Nuju Metru

"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant..."

The Area: Kini-Nui is situated at roughly the center of the island of Mata Nui. On the surface, this area is a jungle of tall trees and chattering wildlife. The main landmark is the Kini-Nui temple, an ancient structure that houses the Suva Kaita, one of the main routes into Makuta’s former lair, Mangaia. Most of the importance of the area is deep below the earth in the sinister halls where Makuta once dwelled. Despite the evil being’s absence, this region is still tense; not only has it been labeled a “no-man’s land” between the Koros, but it also bears a residual aura that still makes the back of necks tingle. Local landmarks include: -The Kini-Nui Temple: a dome-like stone protrusion from the earth with four large spires extending into the heavens at each corner, the Kini-Nui temple is difficult to reach. It resides in a clearing in the jungle, and in the middle of its upper platform is the Suva Kaita. The Toa Maru closed the Suva Kaita after their defeat of Makuta. -The Amaja-Nui: A circular sandpit that was once used by the wise Turaga of Mata Nui to retell legends. It resides between a large, ivy-covered bust of a Matoran head and the Kini-Nui temple. Mangaia: Makuta’s former lair is a maze of dark passageways and huge chambers. It has several entrances: one below the Suva Kaita, one through the Suva Nui in Le-Koro, and six long Dark Walk tunnels branching straight from a central chamber in Mangaia to the doorsteps of each Koro are some to name. Even though the dark artifacts that used to inhabit the chambers of the caverns – many of which were unspeakable horrors – have all been long since destroyed or cast into the sea by the Toa Maru, a distinct air of danger still lingers down here. Lights carried by those either brave or stupid enough to descend into Mangaia seem to have less effect in its passageways than in other dark places, though there are some chambers illuminated by blood-red lightstones. Makuta’s Rahkshi, no longer under his control, still tend to gravitate towards the dark places of the island, and there is nowhere darker than Mangaia. Several wild Rahkshi stake out their own caves and attack any who get too close, or who are unfortunate enough to pass them in the stony corridors. Some rooms are blocked behind thick doorways; whether such doors are viewed as invitations or as warnings varies on the explorer in question, but ominous sounds from behind them tend to drive most would-be enterers away. Sinister echoes seem to come quietly from everywhere. The main attraction that compels surface dwellers to enter Mangaia is what is assumed to be Makuta’s Vault. It is a huge, impregnable doorway – with no hinges, seams, or keyhole – that is situated in the middle of the deepest level of Mangaia. Rough maps sketched of the tunnels around it leave a huge cavity empty; the Vault, common sense dictates, must fill this void. A riddle is carved into the Vault’s smooth door implies that it can be opened, though none have yet succeeded: Across an endless ocean Beyond where minds can see My key likes in the open Where you will never be Beneath the brightest thunder Stand towers of the day The light may break asunder If night skies choose obey The red sign on black eyes Will lead you to your prize What exactly lies within the Vault is a total mystery, as so far nobody has managed to open it. However, it is assumed that objects of great power reside there, and how the Vault should be dealt with is a matter of great contention across the island.

The Wahi: Ko-Wahi is the region of Ice on the island of Mata Nui. It encompasses Mount Ihu, the largest mountain of Mata Nui, beginning in the north at the foothills of the mountain by Onu-Wahi and ending where the mountain merges into the Mangai Volcano, separated by the Tren Krom Break. The entire region is covered in ice and snow; the mountain is largely inhospitable, with only a few species of Rahi being able to successfully survive there. Among the more dominant features of Ko-Wahi are two massive glaciers, separated by a sturdy block on which resides Ko-Koro. The Drifts, massive, nearly featureless snowfields that experience almost constant storm, dominate most of the upper part of the mountain. The most hazardous section of the Drifts is known as the Wastes. Local landmarks include: -Mount Ihu: A snow-covered mountain in Ko-Wahi, and the largest of several peaks in the region. -The Drifts: Also known as the Wastes. A snowy region situated on Mount Ihu. Blinding blizzards come often, causing any who venture here to easily become lost, so Ko-Matoran use red flags to find their way. -The North March: A pass on the bordering the Tren Krom Break on the Ko-Wahi side. There is a cable car to travel from the slopes of Mount Ihu to Ta-Wahi. -The Massif: A small village at the foot of a great stone half dome with a monastery at its top, the Massif is a place of solitude that some Matoran call home. -The Academy and Hospital: A center for learning and aid, this pair of complexes is home to several great scholars and scientists who are happy to give their experience for others. New Toa can go there to become better heroes and the sick and wounded can be healed at the hospital. The complex is located a short walk from Ko-Koro and is also connected to the village by an underground ice passage. -The Dark Walk: One of six large tunnels dug by Makuta’s Rahkshi during the final days of his rule. Large enough to encompass a walking legion, it runs directly from the doorstep of the Koro down into Mangaia. Exudes a definite aura of odiousness, and is generally avoided. The Koro: Led by Akiri Matoro, Ko-Koro has become a veritable mountain fortress that sees itself as the crown jewels of Mata Nui, a far cry from the humble monastic feel it held during the days of Makuta. The entrance to the village is now guarded by a great gatehouse and easily sealed by powerful doors and the interior of the village has become greatly reinforced. Along the corners of the interior walls are several guard stations with parapets to watch over every corner of the village. The Sanctum Guard has also been expanded to rival even the Ta-Koro guard in pure might; its several barracks are deeply carved in the ice walls of the village. Massive bridges of ice, many of which are lined with small shops and tourist traps, span over a huge crevasse. These bridges connect the opposite walls of the village, and these walls are holed out for many more shops and apartments for the wealthier denizens. Poorer villagers are housed in a more central complex on a flat portion of the village in domed huts not unlike those seen elsewhere on the island. At the opposite end of the crevasse from the Koro’s gateway is the towering Sanctum. Though once a temple, it has since been expanded to be a majestic citadel of ice that houses not only the ancient Wall of Prophesy but also a large hall and apartments for Akiri Matoro and his advisors. The village is fueled by power siphoned from windmills that litter the extreme heights of the stronghold and other peaks of the mountain. These windmills power electric bulbs that light the village’s arches and buildings with white light at night. Wind electricity is also funneled towards powering an aural security system, consisting of a few large, crude microphones at the outskirts of the Koro that can be monitored from within the guard buildings. These allow the Ko-Matoran to hear approaching bodies even over the roar of icy storms.

The Wahi: Onu-Wahi is the region of Earth on the island of Mata Nui. Although Onu-Wahi does include surface areas, very little of the outside was ever developed. The prominent features of Onu-Wahi are mainly located underground, connected by tunnels carved long ago by the Onu-Matoran and other more sinister things. Dangerous Rahi, some of which are largely unknown, lurk in the dank underground caves of the region, which not even the bravest Onu-Matoran have explored. Some natural tunnels carry seeping water from the surface, filling several of the Wahi’s caverns with frigid subterranean lakes. Local landmarks include: -The Great Mine: An expansive mine network near Onu-Koro where Onu-Matoran miners and prospectors toil to excavate its precious resources. Its shafts, which reach deep into the earth, provide many of the raw materials used in other villages across Mata Nui, such as Protodermis and gold. Other precious resources like Ore are mined here as well. The mine also includes the Marn Tunnels, annexes to the Great Mine around the Wahi. -Cavern of Light: A lightstone mine in Onu-Wahi. The main supply of lightstones for the island is located here. Its entrance is located in a tunnel network connecting Onu-Koro to Ta-Koro and Le-Koro, and the cave itself is only accessible with a special key. -Papa Nihu Reef: An archipelago of rocky islets that spread out over the waters outside Onu-Wahi. The mainland shoreline is composed of dark beaches and blank landscape, and the islets themselves range in size and shape but remain mostly desolate, save for the occasional rookery of birds. -Onu-Koro Highway: An old tunnel connecting Ko-Wahi to Onu-Koro. Members of the Ussalry regulate the end in Onu-Koro to weed out undesirable travelers. -Le-Koro Highway: A tunnel connecting Le-Wahi to Onu-Koro, similarly guarded. -The Dark Walk: One of six large tunnels dug by Makuta’s Rahkshi during the final days of his rule. Large enough to encompass a walking legion, it runs directly from the doorstep of the Koro down into Mangaia. Exudes a definite aura of odiousness, and is generally avoided. The Koro: Led by Akiri Nuparu, Onu-Koro is located in a huge cavern in the middle of Onu-Wahi. It is a massive bubble in the earth with ceilings that vanish into the darkness above and walls littered with well-guarded gateways. The Koro is the central hub of a network of highways and tunnels that link it with the other parts of the island and with its mines. It consists of huts made of dark stone interwoven with a maze of metal pipes transporting water, gases, and even objects, around the Koro. A cool stream cuts down the middle of the village and is bridged by several pedestrian walkways. The village is lit by lightstone streetlamps and the glow of forges. The center of the village has a main marketplace where tinkerers sell small ornaments and gadgets. The middle rings of the Koro are residential, peppered with other establishments like stores and eateries. Engineering plants push up against the village’s crowded edges, always bustling with activity. The smell of metal and the smoke of production fill the cavern of Onu-Koro as foundries built there smelt mined ores and turn them into machines. The industrial gases and other wastes are siphoned off to the surface through ducts high in the roof of the village. Nuparu now occupies the great hut once used by Turaga Whenua and directs the village’s progress with clear vision. The clever hands of Onu-Koro manufacture technologies of war and progress for the entire island; but they keep as many inventions secret as they sell. Nuparu is very careful about which technologies the Koro releases, controls trade with a stern hand, and places great importance on security. This has lead to an expansion of the formidable Ussalry, housed at its three stables around the village. The Ussalry defend the Koro and the Wahi around it and, due to the great influx of money and trade of materials, they consistently patrol Onu-Koro’s borders and check everyone and everything going in or out. The highways connecting Onu-Koro to the island at large have been greatly expanded to accommodate the movement of technologies, and are always patrolled by guards and escorts.

The Wahi: Po-Wahi is the Stone region on Mata Nui, located in a large desert with many canyons. The desert is a large, rocky expanse, located near the north of Mata Nui. It consists mainly of the Motara Desert, canyons, plateaus, and rocks. The area has a coastline as well, where Leva Bay is situated. Paths leading to Onu-Wahi, Po-Koro, and the Quarry could also be found here. Local landmarks include: -Motara Desert: A desert covering the vast eastern portion of Po-Wahi. -Tiro Canyon: A large canyon in Po-Wahi. -Leva Bay: A bay located off the northern coast of Po-Wahi. Sometimes traders set up shop here, where they will hawk their curiosities to any passers by. -The Po-Wahi Quarry: A large, canyon-enclosed area of Po-Wahi, it is here that the Po-Matoran mine stone for their famous carvings. In it can be found six large statues of the First Toa’s Kanohi, and these statues serve as doorways to the various sections of the quarry, unlocked by means of small keys emblazoned with the symbols of the Elements. -The Path of Prophecies: A road flanked by carvings, leading to the village of Po-Koro, created by the Po-Matoran Carver Hafu soon after the Matoran established the village of Po-Koro. At the road's end is the entrance to Po-Koro, which is carved into the mouth of a large Matoran head. -The Dark Walk: One of six large tunnels dug by Makuta’s Rahkshi during the final days of his rule. Large enough to encompass a walking legion, it runs directly from the doorstep of the Koro down into Mangaia. Exudes a definite aura of odiousness, and is generally avoided. The Koro: Led by Akiri Hewkii, Po-Koro lays nestled in a canyon valley in the northern part of the desert. It consists of a village set within the confines of thick, masterly crafted walls of stone. A grand gateway and the short road leading to it define Po-Koro’s single entrance. Inside the village, simple stone domes serve as huts, shops and inns, and a central marketplace hosts a continual bazaar, though this is mostly empty of new merchandise thanks to the isolation of the village. Still, Po-Koro maintains its reputation as the sports capital of the island, and has the best Kohlii stadium and teams. Po-Koro has recently attained the epithet of "the Lost Koro" due to Hewkii’s efforts at making the Koro harder to locate in the vast desert. Most roads that once existed in the wastes are now scrubbed away, leaving would-be travelers with nothing but vast dunes and sky overhead – when the sky isn't obscured by a sandstorm – to navigate by. Already experts at traversing the vast wasteland, Po-Matoran are uninhibited by the lack of directional markers, and rarely get lost. Specially appointed patrols cross the desert, some tours to ensure the security of the Koro and others as essential traders. These patrols are generally the only contact Po-Koro has with the outside world. For keeping in contact within their own kind even when they are across the desert, the Po-Matoran have also purchased a new technology from Onu-Koro; a large, primitive radio communicator is situated atop the walls of Po-Koro. From this transmission point, special messages in Po-Koro can be sent through the air to other such radio outposts elsewhere in the desert. The communication signals are always shaky, leading to easy misinterpretations, the range isn’t good, and the apparatuses are extremely vulnerable; but, even so, the solar-powered transmitters give the Po-Matoran the ability to respond quickly to disasters.

The Wahi: Ta-Wahi, located near the southeastern side of Mata Nui, is the part of the island in which the Ta-Matoran work and live and Toa Tahu once resided. The skies always have a dark tint from the volcanic ashes in the air, and glowing lava pools and streams illuminate the earth with amber light. Its landscape is mainly charred jungle, a molten wasteland defined by igneous canyons and the slow trickle of lava from the powerful Mangai Volcano above. Local landmarks include: -The Charred Forest: A section of Ta-Wahi that was burned to charcoal by the Makuta in one of his early attacks on the Matoran of Mata Nui. It is easy to get lost, so several of the locals have marked paths among the trees, which can be seen only by a practiced observer. -Mangai Volcano: A volcano near Ta-Koro, which is situated at roughly the center of the island. The lava flows from this volcano spread almost directly north to the sea, leaving ashen wasteland wherever they go. -Tren Krom Break: A deep ravine, containing a lava river where Ignalu surfing competitions are often held. Turaga Vakama named it after the legendary figure Tren Krom. The ravine separates Ko-Wahi and Ta-Wahi, and is bridged by an ancient cable car. It is to note that the Ta-Koro Guard occupied an outpost here to defend against the Rahi threat during the days of Makuta. The outpost was abandoned when Jaller was forced to fall back behind the city, and it remains abandoned to this day. -Ta-Wahi Beach: The easternmost edge of the Wahi meets the sea with a relatively peaceful black sand beach. Seabirds fill the skies with their cries, and a jutting cliff to one edge bears an archaic telescope atop it, with which travelers can observe the heavens better than anywhere else on the island. -The Dark Walk: One of six large tunnels dug by Makuta’s Rahkshi during the final days of his rule. Large enough to encompass a walking legion, it runs directly from the doorstep of the Koro down into Mangaia. Exudes a definite aura of odiousness, and is generally avoided. The Koro: Led by Akiri Jaller, Ta-Koro is a unique city, built in the center of the Lake of Fire and in the shadow of the explosive Mangai Volcano. The Koro, built on a protruding rock above the lava lake, is comfortable despite its relative smallness. The villagers of Ta-Koro are reassured by their location and the security it affords them; Ta-Koro is quite possibly the safest village on the island. Ta-Koro is incredibly hard to attach not only due to its high walls and skilled guard, but also because it is impossible to cross the Lake of Fire without the use of a movable stone bridge, the controls to which lie in the Koro’s highly guarded gatehouse. The village has a central courtyard lined with shops and apartments. The Ta-Koro guard will not stand crime in the streets; those who break the law are confined in Ta-Koro’s dungeons, carved into the volcanic rock below the main city and guarded strictly. The great hall once used by Vakama now serves as Jaller’s abode. It is always occupied by a vibrant bonfire and the Wall of History, where legends have been engraved since before living memory. With the help of engineers from Onu-Koro, Ta-Koro has learned to harness the power of the volcano. A geothermal energy plant powers the entire village. Pumps located underneath the city are constantly absorbing lava and hot fumes from below, funneling them into a power plant’s generator. Electricity, new streetlights, and intra-Koro transportation – a steady monorail wrapping around the outer ring – are all fuelled by the power plant. The Ta-Matoran have also started and dig into the dangerous Mangai Volcano for precious mineral ores like iron, which they then smelt. With this influx of innovation and industry, Akiri Jaller has expanded the military might of the village and has stockpiled vast quantities of weapons in its armories.

