued her, but she wanted to figure out how to make Silver and Golden masks first. Only then would she seriously think about becoming NUVA, and potentially who to bring with her to get whatever had happened to that Leklo guy that had been with Sidra. NUVA close-by-ima or something.

Speaking of Golden masks, Viltia looked at her book. So far she had two lists of Golden masks that would be good to make and then use herself. She was working on a third. She tapped the back of her quill on her mask, idly absorbing more of the stew. The stew was swamp made, born of all the plants and Rahi that were safe to eat in the corrosive location. It tasted great, even devoid of most traditional seasonings.

She looked back at her lists. She had ideas of Golden masks for most of the Kanohi users in the village. Although she was having a hard time making any lists for Sidra. She just didn’t know what her friend might value the most. What would a former Dark Hunter turned village protector turned NUVA want?

She finished her stew. Well, it was a problem for another day. One of her tethers grabbed the empty bowl as a past her approached. Viltia was getting very good at having her mask of Time Duplication going for hours at a time, even when she was doing other things. She wasn’t the absolute best at it, and those other tasks needed to be simple and not full of fast decisions, but it was huge progress for her compared to where she had been when she had first become a Toa. But she guessed that was what happened when you practiced almost every day.

Past her alighted upon Waihura’s right shoulder, “Okay, so, we finished three more Kanohi and five Kanoka. Scout Viltia has done her route and helped out around the village. You know, making food and supplies for more buildings. Keeping the branch pathways clear and defensible.”

Viltia nodded. She was glad she herself had come up with her system for what to do if she was ever summoned to the future. Two of her would forge and one would defend/help out the village. Viltia was working on having a fourth past her around, but so far she could only do that for a couple hours. Still, the amount of work she was able to accomplish at the forge had been incredible. Even spending so much time training her mask and element lately, she was still able to forge up a storm of Kanoka and Kanohi, both herself and her past selves.

It also helped that the forging hut had been completely rebuilt, this time on stilts to raise it up above the floodline. And they even had a third forge now. Circuit’s Removes Poison machine was working perfectly as well. Oh, and even Torch had started making masks again in his spare time, though mostly for the Matoran who wanted to display a new them in this new world they found themselves on. Beruv’s stencils provide the Kanoka with much needed identification. Everything was going great.

The ground threatened to kill them if they stepped in a puddle, but otherwise things were great.

Past Viltia stood upon Waihura’s shoulder and crossed her arms as she leaned on the hump on the mech’s back where the pilots sat, “I just got back from checking out the island, too.”

Viltia looked at herself incredulously.

Past Viltia put up her hands in defense, “I know, I know. I’m not supposed to jeopardize our future by taking risks, but I couldn’t help myself.”

Viltia sighed. She knew she would have done the same thing.

…

Well, actually, she had done the same thing, she just couldn’t remember doing it. She smirked at that.

Past Viltia continued, “All the villages look roughly the same. The Riggers are… mostly still how they were last time. That water ball is still to the east. And Nektann is to the northwest.”

Viltia perked up at that. Nektann was to the northwest? She spared herself a few moments to think fondly of the time spent being merged with the Skakdi turned Tahtorak. She hoped soon that someone would want to merge with her for good. She just wanted to help everyone. To comfort them. Ease the experiences that were life.

Viltia turned to past her with concern as she thought of something more on topic, “You didn’t touch the Great Disc of Enlarge, did you?”

Past Viltia shook her head, “No way. You and I both know we want to remember turning that into a Kanohi. If we can, anyway.”

Viltia nodded, “Good.” After the arrival of defiled EP in the swamp, the Vuata Maca Tree had just been struggling to survive and not been able to produce any more crystals. She needed to do something soon to help it out. It needed to stay in good health, it provided most of the energy for the village. Maybe it needed more fresh water. The village certainly did. She would look into that later.

In the meantime, she had exchanged for the Vuata Maca Crystal in the Air Suva with just a random gem of equivalent size they had mined up. After a week of work, she had made a Great Disc of Enlarge. Since then, she had been trying to create a Legendary Mask of Growth. It seemed possible enough, though she wasn’t 100% sure. Still, she would keep going until she made the perfect mask. And if that still wasn’t enough, then it couldn’t be done.

She was going to work on it later today, actually. She had a feeling she was close. Her last couple attempts had been almost there. And each attempt only made her a better mask maker. She had thought she had reached her peak with the mask of Time Duplication, but it turned out there was another level of skill to reach. A new ring of growth.

Viltia put away her book and stood. Even at midday, the light under the canopy was faint and dim, so thick and lush were the leaves above her. All the villagers were normalized to it now, but it had taken some getting used to. She turned to her past self, “Thank you, me. I appreciate all you’ve done for us. All of us.”

Past Viltia smiled, “You would do that same.” She laughed, “Or did? I guess.”

Viltia smiled as well, “Alright, you’ll see you later when you become me and talk with you.” Both Viltia’s looked confused at the statement, then Viltia turned off her mask and the past her disappeared.

Taking off the mask of Time Duplication, Viltia swapped it with the mask in her right side pouch. After having heard Viltia speak of the Air Suva and the potentiality for anyone, good or bad, to use the masks she had input into it, one of the villagers had created a belt for her. There were four pouches the size of Kanohi attached to the belt. One in the front, one in the back, and one one either side. The way the pouches were shaped kept masks from slipping out, but there was enough give for Viltia to be able to apply force and pull Kanohi in and out.

She kept her mask of Rahi Control in the back, and the other pouches varied depending on what she was doing.

But that wasn’t to say she hadn’t input more masks into the Suva. No way. She had added plenty of new masks into the Suva. They were ready for anyone who needed them/herself when she figured out how to make Silver and Golden Kanohi.

Viltia put on a Great mask of Removes Poison and went searching for Wing. Funny thing about a mask of Removes Poison. It could remove poison just fine. It could do it forever. But its secondary function of removing impurities absorbed the impurities directly into itself. If enough impurities were collected, the mask hardened and then crumbled to dust. It had been quite the shock to find out.

Thankfully, Viltia had the time and skill to make several masks of Removes Poison. But the defiled EP kept coming, and it was hard to keep the area beneath the village pure. Everywhere one looked, you could see puddles of pure EP becoming corrupted again whenever it rained and the water level rose. It was a constant battle of cleansing.

Viltia found Wing sitting on the lowest branch of a tree, staring at a spring of fresh water a couple minutes from the village. It was the new source of the village’s water after the old one had been destroyed when the marshes had.

Wing spoke as Viltia approached, never looking the Toa of the Green’s way. Her mask of Sonar now kept her from ever being snuck up on. It was kind of creepy. “You know, Viltia, we still don’t have a good path here.”

