Eyru

@The UltimoScorp Am I correct in assuming Katrin's new mask is the same mask of fusion listed on BS01? That's what I'm guessing, but there's no mention of the name "Hanumi" anywhere. If you are going to use a custom mask, you need to detail its powers. If this is in fact the same mask, just with a custom name, then please post its BS01 powerset with one alteration: fusing with another character requires the consent of that character's player. Also, can you clarify what this means? @Onaku Arkius 1 and Arkus 2 approved. @pokemonlover360 Kilo NUVA approved. @NorikSigma Zekev approved. @Harvali The Big Bruiser and Sucordak are approved.

IC: Taja | Kini-Koro The Toa of shadow made her way back to her hut. It wasn't much. It was more a hole dug into the side of the hill than anything else, with a wooden door set into a earthen frame. The inside was cramped, with a low ceiling. A single lightstone glowed gently from the wall, where she'd dug a hole and jammed it in. She didn't need the light, but it felt odd to just sit in the darkness. Even though the light was vaguely annoying, like an itch she couldn't quite scratch, it made it feel more like home. Other than that, there was a bedroll and a crate half-full of whatever possessions she had. Her bag, a few disks, a telescope, some star charts she'd taken from Metru-Koro and forgotten to give back to Jaa. She looked around and realized, like she did every time she came home, that it really wasn't much at all. She'd been too busy training to really work on it. It was just a place to sleep. Nothing more. Taja opened the crate and retrieved her bag, swinging the strap across her body. The weight felt good on her shoulder. It was familiar. She carefully selected a few disks from her shrinking collection and placed these in the bag, along with a canteen and some rations of dried fruit. Finally, after a moment's deliberation, she took out a star chart and carefully rolled it up. If she was going to make another trek down to the swamps, she might as well try to map out some of the island's geography as she went. Stepping back out of her dimly lit hut, Taja winced as the late afternoon light flooded her optics again. She blinked away the irritation and waited for her eyes to adjust, then started walking south. The Kini Nui valley was big, and it would take a few hours to properly cross the ridge and get back out onto the plains. The lush jungle beckoned from the slopes, promising relief from the sunlight on the back of her neck. Hopefully, she would make it out of the valley by nightfall, and could walk across the unforgiving desert during the cool of the night. OOC: Taja moving south. Last chance if anyone in Kini-Koro wants to chat.

IC: Taja | Kini-Koro Taja was used to waiting. Her whole life, it seemed, had been a study in patience. Astronomy required the ability to slow down one's perception of time to match the time kept by the stars. She had spent years monitoring stars whose fractional movements took place in only minutes of star-time. Then she became a Toa, and instead of becoming the heroes she had admired from afar, she had found herself an absolute novice, spending day after day learning to bend her new powers to her will. She was nothing if not patient. But, somehow, Stannis's urging to wait rubbed her the wrong way. She had come too far and gone through too much just to stand around, waiting at the beck and call of an old man who seemed to have business with every being under the sun. She had no doubt he knew some valuable things, but the cryptic answers and half-truths she had overheard thus far made her wonder just how much he actually knew. He swaddled himself in mystery, and seemed to immensely enjoy his own mystique. Perhaps that enigmatic aura hid incredible secrets... or perhaps not. Either way, Taja found herself suddenly tired of waiting, for the first time in as long as she could remember. "I'm curious about that village in the swamps," she said abruptly, looking at Whisper. "The one that Toa mentioned. Apparently they've learned how to forge disks and masks." She looked around, studying the village they had built. It was enough for now, but its foundation was more hope than anything else. Despite the infected masks and the presence of a giant mech, she was all too aware it could be wiped out at any moment. The Warksaks were still out there, and so was the Tahtorak. "So I'm going to go check it out," she continued. "Maybe I'll be back by the time Stannis is ready to talk. If not..." she tapped her head. "Well, you know how to reach me." OOC: @Nato the Traveler

@Kal the Guardian Krrenchek and his Crushing Foot approved.