The Wahi: The most placid of the regions of Mata Nui, Ga-Wahi is a large and mostly submerged area located on the eastern side of the island of the island. It is dominated by the great Naho Bay, which takes up the vast majority of the region and is surrounded by towering white cliffs. Ga-Wahi's landscape is very diverse, featuring sandy beaches and sharp cliffs, green strips of thick forest near the sea and wide grassy plains further inland. Ga-Koro is located in this Wahi, floating in the southern part of the bay at the delta of the Hura-Mafa River. Local landmarks include: -Naho Bay: Bordered by pale cliffs, this wide cove is home to Ga-Koro, Ga-Kini, and Ga-Suva, as well as several underwater caves. A large waterfall pours into Naho Bay, and the rock face of the falls is sculpted into the likeness of a Kanohi Kaukau. There is a peaceful cave behind the roaring waters. -Hura-Mafa River: This river runs northward from the slopes of Mount Ihu into Naho Bay, emptying there bay by means of the Naho Falls. It is one of the largest rivers on the island, and serves as a speedy ferry for trade from Ko-Koro to Ga-Koro. -Old Fusa Path: This pathway was created by the Matoran to serve as an inland access point to the beaches of Naho Bay, and ultimately to the village of Ga-Koro. Harakeke and Bamboo plants proliferate along the path. -The Dark Walk: One of six large tunnels dug by Makuta’s Rahkshi during the final days of his rule. Large enough to encompass a walking legion, it runs directly from the doorstep of the Koro down into Mangaia. Exudes a definite aura of odiousness, and is generally avoided. The Koro: Led by Akiri Hahli, Ga-Koro is built on huge lily pads, held in place by thick stems that grow underwater, with segmented leafy walkways and bridges connecting the platforms. It’s built around a central plaza that is faced by the Akiri’s hut; the plaza also doubles as the main marketplace of the Koro. Huts are made of more lily pads and look like cabbage heads, though they are very sturdy. Since the village’s betrayal by the Toa “Arete,” Ga-Koro’s culture had changed. The village no longer suffers fools or false idols and is far more judicious in how they view strangers. Ga-Koro has also built up its defenses by constructing new floating “sea forts” for its Marines, the Koro’s guard service. The village gates are manned with twice the personnel as in the days of Makuta, and the chain of command has been cut down substantially to prevent anyone unsavory from gaining control where it should not be held. But Ga-Koro’s creativity went beyond the martial. The Ga-Matoran have, with the help of Onu-Koro’s engineers, constructed several underwater greenhouses that grow food, plants both medicinal and industrial, and other cash crops. Strategically protected by Marine sea forts, these greenhouses are equipped with state of the art oxygen filtration systems and solar panels, not unlike those used by the miners in the Great Mine. Armed Toa and a lock system that is designed to fool all but the Onu-Matoran engineers who designed it defend the gardens from saboteurs. Ga-Koro has largely detached itself from the squabbles of other villages, but its influence is still felt throughout Mata Nui: the Koro now supplies most of the island’s food and medicine, and if anything were to befall those greenhouses, the stock of supplies under the control of the Ga-Matoran would long outlast those of the other villages, making Ga-Koro a crucial ally to the other Koros.

The Wahi: The entire southern fourth of Mata Nui is green with the life of Le-Wahi and its vast swamp. Riddled with marshes and shallow lakes that expand over the vast majority of the region, Le-Wahi also rises to the skies with huge, thick trees. Flocks of birds of all sorts sing from the branches; joined by the howling of other Rahi, the constant chatter of Le-Wahi is both enchanting and frightening. Many large and dangerous Rahi also inhabit the area, though the Gukko Force usually keeps jungle trails safe. Other landmarks of the area include: -The Fau Swamp: A marshy area that extends through most of the jungle floor of Le-Wahi. The swamp is full of sinkholes and thick mud, so only travelers with careful feet survive there. -Kanae Bay: A large bay in southern Le-Wahi. It was here that Toa Lewa's canister washed ashore. -Lake Pala: The largest lake in the Wahi. The ruins of Pala-Koro, a failed fortress settlement, remain on its southern shore as a stark reminder of the recent conflict. Only a shattered curtain wall and the rubble of a few huts have endured. -Xa-Koro: What used to be the “seventh Koro,” a boardwalk city that was a conglomeration of thieves and sinners, was sunk into the ocean during the days of Makuta. Now, it is a treacherous submarine place to the south of Le-Wahi, full of secrets to be discovered by any brave enough to dive into the unstable, undersea ruins. -The Suva Nui: a tall, dark stone obelisk that towers in the middle of a clearing in the jungle of Le-Wahi. It defines the site of the Great Hive Battle, as the Suva Nui was contained within the Nui-Rama hive before it was razed. It is also the site where the Toa Maru were transformed from Matoran to Toa. The Suva Nui is an entrance to Mangaia. -The Dark Walk: One of six large tunnels dug by Makuta’s Rahkshi during the final days of his rule. Large enough to encompass a walking legion, it runs directly from the doorstep of the Koro down into Mangaia. Exudes a definite aura of odiousness, and is generally avoided. The Koro: Led by Akiri Kongu, the village of Le-Koro hangs in the trees directly above Lake Kanae. The airy city, a sprawl of tree houses, consists of beehive-shaped huts and shops strung together by vines or branches. Walkways are carved into the thick wood and grafted on the tree trunks, making a network that weaves in the treetops and casts a neat glow at night. Some treetops were flattened to make room for plazas and Kolhii stadiums. Music rings from this village as drummers and flutists fill the air with joyful noise. Within the Koro, there is a new system of chutes, built by Onu-Koro’s engineers, that wind and twist about the trees. These chutes run to and from different sections of Le-Koro, and can easily transport Matoran by a mix of air pressure and gravity. Smaller chutes are also used as quick delivery systems for letters and small packages. Each access point is a small “chute station” where the users might choose their destination and chute accordingly. The largest chute station is near the Le-Koro marketplace. The village of Le-Koro has become more fortified, as well. It is more strictly presided over than in earlier days, and the only way into the Koro is through elevators accessed by a bridge in the lake, or through landing pads where the approaching traffic is screened beforehand. Those entering via elevators are questioned about their business coming to Le-Koro, and the elevators are operated from secure places in the treetop city. The chute system has very few openings on the ground. Le-Koro is the fastest trading Koro on Mata-Nui, employing air delivery systems which are much more efficient and timely than the trading methods applied by other Koros. This has made Le-Koro a valuable merchant partner, and they often work as a middleman for other villages' trade.

Staff/Canon Characters Name: Zaktan Species: Skakdi of Air Alignment: Self-serving leader of the Piraka Gender: Male Appearance: At a glance, Zaktan looks like any other Skakdi, though perhaps a little meaner, sharper, and shorter. His dark green armor is accented with sandier shades of green, and some robust gold; his sharp fingers frequently steeple when he thinks; his vindictive smile, when it appears, is permanently set to “sneer;” his glowing red eyes move with deliberate slowness; his flat feet give him a somewhat duck-like stride that belies his quickness and balance. A longer look, however, would immediately reveal Zaktan’s difference from others of his species. At all times, he seems to be subtly flickering, as if captured on a film slightly grainier than reality. Zaktan’s body and blades are, in fact, comprised of billions of microscopic creatures called Protodites. The Protodites, each of which contain a fraction of his consciousness, are unable to stay completely still, thereby causing this unnerving appearance. When Zaktan speaks, it is as though a swarm of insects, rather than a single voice, is buzzing in discordant tandem to relay his words. Weapon(s): Zaktan’s main weapon is a golden Three-Bladed Scissor. Because the blade is made up of the same Protodites that comprise his body, Zaktan is able to maneuver the scissor blades with the masterful dexterity of a second set of fingers. The weapon can cut through nearly anything; the blades’ edges can be as small as one or two Protodites thick. The butt end of the Three-Bladed Scissor is a pair of vice-like tongs. Zaktan is also armed with a Zamor Launcher, which he loads with the Piraka’s virulent yellow-green “jitter spheres,” Zamors filled with a powerful, hallucinogenic fear gas. Repeated exposure to the fear gas has made Zaktan, like the other Piraka, immune to it. Powers: Zaktan, being a Skakdi of Air, has limited powers over the element of Air, which he can use only in conjunction with another Skakdi. He also has powerful laser vision. More strangely, Zaktan possesses the unique ability to dissolve and reform into the Protodites that comprise his body at will. Because of this mutation, Zaktan can dissolve into a flying swarm of Protodites, absorb kinetic energies almost flawlessly, and “dodge through” blades and projectiles. Traits: Zaktan is a genius. Of course, this is not to say that he calculates flawlessly, or is without occasional lapses in judgement and missteps; he has made enough of those to count on his fingers, and he loathes their memories. Nevertheless, Zaktan is without many intellectual rivals, even when compared to others who claim genius status. His mind seems to function on a different plane, or in an alien place, as he is very distant from normal channels of thought. This makes him appear - accurately - aloof, detached from those around him, and carelessly ignorant to the needs and motivations of others, unless these can serve him. He confides in no one. Zaktan’s intellect makes him cold, mysterious, and bizarre; paired with his ruthlessness and hunger for control, he is an aberrant, frightening presence. Though none of the Piraka will admit it - least of all to one another - they fear Zaktan. He is impossible to understand, and his rare fits of rage appear to them without cause, though they are always dangerous. It is known to the other Piraka that Zaktan sometimes confers with voiceless presences when he is alone; though this could be a facet of tightly channeled madness, they suspect it is something more. Biography: As of yet, unknown. Weakness(es): While Zaktan is able to dodge most attacks by partially dissolving into Protodites, quick enough strikes can catch him off-guard and damage him. Zaktan is also more susceptible than normal beings to mental attacks (these freeze his whole body, as every Protodite of his being is assaulted simultaneously) and to certain sonic frequencies. Name: Kuno Species: Dasaka Caste and Clan: Menti Caste, Clan Fursic Gender: Male Appearance: Kuno, when wearing his set of elaborate crystal armor and his heavy, ruby-red mantle, looks every inch the part of Fursic First Son. He stands proudly, seemingly even taller than his normal stature; the masterful patterns of his armor catch the light, and his velveteen cape ripples majestically in his wake. Without his ceremonial garb, though, Kuno loses much of his splendid appearance. Admittedly, he looks healthy enough, he is tall, his armor is rich shades of navy and gold, and his posture couldn't be better; despite all this, the unadorned Kuno still manages to look unremarkable. His face is neither handsome nor ugly, and it rarely breaks into a smile. He is prone to stillness, and his amber eyes, if unoccupied, tend to stare in a surly-seeming way. Weapon(s): Kuno only has one physical weapon: his crystal-bladed sword. This is of highest quality make - befitting for the First Son of such an ancient clan - with an ornate hilt into which traces of metal are woven. Kuno always wears the weapon at his waist, but this is more for ceremonial effect than anything else; it's part of his uniform. He isn't a highly skilled swordsman. Mask: Kanohi Iden, the Great Mask of Spirit Powers: Kuno is adept as both a Sighteye - wherein he specializes, most unusually, in creating odor illusions - and as a Willhammer, whose mental projections tend to manifest in the minds of his targets as water. He also wears a Kanohi Iden, the Great Mask of Spirit, which allows his conscious soul to leave his body at will. It's common knowledge that if Kuno isn't visibly in a room, he could very easily still be there; this always tends to spook people. Traits: There are few things that stir Kuno to visible emotion. Superficially, the Fursic First Son embodies the Dasaka masculine ideal: he seems stoic, powerful, composed, dignified, and pridefully conscious of his station in society. Beneath the surface, however, Kuno's feelings and desires - intentionally unregulated when he was younger, and now repressed by habitual social paranoia - whorl with surprising, secret force. Eddies of negativity color everything Kuno thinks and does; He tends to fixate on his defeats and shortcomings, and blames himself almost exclusively for them. Kuno is, perhaps, happiest when he's in pursuit of definite goals. Winning means everything to him. Biography: Kuno is the Fursic First Son, and he has been all his life. There was a generation - directly following the most recent Fursic coup, and a subsequent slew of executions - when Kuno's clan had no males, so when he was born, he automatically assumed the title of First Son. Ever since that day, Kuno has been raised to play his part, which he's done - at times resentfully, at times minimally, at times proudly - as well as any First Son could. Kuno learned quickly during his time at the Yards, and just as fast during his real education: in the Rora's court. Most of the time, Kuno lives on Sado, where he either lazily engages in or spies on imperial court proceedings. Weakness(es): Kuno is practically unable to physically defend himself while using any of his powers, just based on the nature of those abilities. Personal Characters Name: Grokk Species: Skakdi of Gravity Alignment: Mercenary, with a tendency towards badness. Gender: Male Appearance: Dirty-brown and black armor, lanky, clawed hands and feet. Wears an over-the-shoulder satchel in which he holds his ammunition. Has a spiraling green tattoo over one eye. Very white teeth, sharp canines. Grokk’s armor is scratched and dented all over, due to a casual disregard for minor injury. Weapon(s): A Zamor Sphere launcher with extended magazine. The weapon has become one of his self-professed best friends, and he has mastered it with extended usage. The sphere types which Grokk possesses are: - Containment spheres: One of his favorite and most versatile shots, containment spheres are a unique tool of Grokk’s. Dark blue in color, when they strike a target, these spheres will form a solid, shock-absorbing bubble around it. They are useful prisons, but also serve as shields, which Grokk can use on himself if he needs a quick defense (or salvation from a long fall). The bubbles will lose power progressively after formation, but are susceptible to far quicker dissolution by means of strong acids or intense heat. - Acid spheres: Primarily in his possession as an anti-Containment Sphere, these strongly acidic shots are also useful in corroding metal locks or the armor of enemies. This weapon was licensed by Friar Tuck Powers: Grokk, being a Skakdi of Gravity, has limited powers over the element of Gravity, which he can use only with another Skakdi. He also has Impact Vision, which allows him to hit his foes with a powerful, invisible blow. Aside from these, Grokk has no other special powers – however, he has some other natural gifts. Grokk is extremely agile, able to leap and vault over obstacles in his path, and dodge attacks both ranged and melee with ease. He is unusually observant, too, with a developed gut instinct about when he’s being followed or watched. Traits: Grokk is characterized by his thoughtless motor-mouth. He is constantly spewing gags, taunts, and other one-liners, even (or especially) in moments of tension and combat. He is self-centered and selfish, with practically no moral compass. Grokk is clever, sly, and slippery both in personality and in physicality - he is difficult to imprison for long, or to hold in one place - but he can also be impulsive and careless in the heat of the moment. Grokk deeply enjoys the sensations of empowerment and the surge of adrenaline that he gains through crime and violence. Biography: Somehow, he wound up on Mata Nui. Grokk is unsure as to how or why, and he has very little recollection of his previous life (so he says, and for all intents and purposes, this is true; he sure as karz won't tell you anything else). Weakness(es): Grokk is not resilient to most forms of powers, among those elemental, mental, etc., being used to fighting by physical means. He's also not a great swimmer. Name: Nihi Species: Dasaka Caste and Clan: Menti Caste, Clan Eiyu Gender: Female Appearance: Nihi is of about average height for a female Dasaka, and is of athletic build. Her long, strong legs are attached to jaunty hips, which lead into a slim waist. Her toned arms and shoulders hang from a prominent collarbone, above which a long neck supports her face. Nihi is pretty enough, with big eyes, a small nose, and a square jaw, but always looks vaguely haunted. Her Menti's musculature lends her decent posture that lacks the regal confidence of the upper classes. Her hands tend to fidget. Weapon(s): Nihi wields a long wooden staff, hardened by fire but still flexible. Mask: Kanohi Rau, the Great Mask of Translation. Powers: Nihi is a proficient Mindarm. Her mask power lets her understand almost any written or spoken language in the universe. Traits: Nihi can be hotheaded and impulsive, though she is also extremely self-critical. She believes strongly in the righteousness of the Dasaka and in the structure of society, especially relative to the culture of Mata Nui. She's extremely passionate about what she believes in. Biography: Nihi was one of the first Dasaka to voyage to the island of Mata Nui. She was picked for the journey because her sister, Nachi, was driven insane by the Piraka, and Nihi sought revenge. On the Kentoku Archipelago, Nihi works as a night guard of the docks. Weakness(es): As a mindarm, Nihi tends to burn out quickly in combat. She also tends to freeze up in moments of emotional catastrophe.