Viltia sat down beside her.

Wing continued, “I don’t like it. It’s how we lost one Matoran, after all.”

Viltia nodded, sadly remembering the incident. Her tethers softly moved in the gentle breeze that always seemed to be present when Wing was around.

They both stared at the spring. It wound along the ground, pure and fresh, but quickly joined a large, fetid pond. From there, its corrupting waters made their way in the direction of the village, providing no sustenance with their mutagenic properties.

Viltia tilted her head in thought, scratching at her mask. “Do you think we might be able to move the pond? Then the spring would be clean and fresh, running right by the village and the Vuata Maca Tree.”

“HUH,” Wing worked her jaw back and forth. The pond was fairly large. It couldn’t exactly be moved by buckets with the dangers of its waters. But… something nagged at the back of her mind. Some possibility she couldn’t quite figure out yet.

The option to simply pump it to the village was out of the question. It was too much piping to install. And they didn’t even have enough materials to make enough piping. Plus, the acid rain might ruin anything they set up, calling for even more resources to somehow protect the piping.

Yeah, somehow getting rid of that pond was the far better, and potentially faster, option.

The question was: How?

Wing turned to Viltia, “That might just work, actually. Thanks. I have something brewing in my mind. I’ll talk things over with Torch, see if he has any ideas on what we could do.”

Viltia smiled and nodded, “Alright, well my morning stuff is done, I’m off to the forge!”

Wing rolled her optics, but a smile played at the corner of her mouth, “You like forging way too much, you know that, right?”

Mock pouting, Viltia stuck out her metallic tongue at the fellow Toa, “I don’t care. See ya!”

Viltia’s tethers swept her from her perch, instinctually grabbing branches through her plantlife senses. The small bits of light that did make it through the canopy played across her as she practically flew through the air.

As she moved, she passed the wide expanse of open area she had cleared for Sidra’s Kaita mech. With help from past hers, she had created a lane of open space that wound northeast to the land bridge that was now the only thing that connected them to the rest of Zakaz. The canopy 100 feet up and above was still there, providing aerial cover for the large “pathway”. And Viltia had grown many vines and tall shrubs along the way as well to hide that there actually was any sort of path. But those things would do nothing to hinder Waihura leaving Le-Metru Nuva and the swamp as a whole.

And speaking of warping the swamp to her whim, since the arrival of defiled energized protodermis to the swamp floor, Viltia had been busy creating branch pathways to and from the village. They spread far and winding. The ones near the village were under constant surveillance. But now the villagers had escape routes should they ever need to leave. The branch pathways too were full of twists and misdirections, but they were safe enough that even the non-Le-Matoran could run along them and not fall.

At first they had been merely convenient, but soon the village realized they were required. The swamp floor with the defiled EP wasn’t just dangerous, but deadly. Now they only went down below to get water, forge discs, or mine ore. It was kind of sad. Viltia missed the beauty the swamp floor could provide. At least the village hadn’t stopped growing. It sprawled along the branches of several trees now, with more huts and platforms than they knew what to do with. It was pretty great.

Viltia arrived at the new forging hut. She took off the acid-resistant bark hat that she made every time she went outside, absorbing it without a thought. After applying the precision she had learned from mask making to creating her element, a simple hat was easy to make again. She quickly donned her heavy apron and gloves. The heat was a little much, but she was far too used to it now to even think on it. She grabbed her Great Disc of Growth and brought it to a nice orange glow. Then she grabbed her hammer.

Time to try again.

 

OOC: Viltia’s finally back! Let’s see where SKA takes her.

Started GM approved quest to get a Vuata Maca Crystal.

Viltia's profile has been updated to show everything she has in the Air Suva.

In that case, I'm not sure if you know about it or just haven't gotten to it yet, but Whira, Tekmo, and Cravious need a GM reply. They are actively searching for pure EP in the Kumu Peninsula.

IC: Sorilax - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Far Shore

 

Sorilax stood in a snowbank, fierce wind howling through a large, broken window with thick glass. What remained of the window flickering occasionally, colors shifting from deep, light, to aqua blue. The shifting never stopped, and actually it morphed shapes as well, sometimes it was round, sometimes it was a square, sometimes the window was just a glass wall.

As Sorilax looked around, he realized the whole room he was in was flickering, colors jumping from shades of white to gray to dark gray and then back to whites. The room remained mostly the same shape, with small variations. The only things that remained the same were the blinding white light coming through the broken window and the piles of stark white snow piles piled on chairs, sofas, a far desk, and the floor.

He couldn’t remember how he had gotten here, nor how long he had been standing there. He was covered in snow that fell off in piles as he looked around the room. He was holding his knives, but there was no sign of the Far Shore portal. There were no signs of snow. In fact, there were no footprints in the snow, so no one had been here for awhile.

Sorilax sheathed his knives, reaching for a new scroll to write his thoughts down. His hand grabbed empty space and he was slowly filled with shock. His scrolls! He grabbed at his shoulders. His backpack straps weren’t there. His backpack too! It was just… gone.

He reached for his head, the flower crown and shadow lizard were missing too. He pulled his feet from the hardened snow collected and frozen around him and crunched through the snow as he walked around the room. After a thorough search, he concluded his things were gone. He hoped not forever.

The snow sparkled and shimmered as he moved, its outer layer frozen over. It was like a bed of diamonds had been laid out at his feet, filling him with wonder and joy as he watched how the light reflected. He wondered how cold it was, as he had no way to tell on his own unless he left his armor, which didn’t seem like a smart idea.

Sorilax went to the broken window, optics trying their best to adjust. There were vague shapes, all vertical, gleaming and glistening brightly, reflecting even more light. He went to Absorb some to refill his reserves, when he realized he was full of elemental energy. And he wasn’t tired anymore either.

He scratched at his chin in thought. Just where was he? And where was Sala? He had never seen a room look like this before, that was for certain. He was someplace foreign and alien to him. This was no swamp, it was no desert.

Sorilax went to the long desk, wiping off the snow that had piled up. Icicles, clear and long, hung from its edges. It looked like this was some kind of work station. He was in an office, perhaps. Skakdi had things they called offices, but they were far messier than this and contained a lot more weapons. In this place there were paper clips, pens, and pads of paper. All were hopelessly frozen solid. Inked on the top corner of the topmost page of paper was a company name: Crystal Climber Technologies. It had a small, stylized Crystal Climber hanging from the side of a shear wall, with stars above it that it was reaching for.

