EmperorWhenua

IC Stannis Prime | Great Telescope, Mata Nui | Timeline C "And my whole universe depends on my judicious decision making. You'll understand why I am reticent to do anything to endanger it." And then Nuju spoke clearly, plainly declaring what he intended, and the Wanderer understood. "No."

IC Stannis Prime | Great Telescope, Mata Nui | Timeline C "That depends on what you're looking for. I have my Kanohi, nothing more, nothing less, and what it does it not your concern until it is also mine."

IC Stannis Prime | Great Telescope, Mata Nui | Timeline C "You have what passes for eyes; you're seeing it right now," he plainly pointed out.

IC Stannis Prime | Great Telescope, Mata Nui | Timeline C "I am Toa Stannis Maru, the Wanderer and master of the Legend."

IC Hiripaki | Ehlek’s Flying Fortress The AI nodded her automaton's head in acknowledgement. "OTIS, Aurax, please let me hook into the vessels computer system. Let me do what Stannis intended for me to do: Speaking Truth to Power."

IC Hiripaki | Ehlek’s Flying Fortress "He's right, you know. For what it's worth. Everything he said was true."

IC Yumiwak & Zai | This land called Zakaz The dragon eviscerated the Coliseum with ignorant hatred. She did not know why she did what she performed, but out of vitriolic loathing of the things of the Builders she consumed the whole of the edifice with her breath. She was ignorant not just in that she knew not why she did it but because she also did not know what she did. There was no awareness of the significance of her destruction. The dragon was childlike in her tantrum of flame and flicker. Kings and warlords fought with their lives for it and ruled vast armadas from the Coliseum's promontory. Matoran had been given power and paltry purposed in its offices, feeling as thought they could touch Destiny. Turaga had given counsel many thought as wise from its parapets and media stations and died where they laid in fits of despair. Aspects of Makuta and Great Spirits alike had claimed it as their own, in their own ways, each vying to master a story not quite of their own devising. Beings had navigated the greatness of an entire Ark from its control panels and piloted an entire score of civilizations through the cosmos, a universe within the infinite nature of realities. And armies of soldiers and citizens alike had been sequestered in its dungeons and then butchered in its basements, turned to soylent green and fuel for a catastrophic apocalypses. This Coliseum, this edifice of malcontent and greatness, was nothing more than a tree to a logger. Zai knew not the symbol she defiled, only that it required demolition. When it fell, it fell as a candle caught aflame. Its protocrete and protosteel walls and stories melted to slag and flowed in a river of viscous liquid into the extant streets and overfull canals that remained of the ruined City of Legends. Masses of steam rose where heated mass struck, filling the cavity of the Ark's head with acrid smoke and tainted fog. Everywhere Zai looked she saw ruin, destruction, and chaos. Flame was everywhere. Zai roared, her voice filling the Godhead before being reverberated into the atmosphere, amplified by the resonating chamber of the skull. She roared for no reason, only bloodlust and rage, but in satisfaction of a job that was done. That was finished. Metru Nui was gone. Nothing was as it was before. And yet... @Tarn Nothing was as it was before. Yumiwak stood on the deck of her flying schooner, watching as the Godhead sunk further into the sea even as it evaporated around it and the light of fires within and without rendered it a blur even from her perspective in the sky. The screeches and cries of her dragons filled the atmosphere with their rage. Marrow was antsy. He longed to spread life and flora. It was in his nature, his duty to destroy already satisfied. There was chaos of the dragon princess' making. Now was the time to turn the page and start making things the way they were before. She held one of her family's books in her hand and clutched it close to her chest, and cried. The world had been vast and verdant, long ago, until something happened that rendered it a wasteland. She wanted to make it new again. A new cycle, where life flowed freely and green pastures were in every direction. "Ys," she said at last. "I think I am ready to turn the page. If this is the power to destroy... then I want to create. It's what my ancestors always wanted me to do, and now... I think... it's finally what I want to do as well. I am sorry it took me this long to realize it..." [Marrow.] [Do what I know you want.] [Spread your life-giving power to this land.] @Gecko Greavesy @pokemonlover360