CHARACTER RULES Here is where you post the profile(s) for your BZPRPG character(s) (you must post a character's profile before you begin playing). Staff is not required to give approval for characters: you may post and play immediately. However, we can at any time ask you to modify characters if we think that they are too powerful or otherwise against the rules. There is no set pattern when creating character profiles, but if you need inspiration for what to put down, look at the outlines from others’ posts. SECTION I. General Rules In the profile page, you are allowed ONE POST; multiple posts by a single player will be deleted. Place all your characters into one post; this makes it easier for you, your fellow players, and the Staff to find your characters. You can have as many character as you want, as long as their profiles all fit into one post.Your character must belong in the Bionicle universe. This is not to say your character must be of an official Bionicle species, or come from an official location, but he or she must be something that could come from Bionicle. Specific guidelines about this are in the following sections.You cannot play as canon characters, like Tahu or Roodaka, unless doing so under explicit staff permission. Expies – characters that are essentially carbon copies of characters from other franchises, like Transformers or Star Wars – are also strongly discouraged. The point of the game is to create your own unique Bionicle-universe characters, so embrace the opportunity!This is the most important rule: Your character must be reasonable. No gods or other invincible characters. Your character MUST HAVE WEAKNESSES; it must be possible for other players to defeat them in combat.You must either post a picture of your character, or write a detailed description of his or her appearance – or both – in their profile. SECTION II. Suggested Profile Fields Unsure of what to include in your Character's profile? Below are some suggestions as to what would be useful subjects to cover. This is by no means a definitive list; you may include other categories, and some of these suggestions can also be omitted. Remember that the point of your character’s profile is to serve as a reference, so that others can interact accurately with him or her even upon first meeting. Try to be very informative. Here are the suggested profile fields (bold indicates a required field): Name:Species (Toa, Matoran, Turaga, etc.)A detailed description or imageGenderPowers and/or weaponsTechnological items (and, if Foreign Tech, which staff member approved the item)Weakness(es)Alignment (good, evil, neutral, etc.)HistoryPersonality and traits SECTION III. The Lists Below you will find the lists of species, powers, and masks allowed in the BZPRPG. These lists have been carefully thought out; if a certain species or item is not on these lists, it has been omitted for a reason. All characters, unless given explicit staff permission to the contrary, are required to exist within the parameters of these lists. Playable Species: Matoran – No powers or powered masks Toa – One elemental power and one mask from the approved list Turaga – One heavily weakened elemental power and one mask from the approved list Vortixx – No powers or masks, two pieces of foreign technology Skakdi – One elemental power (requires two Skakdi in conjunction to use), one vision power, one piece of foreign technology Parakuka – No powers alone, but can be very powerful when bonded to a host (See here for more information on the Parakuka; if your character has bonded with a Parakuka, say so in that character's profile). Lesterin – Special innate elemental abilities and either one mask from the approved list OR one piece of foreign technology (See here for more information on the Lesterin) Dashi – See SECTION V for details Dasaka – See SECTION V for details Datsue – See SECTION V for details Exo-Matoran - See this link for details CUSTOMIZATION EXCEPTION: Personalized/customized species are allowed – however – they MUST resemble or be similar to one of the above species, including abilities, powers, and power levels, AND must be approved by a staffer before use. Allowable Toa/Turaga/Skakdi Elemental Powers One elemental power per character. No multiples. Air Crystal Earth Fire Gravity Ice Iron Jungle Electricity Magnetism Plasma Sonics Stone Water CUSTOMIZATION EXCEPTION: Customized powers are allowed – however – they MUST be reasonably powerful, balanced, AND be approved by Staff before use. If your character is evil, she/he may be able to gain special powers from a dose of Antidermis bartered from the Vault Loot. Allowable Skakdi Vision Powers: Heat Vision Impact Vision Infrared Vision Laser Vision Thermal Imaging Telescopic Vision X-Ray Vision Allowable Kanohi: Kanohi Hau The Mask of Shielding Kanohi Pakari The Mask of Strength Kanohi Miru The Mask of Levitation Kanohi Kakama The Mask of Speed Kanohi Akaku The Mask of X-Ray Vision Kanohi Kaukau The Mask of Water Breathing Kanohi Huna The Mask of Concealment Kanohi Ruru The Mask of Night Vision Kanohi Matatu The Mask of Telekinesis (off-limits to Dasaka characters) Kanohi Rau The Mask of Translation Kanohi Pehkui The Mask of Diminishment Kanohi Kualsi The Mask of Quick Travel Kanohi Calix The Mask of Fate Kanohi Kadin The Mask of Flight Kanohi Sanok The Mask of Accuracy Kanohi Iden The Mask of Spirit Kanohi Zatth The Mask of Summoning Kanohi Arthron The Mask of Sonar Kanohi Volitak The Mask of Stealth Kanohi Tryna The Mask of Reanimation The Mask of Healing The Mask of Rebounding The Mask of Sensory Aptitude CUSTOMIZATION EXCEPTION: Customized masks are allowed – however – they MUST be reasonably powerful, balanced, AND be approved by Staff before use. Your character may also gain certain masks not on the above list by bartering one from the Vault Loot. Only one mask is allowed per character. No multiples, no Suvas. Period. Even if staff decides to give a certain character a more powerful mask as a reward or gift in response to some event or contest, that character must abandon their previous mask to use the new one. Should you decide you want to change masks, such a practice is permissible. However, the transition must happen feasibly In Character, and be immediately edited into your character's profile to avoid an illegal duplicity of masks. SECTION IV. Technology Foreign Tech Per the nature of certain species' foreign origins, if you have a Skakdi or Vortixx character, you are allowed one or more pieces of advanced foreign technology. Technological items of this sort MUST be approved by staff prior to playing. If your character has a foreign tech item, you must note which staff member approved the tech after you describe the item in your profile. These are the limitations on foreign tech per species type. Skakdi: ONE piece of foreign tech Vortixx: TWO pieces of foreign tech Lesterin (w/out mask): ONE piece of foreign tech The only way for a character not of these species to own a piece of foreign tech is for them to win it fairly from another player’s character in combat. If your Toa, Matoran, or Turaga character has acquired a piece of foreign tech, you must include a note about which character they won it from, AND which staff member approved the technology in the first place. Your character may also gain foreign tech by bartering some from the Vault Loot. Native Tech Technology on the island of Mata Nui has taken a step forward, and so more advanced technological items are no longer out of the question for Toa, Matoran, and Turaga characters. If a character wants a piece of this new “native technology,” they can attain one from a Koro Leaderor shopkeeper IC or, as with attaining foreign technology, win it fairly in PC-vs.-PC battle. If your character has one or more pieces of native tech, you must specify in their profile how this technology was acquired. Smaller, freelance native tech shops can be created and run by players, as long as their merchandise is all pre-approved by staff. Shopkeepers are encouraged to require some kind of task-based IC payment in exchange for their special technologies, just so that native tech remains more valuable than imaginary widgets. There is also a "Living List" of token Native Tech items or item types that may be acquired by PCs in-game without approval. If players wish to suggest other technologies to add to the Living List, they may PM those suggestions to Nuju Metru. Here is the list. Glass lenses with various focusing/diffusing properties. These are used in telescopes, magnifying glasses, and lamps. Such lenses, usually employed in Lightstone lanterns, can also be purchased separately, as they're prone to breaking.Onu-Koronan task tablets or "iStones" with abacus, note-taking, and some document-holding possibilities. These are very difficult to open without damaging the machinery inside - they've been manufactured to break this way by the Onu-Koro engineers on purpose, so that their computing abilities remain essentially unreproducible.Basic metal tools such as hammers, axes, pickaxes, and even scissors. These items were available before, but now they're more easy to acquire; the best come from Ta-Koro.Simple clockwork devices with gears, springs, and even little bells. The most complex and expensive sort are the smaller ones, especially rudimentary, one-handed watches. Many varieties of little wind-up toys are also available, from bouncing Fusa to rolling Manas.Disk launchers have propagated, reducing the need for skill when using a bamboo disk as a weapon. Some launchers hold more disks with spring or gravity-loading magazines.Photothermic powder, also known as "Stralix Powder" after its inventor, made up of mixed lightstones and heatstones. This powder is slightly more potent than the explosion of a Madu Cabolo, and is much safer to store and use. Sharp impact, or fire, can set it off.Kites and gliders, while usually impractical, can be produced on request by the right craftspeople. Huge, delicate hang gliders are made best in Le-Koro.Volo Lutu Launchers, a type of grapnel gun, have been around since the days of Makuta. They're now cheaper to produce, and are available in models able to haul the weight of larger beings like Toa, not just Matoran.Patero Launchers, projectile cannons powered by compressed gas. The Patero launcher consists of an elastic bladder that is inflated by hand pump, a projectile barrel, and a rapid air release mechanism. This simple launcher can fire lightweight rounds without much accuracy, but over long distances. Only the smaller, handheld type is readily available; the secrets to making artillery-sized air seals still lies with Onu-Koro. Some types of Patero shots include small fireworks, glass-capped Stralix Powder capsules, clusters of bamboo arrows, and even confetti cartridges. Exo-Matoran Suits. See here for details. SECTION V. The Dasaka Dasaka characters are now open to be played! Like other standard species characters in the BZPRPG, Dasaka may be created and played as without the necessity of staff permission. Any Dasaka characters you create in this way, however, must exist precisely within the parameters outlined below. To have Dasaka characters of a more advanced sort, staff approval is required; the process by which to attain this can be found in "C. Petitioning." A. Required Profile Fields Dasaka character profiles are stricter in structure than the profiles of other species, because there are more required fields. Along with other profile fields you opt to include, these are the requisite fields for Dasaka characters: Species (Dasaka, Dashi, Datsue)A detailed description or image (minor note: all Dasaka have various shades of bluish and gold armor)Caste and ClanGender (see “C. Petitioning” for details)Powers, including (as applicable) mask powers and Menti Discipline(s). Weakness(es)B. The Lists Below you will find the lists of species, powers, and masks allowed for Dasaka characters. All characters, unless given explicit staff permission to the contrary, are required to exist within the parameters of these lists. For more information about particular powers, clans, and castes, please see the Dasaka Master Reference Post. Playable Species: Dashi – No powers or powered masks Dasaka – One Menti Discipline and one mask from the approved list Datsue – One Menti Discipline, no powered masks Allowable Castes Menti (warrior-level only) Dashi Ringti Saihoko Datsue CUSTOMIZATION EXCEPTION: You may petition for your Dasaka or Datsue character(s) to hold higher rank within the Menti caste. Instructions on this are found in “C. Petitioning.” Allowable Menti Disciplines: Soulsword Discipline Sighteye Discipline Mindarm Discipline Willhammer Discipline CUSTOMIZATION EXCEPTION: You may petition for your Dasaka or Datsue character to be proficient in more than one Menti Discipline. Instructions on this are found in “C. Petitioning.” Allowable Dasaka Kanohi: All masks on the list in SECTION III (except for the Kanohi Matatu) may be used by Dasaka characters. CUSTOMIZATION EXCEPTION: Customized masks are allowed – however – they MUST be reasonably powerful, balanced, AND be approved by Staff before use. Only one mask is allowed per character. No multiples, no Suvas. Period. Even if staff decides to give a certain character a more powerful mask as a reward or gift in response to some event or contest, that character must abandon their previous mask to use the new one. Should you decide you want to change masks, such a practice is permissible. However, the transition must happen feasibly In Character, and be immediately edited into your character's profile to avoid an illegal duplicity of masks. C. Petitioning The above lists and whatnot outline what is acceptable for Dasaka characters that DON’T require staff approval to be created or played. However, there are other, more advanced possibilities for Dasaka characters available to you as players, which DO require staff approval to access. The process by which one seeks approval for advanced Dasaka options is called “petitioning,” and the instructions on how to do it are found below. Some basic guidelines: In some cases, profiles submitted for petition may not be posted here prior to their verdicts. Be sure to check under each type of petition whether or not this rule applies. When it does, the “character” you’re submitting isn’t really a character yet; you’re petitioning instead for the right to make a character that’ll receive the perk(s) in question.You may petition on the behalf of more than one character at a time. If you’re doing this, though, please do me a favor and put it all into one PM. You may also submit more than one petition for the same character. If you do this, I will pass separate verdicts on each of your petitions. In almost all cases, you can opt not to pursue the creation of a character after a petition you submit for them has been denied. The exception to this is a Gender Petition; more details in the section on Gender Petitioning. Petition PMs must be sent to Nuju Metru, and his verdict on them is final. If my verdicts are abrupt, it’s because I probably have a lot of them to sift through, and you mustn’t take it personally. Defiance of, or even attempted debate of, a verdict that doesn’t go your way is prohibited.Here’s what you can petition for. Caste Petitioning You may petition for your Dasaka or Datsue character to hold a higher rank in the Menti caste. You can request to have, say, a Toroshu character, or for your character to perform a special duty for the Rora, or whatever else you can think up. To petition for a more advanced societal rank, your PM must include what rank/duty you would like to have, and a brief statement about why you want that position for your character. If I feel that I need more information, I will ask questions; more likely, I’ll just say yes or no, and that’ll be the end of it. Your petition will be considered on its own merits/originality, and upon your skill and responsibility as a player. Petitioning characters CANNOT exist in the Profiles Topic prior to their petitions. Clan Petitioning You may petition to begin a new Dasaka clan. This type of petition must come with a Caste Petition attached to it, because somebody will have to play as the Toroshu of the new clan, and who better to lead it than its founder? To petition to lead a new clan, your PM must include a Caste Petition, a 1-2 paragraph description of the clan – including its characteristics, social position, and other details of note (size, home, backstory, etc.) – and a brief statement about why you want to make and lead a new clan. If I feel that I need more information to reach a verdict, I will ask questions. If your claim is granted, your new clan will be listed in the Dasaka Master Reference Post, and other players’ characters will be able to join it as they wish. Your petition will be considered on its own merits/originality, on how necessary I see the clan you’ve envisioned as being to Dasaka society, and upon your skill and responsibility as a player. Petitioning characters CANNOT exist in the Profiles Topic prior to their petitions. Menti Discipline Petitioning You may petition for your Dasaka or Datsue character to be proficient in more than one Menti discipline. In Kentoku Society, multidisciplinary training generally comes along with a more advanced rank, and so a Menti Discipline Petition can oftentimes go hand in hand with a Caste Petition. It’ll be easier to get this kind of petition passed if you’re only asking for one additional power. To petition for additional Menti abilities, your PM must indicate how many bonus disciplines you want your character to have, and briefly describe the coolest combo attack you could possibly imagine doing with this extra power. If I feel that I need more information, I will ask questions; more likely, I’ll just say yes or no, and that’ll be the end of it. Your petition will be considered on its own merits/originality, and also upon your skill and responsibility as a player. Petitioning characters CAN exist in the Profiles Topic prior to their petitions. Gender Petitioning You may petition for your Dasaka character to be male. The Gender Petition functions a little bit differently than the other petitions listed above, though; rather than being based on merit, it’s based on sheer luck. To petition for a Dasaka character to be male, your PM just needs to say, “Roll my Dice.” Once your petition has been received, I will simulate the 40:1 female-to-male Dasaka birth ratio with a random numbers generator, which will spit a random integer from 1 to 41 back out at me. If the generator gives me the number 1, I will inform you that your character may be male; if I get any other number, I’ll tell you that your petition was unsuccessful. Though each player may possess a maximum of ONE male Dasaka character, you may submit multiple characters at once to be Gender Petitioned, to better your odds. However, you won’t be able to keep trying your luck against the random numbers generator without some consequences. Any character that you submit for gender petitioning, whether or not that petition is successful, MUST be subsequently created, added to your Profiles Post, and played as IC. I’m enacting this policy both for the maintenance of realistic Dasaka gender ratios and to dissuade you from bogging me down with hundreds of Gender Petitions at once. If you want to submit 41 characters to me to be Gender Petitioned, that’s fine; however, you’ll be expected to follow through on all 41 characters. Players who have had Clan Petitions approved will be given better odds in Gender Petitions; if the random numbers generator gives me a number 1-5, rather than simply a 1, then a male character credit will be given. Because of Dasaka societal norms, new male characters will be allowed to choose up to two Menti disciplines without the necessity of submitting a Menti Discipline Petition. Petitioning characters CANNOT exist in the Profiles Topic prior to their petitions.

