Six Kingdoms: Escapement - Gameplay

[Smudge8]

IC: Mazor-Baraki Stronghold

Mazor quietly walked off, not bothering to present the cube. He felt attached to it in a way, He felt responsible for the zombies, but using the item had also been really comforting, a feeling he hadn't had in a while. He wanted some more time to investigate it personally. He found an empty spot on the beach and started cleaning his launcher, trying to take his mind off of things.

OOC: Mazor is open for interaction, I'll try and be more diligent about replying than I usually am.

IC: Paju And Ellie-Ga Metru @Click

Paju finished wrapping a bandage around Karista's arm, then pulled it tight. "Ok Toa Karista, it might be a bit uncomfortable, but that's to make sure it stays on." Paju took a step back. "You know, this is my first time meeting a Toa. It's really quite an honor, I'm sorry again about your arm." Paju paused as she wanted to speak, but couldn't think of what to say. "Are you from around here?" She blurted out. 

[Toru Nui]

IC: Tekmo (Silver Sea, Temple Assault)

Tekmo didn't really want to leave Ardoku there, but he was in Pardehi's hands, so that had to count for something. "Stay with us, comrade. You'll be fine." With that, Tekmo left the medic to his work.

His eyes scanned the battlefield for Kal. Upon making contact with the green devil, Tekmo joined with Rose and Skyra in preparing to attack him. "I don't suppose either of you two have a plan?"

 

IC: Waveahk (Po-Metru, Sculpture Fields)

In the confusion, Waveahk had taken the opportunity to hide behind a large nearby statue. He had absolutely no clue as to what was going on, and had very little stake in it to boot. He had always known that his job was a hazardous one, but at this point, he had simply had enough. Vyarik had very nearly gotten him killed, only spared through the arrogance and the delusions of their enemies. The only reason he had even come along was because... because...

He didn't enjoy killing. He didn't particularly dislike it either, it was just a job. The only job he could get with his... condition. He was a professional, not a mindless brute or a sadist. But the bounties on Vhisola, Stannis and Knichou had long since been rescinded. He went after them because... because...

Because. Because it kept him occupied. Because he was bored. Because he could. Ever since his mutation, he had taken to heart that investing in other people nets you various sharp implements lodged in your back... but that didn't excuse mindless savagery, harming others for harm's sake... how was killing for money he didn't want any different? He was with the Dark Hunters for their sanctuary and acceptance, not their profits... but he was an island entire of himself, he didn't need the Dark Hunters. After all, they would probably betray him too, when the time came.

He took out his iStone. 'Kill Dume', it said. Even if Waveahk believed that he could get close enough, the death of the Turaga would reward him with nothing, nothing but money he had no use for. He crushed the tablet into fragments in his hand, dropped them to the sand below, and disappeared into the night.

It wasn't as if he could formally resign.

 

IC: Ostrox (Barraki Stronghold)

"Ahem." Ostrox appeared behind Mazor. "Do you not think it best to hand the artifact to Lord Carapar?"

[Snelly]

IC: Skyra - Temple Assault -

So, she's easily flustered, interesting~

Skyra couldn't have hoped for a better reaction really. She tried not to look too pleased with herself as Rose apologized for basically crushing her. "Hey, no biggie. Let's take care of this son of a b-OW OW OW OW THAT HURTS A LOT!"

As Rose helped the mischievous Toa back on her feet, Skyra very quickly felt sharp pain, mostly in her chest. She ended up leaning against the other Toa as she gasped in pain. 

"I think something's broken..." 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Snelly

[Onaku]

IC: Kal - Temple Assault

Anyone paying attention would notice now that the smoke trailing from Kal's charred back was changing in hue from the ashen grey of smouldering flesh into the same crimson miasma that trailed from his open jaws. If anyone had looked closely at his back, they would have noticed the two large scars to either side of his spine, covering the shoulder blades and upper ribcage. These scars were now glowing like charcoals, the source of the crimson miasma emanating from these two scars, and as they continued to glow, red glowing ashes began to trail off from them, and as those ashes continued to fall away, the scars began to expand outward, first into small mounds of red blazing flesh, then into large spikes, all the while red glowing like molten lava as the shapes of these growths kept shifting and expanding outward.

While this new change was happening to Kal's body, the three crimson spotlights he had for eyes now shifted to Oreius, the titan's blade raised into the air as in an instant he appeared by the toa's side, the large blade swinging down at the back of the toa who had dared to reveal the weakness of the titan's immortality.

@Eyru

 

IC: Okuo - Great Temple

To any outside observer, Okuo looked outright uncomfortable, his eyes pointed down, a hand resting thoughtfully on his chin. How ever, that hand tactically hid his mouth too, under which he smiled in amusement at the scene playing out around him. This search for the disk was going to be very interesting, he could tell.

"I'm ready."

Edited March 6, 2020 by Onaku

[~Xemnas~]

IC, Kohara: Ga-Metru

"Okay, then. I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met. What's your name?"

"Vhisola."

"Hello, Vhisola. I am Toa Kohara."

Kohara looked out over the water once more.

"If we're ready then, let's begin. I think it would be best to stick together in case something goes wrong."