That's enough of that. I know many people are frustrated with the long delay, and rightfully so. I fully sympathize. But that is no excuse for spamming this topic. If people want to have a constructive discussion about the BZPRPG, they are welcome to do so. Posting random times and dates? That ain't it.

IC: Tuakana | ??? They stirred. Their young one words came from far away. The name of the weapon stirred some ancient recollection. Their essence shivered. "Well done, little one," they whispered. "I will come to you." OOC: @Harvali

@Snelly Vashni approved. @Kal the Guardian Krrenchk needs a physical weakness. Fighting mainly with legs/feet is not a limitation, just as someone fighting mainly with their arms/hands is not a limitation. I really like his inaccuracy vision, and I think it balances itself out well by growing weaker as the opponent grows closer. That said, to put an explicit cap on the power level, I'm going to clarify that it can only work if Krrenchk can physically see his target without any external aid. I.e. the power will not work through telescopes, binoculars, etc.

IC: Taja | Kini-Koro The sound of explosions made Taja pull out her disk launcher, eyes scanning her surroundings for a threat. Her shadow flared around her feet, ready to wield. Then she shook her head and stood down. "Don't worry, it's just Skyra," she said to Viltia, who looked thoroughly spooked. "She can be... abrasive." The Toa of shadow slung her launcher back over her shoulder. "I was going to ask if you could maybe show me how those silver things worked, but you look busy. You're looking for Knichou. You were just talking with him earlier, actually. The Toa with the golden mask." OOC: @Kal the Guardian

IC: Taja | Kini-Koro "It's... kind of a long story," Taja said, aware that this was a bit of a white lie. It was less of a long story and more of one she just didn't want to get into, especially with a complete stranger. "I had some help from an Aspect. I think you mentioned you know one? Is that how you got all-" she gestured to Viltia's tethers. "-these?" OOC: @Kal the Guardian

IC: Reliable Narrator | Relix Fields Niidak's ingenuity was admirable, but her collection of odds and ends wasn't enough to make a tool powerful enough to cut through stone. All she succeeded in doing was leaving a long, black scorch mark on the side of the statue's neck, permanently defacing it. If she really wanted to behead this work of art, she would need something stronger. Maybe tools designed for stonecutting. OOC: @Daniel the Finlander IC: Taja | Kini-Koro Taja wanted to keep listening to the myriad of overlapping conversations, but something caught her eye. The strange Toa from the swamps had returned, carrying only a single crate now, and was hovering at the edge of the crowd that had formed around Stannis. Those strange silver tendrils twisted and rippled hypnotically in the sunlight. She wondered if they had really been granted to her by a Taboo... and what else had she said? They allowed her to see into other minds? Taja hadn't caught the full extent of the conversation, but she had heard enough to be curious. So she sidled out of the crowd and made her way over to Vilita. "Hey," she said, nodding to indicate the crate of equipment Viltia was carrying. "I was going to ask if you needed a hand, but you seem to have more than enough to spare." She smiled. "I'm Taja." OOC: @Kal the Guardian

OOC: @Daniel the Finlander Try it and find out! If your character has skills related to building gadgets, and has the resources and tools needed to do it, then go ahead. IC: Taja | Kini-Koro Taja nodded. She realized she may have been a little too forthcoming, but Stannis didn't seem to mind. "Thank you," she said. Then she and Stannis both turned their full attention to the newcomer Toa, who was saying a lot of very interesting things. OOC: @EmperorWhenua

Announcement: The Semi-Annual Celebratory Six Kingdoms: Rebirth Roast & Toast Extravaganza Bonanza (working title) will be held on Saturday, January 23rd at 3PM PST.

