That Matoran with a Vahi

IC: Jeizmel, near the entrance to Atero Well, here she was. Atero. The centre of the world... And further from her native Iconox than she'd ever been before. Already homesick, the white-and-blue Agori sighed a little as she pulled off her goggles, scrutinised them. Little scratches, most of them fresh, decorated the transparent panes. She had caught a ride, for a fee, with some Glatorian who drove a Thornatus and had been going the same direction she wanted; but as the vehicle had a seat for only its driver, that had involved perching awkwardly to the side of the cockpit and catching a lot of the grit kicked up by their passage. That said, she was glad she had been wearing the goggles; she'd have hated to get that stuff in her eyes. Putting the goggles back on, placing them up on her forehead for now until she could tend to their damage, Jeizmel turned her attention to her new location. Once again, it was no Iconox, that was for sure; but if it was going to be her home for the time being, then she had no choice but to accept it. Find a job, find some form of shelter, maybe at least try to fit in... this wasn't her tribe, after all, so she didn't feel the need to hold them to her standards of the purity of ice - only herself, on that count - which might make it at least a little easier to make a friend or two. Finding work was no concern for her. She knew her way around a sword, she knew business, and she fancied herself a good odd-jobs woman too; surely something would come her way. As to shelter, there must be an inn further into town. And as to fitting in... Well, cross that bridge when she came to it. Speaking of crossing bridges... The bridge across the flowing sands stretched ahead of her, leading up to Atero's main gates. After pausing a moment to stretch out her muscles, then to check that her blade was still securely in its sheath across her back, Jeizmel clenched her fists in determination and started forward into her new life. OOC: Jeizmel is open for interaction!

Name: Jeizmel Species: Agori Tribe: Ice Gender: F Rough age: early adulthood Appearance: Not really much to tell. Your average-looking Agori for the most part; white-and-blue in tone, of fairly average build for her species and age, if slightly on the scrawny side. She wears a tattered tunic in and amongst her natural armour, the collar of which has a light layer of extra armour sewn into it to protect her neck. Unlike many inhabitants of Bara Magna, she doesn't wear a full helmet; instead favouring a pair of protective goggles, from behind which shine piercing blue eyes. Equipment: A barbed blade, usually worn slung over her back, that she has dubbed her best companion: the barbs are stylised to look like icicles, and the blade is longer than a dagger but shorter than a full sword. Personality: Loyal, above all, to her tribe and her settlement of Iconox; however, Jeizmel's is an odd sort of loyalty. While she is certainly concerned with the well-being of her tribe, above that she holds it - and, by extension, herself - to very high standards of purity that she seeks to enforce in her own way. This has earned her very few friends and even less popularity in Iconox where her ways are seen as bad for business; but for the most part Jeizmel doesn't care what people think of her and sticks rigidly to her own standards... even, and perhaps especially, when they get her into trouble. The exception to this lack of care, however, is that she is desperate to be taken seriously despite her young age; as far as she's concerned, people can think what they want of her, just as long as they don't treat her like a child. Nonetheless, for all her flaws and troublesome attitudes to life, she isn't devoid of positive traits; she's brave, and almost always willing to lend a hand when asked. Weakness: Reckless, first and foremost. Jeizmel has strong principles, even if they seem indecipherable to anyone else, and will often act on them with little to no warning - and certainly without considering the consequences. As a result, it's not difficult for her to get in over her head in any given situation. The fact that she pays little heed to the opinions of others only exacerbates the issue - she does what she wants, and can find herself in trouble as a result. As is typical for an Agori, she is also physically weaker than many other residents of the wastelands, although her natural agility compensates for this to some degree. History: The child of two guards of Iconox. As a young girl, Jeizmel spent a lot of time alone while her parents were busy manning defences of the tribe's interests in the city and beyond. One day, while exploring the mountain slopes beyond the city on her own, Jeizmel stumbled upon a hidden ice cavern. She gazed deep into the crystalline ice within, and at its heart discovered what she would call true purity; something that she would later come to believe that the ice tribe had forgotten. As she grew from a child into an adult, she was trained by friends of her parents in both the art of business and the art of the sword... and she also came to see more of Iconox's unsavoury underside. Disturbed by this, the young Agori began to take it as her personal mission to remind her tribespeople of the purity of the ice that they were named after, which she believed they should be modelling. Top of her list of practices that needed to be dealt with was the slave trade. This comes not out of concern or compassion for the slaves themselves, although Jeizmel isn't unsympathetic to their plight; rather she sees the whole trade as an ugly blight on Iconox's honour, and has made it her mission to oppose it wherever she can. Eventually, after she was caught in the act of setting slaves free without permission one too many times, she was punished with temporary banishment from Iconox until she learned to respect the tribe's interests. In Jeizmel's mind, that was exactly what she was doing; but she had no choice but to accept her punishment. Catching the next ride to Atero, as the centre of everything, she is just drifting for now, getting by on whatever odd jobs she can... but she hasn't forgotten her personal mission, and has every intention of ultimately continuing to push for her tribe to reclaim their lost purity.

