Keeper of Kraata

IC: The guard also escorted the group up to the observatory. When Maeloc saw them, a small smile spread on his face. Greed never failed to motivate. "And who might you all be?" OOC: Remind me, who is with you?

OOC: Well, these are the Ga-Koro docks, so I'd imagine there are a lot of blue people around... IC: Aokora looked up, seeing the Ko-Toa. Abandoning the tools she was packing, she hastily made her way towards her. "Hello! You're here about the expedition, right?"

When I get enough characters on both sides (3-4, I'm guessing), the expeditions will commence. Is there any other information you think I am overlooking?

OOC: Ooh, my bad. First person can be confusing like that. IC: "Oh congratulations, you can threaten a turaga. Well done. When you've seen Echelon in action, moving stuff around with your mind stops fazing you." Maeloc moved around the table. "Anyway, you seem competent enough. You're probably interested in the promised rewards, I take it?"

IC: Kalyss nodded. She mentally got Vakua's attention. Vakua, I don't want you to talk to the Akiri, unless your telepathy comes up. No need to spook him. I do want you to keep an ear out for anything suspicious, though. Vakua nodded, and pulled his headphones down around his neck. He cringed slightly as his sensitive hearing tried to cope with the loudness of Ta-Koro. Kalyss led the group through the hallway. Jaller's secretary raised an eyebrow when the diverse group approached him. "We're here to speak to the Akiri."

IC: Kalyss overlooked the group. Three Kalta including herself, a couple, a recovering amnesiac, and a su-matoran. A bit rag-tag, admittedly, but she wasn't in the position to ask for more at the moment. The Su-Toa turned to face one of the guards, who was cautiously looking them over. "We need to speak to Akiri..." Jaller. Pronounced 'jah-lah'. "-Jaller. It's fairly urgent, and is... sensitive in nature." OOC: Queuing for Akiri Jaller?

IC: "As much as I would love to hear more of your escapades, I'm afraid it will have to wait." Kalyss flashed a glare at Casanuva, who rolled his eyes. "Everyone ready?" Casanuva shrugged. Vakua nodded. "What about you all?"

IC: Casanuva straightened his back. "There was one. She was being threatened by one of my traveling companions at the time, a mentally unstable necromancer De-Toa, and I was telling him to back off, under threat of... well, me. Guards were called, the situation was resolved without anybody being arrested or otherwise... impaired."

IC: "Hey, the last time I was here, I was involved in a... lets call it an 'incident' with the guard. I don't know if there's a record, or if I'm on some kind of blacklist, or something. I just know I'm not sleeping at the Magmatide anytime soon."

IC: Kalyss nodded her thanks, and followed with Vakua. Casanuva hung back. "Y'know, suddenly I'm not so keen on seeing an Akiri... Not like I have anything else to do at this point, though."

IC: One of the guards nodded, and opened the door, ushering Luyn into the Citadel. As he escorted the Po-Toa into the observatory, he said to him "Cause any trouble and you're dead." The guard left, slamming the door behind him. Luyn was left alone in the room, dimly lit by starlight and a few scattered lightstones. An Onu-Turaga was standing at a table in the center of the room, poring over a map. Maeloc looked up, spotting Luyn. The turaga scrutinized the toa, looking him up and down with his telescopic eye. "Toa of stone, useful for an excavation, at least." The turaga almost looked bored, leaning on his spade. "Who are you, and what to you do? Impress me."

Oops! Knew I would overlook something. Adding something to the original notice to meet Aokora at the north docks.

If someone wants to get into the Citadel to meet Maeloc, I will handle the Citadel guards escorting them.

Fifteen, actually. And yes, you will need to find out for yourselves. Fairly easy, though, they are color-coded. If you can find them.

Hence why Aokora is offering 'modest pay', instead of a concrete number. As my actual characters, the only ones I've had to think about money are Vakua (had a day job) and Casanuva (cannot hold onto money to save his life)

