BZPRPG - Ta-Wahi

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

I gave him a thumbs up back.

 

"So," I said, smiling. "Do I get to see the bug now?"

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Alfon

 

"He might try to kill you. Don't follow his example."

 

We walked out of the office.

 

"He'll smell the blood of his fallen comrades on you."

 

No, not really. He just hates everything that moves.

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"Maybe he'll just realize how much Rama ###### I kicked and'll start grovelling at my feet for mercy."

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Alfon

 

"I don't think we ever taught him how to grovel. Different story for fetch, kill, kill, kill..."

 

"Besides, I kicked more Rama ##### than you and he tried to butcher me. If he grovels for you, I'm not taking him back."

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"In what universe did you kick more Rama ###### than me?"

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Alfon

 

I gave her a look.

 

Please, Plagia. Don't delude yourself.

Edited June 7, 2015 by TX Wade

[SnowyAegis]

Deleted post.

Edited June 9, 2015 by SnowyAegis

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

I looked back at him.

 

Don't start something you can't finish, Alfon.

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Alfon

 

I held her gaze, a cocky grin on my face that spoke volumes more than any words could. I almost felt like egging her on, but the stage had already been set for a little friendly competition. 

 

"Well, we're here." I said, the smug look lingering as I tore my eyes away from hers and led her into the stables.

 

"Had to bribe the boys working here to give him a pen. Said he'd be too much trouble and would scare all the birds here."

 

And they were right. Gukko and Kahu alike skittered nervously in their cages, flinching or squawking at any sudden movements. I could sense the tension in their bodies, the primal fear that prey felt when a predator was nearby. I almost felt bad, but my ride had to stay somewhere and I didn't know any other spots could support him.

 

"That's him over there. Vohu's his name." I pointed, his huge, chitinous hide coming into view. When we approached his pen, his wings perked up, buzzing sporadically as he stared Plagia down with angry blue eyes that stood out on his black and orange body.

 

Sour as ever.

[Ghidora131]

IC Kihohiki

 

After trekking a ways, he finally made it to the Koro.

 

Casually hobbling in the streets to give the impression he really was old and frail, he leaned against the side of a building to rest.

 

OOC: Still open to interaction.

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"So, who is this guy, again?"

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Gevenne. Held off Echelon's vanguard in Ko-Koro almost singlehandedly. They beat him within an inch of his life for doing it, but a few medics from Ko managed to slip him out here or something. Other than that, all I know is that every time I asked a Sanctum Guard straggler for someone to look for, they gave me his description. Must be something worthwhile about him." 

 

They reached the patient's door as one, and with his hand over the door the Toa Maru of Ice turned back over his shoulder to give Skrihen an odd look.

 

"...Really glad we're together on this one" slipped out before he tried smothering the conversation for good and pushed open the door. A severely beaten up but clearly built Toa of Fire looked up at him with laughing blue eyes and a groan halfway out of his mouth.

 

"Gevenne? I'm Reordin Maru." He held up a bottle and wagged it with a smirk. "Can I offer you a beer for your time?"

 

-Tyler

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"Or more pain meds."

[Razgriz]

IC: "Sure..." he said, searching for nurses just in case.

He found none, but he did find something else nearly as... interesting. That something also had a mouth on her, apparently.

"Uh, you don't get to bring girlfriends."


...


"Makes me depressed. Not good for recovery 'n' all."

Edited June 7, 2015 by Tsumugu Kinagise

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

Reo glanced backwards sharply at Skrihen, then back to Gevenne.

 

She works for the masked Maru!

 

"Skri and I...you...drink your beer, guy." Reo gently underhand tossed him the bedroom and pulled up a seat, sitting in it backwards with his legs wrapped around the chair's back. "I want to talk to you about Ko-Koro. Heard you did a of a thing over there." 

 

-Tyler

[Void Emissary]

IC: Alfon

 

IC:

 

I let out a long, low whistle before looking at Alfon with a grin.

 

"Can I pet him?"

 

-Void

[Ghosthands]

IC

 

The forward scouts, Mirin and Venemi, moved swiftly out of the tunnel and into the space beyond. Both were alert, ready to fight plant-tendrils at a moment's notice...but neither was prepared for the sight that met their eyes.

 

The rest of the group caught up seconds later, surging out behind them, and like Mirin and Venemi before them they staggered to a halt as they took in their surroundings with a mixture of shock and awe.

 

The space they found themselves in was another cavern, roughly hemispherical in shape and vast in size. The rock of its walls and floor looked almost blood-red, lit as it was by only the fierce yellow-orange luminance of lava (the brightest they had yet seen) that meandered in streams from crevices in the walls and welled up in pools from the churning magma of the Mangai's heart. Some even dripped from the tips of the ceiling's stalactites, hundreds of feet above their heads.