Kopaka was playable as a Mata, too; although unlike Tahu he got that instead of a Nuva level, rather than as well as. I still find the game fun despite it's flaws, especially the way each level has a different gimmick that makes them unique experiences from one another; but yes, it's definitely a mess. I don't know if that's because it had a troubled production such as the cancelled 2001 game apparently did, or if the developers were just given nowhere near enough time to finish it, but...

IC: Akie - Onu-Koro Restaurant Elbows propped on the table, fists pressed together, the mouthpiece of her mask resting thoughtfully upon them, Akie frowned to herself as she turned over the response she was receiving. Guard forces, well... she couldn't really see herself in a uniform; but more than that, it was hard to see herself really as part of a group generally. Wherever she was from, the gravity-powered hero was fairly certain that she hadn't been part of a Toa team, she must have been some kind of lone hero, and she had a feeling that none of the military forces here would really be happy with her chosen laid-back attitudes to life. She didn't know who the Maru and Fowadi were. "So I'm getting a kind of 'just wander around and something will become obvious' kind of vibe, does that sum it up about right?" It seemed to be a troubled sort of island that she'd landed on, if she was reading his answer correctly. Like he'd said, it wasn't exactly a clear and specific solution; but it was still more of an answer than she'd started off with. In the distance, she could see a sudden bustle of activity, Matoran seeming to come from several different directions and heading in one particular way, as if something was happening a little further into the city that no-one wanted to miss. Her head tilted slightly; but unless her companion thought it was anything significant, she wouldn't make any particular move herself. Instead, her attention turned once more to the conversation. "What about you? If it's not too rude to ask; what do you do here?" OOC: I figured I'd leave it for now and could acknowledge it in the next post if need be. But did Akie and Gonrae ought to be able to hear Nuparu's announcement in the previous post from where they're sitting? @oncertainty

Does it seem wild to anyone else that literally none of the footage from that trailer made it into the final game? I know Bionicle: the Game took a lot of content cuts to get it out on time, but even still... Or is that pretty normal for the video game industry?

Very possible! Though several of those principles do look to match up with what we saw of each elemental district on Metru Nui, too (particularly stone and creation; ice and peace; water and purity); so if that is the case, the Turaga may have drawn them from a basis of their own respective Metru's experiences, rather than making them up completely. Alternately, since the Matoran have been living on Mata Nui for 1000 years by this point, it's possible that the principles system was something that they just developed naturally amongst themselves in the meantime. Of the various Matoran who explain the principles to Hahli, they always draw them from experiences specific to life on Mata Nui; so I wonder if, while maybe the Turaga encouraged them to establish a system of principles, they let the villagers themselves discover through experience what to chose for the specific principle that best suited each village. Either way though, I agree that it's probably a belief system exclusive to the island of Mata Nui, at least when put in such specific terms.

I think MNOG 2 possibly offers the best insight into that; from talking to various village inhabitants, Hahli (/ the player) learns about each village's unique guiding principle, derived from different aspects of the three virtues, and their respective associated skill. In summary: Ta-Koro's principle is courage, and its skill is strength; Ga-Koro's principle is purity, skill is speed; Onu-Koro's principle is prosperity, skill is stamina; Le-Koro's principle is faith, skill is accuracy; Ko-Koro's principle is peace, skill is willpower; and Po-Koro's principle is creation, skill is strategy. [BS01 source] BS01 also has pages for each principle and skill that give a little more detail (links to each are in the source link above), and the relevant conversations are all included in their MNOG 2 walkthrough pages. I don't know how much more insight that offers, and the concept was never really touched on again outside of that game; but it might help with what you're looking for ^^

That Takanuva in the second set of pictures though! He looks fantastic, I wonder how hard it would be to reverse-engineer him from that picture alone... That aside, really neat interview! It was all really interesting; and on a personal note, I loved what Niek said about his first Bionicle experience, after seeing the sets, was to try and build his own from the parts he already had... I'd forgotten, but it reminds me that was exactly what I did, too, when I got the first Lego World Club magazine that featured them. Only in my case, it was Fire and Rock Slizers who sacrificed their parts to my attempt to build Onua... and I failed miserably, which was why I chose Onua for my first Toa as soon as I got the chance, to see how he *actually* went together!