Useful reference materials, such as Friar Tuck's Common Sense guide, the BZPRPG FAQ, the official game rules, and other resources can be found here: Official BZPRPG Rules and Index. HERE WE GO KIDS, CHAPTER III! It’s finally here! The wait you didn’t even know you were waiting for… is over! We get to start Chapter III of this arc of the game! Wahoo! At this point, many of you are probably wondering, “Why start a new BZPRPG chapter, Nuju?” Well, aside from the fact that this is gonna be the freakin’ best chapter ever, it seemed fitting to preface what I saw as a drastic change in the world of the game – namely, the introduction of some extremely real threats to your characters’ safety, whee! – with a bit of a briefing. The start of a chapter also gives us license to skip what would’ve probably been several more weeks’ painstaking wind-up (drawn out, slow, simmering tension building, the likes of which we’ve had all arc so far; who needs more of that?) to get to the same place. My staff and I made the choice to initiate a third chapter of this arc so that we could all finally get to the real meat of the story, something that I understand many of you have been itching to do for quite some time. The next question is logical: “What does this chapter mean for me?” Well, a few things. First, like I already mentioned, the world – Mata Nui and Kentoku – just got a whole lot more dangerous, and my staff and I hope to make as many of you start to feel that as possible. Rahkshi attacks, crime in the Koros, street justice on Kentoku, and plenty more… your characters are going to face all sorts of delicious hazards, as well as each other! On Mata Nui and on Kentoku, the game’s afoot; are you good or evil? Umbraline or Dastana? Where does your character fall? How are you going to totally clobber that person on the opposite side (within the rules)? Secondly, and in a sort of similar vein, the staff has decided that something that’s been a problem (and has been mostly our fault) is that the world of the game hasn’t been throwing enough obstacles at you guys, lately… and we intend to correct that. What’s the fun of RPing in an unresponsive world? No fun is the answer. In feedback, some of you asked for this, so we’re delivering. You guys can expect to see a greater staff presence IC: we’ll be playing as NPCs, as nature, and as devious staff characters, saddling people with all manner of adversities if we see them getting too comfortable. We plan to get off to a good start by harassing each location topic separately. Shortly after this chapter has gone live, you can expect to see: Attacks on KorosFreak weatherDangerous wildlife of all shapes and sizesCrime and mysteryAnd more!Thirdly, regarding this chapter’s timeskip: there is no timeskip. Because BZPRPG time is fluid, and the events outlined in the intro could feasibly take place over a short period, I just don’t think a timeskip is necessary for most of you. Unless one of your characters (a Piraka, Echelon, Yumiwa, etc.) is directly related to the events mentioned in the Chapter III intro above, you don’t have to worry about skipping forward from where your character currently is. However, you have to acknowledge the changes as having taken place, just like if someone had posted a regular IC before your post outlining all these changes. To make that clearer, I’ve made a post in each region topic linking to the Chapter III intro, and pointing out that all the stuff said therein is effective immediately. Fourthly, and to address another frequently voiced concern of yours, nobody has plot armor. That applies to the Piraka; that applies to Echelon; that applies to Yumiwa and Jasik and Arsix and Mary Sue and anyone else you can think of. Characters might be unusually powerful, well protected, or hard to access, but they’re far from invincible, and we encourage you to do whatever you can (within the rules) to beat the living snot out of them. Now that we’ve established the foundations of conflict in the world of the game, my staff and I are entirely willing (and, given the nature of the endgame of this plot, able) to let the actual events of the conflict progress organically. Who’s gonna win the Dasaka civil war? I have no idea, and I don’t really care, as long as the war happens. If conflict isn’t happening, we on the staff will nudge at things to keep them moving and exciting for players, but we want you all to be the engine on this stuff. Speaking of beating the living snot out of each other, I expect that we’ll be seeing a lot of PC-on-PC conflict in Chapter III. That’s part of the fun. For what I know won’t be the last time, I want to reiterate that fighting within the rules is the only acceptable way to fight, and those that don’t adhere to game law will face consequences. A few things to remember as we approach an era of duels: A character’s weapon/tool is considered a part of her/his body, and it cannot be autohit. This goes for breaking a weapon, or disarming a character.Metagaming can seem like an easy way to get an edge, especially in large-scale conflicts. But your character should never even “have a hunch” or “get lucky” about enemy troop movements, surprise attacks, or what have you. Even leaving a situation/location that’s about to be in danger at a convenient time can be interpreted as metagaming.You cannot throw attacks that affect the insides of your enemies’ bodies; since a) our game’s understanding of the BIONICLE anatomy is left intentionally shaky, b) the person you’re attacking in this way has no way of defending her/his self, and c) they’re unsportsmanlike.When it comes to using the subtler Menti Disciplines (Sighteye and, especially, Willhammer), it’s hard to walk the fine line between autohitting and fair play. Play it safer than you think you need to, and if we see someone brushing off your power too easily, that’s a matter staff will deal with.To say it simply, play fairly, and remember that the wellbeing of your character should never – and doesn’t necessarily – come before the wellbeing of the story. You get taken as a P.O.W? That’s great, and a really cool CD opportunity. Suffer a serious injury? Have fun playing as your character coping and adapting from it. Bad things happening to your character can be great for you as a player. Just a few more notes: EmperorWhenua (EW) has decided to resign his position on the BZPRPG staff team. Considering his long tenure as a BZPRPG player and his consistent dedication to the game's creative wellbeing, EW has graciously offered himself as a consultant for future plot developments. We thank him for the time and energy he dedicated to the game as a staff member, and we’re glad to see him sticking around.To fill EW’s vacancy, we’re bringing on two new BZPRPG staff members: Ghosthands and Krayzikk! These two players have constantly demonstrated mature, helpful behavior in and out of N&D, and are also pretty fantastic writers; the rest of the staff and I are extremely excited to have them on board. We hope that a larger staff team will allow us to better serve the game and its expanding needs.Thanks for bearing all this in mind, guys. I hope you enjoy Chapter III; happy playing! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WELCOME TO THE NEXT PHASE OF BZPRPG 2013! Bienvenue, madames et monsieurs! I’m very happy to say that, after just a bit of game downtime, we can finally begin the second chapter of the BZPRPG 2013 Arc. All the behind-the-scenes work that the rest of my staff and I have been doing in the last couple of days is, at last, done; we’re ready to open the game to players once more. This second start is very exciting for me, because it marks the final revelation of something I’ve been keeping (mostly) under wraps for a very long time: the Dasaka! I’ll elaborate on how they’ll be integrated into the world of the game, and on other important points about the new chapter of the game, below. I. THE TIMESKIP As I revealed earlier, we’ll be resuming play in the world of the game after an IC timeskip. I can vaguely say that this timeskip is far shorter than the one that existed between the 2012 and 2013 arcs. Before you ask, though, I am not sure exactly how long this timeskip is… I don’t think I can be sure, what with RPG time and its usual wonkiness. Not knowing this doesn’t bother me; what I do know is what’s happened during the timeskip, and that – rather than petty labels of weeks, months, etc. – is what’s really important to pay attention to for the sake of maintaining realism in the IC world. There are two keys to help you along the path to playing the timeskip accurately. First off, all the location topics have been updated at least a little bit to indicate how they’ve changed since they were seen at the beginning of the first chapter of the arc. In most cases, this change is actually minimal; aside from the addition of a few locations of note, and the subtraction of some sentences, they’re almost identical to the first 2013 location topics. This said, you’ll still want to carefully read the topics, just so you don’t miss any of the small stuff that’s been shoved in there. Secondly, and most cohesively, there’s also the latter half of the above post, which summarizes the general changes on Mata Nui since the timeskip. Read through this again, just to be sure you got everything; that’s the new status quo, folks, so be sure you know it. But how, you might ask, does all of this timeskip stuff apply to my plots and characters? How am I supposed to know what to do with them? How much time has passed for them since the last things we remember playing? Where are they now? These are all good questions, and there is one elegant solution: it’s up to you. I can’t definitively say where every single narrative thread of the game should be found after the timeskip, not least because the latest developments in all those threads were lost in the dataclysm. But, more importantly, my job as head GM isn’t to tell you everything. The yarn of this game belongs to you, the players; you get to choose how to interpret the timeskip as it pertains to your stories. That idealistic babble having been said, if you have questions about the plausibility of where your characters will “re-start,” or you and other players disagree about where your interacting PCs should be, please feel free to bring these questions and concerns up with staff. We will give you as much help as we can, and give the final say on disputes. My advice for multi-player plots is to just let the first person to post decide the new status quo; it’ll be a fun curveball to find your character in an unexpected position, even if it’s a less-than-fortunate one. II. THE DASAKA As was so clearly stated in this chapter’s expository post above, the Dasaka are coming! Very shortly, Dasaka characters will be open for you guys to play. The particular details about how to get yourself a Dasaka – process, guidelines, restrictions, and whatnot – will soon be found in the second post of the profiles topic. Once the appropriate information has all been posted, and once I officially declare open season, you’ll be able to make Dasaka characters (within the set parameters) to your hearts’ delights. The Profiles Topic, though, isn’t the only place you guys will find details about the Dasaka and their society. There’s already somewhere you can read up. The location topic for the Kentoku Archipelago has been posted, and this is designed to be your one-stop place for Dasaka reference. In the Kentoku Archipelago topic, you’ll find not only a standard location description, but also a comprehensive reference post below it. This reference post outlines the basics of Kentoku society, includes resources like a dictionary of terms/pronunciation and a list of notable Dasaka individuals, and provides thorough descriptions of everything from the most notable Kentoku clans to the Menti disciplines of the mind. For now at least, there are no Dasaka on Mata Nui. Once Dasaka characters are open to create, they will be – at least for a while – confined to the Kentoku Archipelago topic. Look at the necessary period in Kentoku as a time to explore your characters’ places in the highly regimented Dasaka social structure; the Order of society is, after all, one of their prime Virtues. Dasaka characters will be able to go to Mata Nui in the future; the details of this will be fleshed out at a later date. III. OTHER NOTES As was announced earlier, Tyler Durden has joined the BZPRPG staff team. Please give him all the respect due to someone in his position, and feel free to PM him with your most frivolous inquiries. Since everyone played really nicely with native tech in the first chapter of this arc, I’ve decided it’s time to reward good behavior! PCs may now produce (and sell) original native tech items, as long as staff approves those items in advance. Koro-sized orders can still only be fulfilled by Onu-Koro, but since these turned out to be less demanded than I anticipated before, I don’t see this being much of an impedance for the accessibility of native tech.One of the biggest bummers about the dataclysm is that the products of all your hard work have vanished from existence, right? I know that’s how I feel… So, to ease the pain, here’s something: if you happen to have saved copies of important – and missing – posts that you want to remain on BZPRPG record for posterity, you can repost them. You may repost your lost gems – preferably in the updated copies of their previous location topics – with the header “LICK,” meaning “Lost In-Character Kontent.” This header is not to be used for IC flashbacks, and LICK posts must be regarded by you and others as entirely detached from the action going on all around them IC. LICK posts are not for interaction, just for restoring vanished content.The linking to – but not discussion of – BZPRPG-related artworks (podcasts, drawings, interpretive dances, etc.) is encouraged in the N&D topic, as such artworks are usually really fun and somehow inspiring. For those of you linking to your artworks, be sure that a discussion link is, if separate, also included.… Thanks for reading all of this. If you have questions about stuff, feel free to pose them below (if they apply to everyone), and I or other staff members will do our best to answer them here. Happy playing, everyone! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WELCOME TO THE 2013 ARC OF THE BZPRPG! So, here we are! BZPRPG 2013 is at last in motion. I am quite excited about this new arc of the story. As you could probably tell from reading the plot introduction above, this year has a lot of fun in store for us: disunity, betrayal, mystery, intrigue, discovery, bravery, and (of course!) heroic feats. I have high hopes for the world of the game this year, for last years’ characters to get even better and more defined, and for everyone to introduce still-more amazing personalities to the game. Anyway, let’s delve into the meat of it… things this year will work out a little bit differently. I’ll describe the important changes and new factors of the game below. I. POWER BREAKDOWN On Mata Nui, things have changed in terms of power structure. As was drilled into your heads above, Makuta is gone. That means no oppressive power, no evil Rahi, no dark force looming over your heads threatening to smite you. The balance of power this year is spread a bit more evenly – and dangerously! Each Koro is effectively its own entity, and while I as head GM have final say over what these Koros are allowed to do, the rest of it is up to you. This is because this year, most of the Koros are going to be player-run. You heard me right, folks. I’ve selected four regular players, players who proved themselves responsible to me last year and in years past, as the heads of the Koros. These players will be RPing as their Koro’s respective Akiri; all military action, diplomacy, trade, and goings-on within their Koros will be their call and responsibility. Unless something they want to do needs special approval from me first, they can do it. If you’re a member of one of the Koros, and you want to, say, form a new military squad, or host a Kolhii match, you talk to that Koro’s Akiri. Here’s the standing leadership: Akiri Jaller, leading the aggressive and self-righteous Ta-Koro: The Snark Knight Akiri Hahli, leading the negotiating and detached Ga-Koro: Tyler Durden Akiri Hewkii, leading the defensive and reclusive Po-Koro: Lloyd: the White Wolf Akiri Nuparu, leading the enterprising and perceptive Onu-Koro: Nuju Metru Akiri Matoro, leading the secretive and obstinate Ko-Koro: EmperorWhenua Akiri Kongu, leading the reflexive and conciliatory Le-Koro: snoip lion These players have written the profiles of their respective Akiri, and are required to, at least to an extent, abide by the characteristics I’ve given their Koros. I’ve done my best to sew some seeds of conflict into those descriptors, and since this year will be boring if there’s no division between the Koros, I’d like it if Koro leadership will follow the basic paths I’ve given them. Aside from keeping their Koros in line, it’s their job as skillful RPers and leaders to achieve the objectives given them by what methods they see fit. But, of course, the leaders defined above are no more than player characters. They are far from immovable; they may even be fallible. If you want to try dethroning some of the Akiri, taking power for yourself… well, I won’t stand in your way. Koro leaders, I recommend you exercise a degree of caution. Also, Akiri players, aside from serving as leaders of your Koros IC, I also expect for all of you to serve as model players and mentors. While I fully expect the Koro-vs.-Koro action to become heated and excited, it is your responsibility to make sure that players on your team do not Godmod, autohit, or play unrealistically, especially in battle. II. “NATIVE” TECHNOLOGY You may have noticed that I have placed myself in charge of Onu-Koro. This isn’t just because I like the place. It’s because Onu-Koro has, in the short time since the fall of Makuta, gotten far and gotten there fast. The Onu-Koronans have realized that their value lies in more than simply extracting ores; they have the power to shape those ores into machines, the likes of which haven’t been seen on Mata Nui before. That’s the roundabout way of saying that technology on the island has taken a step forward, and almost all of those steps are in the hands of Onu-Koro – of me. More advanced technological items are no longer out of the question for Toa and Matoran. However, they aren’t exactly free, either. Technology is one of the few legitimate currencies on the island, and it’s not something I throw out there lightly. Onu-Koro has put itself in a position perfectly suited for war profiteering, and it’s a position that Onu-Koro’s Akiri, Nuparu, means to take advantage of. He does not generally recognize commissions from any group smaller than a whole Koro. Koro leaders can request technologies from Nuparu by PMing me directly. I’ll let you know firstly if what you’re asking for is possible by Mata Nuian standards, and secondly tell you how much it’ll cost your Koro IC to get. Once the IC task is completed, you can assume your Koro has ownership of the technology agreed on. These payments I define are definitely negotiable – this is inter-Koro politics, after all. If a regular player wants a piece of this new “native technology,” they will have to either ask an Akiri for an item – whereupon the Akiri can either give a pre-bought item or else place a new request with Onu-Koro – or, as with attaining foreign technology, win it fairly in PC-vs.-PC battle. At some point, smaller freelance native tech shops that take individual PC orders may be created, but they too will require some kind of task-based IC payment in exchange for their technologies. III. FOREIGN SPECIES & ITEMS Speaking of foreigners (but not yet about the strange newcomers from the submarine), foreign species this year have the same foreign tech limitations – one piece for Skakdi, two for Vortixx, and all foreign tech items have to be approved by staff before they may be used. Items approved from last year may be kept; however, I would encourage players with foreign tech items to run them by staff again to be sure they’re okay. We reserve the right to remove foreign tech pieces from last year that we see as overpowered or inappropriately used. Foreign species approvals will still be taken next year, with an encouraged focus on how the species being pitched would offer unique character development opportunities. All foreign species approved last year must be re-approved to be used this year. All foreign species requests must be given to me, Nuju Metru. IV. OTHER APPROVALS Staff will take requests for custom masks, custom elements, or other special inherent powers. Characters with pre-existing custom masks, elements, or powers must have these re-approved before they may be used in this game. If your character has a custom mask, I would encourage you to switch to a different one from the approved lists. Another thing: the other staff and I would love you forever if with all of the above-mentioned approvals and re-approvals you as a player need, you could put them into ONE PM, please? I already foresee overcrowded inboxes, so save us some space. V. THE DASAKA This year sees the introduction of an alien culture onto the island of Mata Nui. The beings claiming to be from the Kentoku Archipelago (called by the blanket term “Dasaka”), have landed in their submarine, and they are strikingly similar, but at once very different, from the Toa and Matoran of Mata Nui. They speak the same language as the beings of Mata Nui, but have never heard of Makuta. They wear the same masks as Toa and Matoran, but don’t have any elemental affiliation recognizable to the denizens of Mata Nui. At this point in time, Dasaka characters are not open to playing. After the game takes off a bit, and as more information about the Dasaka and the Kentoku Archipelago surfaces, players will be able to, within the restrictions of the species that will be defined, create Dasaka characters. Keep your eyes peeled for this all to emerge later. VI. RULE AMENDMENTS & PLAYER CONDUCT Re-read the rules. Tuck and I have added some stuff and taken away other stuff. Please note the changes to the approved lists when it comes to profiles. If you have any questions regarding changes, feel free to post about it in GD in case somebody else has the same question, and I’ll do my best to answer it. Also, read Friar Tuck’s Guide to Common Sense in the BZPRPG again. It’s just so good, and always so relevant. Last year, the News & Discussion topic devolved on many occasions into off-topic spam, personal arguments, and general ill feeling. While much of that, of course, is unavoidable (knowing you guys!), I hope we can sidestep some more of it this year with a policy change. I, and the rest of my staff, will give Strikes far more judiciously for N&D misconduct this year, because it aggravates me along with everyone else. You can easily avoid such punishment by being civil, on-topic, and a contributor to the discussion. If you have a problem with how another player is playing, please talk to a staff member rather than publicize the matter in N&D. As I said earlier when addressing the Koro Leaders, I know that competition between Koros may escalate very quickly and set player blood high. But even in the face of these IC battles, GMing, autohitting, and especially metagaming, are absolutely unacceptable. While I hope Koro leader players can prevent you from such illegal actions, the event of you doing them is nevertheless on you, not them. I will have a very open ear about these kinds of rule infringements. Play it safe rather than sorry. That’s about all I can think of to say. If you have any questions you think apply to more people than just you, feel free to ask them in the topic below, and I’ll do my best to give answers. I have high hopes for this year, and for all of you. Let’s make this a spectacular arc of the growing story. Happy playing!

