Kal the Guardian

IC / Day Run / Arena Control Room:Swerv glanced at Eryn’s now disabled body and said, “I have something better than that, but first, can’t we cut off the signal controlling the nano-bots? Something tells me you didn’t manufacture them to act independently, so they still need the virus to control them from a central station. Cut off all the frequencies that the nano-bots are using and then they should deactivate and we can have more time to find the virus.”Coming up to the computer Ehjoras was at, Swerv asked, “Make sense? Do they work that way?”

ARENA OF HONOUROk, first off, I am impressed by the banner. Very nice. Did you do that yourself?Secondly, everything is in quote boxes. I find this original and fresh, mostly due to the fact that everything is "quoted" and it actually makes sense for your story.Now, the story. So you're basically being asked to some sort of tournament of this Akolhinii. You also aren't forced to participate, I like this, it gives characters more freedom, which is always a good thing. This letter didn't really grab me, but maybe that's because I had no idea what Akolhinii was my first time reading through.The map is nicely done while still being basic enough and simple to read. The locations are described by their functions, not how they actually look. What does Certamine Urbem look like? Is it high tech? Does it look like Metru Nui but compacted and built more vertically? The descriptions satisfied me the first time through, but for this review I would like at least a little more detail in the locations.Akolhinii; you do very nicely in describing exactly what it is and how it is played. I enjoyed there being several types of staffs for use. The rules fit perfectly in with the flow.Now, what is this committee thing? I don't quite understand that. Are you saying players will be able to fill the open slots?Teams are tiny but functional.The profiles are simplified and feel like they fit in with the RPG. Same thing going for the Team Profiles. Although for those, do the teams get to choose a color (or colors) and a symbol for their team? You know, adding some customization.Overall, this RPG flows well and appears well thought out. It's a tournament, and what can I say, I love tournaments! Although this one does not have you fighting more so as it has you competing. I'm not sure how I feel about how people might try to play the sport. But what do I know? Just because it's something I have not experienced before does not mean I should disapprove. And what I'm saying there is that to me personally, I don't find the main pull of this RPG (Akolhinii) to be appealing enough for me to vote for it.Otherwise, this is a great RPG, good luck in the contest!

IC / Day Run / Arena Control Room: Swerv reached the top of the stairs, still at a run. He ran down the short hallway and barely turned as he used his foot to bounce himself off the doorframe and jump in the opposite direction, allowing him to keep his speed without slowing down to turn fully. The robot landed lightly on one of the damaged consoles and immediately paused in mid crouch. What. Was. That?Without needing to turn his head due to his unique field of vision, Swerv saw Ehjoras and what he assumed was another of Eryn’s bodies. He assumed this because the Pha-Matoran was yelling the robot’s name as he unplugged several cables. With his enhanced reflexes still running at maximum, Swerv took this in all within a few seconds, even as he flew into the room. Immediately, he asked, “Is it the nano-bots?”

Twilight Run? Ah, you mean a tournament focused around Takanuva!I'm calling it now, it'll be third in this contest.

IC / Day Run / The Arena: Swerv burst through the doors into the Arena and immediately headed towards the stairs, since the elevator seemed to be fried. At least, the lack of glowing keys on the control pad made it seem that way. On his way up, he past almost all the engineers he had seen earlier, but Ehjoras wasn’t with them. Shutting down several non-necessary systems to free up needed computing space, the Robot put everything extra into his enhanced reflexes. Now he was able to run up the stairs without worrying about taking a misstep or running into more engineers and he didn’t even need to consciously think of it. Strange how there were no guards around, though.

Despite looking forward to this, it still managed to sneak up on me. Considering how everyone told me to reenter Dreamland again, I shall be doing just that...After I fix up what I posted last contest, that is.