In the time before time, when matoran mistrusted one another based purely on their elemental leaning; they feared and hated those that were not like them, and believed their own element to be superior to all others. A matoran of each element was invited to a gathering, by whom is not known. They began to argue with one another, believing there to be some form of deceit. The confrontation nearly came to blows, and a mysterious Turaga appeared, saying that he had invited them. The Turaga said he had hoped to rationally talk of peace and unity, but that they had already proven they would not be willing to be rational. With a wave of his staff, the matoran's heartstones were changed, swapped with another's. Their element was suppressed, and they gained the element of another. The Turaga spoke: "Perhaps an alternate view would do good; go and live a moon's time with your new kinsmen. Then return here, and speak of your experiences." The fifteen bewildered matoran then awoke in their new settlements, surrounded by those they had never seen before. In a moon's time, they returned, and found themselves changed. They greeted the other matoran as if greeting friends, laughing, comparing stories. The Turaga again appeared, and asked if they would be willing to embrace their Unity as matoran on behalf of Mata Nui. The matoran agreed, pledging to make a strong, unified Koro. The Makuta would have none of this, the servants of Mata Nui pledging to unite. From the darkness he reached out, and tore the matoran's heartstones out. The Turaga was shocked at the Makuta's vileness, and labored to save what he could. He managed to salvage what he could of their bodies, fashioning amulets with the heartstones, ensuring their souls were safe. He returned these amulets to the elemental tribes, who in mourning pledged to have a dedicated wearer of the amulet, to show empathy with their kindred matoran. To celebrate this, Mata Nui created a star in the sky for each of the amulets. Thus were the Amulets of Elemental Kindred created. These amulets are very real, and carry power available to those bold enough to find them... Two expeditions are now being mounted to Ga-Wahi, to recover these unique artifacts, these pieces of living history! And, that's right, your character can sign on! Now, which one your character would be interested lies in one of two ideologies, philosophical alignments. "It belongs in a museum!" Aokora, the leading expert on the legend in Mata Nui, was informed by her friend, Nixie, that a new star has appeared. Bolstered by this, and the arrival of the Dasaka, the ga-matoran archeologist has convinced Akiri Hahli of the cultural significance of these amulets, and what a help they could be when used as an aid to bridge the cultures of the Mata Nuians and the Dasaka. She has need now of a good, strong group of individuals who want to share history! And, should you not be interested in that, there's monetary payment, and you might be able to convince her to let you borrow some of the treasure. Dasaka characters are welcome as well! Who knows, you just might have some unique insights into this expedition... "So do you!" Maeloc, an Onu-Turaga Legacy archivist, made a strange discovery when he was cataloging items in the Citadel's archives. A strange amulet, that when he wore it, suppressed his elemental powers, eventually replacing them with abilities normally available only to those possessing the element of Ice. Maeloc sees these artifacts for what they truly are: potent tools, and potential dangers. Seeing as the Legacy is taking efforts to eliminate any dangers to its regime where it can, Maeloc secured permission to mount his own expedition. Any that join him will have the plunder from the Amulet's resting place be divided up according to him... and, since Maeloc is a ranking member of the Legacy, he has been authorized to extend membership in the Legacy to those who assist in this effort. So, all you petitioners wanting to join on, this might give you something to do! And, there is a potential for unique loot! These amulets are unique, and can change hands very easily. They could be payment, gifts, exchanges... or it can be stolen. I shall endeavor to keep a 'living list' of sorts here. Few locations are known, so it may be short now, but this will grow! As more information comes to light, I will unveil more information, such as what the specific powers are. Right now: Upon being put on, an amulet suppresses the bearer's elemental powers totally. After an hour, a small measure of the amulet's corresponding element is gained: matoran, turaga, and toa recieve the element's passive trait that Matoran have, and toa and turaga gain a small active ability, that is much more draining to them to them than a native user of the element. Skakdi and Lesterin have their elemental abilities suppressed, and they both gain the associated Lesterin ability. Ice Amulet- Gives the user resistance to cold and ice equivalent to a ko-matoran. Toa and Turaga gain the ability to coat their hand in rime, and upon touching something it is coated in numbing frost. Maeloc, Keeper of Kraata.Water Amulet- User can swim much better, and can hold breath for a much longer time. Toa and Turaga can manipulate up to a gallon of water.Magnetism Amulet- The user gains a better sense of direction as well as an internal compass, and they can magnetize a metal object (or hand-sized portion of a normal metallic object... including a hand) as if it were an ordinary magnet.Psionics Amulet- The user gains a strong resistance toward mental attacks, bordering on outright immunity (like the Dashi). Toa and Turaga gain the ability to hear Ideatalk. Lesterin and Skakdi wearing this amulet possess mental shielding, granting them great resistance toward mental attacks (including those of Dasaka!), and in general the wearer has greater intelligence. Thank you to Nuju Metru, for working with me and making this possible, and Ghosthands for letting me have a Legacy character for this, and allowing membership to the Legacy.

