EmperorWhenua

OOC | Eeny meeny miny... moe. IC Yumiwa | Ga-Koro I slipped by the clusters of Ga-Matoran villagers and my Dasaka people, most of them too busy tending to their immediate needs to notice my spirited passing by until they caught whiff of my perfume—as was my custom, a quick spritz of Chanel Nº5 before heading out in public again—in my wake, and when they looked up it was too late to give any bows or respects. I liked it better that way at the time, weaving through with just Zafin as company and leaving the trappings of Hogo retainers at the Panda and Yukanna so to not make a big deal of my presence. How did the people here interact? How did they handle my people? I decided to check this out and see firsthand at the nearest people's establishment I could find. I stepped through the doors of a place called the Great Takea.

IC Stannis | Po-Koro The Wanderer's shoulders rolled slowly like mountains, his equivalent of a shrug. "No clue. She has not set a schedule, or even declared her intent, but we can go pay her a visit and get it from the akiri's mouth. I will not lead you on with misinformation."

IC Yumiwa | Panda II "Alright, so you're an ornithophillic heretic," I said with a roll of my eyes and shake of my head that then simmered to a good-natured chuckle. "I'd discuss our theology with you here and now if I thought either of us are up to the task. But nah." With a flex of my abs and a gentle shove off the couch I vaulted on to my feet with the aid of my kanohi, then smoothed my outfit out from after lounging unceremoniously with it in the Umbraline cuddle puddle. "Ah-hem. We should go mingle with our people to make sure they're alright, and I want to see more of this town. We'll be see you both around. Love ya both!" And then Zafin trailed after me as I disembarked and entered the bustling Ga-Koro again. OOC | Yumi is open for general interaction.

IC Stannis | Po-Koro The venerable toa shook his beleaguered head slowly. He did not know what became of Echelon, though a part of him had a hunch the dark general was finally dead. Echelon had been a thorn in his side for as long as he was a Maru despite not always being aware of each other. Their rivalries was born from representation of their respective spirits; just as Stannis Maru acted as Mata Nui's divine intervention in the world, so was Echelon for Makuta, and their paths intersected occasionally to combat each other. One of the assorted gifts he received from Mata Nui was what some companions of the past had simply coined as his 'wandering.' For Stannis it was a natural component of his being and required no practice of nomenclature, but for everyone else Stannis' preternatural ability to sense danger and unfold narrative wherever he went was a phenomenon that required titling. It was through this ability that the prophet had been aware of the looming presences of threats to the Matoran. Oddly, in the wake of the reclamation of Ko-Koro, the niggling tell of Echelon's existence had altogether ceased to be... odd, Stannis considered, since he had never presented himself in the battlefield, but he did not dwell on the thought at all. Stannis felt, and when there was nothing more to feel, he simply moved on. "I have an idea," he began rumbling in rumination. "Akiri Renaka has mentioned in passing to me that she entertains an expedition through the Dark Walk. I will be lending my power when it happens. Come with us—it would be good to have you at our side, and it would do you well to feel your sword cleave through your demons. And if your C.O. needs some persuasion, I can issue a codex of absolution so you can come as my companion. There is no reason you have to face the darkness by yourself."

I can speak with some authority on this. Some of the Dasaka rules need to be re-written because the species are co-existing in Arc 3 and have to be re-balanced to match their matoran/toa/turaga counterparts, much like how the weaknesses of the menti disciplines were heavily amended. What you see written right now is relic stuff from when we created the Dasaka breeds loooong ago. You can probably expect some changes soon-ish, lol.

IC Yumiwa | Panda II I gasped! “The truth is out there,” I said in awestruck fascination. “I want to believe.” We’re we in any public place or a meeting if any gravitas at all in the company of anyone besides Des I’d never deign myself to play with Masa at all, but since we were letting guards down and were in a safe place I decided to poke at her with the unsaid consent of her ward. “Masayoshi,” I said and returned my gaze at her. “What do you think is more likely between the two? Was the spectral dragon Zuto Nui’s spirit manifest through Des or the legendary Shitbird of Whitewalk?” @Krayzikk

IC Yumiwa | Panda II I veered a sharp gaze at Masa that softened upon falling to my sister. "Oh yeah?"