IC / Day Run / Almost with Kerid and Eyrn:Swerv had begun to walk back to the Arena to see the end of the match when he heard the unencrypted announcement from Ehjoras. The robot always was scanning the unencrypted radio or wireless channels around him, and if Agony, Swerv’s almost half AI that ran some of his systems, deemed a communication important, he would inform Swerv.Looking at the Arena, he saw Kerid and Eyrn suddenly surge ahead towards it as they must have heard the news as well. He needed to go help Ehjoras with whatever was wrong. What a perfect time for Draxion to hit the sack. Swerv shook his head and began to run.IC / Day Run / The Infirmary:Waiter nodded to the nurse, “Thanks. And you might want to turn off a few lights, you’re electrical generator is about to overload.”Heading outside, Vronx noted that everyone was leaving the Arena, so the match must have ended. Jogging to the Garage, he found a guard that was able to help him locate the small airship. Making sure the bodies were in the back, Waiter began his own inspection of the ship.Everything seemed in order, at least to his eye. The repulsors for ground travel were ready to be changed out but wouldn’t be a problem. Flicking on the power, the Toa checked all the gauges and wiped off some grime that was over the height indicator.Grabbing the controls, Waiter eased the airship out of the Garage and started south, almost southeast, taking the airship into a few gentle maneuvers to see how it handled. With this ship, he would be at the Guild in no time.

IC / Day Run / Just Outside the Grounds:Draxion frowned as the Wheel pulled away and Swerv came to stand beside him. “Something’s bothering him,” he said, commenting on how Elithes had just brushed him off.“Well,” Swerv said, “He might lose Illuxio. And his home island.“But hey!” Swerv tapped Draxion’s shoulder, “Vronx was here! He’s back!”Draxion squinted his eyes, “You mean that Waiter guy? I thought he looked familiar. That’s awesome!”Grinning, Draxion looked around, “Well, where did he go?”Shrugging, Swerv sighed, “I was lost in thought and didn’t see where he went. Although he did tell me, ‘later’. So I’m sure we’ll be seeing him.”Draxion nodded his head and stared off at the sun lowering itself behind the nearby mountains, “Well, it’s getting late, and I’m still tired from that match, so I’ll be heading off to the Lounge. I’ll see you in the morning.Swerv nodded his acknowledgement and the Rahkshi headed off to bed.IC / Victus Dead / Planning:Older Brother pulled out a PDA from his cloak and began to sort through the lists he had compiled when Klemborve Labs had still stood. It was full of other labs and business competitors along with all of their items from over a year before. He was looking for silence generators, like he had told Zanth. Once he had acquired those, then he would deal with actually making it to Lyxek and avoiding his bodyguards.IC / Day Run / The Infirmary:Waiter entered the Infirmary, nodded to Alan, and then headed over to the nurse he had spoken to before. After several seconds, she finished up what she was working on and Waiter asked, “Do you have the transportation ready?"

IC / Day Run / The Cave of Discovery:Swerv was still in a state of shock. His brother had been here almost the whole time. But he had heard that Vronx was traveling with Sevarinous. Where was that sandy kid? Swerv didn’t really care. Vronx, his closest brother, was back!Joy was an understatement. This was the Toa who Swerv had traveled with for half of his life, as a Toa, or at least when Swerv was still a Toa, and not some gem or mist, or robot. They had left their home island together. Or that’s how Swerv faintly remembered it.The robot began to reminisce so much that he missed the end of the meeting. Most everyone had seemed to have left already. Replaying the last few minutes of audio and video, Swerv was able to learn what had happened. Nodding to himself, he turned and headed out of the cave, where he saw Draxion talking to Elithes.IC / Day Run / The Group Cave:Forgetting Waiter’s familiarity, Draxion jogged out of the cave to catch up with Elithes. He almost ran over the Matoran, who had not gone far. After apologizing for his long legs, Draxion asked, “Are you sure my, I mean, Jaeda’s mask is going to be safe here?”Draxion rolled his eyes, “Never mind that question, this is you we’re talking about. Instead, why didn’t you ask me first? It’s still mine to an extent.”IC / Victus Dead / Talking with Zanth:“Well, I guess we will find out whether we want to or not,” Brother looked out the window at the setting sun that glowed red as it was about to drop over the horizon. Blinking a few times, he continued, “Well, if the Director is an AI, then that is not my area of expertise. If anything, I should go after Lyxek. Hopefully I can kick one leg out from under Dalmia, if he is the grand master behind all of this. I know where to acquire some silence generators that are small but powerful, so that’s what I’ll be doing if you should think to look for me.“Other than that, is there anything else to say before we end our very informative meeting?”IC / Day Run / Leaving the Cave:Waiter accepted the Crest and adhered it to his lower chest armor. It glowed for a second, and then copied the swirling armor style it was attached to, becoming almost invisible to the eye. He glanced at Syrifar, who looked to be thinking, even if he was a robot, and said, “Later.”After that, he left the cave and headed for the Infirmary.

