Keeper of Kraata

OOC: Ah, you are correct, Tiragith. I guess our 'heroes' puzzled over the riddle for a bit, then Skorm levitated everyone up to other entrance. IC: Skorm pulled back his hood. He looked at his temporary companions, all of whom seemed to be eying him. Confronting the Abettor seemed... foolish, if any of the broken bits of armor lying around indicated anything. And, while he could try to sneak right past the automaton, he doubted it didn't have some sort of extra set of sensory tools that could spot him, and splatter him against the wall. Looks like he had no other choice. He sucked in a breath, steeling himself against the pain caused by his ribcage. The Ba-Toa stood straight, and wiped the ooze off his mask. As he paced towards the Abettor, he felt out the ripples of gravity around him, readied to pull himself back if anything were to go wrong. He stopped, and cleared his throat, a wracking cough. "Guardian. I wish to enter the Vault, to join those who have passed. The Mangaia Pact."

Hyperbolic time chamber?

Not a very eternal guardian, then, if it got fed up..

I thought the Piraka cheated and used Antidermis to influence it?

IC: I believe I saw what you were referring to earlier, when someone manifested a pair of swords. We Toa actually need tools, like my tuning spear, to focus our energies through most effectively, though some have grown beyond that. The De-Toa looked at Kalyss. My sister there has honed her entire body as a weapon, channeling her powers through her armor itself. It's quite a sight, if you don't mind flashes of plasma burning into your vision. Listening to the Menti's stilted referenced to siblings, Vakua understood. We Toa that are on teams often refer to each other as brother and sister. Sometimes we refer to toa that aren't on our team as our brothers; it is an honor to be considered a brother. Kalyss turned to Wisp. "We'd be glad to have you on, seeing as we are... down a few members. I believe Vakua has a few things to finish off here before we leave, and..." Casanuva turned. "I need to find Nunonu. And wrangle up the other people that came with me to get Ry. That's it, though. A stop at Ta-Koro to get my sword made, we go through the tunnels to Onu-Koro, then from there directly to Ko-Wahi."

IC: Vakua smirked. I would think you would be more afraid of my Sonics. The right frequency, and all that crystal you all have shatters. Higher frequency, and you get knocked out. On the other hand, your people certainly have an advantage over Casanuva. Vakua jerked his head at his brother, talking to the Datsue. When his Magnetism fails him, he has to resort to harsh language.

Well, I just fast-forwarded us to outside the Vault, because I didn't know what else we could do. But don't worry, we are much closer to the Piraka now. We still have a high chance of dying gruesomely.

OOC: Alright, I'm fasting us forward; I hope nobody minds. IC: The group was unmolested the rest of the way. It must have been a combination of Karna's hearing and nullifying of their sounds, and perhaps the scent of Rahkshi still on them... or was it something more? Skorm didn't question it. Eventually, the group found themselves entering a large cavern, slightly better-lit than most of the tunnels. Before them was a giant door, sealed. Skorm doubted any of his powers, or even his former teammates', could even scratch it. Of course, getting past the guardian would probably be the more pressing issue; it towered above both Skorm and his companions. It had a Pakari inset in it's chest, between the revolving cylinders that made up its shoulders. If the Pakari had any power at all, the guardian could use crush them to a paste with ease. It was obviously mechanical, but even so, Skorm felt a strange... kinship with the guardian. The Abettor.

IC: Interesting. I apologize for the intrusion, but my Suletu is not nearly that powerful, for the most part. I can sense thoughts directly related to me just by being in proximity, and can pore through surface thoughts if I want to and project other's thoughts into someone else, but I have not really tried going further. Furthermore, that is just on Mata Nui inhabitants; matoran, toa, skakdi, vortixx. With you Dasaka, I can't see much at all. I can project thoughts into your mind, but that cannot affect you more than whispering into your ear. The only thoughts I can glean are what you deliberately respond to mine with. I haven't seen this in any other species; technically, your people are safer than anyone else around here. But I shall respect your people's traditions unless a dire need for me to directly speak to one of you arises. Vakua thought alone for a moment, then contacted Vesun. You might have better luck asking one of their Willhammers to assess you, this memory degeneration ailment you have might be known to them. If I remember, Asa over there is a healer. "Well... It'a seems ya came ta this land ina very inconvenient time," Kalyss snorted. "I'll say. There are disasters happening all across the island, natural or otherwise. There are beetles devouring the jungle in Le-Wahi, a devastating sandstorm hit Po-Koro a while back, and Ko-Koro was just taken by the Mangaia Pact. My team was going to go there soon, we think that was why we might have been deployed to this island. We only came to meet you people because we thought it could have been your expedition we were sent to stop."

IC: Kalyss turned towards the elder. "At least we only have to deal with your expedition. We don't have time for duels or whatever else you people call it, we have a mission we need to accomplish." Casanuva shrugged. "True enough, I suppose. We were going to head to Ko-Koro, see if we can be of any help there." Vakua tilted his head, and relayed some thoughts to Casanuva. Casanuva nodded. "Vakua asks where exactly this cultural aversion to having your mind entered came from? Is having someone talk in your head such a shock?"

In nine days, I will have played for three months.