The typeface and font of the company occasionally shifted and changed, but always read the same. The logo shifted through several older and new looking designs, but there was always a Crystal Climber and stars. For a split second there was no pad in his hand, then it reappeared. He set it down.

If the Far Shore validated universes and timelines, perhaps this place was constantly shifting between a great many varying timelines, where things were similar enough to remain mostly consistent. In that way, he was exploring multiple timelines that were so similar to almost be the same, and potentially exploring them all at once. The thought was incredible, and his doubts of what Nuju had said started to fade.

Sorilax crossed his arms and frowned, his long arms folded around himself making him look like a giant metal pretzel. Actually, if the Far Shore was infinite, why was he just seeing one place instead of being transported to multiple places every couple seconds? Nothing should ever remain recognizable. He feared that he had entered a small slice of a greater whole. One that was far more solid and limiting than Nuju had made it out to sound. He could only hope it was the same place Sala had been sent.

Speaking of the Matoran, he wouldn’t find Sala standing here. His inner scholar itched to figure out some way to write down his thoughts, but perhaps his missing scrolls were a good thing. He needed to find Sala as fast as possible. And stay focused doing it. Sorilax went to a door near the long desk and turned the knob. It wouldn’t budge, forcing him to throw his back into it. Ice cracked and the door then swung free, revealing a long hallway lit by dark blue lights. No, light blue. No, white. No, they, well, they constantly changed.

Sorilax noted the same company name and logo on the wall. It seemed he was in their building. With the absence of snow, frost covered everything. A layer of ice coating both walls, the frost on the floor being rough and crunching beneath his footfalls.

He ignored the many doors that he passed after the first few revealed only small office rooms with blinding windows. He walked down the hallway for over half an hour at least, though he wasn’t that good at keeping track of time, so it could have been any amount really. But eventually, the end soon came into sight. At the end of the hall, a more secure looking door made of metal stood half open, ice freezing it in place as if it had exploded from one point, like someone had chucked an Ice grenade. The door was torn through, the metal being warped where it wasn’t shredded. Sorilax used the strength of his vessel to break off a few pieces of the ice that encapsulated the door, allowing him to walk past.

He was greeted with a sight that was beyond his comprehension. There was a massive, gaping hole in the building he was in. It was a circular hole, and started several stories above the floor he was on and traveled several stories below him. A raging and cruel wind threatened to pull him from where he stood and he was forced to grab the edge of where the building had been broken off.

There was snow everywhere in large, heaping piles. Giant, multi-story sized icicles hung from the hole in the building, threatening to fall on anyone who tried to make a bridge across the gap. With his current angle, he was actually able to see outside. He couldn’t see much, but enough to get a small understanding of his immediate surroundings, and it filled him with awe. 

There was ice and snow as far as he could see. He was in a building that rose so high off the ground that he couldn’t actually see its bottom. There were massive skyscrapers all around, each one frozen and in a state of partial destruction. Many bridges crossed between the impossibly tall buildings, each one with a small mountain of snow covering them and more icicles than he could count hanging from them. Several of the skyscrapers were completely encapsulated in ice. Parts of the landscape were so cold they were a rich light blue.

Everything reflected white light, making it hard to see any real details. He also had no sense of the size of the buildings nor how close or far they were from him. He wasn’t sure, but he suspected the buildings were miles wide, with massive, almost normal skyscrapers acting as bridges between them. He couldn’t tell for sure though, and so his mind was left to wander as it was filled with wonder.

Something flitted at the corner of his vision. He turned to look, but saw only shadows on the other side of the circular hole through the building. Well, he needed to keep moving. Gripping the edge of the destroyed floor, Sorilax lowered himself down one level. This level had higher ceilings than the other floors and was made of non-painted metal that shifted from freshly polished to dull and back to polished. One of the variations was brick painted white. Very scientific-y machines were strewn about, all completely destroyed. He had no way to know what purpose they might have once had.

A large door with many locks was open before him. He exited it, looking back above the doorway. Letters above the door read: Project Frostelus.

The Rahi? It was rare on Zakaz. Perhaps it wasn’t rare here. Or, well... Sorilax listened to the howling wind of frozen intent. Maybe it hadn’t been rare before this building was abandoned. Sorilax walked down a hallway much like the one from the floor above, but this time the doors opened to offices with windows with slightly tinted glass, their views showing off he was walking between absolutely massive skyscrapers.

At the end of the hallway/bridge, Sorilax found himself in a lounge area instead of a reception room, not that he actually knew what either of those two things were. There was a small kitchen off to one side, with tables and chairs set up around the room. Some of the chairs were knocked over and another spiky ball of ice punctured through a table in the center of the room. As he looked, the knocked over chairs and destroyed table kept changing positions. Several of the variations had fewer chairs, even.

A poster hung on one of the walls. It read: Why let Ko-Toa have all the fun? Talk to your manager and see if you’re ready for ABZIS! On the poster was a picture of a happy Matoran pointing his finger at a dancing icicle.

Sorilax frowned. What was abzis? Abzis? ABZIS? Well, however its proper spelling, he wondered what it meant or stood for. Sorilax looked back at the constantly shifting lounge room. And what had caused the destruction he had seen so far?

The sound of ice cracking suddenly took him from his thoughts as it came from another room. Moving to the door he thought he had heard the noise coming from, his power to move silently activated, stopping his footsteps from making noise on the frost covered ground. He extended a field of Silence around the door as he worked it open, trying to break free the layer of ice covering both sides.

Beyond was a room filled with partitioned workstations. They shifted between varying shades of grey, when they were there at all. One version had the whole place destroyed, like a wind storm had come through.

Sorilax walked through the desks, head turning to and fro. Another poster hung from one of the workstation partitions. This one read: Colder than Ice. Together we shall fall below zero! It showed a Matoran in a lab coat holding a clipboard next to a vat of viscous fluid with an icicle inside.

He frowned. This was horrible. He wasn’t getting anyplace. Sala could be anywhere, or anywhen. How was he suppo- Another shadow flitted by out of the corner of his vision. His head swiveled to try and find it. A sudden gust of wind causing him to stumble.

Wait, wind? He didn’t see any holes to outs- A shadow of a Toa came into view, stretching along the floor as if lit from a low angle. Sorilax’s optics followed the legs to find where the Toa was standing and stopped in place. There was nothing there. The shadow merely stopped where it should have connected to the object casting it.

What? Great jumping Mahi! Was he missing something? Surely it couldn’t- The shadow sprung forward, still acting as a normal shadow as it warped and shifted over desks and short partitions. It swiped at Sorilax’s feet and actually made contact, knocking him down.

