BZPRPG: Ko-Wahi

IC: (Vlaria)

"My name is Valria." I replied, my tone a little less suprised and a little more welcoming. However as I heard Iulius continue more questions seemed to spring up in my mind. "You know Kaiapo? You mean you've been waiting for us?" This was all a little strange to me, and being tired from the sparring didn't help me that much. "I'm...I'm doing well sir. How are you doing?" It still paid to mind my manners, especially in front of a guy that while strange. He was still a nice, amicable guy thus far.

IC (Echelon)

About half an hour later, the four 'Vortixx' arrived at the back door of Ambages' house. Under Makuta's guidance through the mask, Echelon had led them out of the Koro and into the drifts, only pausing every few minutes to mutter to the Mark Stone, presumably giving Utu new instructions. Thankfully, the weather in the drifts was relatively clement, and afforded them quick and easy passage to the rear entrance of the Architect's abode.

"This is the entrance," Echelon announced, turning to his fellows after examining the door.

IC: Utu - Ko-Wahi DriftsThis was getting a little cliche.People in disguises. Looking for a secret entrance.If I wasn't so angry with my non-control, I might've enjoyed this."This is the entrance,"Cool. What were we doing here? Seeing somebody? Cool.......What?......No really. This is sort of neat. It's not like we're wasting any time just standing here staring at the door. Actually though, it seemed that Vidar trusted Echelon. He also seemed to fear judgement based on our failures earlier today. So either this is just an attempt to evade Heuani, which would be easier if we weren't hanging around an infected Toa, or we're actually just wasting time. I'd make a chart, but I'm too busy doing cool important secret entrance things which would totally be cool, minus one thing.I have no idea what's going on.Echelon is telling me to do stuff, but I don't get to hear him. I'm assuming the control is based on the Mark, which controls the rest of the Bearer. I'd have to admit, this was pretty smart. At least compared to everything else that's happened recently.

IC Genno"Guys, have we found anything yet?"

I.C. Zenex

"Well, setting a system of beliefs is the first step to getting things done. If you don't know what you believe in, you're no different than the darkside that you are fighting. Don't call me a theologian or anything, I just happen to notice a lot of toa out there who want to help people for no reason at all. It's all pretty aimless to me, but nobody says you can't start a team without morals."

________________

OOC: I assume because the owner of Ambages (sorry I forgot your username) hasn't told me that Vompran found anything, his search turned up no results.

I.C. Vompran

This would be awkward for Matoro... If no one else found anything.

"I got nothing..." He said to Kethryre as he returned from his fruitless search. Pity. This could end up as one big pain in the rear if no one else could do anything about it.

IC:

Suddenly, Aparangi and Tupua looked at each other instinctively. They both had felt the same sensation at the same time and this was a feeling that, despite being lessened on this island, had never been wrong before and wasn't wrong now. There were many things one could disguise if they chose to do so. But they could not disguise multiple servants of Makuta. No matter what appearance they feigned.

"Shadows..." Aparangi muttered under his breath. "More than one. On the other side of the estate."

"Four." Tupua added beside him. Aparangi nodded and started to push himself up with his arms, about to stand up. But his brother placed a hand on his shoulder, keeping him low to the ground. "No. Stay here. We don't know who these dark ones are. Rushing in will accomplish nothing."

"Who said I was going to rush in? I just wanted a closer look." Aparangi replied quietly, but slightly annoyed. For all the respect he held for Tupua, their methods and attitudes were polar opposites. It wasn't easy working together.

"Besides, they might be here to harm our allies." the Aitua added. Tupua glanced at him coldly. "Your rash behaviour may be good in a fight, but we must gather more information first. And more evidence."

Aparangi harumphed softly. "Fine. But we'll have to take a closer look eventually."

"Don't worry brother...we will. But let us watch a while longer."

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

Kehua shrugged, looking down at the quiet Ravage walking beside him. From the front, Rewera looked back at Ravage, a question on her lips as well. But it looked like their companion didn't feel like sharing, so neither her nor Kehua pressed the issue. Perhaps it would comfort Ravage when he came to realize that each of the Aitua were all more or less introverts like him. They all had things they did not feel like talking about.

And so, without another word spoken, the trio left the village of ice in a western-direction, headed for the village of water.

OOC: Rewera, Kehua and Ravage to Ga-Wahi.

I.C. Zenex was about to point out that if Makuta was controlling him, it was Makuta who had done those terrible things, not Rya, but he was interrupted.

