#So we needed two Makutas | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

toaarcan · 7 months ago

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I've talked about the Bionicle-flavoured D&D game I was a part of a few times on here, but I kinda want to go over our take on Makuta.

Makuta was, of course, the ultimate villain of the story, and while we didn't finish the game for a host of reasons, we know how it would've gone down had we completed things, and so I can ramble about everything rather than merely speculating.

Makuta and Teridax were separate characters. This was an idea I've seen a couple of times, but here it happened organically. My first PC was Ahkmou (shocker), a Warforged Stone Sorcerer, and as such I gave him a backstory featuring an antagonist based on 01-03 Makuta. One of my friends' first PC was Miserix, a Dragonborn Moon Druid, and as such, he had a backstory featuring an antagonist based on 05-10 Makuta.

These two characters couldn't be the same (well I suppose we could've finagled it so they were, but we didn't), so I avoided naming mine until we landed on the solution that Ahkmou's old nemesis was Makuta, and Miserix's old nemesis was Teridax.

Makuta and Teridax's initial appearances, respectively.

Teridax ended up being a charismatic and manipulative High Elf with a Wizard/Sorcerer multiclass that sought ultimate power and knowledge, while Makuta was the ancient and terrible Fiendish God of Magic, Power, and Destruction that had ravaged the world in the Great Cataclysm, all that stuff.

They also took inspiration from G2 a bit because this was just after G2 died and we weren't wholly ignoring everything from it yet.

But something happened with that.

See, Teridax was the (apparent) BBEG of the game, and therefore he didn't appear all that much. He would show up every now and then (and most of his appearances were very memorable and tense), but Makuta was different.

Makuta was a PC.

Ahkmou had a passenger. Formerly a servant of Makuta during the Cataclysm, he had turned against his former master and helped the previous generation of heroes stop him. However, when Makuta was shattered into six shards, the smallest and weakest of the bunch buried itself in Ahkmou's core and laid there, dormant, for decades afterwards.

Then, during our first adventure, Ahkmou came close to death, and in a moment of panic and weakness, reached out to the Shard for the power needed to survive, and he got it.

Makuta's power rippled out of Ahkmou's body in an enormous shock wave that ripped up the floor of the room we were in and killed the antagonists we were fighting. Ahkmou began to levitate a few inches off of the ground, his formerly blue eyes burning golden, and started to speak with two voices, the second much deeper and much smoother than his own rather high-pitched and scratchy one (I typically give Ahkmou the voice of Prime Starscream, for reference). The armour on his left hand began to turn black and red, and shortly after leaving the dungeon, he fell into a comatose state.

Makuta had single-handedly ended our part of the adventure (we split the party, oops) with his morning stretch. And he didn't go away.

When Ahkmou awakened, he'd changed a bit. He'd become spikier and meaner, and the subsequent adventure saw the last of his idealism die, when he managed to prevent a conflict with a big redemption speech, only for the BBEG to kill off most of the people he'd saved with a killswitch. After that, Ahkmou became much more aggressive, his biting sarcasm got much crueler, and he began strongly advocating for solving all of our problems with murder.

Originally, Ahkmou had been snarky, but well-meaning, and somewhat cowardly. He secretly held a great admiration for those that saved the world from the apocalypse he helped cause, and used the story of his redemption at the hands of Takanuva to try and inspire others to be better.

But now, there was another voice in his head, encouraging him to take the darker path.

As this was my character, I was the one playing the Makuta presence, and though he was based on 01-03 Makuta... I have a preference for the later characterisation, and so I quickly began to play him more as a thinking, scheming being.

Things got worse in the next adventure. During his coma, I had instead played Aisling, a ruthless and cynical death-worshipper who the party had inadvertently stomped on all the trigger buttons of during their first adventure together. Aisling had returned for vengeance, and the party went to try and stop her. Ahkmou stayed behind, though, because the place the fight would be happening was the resting place of another of Makuta's Shards, the Shard of Fire.

See, Ahkmou dreaded being in close contact with the other Shards. To his knowledge, the Shard of Stone was weak and directionless. It was a lump of power, more power than he could normally wield, but nonetheless it wasn't even sentient. If he were to be in close proximity to one of the bigger, smarter Shards, however, he feared they would merge, and overwhelm him, reviving Makuta in his body. As such, he didn't go to the Charred Forest to confront Aisling.

OOC, this was largely an excuse for me to not have a character on both sides of the conflict.

This ended up being a bad idea. In the battles that followed, Aisling effortlessly exploited the weaknesses of her former allies, soundly beat them at almost every turn, and killed Miserix when he attempted to challenge her alone.

Ahkmou was left feeling terribly guilty, that he could've prevented Miserix's death and helped turn the tide if he were present. At the same time, he largely found himself agreeing with Aisling's motivations, if not her methods, given his own ruthlessness. Even still, he liked and respected Miserix. And the icing on the Cognitive Dissonance Cake was that Aisling had been killed by another villain, revived by her girlfriend, excommunicated from her cult, and essentially forced onto the redemption path. She was still here, still rubbing shoulders with everyone else, and still in the "But I did nothing wrong" phase of the redemption process.

This complex mix of feelings left Ahkmou largely absent for the following few adventures, with Aisling and my third character, Gavla, being my mains in that time.

Worse still, it was during the confrontation with Ash that Teridax revealed himself, and claimed the Shard of Fire, which was all around very bad news.

Two adventures later, we had another run-in with Teridax wherein he also revealed ownership of the Shard of Earth, and this confirmed Ahkmou's worst fears. Someone, somewhere out there, was trying to reunite the pieces of Makuta for some unseen purpose.

Takanuva had done his best to suppress all knowledge of the Shard of Stone. Across the whole world, the only people that knew of it were him, his trusted inner circle, Helryx and her representatives in the guild we were working for, and Ahkmou and his comrades specifically. As far as anyone else knew, there were only five Shards. That his one's element was so similar to Earth only helped them hide it more.

But if Makuta were reunited and revived, he would know he was incomplete, and he would know where to look to find the last piece. No mortal soul would be able to contain and control even half of Makuta's essence, let alone the majority of it, so the odds that Teridax would survive completing his mission were low.

In that moment, Ahkmou should've thanked the party for their support, and left to make the journey to Solspire, the home of the Order of Light and Takanuva specifically. He should've joined forces with his oldest ally, and had his own Shard suppressed or removed.

But he didn't. In part because this was a D&D game and I wanted him to stay with the party, but mostly because Ahkmou was wrong about the Shard.

It wasn't non-sentient. It was, in fact, not just sentient, but sapient. It had grown smarter and stronger ever since he awakened it, with more and more of his body starting to mutate as it reached its corruptive essence further and further into him, and it was already starting to influence his decisions.

Makuta did not want to be suppressed, and he definitely didn't want his host to be purified, so he instead pushed Ahkmou to a different course of action: Breaking the party away from their previous allegiances and going on a personal quest to find and destroy the rest of the Shards before Teridax could get them. If he only had two, maybe that would be a problem they could stop.

Makuta also implanted the idea in Ahkmou's head that only the Shards could find and destroy each other. Therefore, Ahkmou would need to keep him alive and around in order to achieve his goal.

After all, if Ahkmou is going near the other Shards, then Makuta has a chance to reunite with the rest of himself.

The first we found was the Shard of Water, in a sunken city in an acidic sea. Ahkmou still had enough control to refuse to join the mission below the waves, but nonetheless supplied the others with a specific plan: They should go down there, recover the Shard of Water, and bring it to the surface, so he could destroy it.

In reality, Makuta was just trying to get it brought to him so he could absorb it.

But then, things went differently to his expectations. The fight for the Shard of Water was grueling, having to confront a genocidal fish-man who wanted it for himself, a gang of pirates, and in intensely creepy Wight named Gorast who had been one of Makuta's original followers.

(Gorast got a model despite her relative non-prominence because I like making nasty-ass zombie-looking creachers in HeroForge)

In the battle that followed, the party had managed to trick Gorast into taking the Shard of Water into herself, and then Nurghal, the party's main Paladin, had been able to bait her into sticking around to try and drain his light and morality with her powers instead of immediately teleporting away, long enough for him to smite her and kill both Gorast and the Shard of Water.

Because Nurghal Ironhide is just that cool.

Ahkmou's theories about what could kill a Shard proved to be wrong. In any normal situation, this should've been cause for jubilation. Ahkmou could safely purge his own Shard and they could continue the quest without Makuta growing stronger.