The Matoran alphabet, yes, I can read as long as what's written in that alphabet is still inherently English; I rewatched the Bionicle trilogy over Christmas and, while a little bit rusty, could still fluently read all the 'joke credits' at the end of the credit roll of 2 and 3 ^^

Still very much enjoying this! That last chapter, in particularly; Glaciem and Ignis seem like a really fascinating character, and the reveal of more like them being developed was a very cool note to end on. I also liked a lot the way you write Mutran, and bounced him and Chirox off each other; their dynamic comes across really well ^^ (I haven't forgotten about contacting you re. Blizzard; I'm just currently still pondering over ideas for where life may have taken her before I do so ^^)

Cool, thanks for clarifying! Okay, my votes have been placed. Some of them were extremely easy to pick a favourite for, while others were more thought-provoking - especially ones that included two who I liked for very different reasons, which made it harder to compare them equally to each other. Still, I'm happy with my choices; and it's fun

Quick question, are we basing our votes on which we like best as a set, or on which we like best as a character? Because, for me at least, those often have different answers...

They were fairly regular back in BZP's heyday. I found the original art contest history thread on the Wayback Machine, which gives a brief summary of the themes, winners and prizes for each contest up until 2008: https://web.archive.org/web/20080622043737/http://www.bzpower.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=186221 (out of those, I remember contests #8, #11 and #14; not so much the others). Traditional and digital art were both allowed, but the voting usually split them into separate sub-categories, with a winner picked from each. The last art contest looks like it was in 2018. Only two people entered; though I wonder if that was perhaps due to the way it was as much a building contest as it was an artwork one - contest types which often attract different crowds from each other - or because it wasn't Bionicle themed.

Oh wow, I already love this. I was only a very latecomer to the Corpus Rahkshi game, and I never got into all the background that had gone before; but the concept was really fascinating to me. So it really excited me to see the start of a story based on it. Even just one chapter in, I'm already hooked. The tone conveyed even just by Exxan's opening narration is fantastic; there's a sense of world-weariness that really carries through his words and does an excellent job of helping to set the scene. It's nice, too, to learn that at least a few of the game's Rahks survived the events of canon, and I really look forward to seeing how this is going to play out (On a side note, I know I was barely in the RP at all, I only joined up a month or so before it ended; but if there's any way that my girl Blizzard could make a tiny cameo, that would be amazing!)

So, I've been enjoying the way that BZPower now pops up for me a little notification whenever my posting rank increases; it's a cool feature. However, I think I may have stumbled upon a little bit of a glitch in it. Namely this: Ever since I hit the rank of Scavenger, I've been getting a notification of that rank increase every time I make a post (I'm anticipating seeing it again after I post this!). My suspicion is that this is due to the way that, if I remember rightly, the Scavenger rank image changes continually, filling out more Krana in the grid as you progress through this rank; and it seems like because of that I'm now getting the notification every time the image updates, even though the actual rank title hasn't changed. I mean, it's not a problem, I can just ignore it. But I wasn't sure if anyone had encountered this yet and thought I should point it out if not ^^

Personally, I'm G1 all the way - but a large part of that is simply due to timing. I was a kid in the target age group when G1 debuted, and already a Lego fan at that, so I was perfectly placed for 2001's story and atmosphere and mystique to capture my attention and wow me, and I stayed invested (more or less) all the way through to 2008 due to the level of depth given to the world. In contrast, when G2 debuted I heard the news that it was coming but was in my Lego 'dark age' and busy with university stuff, so I didn't follow it... and by the time I thought to check back in and see how it was going, it had already ended. As such, I have zero emotional connection to G2 and massive nostalgia for G1. I have to say I prefer the classic Bionicle system, too. Nothing against CCBS, I've certainly seen it used to make some really impressive stuff; but I found that part of the fun of G1's sets were the way that many of the waves introduced entirely new pieces for torsos / limbs / etc., and then seeing the interesting ways those same specialised pieces would be used in subsequent sets as well. CCBS's approach, which seems like it uses a similar basic skeleton each time and builds off that (though I only have two CCBS sets so I may be over-simplifying a bit...), is surely more cost-effective for production and makes some nice results; but to me it just doesn't feel like it has the same crazy (and sometimes hit-or-miss) energy that I enjoyed about G1's system. Again, though. 80% of this is nostalgia talking, so take it with a pinch of salt xD