Shock and confusion filled Sorilax. Normally his Silence kept him safe from most dangers noticing him. How had it spotted him as just a shadow? He moved to stand, arms bracing to push himself up and the shadowling knocked away his hands, forcing him prone again. Sorilax used his element, causing his body to shine from top to bottom. He then got to his feet. The shadowling was still there, now darker than black in the glow of his element, as if it were a void no light could defeat. Sorilax’s mind immediately went to the doorway he had encountered below Kini-Nui. Had its power followed him here?

Sorilax raised a hand and tried to blast the shadowling with light. The blast was weak and held no actual damaging power except to extinguish shadows. He would need to work on actual attacks with his new element. But that didn’t even seem to matter, a field of crackling energy surrounded the shadow thing, forming an impenetrable barrier. Sorilax stopped the attack. The field remained around the shadowling, which remained immoble.

He raised a hand to shine more Light when suddenly wind tried to pick him up again, this time succeeding and throwing him into a cubicle. Frozen pens and paper went everywhere in one of the variations, most of the others keeping the office supplies in their proper place and stopping Sorilax’s slide across the floor.

The room changed to the version where everything was windswept to the far corners of the large room and Sorilax saw three more shadowlings had arrived. All the shadows were of various species. Then the room shifted back to its normal variations and he lost sight of them.

He had to get out of here. He was outnumbered and at a disadvantage. He needed to somehow study them from afar to find their weaknesses. He wasn’t any good at figuring stuff out quickly. Especially when it came to battles. It was much easier to fight Rahi when he already knew everything about their species.

A shadow flitted around the corner of his vision. He needed to leave now!

Sorilax stumbled to his feet, body still glowing. The void touch of a shadowling tried to trip him up, but with Light emanating from him, its grasp was weakened, though still far stronger than he had hoped it would be. Sorilax opened the door at the end of the room and a fierce gale came from the opened doorway, trying to stop his progress.

He quickly created hardlight footholds for himself, trying to strain his body to move from one foothold to the next, the shadowlings attempting to grab at his feet as they touched the ground. Sorilax in response began randomly shooting blasts of damaging Light behind himself. He doubted he destroyed anything, as he heard their defensive fields crackling and it wasn’t like he was suddenly better at Light attacks, but just one more step and he would be free, the wind continuing to scrape against and away the paint on his vessel.

Then he was through the door. It easily closed behind him, the wind gone as he passed through the doorway. Sorilax then fled, rushing through hallways, rooms, and courtyards. He passed wide open forays and banquet halls. He moved through maintenance tunnels and locker rooms. As he ran, he realized this whole building was a city unto itself, with mall areas for stores to sell their wares and parks to try to replicate the outdoors. But the ever present name of Crystal Climber Technologies was stamped on everything. Every wall, every napkin, and every bauble held the brand.

And where there wasn’t snow, there was ice. Often a combination of the two. This whole place was frozen over and left partially destroyed. He saw no evidence of recent activity of any kind. But he also had no way to tell how long this building had been abandoned. Not to mention he had no idea what most of the stuff he was looking at was. Like there, he just passed a jug with frozen water in it and paper cups next to it. What was that thing? What could its purpose be? He wished he had years to spend here studying this culture that had apparently passed on.

Though his body did not tire, his mind grew tired of all the running, so he finally came to a halt, checking if the shadowlings followed him still. After a half hour of waiting, which he thought was only a couple minutes, Sorilax looked around where he was. It was the waiting room of a bank, though he had no idea what that meant. The name had been on a sign out front. The room was clad in blacks, gold, and had deep blue highlights. There was a long, dark wooden desk thing with many partitions and glass to almost form a wall. There was a name printed or painted onto it. The “bank’s” name changed as he looked at it, but the words below the name stayed the same: A subsidiary of Crystal Climber Technologies.

The beautiful, if frozen over tiles of the floor looked like a kaleidoscope as they switched through variations. Against the far wall behind the long desk thing, in one of the versions, was a vault door, open and hungry, and Sorilax didn’t much like how close it looked to his own doorway of void. Still, that design was one of many. And he was potentially several universes away from that door. Though in his soul, he knew his Taboos still clung to him, so so too could the doorway find him, even here, as it was tied to the source of power behind taboos, just as he was. And with his Taboos still with him, it meant that doorway could be lurking around any corner.

Sorilax decided to keep his movements silent, but with how his body moved as his feet crushed the frost beneath them, he could almost still hear it breaking. He spotted the vault door, several feet thick with a small avalanche of ice spilling out like a wave frozen in time from where it opened.

He carefully climbed the ice, creating hardlight handholds for himself as he went. At least one aspect of his new element had easily translated from his last. The inside of the vault had many small boxes on either side. Most were ripped from the walls, widgets laying everywhere. Sometimes they had documents inside. Sometimes jewels. But what really caught his attention was the second, larger vault door. It was crumpled and scattered in large chunks around the room. Based on one fairly intact piece, it had been over two feet thick when whole.

Sorilax picked his way around the rubble, intrigued at what might have caused this place to have something doubly secured. His question was answered in the form of rows of boxes, larger than the last room, but not by much. They had displays on the front, and colored lights. The whole room seemed to be humming. The information on the displays kept shifting and couldn’t be deciphered, so instead he grabbed a handle and slid it open.

Mist poured from the drawer as it opened with a pneumatic hiss. Nestled inside was a still beating Heartlight, hooked up to some sort of power system. The still falling mist was lit from the soft glow of the Heartlight. Sorilax tried to count the number of boxes in the room. There were too many to even guess properly. Perhaps several hundred.

Touching the Heartlight before him, Sorilax frowned. Such a horrible use of Life. What had happened in this place? Or, perhaps “places” was the better term. He was seeing several timelines as he looked around the room, the boxes mostly staying the same design, though in one variation they were hexagons.

In the back, large barrels were stacked tightly together of a material he couldn’t discern. Sorilax went over to them, they had the Crystal Climber Technologies logo on them, along with a different symbol below it. It kept changing, but the text below it only changed typeface: WARNING: TOXIC MATERIALS.

It looked like at least four or five barrels were missing, and one was open and knocked over. Sorilax leaned down to inspect it, his Taboo knowledge recognizing the “toxic” substance. It was energized protodermis, and pure at that.

Conjuring a hardlight hand to stroke his chin, Sorilax pondered his next move. Was now the time to create his Rahkshi? He thought of how the shadowlings had flitted about so swiftly, knocking him around and defending themselves easily. He couldn’t conjure his own Light in a way that could hurt them. Yes, he supposed it was time. Perhaps some Rahkshi would be more suited for combat than he was. Then he could easily find Sala and leave this place.