IC: At any given time in the day, Maeloc would be either be going through the Citadel archives, or eating. There hadn't been a proper cataloging system in here for decades, centuries possibly. When the Legacy had taken Ko-Koro, he thought it would have been a treasure trove of information kept in the Citadel's storage. Well, there was a trove, at least. Stuff in here dating back to Turaga Nuju's time, most of it junk. Given the proper channels, he might be able to sell some of this stuff to collectors, but the only way he could possibly do that would be by laundering the goods himself. Not a healthy career choice when your superior was a prophet of the Makuta. The thing Maeloc missed most about being a Toa wasn't the power, or the strength: it was the height. And maybe the mask power; his Noble Akaku didn't quite cut it, requiring him to be up close to actually use it. So, when he had to go through the shelves of the Citadel's archives, it wasn't a simple matter of peering through the drawers to look at something. It didn't help that the inside of the boxes was almost always dark, too. Hours, days of notating useless junk or records. Then... he found something. When he scanned the inside, it was actually glowing. He steadied the ladder as he pulled the drawer out. In it was a scroll, and an amulet. The amulet was simple in make, but was unlike anything he had ever seen before. A smooth crystal set in white and light blue metallic protodermis... It glowed faintly, then he realized he recognized the glow. A heartstone... but still glowing? He realized the cable loop that made up the rest of the amulet was no less macabre, wrapped from white and light blue sinew. He had seen plenty of it when watching the body clean-up of the Koro. An interesting trinket. "This... would make a nice gift. Until then..." The Onu-Turaga dropped it around his neck. Suddenly, he felt bowled over. His connection to his Earth element... was gone! No, not gone, just... suppressed. He yanked the amulet off his neck. Revulsion almost drove him to shatter the thing on the sanctum's cold stone floor, until common sense won out. This amulet suppresses elemental powers. It could be used... and was in itself a powerful tool. A dangerous tool. He imagined what would happen if such a thing were to be slipped around the neck of the esteemed, powerful Echelon... No, no. That would be stupid. Just some morbid thoughts. But either way... Eisen had put out a bounty for some random Toa's mask; the Legacy was edging out potential threats. And something that could suppress elemental powers was something the higher-ups would be very interested in. Then again, if this existed, why wasn't it used before? There had been dangerous prisoners in Ko-Koro. Surely this could have been used... Maeloc decided to check the scroll. Maybe it would reveal some more about this... The scroll seemed to be an annotated copy of an essay by someone named 'Aokora', an archeologist specializing in an old legend. A copy, transcribed from a cave etching near Kini-Nui, was included. In the time before time, when matoran mistrusted one another based purely on their elemental leaning; they feared and hated those that were not like them, and believed their own element to be superior to all others. A matoran of each element was invited to a gathering, by whom is not known. They began to argue with one another, believing there to be some form of deceit. The confrontation nearly came to blows, and a mysterious Turaga appeared, saying that he had invited them. The Turaga said he had hoped to rationally talk of peace and unity, but that they had already proven they would not be willing to be rational. With a wave of his staff, the matoran's heartstones were changed, swapped with another's. Their element was suppressed, and they gained the element of another. The Turaga spoke: "Perhaps an alternate view would do good; go and live a moon's time with your new kinsmen. Then return here, and speak of your experiences." The fifteen bewildered matoran then awoke in their new settlements, surrounded by those they had never seen before. In a moon's time, they returned, and found themselves changed. They greeted the other matoran as if greeting friends, laughing, comparing stories. The Turaga again appeared, and asked if they would be willing to embrace their Unity as matoran on behalf of Mata Nui. The matoran agreed, pledging to make a strong, unified Koro. The Makuta would have none of this, the servants of Mata Nui pledging to unite. From the darkness he reached out, and tore the matoran's heartstones out. The Turaga was shocked at the Makuta's vileness, and