Crimson Jester

IC: The Cartographer Ko-Metru Hideaway In what seemed like a mere microsecond from the disc impacting the plinth, the entire chamber began humming to a low rumble, shaking free a layer of snow from the roof and walls which fell and coated the chamber and everything in it in a fine white powder. As the rumbling grew, the floor trembled, and the plinth began to grow in front of the Cartographer's eyes. It crumbled and creaked, and the chamber felt as though it would rattle itself completely apart as the plinth pushed upward toward the door. The Cartographer had to dig his ice picks into the wall to maintain his footing, lest the chamber rattle him completely out of the building. He hoped that the Alpinist was faring better on the plinth's platform. The Alpinist had quickly ended up on his stomach, digging his picks and spikes into the plinth to keep from being thrown off and ending up like the dead Matoran at the floor of the chamber. He opened one eye quickly to see if he was still where he thought, and saw that the floor was pushing away from him at an alarming rate. He gripped the plinth tighter, desperate to stay on, although his inner adventurer was wholly enjoying this plinth-ride. As swiftly as it began, the whole room suddenly froze again, and went silent. The Cartographer pried his picks from the wall, found his center of balance again, and looked up. The plinth has become an obelisk, a mighty hulking tower of ice that dominated the entire room. He could barely even make out the top and the doorway anymore, and could barely hear the telltale scraping sounds of the Alpinist moving around above. "Are you alright!?" The Cartographer called out, his voice ringing with a different echo than before. The plinth had grown so large that it had drastically changed the acoustic properties of the room. "Yep!" The Alpinist shouted back, a cheeky excitement consuming his voice. Before he could respond to the Cartographer again, he had to find out what would happen after the next phase. The Matoran quickly reached for his launcher, already loaded with the weaken disc. He turned to the door, and fired. The door groaned and shuddered, and the thick coating of ice that encased the door began to wind back as tendril-fingers releasing the door from it's eternal clutches. The Alpinist turned back, returning his launcher to its home. From his pack he retrieved a length of climbing rope, and one of his sturdiest anchors. Driving it deep into the surface of the plinth-obelisk, he threw the connected rope down to the chamber floor below. "Thanks!" The Cartographer shouted, now grasping for the rope in front of him. Before ascending, he looked upward to the door again, his mind in a state of marvel at the now-uncovered door. It looked pristine, almost flawless, as though the ice had shielded from the wear and tear of a thousand generations. The excitement was almost too much to contain now; although he knew not if this door would be the end of the puzzle, nor contained the prize he sought. Regardless, it was time to find out. With the rope firmly in hand, he clambered the plinth until he was face-to-face with the massive, ancient door. "Well, I suppose we should find out what's behind this, hey? We've been here long enough," the excitement in the Cartographer's voice was slightly stifled by the revelation of how long they'd been inside this tower. The Alpinist nodded in agreement, and the two Matoran reached out, pushing the door with all their might. And much to their surprise, the door gave, and began to open... IC: Fa'amatai Silver Sea Beach Assault By the time Fa'amatai had reached the third crater hole, his brain had begun to become accustomed to the calamitous music of war: the deafing basslines of the bombs, the sharp-cutting whiz of lightstone rounds like haunting strings, the screams a chorus in a most twisted tongue. Fa'amatai had begun to feel the rhythm of war, and was now beginning to understand how to sway to the dance. His rifle sang from the foxhole like a bird of prey, flying out and snatching the lives of the beach defenders as though they were a lunchtime snack. Like clockwork, he drew sights, fired, loaded a round, and through and through again. It was a strange feeling to feel so in-tune with something so vile and destructive, but the will to survive and succeed made the all-out combat almost addicting. He breathed deeply between shots, letting the effervesence of war fill his nostrils like the sweetest of poisons. He fired again, his round finding it's mark. He dropped back behind the safety of his crater, and sat down for a breath. How the Toa had ended up in this place seemed like such a far-off tale at this point. He knew when we was first told of the operation that he wanted to be one of the first on the ground, the first to see what effigies of the past could be buried on this remote island; but at that time he did not ever think this was how it would be. It seemed that at one point, Fa'amatai was a historian, but now, on the battlefield, he had become a soldier, a warrior. The Fa'amatai who landed on this beach would never return home. OOC: @Unreliable Narrator ready to find out what's behind the door.