Sorilax moved to grab some Heartlights, then stopped. Actually, he required living bodies to make Rahkshi, he couldn’t-

…

Sorilax paused. Very concerned. As if by his mental command, dead Matoran lay scattered around the room, hands still clutching money and valuables. Their elements constantly shifted as they lay still. It looked like something had quickly slain all of them before leaving.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about the sudden change. Surprised, sure. Convenient, yes. But also very concerning. What else might just manifest if he thought of it? What else might be lurking in the gaps between the timelines?

Sorilax cautiously grabbed one of the bodies. It ragdolled, thankfully. There was no parasite controlling it even in death. He felt sadness staring into the lifeless optics of the Matoran, concern for Sala rising. But really he was sad that he hadn’t been able to share in this Matoran’s life. To help them live to their fullest and accomplish their purpose.

All of the dead Matoran’s Heartlights were ripped out. Sorilax also noticed they had no shadows, even when he moved them. Odd. Sorilax looked at them. Such a horrible thing to have happened. It reminded him of the ravaging the Skakdi of Zakaz and the brutality they meted out to most forms of life.

Sorilax crouched, inspecting the first body he had grabbed. Maybe they hadn’t popped into existence because of himself. They were all dead, and he needed living bodies. Sorilax reached out to his Rahkshi Taboo, testing if the body before him was a worthy ingredient. Sorilax’s mouth fell open. The answer was a yes. Somehow he could feel a small bit of life in them. He wasn’t sure what was going on. They were soulless, yet still technically alive. It was exactly what he wanted. Quite suspicious, actually. He pondered the implications.

He lowered his head in respect to these fallen and spent a minute allowing himself to mourn their deaths, which may or may not have been caused by him. Or not deaths exactly, soullessness? However, their use was not over. Life, in a twisted way, was still in them. Sorilax leaned in close… and breathed.

A small bit of his antidermis exited the slot that opened up in the back of his mouth (Thank you, Cravious) and settled upon the body, infusing itself into it. Sorilax felt the Rahkshi Taboo tug at his mind, letting him know the body was ready. He stepped forward to the barrels, feeling the Taboo swirl around him, Shadow filling him just as it used to, though this time through Taboo only.

Sorilax gently, and carefully, lowered the Matoran into an open and upright barrel. The energized protodermis was still, but through his connection to the body and the Taboo, he could feel the change taking place. Shadows swirled around, but a small bit of his Light was taken too, mixing and changing the result of the Taboo. As this happened, he felt a prompt for a power. He chose Fear, hoping to scare away the Shadowlings.

There was a moving of the Taboo behind the scenes, power running about behind the thin veil of many timelines. Sorilax felt like it could almost see it, the power was so close to him in this place, so unfiltered. It reminded Sorilax of the doorway that had almost killed him. Then the activity stopped, the ritual was complete.

The EP was gone, consumed by the Taboo, which was unexpected, but good to know. The Matoran’s body was gone, replaced by a hulking and lanky monstrosity. The Rahkshi was taller than he was, all spines and jagged edges. It looked fierce, even as just a hunk of armor. Unfortunately, whether because of this place, or perhaps the body used to create it, the Rahkshi itself constantly changed colors. And powers, too. Sorilax could feel them changing with the colors.

Still, power changing protectors were better than no protectors. Sorilax opened more barrels with hardlight hands, repeating the Taboo process two more times to reach his limit of Rahkshi. Then he grabbed three Heartlights, infusing them with his essence and using the EP to create three Kraata. It was weird to see them wriggle and move around on their own. He could sense their primitive minds, how they weren’t simply mindless like he had hypothesized could be the case.

They took shifted color and tone, powers shifting through his forty two variations. He placed them in his Rahkshi armor, watching in awe as they seemingly came to life. His creations scanned the room, getting their bearings, then looked to their creator.

Sorilax was very proud in that moment. He had created Life. It might have been off the back of other Life, but he had still done it. He was growing ever closer to achieving his Grand Wish.

One of his Rahkshi accidently knocked over one of the still sealed EP barrels. Where the barrel had been sitting Sorilax spotted a hatch, unlocked, but still closed. Sorilax went over to it. It was unmarked and flush with the floor. He turned the handle and lifted it, revealing a small maintenance corridor. Why would there be a back door to a vault inside of another vault?

Sorilax looked at the dead Matoran, barrels of energized protodermis, and the rows upon rows of still beating Heartlights. Just what exactly had happened here? What had gone down in this world?

Well, there was only one way to find out. Sorilax commanded his Rahkshi to be wary of the shadowlings and to go get bearings for where they might find some place important that Sala might be. They raced off, full of a vigor and energy Sorilax didn’t think he had ever felt. Not that he remembered being young, for some reason.

Before he investigated where this service tunnel went, he decided to possess one of the Rahkshi, his own body slumping to the ground as his true self jumped to inhabit the portion of antidermis he had breathed into the Rahkshi. It was odd, feeling the powers of the Rahkshi and Kraata, even odder how they constantly shifted. And his body. He had gotten used to his form and his elongated arms. Now his legs were elongated and his arms were actually rather short.

Still, this form held power and vigor, and the Shadows clung to it. He saw the other two Rahkshi break off to go in separate directions. This body was built for combat and speed and so he used it, with the body almost taking over in a way as he was in a way mentally detached. Almost as if he was watching himself from within the body. He jumped and leapt as he ran like he hadn’t ever before. His decisions were quick and instinctual. It was like being in a whole new body with a brand new mind built to be swift.

…

…

Oh yeah, that was exactly what it was like.

The minutes quickly flew by, the landscape a shifting blur of frozen and snow filled corridors, rooms, and open living areas. He ducked through alleyways and down small, mock streets. He passed through gardens and even a large park. He went through multistory shops and archways built to mimic glaciers. All of them shifted in art styles as he passed by, some simplistic, some grand, but all of them themed to ice in some way. And he saw even more of those ABZIS posters. He was actually getting used to how everything shifted through differing timelines about every second. It was really interesting to see how things varied between worlds.

He must have been near an edge before and was now headed in a different direction, because he saw no windows nor openings, just more and more buildings. This skyscraper truly was massive, the halls winding and nonsensical to him, but probably serving some larger purpose for a building of such magnitude.

Backtracking after heading for several minutes into a dead end pathway, a shadow flickered behind a pillar in the corner of his optics. Sorilax caught the quick, fleeting motion and ducked into a nearby doorway. Ice was piled on the ground as if it were a snow bank, keeping the door from being able to be opened. One of the door variations was round, which momentarily distracted him. Sorilax tried to use his Rahkshi powers to break the blockage.