CHAPTER III “No game is difficult if you understand its rules and its pieces. That’s how you cheat, how you win.” The game is afoot. From his nowhere exile, the titan of darkness observes with sinister delight as the seeds he planted mature into twisted trees. Makuta used the final drops of his vestigial influence on Mata Nui towards a vengeful end: with a dim hand, he led shady beings to encounter his most potent depravity, the vile ichor known as Antidermis. Fluid destruction, the abhorrent substance devours that which is good, augments that which is wicked, and corrupts that which can be used for ill. It devastates economically, mercilessly, and effectively. By the will of shadow, this caustic power has fallen into the most dangerous of hands. Makuta chose the heirs of his Antidermis with a prisoner’s careful cunning: a nefarious Dark Toa, once servant to his tyrannical shadows, has amassed a posse of evildoers to himself; a scheming Matoran, a peer of the shrewdest power-players on the island, now holds a secret weapon; and six anarchic Skakdi, equipped with a mere vial of his malevolent material, have compromised the formidable Abettor and thus gained access to a trove of armaments beyond their most blissful fantasies. The Chaotic Six were already a force to be reckoned with; now, they’re poised to become the island’s nightmare. In the ominous chamber of the Vault, the gang discovered not only a huge, looming vat of Antidermis – which, they found, could be used to enslave Makuta’s old Rahkshi to their depraved wills – but also a wealth of technological scraps and an array of dangerous masks. To make matters worse, malevolent fate has brought the Piraka into contact with Echelon and his followers, doubling the groups’ dangerousness through the bonds of newly forged allegiance. Their grown strength is magnetic, and others – the amoral, the spiteful, and the power-hungry – are drawn to the congregating vice like moths to a flame. Some of these amassing forces seek calculated retribution for the banishment of their dark god, while some simply seek heady power or dumb thrills; all, though, defer to the primacy of the Antidermis, and to the sole being that dares approach it at its source. The corner of evil on Mata Nui deepens and gathers potency; the game is afoot, for the denizens of Mata Nui must again unite against a united enemy. Across countless leagues of water, a blood feud inexorably approaches civil war. In the midst of festivities, Umbraline Yusanora, Rora of the Kentoku Archipelago, was slain before the terrified eyes of a hundred nobles by a weapon that incriminated Dastana Jasik, the First Son of his family. Though the ascendance to the throne of Yusanora’s eldest daughter Yumiwa, and the departure of a second expeditionary submarine to Mata Nui, allayed tensions on the Archipelago for a time, nothing could reverse the Rora’s heinous murder and so assuage the grievance done onto Clan Umbraline. Made impatient by High Executioner Rayuke’s meticulous deliberations regarding Jasik’s guilt, Umbraline extremists took justice into their own hands, and under cover of night, revenged the death of their matriarch by slaying the Dastana’s Toroshu, Yomiken. As the vigilantes fled, Dastana guards captured three, and the next day executed them before crowds in the street, igniting a riot between Umbraline allies and Dastana sympathizers. Attempts were made upon the lives of Jasik and his sister, as well as upon Yumiwa and even Rayuke. As every fresh drop of blood is drawn, as Sado’s glittering towers are painted red, the hate between the clans thickens. The Umbraline and the Dastana prepare for full confrontation. Already, the Dastana have won the support of several minor clans, including the feral Vilda and wily Kyoshi, and have sent diplomats to others; already, the Umbraline have raised an army of militant Ageru warriors, and set the zealous Hogo to ruthlessly policing the streets of the Imperial Palace. Clan Fursic, so often associated with societal strife, sits back, as though waiting for the opportune moment to pick a side. But the seductive perfume of rebellion in the air has not just reached the aristocracy’s noses; the lowliest Saihoko and the meanest Ringti have caught the scent, too, and many resent their chains – and the nobles that shackled them – with fresh vigor. The Kentoku Archipelago is a dry forest, needing only a spark to burst into flames. The game is afoot: who will live, and who will burn? Circumstances remain unresolved, and questions remain unanswered. The Dasaka’s expedition to Mata Nui could begin an age of mutual prosperity for the two lands as easily as it could set off a terrible conflict between them. The Toa Maru, saviors of Mata Nui, struggle – perhaps vainly – to escape from the ghost of their leader’s desperate, clandestine deed. Lost heroes return from mysterious voyages, and antiheroes embark upon quests to right the wrongs of their past. The Matoran of Mata Nui, hardened by more strife than any people could ever have deserved, remain strong even in the face of massing villainy, and are more important than they yet realize. The simplest power of the Vault remains, though few realize it, untouched. Although imperiled, the world is not bereft of hope. But the situation is dire; the game is afoot. CHAPTER II “Faith, it's an attractive concept... but it is a euphemism for slavery. If faith is a willingness to follow one's destiny, then it is the willingness to throw oneself, too pathetic to do otherwise, into bondage.” The Dasaka are coming. On the day when Makuta was banished by the Toa Maru, on the very day when the island of Mata Nui was freed at last from the oppression of its dark tyrant, a bejeweled island far across the expanses of the sea discovered, to its great surprise, a new world. Destiny is a titan with fingers as vast as islands. Ages ago, a council of wise Datsue philosophers theorized that the Kentoku Archipelago, the eternal motherland of the Dasaka people, could not be alone in the endless ocean. How, the philosophers had asked, could the Dasaka’s islands be the only dry protrusions in an inestimable sea? How could it be that the Great Spirit Zuto Nui had bestowed her great and infinite gifts exclusively on such a small portion of the world? Geographical and spiritual hypotheses, though, had not been the only tenants of the philosophers’ theory; the Datsue council had also reasoned that primeval stories, above all else, pointed to the existence of unknown lands. In the vague reminiscences of ancient legend, there were several similar tales of strangers who had visited the Archipelago, curious beings that resembled the Dasaka and Dashi of Kentoku, but as an imperfect reflection. In the legends, these beings had possessed powers unlike any the Dasaka had ever seen, been as colorful as the foliage of the Janu birds, and wielded priceless metal weapons. While traditionalists always dismissed the alien characters in these stories as creative inventions, the Datsue had argued that the consistency between the tales could not be coincidental, and that perhaps the strangers of the legends were something more than myth… that they had come from somewhere else. In their time, the theory of the philosophers’ council had been viewed with great skepticism, dismissed outright by some, used by others as a political cudgel against the sovereignty of the Datsue. As time passed, the revolutionary theory was buried by the continuance of war and tradition, reduced to an obscure joke, left alone as one volume among thousands in the libraries of Dasaka lore. On the day when Makuta was banished by the Toa Maru, on the very day when armies of Rahkshi had scattered and the sun had shone unfettered for the first time in a long time, the long-dead Datsue philosophers smiled from their graves. Lucky circumstance brought the Dasaka their first foreigners in an epoch. They had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. A Saihoko schooner on a routine fishing expedition had seen a pillar of smoke on the far horizon; curiosity had compelled its crew to approach. Upon reaching the source of the smoke, the sailboat had discovered a wooden ship on fire, nearly collapsed into the sea. Hanging on to splinters of its detritus had been six beings, the likes of which the sailors had never seen. They’d had heavy jaws, clawed hands and feet, and showy spines running down their backs, and they had been all the vivacious colors of Janu birds. The Saihoko craft had promptly saved and escorted these strangers, who had seemed very polite and grateful, back to the Archipelago; within hours, the six colorful beings had stood before the Rora. They had introduced their kind as Skakdi, but either could not or would not say anything about where they had come from, why they had been at sea, or how their ship had caught fire. Though some Dasaka had found the Skakdi’s selective recollections – and the incongruities in their details from telling to telling – suspicious, the general marvel and excitement felt by all had drowned out such concerns… for a time. It did not take long for the six Skakdi to show that their true colors were not as vibrant and pure as those of the Janu; it did not take long for their tendencies towards crime and violence to become apparent. The chaos that they caused and the damage they inflicted were extraordinary; within weeks, the six Skakdi had been sentenced to death on the Rora’s orders. But the six Skakdi had possessed abilities unprecedented by the Dasaka’s prisons, and had escaped on the eve before their executions in a stolen submersible. The Rora had ordered this stolen submarine searched for; vain though such a gesture had been, it bore unexpected fruit. On the day when Makuta was banished by the Toa Maru, on the very day when the Koros of Mata Nui had breathed sighs of relief, one of the chasing submarines happened upon something entirely unexpected: land. Lucky circumstance may seem contrived by Destiny. In the absence of Makuta, political enmity grew on Mata Nui, but it also grew on the Kentoku Archipelago. While the Vault was an issue of contention and dangerous possibility amongst the Matoran factions, the discovery of a new world served the same disruptive function among the Dasaka clans. Their debates were fierce. Some Toroshu clamored for exploration, weaving words of temptation and glory; others argued for isolationism, wielding fear, doubt and tradition as their devices. The rifts between clans – formerly as small as they’d been in a very long time – reopened with savage speed. A final compromise was officiated: the Dasaka would send one submarine to this newfound island, and upon its return – or lack thereof – they would have enough information to decide whether or not to pursue exploration and colonization. The mission’s crew was selected, and the submarine departed with all speed. After its diplomatic representatives met with Akiri Hahli of Ga-Koro, after they exited the Koro bearing maps of the island and a trove of information about its people and society, the Dasaka’s exploratory submarine returned to the Kentoku Archipelago. On the day when Makuta was banished by the Toa Maru, on the very day when Toa Stannis had felt such piercing uncertainty about the potential costs of his actions, he may have exchanged one aggressive power for another. The Dasaka are coming. … On the island of Mata Nui, meanwhile, tensions have – at least, for now – eased. When the six Akiri held council at the pinnacle of the Kini-Nui temple, many of the grievances that they had held against one another were exposed to have been insubstantial shades all along. Compounding suspicion and paranoia, above all else, had been to blame for the misunderstandings. How, the Akiri had lamented, had they been so foolish as to think one another capable of evil deeds? Why had they not simply met, face-to-face, earlier? The Akiri rediscovered their old friendships at that meeting, and all breathed a sigh of relief at the realization that the war for which they had been preparing themselves and their people would, perhaps, not come. When at last the summit broke, it was as though the Akiri had brushed a dark fog from their eyes; they returned to their villages proclaiming a new era of peace and goodwill, and professing their trust in the other Akiri, their firm convictions that all would be well again on Mata Nui. On the surface, the land knows peace. Below the surface, in the bowels of Mangaia, the dark fog sits close to the earth, and turmoil waits patiently for its time. By now, several beings of stout heart have journeyed into the heart of Makuta’s old lair to speak with the black-gazed Abettor. In a tunnel above the Vault – eerily round, its surface peppered with the sparkling faces of geodes – these journeyers have all been blinded by the same blue light and been asked the same questions. Those that attempt duplicity in the presence of the Abettor are slain; those who try to pass the metal behemoth uninvited meet the same fate. The Abettor douses their lives without hesitation and, even when set upon by a dozen Toa at once, without difficulty. Those who do not try to force past or lie to the Abettor, however, have been allowed to leave its tunnel unscathed… and bearing morsels of tantalizing knowledge. Some have even been given clues about what the powerful goliath guards. The Abettor has rumbled that while the Vault contains some of Makuta’s shady and mysterious devices, these are nothing compared to its real treasure: “all the simplest power of the world.” All the simplest power of the world… This phrase, above all else, has sparked a refreshed wave of relentless speculation, a fresh pang of shameful longing, among the people of Mata Nui. What could that power be? And how can it be unlocked at last? The rumors about the Vault come from everywhere and Nowhere, sweet as honeyed fruit and insubstantial as dark fog. A show of peace may have been made among the Koros, but all is still not well on Mata Nui. Around the island, corners of darkness coalesce and deepen. A necromantic Brotherhood slowly reconstructs its ancient fortress. Peers and mercenaries play dangerous and subtle games against one another. Former disciples of the great darkness are drawn back to one another. Five incompatible Skakdi whoop, giggle, and backstab as they turn the island into their playground. The sixth Skakdi, conspirator with the dark fog, knows something that the other five don’t. Makuta is gone, but he is not dead. CHAPTER I “The people of the world are builders. But look into their hearts... and you will find that they also have the power to destroy.” Makuta is gone. The Second Great Prophecy, which spoke of new heroes rising to overthrow a powerful darkness, foretold as much. Destiny followed its course and new champions, the Toa Maru, took up the mantle and power of the First Toa – who by now are remembered only as vague legends rather than as the flawed people they truly were – and succeeded where their predecessors had failed. The Toa Maru banished the looming darkness before it was able to soak up all the light of hope on the island. Makuta is gone; he was defeated at the peak of his might by six heroes who rose from the people he had presumed to rule. For a time, there was rejoicing. The Toa Maru were celebrated by all for their unrivaled heroism and strength. The force of their presence alone, when properly applied, was more than enough to ensure a peaceful restoration of Matoran leadership where others had ruled. The control formerly vested in the Turaga, who were killed in the sweep of Makuta’s final throes, has now been passed on to some of their most trusted advisers: Jaller, Matoro, Kongu, Nuparu, Hahli, and Hewkii. A union of peace settled over the Koros. But all is not well on the island of Mata Nui. The Great Spirit sleeps on, suddenly much deeper than before, even though his dark brother has been exorcised from the island. After defeating Makuta, the Toa Maru extensively searched and removed all items of danger from his lair. At its deepest level, they discovered the huge, impregnable doorway to what they could only guess to be his Vault, in which was assumedly stored all the mysterious objects of power Makuta had hoarded over the course of his dark reign. Though the Maru could not discover how to open the Vault, they knew that it could be entered; the deceased Takua had, after all, stolen the First Toa’s Essence Stones – which had transformed the former Wanderer’s Company into the Toa Maru – from it. The Maru, for all their efforts, could not open the Vault, but there was a hint, a riddle, carved tauntingly onto its door, making clear that Makuta’s arsenal could indeed be cracked, but by no means anyone on Mata Nui possessed: Across an endless ocean Beyond where minds can see My key lies in the open Where you will never be Beneath the brightest thunder Stand towers of the day The light may break asunder If night skies choose obey The red sign on black eyes Will lead you to your prize The Vault’s existence soon became common knowledge across the island, though nobody could remember where he or she had heard about it first. Uncontrolled speculation has abounded as to the nature of the powerful objects inside the Vault; each new rumor wilder than the last. In light of these rumors, the inhabitants of Mata Nui, everyone from the darkest cutthroats to the island’s new leaders, came upon a dangerous and tantalizing realization: Makuta may be gone, but his iron means, those by which he effortlessly controlled the entire island, are not. Without the weight of Makuta’s shade above them, there is no longer a dark virtue to provide the island of Mata Nui with moral relativity. The people of the island have found that their actions no longer answer to higher consequences and that, when left to their own devices, they are perhaps less wholesome than they had considered themselves to be. The denizens of Mata Nui grow murkier in principles; the seductive whisper of unclaimed power resonates deeper in them than they would like to admit. Temptation has led to distrust, and distrust has led to disunity. Formerly cohesive, the Koros drifted apart, gradually at first but with progressive rapidity. Island-wide harmony used to be in everyone’s best interests; now, the opposite seems true. At best, shaky alliances still remain among some of the villages. Others, though, have brazenly declared themselves self-sufficient from – and even opposed to – their former friends. Village loyalty is the new name of the game; Mata Nui is now essentially divided into the territories of six individual city-states, each with their own idea of what should happen next, their own plans for advancement and survival. The Matoran who were entrusted with leadership over the Koros in the wake of Makuta’s fall – who have become known as the Akiri, the “heads”, of their respective Koros – find their former bonds with one another strained as their trust in the island’s people and in one another progressively decays. The Akiri surround their Koros with new defenses and surround themselves with bodyguards. Makuta is gone; without his watchful eyes, the island has steeped into suspicion and factionalism. The sudden freedom and purposelessness granted to the villagers following his demise has splintered them. All acts are risks, and all risks are calculated. The few inhabitants of the island who have pledged neutrality in the terse atmosphere are either pressured or downright threatened to take sides. Mercenary groups abound; those without village loyalty – mainly foreigners – sell their militant services to individual villages in exchange for money, quartering, and other valuables. The amassing of such mercenaries by the Koros, as well as the propagation of new militias and war technologies, is a gradual arms race to which none will admit but in which all must participate. But mercenaries are not the only wild card on the island. Recently, a strange submersible watercraft breached the surface near Ta-Wahi. This ship was loaded with curious beings that resembled the Toa and Matoran of Mata Nui, but as an imperfect reflection. Their otherness was undeniable, and was made clearer still when the larger ones began to move objects without touching them, were able to make people see without their eyes, and could communicate with each other without speaking. These others, who introduced their kind as the Dasaka, claimed to be from somewhere called the Kentoku Archipelago, which they said was too far away for Mata Nuian vessels to reach. Despite their sharp curiosity about the culture and structure of Mata Nui, the Dasaka are extremely guarded when asked about their homeland. Makuta is gone, and island-wide war is just over the horizon once again. This time, though, there is no master villain; the threats are on all sides, and enemies are those once called friends. Makuta’s Vault overshadows every moment of intrigue: it is the trump card that, if finally riddled open, could transform the state of play on the island – and transform the opener – forever. The air hums like an overwrought string, needing only a pluck to twang and break. The string must break; Makuta is gone.

Thanks again to everybody for a great story this time around. This topic has served its purpose and, after more than 1000 pages, it can finally end. In a few minutes, the first of the new arc topics will be posted. Topic closed.

Time's up. Topic closed.

I'll be clearer. In roughly eight or so hours (no matter your timezone), the new game should be starting.

The new arc starts tomorrow evening! Before around 5:00P/17:00 Pacific Standard Time tomorrow is your last chance to use the wrap-up topic to tie up your loose ends from the recent arc. After then, that topic and this one will both be closed. Thank you, everyone, for your patience and your excitement as we grow ever nearer to the next cycle of the game.

Those of you with incomplete business in the arc that just ended, please conclude it here. Play as you would anywhere else - using "IC" and "OOC" indicators and such - but also please clearly indicate the location of your characters in your posts for everyone's convenience; i.e. "IC (Ta-Koro): blah-blah-blah." This topic will close next weekend, so finish what you need to finish quickly. Enjoy!

Ladies and Gents, we have officially concluded this arc of the BZPRPG. This topic will remain open as a discussion center and speculation topic until the new arc of our story begins next weekend. A single wrap-up topic will be posted shortly, in which you will have the opportunity to conclude your personal plot arcs; that topic will also close at the commencement of the new arc, so be sure to finish what you need to over the course of the week. EmperorWhenua, who is joining the BZPRPG Staff in the coming arc, will help me moderate this topic as well as the wrap-up topic for the duration of their existences. Respect his word as you'd respect mine. Feel free to congratulate him here - we're very happy to have him aboard! I'd like to thank all of you for a well-played and very interesting cycle. I hope you're all looking forward to the beginning of next arc!