IC: The Cartographer Ko-Metru Hideaway This situation could have went exactly zero other ways, and yet somehow, the Cartographer still failed to see it, even as his finger squeezed the trigger of his Kanoka launcher. The Abomination of Karzahni seemed to collapse into death as quickly as it rose. The chamber was coated in the sickly effervescence of death that once draped his mangled torso and ran through his abominable hybrid veins. Although it had been moments since redeath, the horrible shrieks that expelled from it's jagged maw still seemed to echo through the chamber, shaking their brains within their skulls. The Cartographer still lay flat on his back on the chamber floor, in a trance of horror and disbelief. "...but don't do that again." Suddenly, the Alpinist's voice cut into the silence, dragging the Cartographer back to reality. He arose slowly, and began to lean on his arms to stand. It was only then he noticed the distinctly claw-shaped acid burn on his right forearm, deep and clear. He knew immediately that he would bear this scar for the rest of his days; a reminder of a short, albeit gruesome mistake. He groaned at the sharp pain of the acid burn, and pushed himself to his feet. Two discs left to try. Enlarge, weaken. The Cartographer studied the room again, as he had done a maddening amount of times before, in an attempt to see what he was missing; but still, no more appeared. Perhaps that was the root of the issue. The Cartographer and the Alpinist had both spent their time here looking for hidden clues yet unseen, instead of focusing on the ones right in front of them: the plinth, the discs, and the floating door. He approached the plinth again, but instead of examining it again, he looked up. Just as suspected. "Hey, come here!" The Cartographer exclaimed, a strange excitement in his voice despite just having an encounter with Karz itself. "Look, this plinth is directly below the door. I don't know how we missed it before, but it seems so obvious now!" The Alpinist approached and looked up himself, rubbing his chin and nodding in agreeance. "Here, take this weaken disc. I don't know where it fits in yet," The Cartographer motioned to the top of the plinth. "I'm gonna need you to trust me here. Get onto the plinth, I'll fire the enlarge disc at it. That should get you up to the door, anyway. You can toss me a rope when you get there." With a slight hesitation, the Alpinist took the weaken disc, and clambered onto the plinth. He looked back at the Cartographer, with a look that said you'd better not try anything stupid, like last time. The Cartographer swallowed his unease, loaded the enlarge disc, and pointed it at the plinth. He squeezed the trigger... OOC: @Unreliable Narrator @EmperorWhenua

IC: The Cartographer Ko-Metru Hideaway "Let's see what I've got packed in here," the Cartographer began violently ripping through his bag, until 3 Kanoka flew out, landing on the floor beside them. He retrieved the three, then began to shuffle them in his hands like giant playing cards. "I've got... one Weaken! One Enlargement, and... that's it." The Cartographer sighed, and handed the discs to the Alpinist. Sure, the discs covered all the bases, but the two Matoran didn't even know what to use them on. He furrowed his brow again, staring around the room as if the next clue would just pop out at the pair and show them the way. Frustrated, the Cartographer pushed the entirety of his analysis out of his brain, leaving his mind as empty as the room in which they found themselves. On a whim, the Cartographer reached down and picked up the dead Matoran's reconstitution disc, and loaded it into his launcher. "Hey, check this out!" He raised his weapon, aiming at the lifeless mush of a corpse on the floor. His eyes met the Alpinist, and before he had a chance to open his mouth, the Cartographer fired the disc directly at the corpse... IC: Fa'amatai Silver Sea Beach Assault It had been at most 10 minutes since Fa'amatai had dropped out of the sky and onto this little slice of Karz he now found himself in. From above, the sight was beautiful, unlike any he had ever seen before; the glistening seas of protodermis lapping gently against the glassy sand beach that lined this island in the middle of nowhere, a strange, mysterious land that felt completely alien, despite it's proximity to Metru Nui. As soon as his impact compensators had absorbed the impact of the descent, however, the scene turned on its head, becoming a snapshot of war that was so real, that it was almost more unbelievable than the old war tales the Turaga had told him back at the Knowledge Towers, in his youthful days as a Cartographer. Now, as slug rounds whizzed past his head, bombs turned chunks of beach into the maws of Karz, and his colleagues were torn apart and decimated into unrecognizable shapes, the Toa had never felt further from his home, and from his quiet life of study and exploration. He had always known it to be his destiny to preserve the culture and history of Metru Nui, but he never thought this would be how he did it. Suddenly, his mind snapped back to reality, violently ripped from its trance by the cacaphony of blood-curdling screams and whallops of bomb impacts. He felt the weight of the lightstone rifle in his hands like never before, as though it were made of the weight of the world itself. Fa'amatai ducked into a hole created by a prior explosion, and sat himself down next to the corpse of a fallen brother. Ironic that this should be the safest place to be right now. He raised his lightstone rifle to his shoulder, checking again that it was loaded and primed, before leaning it on the edge of the hole, centering his left eye in the sights. The rifle seemed to move on its own in his hands, quickly snapping to a target. The Toa squeezed the trigger quickly, trying to finish the task before his mind could process what was happening at the other end of that fatal beam of light. BOOM. The ground shuddered around him, as though the very planet was reeling in pain from the bombs and bullets and death. The lightstone rifle fell from Fa'amatai's hands in the chaos. Quickly grabbing it, the Toa pushed himself upward and forward with all his might, towards the next safe position... OOC: @EmperorWhenua If anyone beachside wants to interact with Fa'amatai, be my guest! Didn't approach anyone as I'm not entirely sure where everyone is.