His arm stretched to touch the ice, became momentarily intangible, then grew some weeds.

That… was useless. It did indeed seem he would have to rely upon his Light powers. A shadowling came into view down the small pathway he was on, form alighting on some dead and frozen bushes. He called upon his Light, piling it together, trying to build up the intensity. Then he shot it at the ice pile next to him.

The shot harmlessly passed through the ice, merely illuminating it. Sorilax sighed at himself, disappointed, then was swept from the doorway by a gust of wind, dragged to the middle of the path, the Kraata part of him feeling the sudden inertia and spinning his brain.

He turned to face the shadowling best he could. There were several of them, all different species, not lit by any light source in the room. They advanced in silence, slipping and sliding over every surface. Sorilax caused his body to shine, holding out his Rahkshi staff as if he could actually use it with any sort of skill.

The shadowlings advanced all at once and Sorilax tried to increase his Light in brightness. Once more they still shone a true black, eating up the Light, barely hindered by it. And then they were through his meager barrier. Their shadow bodies mingled with the shadow buffer his Rahkshi had and suddenly he felt pain. Sharp and intense. He felt like he was dying, or maybe he was just feeling pain for the first time. It was horrible, awful. Gut wrenching. Everything he hoped to never feel ever again.

Sorilax sat up, the true him, back in the vault. What had happened? He mentally reached out to his creations, noting there were now only two. Sorrow filled him. Had he created only for his creations to be killed immediately. Was this truly their Destiny? Or was he himself at fault.

Before he could even possess the second one to see how it was doing, it died as well, disappearing from his mind. No! Sorilax felt his gaseous body grow heavy in guilt and regret. He had failed his creations. He sat there for a few moments, grieving.

Had he done the wrong thing in creating them? Was he too filled with knowledge to recognize his folly?

Then he came to himself. Life was created and Life was destroyed. He knew this. He had studied it for years. Whether the destruction of Life was bad, he still wasn’t sure, but it happened nonetheless. And it happened every day. He had no need to change his opinions on the matter due to emotions in the moment. Life lived and died. So was Life. Sorilax focused on his last Rahkshi, possessing it.

Sorilax stood in a gigantic tunnel, large icicles hanging from the ceiling, most larger than himself. The tunnel receded into black behind him. But in front of him, a wall of pure white blocked his way. He stepped closer. No, not a wall, but light. Great heaps of snow lay at the exit of the tunnel. He used his long legs and wide feet to more easily traverse it. A terrible howling wind sounded like it threatened to rip apart the exit of the tunnel as it rose above him and to the sides at least a hundred feet all around.

Hand to his optics to help them adjust to the overpowering light, he stepped outside.

Once more he had to brace against the grating and chilling wind. But what he was able to discern was worth it. A vast web of massive skyscrapers filled the horizon. Tall monuments of ice, snow, and destruction. A couple were leaning over onto other ones, ice as if it were fire flaring up where the two buildings met. He still couldn’t see below. The ground was lost to mist, or a haze, almost as if there was ground at all. And the sky, it was a bright ice blue, close to white, though no clouds could be seen.

Sorilax squinted as the light of a white sun reflected off almost every surface, everything dazzling and threatening to blind him. He turned his head, trying to see anything important. And then a particularly dark object caught his attention. It was a few buildings away. Perhaps several days' walk. It rose from the top of one of the massive buildings, black with no variance, as if no light could touch it and it was an inkstain dropped atop the skyscraper. It looked to be a giant telescope, a piece of void peering into the bright sky.

He wasn’t sure if Sala would head towards something like that, but it was the only thing that he could see that was different on the horizon, not that he could see much with how bright it was. It was the best place to look for his friend. Sala and he had talked about the stars before, so maybe. Now he just needed to-

A shadow crept up his leg, merging with the shadow buffer around the Rahkshi. It used the buffer to crush the Rahkshi from all angles, and then Sorilax was back in his real body. Emotions swept over him. Loss, regret, defeat. He didn’t like how they were messing with his mind. No longer being detached from emotions came with its own set of problems, it seemed.

He decided to take the risk and center himself, meditating.

As he let his mind calm, he pondered his emotions. About what had caused them and what he might do about both his emotions and his situation. He had created imitations of Life. Warped Life. He had sent them to their deaths for information.

Warped Life. He was not the Aspect of warped Life. He was the Aspect of true Life. His Destiny lay not in petty tricks. He was no imitator, no cheap magician or illusionist. He was going to achieve his Grand Wish. He was going to be Life itself.

But what did that mean for him here?

As he mulled things over, an idea filled his mind. Perhaps he should create Life of his own.

Sorilax stood, rushing to the Heartlights. He breathed into one, dipping it in EP. A freshly made Kraata soon crawled around his hands. He calmed his mind and closed his optics, entering his Taboo mindscape of the crushing sea of Taboos. He swam about the frigid, void waters of the power behind Taboos, grabbing the tendrils of Kraata Creation. The full and complete knowledge of the Taboo filled him and he tried to glean some type of insight into the nuances that were hidden around the edges. He knew Taboos could be tweaked, that nothing was set in stone. But unfortunately, nothing noteworthy was forthcoming in his brief search.

That made sense, he hadn’t actually experimented on anything yet, so he didn’t have much knowledge to work with. He grabbed the Kraata in both hands, pouring the power behind Taboos into it. The Kraata became wrapped in shadow as he pulled it asunder with a quick motion, one becoming two.

As the shadow dissipated, Sorilax’s excitement at his idea faded. He had thought to try to duplicate a Kraata, to truly make life. Instead in his hands were two shriveled, and very dead, Kraata. But he had felt the way the power behind Taboos had accepted his offer. It was willing to let him bend it to his will, to twist into something not quite like before. Or so he hoped. In a way it also felt like it was guiding him, and everything he learned was just a reveal of something he had already known but forgotten. Not everything with Taboos worked, but they were far more fluid than a casual observer might realize.

Nevertheless, a duplicate had been made, but something had gone horribly wrong. He could feel the Kraata Creation Taboo respond to the action, but he wasn’t just sure how exactly. Perhaps the Kraata didn’t have the energy to sustain itself during the process. Maybe if he tried it on someone he had Desecrated?

A hardlight hand scratched at his chin. Yes, that might just do it. He wished he had someone to Desecrate right here and now. Probably a Toa of Ice considering the world in which he now resided. Body insulated against the freezing cold. Main color a pure white. Tall and strong, yet quiet like the snow. Sorilax could almost see the Toa standing before him; he imagined the being so well.

The Toa of Ice spoke in a voice like a bank of snow softly falling into a crisp mountain stream, “Creator?”