IC Stannis | Po-Koro "Not if you are ready," he reminded Ra'lhen. "Mentally. Spiritually. Cardiac-ally... I just made that word up. "And we defeated him—defeated, not killed," he explained. "I had hoped that that would be the end of his reign of terror but it was not to be. It took some time for be to realize we'd only won a battle, and it took longer still for me to acknowledge the truth with the others that there was still a war to come. Since then I have been trying to find a way to end this cycle and truly 'kill' Makuta. But I have not given up my faith... and neither should you."

IC Yumiwa | Panda II "Masayoshi—always the skeptic," I said with a light tone and cast a petty look her way, in the same fashion I would at a girlfriend who said she wasn't hungry at brunch and ordered just the mimosa but was still stealing my fries with impudence. Masa couldn't see my judgy eyes, of course, but her spine immediately straightened fractionally and signaled that she was sensing my gaze. "So did the brow over your mind's eye arc to the heavens just now, or was I imagining that as well?"

IC Yumiwa | Panda II "So the legends say," I said and thought a moment. The mention of Inokio reminded me of him all over again, the good and the bad all flooded in a great montage of memories. Did she even know about the former bodyguard's fate yet? "It's possible Zuto Nui channeled herself through you," I theorized. "It wouldn't be the first time such a miracle was recorded as happening. And I know She was around because She... She spoke to me, Des. In the great temple. The Great Spirit communicated to me directly, and in doing so saved countless Dasakan lives."

IC Yumiwa | Panda II I nodded, aware I was barely containing my fascination with Des' spectacular display back home. "Your psychologist thinks it was the exhaustion of basically Soulswording a dragon to fight for you that drove your mind into a trancelike recuperation. As for the timing, heh, well I know Zuto Nui is still helping with our affairs somehow, so I'm not too shocked you woke up exactly when you needed to."

IC Yumiwa | Panda II "Yes, cousin, of course—I won't keep you from your responsibilities," I said aloud. "The roster of ships and captains should be updated on the Yukanna's log. If you or a subordinate can check it to make sure our fleet is intact and arriving as planned it would give me peace of mind, and this evening we can pore over a list of proposed places we can settle. "Tomorrow there will be a council meeting on board the Yukanna. Speed and agility at making decisions will be essential to maintain order. My people are restless and unsure of what will come next, and their fears and insecurities need to be addressed with solutions and answers or else we risk yet another fracture." I then sighed heavily but kept my chin high and felt the weight of responsibility settle on my head again, but this time I took that burden with dignity. Lessons had been learned, painful ones that I daren't regress upon. "Back home I worked diligently to earn my people's confidence again. I will not let them down again here."

IC Yumiwa | Panda II "You do realize this is the Panda, right...?" Ah, so she's interested! I thought giddily. She had to be or why else would she bring it up? "But yeah! It's for real. It was their idea and suggestion. I, uh... I was looking for things we can do together." It came out from one of my evening ranting sessions as I journaled on what the future could hold for us and processed my thoughts out loud. That was when Des was still in her drained, comatose state and it wasn't 100% that she'd recover from it or when, but that didn't stop me from trying to think of what we could be doing when she snapped out of it and we were on dry land again. Mata Nui was a land of open opportunity where Sado was a stifling room and I daydreamed of growing stronger and closer with her. My retinue of three bore witness to most of these journaling monologues, and it was then that Than and Iglia had picked up one of my trains of thought and discussed it between themselves. A fortnight later, they approached me and brought up the offer of Clan Eiyu's signature training. It was practically handed as a gift, pre-approved by their elders and wrapped up as a neat package for Des and I to open. It was too generous and cool to turn down and agreed almost immediately. The Twin Souls philosophy that allowed two Menti—just like Than and Iglia themselves—to operate as a synchronous unit, in the battlefield as in life, but it required a ton of learning and attunement to accomplish. My twin handmaidens had offered their training in the very same room we sat in now. "It won't be easy," Than had said back then. "It is not a simple path to master," Iglia chimed in. "But mastery of its principles is just a byproduct. For you and Desdemona, it can just be a new practicum neither of you have dabbled in before. It would def not be a boring divertissement." "You want to spend more time with your sister, yeah? If we train the both of you in our clan's tradition you will only grow together and strengthen your bonds. We can't think of a better thing you could do than connect with Des on a spiritual level." "Well, you can sign us the frick up," I proclaimed with glee at the prospect. "Do we... have to sign any waivers, or...?" I was beaming proudly at her by then. "So what do you think of spending a lot of time together and learning a crapton about ourselves and each other? Are you down, or are you down?" @Haman Karn: A Magical Girl