IC: The Rahkshi started to move forward. As a block, each regiment advanced upon their respective Koro. It was all too clear that they had received the order to begin at last; the ones in the lead brandished their staffs and shrieked, intimidating and terrible. All the Rahkshi marched in perfect synchronicity; their precisely composed footfalls made their approach even more ominous. At first the shock of the creatures’ motion and the awful noise they made shocked the Koro defenders into renewed stillness – thanks in part to the Rahkshi of Fear – but it was not long before the Toa and Matoran of Mata Nui remembered their purpose. Remembered their courage. Volleys of attacks launched forth against the Rahkshi. Elemental nebulae pelted the ranks of spiny things, catching one in the chest, another in the leg, and perhaps driving them back a pace. Arrows, rocks, and anything small enough to throw were airborne projectiles that rained down on the hard backs of the attacking army; in most cases these ricocheted off, but sometimes a lucky arrowhead would bounce off the shell of one Rahkshi and injure another. Blowguns, Madu Cabolo, disks, knives, throwing axes; the first of the Rahkshi fell to their knees. Some, albeit few, did not stand up again, but their collapse was enough to bolster morale. The defenders cheered. The Rahkshi, as a whole, hadn’t been slowed by the ranged attacks. They swatted aside elemental constructs, broke through walls of ice and stone as easily as if they’d been made of paper. The dark beasts started to use their own abilities, fighting back. Sonic clusters broke walls, sent Matoran on them flying away; whirring cyclones gathered all around, full of separately summoned chain lightning; hazes of confusion and fear were dangerous pockets of air that, if stepped into, would make a defender lose his or her head until he or she was pulled out; the ground beneath the defenders’ feet warped, lost its density, crumbled; beams of thin laser vision sliced through weapons and unwary bodies. Where there were gaps to be bridged or large obstacles to be overcome, the Rahkshi leapt into the air and assumed the shapes of arrowheads, hovered for a moment, and then zinged towards their foes. The melee started in earnest, and both sides surged towards each other. Swords and spears and axes and shields blocked the first savage swipes of Rahkshi steel, sparked against the sharp blades at the end of the infamous staffs. The quicker weapons retorted in turn, scored a few blows on their foes; the slower ones were wounded. The fighting was intense; the Koro defenders were fuelled with the righteous rage of protecting their homes. The Rahkshi were the greater force, but would not be met with surrender. Toa and Matoran fought with fury, fought like they knew that one day their deeds would be remembered in the great legends. This was the ultimate struggle for survival. This was the fight that they needed to win. But they were losing. The Rahkshi pressed their advantage gleefully, pushing the defenders back into their Koros, getting their first real footholds into the cities. Slowly but surely, even against a tide of renewed desperation, the Rahkshi advanced further. They crushed homes; they crushed anything they could get their hands on. The defenders were virtuous, but the Rahkshi were too strong. All was nearly lost; the tide of the battle had turned.And, instantly, it turned again. It was as though a switch had been turned inside the Rahkshi. All at once, they all seemed disoriented, looked sharply around, hissed to themselves. Upon noticing that they were surrounded by their own kind, the eyes of Rahkshi widened in shock, and then narrowed dangerously. As though suddenly aware that they were all similarly charged magnets and that they felt the strong desire to repel, they imploded. Rahkshi began to fight Rahkshi, and began to slay one another viciously. Slugs squealed as they were plucked out of carapaces and crushed in iron fingers; staffs clanged against one another until first blood; sharp teeth dug into unprotected undersides. Shrill, pained screams filled the air. It took the defenders a few moments to process what exactly was happening. But once they saw that the resolve of their foes was gone, their spirits soared, and their objective became very simple: push the Rahkshi out of the Koros, let them destroy themselves elsewhere. With renewed vigor, Toa and Matoran cooperated to drive back the Rahkshi, which was a far easier task than before. They were wild beasts now and, when shoved with elemental attacks, blades, and even fists, they opted to take the path of least resistance: backwards. As they ran on their long legs back the way they’d come, Rahkshi encountered other Rahkshi doing the same thing and, as though mutually offended another had stolen their strategy, they brawled. Usually, only one came out alive. The grounds before the Koro were littered with the rent corpses of Rahkshi, trodden carelessly underfoot by those still fleeing. Into jungles, down snowy slopes, over white cliffs, through dark tunnels, over dunes, into burnt wasteland (or straight into a lava lake), the surviving Rahkshi – perhaps a quarter of those that had attacked – spread out in all directions. They were territorial creatures, and each sought its own domain. Parties of quick-footed Toa followed some of these Rahkshi and, after difficult duels, killed them as well, but most of the Rahkshi had slipped away too quickly to be caught. The defenders hardly cared; they were so exhausted, so utterly happy to have survived, that the escaped creatures were the last things on their minds. They had won! They had done the unthinkable, and they had won! It was only once the overjoyed clapping of backs, cheering, and crying had died down that the denizens of the Koros started to wonder why they had won. They’d been so close to being wiped out, until something in their foes had changed... It had been as though the Rahkshi had instantaneously lost their sense of direction, or they’d all been beheaded- Could it be? Was it even possible? It was the only answer that made sense. Did they dare hope? Hope is tenacious. It snuck into their heads whether they liked it or not. The theory spread with the rapidity of wildfire, and it wasn’t long before everyone had the idea planted in his or her mind. The thought was appealing, too appealing. Could they really give it any credit? Perhaps this was all an elaborate trick. Then why had so many of the Rahkshi died, first? He wasn’t one to be wasteful… No… It was still the only answer that made sense. The rest of the day, for many, was a haze. Post-battle cleanup was difficult, as many vital structures on the outside of the Koro had been broken. Fatalities were surprisingly low, though many had been dealt severe wounds. If the battle had gone on longer, they wouldn’t have received the medical treatment they’d needed to survive. The defenders praised Mata Nui the umpteenth time that day for their good fortune. Everyone milled about the streets, finding their friends and allies, feeling weights lift from their weary shoulders as they saw that these people had survived, too. It had been a bright afternoon, and it darkened into a beautiful evening. The stars seemed to shine more brightly than they had the evening before. The dead were mourned, and dismissed in the customary way by full-Koro funerals. Guards were still posted at the borders of the Koros, watching for a return of their enemies, but no retaliation came, not that evening, nor the next day. Blue skies blessed the inhabitants of the island once again. The reparation process continued, and as they patched walls and huts, the Matoran chatted with each other happily. Smiles broke out on faces where they hadn’t been seen for years. With each passing instant, last night’s theory seemed more and more tangible. No Rahi, no more Rahkshi lining up. The warrior Toa assembled in parties to search the nearby wilderness for Rahkshi stragglers. A few were found and caught, but most seemed to have gone quite deep, and they were dismissed as threats for later. It was a gorgeous morning, and their Koros needed their help in restoration. The only ominous sense that endured clung to the tunnels from which the Rahkshi had emerged. The black holes, wide enough for the passage of armies, were gaping maws in the earth, which made you shudder to look at. Light seemed to be swallowed unnaturally by these vile passages; everyone could guess where they led, and so they were watched with the utmost vigilance. If there were to be a second army, the Koros would not be caught unawares. The guards saw some motion from within the tunnels. The patter of footfalls echoed around the wormlike passages, emerging amplified into the air outside. The watchmen sounded the alarms, and as quick as lightning, the Koros reassembled for combat. They dreaded what would come out of the tunnels. They held their weapons ready, and they were weary. How happy they had been instants before. At last, the source of the footfalls emerged into the light. Out of the hole came a tired-looking Toa nobody had seen before. This Toa, dwarfed by the huge tunnel opening behind him, had a hand shielding his eyes from the bright sun, which gleamed off of his armor, revealing it to be a corresponding hue to the Koro’s natural residents. At the sight of the Toa, everyone was quiet. Who could this be? Was it a friend, or an enemy? Silence and stillness greeted the mysterious Toa as he stepped out of the tunnel and into the sunlight. As the Toa’s eyes adjusted, his hand lowered, and his audiences could see that he wore an unknown Kanohi. Strapped to his body were powerful, noble-looking tools. Something in the Toa’s eyes glowed with a reassuring power. The older Matoran in the crowd found something familiar about the way the Toa bore himself. When the Toa spoke at last, he didn’t just confirm last night’s rumor to be true; he explained it. His existence explained it. “Makuta is gone.” … In the distant ocean, amid the dancing waves, a small something broke the surface. The water lapped against it and dotted its thin crystal viewport with droplets of foam. The eyes below the viewport gazed. They were met by vague mist, the kind of thin fog that clung to land. Sure enough, below the haze was a dark line sitting on the horizon. The periscope lowered as it moved forward, cutting through the sea.

IC: The Rahkshi started to move forward. As a block, each regiment advanced upon their respective Koro. It was all too clear that they had received the order to begin at last; the ones in the lead brandished their staffs and shrieked, intimidating and terrible. All the Rahkshi marched in perfect synchronicity; their precisely composed footfalls made their approach even more ominous. At first the shock of the creatures’ motion and the awful noise they made shocked the Koro defenders into renewed stillness – thanks in part to the Rahkshi of Fear – but it was not long before the Toa and Matoran of Mata Nui remembered their purpose. Remembered their courage. Volleys of attacks launched forth against the Rahkshi. Elemental nebulae pelted the ranks of spiny things, catching one in the chest, another in the leg, and perhaps driving them back a pace. Arrows, rocks, and anything small enough to throw were airborne projectiles that rained down on the hard backs of the attacking army; in most cases these ricocheted off, but sometimes a lucky arrowhead would bounce off the shell of one Rahkshi and injure another. Blowguns, Madu Cabolo, disks, knives, throwing axes; the first of the Rahkshi fell to their knees. Some, albeit few, did not stand up again, but their collapse was enough to bolster morale. The defenders cheered. The Rahkshi, as a whole, hadn’t been slowed by the ranged attacks. They swatted aside elemental constructs, broke through walls of ice and stone as easily as if they’d been made of paper. The dark beasts started to use their own abilities, fighting back. Sonic clusters broke walls, sent Matoran on them flying away; whirring cyclones gathered all around, full of separately summoned chain lightning; hazes of confusion and fear were dangerous pockets of air that, if stepped into, would make a defender lose his or her head until he or she was pulled out; the ground beneath the defenders’ feet warped, lost its density, crumbled; beams of thin laser vision sliced through weapons and unwary bodies. Where there were gaps to be bridged or large obstacles to be overcome, the Rahkshi leapt into the air and assumed the shapes of arrowheads, hovered for a moment, and then zinged towards their foes. The melee started in earnest, and both sides surged towards each other. Swords and spears and axes and shields blocked the first savage swipes of Rahkshi steel, sparked against the sharp blades at the end of the infamous staffs. The quicker weapons retorted in turn, scored a few blows on their foes; the slower ones were wounded. The fighting was intense; the Koro defenders were fuelled with the righteous rage of protecting their homes. The Rahkshi were the greater force, but would not be met with surrender. Toa and Matoran fought with fury, fought like they knew that one day their deeds would be remembered in the great legends. This was the ultimate struggle for survival. This was the fight that they needed to win. But they were losing. The Rahkshi pressed their advantage gleefully, pushing the defenders back into their Koros, getting their first real footholds into the cities. Slowly but surely, even against a tide of renewed desperation, the Rahkshi advanced further. They crushed homes; they crushed anything they could get their hands on. The defenders were virtuous, but the Rahkshi were too strong. All was nearly lost; the tide of the battle had turned.And, instantly, it turned again. It was as though a switch had been turned inside the Rahkshi. All at once, they all seemed disoriented, looked sharply around, hissed to themselves. Upon noticing that they were surrounded by their own kind, the eyes of Rahkshi widened in shock, and then narrowed dangerously. As though suddenly aware that they were all similarly charged magnets and that they felt the strong desire to repel, they imploded. Rahkshi began to fight Rahkshi, and began to slay one another viciously. Slugs squealed as they were plucked out of carapaces and crushed in iron fingers; staffs clanged against one another until first blood; sharp teeth dug into unprotected undersides. Shrill, pained screams filled the air. It took the defenders a few moments to process what exactly was happening. But once they saw that the resolve of their foes was gone, their spirits soared, and their objective became very simple: push the Rahkshi out of the Koros, let them destroy themselves elsewhere. With renewed vigor, Toa and Matoran cooperated to drive back the Rahkshi, which was a far easier task than before. They were wild beasts now and, when shoved with elemental attacks, blades, and even fists, they opted to take the path of least resistance: backwards. As they ran on their long legs back the way they’d come, Rahkshi encountered other Rahkshi doing the same thing and, as though mutually offended another had stolen their strategy, they brawled. Usually, only one came out alive. The grounds before the Koro were littered with the rent corpses of Rahkshi, trodden carelessly underfoot by those still fleeing. Into jungles, down snowy slopes, over white cliffs, through dark tunnels, over dunes, into burnt wasteland (or straight into a lava lake), the surviving Rahkshi – perhaps a quarter of those that had attacked – spread out in all directions. They were territorial creatures, and each sought its own domain. Parties of quick-footed Toa followed some of these Rahkshi and, after difficult duels, killed them as well, but most of the Rahkshi had slipped away too quickly to be caught. The defenders hardly cared; they were so exhausted, so utterly happy to have survived, that the escaped creatures were the last things on their minds. They had won! They had done the unthinkable, and they had won! It was only once the overjoyed clapping of backs, cheering, and crying had died down that the denizens of the Koros started to wonder why they had won. They’d been so close to being wiped out, until something in their foes had changed... It had been as though the Rahkshi had instantaneously lost their sense of direction, or they’d all been beheaded- Could it be? Was it even possible? It was the only answer that made sense. Did they dare hope? Hope is tenacious. It snuck into their heads whether they liked it or not. The theory spread with the rapidity of wildfire, and it wasn’t long before everyone had the idea planted in his or her mind. The thought was appealing, too appealing. Could they really give it any credit? Perhaps this was all an elaborate trick. Then why had so many of the Rahkshi died, first? He wasn’t one to be wasteful… No… It was still the only answer that made sense. The rest of the day, for many, was a haze. Post-battle cleanup was difficult, as many vital structures on the outside of the Koro had been broken. Fatalities were surprisingly low, though many had been dealt severe wounds. If the battle had gone on longer, they wouldn’t have received the medical treatment they’d needed to survive. The defenders praised Mata Nui the umpteenth time that day for their good fortune. Everyone milled about the streets, finding their friends and allies, feeling weights lift from their weary shoulders as they saw that these people had survived, too. It had been a bright afternoon, and it darkened into a beautiful evening. The stars seemed to shine more brightly than they had the evening before. The dead were mourned, and dismissed in the customary way by full-Koro funerals. Guards were still posted at the borders of the Koros, watching for a return of their enemies, but no retaliation came, not that evening, nor the next day. Blue skies blessed the inhabitants of the island once again. The reparation process continued, and as they patched walls and huts, the Matoran chatted with each other happily. Smiles broke out on faces where they hadn’t been seen for years. With each passing instant, last night’s theory seemed more and more tangible. No Rahi, no more Rahkshi lining up. The warrior Toa assembled in parties to search the nearby wilderness for Rahkshi stragglers. A few were found and caught, but most seemed to have gone quite deep, and they were dismissed as threats for later. It was a gorgeous morning, and their Koros needed their help in restoration. The only ominous sense that endured clung to the tunnels from which the Rahkshi had emerged. The black holes, wide enough for the passage of armies, were gaping maws in the earth, which made you shudder to look at. Light seemed to be swallowed unnaturally by these vile passages; everyone could guess where they led, and so they were watched with the utmost vigilance. If there were to be a second army, the Koros would not be caught unawares. The guards saw some motion from within the tunnels. The patter of footfalls echoed around the wormlike passages, emerging amplified into the air outside. The watchmen sounded the alarms, and as quick as lightning, the Koros reassembled for combat. They dreaded what would come out of the tunnels. They held their weapons ready, and they were weary. How happy they had been instants before. At last, the source of the footfalls emerged into the light. Out of the hole came a tired-looking Toa nobody had seen before. This Toa, dwarfed by the huge tunnel opening behind him, had a hand shielding her eyes from the bright sun, which gleamed off of her armor, revealing it to be a corresponding hue to the Koro’s natural residents. At the sight of the Toa, everyone was quiet. Who could this be? Was it a friend, or an enemy? Silence and stillness greeted the mysterious Toa as she stepped out of the tunnel and into the sunlight. As the Toa’s eyes adjusted, her hand lowered, and her audiences could see that she wore an unknown Kanohi. Strapped to her body were powerful, noble-looking tools. Something in the Toa’s eyes glowed with a reassuring power. The older Matoran in the crowd found something familiar about the way the Toa bore herself. When the Toa spoke at last, she didn’t just confirm last night’s rumor to be true; she explained it. Her existence explained it. “Makuta is gone.” … In the distant ocean, amid the dancing waves, a small something broke the surface. The water lapped against it and dotted its thin crystal viewport with droplets of foam. The eyes below the viewport gazed. They were met by vague mist, the kind of thin fog that clung to land. Sure enough, below the haze was a dark line sitting on the horizon. The periscope lowered as it moved forward, cutting through the sea.