IC: Reliable Narrator | Relic Fields The inside of the nearest knowledge tower yielded less bounty than those previous had. This tower was full of offices and empty conference rooms. Stacks of paper towered precariously over desks, at which sat custom-ordered chairs with lumbar support and padded arms. Evidently, the people who worked here had been used to pulling long hours, and had decided that a good chair was worth the price tag. Whatever electronics Niidak could find were broken beyond repair: cracked screens and broken iStones and lifeless machinery. One floor held a myriad of telescopes of various lengths, shapes, and sizes; all save one were dented and full of shattered glass. The one telescope that wasn't completely ruined was about the length of her arm. It had a long crack across the lens, but it still appeared to work well enough otherwise. Like most artifacts found in knowledge towers, it was designed to study the stars, so there was no way to tell how well it would work until night fell and the stars came out. OOC: @Daniel the Finlander IC: Taja | Kini-Koro "What—" Taja cut herself off, suddenly unsure. Stannis seemed to have the habit of asking the right questions. She suddenly recalled an old saying that Jaa had sometimes floated across the office when she was frustrated over some astrological matter: The right question is harder to find than the right answer. She had usually rolled her eyes at the pithy proverb, but it had always worked anyway. It reminded her to focus her efforts, and not waste energy on anything unrelated to the problem she was trying to solve. If you didn't know the question you were asking, you'd waste valuable time and energy floundering through all sorts of wrong answers before you realized they were wrong. But if you stopped and took the time to figure out exactly what you wanted to know, then all you had to do was figure it out. That was wisdom, she supposed. And Stannis had asked the right question, so maybe his wise reputation wasn't entirely inaccurate. Who was she asking for? For Whisper, of course. But... also for herself. She had refused to admit it to anyone, even herself, but the past month had seen Taja bored almost out of her mind. It felt wrong to even think, like she was admitting she wasn't a proper Toa. Wasn't this her job—to stand guard over her people until a threat showed itself? It wasn't a Toa's purpose to seek out adventure, but that was all she wanted to do. Ever since her journey through the Fau Swamp, Taja had craved adventure. And ever since she had learned the dark knowledge at the heart of the grand temple, she had hungered to learn more. Her daily training had helped her progress in skill, but it wasn't enough. She knew she wasn't yet ready to protect her people from all the threats the island could throw at them. She needed more. She needed whatever Stannis knew, and whatever Whisper could find. Not just for her people, either; but also for herself. She wanted to be better for its own sake. To strike out on heroic adventures for their own sake. To plumb the depths of this land and lay her hands on whatever secrets she could find. To carve her name into legend. Was that wrong? A few months ago, she would have said yes. She would have said it was her duty to follow the destiny laid out for her by the great spirit. But now she wasn't so sure. The old ways were gone, rusting away in the decapitated skull of a dead god. Now the world was open to her, and she wanted to experience all of it. She was a scholar at heart, and longed to record the secrets of the island like she had once charted the movements of the stars. "I mean us both," Taja finally said, aware that she had let the silence drag on a little too long. "But... that includes me." OOC: @EmperorWhenua @Nato the Traveler

IC: Taja | Kini-Koro Taja paused to organize her thoughts before she spoke. Ever the academic, she hated speaking faster than she could think. That was how meanings got muddled. That was how people made mistakes. "I know you don't trust Aspects," she said. "I don't know why, but it's probably for good reason. I've met a few, and trustworthy isn't the first adjective the springs to mind." She looked at Whisper. "But... if there's any Aspect who deserves the title, it's Whisper. I'll admit our first meeting wasn't particularly pleasant, but I've come to trust her. She's helped our village in a lot of ways, and asked little in return. If she needs something, I believe it's for good reason. So if you know anything about this Codex, or even anything that might point us in the right direction, we'd appreciate it." OOC: @EmperorWhenua @Nato the Traveler

