#then Icarax in Karzahni

[thereadingaddic7]

[wjbs-bonkle-au]

Portraits for various Bionicle characters in the style of the Toa Disks from 2004! Most of them were traced from Studio screenshots (credits for any custom masks used are below)

More information below.

Image 1

Apart from Vakama's (which is a recreation of the print from the set, based on a picture from Bricklink), all the Metru disks are traced from on their respective Gold Canister designs from Bionicle Heroes, hence their shoulders connecting to the corner circles at different heights and some having sloped shoulders. Their background colours are based on their Turaga designs' primary colour.

@nattarthetimedragon suggested I do the Metrutoran disks, so I did. I decided to give Ehrye's mask a scope and remove Orkahm's.

The Mata were actually the second ones I did; I moved them down to accommodate the Metrutoran. The scratches around their icons are all the same ones, just rotated slightly. I couldn't be bothered to draw new ones, and I didn't put the scratches on any of the other ones.

I was going to do the Inika and the Mahri, but I couldn't get the set-accurate Inika masks to look good in this style, so I scrapped them. Remember this for later.

And by later, I mean now; instead of doing 1:1 adaptations of the Kadin and Suletu, I messed with the layout and design of their features to create my own personal "inorganic" designs for them; the Kadin's "mouth" is replaced with a pair of horizontal lines next to a mouth-hole, and the Suletu is symmetrical and has several Matatu-style mouth-lines angled to resemble the original mask's teeth. Their eyes have also been moved slightly. Originally, Varian's Calix was the same, but it didn't look good so I replaced it with Galva's Inorganic Calix Redux.

Image 2

The masks used as references for Gaaki, Bomonga, Pouks and Kualus are Rothanak's most recent interpretation of Gaaki's mask (which isn't actually meant to be what a Mask of Clairvoyance looks like, like it's canon that it's a Mask of Clairvoyance, but one in the shape of a different, unspecified mask), Galva's non-aquatic Faxon and champion Kakama, and Bigphan's Mask of Sensory Aptitude, respectively.

I wanted to do Nidhiki's mutated form, but I couldn't figure out how it would work in this style so instead I did an alternate version based on Rothanak's Kualsi/Volitak hybrid. Also Tuyet's designs are based on both of Galva's Mask of Intangibility designs (normal Tuyet is the original one, while Empress!Tuyet is the updated version).

I don't really have any notes for the third row. Moving on,

I worked on the fourth row simultaneously with the one below it. Also trying to differentiate Icarax from Teridax was pretty hard to figure out.

I'm not massively proud with how Gorast turned out, but otherwise. Yeah this is fine.

Image 3

For the Chronicler's Company, I went with their MNOG II masks and colour schemes.

@nattarthetimedragon also suggested that I do Turaga versions of the Metru Disks, so I did that. The boxy parts next to the "shoulders" are meant to evoke the way the Turaga robes look in the Miramax movies, as well as the Turaga's rectangular bodies in their sets.

Artakha's mask is based on Galva's canon Mask of Creation, and Karzahni's Olisi is based on Godfyr's Olisi (with elements of the original illustration). Tren Krom's icon is inspired by his description on Biosector, along with how I personally imagine him looking; also, unlike all the other icons, his colours aren't sampled from Studio. At this point I ran out of ideas, hence why the third image only has like two and a half rows instead of five.

[whiteheartlight]

Gali and Onua have both been in situations where all the others are unconscious and possibly dead around them and they have both just laid all their cards down and gone wild. Onua rationally realized that he should back up and live to fight another day, but chose to charge the entire group of Piraka single-handedly instead, and Gali was like "fuck it, I will destroy Karzahni and take Icarax with it if I can." they are both natural disasters unto themselves. you knocked the other five down?? well now you gotta deal with just one, and that one is on the verge of actual ecological devastation. whoops

honestly maybe all Toa are like that. they have those protective instincts for Matoran, but something about seeing their siblings downed just sets them off, and then you're at risk for a Nova blast. Onewa's like complaining about the others and then something bad happens and suddenly the mountains are shaking and he's standing in front of his nearest brother with something feral in his face. you should never make a Toa question whether their siblings are still breathing

[ghost-mantis]

For the Manas and Mana-Ko, which Makuta do you think created them? Being an absolute brute force machine sounds very Icarax, but their obedience to their masters also reminds me of Antroz...

This is a great question! I haven't gotten one for quite some time, so thank you for such a fun puzzler to think over!

I'm actually going to have to credit their creation either to Kojol or to an unknown Makuta based on what little we know about them.