IC: The Rahkshi started to move forward. As a block, each regiment advanced upon their respective Koro. It was all too clear that they had received the order to begin at last; the ones in the lead brandished their staffs and shrieked, intimidating and terrible. All the Rahkshi marched in perfect synchronicity; their precisely composed footfalls made their approach even more ominous. At first the shock of the creatures’ motion and the awful noise they made shocked the Koro defenders into renewed stillness – thanks in part to the Rahkshi of Fear – but it was not long before the Toa and Matoran of Mata Nui remembered their purpose. Remembered their courage. Volleys of attacks launched forth against the Rahkshi. Elemental nebulae pelted the ranks of spiny things, catching one in the chest, another in the leg, and perhaps driving them back a pace. Arrows, rocks, and anything small enough to throw were airborne projectiles that rained down on the hard backs of the attacking army; in most cases these ricocheted off, but sometimes a lucky arrowhead would bounce off the shell of one Rahkshi and injure another. Blowguns, Madu Cabolo, disks, knives, throwing axes; the first of the Rahkshi fell to their knees. Some, albeit few, did not stand up again, but their collapse was enough to bolster morale. The defenders cheered. The Rahkshi, as a whole, hadn’t been slowed by the ranged attacks. They swatted aside elemental constructs, broke through walls of ice and stone as easily as if they’d been made of paper. The dark beasts started to use their own abilities, fighting back. Sonic clusters broke walls, sent Matoran on them flying away; whirring cyclones gathered all around, full of separately summoned chain lightning; hazes of confusion and fear were dangerous pockets of air that, if stepped into, would make a defender lose his or her head until he or she was pulled out; the ground beneath the defenders’ feet warped, lost its density, crumbled; beams of thin laser vision sliced through weapons and unwary bodies. Where there were gaps to be bridged or large obstacles to be overcome, the Rahkshi leapt into the air and assumed the shapes of arrowheads, hovered for a moment, and then zinged towards their foes. The melee started in earnest, and both sides surged towards each other. Swords and spears and axes and shields blocked the first savage swipes of Rahkshi steel, sparked against the sharp blades at the end of the infamous staffs. The quicker weapons retorted in turn, scored a few blows on their foes; the slower ones were wounded. The fighting was intense; the Koro defenders were fuelled with the righteous rage of protecting their homes. The Rahkshi were the greater force, but would not be met with surrender. Toa and Matoran fought with fury, fought like they knew that one day their deeds would be remembered in the great legends. This was the ultimate struggle for survival. This was the fight that they needed to win. But they were losing. The Rahkshi pressed their advantage gleefully, pushing the defenders back into their Koros, getting their first real footholds into the cities. Slowly but surely, even against a tide of renewed desperation, the Rahkshi advanced further. They crushed homes; they crushed anything they could get their hands on. The defenders were virtuous, but the Rahkshi were too strong. All was nearly lost; the tide of the battle had turned.And, instantly, it turned again. It was as though a switch had been turned inside the Rahkshi. All at once, they all seemed disoriented, looked sharply around, hissed to themselves. Upon noticing that they were surrounded by their own kind, the eyes of Rahkshi widened in shock, and then narrowed dangerously. As though suddenly aware that they were all similarly charged magnets and that they felt the strong desire to repel, they imploded. Rahkshi began to fight Rahkshi, and began to slay one another viciously. Slugs squealed as they were plucked out of carapaces and crushed in iron fingers; staffs clanged against one another until first blood; sharp teeth dug into unprotected undersides. Shrill, pained screams filled the air. It took the defenders a few moments to process what exactly was happening. But once they saw that the resolve of their foes was gone, their spirits soared, and their objective became very simple: push the Rahkshi out of the Koros, let them destroy themselves elsewhere. With renewed vigor, Toa and Matoran cooperated to drive back the Rahkshi, which was a far easier task than before. They were wild beasts now and, when shoved with elemental attacks, blades, and even fists, they opted to take the path of least resistance: backwards. As they ran on their long legs back the way they’d come, Rahkshi encountered other Rahkshi doing the same thing and, as though mutually offended another had stolen their strategy, they brawled. Usually, only one came out alive. The grounds before the Koro were littered with the rent corpses of Rahkshi, trodden carelessly underfoot by those still fleeing. Into jungles, down snowy slopes, over white cliffs, through dark tunnels, over dunes, into burnt wasteland (or straight into a lava lake), the surviving Rahkshi – perhaps a quarter of those that had attacked – spread out in all directions. They were territorial creatures, and each sought its own domain. Parties of quick-footed Toa followed some of these Rahkshi and, after difficult duels, killed them as well, but most of the Rahkshi had slipped away too quickly to be caught. The defenders hardly cared; they were so exhausted, so utterly happy to have survived, that the escaped creatures were the last things on their minds. They had won! They had done the unthinkable, and they had won! It was only once the overjoyed clapping of backs, cheering, and crying had died down that the denizens of the Koros started to wonder why they had won. They’d been so close to being wiped out, until something in their foes had changed... It had been as though the Rahkshi had instantaneously lost their sense of direction, or they’d all been beheaded- Could it be? Was it even possible? It was the only answer that made sense. Did they dare hope? Hope is tenacious. It snuck into their heads whether they liked it or not. The theory spread with the rapidity of wildfire, and it wasn’t long before everyone had the idea planted in his or her mind. The thought was appealing, too appealing. Could they really give it any credit? Perhaps this was all an elaborate trick. Then why had so many of the Rahkshi died, first? He wasn’t one to be wasteful… No… It was still the only answer that made sense. The rest of the day, for many, was a haze. Post-battle cleanup was difficult, as many vital structures on the outside of the Koro had been broken. Fatalities were surprisingly low, though many had been dealt severe wounds. If the battle had gone on longer, they wouldn’t have received the medical treatment they’d needed to survive. The defenders praised Mata Nui the umpteenth time that day for their good fortune. Everyone milled about the streets, finding their friends and allies, feeling weights lift from their weary shoulders as they saw that these people had survived, too. It had been a bright afternoon, and it darkened into a beautiful evening. The stars seemed to shine more brightly than they had the evening before. The dead were mourned, and dismissed in the customary way by full-Koro funerals. Guards were still posted at the borders of the Koros, watching for a return of their enemies, but no retaliation came, not that evening, nor the next day. Blue skies blessed the inhabitants of the island once again. The reparation process continued, and as they patched walls and huts, the Matoran chatted with each other happily. Smiles broke out on faces where they hadn’t been seen for years. With each passing instant, last night’s theory seemed more and more tangible. No Rahi, no more Rahkshi lining up. The warrior Toa assembled in parties to search the nearby wilderness for Rahkshi stragglers. A few were found and caught, but most seemed to have gone quite deep, and they were dismissed as threats for later. It was a gorgeous morning, and their Koros needed their help in restoration. The only ominous sense that endured clung to the tunnels from which the Rahkshi had emerged. The black holes, wide enough for the passage of armies, were gaping maws in the earth, which made you shudder to look at. Light seemed to be swallowed unnaturally by these vile passages; everyone could guess where they led, and so they were watched with the utmost vigilance. If there were to be a second army, the Koros would not be caught unawares. The guards saw some motion from within the tunnels. The patter of footfalls echoed around the wormlike passages, emerging amplified into the air outside. The watchmen sounded the alarms, and as quick as lightning, the Koros reassembled for combat. They dreaded what would come out of the tunnels. They held their weapons ready, and they were weary. How happy they had been instants before. At last, the source of the footfalls emerged into the light. Out of the hole came a tired-looking Toa nobody had seen before. This Toa, dwarfed by the huge tunnel opening behind him, had a hand shielding his eyes from the bright sun, which gleamed off of his armor, revealing it to be a corresponding hue to the Koro’s natural residents. At the sight of the Toa, everyone was quiet. Who could this be? Was it a friend, or an enemy? Silence and stillness greeted the mysterious Toa as he stepped out of the tunnel and into the sunlight. As the Toa’s eyes adjusted, his hand lowered, and his audiences could see that he wore an unknown Kanohi. Strapped to his body were powerful, noble-looking tools. Something in the Toa’s eyes glowed with a reassuring power. The older Matoran in the crowd found something familiar about the way the Toa bore himself. When the Toa spoke at last, he didn’t just confirm last night’s rumor to be true; he explained it. His existence explained it. “Makuta is gone.” … In the distant ocean, amid the dancing waves, a small something broke the surface. The water lapped against it and dotted its thin crystal viewport with droplets of foam. The eyes below the viewport gazed. They were met by vague mist, the kind of thin fog that clung to land. Sure enough, below the haze was a dark line sitting on the horizon. The periscope lowered as it moved forward, cutting through the sea.

IC: The Rahkshi started to move forward. As a block, each regiment advanced upon their respective Koro. It was all too clear that they had received the order to begin at last; the ones in the lead brandished their staffs and shrieked, intimidating and terrible. All the Rahkshi marched in perfect synchronicity; their precisely composed footfalls made their approach even more ominous. At first the shock of the creatures’ motion and the awful noise they made shocked the Koro defenders into renewed stillness – thanks in part to the Rahkshi of Fear – but it was not long before the Toa and Matoran of Mata Nui remembered their purpose. Remembered their courage. Volleys of attacks launched forth against the Rahkshi. Elemental nebulae pelted the ranks of spiny things, catching one in the chest, another in the leg, and perhaps driving them back a pace. Arrows, rocks, and anything small enough to throw were airborne projectiles that rained down on the hard backs of the attacking army; in most cases these ricocheted off, but sometimes a lucky arrowhead would bounce off the shell of one Rahkshi and injure another. Blowguns, Madu Cabolo, disks, knives, throwing axes; the first of the Rahkshi fell to their knees. Some, albeit few, did not stand up again, but their collapse was enough to bolster morale. The defenders cheered. The Rahkshi, as a whole, hadn’t been slowed by the ranged attacks. They swatted aside elemental constructs, broke through walls of ice and stone as easily as if they’d been made of paper. The dark beasts started to use their own abilities, fighting back. Sonic clusters broke walls, sent Matoran on them flying away; whirring cyclones gathered all around, full of separately summoned chain lightning; hazes of confusion and fear were dangerous pockets of air that, if stepped into, would make a defender lose his or her head until he or she was pulled out; the ground beneath the defenders’ feet warped, lost its density, crumbled; beams of thin laser vision sliced through weapons and unwary bodies. Where there were gaps to be bridged or large obstacles to be overcome, the Rahkshi leapt into the air and assumed the shapes of arrowheads, hovered for a moment, and then zinged towards their foes. The melee started in earnest, and both sides surged towards each other. Swords and spears and axes and shields blocked the first savage swipes of Rahkshi steel, sparked against the sharp blades at the end of the infamous staffs. The quicker weapons retorted in turn, scored a few blows on their foes; the slower ones were wounded. The fighting was intense; the Koro defenders were fuelled with the righteous rage of protecting their homes. The Rahkshi were the greater force, but would not be met with surrender. Toa and Matoran fought with fury, fought like they knew that one day their deeds would be remembered in the great legends. This was the ultimate struggle for survival. This was the fight that they needed to win. But they were losing. The Rahkshi pressed their advantage gleefully, pushing the defenders back into their Koros, getting their first real footholds into the cities. Slowly but surely, even against a tide of renewed desperation, the Rahkshi advanced further. They crushed homes; they crushed anything they could get their hands on. The defenders were virtuous, but the Rahkshi were too strong. All was nearly lost; the tide of the battle had turned.And, instantly, it turned again. It was as though a switch had been turned inside the Rahkshi. All at once, they all seemed disoriented, looked sharply around, hissed to themselves. Upon noticing that they were surrounded by their own kind, the eyes of Rahkshi widened in shock, and then narrowed dangerously. As though suddenly aware that they were all similarly charged magnets and that they felt the strong desire to repel, they imploded. Rahkshi began to fight Rahkshi, and began to slay one another viciously. Slugs squealed as they were plucked out of carapaces and crushed in iron fingers; staffs clanged against one another until first blood; sharp teeth dug into unprotected undersides. Shrill, pained screams filled the air. It took the defenders a few moments to process what exactly was happening. But once they saw that the resolve of their foes was gone, their spirits soared, and their objective became very simple: push the Rahkshi out of the Koros, let them destroy themselves elsewhere. With renewed vigor, Toa and Matoran cooperated to drive back the Rahkshi, which was a far easier task than before. They were wild beasts now and, when shoved with elemental attacks, blades, and even fists, they opted to take the path of least resistance: backwards. As they ran on their long legs back the way they’d come, Rahkshi encountered other Rahkshi doing the same thing and, as though mutually offended another had stolen their strategy, they brawled. Usually, only one came out alive. The grounds before the Koro were littered with the rent corpses of Rahkshi, trodden carelessly underfoot by those still fleeing. Into jungles, down snowy slopes, over white cliffs, through dark tunnels, over dunes, into burnt wasteland (or straight into a lava lake), the surviving Rahkshi – perhaps a quarter of those that had attacked – spread out in all directions. They were territorial creatures, and each sought its own domain. Parties of quick-footed Toa followed some of these Rahkshi and, after difficult duels, killed them as well, but most of the Rahkshi had slipped away too quickly to be caught. The defenders hardly cared; they were so exhausted, so utterly happy to have survived, that the escaped creatures were the last things on their minds. They had won! They had done the unthinkable, and they had won! It was only once the overjoyed clapping of backs, cheering, and crying had died down that the denizens of the Koros started to wonder why they had won. They’d been so close to being wiped out, until something in their foes had changed... It had been as though the Rahkshi had instantaneously lost their sense of direction, or they’d all been beheaded- Could it be? Was it even possible? It was the only answer that made sense. Did they dare hope? Hope is tenacious. It snuck into their heads whether they liked it or not. The theory spread with the rapidity of wildfire, and it wasn’t long before everyone had the idea planted in his or her mind. The thought was appealing, too appealing. Could they really give it any credit? Perhaps this was all an elaborate trick. Then why had so many of the Rahkshi died, first? He wasn’t one to be wasteful… No… It was still the only answer that made sense. The rest of the day, for many, was a haze. Post-battle cleanup was difficult, as many vital structures on the outside of the Koro had been broken. Fatalities were surprisingly low, though many had been dealt severe wounds. If the battle had gone on longer, they wouldn’t have received the medical treatment they’d needed to survive. The defenders praised Mata Nui the umpteenth time that day for their good fortune. Everyone milled about the streets, finding their friends and allies, feeling weights lift from their weary shoulders as they saw that these people had survived, too. It had been a bright afternoon, and it darkened into a beautiful evening. The stars seemed to shine more brightly than they had the evening before. The dead were mourned, and dismissed in the customary way by full-Koro funerals. Guards were still posted at the borders of the Koros, watching for a return of their enemies, but no retaliation came, not that evening, nor the next day. Blue skies blessed the inhabitants of the island once again. The reparation process continued, and as they patched walls and huts, the Matoran chatted with each other happily. Smiles broke out on faces where they hadn’t been seen for years. With each passing instant, last night’s theory seemed more and more tangible. No Rahi, no more Rahkshi lining up. The warrior Toa assembled in parties to search the nearby wilderness for Rahkshi stragglers. A few were found and caught, but most seemed to have gone quite deep, and they were dismissed as threats for later. It was a gorgeous morning, and their Koros needed their help in restoration. The only ominous sense that endured clung to the tunnels from which the Rahkshi had emerged. The black holes, wide enough for the passage of armies, were gaping maws in the earth, which made you shudder to look at. Light seemed to be swallowed unnaturally by these vile passages; everyone could guess where they led, and so they were watched with the utmost vigilance. If there were to be a second army, the Koros would not be caught unawares. The guards saw some motion from within the tunnels. The patter of footfalls echoed around the wormlike passages, emerging amplified into the air outside. The watchmen sounded the alarms, and as quick as lightning, the Koros reassembled for combat. They dreaded what would come out of the tunnels. They held their weapons ready, and they were weary. How happy they had been instants before. At last, the source of the footfalls emerged into the light. Out of the hole came a tired-looking Toa nobody had seen before. This Toa, dwarfed by the huge tunnel opening behind him, had a hand shielding his eyes from the bright sun, which gleamed off of his armor, revealing it to be a corresponding hue to the Koro’s natural residents. At the sight of the Toa, everyone was quiet. Who could this be? Was it a friend, or an enemy? Silence and stillness greeted the mysterious Toa as he stepped out of the tunnel and into the sunlight. As the Toa’s eyes adjusted, his hand lowered, and his audiences could see that he wore an unknown Kanohi. Strapped to his body were powerful, noble-looking tools. Something in the Toa’s eyes glowed with a reassuring power. The older Matoran in the crowd found something familiar about the way the Toa bore himself. When the Toa spoke at last, he didn’t just confirm last night’s rumor to be true; he explained it. His existence explained it. “Makuta is gone.” … In the distant ocean, amid the dancing waves, a small something broke the surface. The water lapped against it and dotted its thin crystal viewport with droplets of foam. The eyes below the viewport gazed. They were met by vague mist, the kind of thin fog that clung to land. Sure enough, below the haze was a dark line sitting on the horizon. The periscope lowered as it moved forward, cutting through the sea.