With that, the Toa did a graceful backflip into the water. As soon as she hit the water, her mask activated itself, sensing the new environment. Webbing grew between Kohara's fingers, her feet became long and paddle-like, and her mask developed a breathing apparatus to allow her to breathe underwater. She began swimming around, searching for any sign of clues...

[Nato G]

IC: Vyarik/Revenant - Po-Metru

It glanced at Leonn, unsure how to address his question. The Untethered did not experience individual wellbeing. "I am free to serve," it finally said, as if that somehow adequately addressed the question. 

The Revenant was somewhat perplexed, but also relieved, to find the main group of beings had chosen to ignore it. Since they had chosen not to commence hostilities, it saw fit to do the same. It could already sense one of its kin in this city engaged in battle, and attempting to summon others to its side. 

It ignored the cry for now. The benefit of having multiple bodies was that the collective could attempt multiple strategies. If the Vyarik Revenant could reach the Colosseum unimpeded, then it could summon the others, rather than all of them having to fight their way through together. 

Turning its attention to the two Vahki transports, the Revenant exerted its new powers to slowly, meticulously wrench the vehicles apart. The bulky pieces of exterior paneling peeled away, bolts and screws and fastenings popping loose as individual components were magnetically yanked in new directions.  Each piece drifted over to the Revenant, which seemed to inspect them for a moment, before dropping them in the sand and continuing to slowly burrow into the inner workings of the machines...

Edited March 5, 2020 by Nato the Traveler

[Dane-gerous]

IC: Thom - ??? (Row, Row, Row Your Boat....)

Thom crouched down into the small shelter provided by the roof of the little dinghy. The world, previously in a blood red twilight, had transitioned to a darker night, darker than any he'd seen in recent memory. The motor of the little boat chugged, ambient, in the inky black, the sounds of the war behind him having faded a while before. 

The Ko-Skakdi felt odd. For once in his life, everything seemed to be quiet. 

Nobody to jab and chuckle at, to ridicule, to banter with. Just the stretching ocean. Completely wordless, and yet it spoke more to him than any one individual before it. But the messages it carried only made him lonelier. 

The assassin sighed, pulling a blanket over himself. He wasn't used to being alone with his thoughts and feelings like this. Questions were beginning to pop up, fragments from the hectic last few days. Nuparu's head setting alight, his leg being blown open, jumping away from the cover on the beachhead, the thumbs up he'd given Rose. Kal setting him free...

He'd never gone to the bother of pretending to understand why Kal had done that. 'Craven', what did that word even mean? A head with such little mind in it that shooting him there did nothing to him, and he knew more words than Thom did. 

A quiet, distracted snicker at that thought.

Whatever the reason, here he was. Free, and on the odyssey of his lifetime to catch up to a Toa who didn't even know his name. A quest given by himself, to himself. Perhaps the lonely journey on the dinghy was worth that freedom. 

He shook the small canteen to the side of him, only for his amber eyes to widen in sickening realization as he heard no splashing against the metal.

I hope Metru-Nui isn't too far off.

IC: Kovac Krossfari - En Route To Coliseum (From Ga-Metru)

Passerbys might have noticed a darting shadow across the night, as Kovac Krossfari rushed as fast as his legs could carry him, hopping from rooftop to rooftop and balcony to balcony. Time was ticking.

[Unreliable Narrator]

IC: Reliable Narrator | Ta-Metru, Great Furnace
The heat removed any feeling of moisture from the air where they stood. Zecrillia and the Swordsman stood on a small catwalk with a railing attached to the wall. A metal ladder allowed for descent and ascent to other cat walks. By observing the ladders they realized all the catwalks were for matoran to service the grates on the conveyor belts running into the Furnace. The ladders went all the way to the floor three stories below where matoran walked through pipes and vents with clipboards performing inspections after the nearby collision. The Swordsman could just make out the sign clipped to the bottom of the ladder read "emergency only."
Zecrillia watched where the conveyor belts lead. They trundled along their tracks toward the center of the circular building. From previous time spent talking to forgers in the city she knew the Great Furnace had three ringed regions inside it. The third and most outward ring where they now stood, the middle ring where actual forging took place, and the interior first ring where only the most elite mask makers forged great kanohi directly from the molten protodermis falls. 
Riding the conveyor belt they'd taken in would get them close to the insulating wall between the third and middle ring, but the belt stopped short of passing through the wall. They'd need to find a way into the middle ring. 
Several stories up they saw the domed ceiling and long chains dangling from the ceiling. Woven through through the chains were thick tubes and nozzles in the ends pointing towards the ground far below in a form of sprinkler system. Looking further along the ceiling they saw vent shafts on the top of the ceiling, and an emergency access catwalk on the far wall near the roof. If they could just figure out the way to the catwalk, Zecrillia was sure it led to a way through the insulating wall.
 

[Azibo]

IC: Sans, Le-Metru

"Are you in my thoughts? Can you see the pink Kane-Ra I'm imagining right now? Huhuhuhuhu." Sans kept his attitude jolly, but he remained cautious of this newcomer.  Whoever they were, they knew he was going to see Dume... maybe they would deduce that Sans was involved with the Great Disk hunt.  He must remain cautious.