Manas

>Amphibious

>Powered up by heat

>Super Strong

>Love violence, even against each other

>Worked for the Makuta and Karzahni

Mana Ko

>Incredibly intelligent for a rahi, able to create mental shields

>Powerful, destructive, hair-trigger for anything that moves

>Secretly trained by The Order to work for them

While you're right that some of their traits point to Icarax or Antrox, its three traits that really get me thinking that these guys were made by an unknown Makuta very early in the Mata Nui universe's timeline.

>Amphibious (able to live on water or land) is the trait that has me thinking Makuto Kojol had a hand in this. Kojol was the marine rahi expert after all.

>Worked for the Makuta and Karzahni. This is the biggie for me. Karzahni closed his kingdom off pretty early on in the timeline and cannonically had no freaking clue what had gone one outside his land while he was away. If he had Manas as guards in his realm, he got them pretty much at the start of the universe.

This argument works really well for Kojol since he was the Makuta of Artakha. If he knew where that island was, he probably knew where Karzahni was too.

However, there were a lot more Makuta before Teridax's purge. And before everyone who knew where Artakha was located, were murdered. So we really can't rule out any of the early unknown Brotherhood members.

>The Order being able to train these things into being loyal spies. This is honestly the most glaring thing to me. In no way can you tell me these guys magically rounded these things up, trained them to be loyal, and to mentally shield themselves, all without the Makuta noticing. No freaking way.

Unless one of the Makuta wanted them to be able to do that. Perhaps one of the 5 Makuta that ultimately sided with Miserix, or another unnamed good-aligned Makuta knew what the others could become and wanted them watched. This whole thing screams of a backdoor deal with The Order to make sure there was a means to watch and strike at the Brotherhood from the inside.

That's my take on it, but I'd love to see what everyone else thinks. Thanks again @cantankerouscanuck for the cool ask!

[radioshackraider]

Sets I need to rebuild

Full Sets Ackar Stronius Kiina Gelu Malum Zesk Tarduk Raanu Mazeka Takanuva 08 Toa Mata Nui Axonn Vezon (Kardas Dragon) Lewa Phantoka Kopaka Phantoka Pohatu Phantoka Antroz Vamprah Chiroz Krikka Gorast Onua Mistika Tahu Mistika Axalara T9 Jetrax T6 Boxor Tahu G2 1 Onua G2 1 Fire Protector Water Protector Earth Protector Stone Protector Ice Protector Jungle Protector Vultraz Gavla Kirop Radiak Hewkii Inika Kalmah Pridak Garan Balta Delu Kazi Norrik Rahaga Iruni Rahaga Pouks Rahaga Vezon and Fenrahk

Incomplete Sets Berix Skrall Tarix Vorox Onua Mata Pohatu Mata Kopaka Mata Gali Mata Lewa Mata Tahu Nuva Jaller Inika Hahli Inika Thok Zaktan Reidak Avak Nokama Hordika Takadox Carapar Roodaka Sidorak Umbra Takua and Pewku Missing Sets All Matoran pre 2004 All Turaga (Not Dume) All 01 Rahi Exo Toa Tahnok Gahlok Bohrok Queens Tahnok Kal (May have parts) Nuhvok Kal (May have parts) Jaller and Guuko Lhikan and Kikanalo Matau Hordika Kongu Inika All Toa Mahri Ehlek Nocturn Lesovik Karzahni Hydraxon Gadunka Maxilos and Spinax Dekar Icarax Mutran Toa Ignika Rockoh T3 Bitil Gresh Vastus Strakk Tuma Fero and Skirmax Skrall Agori Metus Rahkshi Stars Takanuva Stars Gresh Stars Piraka Stars Skrall Stars Built Sets: Tahu Mata Gali Nuva Onua Nuva Pohatu Nuva Lewa Nuva Kopaka Nuva Lehvak Pahrak Kohrak Nuhvok Lehvak Kal Pahrak Kal Kohrak Kal Gahlok Kal All 6 Rahski Makuta Teridax Takanuva All 6 Toa Metru All 6 Vahki Le Matoran Ko Matoran Nivawk and Dume Krekka Nidihki All 6 Visorak Vakama Hordika Whenua Hordika Nuju Hordik Onewa Hordika Keetongu Bomonga Rahaga Gaaki Rahaga Kualus Rahaga Norrik Hagah Iruni Hagah Velika Piruk Matoro Inika Nuparu Inika Vezok Haakan Brutaka Kardas Dragon Mantax Defilak Tanma Photok Solek Gali Mistika Mata Nui (Glatorian) I might be missing sets on any given list, and haven't included any duplicates I haven't got built/won't build

[cantankerouscanuck]

Some Karzahni concepts

His mask is described as being patchwork, hinting that it could've been broken long ago. And it's stated that a Kanohi can retain some degree of their wearer's personality. What would it mean if a Kanohi mask was made from four different ones?

