Bzprpg - Onu-Wahi

[25K Now!]

IC: [Arkrak]"Well, what now? Think up something Mr. Vegetarian."

[The Dark Chronicler]

IC: Chronn"How should you expect me to know? Clearly you do not understand the concept of Murder Investigation. You bring me a body, and I investigate. Bring me a body to work with, and we can start."

[25K Now!]

IC: [Arkrak]"Very well. Except I have absolutely no idea where to start, other than to find a Matoran. It's not like they fall out of the sky or something."

[a goose]

OOC: Hubert, that was a terrible joke. *Facepalm*IC: ReichenbachReichenbach sat, not far from the Le-Koro Highway, watching his hut (in disguise, of course).

[Vezok's Friend]

OOC: Sorry, I've delayed long enough ^^ It seems I've put myself under some pressure with a painting.IC:The echoes of hundreds of footsteps on the rocky ground were like a lightshow in the head of the Toa of sound. Weather it be this, or the falling of rain on the surface world, cascading noise painted a highly accurate image of his surroundings, allowing him to see the world around him, not in colour, but sound.And despite being able to get around with much ease in an environment such as this, Draeverian would have preferred just the footsteps of his quarry, Kohra. She had a distinctive walking-pattern to her, very elegant in its footfalls. He would recognize it anywhere. But picking it out of a soundscape like the one he was faced with now proved to be a lot harder than he had thought. Kohra was very resourceful; he had to give her that.She had waited for him to turn on the water in the bath to mask the sounds of her disappearance and now she was using the busiest time of day to mask her location.Draeverian, accompanied by Rivet, had not taken the route the two of them had, when the arrived the day before.So he had taken a right turn and walked deeper into the village, forced to listen to every little noise around him, just waiting for that familiar pattern to make an appearance.He was so focused on the sounds of feet around him that he didn’t notice the small cluster of Matoran standing in the middle of the street, gathered around something he couldn’t make out.“Hey, careful!” one of the bystanders said, as he walked into him. “Watch where you’re…oh” The Matoran didn’t finish his sentence, seeing the blindfold wrapped over the Toa’s eyes.Draeverian gave him a sympathetic smile. “My apologies”, he said, “I should have paid more attention. Speaking of which, what’s happened here?”The Matoran sighed and looked down at his feet. There was a grave tone to his voice when he spoke again: “Another death. Right here, in the street.”“How did he…?” Draeverian started to ask, but the Matoran got what he was going for immediately.“I don’t know. Ussalry doesn’t say anything. But he just dropped dead; no way a non-elemental did that. What’s the point in having Toa when half of ‘em don’t even deserve the title?”“Who was he?” the Toa asked. The Matoran looked over his shoulder at the group of people blocking the view of the body. “I didn’t know him. But I reckon a good Matoran, that’s for sure. And a member of the Ussalry no less. I heard one of them say he was just about to head for duty at the great mine. Can you imagine that? Just about to go to work and suddenly: dead!”Something in the back of Draeverian’s head went click. The Matoran shook his head and started to walk away. “I don’t understand this crazy world.”, he muttered while leaving.The Toa didn’t pay attention. The Matoran had mentioned the great mine. And suddenly he had a very bad feeling in his stomach. Onu-Koro, great mine, explosives.The pieces were falling together and the Toa of sound began to hurry down the street, past the drove of people, heading for the mine’s entrance. He had to warn them.