But Makuta wasn't happy. In fact, Makuta was fucking steamed. A part of himself had just been killed, perhaps permanently, and he would never be whole again. He was so close, only a few hundred metres from reclaiming part of his lost power, and now it may be gone forever.

So instead, he accentuated the negative. During the drop, Gavla almost died, and Ahkmou has caught feelings for Gavla that he doesn't know how to process, and that gave Makuta a wedge.

Rather than congratulatory and relieved, Ahkmou got snippy with Nurghal, saying his plan was far too risky and could've allowed Gorast to escape with her prize. They almost lost, someone he can't lose almost died, and next time, he's going with them to prevent that.

Over the course of the next few missions, Makuta's influence ramped up, as Ahkmou tapped more and more into the Shards in an effort to survive an attack by the Gravesworn and a hellish jaunt through the Underdark, bargaining more and more of his soul away to protect himself and his comrades.

By the time they reach their next breather spot, he's laser focused on the Shards, and he starts getting aggressive and threatening anyone and anything that would impede his progress toward that goal, even other members of the party.

Because all these detours and distractions and sidequests are hindering him. Stopping to help all these... small, insignificant people, well it won't matter if Teridax beats them to the Shards of Air and Ice, and everyone dies because the world is destroyed.

He doesn't realise that his reasons for being so forceful are increasingly just a mask that Makuta is wearing, even as he articulates them when the others call him on his attitude.

He apologises for his pushiness, for not accounting for the needs of others. He doesn't mean it. He's not really in control any longer. He thinks he is, he's got both hands on the wheel, but Makuta tells him where to go, and he goes.

And then, they finally meet Teridax again. Makuta feels the other parts of himself within his opposite number, and it drives him crazy. Two more parts of himself are within his reach, held by another... and he isn't even using them right.

Teridax isn't mutated like Ahkmou is, and that's not a glamour. He has the Shards within him, but they're dormant. If they weren't, he'd be most of the way to full transformation and completely controlled by Makuta.

Ahkmou was unable to stop him, and Makuta overrode him and attacked.

Still, Teridax was too powerful for the party... and that was exactly what Makuta wanted. Even in his rage, he's scheming. Backed into a corner, Ahkmou had little choice but to give himself fully over to the devil within.

Makuta has won. Over the course of the last few months, he's chipped away more and more at Ahkmou's mind and soul until he can finally wrest full control from his host.

He effortlessly defeats Teridax. He easily dupes the others into thinking he's still Ahkmou, and feeds them a plan that requires them to distract an adult Dragon while he peacefully searches for the Shard of Air, the only person accompanying him being the one member of the party that happens to have the worst WIS save and the worst luck, the one person he knows he can escape.

And he very nearly miscalculates. He's so convinced of his superiority and inevitable victory that he forgets that his companion as a Ring of Spell Turning. He assumes he can just drop a Heightened Hold Person and lord his victory over a captive audience of one, and it almost blows up in his face.

But ultimately, it doesn't matter. He claims the Shard of Air and he escapes to begin his plans proper, and now that he has more of himself again, he finally comes to grasp the totality of the Plan, the goal that the other pieces of himself have been steering Teridax and Ahkmou and any other Shardbearers out there towards.

He prepares for open conflict with Teridax, because one of two things will happen. Either he will kill Teridax, and claim Fire and Earth, or Teridax will kill him, and claim Stone and Air. Either way, the result is the same: Four of the six Shards, in control of one body. Then, they are free to find the last of them, the Shard of Ice.

The Shard of Ice rests in the Winterlands, the home of the cult that Aisling hailed from. In fact, it rests within Vasyana, the leader of that cult, and it has been growing stronger and stronger by feeding on the cult's faith for the Raven Queen. For a piece of a god, the leader of a religious organisation is the about the best place it could end up.

And once they have control of the seat of the Gravesworn, they can open the door to the afterlife and reunite with the Shard of Water, becoming whole again, Makuta reborn in totality.

But if, by some twist of fate, the heroes of this world actually manage to kill them and their host? It doesn't matter. Because they know how the afterlife works. They know that they will simply go there, and reunite anyway, and it will be child's play to resurrect himself.

Because he's Makuta. He's been three steps ahead this entire time.

For all the things that got messy with R&R, I think we translated the character of Makuta into the game perfectly.

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downtofragglerock · 11 days ago

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Hi , question you think the toa teams are incomplete , if you ask what I mean , it's that as we know the toa teams all have 6 toa , with its known elements like toa mata , toa metru , toa inika , toa hagah , etc , and I say this because I discovered others Matoran , toa , turaga of others elements like Lighting , iron , sounds ( sonics )

Shadows , gravity , acid , plant , light , etc and I mean , you think every toa teams they need these in their teams to be complete ?

Fun fact : toa teams are 6 with one toa of , lighting , iron , sounds ( sonics ) , shadows , gravity , acid , plant , light , with them they would be a team of 14 toa

No, toa teams aren't incomplete

While six does seem to be the default number, multiple cases show this isn't a hard line

The Toa Mangai, Lhikan's team, had 11 members, and four of them were ice toa, two were water toa, and another was a plant toa

The Toa Cordak, canonically the first ever toa team, had 8 members, including a toa of sonics, iron, lightning, and gravity

Jovan, a toa of magnetism, also led a toa team, but how many members it had and which elements they were is unknown

While matoran of light were the first matoran ever created, so far there has only been one toa of light, Takanuva, though post-canon that could potentially change

Toa and Matoran of shadow do not naturally exist, they come into being by the makuta using a shadow leech to transform and corrupt toa and matoran of pre-existing elements

#bionicle

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arr-jim-lad · 2 years ago

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AYO I FINALLY MET KARZAHNI 👁️👁️

I LOVE his entire deal so far omg bc like.... suddenly we are faced with an entirely new god-like creature, and this creature is... not aware of two VERY MAJOR deities, one of which carries the entire universe within him, and the other who has been terrorizing that universe for 1000 years.

this is unsettling bc like, these gods are not just myths, makuta and mata nui are REAL within the universe. And yet this creature is so far removed from that reality that he has never heard of them, which really puts into perspective of how unnatural and wrong it is for Jaller & CO to even be there to meet him

Put very plainly, Karzanhi essentially seems to be Bionicle Satan, but he's not exactly depicted as entirely evil or malevolent? He's definitely on the darker side, but there's so much curiosity to him, and he's living his reality, trying to fulfill his job, which may or may not have been given to him as opposed to chosen by him

And then there's this part that filled me with so much awe I had to stop reading for the evening lmfao;

full disclaimer that i get like unreasonably emotional about bionicle lore at least three times a week but this new addition to it was like, completely overwhelming to me in how unbelievably cool and unique and interesting it is augh

like....... IF i understand this correctly... Karzahni was supposed to fix 'defective' Matorans, but he didn't exactly do a great job at it, as his 'fixed' Matorans were smaller and weaker. Judging by what he said earlier, this kinda evokes empathy in me because it's either 1) a job he wanted to do, but wasn't very good at, or 2) a job he was told to do, but wasn't properly skilled for.

but then also.. he realized obviously that his rebuilt Matorans are weaker, so he gave them absurdly strong weapons, like, Dalu has what is practically an insanity-inducing eldritch ability.

lastly, i like that both matoran types are like... convinced that they got the better deal. neither of them is suffering in their form, so Karzanhi was actually like.. not doing a bad job at all? He changed them, but not exactly for the worse, because he gave them the means to protect themselves

i realize i could very likely be completely off the mark bc all i have to go on atm is his introductory chapter and the initial revelation, but to me he reads like an angry and frustrated artist who just couldn't deliver on the job he was supposed to do, and decided to stop showing his 'broken' works to the world, which is why he started keeping the Matorans in his realm

it made me feel things & i needed to get them off my chest 😭

#bionicle #karzahni

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randomwriteronline · 11 months ago

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Hello! This is my main blog! (I'm legend-as-old-as-time.)

So, I've got a favorite. But the other two AUs also fascinate me. I'd love to know what the story is for your G3 of Bionicle? What's the atmosphere like?