The only battle we know for certain that he fought in was against Artakha for the Mask of Creation. Perhaps his original mask was damaged in it?

Given that he keeps a huge-ass forge and a full workshop, he may have a degree of engineer skills. Perhaps he even made his own flaming chains?

Where did his Manas army even come from? Icarax may have been the Makuta overseeing the region, but I doubt he'd let his most dangerous Rahi be put into someone else's army, especially one as unhinged as Bionicle Satan

Karzahni was supposed to fix Matoran but lacked the skills. You'd think that Artakha (who cares for all creation) would've talked to him about it, but he isolated himself and his island thanks to Kojol

I tend to disregard the epilogue stuff, so here's an idea on what happens to Karzahni post-Restoration of Spherus Magna; he's going crazy after escaping GSR, so Toa and Glatorian hunt him down and capture him. Cue Artakha eventually visiting him in prison

[rebuiltbionicle]

Toa Empire

Greg sure did go overboard with those dozens of alternate universes. I want to clear them out, but I think we can all agree that if there’s one alternate universe that deserves to remain in canon, it’s the Toa Empire.

Toa Nidhiki was a focal point for a very important moment that would decide the destiny of the universe. Confronting Toa Tuyet, Nidikhi had sided with his loyal friend Lhikan, putting a premature end to Toa Tuyet’s ideas of how the Toa should operate. But what if Nidikhi has sided with Tuyet? Indeed, in one timeline that is exactly what happened, and that universe went to hell in a handbasket.

After disposing of Lhikan, Tuyet unveiled her plans to the rest of the Toa Mangaia. They chose their sides, and those four that opposed her were drained of their Toa power with the Nui Stone and turned into Turaga. Tuyet had her allied select several amiable Matoran to receive that power and become Toa. Since a single Toa has enough power to create six Toa, the Toa Mangaia now numbered twenty-eight.

Irritated by their inability to capture the Nui Stone, and acting on their ambitions to take control of Metru Nui, the Dark Hunters rallied their troops and landed on Metru Nui’s shores for a direct conquest. The Toa Mangaia met them much better than they had in the prime universe, but were still forced to barricade themselves in the Coliseum. The war progressed like it did in the prime universe; Naho fled to retrieve reinforcements and a hundred Toa came to fight. Tuyet’s leadership was far more brutal and militaristic than Lhikan’s had been in the prime universe. Nidhiki’s betrayal was never noticed; his leading of a Toa army into an ambush in the final battle was brushed off by Tuyet as an honest mistake. Tuyet also did not spare the Dark Hunters as Lhikan would have: she instead chose to demonstrate the power of the Nui Stone (charged from the Toa army but not draining them into Turaga) giving herself the power to drown the entire Dark Hunter army single-handedly.

The political repercussions were massive. Many Toa were upset at the murder Tuyet had committed, claiming that if she were so powerful she could have merely demonstrated this power to force the Dark Hunters to surrender. Tuyet now made her plans clear. She told the Toa of her vision where the Toa let go of their limitations and were more proactive in maintaining peace. Where Toa would preemptively destroy threats to the Matoran, and ensure the Matoran laboured obediently to the Great Spirit. A vote was held, and the dissenters were drained of their power to give to a new generation of loyal Toa. The Empire was born, officially “The Empire of the Great Spirit.” Lands watching this were unsure what to make of it. The Brotherhood of Makuta, for one, was shocked and panicked at what a Toa Empire portended to the point that Makuta released his virus to plunge Mata Nui into slumber significantly earlier.

In the meantime Toa Tuyet, the Founding Empress, was beginning the expansion of the Toa Empire. Her Toa army swept down into the central dome and from there into the island chain domes. Most Matoran, having a heroic view of Toa, immediately declared allegiance to what they saw as a utopian protection project. Populations of other species had somewhat differing perspectives and tried to resist. The Toa’s relatively low population concerned Tuyet and made her institute harsh policies to sure up the numbers. Dissident and enemy Toa would be drained of their Toa power, which would be given to six dissident/enemy Matoran, and those resulting Toa would be drained to create thirty-six loyal Toa.