Name: Fa'amatai Species: Toa Faction: Metru Nui Brief Description: Fa'amatai is of average height, with a custom, highly streamlined set of Toa armor. Mostly a gleaming white, his armor is broken up with bits of black and portions of Ko-Metru blue. His mask is carved similarly to a Pakari, albeit with a more streamlined, humanoid skull-like shape, from which two ice blue eyes pierce through. Background/Occupation: As a former KO-Metru Cartographer, upon his ascent, Fa'amatai became the head of the Cartography Department, as well as defacto Guardian of the Histories. Fa'amatai has always had a great passion for the histories and traditions of Metru Nui, and has always positioned himself to maintain and protect it. As a Cartographer, he developed a reputation for his resourcefulness, combat prowess, and ability to remain calm in the most dire of situations. He has worked in nearly every role in the Department, and has mentored nearly every currently existing Cartographer, including his brother. When the chance to recover territory in the Silver Sea came, Fa'atamai leapt at the opportunity to be the first Cartographer on site, should there be any historical significance. Flaws: Fa'atamai, although heavily experienced in high-intensity physical situations and single-handed combat, is not experienced with full-scale warfare. His calm demeanor and experience with small-scale combat may result in an inability to manage multiple combat scenarios simultaneously. Powers: Fa'atamai bears a Kanohi Calix, greatly enhancing his agility and dexterity. His elemental power is gravity, allowing him to further enhance his natural abilities, as well as create gravity traps and perform limited flight. Fa'amatai is now deceased.

IC: The Cartographer Ko-Metru Hideaway No amount of filtering within the Cartographer's mask could keep out the sickly smell of death from him. Although this was far from the first corpse the Matoran had encountered in his travels, it was infinitely worse. His usual run-ins with corpses involved significantly older, unidentifiable remains; not enough tied them to their mortal coil to connect on an emotional level. But this corpse, it was recent. His armor still bore the gleam of a young Matoran, ready to carve his path into the Wastes of Ko-Metru. This corpse could just have easily been him. The Cartographer shook his head, as if the motion would physically dispel the feelings of discontent from his brain, though he knew it would not. Instead, he forced them back into the deepest crevasses, as was the Ko-Matoran way. His fears and anxiety slid back, allowing the streams of logic and reason to flow through his mind. He looked down at the disc he had removed fro the corpse again. Ko-Metruvian. Level five reconstitution disc. Something didn't add up. "This disc. It's local, reconstitution." He turned it in his hand, studying every inch, as though he expected more information on it. "It was on his body, which means he either had time to use it and recover it, or he didn't use it at all. For all intents and purposes, let's assume he did: did he use it on himself, or something in this room?" The sound of the wind howling through the small channels in the wall reached the Cartographer's ears yet again, wrenching his conscious mind away from the disc. "And what's the deal with those? They don't look accidental. Could we use that to our advantage?" OOC: @EmperorWhenua

If someone is good with digital art and can restore these, that would be amazing.

I'm still constantly digging to try to find any vestiges of the classic BZPRPG. Here's today's find, some tongue-in-cheek banners we made over a decade ago! Apologies for quality/watermarking.

4/5 Whoa, likewise! Always refreshing to see some familiar names around here! The art looks incredible as usual!

Visited the flea market on Sunday, managed to find a couple cool little retired pieces, including a couple Star Wars polys I needed for my collection! Overall, spend $65 Canadian; I think I did pretty well!