"I would warn you, this would be a terrible spot for you to pick a fight.  I recommend you continue on your way, traveler.  There's enough death in the City of Legends as is, no one needs to see another corpse dead in the street.  Stay safe, though!" 

With that final mental message, Sans continued onward and put this stranger behind him.  It would only take a little while before he carried his companions all the way to the Colosseum.

OOC: @Crimson Jester @Onaku @EmperorWhenua we four will be at the Colosseum starting next post @Unreliable Narrator

[Tarn]

IC: Rose - Temple Assault

The smaller Toa leaning on her really wasn't helping anything. "Uh...hey, now..."

Rose looked over her shoulder at Kal. She had enjoyed the challenge the entity had brought, and getting to go up against someone who was just as strong as her, but Skyra was in no shape to fight. And...well, she liked this Le-Toa. Rose carefully lifted Skyra up, bridal-style. "C'mon, we gotta get you to a medic or somethin'," she said before heading for the treeline to find cover away from the entity and the League forces. The fighting could wait.

@Snelly

IC: Idlyx Haeve - Ga-Metru

The Hunter sat and waited for Kovac to disappear from sight. A sigh was followed by a loud SNAP as the large cervid broke out of his restraints and stood up, wincing at the pain in his knee. Ah, son of a brakas...I'll have to do something about that eventually...

Idlyx began limping away, out of the alley, and heading for the nearest crowd to blend into as well as an injured deer-man could. There was no chance Kovac would be able to stop a Dume assassination, he thought. Even if Idlyx himself couldn't get the job done, someone would. And he relished the thought of how the city would fall into chaos after its Turaga died. 

IC: The Swordsman - Ta-Metru

I glared at Zecrillia for a moment, before softening my expression, feeling oddly guilty at being angry towards her. I studied the area around us, the heat bothering me little--although even from here I could tell how much more extreme it got towards the center of the Furnace.

"We need to find a way to that catwalk," I said. "If you've got a plan in mind now that you're finally in here, I'd like to hear it."

@Darth Jaller

Edited March 6, 2020 by Tarn

[~Xemnas~]

IC, Kohara: Ga-Metru

Kohara soon spotted something unusual covered by seaweed and other aquatic life. Looking at it closely, she came to the conclusion that it was a stone block. Manmade. She scanned around and noticed several similar blocks, all lined up in a row. She turned and motioned to her companions to follow her. After swimming a short distance, a ruined structure came into view. It looked very old. 

[Snelly]

IC: Skyra - Temple Assault -
 

Skyra let out a small wince of pain as she was picked up, though the fire Toa was surprisingly careful when carrying her. It was Skyra’s turn to feel flustered as she felt her cheeks burn a bit. It was a bit embarrassing having to be carried like that.
 

”Y-You know, I’ve always wanted to be carried like a princess, I was hoping it would happen with less pain though hahah-oooow Ireallyshouldntlaughithurts...” Apparently Skyra’s way of dealing with pain was more flirtatious jokes. 
 

@Tarn 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Snelly

[Unreliable Narrator]

IC: Reliable Narrator, Coliseum

at the Ta-Metru entrance, the Vahki nodded at Raz, then stepped aside and let him pass through the great gate. It opened slowly, giving him plenty of time to think about how momentous a moment it was.

At the Po-Metru entrance, a vahki turned its head to once side at Jabali's statement and badge of office, then stepped aside and let her pass. 

"Please speak with an internal security vahki regarding your tip at the visitor center," the vahki said as Jabali walked past.

 

[Tarn]

IC: Rose - Temple Assault

Like a princess...huh, that's cute...does that make me a knight...?

She shook her head. Focus. Rose came up to a tree in the jungle, a safe distance from combat, and laid (heh) the Le-Toa against it. The Toa of Fire glanced around. "I, uh...triage isn't my thing..." she said. "There should be a medic nearby, but uh. Um."

"I'll stay with you, Skyra. If that's alright. Don't wanna leave a comrade behind, and I do feel a little responsible for this..."

There was a silence as she looked into the Le-Toa's eyes, as if someone had pressed "mute" on all the sound around them, and a feeling of butterflies in Rose's stomach. She then suddenly turned and shouted, "HEY, MEDIC. GET THE ##### OVER HERE."

@Snelly

Edited March 6, 2020 by Tarn

[Onaku]

IC: Raz - Coliseum

"Much appreciated." The moment the gate was open enough for him to fit through, Raz sidled on in. Time to head up to Dume's office. Raz looked around for the most convenient way to get there.

Edited March 6, 2020 by Onaku

[Unreliable Narrator]

IC: Reliable Narrator, Coliseum

Raz saw a sign pointing him in the direction of visitor services in the lobby of the Coliseum tower.

[Onaku]

IC: Raz - Coliseum

Raz approached visitor services. "Excuse me, I'm here to see Dume? Important Dark Hunter business that very much concerns him and can't be delayed."

[BULiK]

IC: Knichou, Po-Metru, Disk Anomaly Site

After Nale turned Knichou's attention to the other matoran below with the great disk, Knichou brought the Taku around to hover a few meters above the heads of the those below, assuming they'd come aboard. While this was happening, something very noisily landed on the top of the ship. Shortly afterwards, Kanohi dropped through the upper hatch of the bridge.