Xia was completely leveled and its Toa Team made to create two-hundred and sixteen new Toa. Stelt surrendered and offered up its Napa legions as allies to the Empire, which Tuyet scoffed at. Zakaz reduced the Toa invasion force to ribbons, and Tuyet chose to wait until the larger prey had been dealt with before attacking Zakaz. Odina was seized and the Shadowed One forced to flee south, returning to his homeland of Suhitu. Makuta Teridax insisted that once he had taken control of the Great Spirit Robot none of this would matter, but many of the Makuta cracked under the fear of the Empire and sided with Makuta Icarax in leading a Brotherhood-Empire War. The Visorak Horde was brought in to fight, revealing its allegiance to the Makuta and losing the Brotherhood a PR war long before the combat had decided anything.

Ensuring no stone could hide a resistance movement, Tuyet had an expedition thoroughly examine the strange island immediately to the south of Metru Nui, and there found Karzahni. She made a secret deal with Karzahni; the Toa would stage a heroic and completely scripted rescue of the Matoran (winning their loyalty to the Empire and making them decent recruits for Toa) while Karzahni would be allowed to remain in command of his realm and would receive plenty more dissidents to rule over. He also divulged the existance and location of Artakha, though Tuyet chose to leave his realm be until she had defeated the Brotherhood.

At this stage Mata Nui fell asleep, their pleas in the sky going ignored as Ko-Metru was made a propaganda ministry rather than a place of scholarship and divination. The Great Cataclysm did not occur, as the GSR was still a long distance from any celestial body. The Empire figured out it was the Makuta and used to to galvanise much of the population of the Matoran Universe into siding with the Empire over the Brotherhood. The Order of Mata Nui began making acts against the Brotherhood in retaliation for their crimes against the Great Spirit. The Empire found out about the Order and Tuyet demanded a dialogue with them. Helryx considered what Tuyet had to say, and agreed that the Empire was the most efficient at carrying out the Great Spirit’s will and made the Order an agency for the Empire.

By this time the Toa Mata had launched from Karda Nui and were magnetically drawn (since they were in space) towards the airlocks that led to Metru Nui. There the Empire found them and were able to indoctrinate them to Imperial beliefs. By then the true nature of the Makuta’s plan, to seize control of the Great Spirit Robot, had been exposed, so the Order held back on sending the Toa Mata to Karda Nui to reawaken Mata Nui.

The Brotherhood had lost its footing and collapsed under the Toa onslaught. Destral was besieged, and most of the Makuta died during the most bloody battle either universe would ever see. Empress Tuyet herself had to use the power of the Nui Stone to break the Brotherhood’s lines and penetrate the fortress. When the island was taken many Makuta attempted to flee and were captured and killed by the Toa, until the Brotherhood was composed solely of Teridax, Vamprah, and Krika. Miserix and Spiriah were also still alive.

With the Brotherhood defeated, the Empire continued expansion to those regions it had been saving for the defeat of the Brotherhood. Artakha was besieged and sacked. Traveling south, the Toa discovered the Shadowed One had created a fledgling Lanotu kingdom overrunning the neighbouring domes, though it failed to stand up to the Empire. Zakaz was another matter entirely. While the second invasion made significantly further inroads than the first, their conquest did nothing but defeat the warlord Nektann’s rivals and place the Skakdi species under his sole control. Now unified, the Skakdi were able to repel their Toa invaders and push beyond Zakaz to conquer other lands.

After some time drifting through space, Mata Nui finally collided with Aqua Magna, somewhat later than it had in the prime universe. The Great Cataclysm shattered the Imperial economy at the worst time. They had to repair an entire empire of infrastructure while the Skakdi continued expanding undisturbed. By the time things had been rebuilt, the Skakdi had full control of the Northern Continent, the north shore of the Southern Continent, and all islands in between the continents and Zakaz. The Empire, now back on its feet, attempted to lead a counter-invasion of the dome, but the Skakdi were in too deep. Even a personal intervention by Tuyet and the Nui Stone was useless, as she could only be in one place at once and the Skakdi would conquer Imperial possessions while she was trying to retake others.

Makuta Spiriah reemerged from hiding with an army of Zyglak allies and made a sneak attack on Zakaz. He killed Nektann and set up a fortress for himself on Zakaz. The Skakdi nearly withdrew to try and kill him, but Spiriah was able to convince them that he was a much stronger leader than any of them and that what he did to them was a gift that had allowed them to survive the Toa Empire. This reasoning resonated with the Skakdi and they accepted him as their master. Learning this, Tuyet struck at Zakaz, but Spiriah had learned how to remain hidden. He would strike at the front lines against Toa when they least expected him, turning several battles into Skakdi victories and serving a lesser equivalent to Tuyet with the Nui Stone for the Skakdi.