IC: The Rahkshi started to move forward. As a block, each regiment advanced upon their respective Koro. It was all too clear that they had received the order to begin at last; the ones in the lead brandished their staffs and shrieked, intimidating and terrible. All the Rahkshi marched in perfect synchronicity; their precisely composed footfalls made their approach even more ominous. At first the shock of the creatures’ motion and the awful noise they made shocked the Koro defenders into renewed stillness – thanks in part to the Rahkshi of Fear – but it was not long before the Toa and Matoran of Mata Nui remembered their purpose. Remembered their courage. Volleys of attacks launched forth against the Rahkshi. Elemental nebulae pelted the ranks of spiny things, catching one in the chest, another in the leg, and perhaps driving them back a pace. Arrows, rocks, and anything small enough to throw were airborne projectiles that rained down on the hard backs of the attacking army; in most cases these ricocheted off, but sometimes a lucky arrowhead would bounce off the shell of one Rahkshi and injure another. Blowguns, Madu Cabolo, disks, knives, throwing axes; the first of the Rahkshi fell to their knees. Some, albeit few, did not stand up again, but their collapse was enough to bolster morale. The defenders cheered. The Rahkshi, as a whole, hadn’t been slowed by the ranged attacks. They swatted aside elemental constructs, broke through walls of ice and stone as easily as if they’d been made of paper. The dark beasts started to use their own abilities, fighting back. Sonic clusters broke walls, sent Matoran on them flying away; whirring cyclones gathered all around, full of separately summoned chain lightning; hazes of confusion and fear were dangerous pockets of air that, if stepped into, would make a defender lose his or her head until he or she was pulled out; the ground beneath the defenders’ feet warped, lost its density, crumbled; beams of thin laser vision sliced through weapons and unwary bodies. Where there were gaps to be bridged or large obstacles to be overcome, the Rahkshi leapt into the air and assumed the shapes of arrowheads, hovered for a moment, and then zinged towards their foes. The melee started in earnest, and both sides surged towards each other. Swords and spears and axes and shields blocked the first savage swipes of Rahkshi steel, sparked against the sharp blades at the end of the infamous staffs. The quicker weapons retorted in turn, scored a few blows on their foes; the slower ones were wounded. The fighting was intense; the Koro defenders were fuelled with the righteous rage of protecting their homes. The Rahkshi were the greater force, but would not be met with surrender. Toa and Matoran fought with fury, fought like they knew that one day their deeds would be remembered in the great legends. This was the ultimate struggle for survival. This was the fight that they needed to win. But they were losing. The Rahkshi pressed their advantage gleefully, pushing the defenders back into their Koros, getting their first real footholds into the cities. Slowly but surely, even against a tide of renewed desperation, the Rahkshi advanced further. They crushed homes; they crushed anything they could get their hands on. The defenders were virtuous, but the Rahkshi were too strong. All was nearly lost; the tide of the battle had turned.And, instantly, it turned again. It was as though a switch had been turned inside the Rahkshi. All at once, they all seemed disoriented, looked sharply around, hissed to themselves. Upon noticing that they were surrounded by their own kind, the eyes of Rahkshi widened in shock, and then narrowed dangerously. As though suddenly aware that they were all similarly charged magnets and that they felt the strong desire to repel, they imploded. Rahkshi began to fight Rahkshi, and began to slay one another viciously. Slugs squealed as they were plucked out of carapaces and crushed in iron fingers; staffs clanged against one another until first blood; sharp teeth dug into unprotected undersides. Shrill, pained screams filled the air. It took the defenders a few moments to process what exactly was happening. But once they saw that the resolve of their foes was gone, their spirits soared, and their objective became very simple: push the Rahkshi out of the Koros, let them destroy themselves elsewhere. With renewed vigor, Toa and Matoran cooperated to drive back the Rahkshi, which was a far easier task than before. They were wild beasts now and, when shoved with elemental attacks, blades, and even fists, they opted to take the path of least resistance: backwards. As they ran on their long legs back the way they’d come, Rahkshi encountered other Rahkshi doing the same thing and, as though mutually offended another had stolen their strategy, they brawled. Usually, only one came out alive. The grounds before the Koro were littered with the rent corpses of Rahkshi, trodden carelessly underfoot by those still fleeing. Into jungles, down snowy slopes, over white cliffs, through dark tunnels, over dunes, into burnt wasteland (or straight into a lava lake), the surviving Rahkshi – perhaps a quarter of those that had attacked – spread out in all directions. They were territorial creatures, and each sought its own domain. Parties of quick-footed Toa followed some of these Rahkshi and, after difficult duels, killed them as well, but most of the Rahkshi had slipped away too quickly to be caught. The defenders hardly cared; they were so exhausted, so utterly happy to have survived, that the escaped creatures were the last things on their minds. They had won! They had done the unthinkable, and they had won! It was only once the overjoyed clapping of backs, cheering, and crying had died down that the denizens of the Koros started to wonder why they had won. They’d been so close to being wiped out, until something in their foes had changed... It had been as though the Rahkshi had instantaneously lost their sense of direction, or they’d all been beheaded- Could it be? Was it even possible? It was the only answer that made sense. Did they dare hope? Hope is tenacious. It snuck into their heads whether they liked it or not. The theory spread with the rapidity of wildfire, and it wasn’t long before everyone had the idea planted in his or her mind. The thought was appealing, too appealing. Could they really give it any credit? Perhaps this was all an elaborate trick. Then why had so many of the Rahkshi died, first? He wasn’t one to be wasteful… No… It was still the only answer that made sense. The rest of the day, for many, was a haze. Post-battle cleanup was difficult, as many vital structures on the outside of the Koro had been broken. Fatalities were surprisingly low, though many had been dealt severe wounds. If the battle had gone on longer, they wouldn’t have received the medical treatment they’d needed to survive. The defenders praised Mata Nui the umpteenth time that day for their good fortune. Everyone milled about the streets, finding their friends and allies, feeling weights lift from their weary shoulders as they saw that these people had survived, too. It had been a bright afternoon, and it darkened into a beautiful evening. The stars seemed to shine more brightly than they had the evening before. The dead were mourned, and dismissed in the customary way by full-Koro funerals. Guards were still posted at the borders of the Koros, watching for a return of their enemies, but no retaliation came, not that evening, nor the next day. Blue skies blessed the inhabitants of the island once again. The reparation process continued, and as they patched walls and huts, the Matoran chatted with each other happily. Smiles broke out on faces where they hadn’t been seen for years. With each passing instant, last night’s theory seemed more and more tangible. No Rahi, no more Rahkshi lining up. The warrior Toa assembled in parties to search the nearby wilderness for Rahkshi stragglers. A few were found and caught, but most seemed to have gone quite deep, and they were dismissed as threats for later. It was a gorgeous morning, and their Koros needed their help in restoration. The only ominous sense that endured clung to the tunnels from which the Rahkshi had emerged. The black holes, wide enough for the passage of armies, were gaping maws in the earth, which made you shudder to look at. Light seemed to be swallowed unnaturally by these vile passages; everyone could guess where they led, and so they were watched with the utmost vigilance. If there were to be a second army, the Koros would not be caught unawares. The guards saw some motion from within the tunnels. The patter of footfalls echoed around the wormlike passages, emerging amplified into the air outside. The watchmen sounded the alarms, and as quick as lightning, the Koros reassembled for combat. They dreaded what would come out of the tunnels. They held their weapons ready, and they were weary. How happy they had been instants before. At last, the source of the footfalls emerged into the light. Out of the hole came a tired-looking Toa nobody had seen before. This Toa, dwarfed by the huge tunnel opening behind him, had a hand shielding his eyes from the bright sun, which gleamed off of his armor, revealing it to be a corresponding hue to the Koro’s natural residents. At the sight of the Toa, everyone was quiet. Who could this be? Was it a friend, or an enemy? Silence and stillness greeted the mysterious Toa as he stepped out of the tunnel and into the sunlight. As the Toa’s eyes adjusted, his hand lowered, and his audiences could see that he wore an unknown Kanohi. Strapped to his body were powerful, noble-looking tools. Something in the Toa’s eyes glowed with a reassuring power. The older Matoran in the crowd found something familiar about the way the Toa bore himself. When the Toa spoke at last, he didn’t just confirm last night’s rumor to be true; he explained it. His existence explained it. “Makuta is gone.” … In the distant ocean, amid the dancing waves, a small something broke the surface. The water lapped against it and dotted its thin crystal viewport with droplets of foam. The eyes below the viewport gazed. They were met by vague mist, the kind of thin fog that clung to land. Sure enough, below the haze was a dark line sitting on the horizon. The periscope lowered as it moved forward, cutting through the sea.

IC: The Rahkshi started to move forward. As a block, each regiment advanced upon their respective Koro. It was all too clear that they had received the order to begin at last; the ones in the lead brandished their staffs and shrieked, intimidating and terrible. All the Rahkshi marched in perfect synchronicity; their precisely composed footfalls made their approach even more ominous. At first the shock of the creatures’ motion and the awful noise they made shocked the Koro defenders into renewed stillness – thanks in part to the Rahkshi of Fear – but it was not long before the Toa and Matoran of Mata Nui remembered their purpose. Remembered their courage. Volleys of attacks launched forth against the Rahkshi. Elemental nebulae pelted the ranks of spiny things, catching one in the chest, another in the leg, and perhaps driving them back a pace. Arrows, rocks, and anything small enough to throw were airborne projectiles that rained down on the hard backs of the attacking army; in most cases these ricocheted off, but sometimes a lucky arrowhead would bounce off the shell of one Rahkshi and injure another. Blowguns, Madu Cabolo, disks, knives, throwing axes; the first of the Rahkshi fell to their knees. Some, albeit few, did not stand up again, but their collapse was enough to bolster morale. The defenders cheered. The Rahkshi, as a whole, hadn’t been slowed by the ranged attacks. They swatted aside elemental constructs, broke through walls of ice and stone as easily as if they’d been made of paper. The dark beasts started to use their own abilities, fighting back. Sonic clusters broke walls, sent Matoran on them flying away; whirring cyclones gathered all around, full of separately summoned chain lightning; hazes of confusion and fear were dangerous pockets of air that, if stepped into, would make a defender lose his or her head until he or she was pulled out; the ground beneath the defenders’ feet warped, lost its density, crumbled; beams of thin laser vision sliced through weapons and unwary bodies. Where there were gaps to be bridged or large obstacles to be overcome, the Rahkshi leapt into the air and assumed the shapes of arrowheads, hovered for a moment, and then zinged towards their foes. The melee started in earnest, and both sides surged towards each other. Swords and spears and axes and shields blocked the first savage swipes of Rahkshi steel, sparked against the sharp blades at the end of the infamous staffs. The quicker weapons retorted in turn, scored a few blows on their foes; the slower ones were wounded. The fighting was intense; the Koro defenders were fuelled with the righteous rage of protecting their homes. The Rahkshi were the greater force, but would not be met with surrender. Toa and Matoran fought with fury, fought like they knew that one day their deeds would be remembered in the great legends. This was the ultimate struggle for survival. This was the fight that they needed to win. But they were losing. The Rahkshi pressed their advantage gleefully, pushing the defenders back into their Koros, getting their first real footholds into the cities. Slowly but surely, even against a tide of renewed desperation, the Rahkshi advanced further. They crushed homes; they crushed anything they could get their hands on. The defenders were virtuous, but the Rahkshi were too strong. All was nearly lost; the tide of the battle had turned.And, instantly, it turned again. It was as though a switch had been turned inside the Rahkshi. All at once, they all seemed disoriented, looked sharply around, hissed to themselves. Upon noticing that they were surrounded by their own kind, the eyes of Rahkshi widened in shock, and then narrowed dangerously. As though suddenly aware that they were all similarly charged magnets and that they felt the strong desire to repel, they imploded. Rahkshi began to fight Rahkshi, and began to slay one another viciously. Slugs squealed as they were plucked out of carapaces and crushed in iron fingers; staffs clanged against one another until first blood; sharp teeth dug into unprotected undersides. Shrill, pained screams filled the air. It took the defenders a few moments to process what exactly was happening. But once they saw that the resolve of their foes was gone, their spirits soared, and their objective became very simple: push the Rahkshi out of the Koros, let them destroy themselves elsewhere. With renewed vigor, Toa and Matoran cooperated to drive back the Rahkshi, which was a far easier task than before. They were wild beasts now and, when shoved with elemental attacks, blades, and even fists, they opted to take the path of least resistance: backwards. As they ran on their long legs back the way they’d come, Rahkshi encountered other Rahkshi doing the same thing and, as though mutually offended another had stolen their strategy, they brawled. Usually, only one came out alive. The grounds before the Koro were littered with the rent corpses of Rahkshi, trodden carelessly underfoot by those still fleeing. Into jungles, down snowy slopes, over white cliffs, through dark tunnels, over dunes, into burnt wasteland (or straight into a lava lake), the surviving Rahkshi – perhaps a quarter of those that had attacked – spread out in all directions. They were territorial creatures, and each sought its own domain. Parties of quick-footed Toa followed some of these Rahkshi and, after difficult duels, killed them as well, but most of the Rahkshi had slipped away too quickly to be caught. The defenders hardly cared; they were so exhausted, so utterly happy to have survived, that the escaped creatures were the last things on their minds. They had won! They had done the unthinkable, and they had won! It was only once the overjoyed clapping of backs, cheering, and crying had died down that the denizens of the Koros started to wonder why they had won. They’d been so close to being wiped out, until something in their foes had changed... It had been as though the Rahkshi had instantaneously lost their sense of direction, or they’d all been beheaded- Could it be? Was it even possible? It was the only answer that made sense. Did they dare hope? Hope is tenacious. It snuck into their heads whether they liked it or not. The theory spread with the rapidity of wildfire, and it wasn’t long before everyone had the idea planted in his or her mind. The thought was appealing, too appealing. Could they really give it any credit? Perhaps this was all an elaborate trick. Then why had so many of the Rahkshi died, first? He wasn’t one to be wasteful… No… It was still the only answer that made sense. The rest of the day, for many, was a haze. Post-battle cleanup was difficult, as many vital structures on the outside of the Koro had been broken. Fatalities were surprisingly low, though many had been dealt severe wounds. If the battle had gone on longer, they wouldn’t have received the medical treatment they’d needed to survive. The defenders praised Mata Nui the umpteenth time that day for their good fortune. Everyone milled about the streets, finding their friends and allies, feeling weights lift from their weary shoulders as they saw that these people had survived, too. It had been a bright afternoon, and it darkened into a beautiful evening. The stars seemed to shine more brightly than they had the evening before. The dead were mourned, and dismissed in the customary way by full-Koro funerals. Guards were still posted at the borders of the Koros, watching for a return of their enemies, but no retaliation came, not that evening, nor the next day. Blue skies blessed the inhabitants of the island once again. The reparation process continued, and as they patched walls and huts, the Matoran chatted with each other happily. Smiles broke out on faces where they hadn’t been seen for years. With each passing instant, last night’s theory seemed more and more tangible. No Rahi, no more Rahkshi lining up. The warrior Toa assembled in parties to search the nearby wilderness for Rahkshi stragglers. A few were found and caught, but most seemed to have gone quite deep, and they were dismissed as threats for later. It was a gorgeous morning, and their Koros needed their help in restoration. The only ominous sense that endured clung to the tunnels from which the Rahkshi had emerged. The black holes, wide enough for the passage of armies, were gaping maws in the earth, which made you shudder to look at. Light seemed to be swallowed unnaturally by these vile passages; everyone could guess where they led, and so they were watched with the utmost vigilance. If there were to be a second army, the Koros would not be caught unawares. The guards saw some motion from within the tunnels. The patter of footfalls echoed around the wormlike passages, emerging amplified into the air outside. The watchmen sounded the alarms, and as quick as lightning, the Koros reassembled for combat. They dreaded what would come out of the tunnels. They held their weapons ready, and they were weary. How happy they had been instants before. At last, the source of the footfalls emerged into the light. Out of the hole came a tired-looking Toa nobody had seen before. This Toa, dwarfed by the huge tunnel opening behind him, had a hand shielding his eyes from the bright sun, which gleamed off of his armor, revealing it to be a corresponding hue to the Koro’s natural residents. At the sight of the Toa, everyone was quiet. Who could this be? Was it a friend, or an enemy? Silence and stillness greeted the mysterious Toa as he stepped out of the tunnel and into the sunlight. As the Toa’s eyes adjusted, his hand lowered, and his audiences could see that he wore an unknown Kanohi. Strapped to his body were powerful, noble-looking tools. Something in the Toa’s eyes glowed with a reassuring power. The older Matoran in the crowd found something familiar about the way the Toa bore himself. When the Toa spoke at last, he didn’t just confirm last night’s rumor to be true; he explained it. His existence explained it. “Makuta is gone.” … In the distant ocean, amid the dancing waves, a small something broke the surface. The water lapped against it and dotted its thin crystal viewport with droplets of foam. The eyes below the viewport gazed. They were met by vague mist, the kind of thin fog that clung to land. Sure enough, below the haze was a dark line sitting on the horizon. The periscope lowered as it moved forward, cutting through the sea.

IC: For a while, the Maru stood still, looking alternatively between the empty space where the Makuta had been instants ago and the mask of their leader. The Hiripaki’s glow seemed almost satisfied as it faded, as though the Kanohi was aware of its own importance and its role in larger prophecies. The chamber was still dark, barely lit by the red lightstones, but the darkness was no longer full. It was the empty darkness of absence. It reassured the Maru as nothing else could’ve. Korero was the first to whoop. The Toa of Air back flipped with uncontained joy, laughing happily. The tension thus broken, the weight of destiny lifted at last from their shoulders, the others quickly joined him in celebration. Reordin and Leah embraced; she giggled, he guffawed, and both their eyes were wet. Sulov caught Oreius in a surprise bear hug, and inside the Toa of Fire’s mind, Inu seemed to grin uncontrollably. At last, the Parakuka was freed of his father; he flooded Oreius’ mind with the warmth of the sun, the dripping of bright water, the clean scent of a broken leaf, smiling eyes, a slug bouncing comically up and down to strange music. Stannis could only bring himself to smile slightly, and that was more a show than anything. Even as Korero ran to him and pulled him unwillingly into a skipping dance, dread gnawed at his mind. He had expelled Makuta, yes… but the Hiripaki was a mask of balance. He had banished the great evil into the void, into the Legend – which meant that something else of equal power must have emerged from the Legend. Stannis did not know what that had been, and the uncertainty was worrisome indeed. They may have just leapt out of the frying pan and into the fire. In the chamber behind the Maru, the bodies of the warped First Toa, conscious or otherwise, began to melt. They had been unstable shades, and without their dark master or their deepest essences – drained long ago – to keep them together, there was no force to grant them physical integrity. As though a fire was lit in front of them, their dark armor, dark masks, dark weapons splintered into soft, cool pieces, liquid shadow, that oozed away from their definitive forms. They closed their melting eyes, at peace at last. On the surface, the body of Gali dissolved in the same way; the being that had been known as Reka became one with the shadows in the roots as she strode through the trees. An unreal wind cut through her, and soon she was nothing. Joske, meanwhile, felt Heuani’s sword shudder suddenly in his grip. Its transparent blade, attractive as always in the sun, flared as though illuminated suddenly by an inner radiance – though it could have been a trick of the light, he thought. It had been a very long day… He took Cael by the waist, and they walked back towards civilization together. As they strode over roots and shrubs, Joske looked again at the sword to be sure he’d only imagined what he had seen. The flamberge looked as it always had. Joske told himself he needed to sleep. Stannis gently pushed aside the celebratory Korero and called to the others. “We will return here soon, to finish our work; the dark instruments of the Makuta remain, and we must remove them. But now is not the time. Now, we owe the people of Mata Nui the knowledge that they have been craving: that Makuta is gone. Each of us should go to our Koros – or, our new Koros – and tell the people what has transpired here.” The Maru, on their way out of Mangaia, quickly found the entrances to six wide tunnels, each one clearly labeled as leading to one of the six Koros. They assumed these had been the routes by which the armies of Rahkshi had attacked. Before they separated, Stannis addressed them again. “We have achieved the unthinkable today,” he told the other Toa. “But our duties to this island are far from over.” He paused, debating whether or not to tell the other Maru the potential consequences of his actions. He decided that telling them could wait, and after a moment of silence, the Wanderer spoke once more. “I am proud to call myself one of you.” Even Reordin didn’t respond sarcastically to that. Stannis, his gesture of respect given, turned away from the others. Without any more words, the Maru split, each stepping to his or her own tunnel, and started their long treks home.