 

The walls were pocked with tunnels. Some, smooth-walled and irregular, had been carved out over time by molten rock that no longer flowed that way; others, like the one the adventurers had emerged from, had been hewn out of the stone with pickaxes or other tools. It was not hard to discover who had done that hewing: away to the group's left there was a wider excavation, sloping down through wall and floor, and beings were walking in and out. They emerged from it carrying armfuls of small rocks which they dumped on a growing mound, before turning and marching back down again to collect the next load. The sharp repeated sound of pickaxe strokes echoed up out of the excavation.

 

Within a few seconds of the expedition's arrival, all this work had stopped and the workers filed up out of their mine to stand in a loose group, staring at the newcomers with blank orange eyes. There was about twenty of them in total. They were of various species, shapes and sizes, mostly Matoran, but every single one had a parasite-pod attached to the back of their neck. Some looked scrawny and weak, as though they had not rested in days.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE9Xb8LpJG0&list=PLgBPyhFHR2Wrdpw4tJ2tCv5pG9WS319MC&index=6

 

But it was not the sight of these enslaved beings that stopped the questers in their tracks, nor the hugeness of the cavern. Hundreds of plant-tentacles like the ones they had already seen—but some of them several times thicker in girth—trailed along the floor and snaked into the tunnels in the walls. Others plunged into the many lava pools: on the thickest of these, vein-like channels could be seen pulsating beneath their surface as though they were pumping something out of the lava (or perhaps the lava itself) back towards their source.

 

The thing from which all these tentacles stemmed was attached to the far wall of the cavern, directly above the largest of the magma pools. It was a monstrosity, easily over a hundred feet high: a huge, formless bulge of red-brown plant-flesh, like a humongous taproot, sprawled across the rock wall and held in place by appendages that resembled the flat 'feet' of slugs. Its surface was dotted with dozens of glowing orange orbs like those of the parasite-pods. They seemed to glitter with intelligence, like so many eyes.

 

It shuddered, and the group felt what could only be described as its gaze on them. A low, rustling hiss emanated from it, but neither its tentacles nor its thralls made any move to attack them. Instead, a noise came from it. After a moment, they realised it was speaking.

 

"WHY DO YOU COME HERE?" it asked. Its baleful speech was like a hundred hoarse voices crying out in discordant unison. "WHY...DO YOU HURT US?"

Edited June 7, 2015 by Ghosthands

[Razgriz]

IC: "Stallion Stannis how horrifying." the Skakdi astutely noted.

[Geardirector]

IC: Corex (Mangaia Catacombs)

 

"Why have you made our kin your thralls?" I asked, stepping forward.

 

"That is what we wish to know, and why we have come here, and as far as I remember, you attacked first"

[Not Quite Dead]

IC Miya

Situated on Teide's shoulders, she attempted to hide herself behind the big Skakdi's head.

[The UltimoScorp]

IC Mirin:

 

"Mata Nui Preserve us....." She whispered.

[Specter Knight]

IC-Tavari

 

Tavari just looked  in awe at the Abomination attached to the far wall. Too shocked to speak, she gripped her staff tighter.

[Wade.]

IC:

 

IC: Alfon

 

"Only if you want to lose a hand." I shook my head, smiling nervously. "You can try but I wouldn't if I were you. Rama don't like people in general, him especially, so they put us through this whole bonding ordeal to tame 'em. Took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get him to cooperate. Literally."

 

Ain't that right, you little monster.

 

Bzzz.

 

Cute.

 

"Even now he doesn't really like me," I said as I stuck my hand through the grid, getting no response. "But I'm the only one he'll put up with."

[Mel]

[Ta-Wahi, Mangai Tunnels]

 

While Lucira waited for the...thing to answer the vortixx, she tried to keep an eye out for any sudden movements by the tentacles.  Of course it was so huge that that was rather hard to do.

 

She kept a very firm grip on Sanguivox.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Mel

[Vezok's Friend]

IC: Taleen

 

She turned to look at Mariko, an eyebrow raised.

 

"No one of consequence? Is that right?" Taleen asked with a tone of innocent curiosity. However as Taleen had learned from experience, people who tried to play themselves off as inconsequential usually were just the opposite. She'd have to keep an eye on this one. People of 'no consequence' could be surprisingly interesting.

 

IC (Mariko):

 

"That's right." the dark Toa replied. There wasn't time to say much else as another Toa, considerably larger than Kehua - and that was saying something! - clapped his hands in juvenile glee and proclaimed a fondness of baloons. Soon after, Alfon left, followed by Plagia to take care of some business. Mariko remained on his seat at the bar and looked to Taleen, then indicated Onuzek with his eyes and mouthed: Do you know him?