In the same vein as we have the Bionicle-Based Creations contests, I remember that back in the years when Bionicle was current, BZP used to hold regular fanart contests, too. While the BBC contests are still running, though, I haven't seen a new art contest in years. Were they just discontinued for lack of interest, or did something else happen to them? No particular reason for asking, I was just thinking it might be fun to try entering one again; then remembered that I hadn't seen one in ages. So I was just wondering.

I'm wondering if my taking a second character would make me better or worse at replying in a timely manner... I have some trouble playing spontaneous characters like this, I always feel like I don't have a firm grasp on their personality when I've just made it up on the spot (I'm more used to RPing as canon characters, where I can always go back to canon for reference if I'm uncertain), and my lack of confidence in that is part of why I've been taking so long between posts. On the one hand, having a second character would necessitate me being more active here, which would force me not to procrastinate on replies regardless of my grasp on my characters... but on the other hand, it might just double the problem rather than helping. So, I'm not sure. In any case, I'm sorry for my slowness.

IC: Akie - Onu-Koro Restaurant Dasaka? It was a word (a name? For a species, or maybe a group or organization?) that was unfamiliar, and Akie tilted her head slightly. Sounded like they were newcomers to the island, too, but that her companion knew little more of them than she did; so, having deduced that much, the girl didn't pursue the question. Plenty of other questions to pursue, after all... Like the one Gonrae had just raised. What did she plan to do next? "Believe me, I'd love to have a goal. So far, it's only been to find other people and learn where I ended up... which I guess I've now accomplished." She tapped the chin of her mask, pondering thoughtfully. Wandering around idly wasn't... really her style, even if it was in the name of learning more about the island; Akie knew, though she was kinda ashamed to admit it, that she didn't always have the best judgement of others... and without knowing what the current situation was, held a lingering fear that, if left to interpret it for herself, might be persuaded onto the wrong side of whatever things might be going on. "I'd like to get myself active, for sure. No point to being a Toa if all I'm going to do is sit around. But I wouldn't know where to begin." Actually, she supposed she knew right where to begin; because surely her companion wouldn't mind her asking a few more questions. Still, it was a little sheepishly that she asked. "Do you... know anywhere on the island where someone like me might be needed?" ooc: @oncertainty

I don't really have a point of comparison, sorry; it's the only country I have experience of looking for them in, so I don't know how it compares. In my experience, it's kinda rare to find them, but it does happen from time to time. Could be worth your while to look in any charity shops you encounter - most UK high streets have a few - and see what you find; they often have an area for toys and such near the back of the shop, which is where Bionicle stuff would show up if they did have any. No guarantees you'll find anything, but it could be worth checking just in case something turns up ^^

I'm mostly just seconding what's already been said. Charity shops (which I believe are basically the UK-equivalent of thrift stores?) can be good sources for sure, but require being in the right place at the right time, which can be pretty arbitrary. I've made a couple of good finds from them myself though, and have seen a couple of others that I didn't buy in the end. Still, those were only rare instances across the past decade or so, spread across the various small towns in the local area that I visit from time to time; so for me it's very much a case of checking in every such shop I see and never particularly expecting to find anything but just being pleasantly surprised when I do. Charity sales, if you know anywhere that holds them, can sometimes be good too; when I was volunteering with a local branch of the National Animal Welfare Trust a few years ago, helping them organise donated stock for their monthly fundraising barn sales, we had a big lot of Lego donated that included all six classic Toa (very dusty but complete, including their canisters). In that instance, granted, I sold the sets on eBay on their behalf because no-one else there had any clue what they were worth, so this way got them more for it; but in cases that don't have someone present who's knowledgeable on the subject, they could certainly be places to potentially find a bargain. Ebay's not great for Bionicle bargains these days, in my experience, since a lot of sets - especially the titans - fetch 3-4 times what they cost when they were new, but occasionally a deal can be had, particularly likely on smaller sets; some months back I was able to snatch up a used Zesk for a little cheaper than original price. Definitely agree with the previous poster about partially-complete sets being a good way to get things a bit cheaper too, if you know your way around Bricklink to find the remaining parts; a non-Bionicle example, but I got a maybe two-thirds complete Technic Jango Fett off ebay last year for a very good price (the Technic Star Wars characters are usually fairly expensive, but no-one else was interested in the listing that time because of the missing parts), and was able to Bricklink his remaining pieces pretty cheaply - even despite some of them being in a rare colour. Best thing to do, I'd say, is just keep checking regularly; and, though they don't happen often, be ready to jump on appealing bargains when they do come up ^^