----------------------------------------------------------------Kohra had followed the ventilation-shafts for several turns now, navigating her way safely after spending the majority of the last day memorizing the plans she carried; until she came to the point where the shaft turned downward, now a vertical opening into the deep, to bring fresh air to the lower levels. This was her exit. A louvre had been placed there, its presence marked by the thing strips of light falling into the shaft. Stretching out her left, she started to trace the inside of the shaft with fingertips, until they touched the edge of the metal. This was a maintenance-access point.After all, mining was tough business and having their means of air blocked by a fallen boulder was something the Matoran wanted to avoid. So they had built these access-points, to get to possible obstructions in order to remove them.The Vortixx’ fingers soon found the hinges the louvre was attached to. She placed her gloved hand on the metal and concentrated. A moment later, the hatch opened slowly, swinging upward. Kohra tentatively moved forward, until her head looked out of the opening. She looked left and right quickly, scanning the tunnel for unwanted presences. But it was clear at the moment, no footsteps could be heard and so she dared exiting the ducts.Gracefully she slid out of the opening, her feet softly landing on the ground. With as much care as she had opened it, she made the hatch close behind her again, making sure it did so noiselessly.The Vortixx closed her eyes for a moment. She concentrated on the mental image of the mine-layout. The memory lit up the inside of her lashes like white lines on a canvas. Her sense of direction had served her well, as she unerringly had found her way through the ducts and chosen the one point that was closest to the foreman’s office.It was situated on the same level, a few dozen feet away at best.Kohra carefully moved forward, a shade among the gloom conjured up by the lightstones affixed to the walls of the gallery, until she reached the opening at the end. The floor stretched out several feet more in front of her, until it ended in a vertical drop, a dozen bios down to the next level. The path continued left and right, broad enough for five Matoran to walk abreast on and on the far side of the cavern met to form a full circle. Kohra’s mouth slightly opened. She was on the central level and there in front of her, was the great mine. It was a sight to behold. Like an enormous segmented cylinder, it had been carved into the rock underneath the foothills of mount Ihu. The levelled structure continued in both directions, as the Matoran had not only delved deeper into the earth, but also upwards, expanding it higher than the rest of Onu-Koro lay. As her gaze drifted up and down, Kohra realized the scale of this Matoran-made place was in fact so large, that she had a hard time making out its endings. A slight fog was in the air, like a veil, obstructing a clear view of the far side of the mine, the result of evaporated moisture.For a moment, Kohra just stood there, taking in the sight, breathing the clammy air, amazed by the skill of the Matoran workers and yet amused at their pathetic delusions of grandeur.She took her eyes off the view and turned her focus back on the task at hand.Her time to infiltrate the mine had been chosen with as much care as her point of entry. The current shift was not yet over, as the sound of picks striking stone proved.It also meant the foremen were not in their office at this time. They were spread out over the different levels, carrying the yet un-tampered with plans, talking to the miners and ensuring a save continuous mining-effort. It was a dangerous business as well, not just because of subterranean-dwelling Rahi. The shafts and galleries reached far into the bedrock of the central mountain-range. Even a direct connection of the mines to the drifts outside Ko-Koro existed, another ventilation-shaft, carved into the rock of Mount Ihu. But the Mangai Volcano was near as well, its molten heart situated somewhere below, feeding the molten stream flowing from its flanks to the east. Yet that was just the most visible part of the active volcano. Deep underground, more Magma was flowing. The Onu-Matoran had learned this the hard way. And if they dug into the opposite direction, there was the endless ocean waiting. It was a dangerous business indeed. How dangerous exactly it could be, they would find out soon enough…