BLASTS MY THOUGHTS DIRECTLY INTO YOUR BRAIN TO EXPLAIN THEM FASTER AND POSSIBLY BETTER THAN THROUGH WORDS

as mentioned i have a post in drafts thats meant to be like. a vague skeleton of thoughts and ideas and shit that ive talked about to and with @cantankerouscanuck, mainly introducing the various character groups n the environment slightly, but it does NOT touch on the story much (more the backstory and again only vaguely) so GREAT QUESTION LET ME TELL YOU

thinking of like uhhhh diving this in like. cartoon seasons but old school ones yknow, so LONG ones bc oh boy ADVENTURES

Season 1 starts with that Classic Bionicle Beginning of the toa mata crashlanding on the archipelago of Okoto each on a different island not knowing what the Fuck to do and being welcomed in the villages. like in g2 theyre first tasked with finding some golden relics but instead of being accompanied by the protectors/village elders they go with the local Weird Kids (the chronicler's company) who were the first people they actually met; getting the things lets them reach the island of the mask makers and meet Ekimu (and takua!!!! his apprentice!!!!!!!) and theyre like "so what do we do with these btw" and ekimu looks at the pieces and goes. FUCK

TURNS OUT THOSE RELICS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE GOLDEN MASKS BUT SOME MF JUST BROKE THEM INTO PIECES and wouldnt you fucking believe it it was the Children Of Makuta, the spirit of death and animals and darkness, who live each on one of the islands except spiriah the baby of the family who roams around bothering literally everybody and ofc dont want the toa to reawaken the Great Spirit whom their parent put to sleep, AND SO BEGINS THE FETCH QUEST OF THE OTHER FIVE PIECES OF EACH MASK WHILE FIGHTING OFF THESE FREAKS OF NATURE WHO ARE TRYING TO EAT THEM AND BUILDING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THEMSELVES & EKIMU & TAKUA N HIS POSSE & THE VILLAGERS AND SLOWLY BECOMING A PROPER TEAM N FAMILY which is why they need to be many episodes. i will fucking recreate almost verbatim the tale of the mask kopaka-pohatu story because its already perfect and you will Fucking See It if i have to Kill For It

closes off with a cliffhanger after getting all the masks: during an ambush by Mutran Gali gets dragged off into the sea between the islands to get crushed by the water pressure but whats this??, the pressure suddenly lifts enough to let her breathe as she loses consciousness while strange silhouettes drive off the child of Makuta and catch her in his stead, sinking deeper...

S2 starts off by quickly catching up to the rest of the toa who are SHITTING THEIR FUCKING SELVES ABOUT THEIR WATER-BREATHING SISTER APPARENTLY DROWNING BEFORE THEM

tahu and pohatu decide to look for her in a ball of tempered glass while kopaka, onua and lewa hurry back to ekimu to tell him what happened. back to gali, she awakens to a bunch of... toa???? who know her and her brothers???? personally, apparently????? three of them are like super mad at them for leaving them during their time of need??????? what the FUCK are you people talking about. who are u. how are you breathing under water. why is tHERE A WHOLE FUCKING CITY UNDER THE WATER-

ENTER: THE TOA MAHRI. as it slowly turns out inbetween rounds of beating the shit out of sapient polyamorous seafood that keeps trying to nibble the villagers and the air bubble domes for their crops, they were TRAINED by the mata a few hundreds years ago and were fighting off the cataclysm that broke the continent of okoto into islands and sunk the city of Iniri into the sea together with them before they just Fucking Left, Apparently - which ofc they didnt do for no reason but they essentially got shoved back into the stars against their will. this rightfully rattles the shit out of the mata because What Do You Mean We Have Been Here Before. What Do You Mean You Had Records Of Us Being Here Even Earlier Than That. How Many Times Have We Done This. How Many Times Have We Discovered Kinship And Affection And Had That Stripped Away From Us. I Think I'm Going To Throw Up

while theyre handling THAT they also fill in the mahri on whats been going on and the mahri go oh shit, the great spirit is in a coma and the children of makuta are against you??? bro those guys are super powerful theyve got Crabs, you cant fight em alone. but also if we try to leave the sea the water pressure Will Fucking Destroy Us, so they figure out a way to get out of there and back up and jaller is super anxious bc his mom might be there but like... based on what they said... she might be evil... he doesnt wanna fight her... shes the only family he still has...

S3 AND WE GO BACK TO SEE WHAT KOPAKA ONUA AND LEWA ARE DOING, and theyre off searching the more ruined parts of the city of the mask makers on takua's suggestion - these are the parts of the city that werent very lucky during the cataclysm and are now sacred ground prowled by Krika, daughter of Makuta

at last they find a strange underground chamber with six breathing statues, which, of course, freaky; they manage to thaw one and out tumbles a toa (?) who immediately recognizes onua and starts talking to him excitedly (??) saying that its so good to see him in person for the first time (???) and asking him about the continent (????) and being genuinely distraught that they dont know who he is. same reactions from the other five toa that also get thawed out. ok something is Clearly Amiss pls explain

its time for LOMN...... 2!!!!!! where we learn from vakama abt how Lhikan, who previously filled in ekimu's position, finds out theres Some Shit going down with the great spirit and makuta and tries to call the mata, who however get stuck due to the aformentioned Some Shit. as such she picks out six lads in the city of the mask makers and bestows masks upon them to make them become toa, but on their way to handle the current problem they get werebeast'd and Krika goes oh? free kids? free kids for me? and Lhikan goes NO but its too late. they already have joint custody of the metru. and might be blossoming a lesbian romance but unfortunately due to lhikan being lhikan i have to kill her to protect vakama, leaving krika with him AND his little brother jaller who will inherit lhikan's mask. the metru figure out the way to get the mata in this case is to attempt to contact them themselves, which they manage to do by entering a trance that however slowly turns them into statues: in this trance they are able to speak and train the mata, who also promise to free them once the whole situation is handled

CONSIDERING THE CATACLYSM HAPPENED AND THEY GOT SHOT BACK IN THE SKY AND GOT AMNESIA YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THAT PROMISE KIND OF WENT TO SHIT

anyways thats A Lot as you can imagine and the time to process it is Not Much bc the other three mata and the mahri are here and (after a round of MASSIVE HUGS for the metru and mahri reuniting and also the metru and Krika) theyve got a plan to beat the shit out of makuta

problem: the children of makuta have realized this is happening and decided to break out The Crabs to beat the shit out of THEM

mahri, metru and krika (and the chronicler's company much to everybody else's heart attacks) hold them off while the mata manage to fight against makuta after being briefly overwhelmed, uniting their powers to uh. Kill Him. which! IS NOT ACTUALLY GOOD. YOU KNOW. BALANCE AND ALL THAT. makuta is saved in the end by The Great Fucking Spirit who wakes up just in time to stop the mata before they murder his brother

the mata awaken before the Great Spirit and after a moment of "where are we? who are you? why didn't you let us kill makuta?" and getting their answers, they realize OH FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO PUT US IN THE STARS AGAIN? AND GIVE US AMNESIA? FUCK YOU YOURE NOT TAKING OUR FRIENDS AND SIBLINGS FROM US

Great Spirit, lovingly: ok :)

and tahu wakes up to ekimu working at the forge and none of his siblings around and he Shits His Pants, but ekimu quickly reassures him that everythings good and its been like, maybe a day or two since they managed to reawaken the Great Spirit. his siblings woke up before him and are probably down at the beach, and Makuta got driven off, all of his children following suit to take care of him, krika included. the mahri and the metru are catching up on the mata's tales from the chronicler's company. things are fine. they wont be like this forever, ekimu tells tahu, but they dont have to live in fear every second of their lives. rest a while. go see your siblings.

and it ends with the mata having a very sweet nap pile on the beach because they FUCKING deserve it after TWO whole generations ending with them not getting to just fucking sleep after EVERYTHING THEY GO THROUGH EVERY TIME

as you can see i have. Enormous Holes in this and theres things i havent explained and stuff (like how i unfortunately had to sacrifice hewkii x macku due to a Very Big age difference but they are still a power pair, just in this case its like older cousin acting as a mentor to the worlds most bloodthirsty weird little girl) but yes. have this. for now. please keep asking questions i love you

#bionicle #random talks #toa mata #toa mahri #toa metru #idk what to tag this as just TAKE IT

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kanohivolitakk · 2 years ago

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Ngl I feel that I’m one of the few who wants Bionicle returning in an official form in some capacity, but is against G1 specifically returning or even getting an official reimagining, as I instead wish for a G3 that takes more a Final Fantasy like approach where it has elements that make it Bionicle (robots/cybernetic beings in a overtly non scifi setting, colorcoded group of characters associated with elements, a large focus on worldbuilding in particular societal and mythological one, MN standin, Makuta being there in some form etc) without being just “G1 but with a different hat” a lot of fan G3 concepts and even G2 to an extent was. So basically I want what Bara Magna, G2 (to much lesser extent as a good chunk of G2 was just stripped down G1) and that scrapped Bionicle Mythic concept tried to do, but better executed.