"There are many good places to find a weapon. Especially in this culture, with evil everywhere and all. I got my axe from one of those markets over there." He pointed west. "I'm sure there is a befitting weapon there for a toa such as yourself."

IC: Kethrye (Ambage's Apartment, Ko-Koro.) -

"Guys, have we found anything yet?"

"Not, yet, no," muttered the Toa of Ice, sliding open the office's file cabinet and began browsing its' contents. It's been, what, five minutes? Not exactly enough time for a detailed investigation.

The documents contained nothing incriminating, as expected. Kethrye flipped to take a second look at the blueprints for an Academy, mentally noting it along with the Cultured Gentry as possible leads. Time to put my private eye experience to good use, Kethrye thought,slamming the drawer closed and striding round in a sweep of the apartment. All twenty four-hours of it.

He wondered to the far rear of the architect's abode, finding nothing that would be out of place in any other relatively upper-class home on the island, apart form the masterwork statues and carvings that decorated the tables and walls. Kethrye raised a hand to the ice cold stone of the walls. Even the building itself's a work of art, though the ILF leader. Ambages is certainly a great engineer when he's not planting explosives inside the walls. . .

Kethrye shrugged to himself, inspecting the wooden door. Wonder what's in here, he thought, reaching for the doorknob and hefting the entrance open. Snow blown from the wind outside spilling into the chamber. -Backdoor, duh. Makes sense.

What didn't make sense was the group of Vortixx standing on Ambages's back stoop.

"Uh, hello?"

IC: Alfon (Ambages' House)

Man, I wasn't having any luck. I did my best to scour this place from top to bottom without making a mess of things but there just wasn't anything to be found. Well, no specific evidence of possible treason at least. On the other hand, this house was a treasure trove, a thief's jackpot. The architect was really rolling in the dough.

I found myself lingering around certain areas, stubbornly investigating the mansion for something, anything. Ambages had to be the culprit, the case just pointed fingers in his direction.

"FOUND SOMETHING,"

A jolt of excitement ran through my body and in mere seconds, I was there. The wall Kethrye stood beside was out of place, exposing the entrance of a hidden passage.

"Might need a hand with it, though."

"You got it." I replied, setting to work in moving the wall with the Toa of ice.

Ic: Ambages simply sat in his drawing room, looking into the fire with a muted expression plastered on his face. He remained silent and stoic, appearing flustered but quiet at the unexpected intrusion, and waited the storm out. The guards and Matoro were just as quiet as the architect and just stood like statues, the admirable brokers for peace.

Kethrye shuffled about in the office and moved about, the most noisy of the searchers with his righteous vigor to discover proof of deception.

Ambages perked up in curiosity and rose from his seat. He looked towards Matoro and simply nodded; he would go check out what Kethrye had found, perhaps simply because he was bored. He was hardly found guilty of things, there would be no stopping a man from moving about in his own house. And so Matoro nodded respectfully in turn, though a guard was waved to follow Ambages just in case. Matoro was a cautious and obstinate man he needed to be.

The apartment was fairly expansive. The rooms were now of ceiling but broad and open. The owner surveyed the investigation's damanged as he moved -- it seemed no tapestry rug or painting was left askew, no vase and ornament untouched, no cabinet unopened. Nothing missing or broken, thankfully, which gave both he and his butler a measure of comfort. As he moved to the back of the home he passed the pigeon coop -- one of the ILS members was already looking at the bird's legs for notes. None would be found, of course, which was a sign of how futile the whole search really was. Ambages was a careful man, too, and always kept all the evidence of his treason in his study... And all of the stuff was no longer in the study, either, but in the university, likely being put into the mortar there for excavation later.

Ambages came around the corner where he knew the back door was and saw Kethrye's back, just in the midst of opening the door. "Uh, hello?" the toa said.

Ambages moved closer and to the side of the toa, peering with true curiosity at the space beyond Kethrye's body, but all he saw was open white space, a blanket of snowy wastes. Ambages shivered from the cold. "Who are you talking to?" he asked with an unamused expression. "Are you trying to bring more people in here to cast further guilt in my way, Kethrye?" he accused.

Ooc: So! As you can tell, Echelon and the others aren't there yet. Here's why. Echelon was in the village proper before and saw that the Aitua were without the front door, so they went back out and around to the back entrance. That took half an hour (as stated in Echelon's post). However, Kethrye and the other ILF members could not have been in Ambages' house for longer than ten minutes (five for the questioning and five for the search, as you stated before). In other words, thanks to BZPRPG Time, Echelon and his team won't be at the back door for another twenty minutes.