[25K Now!]

IC: [uyism]Dig. Dig. Dig. Move dirt around. Dig. Dig. Dig.Uyism settled into a familiar routine as she continued to carve herself through the earth at a surprising speed, a testament to her natural skills at digging, which all of her race possessed. It had been long since she had digged, so the feeling of the soil around her brought back many fond memories. The Iroiit paused as she struck something in the earth. She dug around it a bit more, only to blink as she saw a chasm of nothingness below her.The Great Mine, a voice within her mind supplied.Dirt began to collapse around below her. It was only her quick instincts that allowed her to grasp onto the support bearing she had found before everything around her tunnel fell into the mine below. The Iroiit gave what could be compared to a sigh of relief, before looking up, wondering how she would return to the surface.

[Vezok's Friend]

IC:The Vortixx quietly walked along the high path, in the shadow cast by the ledge above her, until she reached the foremen’s office. It was a room that had been carved out of the rock, like the rest of the mine, a room with a wall and openings serving as a window and door, to give the engineers and planners at least a bit of quiet among the noise of the workers.It was empty at the moment, the Matoran out, helping their colleagues and friends, designating which galleries to expand, where to concentrate efforts to get more quantities of certain materials and which shafts to reinforce.Of course such tasks could not be managed and organized in mind alone. As Kohra slipped into the office she found several tables, covered in scrolls of parchment, all numbered, all important to the work put into the mine by the Matoran. The Vortixx smiled mischievously and reached behind her, pulling her own special copy of the mining-plans out of their holder which was strapped to her back.Kohra began to walk around the tables, studying the unrolled scrolls that lay atop of them. She noticed the numbers written on the corner of each, a distinct marking to distinguish between the different levels and tunnels of the mine. She compared them against those on her own plans, but none of the scrolls on that table were matching with hers.Frowning slightly, she turned to the other table, yet that yielded the same result. How was she supposed to replace these plans if they had no original counterpart? The Vortixx closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.The sound of an elevator startled her. Her eyes shot open and darted over to the door. She could hear several voices approaching. Her mind raced. To her left, she saw another door. Glancing to her left, she could see the shadows of the approaching Matoran on the floor already. There was no time to lose. With three long steps she was at the door and quietly slipped inside. She barely managed to close it again as the foremen returned to their room. There was laughter and good-natured bantering coming from the other side of the door and Kohra briefly remained perfectly still, listening for footsteps approaching her hiding-spot. After a few seconds of nobody coming closer she looked around herself. The room was tiny. It felt like hiding in a closet. A small desk sat in a corner, a weak lightstone spending a little light. It was now that Kohra’s eyes fell upon the other side of the room. Her eyebrows rose as she saw the shelf that took up the whole height and length of the wall. Scrolls upon scrolls were stored here in rectangular compartments, each about three feet in depth for them to fit in. And each compartment was numbered. And next to each number was a Matoran letter, each for a different adit.Kohra unrolled her plans again. She quietly moved closer to the shelf and began to compare numbers again. Finally, there was a match. She thanked the dark master in her thoughts and quickly replaced the matching scroll with her modified copy.But there were three more she needed to exchange. She could still hear the voices from the other side of the door, permeating the wood. She could feel her hands starting to shake slightly from the nervousness. Ignoring the trembling, she started to look for the other matching plans…Ratu laughed at the remark his colleague had just made and took another sip from his mug of tea. The Onu-Matoran had just returned from the deeper levels with several colleagues. The next shift was almost ready to begin and they had returned to their office to update the existing plans and go over the schedule for the next group of miners coming in to start their days work. This was why he was sitting at one of the tables now and going over the layout once more.He compared the day’s results for his assigned levels with those of his colleagues to determine how to assign the workers for the day.One of the other foremen stopped at the table and looked over his shoulder. “Looks like we could get a bit more out of the deep east, don’t you think?” he commented.Ratu looked up at him and then back at the plan, to double-check what the other had just said. Indeed his colleague was right. The efforts in the west had started to yield fewer quantities of lightstones and ore the last few days, so they could afford to put a few of the miners originally assigned into another group, to increase the output of the eastern lower level tunnels, where they had a relatively accessible bed of protodermis they could exploit more.Finally, he nodded. “Sounds good. Why don’t you go ahead and meet up with the next shift, I’ll get the scrolls for those levels in the meantime. “He rolled up the plans on the table, fastening the leather-straps holding them together, before scooping them all up in his arms and turning to the archive room. It took him two tries to get the door open with his hands full, but finally he managed it and stepped inside the smaller adjacent chamber. It was dimly lit, but sufficient to make out the identification numbers.Whistling a small tune, he put the scrolls in his hands back in their original compartments and took out the ones for the lower levels instead. He double-checked their number, to make sure he had the right ones, before he turned around and left again. He struggled once more with closing the door, but finally closed it and followed his colleague back out into the mine, his footsteps getting quieter as he departed.Slowly, from behind the desk, where she had huddled down in the darkest corner of the room, Kohra stood up. The Vortixx allowed herself a little smile. The whispers were pleased. One more thing remained for her to do now.