Like we need to face the facts: G1 will never get finished at this point, as what was left unfinished was Gregs stories. Greg has moved on to other stuff and seems to be content in leaving Bionicle in the past. Even if Greg wanted to finish the serials I’m not sure if Lego would allow him to, especially now that he has been laid off. And as such I see an official ontiunation and ending possible. At best I could see Greg giving his blessing to a fancontiunation or handing the wriitng duties to someone else (which is very unlikely since again, Greg got laid off from Lego) but beyond that I don’t see much.

As for a reimagined/reimxed G1. dgmw I’d love a reimagined G1: for as much as I love G1, it’s a very flawed series, so making a remake/reimaging of G1 that would be the best version of G1 as possible would make me very happy. Thing is...I just don’t think my ideal G1 reimaging is possible. I have a very specific set of criterais I want and one of them is for it being aimed to an older audience (mid-late teens to young adults)...something I can’t really see LEGO doing in this day and age. If G1 got an official reimaging I could see it be something much more childish and stripped down. Like maybe not G2 levels of stripped down since G2 flopped once but like..even in best case scenario I feel G1 reimagining would be less “still G1 in core concept, plot and tone being grimdark lite but with more character moments, a well developed complex world and ACTUALLY HAVING A PLAN RATHER THAN THE HEADWRITER PULLING SHIT OUT OF HIS HAT HALF OF THE TIME” and more like Ninjago and Monkie Kid. And I like those two shows but that isn’t just what I want G1 remake to be like in all honesty.

So yeah. While I want Bionicle to return as a story rather than a little thing Lego remembers once in a while, I think it’s best to leave G1 in the past and focusing telling a new story that’s worth the moniker of Bionicle, and just creating a G3. Or maybe even a spiritual successor, whether its by Lego or some other party. I admit I don’t really like spiritual successors that just ape one thing and the ones we have for Bionicle aren’t really that good but I’d love to see more media that’s clearly inspired by Bionicle while also trying to be its own little thing.

#Kirika Talks #Bionicle

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sepublic · 2 years ago

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There really should’ve been a moment where Mazeka recognizes the Shadow Takanuvas as the same Toa he left to die in Destral, under the justification of prioritizing his grudge on Vultraz. Likewise, Melding Teridax would call Mazeka out on this revelation, since he seemed critical of Mazeka’s obsession back in Brothers in Arms.

I think it would’ve made those story beats feel a lot more meaningful and less arbitrary if those pre-existing connections were acknowledged, after all; Have Mazeka consider his own morality and mistakes, that moment’s juxtaposition of condemning the Shadow Takanuvas, but also sparing Vezon’s life.

Additionally, I find it interesting that Vultraz told Mazeka that he’s a reminder of the person Vultraz could’ve been... Considering Mazeka is caught between two potential, alternate versions of people from his universe, I think there could’ve been a thematic callback to that quote. Could Vultraz really have been a better person in a different life, or was he just referring to the ‘demeaning’ life of a hard working, law-abiding citizen?

Reversely, could Mazeka have been as awful? Considering the things he’s already done... Seeing how Takanuva isn’t anymore immune to the path of darkness would be jarring; How much worse would Mazeka be with a Shadow Leech? Vultraz never needed one, but could you argue the same for Mazeka? Of course, we know there’s a Melding Mazeka who was a hero, so Melding Teridax could also tell our Mazeka about him.

I think there’s a recurring idea of different possibilities and paths you could’ve taken in life; The person you could’ve been, facing that distorted reflection, and your messy reaction to it. Vultraz straight-up admits to Mazeka he considers him a reflection, so the reverse should naturally apply. And when you have Takanuva and Makuta fighting one another in a photo negative take on events, it makes you wonder what could’ve been, the kind of existential crisis, regret, but also hope that comes with the multiverse.

#Bionicle #Mazeka #Vultraz #shadow takanuva #melding teridax #teridax #makuta #Takanuva #Takua

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magicalgirlmascot · 1 year ago

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Anyway it's time for more of my Ancient Human!Bonkles Bullshit because I can't leave well enough alone. Featuring the bad guys this time.

OKAY SO AN EXPLANATION IS IN ORDER HERE I THINK. Or maybe not maybe we're all willing to accept Twinkidax at face value but I'm gonna go ahead and say maybe we're not. I just. Man I wanted Makuta to be a cool grimdark edgelord so bad for some reason. Thankfully I came to my senses before we ever saw him in human form in the fic proper (which we never actually did lmao) and redesigned him. It's still not good but at least he's not. That.

Anyway he had a few different forms, the big shadow gas creature being the one that we saw most. Human!Makuta would have shown up at some point, probably, but I never got past the Morbuzakh arc so we never got to see him. As for the book uh. My brilliant idea was for Teridax to disguise himself as a book to get close to Dume and possess him. I don't know why that was my best idea.

YES I KNOW HIS NAME IS SPELLED WRONG he was not the only character who I couldn't remember where the H went. Nidhiki was Lhikan's roommate, only remaining teammate, and worstie (although it was 2011 so that wasn't a term that was used). His whole betrayal and joining the Hunters happened later in this fic, so the Toa Metru got to actually bear witness to that whole can of worms. Lhikan was still the only one who gave up his powers to give the Metru theirs, though, it was a whole thing, Nidhiki was kinda bitter about it. Anyway he had four arms instead of four legs because I couldn't draw more than two legs. I think the idea was that he was stuck partway between his Toa and regular forms and that's why he has heterochromia, too. Fun fact, his surname being Cane was supposed to be from "hurricane," but was also a reference to "raising Cain"/Cain and Abel, which I stole directly from Skulduggery Pleasant lmao

Not sure why this is the direction I went for Krekka but okay. He was barely in the fic I have nothing to say about him sorry

I think I had a crush on Lariska I'm not gonna lie. I remember making this outfit using a tool you could use to make Gaia Online outfits lmao. Also I apparently hella shipped DaggerSpider. I was right actually they were fuckin

GOD WHY DID I DO SIDORAK LIKE THISSSSSSS. He was Onewa's roommate and a big weenie. Your Local Emo Dental Hygiene Student Who's Also Obsessed With Bugs And Becomes King Of The Spiders By Accident Or Possibly Birthright I Don't Fucking Remember. Man he should've been this big lumberjack looking motherfucker.

Once again my inability to come up with Outfits hampers my character design. Also she needs bigger boobs. And bigger muscles. She barely appeared in the fic though so like

Alright I think that's it for villains.

#bionicle #very proud of myself for coming up with twinkidax. the word not the character design. the character design is garbage.#but twinkidax is very funny in concept

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siren-darkocean · 1 year ago

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Part two of Hero Factory Incorrect Quotes from Wattpad of both mine and my friend Wolfie's Ask and Dare Hero Factory book including villains this time

Dark Purge: I'ma kill 'em

Serena: Let's do it

Von Nebula: Guys can you please keep your murder boners in your pants please?

Serena: You can't tell us what to do clown

Dark Purge: WE ARE ERECT WITH RAGE!

****

Siren: WE INSTALLED THE BALLS MOD INTO MINECRAFT!

Makuta: And maybe, they'll be a twist at the end!

Daniel: Oh that just be painful.

Siren, Makuta & Evo: (wheezing in laughter)

****

Surge: (playing Kingdom Hearts 2)

Siren: (recording with her phone, throws a sock on him)

Surge: What-

Siren: WE GOT A TWENTY THREE NINETEEN! TWENTY THREE NINETEEN! GET HIM GET 'EM!

Furno: (tackles Surge with a blanket)

****

Quaddle: [Why were you up late last night?]

Zib & Surge: Us?

Quaddle: [No no, you two are always up late.] (points at Stormer) [You]

****

Serena: (picking a lock)

XPlode: (punches the door open)

Serena: (yelped in surprise as she accidentally punched XPlode where his nose would be)

XPlode: (groaning in pain) I think you broke my nose.