IC Stannis | The Winding Walk … The Wanderer wandered, as they always did. Alone with their thoughts in the vastness of space the old wizard finally felt as though they could breathe—ironic, they realized, that it would be an absence of air to fill their lungs with stillness and peace. Knowledge had always been a tool, a weapon to use against the unknown, a small light in the darkness. It didn’t matter how much he was at home in obscurity, familiarity with shadows only made him not fear it, but he could still be affected by its mysteries. How rightful it was, then, that his quest for knowledge and secret magicks would be a boon for him at his quest’s final chapter. They thanked the journey they had gone on, for it had brought them to where they were. Yet again, a fourth portal awaited and the three tiles of taboos. A circle with four undulating lines. An equilateral triangle with a clockwise spiral inside. Two small circles above an equilateral triangle pointing upwards. He only knew one of the three and so gave what was needed to pass. Goodbye My fickle friend You breathe and laugh and love You glowing star You shed your light far above Hello. The tile illuminated, faded, and he was permitted to pass. … The Wanderer wandered. How long had he done so now? A tear? Ten tears? A century? Did it matter? No. But Caedast was curious, a leftover trait of when books were still fascinating. Now she was the tome and paper no longer had the appeal it used to. In many ways she had accomplished her own apotheosis apart from ascending to spirithood, and the feats she had performed had reverberated far beyond her physical form could satisfactorily describe. A fifth stopping point awaited them again. The tiles were the familiar conjoined semi-circles with their flat sides in opposite directions, the three squiggly lines of the tethers taboo, and the equilateral triangle with a clockwise spiral inside. One was unknown and the other could not be repeated. He tried to utter its rite but the words would not manifest, and so his mouth spoke the other instead. Goodbye Release each yoke of mine Each destined path is one Remove barriers as they align Not all must circle around a sun Hello The door allowed him entry yet again. Knowledge was his weapon. Knowledge was his key. … The Wanderer… did what they did best. They made things up as they went, all for the sake of the narrative. Was this intentional or was it a happenstance? Was it cultivated as a bonsai tree with its twenty pink frogs or was it surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one? You be the judge, but know that your judgement bears no gravitas. The narrative demanded its due and the Wanderer's story took its winding turns as it was needed. No more, no less. The final checkpoint awaited him, and he could feel the toll the sojourn had taken. His repertoire of spells had been depleted and fear once again seemed into his armor like sand in a hut. His heart, if he had one, beat faster in dread as he hoped against all hopes that he had the knowledge required to open just one… more… door. As he read the expectant tiles of constellations he did so carefully, not wishing to have to accept entrapment at this stage of his quest. A six pointed star. He did not know it. The upside down triangle. He could not use it. His deadpan eye swerved to the final tile, hoping as much as he could for it to be one within his ability. An ellipsis with a line through it. The Rite of Desecration yet again. As all things started, so they ended. A cycle to the very end. Goodbye Hello Step forth into the darkness and prepare the gift A star’s heart still beating, still lit Two midnight horrors cry and shift Make them squirm inside the pit Bind worm and willing host Tear the yolk and spread its gold Devour knowledge and their ghost Pray for prey forever sold Hello Goodbye The tile accepted his offering. The Wanderer passed through the final portal. @Unreliable Narrator