IC / Victus Dead / Talking with Zanth:“Wait,” Brother said as he frowned and then asked, “Are you saying that Rhashahk is the mechanical Heart? These two Heart pieces seem to me to be the easier objects to destroy instead of a God.”IC / Day Run / THE Cave Where It’s Cool To Hang Out:“I’ll continue to watch things around the KNPD HQ. If I can get one of these Team Crests, then I could inform all of you, very easily, of their movements. Or do they not connect to other Crests like that?” Waiter asked from beside Elithes.

IC / Day Run / THE Cave:Swerv remained mostly quiet as they entered the cave and Alan brought everyone up to speed. He was about to say something when a vision of Swerv’s past stepped forward. It was VRONX! His brother! He hadn’t seen him since his shattering and becoming Agony. He was left speechless as Vronx addressed Alan.IC / Day Run / THE Cave:Draxion gave Elithes a strange look as the Matoran handed the Rahkshi’s mask over to Kerid. Not that he minded, but he would have to ask Elithes about it after the meeting. The least Elithes could have done was ask Draxion before moving it again.Shrugging mentally, Draxion focused on what Alan was saying.And then Waiter stepped forward and Draxion frowned. He knew that Toa from somewhere.IC / Victus Dead / Talking with Zanth:Brother nodded his head, “Well, they should be relatively easy compared to the God. Does anyone know the specifics of how Rhashahk was defeated before? That’s something we need to find out.”IC / Day Run / THE Cave:Waiter stepped forward and said, “That’s the plan? Half of the island isn’t even inhabited by the native Ko-Matoran. And the other half is either here working for the Ring or KNPD or only interested in the Day Run. The Ko-Matoran overall just want to be left alone and aren’t in any condition to fight.“What you want to do is start riots at key points so that we can send those who actually care for the island after the Ring and KNPD. And even then they would be distractions for us trained fighters to strike where it hits the hardest.“In my opinion, I don’t think we’re even ready for that. We have a lot more to learn than what you just told us. Mostly about the beings who defend the KNPD and Ring, and who holds what objects of power.“Now is not the time for a revolution that few will join even with the Guild and Day Run’s help. Now is the time to scout out and test defenses. At least, that is my opinion. I’d like to hear what everyone else thinks.”With that, Waiter stepped back, rejoining everyone else. Glancing at Syrifar, he gave the robot a small smile and winked.

Oh. Well ok then.

IC / Day Run / The Garage:Draxion smiled his reptilian grin upon seeing Elithes and said, “Good news first.”IC / Victus Dead / Talking with Zanth:Brother smiled his ferocious grin, “You underestimate me, but I probably underestimate this Garden. Your point stands.”Standing up and having shadows move the table and chairs back into the small kitchen, Brother came over to stand beside Zanth. Folding his arms, he asked, “Now. Weaknesses? For everyone we just discussed. Any ideas or just the obvious?”

Ugh. I would post more, but if you haven't noticed I haven't really had much time for BZPower lately. So much happening! Although it's all good stuff, so I can't complain.

IC / Victus Dead / Talking with Zanth:Brother folded his arms, sat back, and shook his head, “No, I had not heard of it. My primary purpose before today was the technological research aspect of this island. Where is this Garden? Was I right? A pocket dimension or deep underground?”Pausing at the mention of Lurinost and Sanshou, who he actually knew for once, Brother continued, “Well. If that’s the case then you can be happy I found you/you found me, because while my cousins may just have Darkness as a power, I actually control Shadow. And I can search the shadows as well. That’s what I was doing before you came here. I can confirm there is a great power nestled somewhere within the Ring’s mountain. When I searched the KNPD HQ, I felt emptiness. My power was being blocked. That also could be why Dalmia could not have escaped on his own.“So if you take me to this Garden, unless there is some power so ancient and subtle that I can’t detect it, I should be able to either find the power emanating from another piece of the Heart or find a pocket where there is nothing, where my power is being blocked.”IC / Day Run / Outside the Garage:Waiter jumped off of the top of the Garage, deactivated his mask, and walked around the corner of the Garage to stand at the back of the group assembled. Hopefully Syrifar or Draxion would not notice him until it was over.