I also suggest Veef edit his post to correlate with this truth. It's possible the Aitua felt the dark presence in Ko-Koro while they were there in the village, but for now they are, um, vanished again.

Teeheehee. :3

OOC: When did anyone state the interrogation took five minutes? I'd assume from it's length that it went on longer then that. Besides that, BZPRPG Time means that time flies when you're having fun passes differently to different characters, and so while less more time may have passed for Echelon, Utu and Vidar, they're still around the back door in the present.

IC: Kethrye (Ambages's Back Door) -

Kethrye shrugged, jabbing his thumb at the trio of Vortixx, none of whom had introduced themselves, or in indeed say anything at all. "I don't know, ask them."

OOC: Right, let me explain. I moved Echelon and his little group to Ambages' back door to keep them out of the way, thinking that a combination of a) courtesy and b) recognising my timeskip would ensure that nobody interacted with them. Evidently I was wrong.

Fortunately, I have a solution

IC (Echelon & co)

There was a click from the wooden door as the handle began to turn. In that split second, Echelon whirled round to give the Illusionist an urgent glare. The Mahiki-user, however, had already alerted himself to the opening door and raised his hands in a flash, conjuring an image which stopped shimmering into existence just before the door swung open, revealing the Toa behind it.

Kethrye saw nothing but empty wastes, the drifts stretching away until they were lost in the falling snow and naught but an Akaku could see further. Echelon, Vidar and Utu stood stock-still as their companion maintained his illusion. Kethrye would be unable to identify the flawless illusion for now; but if he were to walk forward a couple of metres, he would pass through the image and the beings behind it would be revealed to him.

If he made it that far.

IC- Verak - Ambages' Apartment

Verak hit the pigeon cage, sending the birds into a small frenzy. The poor, terrified things beat themselves against the walls of the cage for a few seconds, sending out shrieks and feathers before calming back down. He watched them carefully, noting the lack of anything interesting anywhere in the apartment. Nothing. Not a single piece of even sort of incriminating evidence. Although Verak didn't trust rich people, he also understood the low intellect of most heroes. Kethrye was beating his head against a solid stone wall, and however furiously he got his followers to do the same, not a single scrap of evidence presented itself.

Verak's short attention span helped him decide this sooner than the other Liberation Force members, and he so he decided to give up and turned away from the cage. Unnoticed amidst the chaos, he grabbed a fancy glass and filled it with a small amount of one of the many alcoholic beverages available in the rich man's abode.

After that, he pulled a chair over to a window and sat down on it, looking out into the white expanse and sipping his drink. He stared out at the snowbanks, listening to the sounds of the ILF's fruitless search. For a second he though he saw something of the darkest black peer over the edge, but when he looked again there was nothing there.

iC; KironKiron had followed along with the rest of the ILF towards Ko-Wahi, then they ended up searching a suspect Matoran's house."This sure is a big home," Kiron thought to himself.So, whiile the others searched frantically, Kiron ended up reading the matoran's books. When Ambages walked past, he would put on a stern expression and search the nearest object: The Pigeon CoopIC: SulkuaSulkua was having little luck as well.I don't think this guy's dumb enough to hide his stuff so openly, he thought to himself.

Ooc:

When did anyone state the interrogation took five minutes? I'd assume from it's length that it went on longer then that. Besides that, BZPRPG Time means that time flies when you're having fun passes differently to different characters, and so while less more time may have passed for Echelon, Utu and Vidar, they're still around the back door in the present.

The dialogue we went through could not have taken any more than five minutes to exchange unless everybody ttttaaaaalllllkkkkkssss rrrreeeeaaalllllyyyy ssslllllooowwwllllyyyyy... which I know isn't the case. It really wasn't as long as you think it was.

Ic: Ambages looked again. "There is nobody there," he said blankly. He looked to the Ko-Koro guard escorting him for a response from the man; the guard merely shrugged, not seeing anyone, either. There was nothing but a blank snowscape.

"Kethrye," Ambages said, drawing his tone as cool and professionally as he could, "I know you are upset about the events in Pala-Koro, but I feel you are growing too desperate to find things where they are not. You've not only accused me of a crime I did not commit but also seem to not even recognize my sympathy for the doom, and now you see things there aren't. I fear the stress of it all has caused you to become... demential," he said as he moved to shut the door, shivering from the cold air to accentuate his haste. "That is not good for a leader who professes to do good for the people of Mata Nui. Where is Madrihk? I would want to speak of him about this," he pressed.