IC Stannis | Po-Koro The stalwart toa shook his head ceremonially. There was no more preventing the changes of fortunes than halting the tides but that didn't preclude hope. "In order to prepare you need to know what the threat is," he said. "You can build a house in a flood plain but with stilts higher than the waterline, walk into the far horizon with enough provisions so they don't run out, man the ramparts with troops if the enemy is at your gates... Sometimes we need objective data to prepare, other times we can feel it in our bones already, but we still have to know what to prepare against first." He sighed heavily. Ra'lhen was as tortured as they came, having lived a life of a dark toa and coming back with the memories of that past as shackles on his soul, and that only made him stronger from his trauma. He had no desire to see a repeat and was as driven to fight it as any other matoran denizen. While Stannis' strength ostensibly came from an act of divine benediction, Ra'lhen's came from his tortured heart and a fear of seeing it again. And so, Stannis chose to embrace the other toa with kindness and trust. He deserved to know what to shore up against so that he could fight it best. Stannis gestured for Ra'lhen to follow him into his abode, and once they were inside he glanced outside quickly to ensure privacy. "I say this in confidence to you so that you can understand what is needed and can overcome whatever fears you still possess," he said, his voice low even in the privacy of his own home. "The Makuta is not really gone."

IC Zafin | Panda II Zafin plucked Yumi's captain's cap from the coffee table and nonchalantly placed it on the new statuesque coat rack before joining her family on the couch.

IC Yumiwa | Ga-Koro In the privacy of my own ship I close let the weight of being rora fall off my shoulders, like a cloak shaken off by a warm hearth at winter, and relish in the moment of familial closeness. There were still plenty Umbralines in clan name with us, but of the imperial family... it seemed we were all there was left. Moments together were hard to come by before and it was hard to say when it could happen again, so enjoying the time I had with them was more prized a possession than all the gold in the world. “I could get used to seeing my empress in navy colors. I bet the crews got a kick out of that.” "I wouldn't know if they did," I admitted. "Maybe it was the overwhelming grief, or maybe they were scared of me kicking their oshiri, but light remarks my way were few and far in between." I hugged Ayiwah on the other side opposite Des and she scooped me under with her free arm. I inspected her uniform and smiled up at her. "Also, you're out of uniform—you were issued a big hat." Suddenly I shuddered involuntarily and my head sagged onto my cousin's shoulder. A chilly sensation came to my cheeks and it took a moment for me to realize what was happening because it was not cold, but as her linen and wool grew damp I realized it was the drying trail of tears on my face. Ever since my mom was murdered I'd felt increasingly alone and powerless to stop the exodus of people from my life. It's a frightening thing, having all the power in the world to change people's lives but still helpless to save my own soul. The people I loved, trusted, or cares for had been taken from me one by one: My mom, cruelly assassinated; my cousin, sent away to Mata Nui; my sister, kept away for who knows what; Hana-whatsername, obliterated from my memory; Uncle Rayuke, working in isolation with the Inquisition; and Inokio, revealed to be a spy and devoid of honor. And then, when everything came crashing down... I pressed my chin deeper into the rich blue shirt when I realized why I was so convulsing cathartically. "You know, it's been... so long since I've been hugged by you guys." "Tea's ready, Yumi," Zafin kindly interjected. "Get the #### in here, Zaf," I commanded and stretched an arm out to pull her in. "You're one of us, too." And no less a cousin of mine than Ayiwah. So there we stood, a muddled mass of swirling feelings and repressed trauma let loose on each other, until we tearfully relented and let each other go only to reconvene the pile on the large couch before the tea went cold, though I had a feeling Than and Iglia were responsible for the carafe of shōchū on the platter as well. One trauma after another had befallen our clan and my soul, an unceasing train of loss and occupation that kept me plunged in darkness like trying to swim in frigid rapids. Ever done that? The muscles tire more quickly in the cold, and the churning stream is more air than water, making even the strongest of swimming strokes into futile gestures. People drowned that way constantly, too emboldened by the warm air and inviting river until they realized their error in judgement. Maybe we can finally, finally be whole and work together again. I felt in my heart that my dad would approve of that. I curled up on the sofa with the rest of my nuclear clan as we laughed and shared bonding stories, happy—at least for the moment. @Vezok's Friend @Haman Karn: A Magical Girl