IC / Victus Dead / Talking with Zanth:Anger rose in Brother. There was Gynel again. He needed to actually look up what happened on that island instead of just putting it off due to important matters like making sure Dalmia didn’t gain ultimate power or raise a God. He had actually been referencing some early prototypes Endless Boundaries had been testing as an area to expand in. It was really just an idea. And now Brother finds that this Jaeda already had that technology. Not letting his anger show or leak through in his voice, Brother leaned forward again.“You said there was more than one part to the Heart before, didn’t you? If Lyxek only has one half and the Director doesn’t have a half or part, then where could it be? Not on this island, nor above. Maybe the Niakar Islets, but unlikely. The only options are some pocket dimension or…” Brother pointed down, “Deep beneath our feet. Maybe we can find some beings who are a twist off group from the one you know about and they can give us more information or lead us to this pocket dimension or whatnot.“If we can acquire a part of the Heart before Dalmia does, if he doesn’t have it already, which I don’t think he does, then perhaps we have a chance at stopping him.”

IC / Victus Dead / Talking with Zanth:Brother shook his head, “No, what I mean is that Dalmia is the reason they have gone missing. Maybe to help him find the Heart or some such object. If we can find them, we can make sure Mr. Rhashahk stays dead.”Brother leaned back, “Or who knows? Maybe Dalmia is not even going to resurrect the God. Maybe Dalmia’s just going to reanimate Rhashahk as an empty body, since his soul is probably long gone, and drain the powers for himself. If I’m correct, I believe there are machines that can do that now if powered properly.”

IC / Day Run / The Garage:Swerv walked around the corner of the Garage to see others already standing there, although he didn’t see Draxion anywhere. “We going to have the meeting here, or are we going someplace more secure?” he asked.IC / Day Run / The Garage:Draxion walked up right after Swerv asked his question. He nodded to Alan as he arrived.IC / Victus Dead / Talking with Zanth:“Yeah,” Brother said, “Forever Alone, as in one that who is always alone. Hopefully soon to be Forever Dead.” The Rahkshi scrunched up his eyes and asked, “You say the last of the group, cult, whatever, went missing a year ago? That’s when everything was set in motion, wasn’t it? Like when the Collector started being seen.”Brother folded his arms on top of the back of the chair as he faced Zanth, “We should really find this group first. And they will lead us to Dalmia.”IC / Day Run / Atop the Garage:Waiter watched as everyone started to arrive as he sat on top of the Garage. Perhaps now was the time to show himself? No. He didn’t see Elithes yet.

IC / Day Run / Practicing Here and There:Swerv spun and thrust his new staff, firing the ice from its tip. The end whirred, clicked like it was stalling, and beeped twice before a red lit appeared. Shrugging, the robot put the staff on his back and looked around. He was surrounded by walls of ice, all in various shapes. He chuckled. The staff worked, that was for certain.The yellow being squeezed between two of the walls and admired his handy work before checking his internal clock. A few minutes to the meeting… It’s time to get moving to the garage.IC / Day Run / Tired Mentally:Draxion sat back in the snow. His head hurt, that was for sure. Closing his eyes, he let the landscape around him return to normal. Snow piles came back into focus and hundreds of individual footprints disappeared. The Fake Illuxio and Fake Gallum winked out of existence and Draxion started to shiver. The cold had finally gotten to him.It was time to get back inside the heated Day Run. And it was probably time to get to the Garage as well. Yup, it was definitely time to get moving. And he was going to, right then and there, after a short rest, of course.After half a minute, the Rahkshi snapped his eyes back open and groaned as he shakily got to his feet. Slowly he trod off and hoped he would feel better in time for the meeting.IC / Victus Dead / Talking with Zanth:Brother took the card in his hand and stared at the name. Gods were not to be trifled with. He had somewhat created a few in his time, and even those somewhat demi-Gods had caused him great misfortune. Then again, one had caused him a great bound in furthering his mission. Nevertheless, one could rarely control, let alone guide Gods unless they themselves were Gods and had other Gods helping them. He turned around in his seat to Zanth at the window and said, “If Dalmia plans on freeing this ‘Forever Alone’ God, then he must either belong to a cult trying to resurrect this Rhashahk, or he has some way of stealing this God’s power or subduing him.“Based on our speculation here, I would say Dalmia is the one to be watched and analyzed most. Or look for him in the daily events of both KNPD and the Ring, as you have probably deducted as well. This Rhashahk obviously had a weakness if he’s already been defeated, but if Dalmia gains control, the beings of Kai-Nam might lose that advantage. How long do you think we have?”IC / Day Run / Near the Garage:The patrolling had done him well. Waiter walked up to Garage ready to reveal himself to everyone, though he knew that was just an overreaction due to the good feeling he still had from the detoxification. Obviously he would still remain hidden, but he would be able to show Elithes and the others who he really was.Just thinking about it made him want to gargle some sea water to clean out the taste of the fresh water he had been drinking lately. He could go for some sea food right about now as well. But that was beside the point.Mask activated, he climbed atop the roof of the Garage and peered down at the meeting point to see if Alan had invited anyone else.