IC: Reliable Narrator | Relic Fields Niidak managed to knock the Miru off the statue's face with the end of her spear. As soon as the mask left the statue's face, she abruptly stopped floating. Both she and the Miru fell to the ground. OOC: @Daniel the Finlander Niidak is no longer levitating uncontrollably. IC: Reliable Narrator | Ruins of Earth "Toa Onua died serving his people," the Administrator said after a long pause. "Truly, he is the model of a proper Toa. "As for the inscriptions," it continued, turning its attention to Kilo. "Surely you didn't expect all temples to be identical? As the style of worship changes, so too do the shapes of the sacred spaces. I wouldn't expect an artificial construct like yourself to understand." OOC: @pokemonlover360 @Tarn @Onaku @The UltimoScorp IC: Taja | Kini-Koro "Look, he's coming back now," said Taja. "Let's go talk to him." Before Whisper could object, the toa of shadow approached Stannis, lifting a hand in greeting. "Toa Stannis. A word, if you have a moment?" OOC: @Nato the Traveler @EmperorWhenua

IC: Reliable Narrator | Ruins of Earth "Oh, well done," the Administrator said, sounding pleased. Narrowly avoiding a painful demise on the crystal shards far below, the group assembled at last at the doorway underneath the floor. They proceeded into the tunnel. It was exactly as dark as the one above. Nothing could be seen, so each adventurer had to grope their way through the darkness. The earthen walls were smooth and cool to the touch, and the ground was free of snags or jags of rock upon which one could trip. After a minute or so of walking, the tunnel suddenly opened into a cavernous room. This room appeared more intentionally designed than the first room they had seen, for the walls were carefully carved into a hexagonal shape. There were no rough edges here. The walls of the chamber were composed of packed earth, smooth as glass and black as pitch. In the center of the chamber stood a strange device that the adventurers would instantly recognize: it was the perfect twin of the machine in the ruins of stone—the one that had accepted a Great Disk from Atamai and given him something far greater in return. The floor before the device was engraved with the following numbers: 6-1-9. Beyond the device, a single word was carved into the far wall: NUVA. "Congratulations," said the Administrator. "You saw through distorted reflections and discerned truth." OOC: @Tarn @pokemonlover360 @The UltimoScorp @Onaku congratulations on solving the Ruins of Earth! IC: Reliable Narrator | Relic Fields Niidak placed the Miru on the statue's face. It slid on easily, almost effortlessly, like the statue's face had been deliberately carved to receive it. As the mask left her fingertips, she half-thought she felt a deep humming coming from within the statue, but it was gone almost before she noticed it. Instead, she stepped back to admire the effect. Whoever Hafu was, he was truly a master of his craft. Were it not for the blank eyes of slate-grey stone, she could almost swear the statue was alive behind the mask. Bracing herself, Niidak tried to push the statue off the pedestal, hoping that the Miru's powers might somehow engage and cause the stone to become lighter. But no matter how hard she strained, the statue refused to budge. If anything, it seemed heavier. Panting from the effort, she stood straight and looked hard at the chunk of obstinate rock. There was no way it was heavier, right? That had to be a trick of her imagination. But she could swear she almost felt lighter again, like she was still wearing the Miru... With a start, she realized she was lighter. Niidak was hovering a scant inch off the ground. The gentle breeze was already pushing her off to one side, but she reached out and grabbed hold of the statue to avoid being blown away. If she looked around, she would see that nothing else was floating, just her. Her hoverbike and her cache of looted equipment was still standing off to the side, as heavy as ever. OOC: @Daniel the Finlander Niidak is levitating uncontrollably. IC: Taja | Kini-Koro "I don't know if he knows as much as we think he does," Taja said, a little unkindly. Evidently, she was still put off by the old toa's earlier remarks about shadow. "Is there anywhere else we could look for answers? Any more temples or ruins you know of?" OOC: @Nato the Traveler

IC: Taja | Kini-Koro Taja frowned. "And he refused to help you?" OOC: @Nato the Traveler