IC Stannis | The Winding Walk The Wanderer… wandered, as they were ought to do. But for the first time ever… it was where he had not trod before. No Wanderer had gone this far, but the journey was not over yet, and there was still much that needed to be done. Look at the stars, look how they shine for you… And everything that you do... Everywhere he looked there were stars. Left, right, up, down, there was no sense of direction in the space the Wanderer inhabited, there was simply darkness, the stars, and him. Where to go? He wondered, but he already knew the answer: Forward. Where was forward? That was a knowledge he needed to learn, and so, step by step, he walked… forward. His weapon’s pommel struck something solid but made no sound; his footfalls were dampened to silence. There was no backwards, no up, no down, only what lay ahead. Forward. Like direction, time had no meaning, either. The Wanderer meandered for what could have been a minute or a year, but eventually, at some point, he reached a point he could not pass by mere footsteps alone. Three tiles on the floor—if it was to be called as much—that appeared as faraway constellations. Beyond them was a darkness, an absence of light that reminded him of the trials in Uhuraz’s domain. The constellations were not images of animals or beings, but sigils. An upside down triangle. Three triangles pointing away from a single circle. A circle with a squiggle down the middle and a dot at a post-midday point. Taboos, he realized, two of which he knew. Taking a cue from the gate outside, he complied the request. Goodbye Mortal soil Decrepit and raw Shadow born cosmos Where I see all Hello. The sigil lit up, and they all faded, admitting him further. … The Wanderer wandered, as they were ought to do. There was much to ponder, but little to focus on. Stannis was reminded of the time he had commuted with the Stars after partaking of the miracle cactus that grew in the far northern oasis the Nektann family had last ruled over. Ever star was a person, every person held a destiny. He wished he could steak to them there, in the absence of all stimulus, and hear what they had to say. Were they in pain, or were they in screaming delight? Who spoke their stories here if they could not speak for themselves? An absence in the tapestry came upon him, and three tiles yet again awaited his inspection at his feet. A counter-clockwise spiral. Six vertical lines, two rows of three, as if to prepare for making a graffiti ’S.’ An eight-pointed star. The rite of the Shadow Grasp had been a recent re-aquisition and he performed it, giving the rite’s ancient incantation in the deep and arcane speech that he scarcely remembered but nevertheless could muster. The tiles vanished and admitted him further. … The Wanderer wandered, as they were ought to do. What defined his sojourn? he wondered. While Caedast was a manifestation of the Builder’s dreams to answer their deepest wishes, the Aspect of their Makuta had become something entirely his own. In a large part she had been shaped by Stannis, the true Toa, and his memories and desires. That one had been a visionary ahead of his time, and Caedast was proud to call his body her host. They had accomplished so much in their time together; she hoped, despite it all, that Stannis the True would still be proud of her now. Another absence, another three tiles… and someone. A familiar shape lingered around the absence in space, a longtime rival reduced to a kindred pilgrim in the search for the same goal. The runes were conjoined semi-circles with their flat sides in opposite directions, the upside down triangle, and four circles with a diamond drawn between their center points “Hello, Miserix,” Stannis greeted coldly before he provided the requested rite. Goodbye Mighty warrior Cleaver of skies Meek gardener Tender of lies Hello. “Toodles, step-sister.” He ventured forth once again.

IC Stannis Prime | Po-Koro "Your Nuju sounds just as dead."

IC Stannis Prime | Po-Koro | Timeline C, as in "B Z P R P G" "The Nuju I know was assassinated by mercenaries some months back, I'm afraid."

IC Stannis Prime | Po-Koro | Timeline C The Wanderer stood still as a statue for a long moment as he took it all in. He stared at Skyra NUVA. And then to Datrox. And then his damnably grey eyes turned to Atamai. He's seen some wacky things. He'd done some crazy things. His use of the Hiripaki always had the effect of swapping something for another thing, and this law of equivalent exchange had gotten him and his team in trouble several times before. He'd deposited and pulled Joske from the Legend and manifested blizzards in exchange for glaciers, but this... Skyra... was not his doing. He had not deposited anyone into the Legend in some time, and truth or not, this was a grave situation indeed, and one he had little control over. Leave it to Skyra Daring, or her mecha doppelgänger, to cause chaos wherever she went. "I believe you," he said at last. "Every last word of it. But I'm not sure how I am supposed to help you."

IC Stannis Prime | Po-Koro | Timeline C "Who are you and how did that tickling fiend Reordin get you to cosplay as Skyra Daring?" The Wanderer had seen many things, but this... was something new. Probably because it was also benign, and he wasn't used to contending with things that weren't spiritual or deadly. "Stannis Maru. It's an honor to meet you." "Hello. I am Stannis of the Maru. ... You know that."