Takanuva, from the prime universe, arrived in Metru Nui, and in only a few days managed to instigate an uprising against the Empire at its very capital and had Empress Tuyet rather gruesomely bisected. The Empire was plunged into chaos. Toa Nidihki was able to mobilise forces to suppress the rebellions and retake Metru Nui, but the Skakdi had used the opportunity to take the bulk of the central dome. With Empress Tuyet dead, leadership had to befall to one of her two confidants: Nidihki or Helryx. Helryx had the backing of the Order, so Nidihki stood down to remain head of the army and play the long game. Helryx was made ruler and was christened the Firstborn Empress.

The Skakdi Horde wouldn’t be spared such a crisis. Makuta Teridax, fled from Metru Nui and having lost track of Makutas Krika and Vamprah, came to Spiriah and challenged him to a duel from control of the Skakdi. Spiriah agreed to a one-on-one duel across Zakaz to decide which Makuta would take control of the Horde. Neither honoured this arrangement and each brought an army to deal with the other. Spiriah had been expecting Teridax’s treachery though Teridax had underestimated Spiriah’s intelligence, and the Skakdi and Zyglak attack caught him off guard. He was able to survive Spiriah’s sneak attack and nearly managed to kill Spiriah before Spiriah fled. Teridax attempted to take control of the Skakdi, but Spiriah had already loaded the Skakdi and Zyglak minds of propaganda warning them of the other Makuta. Teridax would have to return with Spiriah’s head to take control of the Horde. He tracked Spiriah south to the island of Artidax, where Spiriah had set up his contingency plan. A Zyglak taskforce had occupied the island and were ready to release Miserix on Spiriah’s orders. Unaware of Spiriah’s presence but fully aware of Teridax, a dreadful duel between the two Brotherhood leaders took place, nearly destroying the island. Spiriah, taking the form of a Lanotu, informed the Toa Empire of what was happening. Teridax had killed Miserix, but had completely drained himself of power to do so, and was no match for the taskforce that confronted him then. Teridax was dead, and Spiriah now had no rivals to the rule of the Skakdi.

The universe now had another issue. Mata Nui’s life had begun to decline. Ko-Metru scholars (allowed to look at stars again under Helryx’s reign) discovered this and deciphered the necessary information to keep Mata Nui from dying. An army of Toa, led by Nidihki, marched on Voya Nui (which had suffered greatly from the cataclysm but did not dislodge out of the Matoran Universe) to retrieve the Kanohi Ignika. Makuta Spiriah was unaware of any of this, and saw the movement as the latest Imperial move against him and moved to counter them. Toa and Skakdi clashed over the centre of the Southern Continent and across Voya Nui. The newly discovered Matoran of Voya Nui were transformed into Toa to counter the Skakdi and retrieve the Ignika. It was the Skakdi who discovered the Ignika first, though it passed between their hands and the Toa numerous times. Once Spiriah pieced together what was happening he ordered them to withdraw and leave the Ignika for the Toa. A few rebel Skakdi disobeyed and delayed the Toa’s mission further.

Mata Nui died before the Toa could reach Karda Nui with the mask. Although Matoro had went ahead anyway and restored Mata Nui’s life in the prime universe, in this universe the Toa immediately gave up on Mata Nui’s death. Empress Helryx from there organised the Great Evacuation, helping the entire universe (Makuta and Skakdi excluded) up through the Maze of Shadows and onto the island that had formed over the Great Spirit Robot’s face. Though immensely crowded, they were able to gather up most of the universe and build a great city there under the protective hand of the Toa Empire. Helryx, while organising evacuations, was assassinated by Nidikhi. Officially she lost her life heroically trying to save latecomers. Nidikhi took her place with the backing of the military he had won the loyalty of, and implemented a new regime of reduced work hours and far more relaxation amenities. He became known as the People’s Emperor.

Meanwhile, on Bara Magna, without Mata Nui to rally the tribes together, the Skrall Empire and their Bone Hunter allies conquered the entire planet. They moved their capital from Roxtus to Tajun, putting as much distance between themselves and the Baterra as possible.