"Ah, there you are Kanohi - I was wondering where you were. Could you go down to the cargo bay and throw the rope ladder out so the others can join us?" Knichou asked, trying to hide his surprised at the fellow fe-matoran's entrance. Given the strange sight of the Revenant resurrecting, Kanohi dropping from above was by no means the strangest thing to happen that day. Turning back to his controls without seeing it Kanohi had left to the lower decks, Knichou supported his face with his palm as he closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. The last few minutes were a blur, with Vyarik's death, Nale's confession, and the Revenant's birth, the former Nynrah Ghost was at a loss for words for the moment being. Perhaps Nale had more to say, but right now Knichou was only just barely beginning to get his thoughts in order.

[Tarn]

IC: Nale Vella - Po-Metru

Nale regarded Kanohi with a nod, smiling and pretending she hadn't just admitted to murder. Her face fell again the moment the Matoran looked away. "Knichou," she said, turning back to the former Ghost, her voice low in case Kanohi hadn't left yet. "Can we...keep this between us for now? I know, I know, there's a Ce-Toa just outside but...I don't want Stannis to know. At least not yet, I suppose. There's already been so much happening, I don't need to add to that pile."

[Snelly]

IC: Vashni - Po-koro -

Vashni nodded at Tallea's suggestion, beginning to scan Stannis' mind for information. She quickly learned about everything the Wanderer had been up to in the past day or so. Unlike with the Dark Hunter, she didn't a detect any attempts at deception, not that she expected any. 

She quickly transferred the relevant memories to the others, it was a lot more efficient that speaking out loud. 

@EmperorWhenua@Tarn@Silvan Haven@Nato the Traveler@Dane@pokemonlover360@BULiK@~Xemnas~@Darth Jaller@Onaku@Harvali

IC: Skyra - Temple Assault -

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Skyra said sincerely, miraculously completing a sentence without making any innuendos. Skyra almost flinched in surprise when Rose suddenly shouted for a medic. She had some lungs on her. 

"I don't really blame you for what happened, but if you want to take responsibility that's fine with me~" Nothing lasted forever. 

@Tarn

Edited March 6, 2020 by Snelly

[Eyru]

IC: Oreius | Temple Assault

Kal's blade fell like a guillotine; twisting and stepping back, Oreius barely managed to get his sword up in time to deflect the blow. The impact sent a shock through his arms, and sparks flew as the giant's blade slid along his own before striking the earth. His one small advantage was the length of his sword: a shorter blade meant he had more leverage and maneuverability up close, and his opponent had just closed the gap for him.

Both of them stood now with weapons locked pointing towards the ground. The hunched Toa of Fire looked up at his opponent, searching for some trace of humanity in the titan's three cruel eyes. He found none.

Placing a hand on the crossguard of Kal's massive sword, Oreius pulled his short sword free and then drove it toward the titan's heart.

[Tarn]

IC: Rose - Temple Assault ("...do you think love can bloom, even on a battlefield?")

It wasn't like she could get any redder. Rose coughed in a vain attempt to break tension, then sat near the Le-Toa. Her armor made this somewhat difficult, and at most all she could manage was more of a crouch. "Maybe it's not such a bad thing, then..."

...

"It's nice to have someone with you at times like these, I guess. Even in spite of the things that bring you together."

Edited March 6, 2020 by Tarn

[Eyru]

IC: Taja | Ga-Metru

Taking a breath, the De-Matoran jumped in the water after Kohara. Her entrance was not as graceful as the Toa's, but that was to be expected. Her companion was a Toa of Water; swimming was as natural to her as breathing.

Not that Taja had no experience of her own. Disk surfing along the protodermis canals came with its fair share of wipeouts and unexpected dunkings; any surfer worth their salt knew at least how to doggy paddle. She wasn't afraid of drowning, especially with an air bladder at her side, but she recalled what Nixie had said about a diver seeing something lurking in the deep. There was nothing to fear in the canals, but the vastness of the Silver Sea held mysteries she could not comprehend. What might be waiting for them down there, below the city?

Perhaps... another city?

As the little group paddled their way through the dim waters, a ruined structure slowly came into view. It was built of stone—if the blocks they had passed were any clue—and it was old. Old enough that cracks threaded through the walls of the structure; old enough that the gentle currents of the sea had worn down its corners and rounded its edges. Seaweed and other plants grew around and inside it, draping the ancient building in clothes of green. Little fish startled at their approach and fled to watch cautiously from the safety of their holes. And all the while the solar eclipse far above shrouded everything in its strange silvery light, turning the peaceful underwater scene into something alien and dark, where danger seemed to lurk around every corner and in every dark crevice.

Taja paused to take a breath from her air bladder. Something about this structure was foreboding, despite its beauty. But she swallowed her trepidation and pressed on.

[BULiK]

IC: Knichou, Po-Metru, Taku bridge

Knichou was silent for a moment, before extending his arm for a handshake.

"I don't know how you'll hide it from the mind-reader - you may have to come to a similar agreement with her - but I'll be quiet for now. There will be a right time for you to tell him, but right now it feels like the fate of the last free city is at stake and we have much more important matters to worry about. The time will come."

After the duo shook hands, the ex-Ghost continued to speak.