IC: The Cartographer Ko-Metru Hideaway "Nope." The Cartographer rolled his eyes. "And unless whatever it is decides to surprise us while we're in here, I suppose we'll never know." The Cartographer turned his attention again to the puzzle, the Matoran corpse now out of his mind. His gaze wandered upward, and set upon the strange door that seemed to float in midair, frame and all, directly over the chamber. His brow furrowed, and he rapped his finger against the chin of his mask in frustration. Again his eyes darted to the plinth, and back once more to the door. "Can't say I've ever seen something like that either. We've got to get up there somehow," he pointed again to the plinth, and the graffiti of the towers within a circle. "What do you make of that door? I know you've been thinking of routes in your head; got a way up there?" OOC: @EmperorWhenua

Aaron! I expressed my excitement to you previously, just want to reiterate how stoked I am haha. You've got support in Canada!

I'm going to run on the assumption that LEGO already has designs for all three of these, and is essentially just letting us choose release order. In that case, my first pick would be the Gunship. Not only my favorite SW vehicle, the Dropship and AT-OT is still my most desired set, so any chance of maybe getting something similar gets me way too excited. Second for me would be the TIE Bomber (unpopular opinion, I know). I really loved the execution of the UCS TIE Fighter, and consider it as one of my favorites. I really think the TIE Bomber would looks absolutely beautiful at UCS scale. Third for me is the Nebulon, but I've just never been a huge fan of that ship design, nor any LEGO design of it. I'll probably still buy it because I'm a completionist, but meh.

IC: The Cartographer Ko-Metru Hideaway The Cartographer dimmed his headlamp as the Aplinist approached he and the plinth, allowing his new friend to make out his features now, as well as allowing the Cartographer a better opportunity to observe and understand the puzzle laid before the two Matoran. His scuffed, off-white handplate could be seen now, stretching out from the seeming impossible darkness towards the face of the plinth. With a gentle brushing motion, the light dusting of protodermic snow scattered into the atmosphere of the chamber, revealing a phrase scored deep into it's surface. The etching was clean, with toolmarks consistent with that of other forebearer toolwork he'd seen before. Authentic, no doubt. "In unity, wisdom," the Cartographer repeated aloud, pointing a finger down to the inscription. The mouth of his mask curled into a sickly sly grin, and his hand moved to point at the pile of armor the Alpinist had inquired about. "I suppose he only had half the wisdom necessary, by the looks of it." Years spent digging through delosate caverns, abandoned fortresses, and temples whose purpose had long been lost to time had imbued a strange sense of humor in the Cartographer; even stranger than that which the Ko-Metruvians were already known for. But the Cartographer had also become a keen observer through his travels, and his snide remarks were often not more than a comedic refraction of practical observances. "There's some graffiti here as well, looks a lot more recent than the inscription, if my experience serves me. Come, look; there's 3 towers here, and these numbers. Don't really know how it all ties together, or why those numbers are crossed out, but it's a start." The Cartographer stepped away from the plinth, and toward the dead Matoran in the room. If he had been here too, perhaps he had part of the puzzle solved already. He took another step forward, but paused when his foot failed to create the usual crunch of proto-snow under foot, and instead a soft, organic squish. His eyes widened. Droppings of some kind. Here? This deep in the Wastes? The Cartographer could barely think of any Rahi sightings this far out, let alone in this frigid chamber. He motioned to the Aplinist. "What do you make of this?" OOC: @EmperorWhenua

I just want to say thanks and congrats to you, @Unreliable Narrator! You've put together something really special here, and it shows in the success you've had, especially considering the fact that it's 2020 and we're on an old-style web forum for a dead toy line haha. I've got to hand it to you, I think I speak to everyone here when I say you've found a way to create something fresh, exciting, and engaging. I've tried several times in the past 5 years to get back into RPing in the BZPRPG, but my interest waned as the pace crawled. So again, congrats, and thanks for giving me a fun outlet for my creativity and a great reason to stay around BZP for good this time.

Right?! How irresponsible is that, giving me access to my own platform from which to spout my ill-conceived opinions?!?

2/5. For some reason I want to call you Dale instead of Dane. Might be watching King of the Hill.

Maybe Ninjago is just lacking that knife-sharp adolescent edginess you seem to be exuding?