IC: Taja | Kini-Koro That sounded about right. From her interactions with the Administrator, Taja knew they were pedantic and rude to anyone who wasn't a "pure" Builder. Even she, a toa, had been looked down on because of her element. She wasn't surprised to hear the robotic guardian of the temples was being a pain in the— "How do we get one?" she asked. "A Codex, that is." OOC: @Nato the Traveler

IC: Reliable Narrator | Relic Fields The door crumpled under the force of Xaril's kick. It snapped off its track and crashed into the desk in the room beyond. Upon entering, the titan would see little of note. The little office was full of the more of the same things had seen seen outside: binders of notes, stacks of charts, rolls of maps, and that same thin layer of snow-like dust over everything. A large cabinet with three drawers was half-open; each drawer was full of files, and each file was full of more incomprehensible notes. The one difference was that this room was better-lit: a larger window took up most of one wall, which afforded a nice view of the rest of the relic fields. It was open, allowing a fresh breeze to gentle play through the office, riffling through papers and sending one or two drifting gently to the floor. If he looked out, Xaril could see the light shining off the melting towers, each faceted edge of the icy buildings catching the sunlight and sending it scattering across the ground. He also saw a shady-looking figure duck into the tower next door. OOC: @Nato the Traveler IC: Taja | Kini-Koro As nice as it was to see Stannis was still alive, Taja didn't really have any business with him. She had often thought on his words back in the Taku when she had first been transformed, and they still hurt a little, even now. The old toa's distaste for shadow had been clear to see, written across his face like a constellation. Now that she was a toa of shadow herself, Taja had decided to forget his remarks. Darkness wasn't evil. If it was, then she was, right? And she wasn't. But deciding to forget is easier than forgetting, and seeing Stannis brought those thoughts back. For the first time in weeks, Taja found herself wondering again. Wondering if she really was the same Taja she'd been before, or if she was corrupted beyond all hope. Wondering if she was doomed to walk down a dark path that surely ended in blood and death. She didn't like these thoughts, so she tried to push them out of her mind. She saw Whisper moving away form the group, and jogged over to talk. A conversation would distract her, at least for a little while. "Hey," she said. "I overheard you talking to Stannis. You're looking for something?" OOC: Nato again

IC: Reliable Narrator | Relic Fields Xaril dropped into the top floor of the knowledge tower. Like most towers, the top floor was the location of the telescopes and other astronomy equipment that scholars used to study the stars. The titan walked through the rooms, looking for anything interesting. All he saw was room after room of disused equipment, much of it broken. Telescopes laid on the floor, tubes dented and lenses shattered. Some screen still hung from walls, while others had long since crashed to the floor. Notes were scattered everywhere like fallen leaves. If Xaril picked up any of them to examine, he would read mostly strings of numbers and letters designating star coordinates, as well as hastily-scrawled diagrams here and there that pointed out different parts of the text that didn't seem to have any particular significance. Without any knowledge of astronomy, the notes were more or less indecipherable. The next floor down was in similar shape, although there were fewer pieces of equipment and more desks. Fluorescent lights hung precariously from the ceiling, their bulbs long since burnt out or shattered. What little ambient light illuminating the office came only from the windows. It was enough to see that the place was a mess. The desks were cramped, and stacked high with binders, folders, papers, clipboards, and other office paraphernalia. Half of the stacks had fallen over, carpeting the floor with more notes, each as confusing to the layperson as the papers on the floor above. A thin layer of dust covered everything. It was eerie to see all this evidence of a busy office, but to not see the academics and astronomers responsible for the work. It felt empty in a threatening way, like something terrible had happened suddenly. Too suddenly for anyone to straighten their notes or even close the half-open drawers in their desks before they left. The only other interesting thing in the room was a locked doorway that appeared to lead to another office. OOC: @Nato the Traveler

IC: Reliable Narrator | Ruins of Earth Kat and Jutori's abilities allowed them to safely navigate their way to the doorway beneath the floor. The crystal spikes glistened dangerously on the "ceiling" below. OOC: @Tarn @The UltimoScorp