OOC: Javert kept on urging me to make this post, so I finally got around to it.

IC: (Laryn, Ko-Koro Bank)

Laryn arrived at the bank with a knot in his stomach. He had a very, very strong hunch of what he wanted to do, and he didn't want to do it. It's something he was going to be pretty ashamed of if he did.

The bank at its front was pretty simple. After climbing down a ladder into an ice canyon, there was a tall rectangular opening along its side, parallel to the ladder's rungs. He reached out his foot and eased himself onto the dropoff. There was a desk made of ice, set in front of a stone carving in the shape of an unadorned face. There were several Ko-Matoran at the desk, scribbling on sheets of paper. He walked up to one of them.

"Excuse me, but I'm here on behalf of Kethrye of the ILF and Translator Matoro under an official investigation of an individual suspect of war crimes against Mata Nui."

"Who is this individual?"

"Ambages the Architect," said Laryn. "We are undergoing an official search of his property. We are not taking his property, but everything that he owns, we have the official commission of inspecting. Therefore, I will need to inspect items in his safety-deposit box."

The Ko-Koronian banker removed a monocle. "Are you saying that you wish to invade someone's privacy on our watch? These matters are extremely complicated. Getting access to things protected within these walls is more complicated than you might think. We make it our business to make sure that one individual and only one individual can access their box, and that is the person who owns it."

"You might have good business practices in mind, but even you are subject to the law," said Laryn. "A person has a right to his own property, but even that isn't an absolute as in cases of eminent domain. The authority of Ko-Koro and the leader to the island's senior defense organization have deemed it necessary. This is higher than you, and it isn't about loyalties. This is about doing what you have to do, and for the safety of this island, we cannot be secure if we cannot be one hundred percent sure as to Ambages' innocence or guilt."

"That could very well be, but I still need a search warrant," said the guard.

"Search warrant?" muttered Laryn. "Oofta! We didn't have time to make anything fully authentic. That takes time. This isn't a domestic matter. This is a time of war and this is a war crime."

"If I recognized you," said the banker, "I would have taken that statement, but you could very well be a rogue officer or a bank robber, so I'm not taking your word for - "

"I'm sorry, but some day you are going to forgive me for this," said Laryn, and he summoned wind to come in through the entrance and hook around so that it hit the batch of bankers from the side, flinging them against the wall. Paper and snowflakes mixed to together and twirled around in the air. It was all a flurry, and in the brief moment of havoc, Laryn jumped over the table, took a key around the neck of the head banker, and placed it in the keyhole area at the mouth of the statue.

"No! You don't know what - "cried the head banker, but the door creaked open with an loud scraping sound. He slid in and closed it shut as fast as he could. There was a loud, echoing bang, and the world outside was dead to him.

The inside of the bank was a large chamber, like a cathedral. It was actually quit narrow, to broader than a hallway, but its ceiling was easily fifty-three feet high. The walls were made of solid, gray stone, and scattered all over their surface were lanterns made of lightstones. All along the ceiling were icicles, and there were some that trickled down the walls like vines, often forming over the lightstone lamps. Between the sheets of ice, where the bear rock of the walls showed through, were the various safes, carved into the stone. There was a rolling ladder along each wall, making the upper deposit boxes available.

He checked one of the vault doors at ground level. It had a six-digit lock attached to it. That wasn't good at all. As determined as he was, he wasn't going to physically destroy every single case here, especially when he didn't even know which one was the target.

Laryn returned to the door leading out and knocked as hard as he could, shouting "WHERE DO YOU CONTAIN THE INFORMATION ON LOCK NUMBERS AND THE LOCATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL SAFES?"

From behind the door, the muffled response: "We can't give it to you. It's all memorized!"

"Fumbuggles," cursed Laryn. He leaned against the door for a while, calming down.

Okay, so he was in here. There was only one way out, and by the time he came out that way he would be facing what could be a lot more trouble than he had coming in. Furthermore, he was cornered, and he wan't going to morally compromise himself by damaging the property of a ton of other Matoran and Toa who had lent the bank their trust in a wild struggle.

What if he just waited this all out until Kethrye came around and cleared out any misconceptions, starting the search on more official terms. He could just stick around and watch over the situation up until then just in case Ambages sent anyone to cover up his tracks.

Surely, even though he was walking into this without a plan, there had to be a way of extracting the information he needed.