 

Of course, chance was that she did not. After all, Reordin was assembling a seemingly ragtag team of volunteers and old associates.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Vezok's Friend

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"We're not together. I'm the hired muscle. Except pro bono."

[25K Now!]

IC: Vaisaga

 

Vaisaga's hand drifted towards the hilt of his sword.

 

This was an unexpected turn of events.

 

Was his hand shaking?

 

He didn't know.

 

He couldn't tell.

 

His eyes never left the creature.

[SnowyAegis]

IC:Amani

A wide smile on his face, the Su-Lesterin strode into Ta-Koro, giving a guard a wave as he went by, although his hand never moved from being gently sat on the end of his Katana's hilt. He didn't entirely know what he would do here, although he knew he was hoping to find a little adventure, as silly as it sounded. Despite his thirst for the such, as well as a good fight, Amani had little in the ways of both armor and defense, he didn't have a shield and had no intention of getting one, Amani put a lot of faith in his sword. Although, to be honest, Amani's Asarde Katana was not a regular katana.

 

The trip had been long, however, and Amani didn't need to leave in a hurry(or at all, really, he just didn't live here), so he would stay a while. Strolling through town, Amani spotted...well, even if it wasn't an inn where he could rent a bed, he could still use a drink. As self-confident and enthusiastic as always, Amani strode in.

 

OOC: Amani open for interaction.

[Ghosthands]

IC: Corex (Mangaia Catacombs)

 

"Why have you made our kin your thralls?" I asked, stepping forward.

 

"That is what we wish to know, and why we have come here, and as far as I remember, you attacked first"

 

IC

 

The plant-creature shuddered again, hissing resentfully.

 

"WE NEED THEM! WE ARE...NOT STRONG!" it complained. "WE CANNOT DIG. WE NEED THEM, YOUR KIN, THEY ARE OUR HANDS. THEY DIG FOR US, BECAUSE WE ARE NOT STRONG. YOU WOULD HAVE DUG FOR US, BUT YOU FIGHT! CUT US, BURN US! TOO MUCH TROUBLE. GO AWAY, LEAVE US ALONE!"

[The UltimoScorp]

IC Mirin:

 

"And did these matoran come to you willingly, creature?! Or did you take them through force?!"

[Ghidora131]

IC Kihohiki

 

Well, some kind of a tavern.

 

Coincidental what he leans up against these days.

 

Kihohiki changed his posture, more frail-looking than before, and hobbled in. He immediately noticed someone not drunk (Amani) to talk to.

 

"Greetings".

OOC: Interacting with Amani. 

[Snelly]

IC: Denerium - Mangaia Catacombs -

 

The old Turaga had seen many things over the years. However this...this was something new. He thought he'd identified every species of flora on the island, clearly he was mistaken. Once he shook off the shock of it all, he boldly stepped forward. 

 

"Tell me...creature...for what purpose do you have our kin dig for you? Why do you need these tunnels?" This creature had to be stopped, that much was certain, but not before they got as much information as they could.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Lara Croft

[Dallior]

IC: Sanguivox

 

Sanguivox stepped forward just a bit, still holding tight onto Lucira's hand. "And I have one more question to ask of you, you monstrosity. Is your goal worth the lives of our kin... and the safety of our island home?"

 

OOC: I just noticed our BZPRPG Wiki page is really outdated.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Dallior: Rahkshi Lord

[Razgriz]

IC: Reaching up above his own head, the Skakdi reassuringly patted the head of the Matoran perched atop his shoulders. "We'll be fine." he promised, taking stock of the situation further with his X-ray vision.

----------------------------------------------------------------

IC: He looked at Reordin. Then back to Skrihen.

Reo again.

Skri.

To Ghostpaka through Reo's eyes.

Skrihen's Skrihens.

Back to the Maru.

"Bro."

[silo]

IC: Venemi - Mangai tunnels

...

...

After staring for a few seconds, taking it all in, I snap back to reality. A warrior can't afford to look on in awe while danger is all around. While I want information as much as the next being, getting those "workers" to safety is top priority. Perhaps foolishly, I've already put the vast creature into the "Threat and/or enemy" category in my mind. I remove threats to the people of the island. It's what I do for a living. And this monstrosity, whatever its motivation, is no exception.

Edited June 8, 2015 by OLISI

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"We're not together right now. And we're not the point anyway."

 

IC:

 

Angelus' eyes searched Nika, looking for both a single personal pronoun anywhere in that dissertation and for a hint of meaning in the Vortixx's eyes. He reached habitually for a couple fries, and his brow creased in mild impatience when they only pinched empty air. With a heavy breath the Toa of Fire quickly cued up and took his shot. Not bad. If he ever saw Shaddix alive again, he might even be able to hold his own - and Shaddix never ate so many fries as Jolek did.