It's just personal preference, but I've never been the biggest fan of set-form Karzahni, myself. His proportions simply come off as awkward in my view, even by Bionicle's standards: he has a very wide torso from the front view but it doesn't have suitable depth, or bulk to the limbs, to make it effective. There were a few other places where his build felt unpolished to me as well; and on a more minor note, his ebony-and-gold colour scheme from the books was nowhere in sight. That said, he also came with Idris and her wonderfully unique recolour of the Ruru mask; she was my favourite part of the set by a mile!

IC: Akie - Onu-Koro Restaurant Her head tilted a little, processing his initial words. He'd just had a hunch... well, then. Honestly, even if he'd said otherwise and she had been completely blatantly obvious, Akie wouldn't have been too surprised. Embarrassed, sure, if it had really looked like she was fumbling her way around like a total stranger, but not at all surprised since that was, in all honesty, exactly what she was doing. It seemed to take a few moments for her following question to receive an answer. Akie watched her companion closely, not quite sure if he was pondering her question, or was simply spacing out. Not quite bold enough to ask, she fidgeted ever so slightly with her scarf, just a couple of fingers playing lightly over the place where it settled at her throat. Whichever it had been, he was apparently back a moment later, so she decided not to comment, and instead addressed his response. "Oh, well, I sort of..." It wasn't that she didn't remember anything as in anything... or at least, Akie didn't think it quite was. While she was certainly having trouble placing details of, for example, where she'd grown up as a Matoran, who she'd known, how she'd become a Toa... she was, at least, quite certain that those things had happened - and not only because she could deduce them based on her current state. No, there was definitely a certainty there in her mind... just... no specifics. Except for a flash of more-recent-than-she-cared-to-admit memory of a Skakdi pirate flag rippling in the ocean breeze... a memory that she still couldn't place a context for, but then nonetheless sent a coil of dread winding through her guts. WELL whatever it was, it couldn't have been important, right?! Deliberately not dwelling, she struck up a chipper, carefree tone. "It's a bit weird, isn't it? But I don't feel like I'm missing a whole lot. No... no point living in the past after all!" That didn't sound forced. She hoped. Even so, she dialled back down to a more normal level of casualness. "I still seem to have my learned skills and knowledge; just not my personal history. I guess I'll see if I get used to it or not. As for Mata Nui..." Well, that gave her a little pause. Akie believed in the Great Spirit on a distant level, of course, but that didn't leave her entirely sure whether her companion was being quite literal or not. Maybe the sentiment of him guiding them all here was just metaphorical; if it wasn't, then she wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. "Nice name for an island, anyway. I guess if there's some purpose behind me being here, that'll only become clear in time. Best thing I can do is just roll with it for now, right?" @oncertainty

Not all of them. I sold a lot of my collection while I was at university, several years ago now, because I wasn't using them and wanted to free up space in my room. While there are a few that I do wish, in hindsight, I hadn't been quite so hasty to get rid of, for the most part I don't regret it; I'd rather them having gone to people who enjoyed them rather than just sitting around in a box never getting looked at like most of them would have if I'd kept them. Even then, though, I still kept my old favourites: the classic Toa, the Mask of Light protagonist sets, several Matoran, Muaka & Kane-Ra, and a couple of others - and I'm happy with my decision to do so. They were a big part of my childhood, and I'd feel like I was losing a little something of myself it I let go of those last few. I don't do much with them, but I have some of them on display, and the rest stored away for days when I feel particularly nostalgic. For context, I'm 30, as well. I don't think that you need to feel embarrassed or ashamed for keeping them around, if that's what you want to do; if you still enjoy them, even if that is just on a nostalgic level, then you're not 'too old' for them, in my book. That said, I'm pretty sure you could get something for your sets on eBay if you do decide to go that route. Bionicle stuff seems to command high prices there these days, even when used... certainly higher than they were when I sold mine back then!