24601

OOC: Here here Masopix.

I'm bored.

IC: Clariax

A single stream of plasma melted the ice Maxopix had been walking on. Slip slosh, he slipped, and as he tried to pick himself up, the stream of plasma changed direction - him.

OOC: And it's about time I had some combat fun...

Ambages looked again. "There is nobody there," he said blankly. He looked to the Ko-Koro guard escorting him for a response from the man; the guard merely shrugged, not seeing anyone, either. There was nothing but a blank snowscape.

 

"Kethrye," Ambages said, drawing his tone as cool and professionally as he could, "I know you are upset about the events in Pala-Koro, but I feel you are growing too desperate to find things where they are not. You've not only accused me of a crime I did not commit but also seem to not even recognize my sympathy for the doom, and now you see things there aren't. I fear the stress of it all has caused you to become... demential," he said as he moved to shut the door, shivering from the cold air to accentuate his haste. "That is not good for a leader who professes to do good for the people of Mata Nui. Where is Madrihk? I would want to speak of him about this," he pressed.

IC: Kethrye (Ambages's Apartment) -

Crazy, is that it? Am I going insane? Kethrye thought, leaning out of the door and glancing to the left and to the right, confirming that the Vortixx were, in fact, gone, if they had even existed in the first place. He closed his eyes. Given all that's happened lately that wouldn't be terribly surprising. How ironic would it be if the only sane ILF member was the first to truly go mad himself?

Kethrye suppressed a sigh, matching the architects stoicism with his own. The stress has been getting to me, at least a little. As soon as things slow down I need to take a brake. Go easy for a bit. Get drunk with Alfon and Ril. Ask Plagia out on a date. That sort of things.

Wait, am I even thinking about romance? That settles it, I have lost my mind.

He gritted his teeth. Demented or no, I have a job to do. And innocent or not, Ambages is not the saint he wants the rest of the world to believe he is. How could anyone with so much money be?

"Madrihk's missing," he replied, his gaze returning to the Matoran of Sonics. "Probably dead. And I apologize if I seem overly suspicious but I don't think you realize how serious things really are, how bad bad things have gotten.

"Ko-Koro was devastated in a meaningless act of violence, Makuta's follower's walk unchallenged across the island, Pala-Koro has fallen and many of the ILF scattered or killed, the Kumu-Islets have been swallowed by the sea, and the survivors have blamed the rest of civilization for the disaster. I wouldn't go off standing on a street corner proclaiming that the end is neigh, but it's certainly looking that way. All of us are at war.

"The people have lost hope, and if the master of shadows made a move many would welcome him, trading freedom for survival. The entire island is playing a game, architect, not one over mere thrones or kingdoms, but one over the very hearts and minds of those that fight it, and fates much worse then death will come if we lose.

"There's only two armies, and everyone's part of one whether they know, or want, it or not. Makuta and Mata Nui. Order and anarchy. The Matoran or their enemies. Light and darkness. Hope and despair. Life and death. The closest there is to good in this world, and evil. Will you help to save Mata Nui and it's people, or help destroy them forever? Everyone being on the island is being asked that question, and those that pick neither are only hastening their own destruction."

Kethrye grinned like the madman he likely was by this point. "The island needs heroes, Ambages, the problem is there's no such things as heroes, there's only us. And while there are no true Toa, villains are very, very real. The question is whether you're one of them or not."

The ILF leader shrugged, his madcap smile falling back into a frown. "I don't know why I'm bothering, though. To be frank, we both know what side you've chosen."

Ic: Ambages listened as he closed the door, then he smiled -- not about how wrong Kethrye was about there only being two sides in the war but rather about his last sentence. His smile was an act, but acting was one of the things Ambages was truly a master at. "Yes we do and I'm glad you see that," he said, nodding respectfully to the toa. He gestured for Kethrye to follow him back into the main rooms of the apartment.

"All my time on Mata Nui has been about building things and making whatever is good even better. The fact that my own work was used against me in such a horrible way will always sit with me in regret, but you're right -- these are dark days and that doom was simply a sign of the times. And I say 'simply' with no intention to diminish the severity of the event. Still, it also served as a warning to me, one that you are simply magnifying for my eyes to see." He sighed deeply, then continued, "I'm just a matoran architect and businessman, I'm not cut out for adventures and heroic deeds, but if there is anything I can do to win your trust back, I want to be able to help you. Mata Nui needs his champions and I still think your group can be his sword in this war."