IC: Reliable Narrator | Ruins of Earth Kilo fired. Its aim was true, and the disk of weakening struck the spot where Arkius's axe had dug a small hole in the crystal. The disk itself did no damage, but its effects were immediately visible. The spiderweb of cracks that had expanded from the point of impact grew larger, and smaller cracks began to blossom between the bigger ones. For a moment, that was the only effect. Then the centre of the spiderweb gave way. A central, circular portion of crystal simply dissolved, falling like a stream of clear sand to the spikes and stalagmites on the "ceiling" far below, leaving a roughly toa-sized hole in the center of the floor. Now that a hole had been opened, it was clear that Arkius was right: the floor was not reflective, but transparent. The "reflection" of the room was actually a separate (but identical) room seen through the floor. That room could now be accessed through the hole in the floor. OOC: @Tarn @pokemonlover360 @The UltimoScorp @Onaku

IC: Reliable Narrator | Ruins of Earth Three members of the group returned to their respective gears, but Arkius strode alone to the center of the chamber. Taking his axe, the toa swung it in a broad arc, bringing the rear spike down on the floor. The point of the spike buried itself in the crystalline ground with a chok, sending shards of crystal skittering across the floor and kick-starting a spiderweb of cracks that blossomed out from the point of impact. Thankfully, the floor still held firm, although perhaps the adventurers would tread a little more carefully over the jagged white lines that now marred the previously pristine surface. Looking down, Arkius still saw neither his reflection nor the reflection of the weapon that was now embedded in the floor. He could, however, look through the floor to see the spike of the axe emerging beneath his feet, pointing down towards the "reflection" of the ceiling. OOC: @Onaku @pokemonlover360 @The UltimoScorp @Tarn IC: Taja | Kini-Koro "You might say that," Taja replied to Knichou. Then she looked at Nale. "Good morning, Nale. I see you've been busy." Then the mysterious pilot appeared. With a start of surprise, Taja recognized Stannis, the Toa she had last met aboard the Taku what seemed like a lifetime ago. "That's me," she said, greeting the Wanderer with a smile. "Welcome to Kini-Koro, Toa Stannis."

IC: Reliable Narrator | Ruins of Earth "He wa— oh, are you giving up so soon?" The Administrator's answer was cut off by an explanation of apparent surprise. "How disappointing. You were just figuring things out, too." OOC: @Tarn @pokemonlover360 @Onaku @The UltimoScorp IC: Taja | Kini-Koro Taja finished jogging up just as the Ambling Alp began to settle down in a proper landing. The airship's landing gear flexed as the feet pressed to the ground, digging slightly into the grassy earth. Pistons and vents hissed pneumatically. Taja held up a hand in greeting to whomever was in the cockpit, and waited for the occupants to make their appearance. Knichou was a given, but who was the mysterious pilot?

IC: Reliable Narrator | Ruins of Earth As each member of the group carefully turned their respective gear at Jutori's command, the floor's reflection continued to rotate. It moved slowly but inevitably, until at last the crystalline stalactites on the ceiling were poised directly above their counterparts seen in the floor. At this point, Jutori called out for his companions to cease turning their gears, and they did. Now, if they looked down and up, the ceiling of the cavern and the image in the floor were identical. The lavender stalactite hung above its mirror image, as did the cluster of smaller cerise-colored crystals. A jutting spike of milky pink crystal hung over an identical formation in the floor. The four beings, however, still cast no reflection. There was silence for a moment, but it was quickly broken by the sound of grinding stone coming from the door. If any looked over, they would see the stone door descend into the floor of the tunnel, leaving the way free to travel through once more. The doorway had a mirror image below it now where none had been before, and the reflection of the door also opened; although it appeared, perhaps by some trick of the light, to open a half second behind the real door. OOC: @pokemonlover360 @Onaku @The UltimoScorp @Tarn