labored to save what he could. He managed to salvage what he could of their bodies, fashioning amulets with the heartstones, ensuring their souls were safe. He returned these amulets to the elemental tribes, who in mourning pledged to have a dedicated wearer of the amulet, to show empathy with their kindred matoran. To celebrate this, Mata Nui created a star in the sky for each of the amulets. Thus were the Amulets of Elemental Kindred created. So... this Amulet didn't just suppress the wearer's element, it practically changed it! Well, sort of. He had to test it out; Maeloc again placed the Amulet of Elemental Kindred around his neck. And... nothing happened, except that his Earth powers were cut off. Hmm. Maeloc skipped through, looking at the annotations. Looked to be the writings of Matoro, interesting. The notes said that the amulet had to be worn about an our to take any effect. Well, that was a mood-killer. It hadn't had any effect when he tried it, so it had been surmised to be the Ice Amulet. They tried it one of the local de-matoran, and his exceptional hearing faded away. An hour later, he had gained resistance to cold and ice equivalent to that of a ko-matoran. Very nice. Maeloc was starting to get fed up with this weather. But there was more. Apparently, they had tried it with a toa of some sort... didn't say what element. After an hour, the notes said he gained a slight, specific Ice power. Covered his hand in numbing rime, which spread with a touch. Very interesting. Trivial for a Ko-Toa to do himself, but for anyone to gain this power... The archivist decided to read through the actual essay more thoroughly. The legend itself mentioned fifteen Amulets... fifteen? That seemed like quite a lot. He'd make official count later, but for now, the paper might provide more answers. It was quite well-supported, he had to admit. The legend stated that there were a series stars connected to these Amulets; Aokora put in graphs from a prominent Ga-Koroan astrologer in to support her paper. These stars were identified by both their unwavering position in the heavens, and a particular shine they took. However, it pointed out that there were only fourteen such stars. The stars that were there happened could be used to calculate coordinates on the island, though. Aokora had organized expeditions to these spots before, with no luck. They were either too deep in the Po-Wahi desert or Le-Wahi jungle to be feasibly reached, or someplace completely underground. Annoyingly, the coordinates were not listed, but the formula Nixie had used was. Oh well, not like he had better things to do. Well, he did, but this was more important. Taking the scroll and still wearing the amulet, Maeloc trekked up to the Citadel's telescope, grabbing a map along the way. It didn't take him too horribly long to identify the Kindred stars, as they were called. However, there was something different... there were three that corresponded to coordinates in Ga-Wahi, when the paper said that there were only two. They were right next to each other, practically in a line. How would somebody miss this? Maeloc wrote it off as an error on his end. A while later, though, he had counted and recorded the locations of fifteen stars. One of them, according to the documentation, simply didn't exist before. It had only appeared now? Why? Actually, it didn't matter. This information needed to be capitalized on. * * * While he couldn't get official Legacy support for this expedition to Ga-Koro, his superiors had been... interested, to say the least. That was all Maeloc could want at this point, really. He exited the entrance to the Citadel, passing several (rather large) individuals that must have been waiting for a chance to speak to Echelon. Petitioners, Maeloc thought. "Legacy business, coming through! Out of the way!" As Maeloc walked, he considered how refreshing the Ko-Wahi mornings was when you didn't feel the cold, and smiled. The Onu-Turaga made his way to the Ko-Koro square, where Eisen had made a spectacle setting the bounty. Maeloc rolled his eyes; that one was so overdramatic. A simple board would have done. He unfurled his scroll, and tacked it to the metal pole with a small magnet. Individuals Wanted for Expedition Archeological expedition to Ga-Wahi to retrieve Artifacts Applicants must be able to look after themselves Conflict Expected Rewards: Any plunder divided as the principal party sees fit JOINING THE LEGACY Those interested see Maeloc at the Citadel Maeloc smiled slightly as people started to crowd around, and he pushed his way through the group, and made his way back to the citadel.