He shot a smirk at him as he finished, "That is, if you stopped being a loose cannon that searches houses for nonexistent proof of corruption."

OOC: Each time you move Wahi's, say it, please.

IC: Clariax

"Fool."

Sub-Zero ice wasn't just extra tiring on Toa of Ice, it was like using up all your energy in one shot. Even being in Ko-Wahi, it was still going to take time to regenerate all that used up energy. And using it on an opponent who, quite simply, wasn't anywhere near Masopix's peripheral vision - was just plain stupid.

Clariax sighed. Thanks to medical genius, stupidity was getting less and less lethal. Activating her mask of quick travel, she appeared -

Right above Masopix's head, who had stupidly wasted his energy on someone who wasn't there. Landing upon his shoulders, the sudden weight change pushed Masopix to the ground. "Who dares act stupid in the face of a Phantom?"

IC: Kethrye (Ambages Apartment) -

"Yeah, right," Kethrye replied. "The evidence seems non-existent, but the corruption is there."

He signed. "Regardless, nothing about being a Matoran stops you form beings a hero-" Trakuda appeared in his mind's eye, giving his life at the Rama Hive, followed by Nixie of Le-Koro, and then Kongu and Matoro and all the other Matoran that were as strong as any Toa. "-And, er, the businessman part doesn't either, really. Anyone can hero, and sometimes it's the smallest acts of heroism that are the greatest, which is cheesy as karz what actually true." Great, now I'm starting to sound like Kehuri, this day just keeps getting better doesn't it.

"But, I think'll I give you the benefit of the doubt, Let's say I call off my men, and then we discuss exactly what is it is you can do for us."

OOC: Yay! A reference to Kehuri! Don't know how Kethrye knew that, though, seeing as his resolve only really took off during his trip to Le-Koro. Anyways.

IC: Hjalmar

The Skakdi was out hunting for his next meal- since he'd sold his last one to the Vortixx he had met in Ko-Koro- but stopped in his tracks when he found something even better: A fight.

A Toa of Ice and a Toa of Plasma, locked in battle. Well, the Ice one was at least. Sprinting forward, not much caring for who was the good guy and who was the bad at the moment, he bellowed. He'd figure out who was who once he'd gotten them apart. He didn't really care whether he made the situation better or worse. He just wanted to get some adrenaline pumping!

Ic: Ambages rolled his eyes. "You still think I'm some sort of immoral character. Listen, Kethrye," he said, stopping and putting a hand on Kethrye's chest to stop him, "if you're on a path in search of corruption you're going to have to purge the half of this island's population that doesn't agree with your black and white views. Just because someone has a lot of money and is tactful in enterprise doesn't make them bad, and if you want to think that then I suggest you wake up and realize the reality isn't that cut and dry. We may follow the Principles, but we all have our philosophies. As a businessman and engineer, my ways will obviously work a bit different than yours as a leader and toa-hero... but that doesn't make me a bad person!

"You can't accept my assistance and also think of me as some sort of corrupt man -- that directly contradicts your philosophy. Think about what you're saying and what you're doing. Being brash and direct is not the course of action a leader must take. With Mahdrik gone you are a general, not a sergeant, and you must think like one. I'd be honoured to continue to help the Island Liberation Squad -- but only if we're on the same page. I'm willing to forget this unwelcome incursion if you're willing to set aside your irrational suspicions... Can we agree to this?"

IC: Clariax

Out of the corner of her eye, Clariax spotted Hjalmar sprinting towards her and the unknown person beneath her feet. Annoyed but also a bit excited at combat, Clariax turned to face her new foe.

And in a flash, she was gone, her mask now letting her be in front of Hjalmar's running form - legs out to trip the bigger Skakdi.

I.C. As Rya shot the fire-stream into the air, a few villagers looked about to see what was going on. They concluded that there was no battle, and went about their business. Zenex smiled back at Rya. "Looks like it works great."

IC: HjalmarReflexes weren't the Skakdi's strong point. His battle cry trailing off, he tumbled forward and back to his feet, an adrenaline-fueled smile pasted on his face (as in, the smile that is always on his face was adrenaline-fueled now. I mentioned he's always smiling, right?). He drew his axe.

IC: HjalmarThe Skakdi raised his axe to blast the two, but lowered it when they plunged into the water. He grinned blankly. That seemed pretty unnecessary.

OOC: Nice auto-hitting.

And no, it was sarcastic. I don't really compliment people for breaking rules. You can't role play other people's character - which you did by 1. making sure my character didn't move and 2. Writing about her armor breaking and her organic tissue breaking....