"Perhaps the only thing requiring more bravery than facing a squad of Vahki alone is admitting giving in to that kind of temptation. Even if you're not ready for Stannis to know yet, I'm at least glad that you were honest to me about such a... large regret"

Edited March 6, 2020 by BULiK

[Snelly]

IC: Skyra - Temple Assault -

"Yeah..." Despite being a chatterbox, Skyra rarely got a chance to just chill with someone and talk for a bit. The war always raged on, and she always kept herself busy fighting it. She couldn't remember the last time she'd relaxed, other than when she slept of course. 

Of course having what she assumed was a broken rib or two wasn't exactly relaxing, but it was close enough for now. 

"...you ever wonder what you're gonna do when the war...ends? Assuming we survive to see it of course." 

[Unreliable Narrator]

IC: Reliable Narrator | Temple Assault

As Skyra asked her question to Rose the tree she leaned against exploded as a skakdi's rocket found its target. The skakdi on the temple walls had seen Rose carry the wounded toa away from the fight he couldn't interfere in, but now had the chance he wanted to take out two toa with one rocket. 

[Tarn]

IC: Nale Vella - Po-Metru

She smiled, a warmth returning to her features. Perhaps Knichou noticed the dark clouds lifting from behind her eyes, perhaps not. But the confession, and her friend's vow had taken a weight off of her. It didn't erase the sin--just made it slightly easier to carry.

"Thank you so much. Now, uh, let's get back to business and...avoid the undead Dark Hunter currently doing strange things outside."

IC: Rose - Jungle with Skyra

Ends?

Rose realized she hadn't...considered the war ending. It seemed like the conflict would never end. An eternal struggle between what was left of Metru Nui and the heretic forces of the League. A grim reality she was prepared for, in which she would always be a soldier, and she would always be killing. Because that was life now for her and it was probably how her life was going to end: in battle. Rose looked off into the distance in thought, forgetting about her surroundings for a moment. Her burning home was such a distant memory...

Before she could answer the Toa of Air, the tree she was leaning against exploded into splinters. A horrified Rose immediately stood and raised her shield to protect from any further attacks, and turned to check on her injured companion, expecting the worst.

"Sk...Skyra?!"

[Snelly]

IC: Skyra - Rumble in the Jungle -

Skyra had rolled a bit as the tree explode, which with her injuries hurt like karz. But on the plus side she was not dead. It took her a minute to get over the shock and pain but managed to speak out. "I-I'm fine...ow...what the heck was that!?" 

[Nato G]

OOC: mobile post

 

IC: Vyarik - Po-Meep Meep!

 

Though Nale dismissed the Revenant's actions as strange, they were in fact calculated and purposeful. With the minds of at least three beings folded into the Untethered consciousness, it had gleaned all manner of interesting knowledge about the world and its workings... including a useful tidbit about how Vahki Transports functioned.

 

Whereas airships used levitation and weight increase kanoka, the transports used speed disks, and it was these the Revenant was now magnetically removing from the two transports. One after another, the disks streaked swiftly through the air, pulled towards the thing that had once been Vyarik. 

 

Each one struck true, imbuing their energies into the Revenant. The instant the last one made impact the creatute took off across the desert, becoming little more than a blackened blur and leaving an almost comical plume of displaced sand in its wake as it dashed rapidly towards its destination.

[Unreliable Narrator]

IC: Reliable Narrator | Ga-Metru

Under the waves of the Silver Sea waited a world rarely explored by the common public. Coral grew from the stones, clinging to them in colonies of oranges, greens, purples, and yellows. Closer to the beach the coral turned white in places, having been killed by swimmers accidentally stepping on the fragile colony. Sunken fishing boats half buried in sand rested like small children tucked into bed for sleep but still wanting a bedtime story. Silver and green fish darted from one shady corner of the seabed to another, moving in schools. Fish used to moonbeams filtering through the waves to their coral reef stayed home, tucked into the little corners and holes until disturbed and compounding the eerie feeling Kohara experienced.

Kohara took the lead as a taller and more powerful diver with Nixie, Taja, and Vhisola following. Okuo trailed further behind, his background as a hacker surfing the data of the internet not proving to be as much of a transferable skill as he’d hoped. They followed a sunken roadway out from the Great Temple and Ga-Metru, making their way deeper into the darkness. They soon found structures rather than just singular stones. Nixie began to wonder if she should pull out a lightstone to see, but Vhisola caved first to the need for decent illumination. It revealed the world beneath.

An entire complex of religious buildings stretched out below them. As the tide pushed them back toward shore, they swam deeper into the darkening blue waters. eight shrines encircled the ruins of a large domed temple. These shrines took the form of pointed towers, curving like ribs toward the central temple. Each shrine extended from the sand of the seabad upwards of thirty feet. It reminded Kohara of the single toa spire at the temple back on her home island. The central temple complex once rose above the shrines, but a millennium of existing beneath the waves eroded the upper stories until only the ground and some of the second floor remained. Visitors to the ancient shrine would have walked the twenty-one steps of one of the eight stairways up to the circular landing. They could clearly make out the steps carved from a solid block of protodermis leading from a street on the seabed to a dark doorway. It would have been customary to pause between steps on holy days, focusing on each aspect of the doctrine. Reaching the Great Temple would leave anyone who performed this act a sacred and enlightened member of their tribe. Short railings ran the edge of the landing. Roads extended out towards where the shore of Ga-Metru waited, rising up the undersea hill. Seaweed found purchase in the cracks between the stones, rolling their green and brown tendrils in the waves.