 

OOC: Sorilax Far Shore Adventure Part 1

Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

Okay, that's what I figured. Thank you! 

Regarding the Suva system, this is said:

Quote

A registered user of a suva may withdraw an item from a suva using their mind by depositing an equivalent item (mask for mask, etc.) from their person in a suva while within a suva’s regional range of 3 hexes on the world map.

Does the hex with the Suva in it count towards the range of three hexes?

@Unreliable Narrator @Vezok's Friend @Eyru

I would say that I'm excited, except that wouldn't convey how excited I actually am.

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whira, Tekmo

 

Cravious was glad Whira at least understood that all things came with a price. Nothing was free. Everything had a cost. If something seemed free, you were simply mistaken. Deluded by your own self.

News of even more Toa was interesting, though. Perhaps they had been in that giant head that had crashed? Hadn’t Clash said the Gudunka had mentioned something similar? He couldn’t quite remember, he had been very busy lately.

Actually, he had been busy creating Kanoka. Despite being legally bound not to sell any to Skakdi and Aspects, that didn’t translate to Toa. Perhaps he could make some money off of these Toa if they ever were found.

Although why would he assume these Toa would even have the same currency as the Skakdi from Zakaz. No, that was absurd. He would probably have to settle for trading.

He kept his mouth shut, however. This could very well be an Aspect that only looked like a Toa. Many did. He did grin, however, very savagely, though it would be rather normal looking to another Skakdi.
 

OOC: @~Xemnas~ @Toru Nui

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whira, Tekmo

 

The journey to leave Irnakk’s Tooth had been both easier than going in and also super crazy hard. Once they had successfully exited, Cravious knew he never wanted to set foot there again if he could help it. Irnakk was too near, too real there. The god lingered close, never revealed yet always behind you with a heavy presence. Cravious had a few sleepless nights after that.

But as Whira filled him in on the Taboo and what would be required of him, his mind turned back to his purpose in life. Well, not widgets. His second purpose in life. Creating things. Modifying things. He spent a month teaching himself how to create merged Kanoka and further refined and honed his mask making technique. Now he was able to make a Kanohi perfectly almost every time. Once he made Whira her mask of Shadows, he wouldn’t be at fault if the process failed in any way.

After Whira directed them south, Cravious looked on in awe as the island had seemed to have deteriorated in a way that no Skakdi warband could ever cause on their own. Suddenly he doubted if Uraborask would ever return to him. To remain safe, they lowered the Cube into the water, instead of trying to navigate through the Fau Swamp, and cruised to what turned out to be the Kumu Peninsula, not the Kumu Islets. That was also a very concerning discovery, but one that could potentially be good for business. More Aspects with access to the mainland meant more Aspect bodies to build.

Testing Kanoka became much harder once they got to sea, but he had spent enough time testing the merged Kanoka to realize that while the effects were much more powerful, they were now only temporary. And the more you merged discs, the stronger the effects were, but so too were the effects even more temporary. 

Two mergings were of particular interest to him. One made things float, and the other that increased a thing’s weight. Visions of a flying Cube danced in his head, but he didn’t have time to set any plans in motion, nor even to make any detailed plans. They remained in his head for now.

His focus instead was on Whira and practicing for making the mask of Shadows. Well, kind of, he couldn’t help but work on his other projects. Like making ACRs, Aspect bodies, weapons, vehicles, and… okay the word “focus” was hard to define for him. He mostly worked on refining his mask making techniques, where “mostly” meant an amount of time more than everything else combined, but some days just barely.

The day after Irnakk’s Tooth, Cravious had confided in Sagacious and Preceptor about what the future might hold, and what he needed to find and do. A willing giver of their life was hard to come by, especially in the world they lived. Sagacious had said she would work on it. Preceptor seemed sad, which had confused Cravious, as he had never seen a Skakdi sad. Angry, yes. Furious, of course. But sad? It was weird.

One day while they were sailing south, Cravious had noted a crashed boat on the shore with his Vision Powers. Investigating, they found several Skakdi from the Rig, all dead from various large wounds and impact damage. Irnakk graced Cravious that day, as one of the Skakdi still barely clung to life, though his wounds were too grievous to be able to be healed by any of them. Cravious certainly wasn’t going to pass up a sentient Heartlight and so he had generously allowed the Skakdi to slip into the afterlife by removing it.

He debated long and hard with himself about whether he should use the Heartlight immediately to have Whira Desecrate him for the second time or wait in case a later step of her Grand Wish required it, but ultimately he decided to wait. Maybe it would come in handy later.

Well the month came to a close and they arrived at the Kumu Peninsula. The Gundunka kept confirming the Rig had been destroyed, which meant so had most of Cravious’ businesses. At least his savings were still safe, hidden from all. Cravious still had his future ahead of him. He would keep striving forward and deal with Whira if the time ever came. He had spent a good amount of time since meeting her conceiving of ways to trap her.

Cravious kept the Cube and his minions out of sight of the Aspects and Whira and he set out in search of some purified energized protodermis. Whatever that actually was.

Looking at the bleak surrounding of black rock and intimidation in the form of old bastions, he finally decided to have Whira Desecrate him the second time. Well, until a Toa showed up, that is. Which, well, one, that was surprising that the Toa wasn’t hiding, and two, that was surprising because so far, Whira and he had only seen other Aspects in this place.

The Toa was green and blue, which, if Toa were like Skakdi, and Cravious had no reason to doubt that they were, then this being was a Toa of the Green. Good protection against his Zamor Spheres, but weak against his Seismic Pickaxe. Well, what wasn’t weak against his Seismic Pickaxe?

The tools and weapons the Toa carried appeared mechanical in nature, with a shield whose edge looked like it came to a point. Which, that certainly wasn’t normal. Perhaps the edge of the shield had been sharpened into a weapon in its own right. Cravious could respect that.

Cravious’ weapons, which he had nary put away in this place, were in his hands, but remained lowered. He didn’t like having to rely on his weapons, preferring his fists, but Aspects were too tricky.

The Toa couldn’t hide from him either, since he was able to at least sense where the Toa’s mind was. Soon enough he would start being able to read minds with his Kraata. Whira just needed to get stronger.

As the Toa approached, Cravious remembered just how small Toa were. This one in particular. Cravious was already half a head taller than most other Skakdi, and Skakdi were much taller than Toa. But this Toa seemed even shorter than most Toa he had seen. Okay, the few Toa he had seen.