 

When you were starting to miss the old Mark Bearer crew, maybe it was time to add even more new blood to your inner circle a little; after all, Jolek had worked out so far just fine, probably one of the only people left on this side of the island that the Captain could say he put his trust in. But Angel wasn't sure Pae fit the same mold.

 

...

 

"If we put out contracts for the Turaga's killers, people would fight for them," he added, not choosing to refute or confirm Nika's statement and hoping the understood silence would speak for itself. "When mercenaries start slaughtering each other to get at other mercenaries, we wind up with at least double the corpses and a load of widgets that go unpaid. Sending Guards after the killers would have been asking for their corpses. Sending paid guns on top of that? I would have been begging for collateral. Even more than we've wrung out of Shaddix." Shaddix... when he looked at Pae, he saw Shaddix. Not Dorian, all in leather and buying all the rounds and synapses twitching, jonesing for a fight. He saw the old Mark Bearer of Anger - forceful, charismatic, and a killer from head to toe. 

 

Yet Kino trusted him. Which, once, would have told him everything he needed to know. These days...

 

His eyes turned back to Pae, who had spoken for the group first and most forcefully so far, and hoped that Vakama, Joske, or whoever else was listening up there would forgive him if he chose wrong.

 

"...You really need these names?" he asked, setting the cue on the rack again and propping himself up on the pool table before the three visitors.

 

-Tyler

Edited June 8, 2015 by Aikuro Mikisugi

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"He adds "right now" to try and give himself some hope." The Tof of Plant-Life added, looking the Ta-Toa in the eye with a look that said she knew exactly what he was thinking, what he meant, and that she would put him back in a hospital bed if he pursued the point.

 

"Can we get to the point?"

[Ghosthands]

IC

 

"And did these matoran come to you willingly, creature?! Or did you take them through force?!"

 

"WE TOOK WHAT WAS NEEDED," it replied. "THEY DO NOT NEED US, THEY DO NOT WANT US, BUT WE NEED THEM. WE ARE NOT STRONG ENOUGH, CANNOT BREAK THE ROCK, CANNOT MOVE IN THE UNDER-STONE BENEATH YOUR LANDS. WE NEED THEM TO MAKE US STRONG!"

 

 

IC: Denerium - Mangaia Catacombs -

 

"Tell me...creature...for what purpose do you have our kin dig for you? Why do you need these tunnels?"

 

 

The creature hissed as it was addressed by yet another of these beings: these things that were so small but stung so sharply.

 

"FIRST WE SOUGHT THE HEAT," it said. "THE ROCK THAT FLOWS. IT NOURISHED US...KEPT US LIVING...BUT IT DID NOT MAKE US STRONG. THEN WE FELT THE BLACK BLOOD NEAR US, AND NOW WE SEEK IT!"

 

It shivered again, but this time with an air of anticipation.

 

"BLACK BLOOD, BLOOD OF HE WHO MADE US, WILL MAKE US STRONG! HE CAST US OUT FOR OUR WEAKNESS, BUT BLACK BLOOD WILL MAKE US STRONG! WE WILL BE STRONG!"

 

IC: Sanguivox

 

Sanguivox stepped forward just a bit, still holding tight onto Lucira's hand. "And I have one more question to ask of you, you monstrosity. Is your goal worth the lives of our kin... and the safety of our island home?"

 

 

The creature let out a long, low, stuttering hiss that might have been its idea of laughter.

 

"THESE LIVES, THIS SAFETY, HE CARED NOT FOR THEM. SO HE TOLD US. WE WERE NOT MADE FOR THEM! WE WERE MADE TO BE STRONG!"

 

The tentacles writhed with each repetition of 'STRONG', in equal parts anguish at its inadequacy and ecstasy at the thought of the 'strength' it hoped soon to gain.

[Mel]

[Ta-Wahi, Mangai Tunnels]

Makuta.  It was the only force on the island that could have created something as monstrous as this.  But what was the black blood?

She followed the lesterin’s gaze over to the creature’s thralls.  If only they could somehow manage to free them...it would even their chances a lot more.

 

“Your creator?  Who is he--I don’t recall hearing of him.”

 

It was not, perhaps, the wisest thing to say, but it would buy them a little more time.  Maybe.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Mel

[Snelly]

IC: Denerium - Mangaia Catacombs -

 

Denerium said nothing else, letting Lucira's question linger in the air. He was pretty certain he knew exactly who created a monstrosity like this. He looked toward the others of his group, looking at their faces. The look he gave them made his intentions very clear. 

 

It has to be destroyed.