The structure Kohara saw Nixie knew as the old site of the Great Temple, when the city’s beaches extended further out and Metru-Nui was little more than a primitive culture of elemental tribes vying for control. As the water levels rose in the habitation dome, the unified tribes under a single banner made a new Great Temple, one floating in the center of eight towers holding it in place. Unfortunately, she couldn’t explain this while underwater. All Nixie could do was breathe out bubbles and inhale stale air from the large bladder Taja purchased. She wondered if chartering a submarine would have been easier, but mentally discouraged the notion. Toa Kohara swam with them, her blue armor blending in with the ocean. The waters were on their side.

...

The full moon happened two weekends ago. Vhisola and her college peers ventured through the night markets on the piers surrounding the Great Temple. Their unified mission: find the most delicious squid for under three widgets plus tax. Vhisola suggested they go somewhere less well known after trying the regular places with large signs and colorful banners with blue lightstone lanterns by the doors and windows. Everyone agreed, and the search turned into a squid-fest/pub crawl. Several hours and two matoran too wasted to carry on later, Vhisola and four of her friends agreed Mahiri’s food stand along the canal made the best squid. Mahiri cooked her delicacy over a charcoal grill, using a piece of wire mesh she’d pulled from a trash can as the grilling surface. She laid the pre-skewered thinly cut strips of squid over the grill, brushed her signature secret sauce over them, then deftly flipped them all at the same time with the confidence of a street performer. Something about the immediate experience of watching Mahiri reach into a bucket, pull out a small squid with blinking eyes, and in a matter of minutes hand Vhisola a skewer of delicious food made her want to become an expert at a trade. She thought about her future as she took a bite of the grilled meat.

She studied antiquities and protodermis purification, but she did have two classes on the fundamentals of pottery. She could drop out of college and work in a small studio with a view of Nokama’s lecture hall. Her social accounts would explode whenever she took photos of work in progress. Photos like the one of her hands coated in red clay, or when her small flower vases and plates were going into the kiln, or when she spilled the bottle of glaze all over herself. Though, she did have more experience curating historical artifacts before they were sent to the archives for storage. But who needed a degree anyways? Certainly not Mahiri.

“This is so good,” Vhisola commented, “I wish I had natural talent like Mahiri.”

“I don’t have natural talent,” Mahiri replied. “I went to the finest cooking school in Metru-Nui for eight years. Then the war happened and business declined. I lost my restaurant, couldn’t pay my debts, and eventually friends drifted away. Now I only have my cooking to bring me joy.”

“Wow, I wish I was like you,” Vhisola said. Maybe she’d been to too many pubs. “You have something you love.”

“You don’t?” One of her friends replied. Another student elbowed her in the ribs.

“She’s not a thing, Luma,” Vhisola yelled as they walked away from Mahiri’s squid stand. “She’s--”

“Your--”

“No, she’s perfect and beautiful and talks really well and we’re just friends. We’re just friends.” 

“Well if you’re just friends why did you buy her that bracelet?”

“It’s a friend bracelet.”

“A pearl and silver bracelet is a friendship bracelet?”

“Yeah, don’t your friends give you bracelets?”

“Has she given you a bracelet?”

“Well, no.”

“Does she wear your bracelet?”

“Well, no…”

“So?”

“So,” Vhisola thought about the problem very hard. “I should make her a bracelet so she knows I really care about our friendship and then she’ll wear it.”

Her friends groaned and she began planning the dive to find the perfect pearl. Oysters produced pearls, or was it clams?

...

Underwater again in the same location, Vhisola felt a sense of dread creeping in. She couldn’t help but check behind her to see if the shadow of the monster who terrified her mid-dive still haunted the temple ruins. She saw Okuo doing something resembling swimming, and noticed Nixie’s perfect diving form with growing frustration. The other one, Taja, seemed to fair okay. 

A dark shape twisted in the waters inside the central temple structure. Vhisola froze, air bubbling from her mouth as she accidently yelped in shock. Getting ahold of herself she took another gulp of air from the bladder tied to her waist and swam closer toward Kohara. Everything would be fine. Everything was fine.

[~Xemnas~]

IC, Atamai: Po-Metru

The memories Vashni shared were extensive and detailed. “Well, I guess that means you being wanted was a matter of circumstance rather than you actually doing something wrong. Not that I had any doubt,” I said. “Now I think we’d best be off. We need to get to the Colisseum, and fast. We can look at Nuparu’s memory crystal along the way.”

IC, Kohara: Ga-Metru

Vhisola swam up to Kohara and got her attention. She pointed to the central part of the ruins. Inside was a dark shape. Some sort of Rahi?

Kohara looked at the others and motioned for them to go down. The group swam down and hid behind a large, broken pillar. Kohara poked her head up to see if she could get a better look at what was up ahead. 