My absolute biggest hope this year are some really nice Clone Wars sets to coincide with the new season. Hopefully a new Gunship, AT-TE and that 501st Battle Pack everyone has been asking for! The voting for a new UCS set over at LEGO Ideas has really gotten me excited as well, with 3 really great UCS candidates brought to the table. Otherwise, I hope for some nice new Hidden Side playsets akin to the Lighthouse, and DEFINITELY another new section for Ninjago City!

I didn't come out of my Dark Age until my visit to Billund in 2016, so I suppose I'm not overly qualified to say much, but here's my two cents anyway: Lego made leaps and bounds in terms of set design, streamlining, part usage, and new molds. They really managed to redefine what a Lego set can look like, while still staying true to the look of Lego. While executed well in most ways, the mid-decade attempt to bring back Bionicle, as well as trying to recreate the Bionicle formula with lines like Chima, Hero Factory, and the CCBS stuff, fell pretty flat in my opinion, and really cemented why Bionicle isn't something that suits Lego anymore. Overall though, I still find myself pining for the glory days of the System sets. As good as the 2010s may have been, nothing will ever beat going to the Lego aisle of a Toys R Us in the 90s.

Anyone who thinks Ninjago sets aren't good, has never seen Ninjago City + Docks in all her sweet glory.

Everyone not seeing this is missing out! Absolutely beautiful vignette. Color balance and greebling could not be more perfect, and that green mech in the front totally pops! Awesome job, thanks for sharing!

As a guy who only really collects Star Wars, I'm really jealous for 2 reasons: -Those clear posing pieces are AMAZING for adding motion to a MOC -The printing/unique molds were really on point. Some really nice printing too. On the flip side, as you said, it's hard to be motivated to collect this whole series. Hopefully LEGO takes some good lessons from this going forward into the next CMF (and make those clear pieces available elsewhere!) Thanks for the great blog read, xccj!

So, seeing as BZPRPG is getting to the point of stagnancy which sees mosquitos start to look to it as a breeding ground, and it doesn't seem like that's gonna change for a while, I'd like to open a discussion (miiiight not be the right choice of words, considering I'll probably be the only one reading and discussing hahaha). -What NEW things would you like to see implemented in the new BZPRPG arc? -What OLD things would you like to see brought back? -For those of you with experience TBRPing on other forums: what are some things that worked in other TBRPGs that could work in BZPRPG? I had more questions, but now I'm distracted, so that's all ya get. Let me know what you all think! ALSO DON'T READ MY OLD BLOG POSTS OH BOY ARE THEY CRINGE-WORTHY.

5/5. Haven't determined whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Guilt by association is a thing, you know.

IC: The Cartographer Ko-Metru Hideaway The Cartographer smiled slightly, although his companion couldn't see it under the wash of lamplight, and his shoulders eased back into a more natural position. He returned his climbing hooks to his pack, and turned back to see the Alipinist's light swaying back and forth like a cascade of dancing lightbugs. Although he stood in the dark, staring out and speaking to a figure that, for all he knew, could just be another treasure hunter trying to eliminate a Cartographer, he could feel a sense of purpose and utility in the Alpinist, aloof as he may seem. Regardless, the being certainly presented a unique set of skills that could yet prove useful in the Cartographer's quest. With a bit of shuffling through his pack, the Cartographer withdrew a length of rope and secure anchor, which he quickly drove into the thick branch of the ice tree, and threw it down to his guest. Although an Alpinist would surely scoff at the idea of ascent via rope, he was sure the gesture would reach him just the same. "You know, there was once a time where Alpinists and Cartographers worked hand-in-hand," he stated matter-of-factly. "The Alpinist assisted the Cartographer in getting where he was going, and the Cartographer helped the Alpinist find the most elusive of summits to challenge." He clambered up through the roof hole once again, and set his lamp down on the plinth, bathing the whole room in a warm, yellow, flickering glow. The Alpinist followed through the hole, and soon came face-to-face with the Cartographer. The Cartographer chuckled heartily upon seeing the face of a fellow Ko-Metruvian. "I suppose what I'm getting at," he turned back to the plinth as he spoke, focusing again on the clues around him. The Cartographer quite frequently engaged in other tasks during conversation, sometimes to the chagrin of those around him. "Is that I do need your help. Metru Nui needs our help. And if my theory is correct, there's a Great Kanoka within this room; we just need to figure out how to get it." OOC: @EmperorWhenua