[Harvali]

IC: Dece turned to Lepidran as they walked and asked, "So, what happened in Po-Koro? I was...seeing things at the time, so I am unsure of what went on. Did we learn any clues? Any clues that the group can know?" The last sentence had a slight hostile tone to it, though not directed towards Lepidran.

[Mad Scientist BioBeast]

IC:FovThe Vortixx decided to go tinker on his machines. During times like this Brekan just needed to be alone, and cool off.

[taconui]

IC: Akinii"Wow..." Akinii said. "That's really unfortunate, I'm sorry..." Akinii's response was lame, and he knew it. I need to work on my grief counseling skills...

[AuRon the champion]

IC: Zanthos, Onu-Wahi, Onu-Koro, Being really annoying to the local Skakdi:Zanthos felt pleasure as the Skakdi's tooth was brutally pulled out of the disgusting creature's mouth and into Zanthos' hand. The beast screamed in pain, as teeth are not easily replacible. One of it's companions charged Zanthos, only to be encountered by a push from the Toa of Gravity's mask. The Skakdi flew out the side of the bar, and a full-blown fistfight erupted between the bar's patrons. The Skakdi who had lost a tooth charged the Toa of Gravity with it's other companion. They both flew strait up out of the bar as Zanthos decreased their gravity. Zanthos, sidestepping a group of brawlers walked calmly out the front door, where he was surrounded by ussalry members. Zanthos quickly considered his options, allow himself to be captured and break out later, or spill clean blood? Zanthos picked the former, and dropped his axe on the ground and raised his hands. Two members of the Onu-matoran Ussalry quickly chained his hands, and started to lead him to a makeshift prison. When they arrived, he was pushed into a empty cell. They also took his kanohi mask so he would be more easily contained. Zanthos had no need to escape. He didn't kill anyone, and the second the Matoran opened the cell, he could easily escape. However, he was in need of information about the school in Ko-Wahi, and Onu-koro seemed to have alot of filth in the city that could easily know anything. He sat down on a makeshift cot, and waited for the Onu-matoran to put him on trial.OOC: Open to interact, don't everybody start trying to interact with him all of a sudden.

Edited March 5, 2012 by AuRon the champion

[Void Emissary]

IC: Plagia Plagia remained silent for a long moment, then, out of the blue, ran up and looped her arms around him, hugging him. It was an almost alien behaviour for Plagia, to the point that even the Toa herself was surprised by her reaction.-Void

[otter]

IC-Mussiki:Mussiki blinked when Plagia hugged him, and shifted slightly. He put his arm around her, awkwardly returning the hug. "I, er...thanks for that, I guess," he said, completely at a loss for anything else to say.

[~Xemnas~]

IC, Aurax: "While we were in Po-Koro," began Aurax, trying not to think of Hafu. "We went to the hut of a Toa named Noran. He told us the rest of the clues." Aurax leaned in and began whispering the clues into Dece's ear. "They are: 'Only the pure in spirit can enter here, Only those truly faithful can find it, and Only those at peace can enter here.' We already knew Hafu's clue: 'Only the most Creative can unlock it.'"

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: When the clues were passed on to him it didn't take Lepidran long to figure out the connection. "Whoever has been setting these has a bit of a Kohlii fascination apparently."

[~Xemnas~]

IC, Aurax: "Kolhii fascination? What do you mean?" Aurax asked, not sure about what Lepridan was talking about.