[EmperorWhenua]

IC Stan | Po

”Yes, as I said. Now that the matter of my lawfulness is settled, let’s go, friends,” Stannis bade and turned for the Taku. In short order, he took the line that was offered and was soon aboard. He would first assist the others in getting in, and then he would go to Knichou in the bridge to understand the memory crystal at long last. 

[Onaku]

IC: Okuo - Swimming Lessons

It was a common tale that you shouldn't go swimming on a full stomach. It failed to mention that swimming on an empty stomach was worse. Okuo was used to working on a tight budget and a perpetually groaning stomach, but that was on dry land or in the sky. Down here, underwater, was very different. It wasn't like he'd never swam before, but not only did he have a hard time remembering how to do it, this was made even harder by the lack of nutrients in Okuo's body.

Come on, come on, you remember this, it's left arm, left foot kick, right arm, left foot ki- no, wait, darn it. Despite his troubles, Okuo was still making decent progress recalling the rules of underwater motion, and soon enough he caught up with the group. He then remembered to take a breath from his air bladder as he began to feel his lungs strain.

 

IC: Arkius - Po-Metru

There was a sudden rage that flared up in Arkius' expression as he realised too late what the undead was up to, and as the revenant sped off into the desert, he growled, his mask beginning to glow intensely, his body settling into position for a high speed launch.

A moment later, all that was left in his wake was a shockwave as the toa sped off at mach speed, dust and sand trailing off from where he'd stood but a moment prior.

Deep in the desert, the Vyarik revenant remained unaware of any pursuit as it continued to speed toward the coliseum, before all of a sudden a familiar toa flew past at supersonic velocity, swinging his axe at the revenant. The toa's mask glowed practically like a beacon now, and the strain on his face was all too evident.

[pokemonlover360]

IC Kilo-M9 - Po-metru Sculpture Fields:

Circuitry is incompatible with telepathic powers. Context missing about Toa Stannis. Will need to ask allies about shared information.

Enemy dark hunter is leaving area. Solution: do not pursue. Magnetic abilities and speed are dangerous.

Toa Arkius is leaving area. Unable to provide fire support from current location.

Boarding airship.

The mechanical enforcer had sat out the riddle solving portion of the disk puzzle, for it knew it was not well suited for more abstract thinking. It would update its puzzle solving program later. The machine needed to find some way to pass the time. Provoking the newly risen untethered was deemed an unwise idea after the undead revealed his newly acquired magnetic abilities. Protecting the transport was deemed irrelevant, and the former law enforcement officer would not mourn the loss of usurper tech. While the group solved the puzzle and made their way into the portal to retrieve the disk, the metal guardian was attempting to help repair the last bits of superficial damage to the Taku, launching low powered regeneration disks at the underside of the ship’s hull. When the tour group returned from their portal adventures, they found their robotic ally repeatedly tossing a disk at the low-flying airship. A steady clang of metal on metal filled the air.

As the group beginning with Stannis boarded the airship, the protodermis protector watched the ancient toa of stone climb up, its glowing green eyes never leaving the mysterious bag the toa was carrying.

“This unit will board last. If accidents happen, this unit will protect allies,” the steel sentinel reassured its allies.

Primary query remains unanswered. Will confront Toa Stannis in future. Current objective: observe closely until proper time.

[Dane-gerous]

IC: Thom - ??? (???)

The Skakdi's tongue ran across his dry lips. His head swam, and he lay in his blanket, shivering. He wasn't sure if he was asleep or awake. At this point, it barely mattered.

How long had he been at sea? A few days? Two weeks? A month? Where was he going? Zakaz? Xia? The many islands beyond that he'd visited in his prior travels? Where was he going?

...

...

"Arkkan...."

His dim amber eyes lit up in the moment, hands feverishly fumbling for his weapon. Pirates? 

In the dark, he thought he saw something from inside of the small roof. It almost looked like....a fin, cutting neatly through the ocean waves. 

Teeth chattering, Thom lifted up his blanket, revolver cocked in his trance. Every noise sounded too loud, like it was in his head. 

Don't lose it. Don't lose it. Don't lose it.

He lifted his eyepatch up onto his head, mad eyes desperately trying to get a look at whatever it was he heard, and saw. The waves taunted him, each momentarily resembling a monster emerging from the depths.

"Hehehe! Arkkan~" 

The maddened mercenary slowly rotated around, nauseous eyes twitching. He wanted to be sick.

"You're thirsty, aren't you, Thom? The ocean water is lovely! Have a drink, Arkkan~" A voice spoke, in a soothing, yet joyful tone. In the fever ridden dark, he could make out the slender silhouette of a woman on the other edge of the ship, resembling the proportions of a Toa. A pair of eyes twinkled in the dark.

"Ah…"

He could barely speak, but the warm voice called for him. His legs, on autopilot, carried him forward, towards the figure. 

A giggle could be heard as Thom approached the angelic woman, numbing the pounding headache and weak bones. The silhouette spread her arms out, for a soft embrace. His deliverance from this horrible journey. 

His own, shaky arms closed around the figure's midsection. She felt silky, yet oddly damp, with what felt akin to scales…

His odd moment of unease was ceased almost immediately by the figure snaking her hands around his face, her own features illuminated in an hazy moonlight. She was...beautiful. Soft, light blue eyes gazed up into the Skakdi's own amber ones as a pillowy pair of lips formed into a smile.