Hey. Have a S̷̞̯̅ͅͅn̵̹̥͒̉̀̏i̴̱͚̠͗͋́̚c̶͖͙͙̱̽k̷̤͈̏̕͜e̶̛̱͎̯̱͋̏̿r̴̢̝͋̚s̴̻̮̰̣͝. You're not ý̴̛͈͓͌ͅo̶̧̟͖̠̻͇͓͈̟̪̱̘͂͒̑̃̈͆̓̕̕͝ų̶̛̛̝̣̜͙̦̮͚̤̻̻̱̰̙̻͋̂͛̏̇͋̓͋̈́͠͝ ̴̨̭̪̘͈̠̬̯̺͓̑́́̊̒when you're h̷̡͚͉͔̠̥̎̏ú̸̧͇̑̊̔̈́͛͑͘n̴̡̤̣̘̪͔̻̔͆̑͝ĝ̴̲̜̼̙͕̥͉̙̀͒͒̐̆͒̕͠ṙ̴̘̩̀͑́̚͘̕y̵̬̫͊͝͝.

What the fort.

IC Stannis | Po-Koro A phantom pain stabbed at the Maru like a knife in his shoulder. He winced and touched where Eisen's bitterly sharp blade had slipped through his armor's pauldron and relaxed again only after confirming the absence of blood. He sighed, but it was even and methodical like every other breath the Wanderer took. "Ko-Koro is in the Matoran's hands again," he said slowly as though almost questioning the statement's veracity as he gave it. In truth, he wasn't sure. Ko-Koro's sanctity had waxed and waned constantly since before the Makuta's banishment, and countless dark-sided agents sought to control the icy castle city in a near childish constant struggle for domination of the highest point, a veritable game of King of the Hill that only succeeded at depressing the Matoran citizens who scraped a living there. Stannis had fought against almost all the fallen toa, he realized. Ronkshou and Vidar, then Heuani, Echelon, and finally Eisen, and each time they had gotten away from him at the last moments. He wanted to finish the task with the last opponent but Eisen had managed to stay faster than the Maru's laborious strokes and vanished into the Dark Walk with the rest of his host, an once the darkness swallowed them Stannis Maru could not pursue further. Not again, not yet. "Things are well for now, the Akiri seem content playing well with one another, the Matoran can rebuild again, and war seems a faraway possibility for the moment, but peace is still fraught with tragedy. Every time we beat the night away the daily cycle comes to a close again eventually. It's a law of equivalent exchange and there is always the looming terror on the horizon. But where is it headed?" he repeated rhetorically and looked at the sky for a second. "It's nighttime to the far west for now, but it is coming for us again. We can't stop it, but we can prepare ourselves to weather it. We as individuals and we as Matoran must be ready to survive our nights. We all do what we can, or we will fail." It was a cryptic assessment, but the Wanderer was renown for his unerring predictions, some of which he said with intent and yet others that came from an ether he did not know. Fate unfolded wherever he went, and for better or worse it was prudent to listen. Few people put weight on his words, however, and his prophesies were shackled by his own self-doubts and inconsistencies. Whether he knew it or not, far to the west of Mata Nui the people of Kentoku had been forced to flee in the face of a shared enemy and come to Ga-Koro. Night had passed from Mata Nui to the far off land and reports of the Dasaka arriving en masse had begun to seep into news outlets. Sightings of their flotilla had trickled in from Ostia, who's promontory on the coast afforded it views of the vast navy, but Stannis had not heard those rumblings yet.