[Harvali]

IC: "Who is Kolhi?" asked Dece, "Some sort of ancient philosopher?" The Fe-Matoran pondered what kind if being this Kolhi could be, before settling on a Ga-Matoran or a Ko-Matoran. If it was a Matoran it was probably one of those two types, if not a Matoran it was probably a Turaga of some sort."

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: "Well," said Lepidran, lowering his voice, "The quest-clues talk about purity, faith, peace, and creation. Those are some of the principles through which Kohlii-players derive their skills. Faith is ours," he meant Le-Matoran, "It gives accuracy."

[taconui]

IC: AkiniiAkinii raised his eyebrows. Plagia isn't really the huggy type... Hmm. Akinii walked over to Mussiki and gave him a light, friendly slap on the back. He didn't say anything.

[Void Emissary]

IC: Plagia Plagia shifted awkwardly, releasing the hug. For a moment, she just stood there, looking kind of uncomfortable. Then, she smiled slightly, saying, "Well...Sorry about the yelling, before, y'know."OOC: This has got to be the weirdest thing I've ever written.-Void

[a goose]

OOC: Emissary, your sig is hilarious. XDIC: Incommodo (Shaft 43)"I wonder if anyone'll ever find me." Incommodo thought aloud. "It would be interesting if they did. I wonder how I'd explain it. 'Hi, I've been abducted by a person with a weird accent! And how are you?'"

[EmperorWhenua]

Ic: "I think Lepidran has a point," Stannis agreed as they all walked, "though I think it has less to do with kohlii as it does with the virtues themselves. Hafu did have a moment of dawning when I mentioned the temple we found, too, and the riddles seem to indicate entering something. I bet this connection is not just a coincidence."

[otter]

IC-Mussiki:Mussiki smiled weakly. He waved off Plagia's comment. "Don't worry," he said to them. "I've suffered worse at the hands of worse." He then shook his head, walking on to his small house in the caves.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: "So which principle matches up with which Koro?" Lepidran asked, before sheepishly adding "I'm afraid I only keep up with Le-Koro's teams."

[Harvali]

IC: Dece shook his head in confusion. This Kohlii sounded more like a fighting style or a sport now, and it certainly seemed commonplace. But why would a sport or even a common fighting style contain referances to these secrets? Unless...His paranoia possibly helping him for once, Dece asked, "Did the Turaga or the Chronicler's Company have a say in the creation of Kohlii. If they did, maybe the sport was created so that everyone would know those six secrets, yet still keep them hidden from evil. That way those seeking secrets could solve the puzzle even if the six company members were killed."

[~Xemnas~]

IC, Aurax: "That sounds logical, Dece," said Aurax. "It all makes sense- the Turaga or the Compant made Kohlii principles to hide the clues. I do know Po-Koro's Principle: Creation. The Kohlii skill that comes from it is Strategy."

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: "So if we want to get into the head-temple in Po-Wahi we have to...make something?" Lepidran asked, "Bring something that stands for creation?"

[EmperorWhenua]

Ic: "I think it's far more mundane," Stannis mused. "The virtues are in the Kolhii principles, but I don't think the game itself has anything to do with it. None of the clues or hints have indicated anything about the game any more than a shared principle that has plenty of meaning outside of the ball court," he said.

[Void Emissary]

IC: Plagia Plagia turned and smiled slightly at Akinii, "Soooo...are we supposed to follow him? Do we let him deal with this on his own? What's the protocol here?"-Void

[Harvali]

Ic: "I think it's far more mundane," Stannis mused. "The virtues are in the Kolhii principles, but I don't think the game itself has anything to do with it. None of the clues or hints have indicated anything about the game any more than a shared principle that has plenty of meaning outside of the ball court," he said.