In the dead husk of the Great Spirit Robot, Spiriah tried to put his Skakdi to work trying to restore and manually operate life support systems. The Kestora were still present trying to run a dead universe, and Spiriah was able to use them to power some bare systems to keep a universe running. However, he had bigger problems. The Kanohi Ignika was preparing to drain the life of the entire universe (himself, the Skakdi, Kestora, and the undiscovered denizens to the south). Spiriah led a taskforce into the long abandoned Karda Nui and into the Codrex, where they attempted to start the energy storms up again. It was a great struggle without any Toa, but the Skakdi’s power was able to be adapted for use and Karda Nui started up again. Spiriah had withdrawn before that had happened, leaving the Skakdi team and the Ignika to be destroyed in the energy storms. With Karda Nui started up again the life support resumed operation, which Spiriah used as an opportunity to create backup power systems. Since there was no spirit occupying the GSR, Karda Nui inevitably shut down again. Spiriah managed to create enough independent life support to keep the central dome livable, at least.

On the surface, Emperor Nidihki had been working to alleviate the main problems of his island empire. He had been having the Toa of Stone extend the landmass of the island, but there was only so much to be done. In the sky above them they could see two other celestial bodies; Bara Magna and Bota Magna. The Emperor organised a mission to colonise these two bodies: they would create a great cannon, operated by several Toa of several elements to create as much thrust as possible to launch a pod with an unbelievably long cable to the other worlds. Fa-Toa would use their magnetic powers to tow cable cars between the planets themselves. A colony was set up at the impact points of both Bara Magna and Bota Magna.

These colonies naturally attracted the natives of both planets. The Toa made their intentions to take control of these worlds quite clear and war broke out on both worlds. Bota Magna burned in the conflict. Initially the Toa made a ruthless advance, but once the Elemental Lady of Earth became involved she utilised her immense powers to snap their capable and wipe out the Toa invasion. On Bara Magna the Toa were far more successful. The Skrall met them to the best of their ability, but creatures of mere flesh and blood had no ability to go toe to toe with the biomechanicals. The Toa Empire seized a massive chunk of Bara Magna before the hidden Great Beings activated the Marendar, wiping the invasion force off the face of the planet leaving the Toa Empire back at square one minus the legions they had lost.

The Great Beings have been forced out of hiding by the Skrall and are now uploading Skrall minds into new biomechanical bodies. An interplanetary conflict is now inevitable.

[whiteheartlight]

do you think the Makuta were like so irritated that the Toa Nuva didn’t know who they were? like they roll up to Karzahni and Icarax is there presumably being his usual horrible self like “prepare to be crushed into bone paste for daring to challenge a member of the Great Brotherhood, fragile Toa weaklings!!” and Tahu just stops dead and like glances around at his siblings and then turns back to Icarax like “what the FUCK kind of brotherhood would take an asshole like you?” and Icarax is just. so, so pissed. what the hell kind of Toa don’t know what a Makuta is. who are these amateurs. is this a practical joke. what in the ever-loving karzahni is happening

and then Gali kicks his ass so it’s really just a bad day for him all around. no wonder he’s so grumpy in Karda Nui

[rebuiltbionicle]

@named-jiang-or-wang

All of these places have at least a couple of Matoran Koro. A few of them would be pretty barren and unimportant. Karzahni, for instance, was viewed as just a worthless rock by Miserix who knew not what lay in the centre of the island, so he gave it to known slacker Icarax so they wouldn’t ignore something really important. So yeah there was a hierarchy of who got what based on how competent Miserix though they were.

[rebuiltbionicle]

Karzahni

Karzahni is one of the primordial beings created by the Great Beings for the Matoran Universe. He was created alongside his brother Artakha, and were intended to be Creator-Rulers of the Matoran Universe. He and Artakha were made to compete for the Mask of Creation, in a contest of creative prowess. Artakha won, and proceeded to be the Great Being’s main assistant in creating the Matoran Universe. Karzahni was given the experimental Olisi as compensation.

Although Karzahni was a skilled engineer and architect, the Great Beings used Artakha to create such things as the first Toa and their vehicles. Karzahni was left to his own devices, where he mostly showed Matoran labourers how to build more complex machinery. This earned him an amount of praise from those he helped, but Artakha still received renown for the assignments given to him by the Great Beings.

When the Great Spirit Robot was completed and took off, Karzahni had an idea to win renown above his brother. He would turn his realm into a place of repair and healing for the Matoran and the other species that Mata Nui was creating. He set up the appropriate workshop and began inviting the wounded and the poorly constructed to be fixed. Karzahni’s dream was that he would be seen as a kind and welcoming benefactor that help those Matoran down on their luck, while casting Artakha as a land of privileged elitists.

This dream was very abruptly ended when it turned out that Karzahni, while brilliant in purely mechanical areas, had little knowledge on the workings of biomechanical beings. Karzahni panicked, and attempted to figure it out as he went. He failed and reduced the Matoran to deformed, weakened forms. The initial batches were sent away and hidden in the centre of the Southern Continent. As more Matoran were shipped in, his panic only increased, and he resorted to sealing off the island and imprisoning the Matoran there. He was too proud and too panicked by his failure to consider asking Artakha for help.