IC: In the time before time, when matoran mistrusted one another based purely on their elemental leaning; they feared and hated those that were not like them, and believed their own element to be superior to all others. A matoran of each element was invited to a gathering, by whom is not known. They began to argue with one another, believing there to be some form of deceit. The confrontation nearly came to blows, and a mysterious Turaga appeared, saying that he had invited them. The Turaga said he had hoped to rationally talk of peace and unity, but that they had already proven they would not be willing to be rational. With a wave of his staff, the matoran's heartstones were changed, swapped with another's. Their element was suppressed, and they gained the element of another. The Turaga spoke: "Perhaps an alternate view would do good; go and live a moon's time with your new kinsmen. Then return here, and speak of your experiences." The fifteen bewildered matoran then awoke in their new settlements, surrounded by those they had never seen before. In a moon's time, they returned, and found themselves changed. They greeted the other matoran as if greeting friends, laughing, comparing stories. The Turaga again appeared, and asked if they would be willing to embrace their Unity as matoran on behalf of Mata Nui. The matoran agreed, pledging to make a strong, unified Koro. The Makuta would have none of this, the servants of Mata Nui pledging to unite. From the darkness he reached out, and tore the matoran's heartstones out. The Turaga was shocked at the Makuta's vileness, and labored to save what he could. He managed to salvage what he could of their bodies, fashioning amulets with the heartstones, ensuring their souls were safe. He returned these amulets to the elemental tribes, who in mourning pledged to have a dedicated wearer of the amulet, to show empathy with their kindred matoran. To celebrate this, Mata Nui created a star in the sky for each of the amulets. Thus were the Amulets of Elemental Kindred created. Aokora knew this legend by heart. It was almost as if she had written multiple essays on it, and was Mata Nui's foremost archaeologist on the legend. So, when her good friend Nixie had told her to meet her at her observatory during the night, there was only one of two things that it could be: 1) The Astrologer had a surprise planned (doubtful, it would have been phrased as a riddle) 2) There was some sort of breakthrough regarding Aokora's work. However, she tried not to get her hopes up. As she poked her head into her friend's observatory, the place was only dimly lit with lightfish. "Hello? Nixie? You wanted to see me?" The Astrologer poked her blue Pakari out from behind her massive telescope. "There you are. I was wondering if you would actually show up." Aokora sputtered a bit. "If I would- What do you want? I could be doing half a dozen other things right now. Including participating in what could be the greatest cultural exchange since the arrival of the Toa Mata!" "And you decided that whatever I am doing is more important than that? I'm flattered." Aokora snorted and laughed. "I'm sorry, late night and all that. Whatd'ya have for me? New star chart? Subtle celestial currents tell you how to get another coordinate off those Kindred stars?" Nixie smiled coyly. "It's somewhat related to the latter. Take a look through the telescope." Shrugging, Aokora put her mask up to the eyepiece. Through the background light and stars, three stars, unusually stable and with a hint of color, shimmered. "Where are these Kindred stars? I don't recognize their alignment. They don't look like the ones mapped to Po-Wahi or Onu-Wahi. These the Le-Wahi set?" The Astrologer shook her head. " These are the Ga-Wahi ones." "But there are three. The Ga-Wahi set has two." The stars did have a passing similarity, though. "Had two. The one in the middle only just appeared." Aokora only stared incredulously. "And before you say anything, yes, I triple checked everything, even the other stars. This is a new one, it appeared several days ago." Aokora was dumbfounded. "... So there are fifteen now? The stars actually match the legend?" Nixie nodded, a vague look of satisfaction edging its way onto her mask. Aokora was stunned. She had written an entire paper on how the Kindred Stars numbered only fourteen, but the legend mentioned fifteen Amulets! "I-I don't know what to say..." Nixie raised an eyebrow. "-Except thank you! Thank you so much!" Aokora turned and started pacing. "I might be able to organize an expedition now! The cultural significance of these artifacts could be a huge breakthrough! I could find a sponsor for another expedition, and if that goes well, I could even get a grant!" Aokora looked at Nixie manicly. The Astrologer quickly put on a smile and flashed two 'thumbs up' signs at her. "I... I need to go! Get ready! Thank you!" Aokora grasped Nixie in a hug, then dashed off. Nixie chuckled, and went back to her telescope. * * * Akiri Hahli had been busy, but had been convinced of the potential value of collecting these artifacts, and had agreed to sponsor the expeditiong- to an extent. She would provide a boat, and someone to sail it, and some equipment, and a modest hiring budget. The rest was up to Aokora; unearthing, should it be necessary, and most importantly, finding labor. Or, as the ga-matoran archeologist preferred to call it, 'special members' of the expedition, since some skill at arms was always appreciated because the old ruins were never exactly abandoned. She made her rounds of the Koro, posting notices wherever she could: Expedition to Find Artifacts! Great cultural significance! Discover history! Become part of it! Modest monetary pay Unique look at Mata Nui's history Possibly Unique Rewards See Aokora at North Docks

Stay tuned tonight for a... thing... I've been working on with Nuju. Well, with his consent and input. Recommended listening to prepare yourselves! Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little. The Ark/Map Room theme might fit better. EDIT: Okay I lied. In my defense, I lost a lot of stuff when my browser crashed... anyway, this should happen sometime in the next day.

Thank you for the info! Inu's page on the wiki is a bit... scarce, so I wouldn't have been able to find out otherwise. Also has some nice pointers for playing Fyura. Who is now a vampire.

IC: Aelied looked over the sergeant. "As long as the refugees are out of danger, I don't think I can refuse."

Antidermis, when given to someone that is morally 'neutral', corrupts them towards darkness. Skorm being an example.

Ah, that would explain it. Fyura still misses her laser vision.

Well, the older schematics ARE lasers.... but I digress. So, I'm going to need a clarification on Parakuka powers. I was reading the wiki and profiles of Oreius, Toa Maru of Fire. Who has Inu. Is his thing a special case, where he only loses access to his elemental and kanohi abilities when activating the Parakuka?

But without the 'cut through everything' bit?