IC: Dece shook his head, "I am not saying that this game is the key to defeating the Makuta or anything like that. I mean, what would we do? Invite the Makuta to play a game with us for the fate of the island? That just sounds...idiotic. I just meant that the game was merely a way to inform lots of people about the six clues, without anyone realizing it. Like hidding a powerful artifact in a junkyard, keeping it hidden in plain sight. The gamde is just the junkyard, nothing more."

[taconui]

IC: Akinii"Er... I don't know." Akinii paused. "Should we follow him and decide as we go along?"

[~Xemnas~]

OOC: Invite Makuta to play a game of Kolhii for the fate of the island? MoL references FTW! :PIC, Aurax: "That might be true," said Aurax, "but we're not even sure if the clues are related to the principles. It could be a mere coincidence."

[EmperorWhenua]

Ic: "That's a coincidence that cannot be ignored," Stannis counseled, "but the principles are found in more than just a game; they're held dear by the koros themselves in how they are run and inspired. Again, kohlii borrowed those principles and put them to use, but I don't think that has any connection to the real mystery, even as a 'junkyard,' as you said. If anything, these clues seem to direct us to places we can enter, either physical or metaphysical or both."

[Void Emissary]

OOC:

OOC: Emissary, your sig is hilarious. XD

With friends like these, who needs anarchists!IC: PlagiaPlagia smiled and shrugged, "Sounds good to me. Let's go!"She started walking then turned and threw her arms around Akinii, wrapping him in a bear hug.-Void Edited March 8, 2012 by Emissary to the Void

[~Xemnas~]

IC, Aurax: "Right." said Aurax. "Like the place that Hafu's clue referred to. But the question is- do they all refer to the same place... or many different places?"

[EmperorWhenua]

Ic: "That's something we can't know for sure right now," Stannis said. "Hafu said these clues can hurt the Makuta when they are put together. We obviously are not there yet, thus we can't decipher it entirely and, in turn, hurt the Makuta. However that is done."

[~Xemnas~]

IC, Aurax: "...Which is why we need the other two clues- without them, the puzzle won't be complete. But since you said that Whenua helped you... I suggest we go and try to figure out where Taipu is."

[EmperorWhenua]

Ic: "We are," Stannis said, nodding. "We're going to catch some ussals to Ta-Koro first, though. I'll explain the rest to you when we reach our destination."

[~Xemnas~]

IC, Aurax: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Aurax exclaimed enthusiastically. The group walked to the tunnel leading to Ta-Koro. Standing nearby was an Onu-Matoran with some Ussals. A sign near him read, Solum's Ussal Service. Aurax went up to him. "Excuse me, friend, we would like four Ussals. How much will it be?" asked Aurax. "For four? That'll be fourty widgets." said Solum. Fourty widgets? That's a little much, thought Aurax to himself. "Fine, we'll take 'em." Aurax paid Solum, and motioned for the rest of the group to get on the Ussals. As soon as the Matoran were comfortable on their crabs, Aurax, who was on the lead Ussal with Stannis, turned around and asked, "Okay, shall we be off?" OOC: I just totally made up a random NPC Onu-Matoran. His name is Latin for "soil".

[EmperorWhenua]

Ooc: Cool, though you squandered money away. :PIc: "Solum, give Aurax the money back.""What the dickens are you saying?" Solum replied. "If this is a joke, I swear I'll--""I have Turaga Whenua's blessing. Just tell him Stannis the Pa-Matoran was your customer and charge him for the ussals.""You think I'm just going to take your word for it?" Solum said, unconvinced."No," Stannis offered. "But you'll look like a highwayman when I ride this ussal to the turaga and tell him that we were charged for a free service." He stretched his hand out and clicked his tongue on his teeth as he waited for the coins to drop into his palm.Solum stared at Stannis for a long moment, but he could not see past Stannis' grey eyes that seemed to bore right into his face. Finally, he relented. "Fine. Now go.""Thank you, Solum. You're a real treasure. Now let's go."Ooc: Stannis' Companions to Ta-Koro.