"You're sick, Thom. You'll die...you need to have something to drink. Come to the edge with me, Thom. Have a drink~"

He didn't even have the capacity to argue with the woman as she led him, hand to hand to the edge of the dinghy. The water looked lovely in the moonlight. She was right, he was so thirsty. 

Thom knelt down on the wooden floor, hands reaching out for the glimmering water. He needed a drink. He needed a drink.

As his hands touched the water, something in the glimmer stopped him. His reflection.

He couldn't see the maiden's face in the ocean, only his own. His eyes were wide, and hysterical. He was as thin as ever, and his eyepatch sat slightly above his eye. His lips were chapped and torn.

"Go on, you're so close~"

Despite the maiden's encouragement, Thom felt a stronger need to stare into his own image. And as he gazed, it flickered. His own Skakdi face changed colour, to a jungle green. A smugger, more proud expression plastered itself across his face. And it changed again, a Pehkui, red and with a pair of vengeful eyes gazing into his own. Then, a melted Pakari, with the dim, fearful gaze of a dying Matoran. And finally, a Kakama, with a ponytail growing outwards. A determined and virtuous look stared back at the assassin.

His goal.

Reality hit him like a Vahki transport would a stray Mahi, and he pulled his hands back, shaking the water off them. He turned back, to the maiden. She looked disappointed. He cracked an apologetic but positive grin.

"Sorry, sweetheart. Nah can do, not till ah got that Toa." Thom explained, his head slightly clearer. "Plus...seawater ain't exactly me beverage of choice."

The shine in her eyes changed, then. The light blue became a furious purple, and her mouth opened. Horrible, jagged fangs revealed themselves, as the moonlight seemed to intensify, showing her scaley, finned tail in full detail, in place of her legs. 

An ancient, primevil roar came somewhere behind her, as Thom saw glimpses of a shadowy, tendriled creature in the ocean behind her, splashing and thrashing.

"This ocean will be your grave, murderer!" The siren screamed.

Without any hesitation, the Dark Hunter panicked, firing a shot amid the haziness which opened the scaly creature's face wide. Darkness spilled out as the monster screamed, clutching the remainder of her face as pure, purply dark poured from her wound.

He felt even more sick, but the siren seemed to melt into nothing, having been rejected by the Skakdi, her power nullified. The tentacled sea beast behind her also screamed out into the night, before disappearing back into the depths with even more thrashing.

Thom breathed heavily, slinking back into the small shelter and hiding beneath his blanket. He was okay. He was okay.

[Nato G]

2 hours ago, Onaku said:

IC: Arkius - Po-Metru

Deep in the desert, the Vyarik revenant remained unaware of any pursuit as it continued to speed toward the coliseum, before all of a sudden a familiar toa flew past at supersonic velocity, swinging his axe at the revenant. The toa's mask glowed practically like a beacon now, and the strain on his face was all too evident.

IC: Vyarevenant - Po-Metru 

The Revenant was not quite as unaware of its pursuit as Arkius perhaps hoped. The spirit cores inhabiting the Revenants did not need to rely on their body's senses to discern their surroundings; the Fa'amatai Revenant didn't have a head at all, and could still function just fine. 

As Arkius drew close, the spirit sensed his approach and began to slow, ducking into a roll as the axe swept by overhead. 

And then it sprang to its feet and simply kept running. 

[Onaku]

IC: Arkius - Po-Metru

Arkius didn't falter for a moment, charging in for another high speed strike at the Dark Hunter revenant.

Meanwhile, the sand cloud trailing behind Arkius and Vyarik began to change, to grow... to accelerate.

[Nato G]

IC: Vyarik/Revenant - Po-Metru

The Revenant sidestepped the blow, drawing its own weapons as it realised this attacker was not content to let it leave unimpeded. 

[Unreliable Narrator]

IC: Coliseum
Raz spoke with the grey armored vahki behind the visitor counter and they nodded organically to his phrase. Something about the newest units of the vahki seemed eerily sentient. It provided a map to the fifth floor of the Coliseum where the confidential reporting halls were located. When Raz arrived he saw matoran bustling about two and from sectioned and curtained stalls. A matoran would shuffle in with a concerned expression, slip into a booth, then leave with a sense of peace. Raz found a booth big enough for him. The dark booth had a small grate on the left side which slid open once he settled. A vahki in profile began to speak;
"One moment please," they said and their opticals went dark. A minute later the opticals clicked back on. "This is Turaga Dume, what do you want?"
 

[Toa of Plastic]

IC:Pardehi - Temple Assault @Onaku

He set to work treating Ardoku's wounds. He produced a syringe from his medic's pack, filling it with a greenish fluid. He injected it under a gap in Ardoku's armor. He hoped it would stop the internal bleeding. He applied bandages to the toa's chest wounds, sprinkling them with medicinal powder to improve the healing process. The stub on his arm was bandaged the same way to stop the bleeding. He hoped he would be able to reattach he toa's arm. He had practiced before, but this was the first time, he had actually tried to reattach a limb. He looked around, but the severed arm was nowhere to be seen.

Confident that Ardoku was safe for now, but stood up and began his search for Ardoku's arm.

OOC: Pardehi is, looking for Ardoku's arm to reattach.