Oh, and if you didn't see the post, there's an 'Edit' option. And please, stop posting massive OOC text. I can read. And there's no need to see your pictures.

IC: Clariax

And that was when she struck. The previous attacks didn't have the effect Masopix had hoped for; quite simply, she'd teleported away far before Masopix had started to pummel her; the foolish Toa had, in his weakness, ended up breaking the ice underneath him, stressfully thinking it was her.

Well, that's too bad.

While water wasn't always formed in a crack in a frozen glacier, it was when melted by high temperatures. So Masopix all of a sudden felt his butt searing hot as a circle with a 3 meter radius formed around him, a circle of pure water.

And Clariax teleported in to Masopix, who no doubt was struggling, and performed a midair downwards kick upon his shoulder.

"Weak. Foolish. Disgraceful."

OOC: Doesn't excuse you from reading the rules.

IC: Clariax

In response to dust, Clariax heated up the area, melting the small particles nearly instantly. Masopix in full view.....

And then he was trapped, a cage of plasma around him. If he could still use his Kanohi after all the energy waster, he wouldn't be able to see anywhere but within the cage thanks to the bright glow.

He could, of course, teleport himself into the cage walls and burn himself. Fine by Clariax too.

IC: Eniblad - Ambages' House

Though unnoticed by the current occupants of the building, Eniblad had stopped his zealous paper-gathering in order to listen in on the debate going on between Kethrye and Ambages. Normally perplexed by the complicated terms and emotions used by most people, the hulking Toa couldn't help but notice the smooth tone of the Matoran's voice as he made his case to the ILF's leader, and realize how hauntingly familiar it was.

"People who help others can still be bad," the amnesiac announced suddenly, in the same blunt way a child does, before they learn about shame and embarrassment, "There was a being who said he would help me, but he just wanted to hurt me."

-Void

IC: Hjalmar

The Skakdi, spotting the two Toa a distance away, shuffled as quickly as he could towards them. "No hard feelings, I'm just dying for a fight!" He shouted, before firing his impact vision at the Toa of Plasma, grinning the whole time. I mentioned he's always grinning, right?

IC: Clariax

Seeing the ripple in the air, Clariax tried to leap out of the way, but was still sent flying backwards. Knowing that her concentration couldn't stabilize the plasma cage, she instead sent it all flowing downwards - through Masopix into the ice.

OOC: Then why did you do it? O.o

IC: Hjalmar

Not entirely sure what to do, Hjalmar aimed his axe at the falling plasma cage and fires a blast of blizzard winds at it, hoping it might help somehow. He didn't want anyone dying... yet.

Figuring it was about time he got an idea of what was going on, he shouted, "Who started it?"

OOC: Then did you read the rules? 0.o Oh, and Blizzards aren't gonna easily stop Plasma. Not that it can't...just.....read.

IC: Clariax

"Yes, I started the combat knowing full well I will win. I've been tracking the fool for several days now; he's been involved with illegal activity, and come in contact with several shady characters. The reason why I began the fight now is to make sure nobody is harmed; in a glacier waste like this, nobody will get hurt.....apart from those who train to restrain themselves."

Sure enough, Masopix was getting hurt; Blizzards couldn't truly stop plasma; Sure, it make make ice or water, but cold wind blowing didn't stop ionization from its path of destruction - and if it did...well, it'd still be boiling water that Masopix was standing in.

Of course, Hjalmar did save Masopix's life. Clariax didn't know what burns or scars Masopix might've endured from the intense heat - and the quick cooling that came afterwards - but right now, she didn't care.

IC-Iulius:

 

"Oh, you're about to move on to Ko-Koro, are you?" Iulius asked of Kaiapo, deactivating the Huna he'd been using, standing closer to the fire. "Why'd it take you so long to get into Ko-Wahi in the first place, though? Too much detouring to check out the nightlife of each Koro?"

IC (Kaiapo)

"Iulius." Kaiapo smiled.

He reached over and shook the Toa's hand. Iulius' grip was firm and strong.

"Perhaps you should have sent me more recent news in your letter," he said. "The cablecar spanning the Tren Krom Break was destroyed some time ago. This was the only other pass I knew of."

IC: Hjalmar

"Awww, I was hoping I might be saving a good person's life," he said with a joking grin. He did feel slightly dismayed by it, however. And the fact that his question seemed to have ended the battle. "Still, aren't you supposed to capture and not kill him?"

