Lara White

I'll take it.

Rain beats down on the quiet sidewalk, rushing into sewer-drains  and swirling in potholes on the road. A pair of tan boots splash in a puddle, throwing up raindrops in every direction. A poncho swirls in the wind, protecting its wearer from the elements, but only for so long. The night is lightless, the moon concealed by the rainclouds. No lightning flashes, and the only sound to be heard is the rushing of the rain.

Ahead, there is a sign on a low brick building, almost hunkered against the wind like the man is. He hurries toward it, seeking shelter. As he nears, he can see that the sign reads, "Bionicle Mafia Association: Members Welcome." He knocks on the door.

"Who is it?" A voice asks. "We don't accept visitors."

A pair of gleaming eyes look out from under the brim of a patrol cap, staring at where the voice's face would be if the door was open, as if he could pierce the door with his mere gaze.

"I'm not a visitor." He said, and pushed the door open, stepping inside. He swept his poncho off, casting rain on the doormat, and surveyed the lounge.

"I'm back."

To truly comprehend the essence of BZ-Time is to delve into the heart of madness.

By all means, please PM me about it.

Hey, boys and girls, guess who's back?

I should advise that I'll only be able to post once or twice a day, with a few rare exceptions. However, I do now have enough time to take over from Kughii, to whom I'd like to extend my copious thanks for keeping Po-Koro's ship of state afloat while I was gone.

I have put this off for far too long.

*ahem*

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an Announcement of some Importance.

It has been my longstanding policy regarding this and other RPGs I participate in that "Real Life always comes first." Between the real world that we spend (some of) our time in, and this fun but imaginary world of the BZPRPG, the real world takes precendence always. I have held this policy for members old and new, skilled and inexperienced. Now it is my turn to ask the same of you.

It has come time for me to dedicate all of my attention to improving my real life, as it has stagnated unpleasantly for some time. The next step for me will be joining the military (please! No arguments about whether this is right or wrong. First off, it's against BZPower rules to debate those kinds of topics, second off it's my decision). As you can probably guess, this implies that I go through boot camp and AIT. Cumulatively, that will take fifteen weeks from next Tuesday.

As you may have guessed, this causes something of a problem for those who need to do things in Po-Koro, or with Hewkii specifically. I have put much thought into this over the last few months, and ultimately I have decided that the simplest solution is the best--I am leaving control of Po-Koro and Akiri Hewkii in the hands of my trusted friend Kughii for the duration of my absence. Of course, you may have noticed that I am doing this a week early--the reason for that is that I want to give Kughii a chance for a trial run while I am still here, so that we can test this plan and work out the kinks.

Let me be quite clear--while this is relatively long-term, it is still temporary. I will eventually come back, so do not worry yourselves about that. But it will be several months until I do, and until then, I ask that you treat Kughii with all the respect you would accord any Akiri player--he's at least as intelligent and competent as any other player with an Akiri. For now, he is effectively my representative in anything relating to Po-Koro. For the next week, you may contact me with any problems that may arise, but after that, Kughii will be running solo in my stead.
And so, in the words of a very well-known hobbit:

I regret to announce that this is the End. I am going now, and I bid you all a very fond farewell.

Goodbye.

hello

if you're reading this, i'm still alive

i won't be able to be in contact for some time. i don't know when i'll return. just be careful and watch your back.

they're coming

Just like Xaeraz!

Sorry couldn't resist

And in regards to characters, I agree with Shadowhawk. We should take this far more realistically, not push our personal opinions and feelings through our characters. For instance, I have Tarotrix, a Colonel in the guard, a jingoistic, prideful Matoran who dislikes Toa and holds racist views towards Skakdi and Vortixx. I'm not going to have call for peace and diplomacy upon Dasaka landings, no. I'm going to write what I think the character would do in the situation. I'll have him call for war, try to rally the troops, push to take the fight to the Kentokus, and vow to put the Rora's head upon a stake. Exactly the thing a character with such a mindset would do.

Can I just take a second to underline this particular sentence? This is one of the key points of good RPing--being able to A: separate your own opinions from those of your PCs and B: understanding that other people will be doing the same.

 

If we're going to talk about this, we need to use our brains. Out of character (OOC), we do need to respect one another, keep things polite, and remember that this is all just a friendly (and awesome, BTW) RPG where we can do awesome things via virtual avatars that we could never hope of doing in our actual lives.

In character (IC), however, we need to tone down the sappy 'please-no-fighting' attitude and act like real people. In war, real people don't lay down their weapons, because the feral instinct of self-preservation trumps everything else. In the heat of combat, someone else is trying to kill you, and because you want to live, you have to kill them first. I've read enough first-hand accounts by war veterans to know what I'm talking about.

 

Real people, people just as real in their mental processes as our characters should be, sometimes fight unjustified wars. Sometimes, real people are stupid. Therefore, it follows that sometimes our characters do stupid things too. Being stupid is often synonymous with being realistic, I'm afraid.

War. Is. Not. Diplomatic. Or. Courteous.

 

You are simultaneously correct and incorrect. People can be perfectly civil or considerate in war. People can be horribly savage in war. Even people facing death can be civil, depending on who it is. I believe there was a German general (name forgotten, I do not have the history book to hand) who sent the British general who'd captured him congratulations upon hearing that the man had won the Victoria Cross. Alternatively, the WWI Christmas Truce.

HOWEVER

You are incredibly right about saying that OOC we need to respect one another, keep things polite, etc etc.

Can I see a show of hands for people promising that, whatever happens, even if our characters get horribly maimed or even killed, even if we lose or are cheated, even if we think things played out unfairly, we'll conduct ourselves with decency and honor? I know I will, and I hope other people will join me.

*raises hand*

@ Kughii: Normally I'd agree, but we tried that before the break and...well, we all saw how that went. I'm about ready for some good straightforward head-beating.

Fifty widgets says the Koros hold out.

With this many Nulls, the Ghost would be hard-pressed to kill anyone. XD

Dangit, stop stealing my ideas for Mafia games.

I have to say, everyone's done quite well in my absence. Kudos to all the village, particularly Ehks.

Also, I'd like to confirm that Burnmad is, in fact, innocent.

Do you know any?

I object to dying. I am a villager.

There's no Necromancer. There's no slot for it in Secret Roles.

So, what do we do if we think we've found the Ghost?

Dang, that is a good fake. XD

So, if we think we know who the Ghost is, how do we deal with them?

@ Burnmad: Uh, Chro confessed to it, he was a victim of bad judgement. Why do you want to hang him?

@ Pulse and Blade: You're both lying. I know who the real Turaga is and it's not either of you.

Did you not notice Chro's confession earlier? I mean, obviously a Mafian would confess that they'd done it.

Chro's behavior says "Matoran," particularly the part where he asked me for advice on who to kill. He only struck off on his own when I didn't respond in time--I had life things that came up.

So, if the other Turaga is done handing out weapons to the wrong people...

First he gave one to a Mafian, now he's got the Medic killed. It would be nice if he'd listen to my advice instead of smugging it up in PM. I'm inclined to think Chro's not a Mafian, considering his help in catching Xaeraz.

@ Cryo: Any particular reason?