Serena: (sighs while deadpanning as she puts her coat back on) Men are such babies.

****

Siren: I officially identify as a fucking problem.

Siren: (To Stormer and Furno(aka her adopted parents)) Your fucking problem, but a problem nonetheless.

****

Core Hunter: Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair!

Serena: (sitting in a tree, flips him off) Fuck you bitch!

****

Serena: (hugging Corroder from behind while purring loudly)

Fire Lord: Do I-

Corroder: (absolutely loving the attention Serena is giving him) Not a fucking word to disrupt her.

****

Siren: (running around with a lit sparkler in hand) SOMEBODY GAVE ME FIRE!

Stormer: (chasing after his adopted daughter) SIREN PUT THAT DOWN!

****

Thunder: (spinning in an office chair repeatedly)

XPlode: Why did we need him on this mission?

Serena: I have zero clue but my mother instincts are not complaining with his accident prone self.

****

K: Everyone's been coming out recently so I figured it's my turn.

Meltdown: Didn't you already come out Nonbinary tho?

K: I'm officially coming out as a problem, your problem mainly so congrats your stuck with me.

Meltdown: K, no-

*********

Dark Purge: Wolfie's Villian Surge

Serena, Siren & K: My OC's

#hero factory #lego hero factory #preston stormer #william furno #mark surge #quaddle #professor nathanial zib #nathan evo #xplode #core hunter #hero factory fire lord #hero factory corroder #hero factory thunder #hero factory meltdown #incorrect quotes #Serena (HF OC)#K/Kayra(HF OC)#self insert

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lordfrezon · 2 years ago

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Welcome back to another edition of “The Inquisition find Mata Nui”

Featuring me and my players.

(previous issue here: https://www.tumblr.com/lordfrezon/710295672218337280/its-been-a-hot-second-but-we-are-back-with-more?source=share )

The party sits in an amphitheater on Daxia, feeling rather annoyed at the unusually buff Matoran named Mazeka who is claiming they’re his pawns now and exist to do his will.

But, he’s claiming that this mission will get them into the lair of Makuta Tridax, known owner of a Kanohi Olmak, and they kinda need one of those for their buddy Brutaka after they sorta let Velika steal it.

(side note: Brutaka is wearing a Rau at the moment because he hasn’t had a chance to do nerd shit in a couple hundred years)

Mazeka tells the party that their first mission is to go to an island currently infested with Visorak to let him grab some stuff from an old hideout of his that will get them onto Tridax’s current location.

The party’s job is to cause some ruckus so that the Visorak come and fight them instead of him.

Emilia points out the issues with this, asks about other Makuta, generally does a bunch of complaining, but Mazeka is adamant and Oswald and Treytor don’t care.

They go on a boat ride, get familiar with some of their masks they need to attune to, generally a chill trip if you ignore the aggressive 4-foot-tall guy yelling

They arrive on the island, as promised it’s crawling with the spiders

Mazeka points them to a couple possible places for them to go to lure visorak out, they choose a narrow choke point in a fjord.

Minimizes risk of overrun, but possibility of dropvisorak.

Emelia has a few cool new powers though so she’s not worried

Party starts shooting, Visorak come to the dinner bell, fight breaks out

Emilia bubble shields them, Treytor and Oswald immediately ignore the shield in favor of going for kills to feed their respective bloodlusts (Treytor’s literal, Oswald metaphorical- he needs kills to activate the Vahi more)

As they’re fighting, they notice a figure hovering over the water behind them, clearly watching them

They call out to him, and he hovers on over. There’s something very clearly wrong with him.

He introduces himself as Makuta Krika, they’re all “oh fuck”

But it’s Krika, and he’s chill enough for a Makuta

He tells them to leave, find another way out of the system, because Teridax is going to win regardless of whatever they do.

While this is going on, Treytor is kinda wandering around and sees something deeper in a cave in the fjord.

The crew reveal to Krika that Miserix is loose, and offer to reintroduce the two of them, which Krika is rather surprised at and is unable to react before Emilia gives Miserix a call

One horrifying teleportation noise later, Miserix is screaming at the traitor who imprisoned him

But they patch things up.

Ok, not really, but Krika swears himself to Miserix’s service again and promises to help them fight Teridax

Miserix goes back to plotting his imminent revenge, Krika suggests that the party hunt down the rogue Makuta Spiriah as a potential... well ally is a strong word but hey everyone needs a sniveling asshole on their team, right?

Krika departs, Mazeka calls them to say all the Visorak are leaving and that he’s got what he came for come back to the boat assholes

Treytor reveals what they found in the cave

A minute later, the crew is looking at a vortex bomb frozen in ice, with a sticky note on it that says “<3 Dominus”

The party is understandably concerned about this, even more so when Treytor checks their Knife of Saving Things for Later to see that yep, the bomb they stole from Dominus’s office is still in there.

The possibility of their old psychopathic boss having multiple super WMDs is not a warming one.

After a long discussion and a lot of calls to various bosses, they decided to leave it there until Alice, their current Inquisitor, has a moment to come check it out.

They also have the idea to check the Teleporty Watch Treytor has to see if Dominus had left any messages on it for them to find.

Shocker, he had.

They listen as Dominus tells them to check out the first place on the list of places the Teleporter has been to if they want to know the truth.

The location is on the sandy planet in the system (Bara Magna)

They come up with a plan to arm the Vortex Bomb in Treytor’s Knife, stab it again (since there’s some time dilation effects that happen in the knife so it’d stay not blown up for a couple days at least) and potentially use it to threaten Dominus.

Which they do to great success

Once that’s done, without consulting anyone, Treytor says “bye” and poofs there right then.

Oswald and Emilia yell at air for a couple minutes, try calling Treytor to get a “no signal response” (from their interplanetary communicators, no less) then reluctantly head back to their ship, assuming Treytor will get back to them eventually, or that they’re dead.

Treytor arrives in a giant room with 7 giant glowing spheres of different colored light hovering around the room.

They also hear someone muttering in the room, and look onto a darkened laboratory

And that’s where I ended the session because I had not planned for an encounter with Angonce that week.

#dark heresy #bionicle #warhammer 40k #so began the last arc of the game

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0m3g45n1p3r4lph4 · 10 months ago

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I'm struggling so hard to decide here. While the sheer impact of a dead Toa Nuva would be immense, who would it be? All of them at once, a failed united front? Simply Kopaka, who fell back on old habits to work alone? Tahu, who lost his Nuva Power in trade for the Golden Armour? And speaking of, how would that factor into things? He has Rahkshi powers. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's theorized that the antidermic energy he's absorbed could turn him into some sort of proto-Makuta, would that be the only part of him that survives? The shadowy facsimile of Tahu rushes to New Atero to warn the others that all 6 Toa Nuva have fallen?

For the Mahri... Jaller's died before. As much as he fears death, he's more willing than any to die trying. I could see him pulling the Nova Blast stunt again, but it's just as likely for that to "wound" Marendar as it is to be completely ineffective- it's more Toa power. Would that be stronger than Marendar's protections or would it simply absorb the energy akin to the Rahi Nui? We don't know enough about Marendar to say for certain. Nuparu might get some better shots in using a modified Exo-Toa - it's powered by elemental energy, so that might mask Nuparu from being detected by Marendar, and the non-elemental weapons may have a better chance at dealing some serious damage! But it's just as likely the Exo-Toa becomes a death trap, Nuparu pinned in his own machine and unable to escape certain doom.

Tragically, I don't have much to say about the Hagah. At least one of them is dying, they really are in that perfect middle point of importance.

Takanuva, I don't think he's dying. I feel Marendar is connected to the Great Being Civil War, likely with conflict between the GBs on if they went too far and need to eliminate their dangerous creations vs created life and deserve to let it live on its own merits. Since the Avohkii can also reveal truth, peace, and calm, I feel that somehow prompting Marendar to develop consciousness will be involved, but there's always a chance that this happens as Takanuva dies.

We just got the YQ team so it's really either or. Not enough connection for it to be impactful and killing them so soon would mean we don't get to develop them. But maybe one or two will, maybe even Orde attempting what Takanuva later finishes?

Varian would just suck, let her live a little. Tuyet would either be a boss fight for Marendar (immense power) or get absolutely curbstomped as Marendar is immune to Toa power, revealing to everyone else that it is completely immune to elemental attacks. This thing could kill all the Element Lord's in an all-vs-one battle with little struggle, type of shock.