IC Yumiwa | Ga-Koro "If it is feelings of concern you have for my people, I'm grateful for the sentiment though I assure you they are unnecessary," I said and smiled thinly as I set a bamboo cup of sake on the table. "It is every Dasaka's right to see what lies beyond the great blue horizon or the white alpine curtains and discover their limits in the manner of their choosing. What challenges my Menti throw themselves against is the business of them and their Toroshu—my business is that they have a place to call home when they return from testing their mettle." I took another sip of the wine to gather a thought before continuing. Over my reign I'd realized how slow Dasaka culture is to adapt to new threats and quick to fall back on old habits and the invasion we were woefully ill equipped to combat is a testament to this inadequacy. Tradition is heralded as the ultimate rule—or, at least, it had been—but that was changing. "Akiri... I do worry about our future if we are not able to shift to meet our needs, whether that is fighting foes we've never seen before or finding our place in a large new world, and it is my duty as Rora to help my people navigate change. Adaptation is a lesson all Dasaka are going to have to come to learn, and there is no quicker and healthy way for them to do so than to take it from those who have spent their whole lives fighting against shifting odds. It would be our honor to have your Marines help the more daring Dasaka acclimate to this new land and learn from your own lessons and history and I would be a fool to turn down resources and guidance. "The Dasaka Nation will gladly settle our anchors and moorings in Ga-Wahi and call it our home even as we are bound to stretch out across Mata Nui, Akiri Hahli, and I am grateful for the assistance you have both offered and already tendered. I mean it when I say I am absolutely humbled by your hospitality. We can figure out the details of the arrangement tomorrow, of course. But for right now, I feel there is much work to be done with my toroshu and captains to communicate the bargain struck. They are all very restless and deserve to know they are safe here." I'd done enough talking by that point and settled back in my seat for a moment in case either my sis or cousin had something to interject, or Hahli to add, but I was anxious to speak with my commodore ASAP to begin the process of both debriefing and planning. And the gift-giving, dubious as the gift would be. @Haman Karn: A Magical Girl @Vezok's Friend

No, Takua sent them to Kentoku from the Keeping Place in Mata Nui. And then they came out of the portal into Ray’s garden. and proceeded to step on his peonies

I'm Toa Stannis Maru and this is my favorite... fort in Zakaz?

We don't talk about it

Oh, CJ knows the BZPRPG very well—check out his member title—it's just not quite the same vibe as SK, and SK was vibin'.