He continued imprisoning Matoran shipments until the Matoran realms began catching on and began seeking repair elsewhere. He began using his mechanical genius to loosen Mata Nui’s control over his island and have it obey his own whim. When the Hand of Artakha and several Toa teams attempted to liberate the imprisoned Matoran, Karzahni used his control of the environment to great effect in defeating them.

Karzahni’s island was sealed off for some time, until the Hand of Artakha disbanded and the reason for the blockade forgotten. Karzahni seemed to have little interest in leaving the confines of the central canyon, let alone his island’s dome, so nobody was concerned. The identity of the island was also forgotten, simply becoming “that worthless island south of Metru Nui.”

Karzahni was maddened by his failure, and spent great bouts using the Kanohi Olisi to plant himself into worlds where he hadn’t failed. This only made him more bitter at his reality, and began forcing the Matoran into endless pointless forced labour to punish them. He also decided to learn how to modify biomechanical beings through experimentation, including experimentation on himself. This degraded his body and drove him further into insanity, but gave him motivation to perfect the skill so he could fix himself. He was eventually able to master the art, and began rebuilding himself routinely, and creating “art pieces” out of his prisoner’s bodies.

Karzahni remained undisturbed until the Brotherhood of Makuta began assigning their members to watch over certain realms. Had almost any other Makuta been assigned to Karzahni, Karzahni’s actions would have been reported and the Brotherhood’s armies shut would have down his hell-prison. Unfortunately, Makuta Icarax, malicious even before Teridax’s rise to power, found the Matoran’s plight hilarious, and struck a deal with Karzahni. In exchange for continued secrecy and a Rahi Fabricator with dangerous guard species programmed into it, Karzahni agreed to put his Matoran to work producing secret projects for Icarax, and to imprison certain individuals Icarax felt deserved a fate worse than death. When Teridax took over the Brotherhood, Karzahni’s influx of new prisoners and construction orders increased.

His role as the Brotherhood’s lackey wounded Karzahni’s pride further, and he continued to use the Olisi’s fantasies to comfort himself. As thousands of years passed, he became addicted to the illusions and began to forget he wasn’t the supreme dictator of the universe. When a group of uppity Matoran led by Jaller intruded on his realm after the Great Cataclysm, Karzahni was able to dig from them a better picture of not only what was happening outside his realm (which he was already getting from Brotherhood prisoners anyway) but managed to learn of Mata Nui’s impending death, and the consequences thereof.

There was still some loyalty in Karzahni to the creation of the Great Beings, and Karzahni resolved that the universe had to be rescued, by force. While running over simulations of his conquests using the Olisi, Karzahni began reconstructing the beings of his realm. He set the Rahi Frabricator to churn out Manas, reassembled himself to a Makuta-like Titan, and turned all of his prisoners into a legion of warriors. He kept the Brotherhood’s current orders for himself, and began the construction of vehicles and weapons.

Karzahni did not intend the army to mobilise until he had seized the Kanohi Ignika, which he understood was vital to Mata Nui’s survival, and only believed would serve as a great symbol of his authority. He took only a few Manas with him to follow Jaller’s trail and found himself in the waters of Mahri Nui. There he was mutated by the waters, and found himself in battle with Makuta Teridax. In ordinary circumstances, Karzahni would have wiped the floor with Teridax, but his disorientation over his mutation and the fact that he was having trouble distinguishing reality from his Olisi fantasies lost him his edge and he was defeated.

He nursed his wounds and retreated into the Olisi to nurse his pride, until he was discovered and captured by a pair of his old failed repair-jobs and their old Toa friend. He was left incapacitated for the Order of Mata Nui to find and deal with. The Order brought him to Daxia for questioning, but Karzahni had lost all interest in reality and retreated fully into Olisi fantasies.

When Spherus Magna was reformed, Karzahni was brought by the Order to their new prison facilities there. He had to be physically carried, as he exists in a practically-comatose state. Within the visions provided by the Olisi, Karzahni dreams that he is the beloved ruler and savior of the universe. He has no reason to ever wake up, and it’s unclear if he even remembers that it isn’t real.

[rebuiltbionicle]

Islands of Artakha and Karzahni

When the intended Creator-Rulers of the universe had been sorted out, they were permitted to choose realms to build their palaces within the Matoran Universe. The bare foundations had been laid for all landscapes to be constructed, and all except Metru Nui offered up to the Creator-Rulers. Their realms would be built immediately alongside Metru Nui. Each realm would be named after its master.