Helryx would be huge. We know that Helryx's age and experience translates to control and power for her element, so to see her fall as well emphasizes the hopelessness of this struggle.

Lesovikk would absolutely die trying. He's lost Toa before and he's not gonna let more fall, giving everything he's got to stop this rampaging destruction. With clever application of his Kanohi Faxon he gets a few hits in - it's not immune to Rahi powers, after all - but he can only do so much.

Definitely gonna be a few more nameless deaths. Those are pretty common - it's just ease of storytelling, having a background number, though less impactful. Would be nice to know more than "nameless Toa of Plasma, nameless Toa of The Green, nameless Toa of Gravity, etc"

How likely are the mutants to be targeted? How much Toa energy do some of them still have? If Nidhiki were alive, I doubt he would be targeted, likely neither would Toa Hordika. However, I could see one or two of them wanting to contribute to the battle nonetheless.

Maybe the Shadow Takanuva's are supporting for Takanuva? A few are lost in what ends up being the final conflict, but when Takanuva finally falls and halts Marendar, the few remaining Shadows are able to try to live in this odd new world

Thing about me is that I'm a huge softie. I want everybody to get happy endings and be alright in the end. And that's great for fluffy headcanons. But when I actually buckle down and think about my ideas for how things would go post-canon, it's a little rough. Because the point of Marendar is to kill Toa, and to have it show up and be defeated or change sides or what have you before doing any Toa-killing would just be a cop-out (especially after 10+ years of irl buildup). So that means some Toa gotta die. But who?

On that note, here's a potentially gruesome poll. Pick whichever option you think should happen most, and add anyone else you think should bite it in the tags.

Would have added options for surviving, non-zombified Toa from the Red Star, and Nobody <3, but alas, ran out of room. Also, Krakua isn't here because he has to survive to do the whole "lone guardian of an island fortress" thing and send Vakama that Kratana-induced vision he got back in Time Trap. So his survival is guaranteed. Everyone else, not so much.

Some anti-propaganda (reasons they all should die *evil laugh*) below the cut:

Toa Nuva: Would there be a bigger gutpunch than this? The flagship characters, the six heroes with one destiny! But that destiny is complete now, they don't need to be kept alive anymore. Imagine how much it would shake things up to take them off the board, how ruined the survivors would be if only a few of them went down. Wouldn't it just be so juicy?

Toa Mahri: They're one down already, so it's not like you'd be breaking up a complete set. Besides, we all know they're built for tragedy at this point. Jaller and Hahli could fall together. Hewkii could go down in front of Macku's eyes. Nuparu could sacrifice himself using one last invention to stop Marendar, perhaps making up for the perceived sins of the Vahki and Boxor. Kongu could accept death as it takes him, at least now he might see Matoro again.

Toa Hagah: These six are prime candidates, aren't they? Important enough for it to hurt, for us to care, but not so important that they aren't expendable. Never truly frontrunners. Named characters it's safe to kill. What more could you ask for? I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out Greg had planned to kill them so he'd never have to describe Gaaki, Bomonga, Pouks, and Kualus' appearances. Plus, Norik dying just after getting to see Varian again? Or even just before? Doesn't it hurt so good?

Takanuva: He only needs to live long enough to end the civil war between the Great Beings, but after that, if Marendar is still in play, he's fair game. What do you say? It would torture him more to see his friends fall while he lived on, but there is something poetic to "Takanuva, the first and greatest Toa of Light, whose life burned brightly, but quickly."

Yesterday Questers: These three are like the Toa Hagah, but even safer. Named characters, important enough for their deaths to matter, but brand new, without much audience investment. Besides, they're asking for it, aren't they? Ancient Orde, the chip on his shoulder as old as he is, could finally know peace in oblivion. Perhaps Zaria's death would finally clear his guilty conscience. And Chiara... Does anyone actually like Chiara? Would anyone miss her? Are these questions she asks herself? And wouldn't it hurt to hear her ask them in her final moments?

Varian: Talk about tragedy. Thousands of years, locked in a tube, dead to the world. Unaware time is even passing. And when she finally awakes, it's only to die. A waste of her character, perhaps, but if you don't mind fridging, it would piss off Norik somethin' fierce.

Tuyet: Doesn't she deserve it? And you know, Marendar does track Toa Power, and there's no greater source of that than Tuyet and the Nui Stone. It would be gunning for her. And it would be so deliciously ironic. All that power, all the effort she put in to get it, and it would be utterly useless to save her in the end. Her dreams of empire ground to dust in seconds, right before her eyes, as Toa Tuyet dies one last time.

Helryx: Think of the poetry. Marendar, the Toa's bane. What more worthy opponent could there be for the first Toa's last stand? It practically writes itself. Helryx has done her duty. The will of Mata Nui has been carried out. This is her perfect chance to go down fighting on her own terms, not as the leader of the Order, but as a Toa once more.

Lesovikk: This guy is Orde and Zaria but worse. He wants death so bad. And what else is there left for him to do? Karzahni is dead. His Matoran are found. What, will he become a Turaga and gift his power to the next generation of Toa? Will he wander the woods and care for the animals? Will he find joy and beauty in living? Lame. He misses his team so bad? Let him join them.

20-odd nameless mooks: By far the safest option. A Toa-killer would be pretty pointless if it never killed any Toa, but nobody said it had to be anyone we cared about, right? This is the best of both worlds. A pile of bodies to make Marendar a credible threat, but nothing and no one of consequence lost. A perfect solution, right? Just uh. Hope you don't have any OCs in here.

Mutants: The Dark Hunters are scattered, vulnerable. If these lost souls haven't found the greater group yet, they'd be easy to pick off. Good options too, right? Actual characters, so their deaths have some weight, but not major ones, so they won't be missed. Guardian was killed off in Reign of Shadows for those exact reasons. Why not have Savage, Spinner, and Prototype carry on the tradition, and tie off some loose ends in the process?

Shadow Takanuva: Sure, it might suck for their home universes to lose their Takanuva like this, but hey. If you have a whole army just sitting around, might as well put them to use, right? The fight could be interesting to watch too. Shadow might be the only element Marendar has no countermeasures for, since Toa of Shadow were never meant to exist. Maybe this is how it's finally beaten, after taking several alternate Takanuva down with it, of course. Besides, Melding Teridax flattened several of them already, so it's not like they were all making it home to begin with.

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ctrl-alt-tahu · 3 years ago

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No Further Destiny

(My entry for the @malwarewolf-mocs fic contest)

When peace finally reigned, after long years of strife between the Bara Magnans and the many species of Mata Nui, as they learned to live in a new, mixed world, the time seemed right to Norik, Toa of Fire, Leader of the Toa Hagah, to fulfill his destiny and move on to being a Turaga. Such transformations, into Turaga or of Matoran into Toa, which were rare enough even in the heyday of life in the Matoran Universe, had not been seen since the defeat of Makuta Teridax.

As turbulent as life had been in the swelter of the two cultures, it hadn’t been truly dangerous, and all the recovered Toa of the Matoran Universe, gathered together as never before, had been more than ample to secure the safety of the Matoran populations, and it was a crafty political decision on the part of Dume and the Turaga Council to discourage the creation of more Toa until circumstances provided a true need for it. Peace having come, Norik didn’t think they needed any more Toa, but perhaps they could also get by with one less.

Knowing that the state of peace in New Atero and the surrounding Wahis was a delicate balance, Norik went to speak privately with Vakama and Tahu on the ramifications of his thought. Vakama’s home, an architectural wonder crafted by Agori masons under Onewa and Hafu’s direction, was somehow both graceful and solid, pointed arches and lofty pillars, and it completely obscured the steel- and protodermis-wrought mask-making workshop where Vakama spent his idle hours, one of the hottest places in New Atero, and it was there in the cluttered workshop before a wall of fire that he sat with his brothers.

“What you suggest will have repercussions,” said Vakama. “After so many years as a Rahaga, do you wish to become something similar again? Your team rejoiced to be restored as Toa.”

“Our shape as Rahaga was not our choice,” said Norik, “and to be freed of it was as being freed from a prison, but those long years were not without their victories. We did well with you, and we worked long with Dume and Keetongu in the years of Metru Nui’s desolation. Even now, after decades of restoration, I find that I think as a Rahaga, that I dream as a Rahaga. And I, at least, have done little enough of consequence as a Toa in this new world. I think my destiny’s time has come.”