IC Stannis | Mangaia In the past, everything was cyclical—what Caedast gave, Caedast received. It had been the case in the Great War, Uhuraz' temple, even his very presence on Xa-kas, but not, he noted, in the Mangaia. What Caedast gave was not given back. This was a point of no return. Stannis had already told the others as much—"One more adventure together… one last time" he'd said to Oreius—"I have no expectation of surviving whatever comes next," he'd said to Atamai—so there was no reason to stand on ceremony and speak of the reality they were facing. This was it. It had to be. And if it were not... then it still was. The wizard clenched his hand around his spear in the wake of the debilitating gasp of the monolith and held it close to support his weight as though he were a weary traveler leaning against a tree. Remaining was not an option; turning back was unthinkable. Ever forward, always. Ever further, always. Those had been his watchwords of wisdom and he clung to them even so. There was only what came next, beyond the veil, beyond the mystery. It was his role to peer behind the curtains and witness the deepest mysteries of the worlds. His task, for everyone. Sorilax had failed here because it was not his place, not his sacrifice to make. But Stannis... was different. Armed and armored by the resolve of a being who did not cling to life as a physical state and determined to accomplish the inevitable, he mustered the power to lift his staff and step forward. Into the darkness. Into the unknown. He spoke the ritual he knew now by heart who's markings adorned the forbidden edifices, a prayer to a power he aspired to claim, as he stepped forward. "Goodbye, Hello. Step forth into the darkness and prepare the gift, A star’s heart still beating, still lit, Two midnight horrors cry and shift. Make them squirm inside the pit Bind worm and willing host, Tear the yolk and spread its gold, Devour knowledge and their ghost Pray for prey forever sold. Hello, Goodbye." @Unreliable Narrator @~Xemnas~ @Eyru

IC Hiripaki | Eel man's flying fortress "Hi! I don't breathe," the AI in the Vahki said.

Oreius, Atamai, and Stannis are in there.

She's just as good as Spiriah and bad as Miserix, just like Sorilax and Tuakana and Caedast. All hail.

IC Stannis | In Parn's Head A small chuckle that sounded almost bemused reverberated in the aspirant's noggin. [Good.] It sounded almost... proud, the way a haggard old uncle who'd been through too many hard knocks was when their nephew became the first kid to go to university, or a prodigal child finally got through the final steps of rehab and was certified cured. Caedast was happy for Parnassus--congenially so--and it was not a something expected from the nebulous mind. [Then we are finally working as one.]

IC Stannis | In Parnassus' head [Truly? Everyone.] [Everyone who ever heard me, spoke to me, fought me, cared for me.] [The life I lived masquerading as a truly great Toa Hero has been a fraud. That is the lie.] [But my promise of a final Cycle with unbound horizons of opportunity without ignorance?] [My purpose and intent, and my oath to help when called for? ... has always been true.] [Hate me. Loathe me. Fear me. I know I am a charlatan.] [And if I had a heart, it would bleed for everyone.] @Void Emissary

IC Stannis | In Parnassus "If I don't make it out of this one," Parnassus said, "then I reckon that you're the best bet to remake this whole stinking place. Just don't let Caedast become God, you understand?" A voice crawled inside the younger Aspect's mind. [Unless I ascend you will be forgotten.] [Do you really wish to betray yourself so?] IC Stannis & Oreius | The Winding Walk The light of protective energy dwindled away when its timer struck its limit. In response, Stannis hefted his weapon and sparked a lightning ball at its tip that rumbled with a haunting buzz but still managed to light the way even a few steps ahead of him regardless. The Avohkii was of little use here, he needed the options provided by the Haonga for now, and kept his wits about him. He felt... a hunger gnawing at him the deeper they went, a sapping breeze that robbed him of something inside of him. He was, indeed, well and truly scared of what would happen next. @Void Emissary @~Xemnas~ @Unreliable Narrator @Eyru

IC Hiripaki | Eel Man's flying castle "Ooh! Touching can be fun! And also usually has consequences!" she squealed. She remembered all the times unwelcome ones touched her doors before she butchered them.

IC Morian | Forsi "Oh! Those are my reading lenses. Thank you, though. Maybe I'll just... retrace my steps and it'll turn up..." The secretary began to walk towards Po-Koro.

IC Stannis | Kini-Nui, descending "I am," he admitted. Their walk into the blackness was illuminated only scantly by the wisps of protective energy that emanated from his Haonga, a strange but welcome secondary effect of his triggering its particular power. "They will continue to get worse until the cycle restarts from its conception point. Your help may be warranted. I have much control but so little power compared to a NUVA and welcome your company this last time. "I will warn you, however, that just as before in the last hours of Metru Nui... I have no expectation of surviving whatever comes next."

IC Morian | Forsi "Have you seen my glasses?" they asked Atamai.

You've heard of TikTok, not get ready for TicTak. "Have you ever been in love?"