Artakha, allowed to choose first, chose a large island in one of the Great Spirit Robot’s shoulders. He had a fondness for symmetry and assumed Karzahni would choose the opposing shoulder. Karzahni, given his choice after and separately, misunderstood Metru Nui being off-limits to mean that it had been given to Artakha, so he chose the island immediately south of it, located in the GSR’s lower head. Both islands were built as serene temperate paradises, and palaces built to service both rulers.

As previously described, Artakha started as a reward realm for the hardest workers of the Matoran and ended up a closed off paradise for the privileged, while Karzahni took a spiral down from repair workshop down to a torturous prison realm. Access to both became more and more difficult, until they fell into myth.

Artakha remained a paradise. Matoran from far and wide had been welcomed there and constructed a city on par with Metru Nui, though the island was large enough to keep plenty of untouched wilderness intact. The Matoran elements were not segregated, though they each had a “Koro” in the city as a cultural centre. The Matoran dedicated themselves to crafting, as was typical across the universe, though the Artakhans constructed far more complicated projects with far less effort.

The island was reclusive even when its location was public. They preferred to send out traders and ambassadors itself rather than accept visitors. After the Makuta attack, Artakha cooperated with the Order of Mata Nui to erase all maps and memories of Artakha’s presence during the Time Slip. Two islands sharing its dome were evacuated before being vapourised. The Sea Gates were sealed off and had illusions of blank-dome walls placed over them. They continued distributing their goods through teleportation. It accepted only the Toa Nuva as guests until the Reign of Shadows , wherein Teridax learned its location and had it occupied by the Rahkshi.

Artakha had discovered how Mata Nui manipulates the environment, and learned to do it himself. The weather and climate tended to match his moods. It could go from a warm sunny day to torrential rainfall in seconds. The Matoran were used to this, and found the island beautiful no matter how it looked.

Karzahni deteriorated into a hell, but its ruler kept his prison restrained to the interior vale of the island. After the Hand of Artakha disbanded and the blockade lifted, a few explorations of the island took place. By then it had begun to deteriorate, and was known to be inhabited by dangerous Rahi, so most explorers left it alone. A few groups of intrepid Matoran chose to settle the island around the coasts. The depressing nature of the island and nightmares supplied by Karzahni slowly turned the colonies into bizarre insular people, but as the island evolved they were forced to evacuate.

During the time of the Great Disruption, the entire island drifted somewhat. The exact course was due to malfunctioning gravity plating. Its dome intersected with Metru Nui’s, and the island’s drift caused it to crash into the opening. After a party of explorers and a Toa went missing, Metru Nui chose to leave it well enough alone. There were few visitors since then: a few failed expeditions from the south, occasional Brotherhood of Makuta airships, and a single group of Matoran that would become the Toa Inika. After Karzahni left the land to find the Kanohi Ignika, the Toa Nuva chased Makuta Icarax into the realm. They had the Matoran evacuated, and the island was flooded by Gali’s nova blast. It remained abandoned, but became a common enough hiding spot for the resistance during the Reign of Shadows that Teridax had to install a Rahkshi occupation force there.

After its ruler discovered how to tap into the environmental controls, Mata Nui stopped trying to do it himself and left it Karzahni to his own devices. The island slowly became a twisted realm in reflection of Karzahni’s own warped nature. The entire ocean was vapourised and turned into a giant desert, with a huge dam of ice preventing the silver sea from flooding it again. Beyond that, the island became a realm of burning ice and freezing fires, rivers of flowing dust while water existed only as ice dust. Breezes were deafening roars and lightning was silent. Several expeditions were launched into the dome but few returned and none made it to Karzahni’s realm save Makuta Icarax on secret business. The process of this transformation began after the crash into Metru Nui’s dome, and took about three hundred years to reach its final form. 

The islands had fairly similar inhabitants. Each had a Primordial ruler of undefinable species and enormous power. Their primary inhabitants were Matoran, taken from all the elements from all corners of the universe. The islands both had hefty Rahi populations.

There was a Toa team assigned to Artakha, the Toa Artakha. It notably had one member from each element. Though very well armed and well trained, they experienced very little combat. They fought off Kojol’s invasion, and later fought Teridax’s forces in the Dark Reign, where five of them were killed and the others hid and continued a guerilla war. There was never a Toa team assigned to Karzahni, though the colonists that knew not what land they inhabited once managed to get a Fa-Toa to protect them from Rahi before the evacuated.