Cravious’ mind raced with opportunity, though. Toa were far more morally upright than Skakdi and Aspects. Perhaps he could make some kind of deal here. No idea what that deal might be, but still, opportunity abounded. Though he kept his mouth shut, as he had done since Whira and he had come to this place. There was no need to anger an Aspect out of ignorance. When they came to him to buy bodies, he held all the power. But out here, exposed on the jagged obsidian, he was just another morsel to the Aspects. Some plaything of Whira’s.

Whira could handle all the interactions. He was content to let her take all the heat of mistakes.
 

OOC: @~Xemnas~ @Toru Nui

Here at last. Time to get started with SK:A!

People on the SK Discord keep mentioning that Kini-Nui is now a source of pure EP. But the EP was coming from the Kaita mechs, and stopped when their pilots got in them, correct? That would mean there is no constant supply of pure EP at Kini-Nui. I especially think this because I don't see it mentioned in Kini-Nui's location data.

@Unreliable Narrator @Vezok's Friend @Eyru

1 hour ago, Unreliable Narrator said:

Sorilax, Viltia, and Cravious approved.  As a note, please explain how "detail oriented" is a flaw in the profile. Being "detail oriented" is a term often used on resumes as a strength in many industries. 

Additionally, does Cravious have fully mechanical hands? The only mention I noted was the replacement prosthetics for detailed work. 

For your MCs with vision powers, please provide a link or a description of what the vision power does. Please also explain what the kraata power does, or provide a link. It's very helpful, since I cannot remember what spellbinder vision does, or if it's even canon or custom. Their profiles are not approved until these changes are made. 

It's not a requirement to provide a profile for your settlement, as settlements are often amorphous in some details between posts, but it's nice to have a place to see all the details you prefer having represented. 

 

Updated Profiles to upgrade "Detailed oriented" into an actual flaw. Added link to Skakdi Vision powers. Added Kraata power descriptions to each Skakdi-Xa.

For Cravious, he's a normal Bionicle. He knows what to do to undo his natural hands to have them slip off like gloves from his organic protodermis muscle, then attach the smaller hands (I would say pop on, but unfortunately the toys aren't the canon bodies in that regard). I really like to push the mechanical nature of Bionicles with him, so he's all about himself and others being machines first and foremost, being able to repair things that others might call "healing" or create "prosthetics" that use the organic protodermis muscle like normal limbs. He could take apart his legs and rebuild them, having them still be his "natural" legs. He has not added any enhancements to himself in this way, however. I'm not looking to go down that road with him.

I added Le-Metru Nuva as a reference for myself and others. It's easier to see it here in the profiles topic than in my Google documents.

Yeah, I can see how others might think that way. For me, the new ruling restricts, as Cravious had tentative plans of betraying Whira, but now he'll be compelled to help her do all of her Grand Wish steps, and once he's free of the compulsion, she'll be too powerful to overthrow. Not that I care too much, OOC I wanted Whira to accomplish her Grand Wish.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

Kughii asked me to post this here:

 

Compiled here are my thoughts on how to classify and further expand on canon elemental powers. In doing so we might create deeper and more complex characters just through elemental control alone.

Elemental Energy and Conversion Rate

Within certain beings lies Elemental Energy. This is a power source that can be expended and regained. Each being has the same amount, and it will recharge on its own over time if expended. If expended, it manifests in the world as the type of element that the being using it is affiliated to. These manifestations come in four major forms.

A being does not use Elemental Energy so much as they release and then control it. In this release lies the Conversion Rate. Each manifestation requires a certain amount of Elemental Energy to be released. This is the bare minimum. However, this is a trained skill, and one can spend as much Elemental Energy on an action as they desire, causing the result to grow stronger if one is trained, or to deform or lose excess Elemental Energy if they are not trained.

For example, one can spend 5% of their Elemental Energy to create a burst of flames, but if they have trained their Conversion rate, they might be able to use 2% of their Elemental Energy to perform the exact same action with the exact same result, thereby someone trained seemingly able to have more Elemental Energy than others, despite that only being a misunderstanding.

Four Forms of Manifestation

Elements manifesting can come in four forms. Generally, a being is not as skilled in one form as they are in another. One might be learned easily, while another might be far harder to understand and use. Once skilled enough, one might be able to combine forms, or use multiple forms at once.

The farther away one does these forms, the more Element Energy that is required to accomplish them. The more precise the manifestation, the more Elemental Energy that is required to perform it.

Create

To Create is to summon your element from nothing but your released Elemental Energy, manifesting your element according to your will where there once was nothing. This might be done by manifesting things that already exist, but creative beings with enough practice can create whatever they wish within the bounds of their element.

For example, one can create a stone chair or a gemstone, like ones they’ve found underground. But one skilled in creativity and well practiced in Creating can manifest a gemstone chair with intricate patterns.

To Create uses the most Elemental Energy to accomplish out of the four forms.

Control

To Control is to take your element already existing in the world and have it obey your commands, jumping to life to accomplish what you commanded it to do. This is the simplest form to use. If used to cause your element to float and then move, it becomes harder to focus on and uses more Elemental Energy.

If trained well enough, one can hold their element in static floating positions or positions that negate Gravity with little active thought to the holding action and lesser Elemental Energy expenditure than moving around one’s element.

To Control uses a moderate amount of Elemental Energy to accomplish out of the four forms.

Observe

To Observe is to use your element as a type of “sixth” sense. To “see” the world directly through how your element exists in it. This is always on at a low level in a small area around the being and is almost instinctual. If focused on, the odd way of “seeing” things might be overwhelming or nonsensical to the user. This can also be done inversely as well, “seeing” where your element isn’t, though that technique is even harder to understand when used.

Generally most beings don’t train this form.

An example of inverse Observing is a being of Air sensing all the air around them, seeing where the air isn’t to try to see where an invisible opponent might be.

To Observe uses the least amount of Elemental Energy to accomplish out of the four forms.

Absorb

To Absorb is to remove your element from the world. Your element, once there, disappears. In turn, this refills your Elemental Energy, though at a reduced Conversion Rate compared to expending it.

To Absorb returns Elemental Energy, being the only one to do so out of the four forms.
 

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Note: whenever an aspect completes their milestone and increases their powers, the desecrated follower's kraata grows to the next stage as well.

That's all I can find that might relate to what you said. But that just sounds like the Kraata Creation Taboo, where they are Stage 1 and only level up upon completing a Grand Wish step, not being adjusted to their Aspects level.

I could be missing it, but I can't find it.

Another thing for Desecration. Last game, the Desecrated had to complete a wish of the Aspect's choosing, potentially unrelated to the Aspect's Grand Wish. This game, the Desecrated is only compelled to help the Aspect complete their Grand Wish. If that is the case, should we ignore the wishes made last game? Or do they still hold true?