Not a lot of time right now, but I'll try to post my characters getting to the Garage later tonight, hopefully.

IC / Victus Dead / Talking with Zanth:Brother stared at the card on the table. Pieces were fitting together quite nicely in his mind, but now that it seemed that Dalmia was behind it all, his hope for acquiring any sort of power out of this was thrown away. He could deal with Lyxek, and the Director was never really seen and so couldn’t be all that powerful even with his ability, it had seemed when Brother had shadow looked, to negate powers. But Dalmia was a wild card, an unknown. And as anyone in history could tell you, wild cards could turn the tide.After frowning in thought, Brother asked, “Who is this Rhashahk? Almost sounds Rahkshi in origin.”

IC / Victus Dead / Talking with Zanth: Brother held up the Collector’s card for emphasis as he said, “It seems that Dalmia is holding more of the cards than either side realizes. If anything, when the power struggle happens, he will probably be there to take it all out from under Lyxek and the Director. Who knows, an unlikely possibility is that Dalmia is controlling either or both Lyxek and the Director as a distraction so he can pull all the pieces together for himself.” Shrugging and sitting back in his seat, Brother said, “If you have the equipment, you can analyze this card if you want.” The Rahkshi had just given Zanth all the really useful information that he had. Hopefully the being would return the favor; otherwise Brother would have to ask for something in return for his information. Forcefully ask, if need be. He’d rather just join the beings quest for “justice” or whatever it was. As long as he ended up stopping someone from getting immeasurable power and perhaps acquiring a few objects of power of his own, he would be happy.

IC / Victus Dead / Talking to Zanth: Brother frowned. Zanth knowing about the stolen prototype was probably just deductive reasoning. He had no proof. After all, Brother was the only one skilled enough to acquire a prototype, and only Lyxek knew about that. Possibly the Director. Apparently he couldn’t fool Zanth in that area. “The Klemborve scientists and I would like to say that our model came first. Regardless, Dalmia did end up saying some interesting things.” Couer d’Omber, activation keys? Did the souls power something? Brother realized he knew basically nothing. A feeling that he definitely did not like. “Dalmia said that only three to four people knew the secrets of the mist monsters, five if the Director was any good at his job, which I believe he is. He then went on to say that the Director should feel some sort of kinship with the mist, considering who he is. I believe and speculate that they are nano-bots controlled by some AI, and that’s why I told your Matoran friend that the Director may be an AI. But that is just wild speculation on my part. He’s probably something much more sinister than that.”

IC / Victus Dead / Talking to Zanth: “And you may call me Older Brother, whom you probably know of. I had a lab here. Klemborve Labs to be specific.” Brother growled at this and continued, “Did you ever see where the stolen projects went? I know the Coder ended up in Lyxek’s hands, but that monster of a robot grabbed all the other good pro-“ Brother stopped and bowed, “I’m sorry for rambling, Zanth of Team Zero. As long as your friend in the hallway doesn’t interfere, we really should get down to business.” Snapping his fingers, shadows pushed two chairs and a table in from the small side kitchen. After taking a seat, Brother pulled out the Collector’s card and placed it in the middle of the table. “This is one of the Collector’s cards. It is proof that I do have information, but how about you give me a slice of information first? Then we can go back and forth until I am no longer of any use to you and your investigations.” On the inside, Brother sure hoped his charade was working. He had little to no information in his own opinion. Hopefully the things he did know would get him partnered with this Team Zero or at least give Zanth some reason to share information in turn. Anything to stop this power play and not stoop down to calling up the company or asking his scum enemies for help.

IC / Victus Dead / Talking to Zanth:“Yes,” Brother answered, “I do have some information I wish to share, but do come inside first. I can feel someone just standing at the opening of the stairwell. Some being that’s probably trying to eavesdrop on us.”