“The Toa will miss having your experience in the field,” said Tahu, his golden armour flickering in the firelight. In the golden armour, he could be mistaken by those few who still remembered, for Lhikan. “You have already spoken to your team?”

“Yes,” Norik nodded. “None are as far along in their thoughts as me, but they all understand. They will train any new Toa well. Iruini will serve as Team Leader.”

“Have you also taken thought for which Matoran might be selected?” asked Vakama.

“I have some suggestions, but I am looking for guidance,” said Norik. “Perhaps some elements will be of greater help, or perhaps you know a truly deserving individual.”

“Let us make some lists,” said Vakama. “We have time. Certainly, I would ask you to wait until the Governing Council has met. The number of Bara Magnan elders and Turaga is delicately balanced, and we must discuss whether Turaga-ship entitles one to immediate membership on the council. If it does, we must find another Bara Magnan—one that understands the collaborative rule we have built. Otherwise, it will look like a powerplay—and Dume has little enough rope in that matter.” Vakama sighed. “Give me a week, if you can.”

“It is not so urgent I cannot wait,” said Norik. “That will be fine. Tahu and I will put together a provisional list of potential Toa.”

~*~*~*~

The Governing Council took the news with more chaos than Vakama had wanted. The Bara Magnans flatly refused to expand the Council’s roster, pointing out—accurately—that there were no more Glatorians or Agori with the equanimity or status to match the regard the Turaga had. If Norik wished to be a Turaga, so be it, but he would not serve on New Atero’s council. An amendment was introduced to cap the numbers of the Council at 14: 7 Turaga, 7 Bara Magnans, and seeing how the winds blew, it was passed with the reluctant though unanimous agreement of the Turaga. If Norik wished to join the Council, one of the others must step aside. This last comment was made with a pointed look at Dume, but the senior Turaga was unphased by it.

“You can always join one of the outlying Koros,” Vakama said to Norik, “if you want a formal role as a Turaga. Other Turaga from within the Great Spirit have journeyed with their villages into the hinterlands. I know there is a Ta-Koro on a volcanic island southwest of the Tren Krom Jungles.”

“In time, perhaps,” said Norik. “I have, after all, been a voice of wisdom without any right of mastery before.”

“There’s also an excellent chance Nuju attempts to bail,” noted Vakama, perhaps more to himself, for he added “but I do not want him to withdraw even more.”

“Do not worry over it,” said Norik. “The Turaga are not set apart from the Matoran because they have constitutional privileges, but because their destinies have transformed them.”

~*~*~*~

The Matoran chosen to replace Norik were five (there was, he said, an incident long in the past—even before he’d joined the Toa Hagah—that precluded him from making more). Their names do not matter to Norik’s tale and are unfamiliar to those who only know the Matoran of Metru Nui, save one only: Kopeke of Ko-Koro. He was the candidate of an emphatic Nuju, and the Turaga had agreed amongst themselves that the bereaved Ko-Turaga should, at least, choose one of the new Toa.

With the others, he was gathered to the Stadium of New Atero and Norik gave him a Toa Stone. A great Suva, hauled in one piece from the wreckage of the Matoran Universe years before, sat at the foot of the Council’s podium, a monument to the many Toa that had fallen in the millennia before in defence of the Matoran. Though a formal event and technically public, since by law of the city, every event at the Stadium was open to the observances of any citizen, its vast bowl was mostly empty. The Toa who were in the city (Tahu, the rest of the Hagah, Kopaka, Hewkii, and Kongu) stood silently behind the Turaga, and the Bara Magnan Councillors had all come to observe, but there were few others, even of the Matoran. The crowd would come the next day, for the introduction of the new Toa, and it was felt that the events of that night, by firelight, were more private.

Once the chosen Matoran had taken the Toa Stones, Norik pointed them toward the Suva. He settled himself on the ground as they approached solemnly, closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath as the Matoran reached the Suva. He sat cross-legged with his long spear across his lap. The Matoran placed their stones in the notches of the Suva, which glowed and hummed. Light blazed from the Suva and enveloped the Matoran, but as it diminished, all could see that they remained Matoran.

And after another minute, Norik opened his own eyes to find that he, too, was still a Toa.

~*~*~*~

The rest of the night passed in a blur of trying to figure out what went wrong, but the combined wisdom of the Turaga, the Toa Hagah, and the others present could find no defect in the passing of the stones or their placement in the Suva. And the power they had clearly held, that Norik could confirm had passed from him, had dissipated in the blast of light. Eventually, they all adjourned, tired and confused, and even irritable.

In the days and weeks that followed, no answer could be found, and the other Hagah, who had already been contemplating following Norik’s example, talked quietly amongst themselves, wondering if this were some special curse of having been Rahaga or whether it might be some last vestige of Roodaka’s malignance.

Bomonga tried next: six Matoran, six stones, nothing in his history that made him a complicated case, other than the Rahaga years. Nothing. Gaaki, Pouks, Iruini tried in succession: one Toa stone, some Toa stones, all the Toa Stones. Nothing.

As the weeks turned to months, the other Toa across the planet heard of the matter, and others made their way to New Atero to see if it was only the Toa Hagah who could not transform. Few of them were necessarily ready, but the idea of never being able to transform into Turaga was a fear the Toa had never before had and now discovered they did not like. To those who had dreamed of a future as a wise Turaga, it was the threat of being imprisoned in an eternal present. But Lesovikk, Varian, and Kongu all tried with no success (to at least Kongu’s mild relief).

After nineteen months of this, the verdict seemed clear: Toa could no more transform into Turaga, or Matoran into Toa. This realization rocked the Matoran communities, and there were rumours of restlessness from old enemies. Isolated tribes of Skakdi and Skrall were separately reported to have posted bounties for the head of every Toa: if they could not be replaced, then each Toa lost was one step closer to the Matoran having no protectors at all.

A party went in search of Artahka, but wherever the remnants of the Order of Mata Nui had retired, they could not be found, though Axonn himself led the Toa Phantoka. It was a term of their truce with the Great Beings, and Artahka honoured it. Little would it avail anyway, said Dume: Artahka was an agent of the same Destiny that had abandoned them.

No better answer came from Teridax the Shining, when Hahli, Gali, and Onua travelled to the mountaintop where the strange reverse-Makuta dwelt with Miserix and Takanuva (at least when Takanuva was not wandering abroad). Takanuva offered to use the Olmak and seek answers in another dimension, but the Teridax cautioned against this.

“You must find your own destiny in your own time,” he cautioned. “It is but a little time since Mata Nui’s body opened and you entered this new life. Now is not the time to break open reality.”

The Turaga agreed, but the day came not longer after this answer reached New Atero when news came to New Atero that, even in the Great Peace, a Matoran had been slain. Borema of Bo-Wahi, one of the farthest regions from New Atero inhabited by Matoran, had been slain by a one of the feral Nui-Rama that had nested in the nearby mountains. Few Matoran had died yet on Spherus Magna and most had died in battle. Borema’s passing, when news of it reached the city, mixed with the fear of those who could no longer transform that with Mata Nui gone, whether it took a millennium or million years, the Matoran were doomed. Their number could only ever whittle further.

~*~*~*~

Into this black mood, Jaller returned to New Atero after several years scouting the decaying ruins of Mata Nui. He, Hewkii, and Nuparu had ventured there even before peace had been declared, and it was a long, arduous journey through the dark ruins of the enormous robot.

“Hewkii was going to the coast,” Jaller told Tahu when he returned to New Atero. “Macku is there, of course. What is this we were hearing of despair and fear as we approached the city? Toa can no longer transform?”

“They cannot,” said Tahu, and he explained what had befallen since Norik’s first, unsuccessful attempt.

“Mata Nui’s end was the end of Destiny,” said Tahu. “That is the interpretation of the Turaga. Outside Mata Nui and no longer governed by him, we are free—but frozen.”

Jaller was silent for a while and looked out over the city from where they stood atop the tall guard tower. It was evening, and clouds filtered the orange light of the sunset. Under this glow, New Atero looked almost like a model, neat and orderly.

“We’re not frozen,” he said at last. “And we didn’t shake off the Makuta—Matoro didn’t die—to live here briefly and die out.”

“I am not suggesting we do,” said Tahu.

“You wouldn’t,” agreed Jaller, “but that’s what you’ve basically said that others fear. Let me talk to Norik; I may have a suggestion for him.”