Ic:

"People who help others can still be bad," [Eniblad] announced suddenly, in the same blunt way a child does, before they learn about shame and embarrassment, "There was a being who said he would help me, but he just wanted to hurt me."

"And that is very regretful," Ambages said with level head, giving the toa his momentary attention, "but you cannot judge all men based on the actions of one man. Do others bear the guilt manifested by the actions of one man? No. There are still many sincere beings on this land and I'd like to consider myself among them."

IC: Hjalmar

"Don't see how anyone so apparently noble could be branded a criminal," said the Skakdi with an amused grin.

OOC: Okay, I'm free-writing this... Oh dear. Go ahead and move us in your next post, Veef. Get the party rolling.

Maybe I should mention in a blog post my ideas for the "cities" of the koros... Hmm... I should do that... *adds to list*

also, I'm using my idea of Bionicle anatomy from now on. Here we GO! Just roll with it. I don't expect anyone to hop on the bandwagon, so no, I'm not trying to start one.

IC: Draeverian Joskiir

Each footstep resounded lightly off the walls of the stairwell leading from Ko-suva, a massive tunnel carved through the glaciers of Mt. Ihu that stretched from the Old District of Ko-Koro near the Walls of Prophecy upwards to where ice lay naked to the night sky. The form of direction was like Draeverian's thoughts, a group of overlapping principles pulled forward by a common theme. Rivet had abrogated her previous actions as desperation, a desire to pull him back from the brink of mental collapse. It had worked, though Draeverian couldn't help but feel disenchanted by the idea of her real freedom. However, what bothered him the most was a single group: the Peers.

He said Mata-Nui would be destroyed, Draeverian thought in reference to the matoran saboteur from Pala-Koro's night attack. Rivet sat on the by-lines giving nothing more than emotional support as the toa of sound mulled over the words, continuing to conjure the sensations of that evening. Everything had happened too fast. From the initial assault, engaging the vortixx assassin, and finally to the encounter with Hiemalis -- Draeverian shuddered slightly at the thought of such intense cold, pausing in the staircase to the chagrin of passing ko-koran acolytes -- when the Little One had revealed big plans. Destroyed in only twelve lunar cycles. That's... Why would someone attack a Great-Being?

Lunacy? Rivet postulated.

That's implicit with the act.

He passed a provisions merchant, the slight warmth from heat-stones flushing across the sensors of his carapace. Draeverian suddenly realized how little sleep he'd gotten in the past two days: none. Since Pala-koro had been reduced to a pile of protodermic cinders the toa of Sound had become the toa of insomnia, rushing from Koro to Koro with the seemingly indefatigable toa Aitua. There was another loop rushing through his mind -- the Aitua. Where did they come from? What are they hiding? After spending time with the shortest of their group, Draeverian realized just how different Mariko was from the rest of his team. For starters, he was friendly and somewhat outgoing, a trait every other member seemed to have lost before coming ashore. Tupua was distant, a cold-presense like the dead he controlled (an idea Rivet found intriguing against Draeverian's affects towards its immorality), and Aparangi was a narcissistic, hubris-stuffed tote bag of solid over-confidence.

Drae, you're choking me, Rivet croaked satirically, bringing him to the attention of how tightly he had gripped her hilt, his knuckles fading to a light silver as protodermis left the joints. Why don't you just ask Mariko, then?

Draeverian nodded his head, bobbing slightly in ascent to Rivet's question. I would, but I just don't seem to get the opportunity.

You must be busy, traipsing around in an attempt to stop deicide. I almost forgot. Rivet's tone was biting, a feminine drawl of contempt.

"Draeverian," a familiar voice called out, the ripples rushing outwards from the center of the old-district's square. More of a circle really, Draeverian thought with a slight chuckle at the use of language versus the reality it described. Wading through the passing matoran, their pace even more solemn out of grief for their fallen turaga, Draeverian quickly came abreast with his stocky comrade.

"He-yo, Mariko. What's the plan, and where'd the other's go," He replied, a slight grin spreading across his face. Rhymes always were his comfort.

IC-Iulius:

"Truly do I say that I only learned of the event once I got here myself, and by that point, sending another letter to you would prove...difficult," Iulius said, a wry twist to his mouth. "I, myself, came here from Le-Wahi." He shrugged, turning to view the others in the group, before nodding to himself.

"Good, good...Though I still wonder why it took you quite as long as it did. Did you run into trouble assembling all of our compatriots?"