IC Yumiwa | Ga-Koro "Akiri Hahli more than suffices, Rora," she said graciously. She did a quiet sweep for her assistant Eutuchia, ensuring he was out of earshot, before she added, "But I do have a man in my life I think could stand to be a bit more appreciative, if you would like to drop a Your Majesty in front of him. Should we retreat to my office? Chojo, Commodore?" I swallowed the wave of anxiety that snuck at the back of my mind. Intelligence on the Matoran culture was sparse—Ayiwah's expedition was intended to deliver a far more comprehensive understanding of Mata Nui's diverse peoples, and we'd beaten the deliverance of that encyclopedic understanding by a lot. Of course the rulers here don't follow the same codes of society that coursed through my veins, their blood was not blue with aristocratic aloofness like mine and their crowns were of flower petals and daisy chains instead of wrought diamonds and opals. I blinked the misstep away quick as a fly, though, and smiled through my mental note to not assume formality as the default with Hahli. Social cues were like sonar pings; I could adapt to what I encountered, but had to put out the feelers first. My mom used to always tell me it was better to overdress and impress than to underwhelm and disappoint, so I was grateful I at least erred well. "I also once knew of a man who liked being flattered," I said with a humorous grin at Hahli's remark. "I daresay more than most, which is saying quite a lot. It seems men are quite alike no matter where they are from." "I would be honored to accompany you, Akiri Hahli," Desdemona responded with a nod of her head. "Sister." "Sis." “Yes, your majesty," Ayiwah concurred. "An excellent suggestion. Lead the way.” She was obviously playing along with the Akiri’s joke but her tone of voice was that of someone playing it completely straight. She backed up her agreement by taking a step to the side and magnanimously gesturing for us to go ahead. "My honored Rora." .:You're so full of unko, Cuz. Some things never do change... :. I made sure Ayiwah could feel my playfully heavy eyeroll in her mind's eye. It was good to have her back in my life again—she was more than a military commander I needed for campaigns ahead, she was my family, something I was sorely lacking in these days. I followed my hostess akiri's leadership through the dizzyingly simple township she claimed dominion over and took the setting in at last. My footfalls came in all sorts of sounds, from muffled padding on the soft lily platforms to the sharp clacks on wooden planking; the whole village was a pattern of greens and browns with smatterings of bright color like spots of plumage on a drab tapestry. But Ga-Koro was not drab in the slightest, nope, it was perfectly organized in what I quickly realized was a fractal array of platforms and piers, each section of town equally both home and dock for the denizens, a perfect blend of utilitarian and cozy. Its natural colors blended into the bay as well—from offshore even with my telescūpe it was hard to discern the size of Ga-Koro as its low, foliage-colored buildings blended into the natural maritime haze. Everything about Ga-Koro was nowhere near as simple and rustic as it appeared on the front. I liked that. Back home, Sado was an elaborate meshwork of streets and causeways, all faceted and shimmering in dazzling glamour to bear testament to their complexity while still hiding its inner workings behind resplendence. Utility was obscured by gloss. Here on Ga-Koro, the engineering perfection was given the backseat to utility in a direct contrast, yet it was the same principles of design being employed, and the contrast showed me how familiar it was. Behind us were also the growing masses of Dasaka refugees. Some Dastana had come as well and a great many Tajaar, all of whom were treated with equal amounts of courtesy and grace by happily helpful Ga-Matoran. Our massive flotilla seemed to continue to flow into harbor one after another, ship piling onto ship as we all sought to disembark for the first time since fleeing the Archipelago. Masts were struck, oars pulled in, and whistling commands from linewomen and bosn's all over filled the air. It was a resounding cacophony of renewed hope for something solid again, the collective sighing of a nation. As we passed I could feel more than see the eyes of all denizens of Ga-Koro and Mata Nui gawking as we passed. Ayiwah appeared noble enough already, but then there was the pomp of my retinue coming through town. My armor shone brighter still, my robes embroidered more fancily, and my gait more regal than anyone else's, and then there was the visage of my Clan Hogo bodyguards who moved in tight formation behind me like a train. It must have looked like a circus was coming into town for some of the onlookers, but I could tell there were plenty who also stood gawking at the sight of so much prettiness passing through. Akiri Hahli took us straightaway to her hut, which stood taller than most of the rest and was situated on a larger platform. It was an incredibly far cry from the cathedralesque skyscrapers of Sado's crystalline edifices where a Toroshu's household pantry was larger than the akiri's abode, but that did not diminish this building's inherent importance. It wasn't a palace by my standards, but it was the center of Hahli's realm and was due every ounce of respect. I held my tongue and mind from drawing comparisons. It was warm inside, a little on the steamy side, with a pool at the center of the first floor that was truly a window into the bay's depths. Fishes and crustaceans of all kinds could be seen through the hole in the floor and it took more than a little effort for me to pull my naturalist's inclinations away from whiling hours away studying the marine fauna from the perfect vantage point there. The steam seemed to come from a jacuzzi on one side of the chamber between couches and a coffee table, revealing this was as much a home as it was an office. The walls were decorated with a range of paraphernalia ranging from some sports-related (I guess?) stuff to trinkets and baubles of decidedly different aesthetics, and since it definitely wasn't made in Hahli's style I wagered a guess the foreign articles belonged to the aforementioned man-friend. There were stairs that led to a loft and I could see the hints of a small office and a hideaway bedchamber where I assumed Hahli spent her nights in privacy. It reminded me of the private reading nook I used to steal away to as a kid, the one Uncle Ray and Dad would find me in after spending the better half of the hour looking for me. Everything made me think of Sado in some way—the loft office, the streets outside, the jacuzzi at the side, even the worn couches, all evoked different memories of a chapter only recently filed in my past. The Hogo were left outside to watch the exits and that left us three Umbralines and Akiri Hahli who gestured at the seats and bade us to relax. While they waited for me to sit first in order of precedence, that was the last bit of courtly pomp left between us. We quickly dispensed of stuffy formality, and the time we broke silence we were speaking as friends, family, and allies. This was home, for better or worse, for now. My brows relaxed, my nose tipped closer to sea level, and my smile widened with genuine pleasure. "Okay, so—icebreaker question—Akiri Hahli," I started, "do you have boba here? My favorite flavor is coconut-papaya with tapioca pearls. I strongly feel like you can't go wrong with the classics. "Now tell me yours, if you have one, and then let's figure out where my people can settle for the foreseeable future." Ga-Koro was too small for us, we were already practically overrunning it, so we needed a place to call home for the time being. Naho Bay was a large body of water with plenty of coastline and I hoped Hahli found it in her abilities to deed us a portion of it.