~*~*~*~

“I will return with Hewkii to the ruins of Metru Nui,” Norik told Vakama and Dume. “He is visiting Ga-Wahi and Po-Wahi, but he will return to Nuparu with some supplies.”

“I have not seen Toa Nuparu in many years,” said Dume. The stern Turaga’s fondness for the eclectic Toa of Earth was always a surprise to those who did not know well the history of Metru Nui, and there were few who did since the Matorans’ loss of memory on the island of Mata Nui. “Please, give him my regards.”

“Jaller really thinks Nuparu holds the answer to this mystery?” Vakama asked, with some doubt. “I do not dispute his great technical knowledge, but what he may know that we haven’t tried.”

“Nuparu has been salvaging parts—and knowledge—from Metru Nui,” said Norik.

“We already transported the Archives, and much more,” said Vakama. “But if it will ease your heart, there is no reason you should not go. I suppose you must journey the long way?”

“There is still no better way to reach Metru Nui,” nodded Norik. “It has sunk below the waves and those are treacherous waters now. Flight would save some of the distance, but there is no way in—and things have begun to overgrow the parts of the body that remain on land.”

~*~*~*~

It was a journey of many weeks up the ruined corpse that had once been the Matorans’ entire world. The right foot lay nearest New Atero, and salvagers of many years had stripped the lower islands of that leg of protodermis and more, leaving the former islands open to the skies, and in these parts there were some isolated settlers, mostly Agori, for the remnants of the islands, no longer sustained by the Great Spirit, made for poor Koros, and the Matoran still tended to dwell together.

As they neared the Southern Continent (large in the reckoning of the great robot’s regions, but no longer a continent as the Spherus Magnans reckoned them), they passed the areas that had been excavated and now travelled through dark caverns. Some systems of the robot had continued to store a little energy and light in the early years, when the Matoran had salvaged their lives and moved goods and more out of Mata Nui’s fallen body, but those local backups had long since failed. Worse than the dark, empty islands lit by Norik’s flame were the empty spaces between. The sea-gates of old were drained of their oceans and the tunnels had fallen and collapsed. Even since Hewkii and Jaller’s own return journey shortly before, the passable ways had changed. Hewkii’s great strength, his Mask power over Gravity, and Norik’s own mask-power, allowing him into the narrowest of spaces, were of all great aid to dig new ways through the ruins. Few lesser beings could have travelled as steady as they did.

When they reached the Northern Continent, they had to be careful to stick to the higher elevations. The robot’s head and shoulders had sunk into Spherus Magna’s oceans, and more than just Voya Nui had been completely drowned. Metru Nui, though below sea-level, was still airtight, according to Hewkii, and he and Nuparu had done work to shore up the dome, and patch over the eyes. Years before, when the face had still been above water, though barely, the Matoran had airlifted out their salvage through the eyes, but the head had sunk deeper into the sea since.

Norik had travelled through many isles in his time as a Toa Hagah and through more in the years of the Rahagas’ wanderings, but he recognised almost nothing in the ruin they traversed. Much had been removed, it is true, but far more had collapsed, and now that it was gone, he could recognise the life that had once animated their world by its absence from the dark caverns.

At long last, they came through the broken sea-gate to Metru Nui and a light other than their own was before them, faint and wan in the distance, coming from the heart of the city. Here, for the first time in their journey, did Norik feel they had come to somewhere he had known, and as they came ashore in what had once been Ko-Metru, even the compounded damages of the Cataclysm, the fall of Makuta, and the salvage by the Matoran did not remove Norik’s appreciation for the city’s beauty, and his longing for what had once been.

“His workshop is under the old Coliseum,” said Hewkii. “Not that there’s much left there. That part of Metru Nui we almost removed completely.” Norik nodded, remembering.

They walked through the city, the ancient chutes long since silenced, but the city did not seem as dead as it ought to. Besides the lights that Nuparu had erected here and there, there were other signs of care.

“He’s done a lot,” Hewkii noted.

“I thought he was just studying,” said Norik.

“Can’t study what you can’t see,” said Hewkii, “but when Nuparu gets an idea, he runs with it. Looks to me like he’s gone beyond setting up camp. It looks more like he’s made himself at home.”

“You noticed! How sweet,” came a voice from the shadows, and Norik realised with a touch of annoyance that Nuparu had been walking with them for some time, hiding behind his Kanohi Volitak.

“Brother, that is impolite, and you know it,” said Hewkii, who nonetheless embraced Nuparu.

“I wanted to see if you’d notice,” said Nuparu. “I have, indeed, been busy. Welcome, Norik, back to Metru Nui. And, believe it or not, we are not the only ones who prowl about in these ruins.”

“Nuparu, it is good to see you,” said Norik. “I hope you are genius enough to provide answers where all New Atero has failed.”

“I doubt that,” said Nuparu, “but I enjoy a puzzle. What problem can the sages of New Atero not answer?”

“The Toa Stones do not work,” said Norik. “We put forth our power and it is gone from us, but we do not transform to Turaga, nor do the Matoran become Toa. The power is lost, and we are unchanged. The Turaga say that we no longer have any Destiny.”

“That is a puzzle,” said Nuparu. “Come, let us go to my workshop.”

They followed Nuparu, telling him of all the steps they had taken, and eventually came to the bare, open space where the tower of the Coliseum had once stood. A square, box-like structure covered over part of it, and they entered this, descending a few steps into a dimly lit space cluttered with tools and trinkets and parts. Nuparu fiddled with a cord and the light increased to something more like daylight.

“Haven’t had company that likes the light in a while,” said Nuparu, and Norik saw by that light that he had changed in appearance from what the Toa Hagah recalled: his arms were longer, his shoulders a bit wider, and he might have been a bit shorter.

“Nuparu have you been… modifying yourself?” he asked.

“Looking for a more efficient form, yes,” said Nuparu. “I’m not there yet, but it does seem to go a bit easier at the workbench this way.”

“Is this why you suggested I seek Nuparu?” Norik asked, looking at Hewkii. “Let him trim me down to Turaga-size?”

“Now that is a good suggestion,” said Nuparu, answering for Hewkii. “And a bit of a technical challenge too, since I’m not Artahka enough yet to mess with your elemental powers, but we could make you a very passable—very powerful--facsimile.”

“I am not sure that would be worth it,” said Norik. “I could just as easily ask Roodaka to make me a Rahaga again.”

“I doubt she would do it,” said Hewkii. “She’s still pretty bitter about how that whole thing ended, and we just found peace.”

“There’s one thing that might do it,” said Nuparu, who had waited a moment for dramatic effect. “It’d solve the extinction threat to the Matoran too and give me everything I’ve been looking for here.”

“What have you been busy doing?” asked Norik.

“A little of this, a little of that—and a lot of other things,” said Nuparu. “Did Hewkii not tell you?”

“He said you were trying to retrieve knowledge,” said Norik, with a glare to Hewkii. “Salvaging parts.”

“Salvaging a part,” said Nuparu. “A part of Mata Nui. I mean to salvage the city.”

“Artahka said that could not be done,” said Norik.

“Artahka said it would not be done,” corrected Nuparu. “Or should. I wasn’t there—he hadn’t fixed our breathing issue yet. Perhaps he meant the entire robot. Anyway, if he said it could not be done, then he was wrong.”

“You would say Artahka is wrong,” said Norik, both impressed and a little concerned, but he had to admit that the thrill of adventure was upon him. Even divorced from the universe it had crowned, the thought of Metru Nui restored in some sense: a thing returned to being as it should have been, was certainly something to strive for.

“Artahka is but a created being, as we are,” said Nuparu, “though he does have some tools I envy.”

“How?” asked Norik. “You must have found something here to have given you this scheme. Or do you mean to rebuild Metru Nui out of Bohrok limbs?” “We’re going to bring down the Red Star,” said Nuparu. “Its power source can power Metru Nui and has the equipment to again manufacture Matoran—even to transform them. Or Toa.”

“How…” breathed Norik, not even knowing what he was really asking.

“He’s building a spaceship,” said Hewkii.

“Built,” said Nuparu, “and, yes, Norik, it did take a few cues from the Bohrok.”

#Bionicle #Norik #Toa Hagah #Turaga #Vakama #Dume #Tahu #New Atero #Spherus Magna #Jaller #Hewkii #Nuparu #actually NOT part of my alt-canon #malwarewolf-mocs #contest

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