I'm pretty sure we can fast forward to encountering the Abettor, I've contacted some Piraka players to find out what's next.

I'm still waiting for the other guys in Kini-Nui.

Technically, since Vakua (and all of the Kalta) are foreigners to Mata Nui anyway, you guys shouldn't be lumping the expedition's reaction to him with their reactions to Mata Nui in general

IC: Casanuva bowed as well, adding a flourish with his hand. "I am Casanuva, Toa of Magnetism for the Toa Kalta. I see you've already met my fellow Kalta, Vakua and Kalyss." I tried to talk to her, and it turns out entering a Dasaka's mind is a heinous offense. While I have been given permission to communicate directly to her alone, we were informed I should use an intermediary. Casanuva stepped back, surprised. "Oh. I hope my brother didn't offend you too much with his mask. He didn't mean to offend you, we Kalta have just grown a bit used to it. In addition to bringing us all closer together, it's a valuable tactical asset, being able to link together our minds. Saved our lives just last night."

True, true. But there does tend to be a level of overlap, though: And to be fair, you could say Kalyss was defending the honor of her brother. She had every right to be angry.

Like I said, the individualism of Mata Nui versus the rigid honor and caste system is an interesting contrast. I mean, I like poking holes in 'honor' system and caste systems I always see as malevolent. Perhaps others feel similarly.

The last lyrics I put in was 'Gravity hurts' after Silo fought Casanuva.

Kalyss has created neon flares with it. Otherwise, she hasn't really used it for something other than transport.

They really should not be falling at the rate that they are. I don't think we have even had a major PC injury to them in the last few months. As for the element? Fire seems like the best fit. Hey, Skorm almost got his entire chest crushed. Ooh, maybe he'll be like Grievous with all his coughing now? Also, pretty much any element that has a physical medium can create explosions. Sonics, as well, can vibrate things until they explode. But yes, Fire seems to be your best bet.

I have a playlist for the BZPRPG, made up of music that fits each of my characters. There is: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger: overall theme I have for the Kalta; since they were actually matoran at one point, this is the montage music I imagine for their training. Four of them even fit the lyrics themselves: Skorm was made harder, Vakua was made better, Kalyss is obviously faster, and Casanuva was made stronger. Get Lucky: Casanuva's theme. This was back when he was on his own, and more of a hedonist; still applies, though. Seeya- Vakua's theme; I think its fitting that a De-Toa DJ has a Deadmau5 song as his theme; lyrics are somewhat appropriate as well, given Vakua's introspectiveness. Die- Kalyss's theme. A blood-pumping song from RWBY, I just think it fits in her battle scenes. All Men are Pigs- Kalyss's secondary theme. A bit more playful, for her more hit-and-run fighting style. Nui Harime's Theme- Skorm's theme. It's just so discordant, I think it fits the character's eerie rage. Mental Meta Metal- Skorm's battle theme. I just love the beginning, for when Skorm starts kicking . Dr Wily's Castle- Zueya's theme. I've always liked this music, and I think the daunting yet triumphant aspect of it fits Zueya's mask and skill. Elves arrive at Helm's Deep- Aelied's theme. I wanted something more ethereal and classical for Aelied, given that he is an ancient toa, clearly apart from the others. Cherry Bomb- This is for when Zueya and Kalyss have to team up. Grrl power! Infinite Loop- Cyrix's theme. Given that Cyrix is a master of stealth, I wanted an Metal Gear Solid OST for him, and I remember this one as being pretty good. On a side note, can those of us in Mangaia fast forward to getting to the Vault entrance? Not sure what else we can do before getting there, since we already defeated a pair of Rahkshi.

IC: Vakua nodded and relayed Sinshi's instructions to Kalyss, who breathed deeply. These people had a very stringent emphasis on 'honor'. "I'm sorry for my outburst, my brothers and I have had a... long and stressful night. We've had, um..." You could say we have lost a teammate, Vakua relayed to them both. Kalyss looked surprised, then nodded grimly in acceptance.

Vakua has made it clear that the Willhammer abilities are clearly leagues beyond his skill, however. He also cannot gain surface understanding, as he can with non-psionics. Normally he percieves minds as a pile of stuff. Just by being in proximity he can perceive general intent or strong emotion, and can recognize himself, should someone be thinking about him. This is mostly how his teammates contact him, they just concentrate on Vakua to get his attention. If he wants, he can more closely examine the pile from afar, identifying individual things. I haven't seen if he can rummage around in other's heads, though. The Dasaka, to him, he perceives their minds like boxes. He can still detect their presence, but can't see anything inside it. So, if this is valid, the Dasaka are even more safe than usual from Vakua's telepathy.

IC: See these toa-like creatures? I believe they are called Menti. They lack elemental powers, but they seem to have access to one of four manifestations of mental power. One creates swords out of mental energy, one can affect the mind to make illusions, one can affect the environment much like a Matatu, The last seems to be what they call a Willhammer, able to affect minds. Like my telepathy, but even greater in power and skill. This is probably where they got their aversion to... uninvited thoughts, like mine. Casanuva sauntered up to where Mura was talking to the slender Menti. "You can normally tell a being's element by colors, but not always. For example, Earth is often associated with black, but so is Gravity, though they tend to have more purple. Creatures of Magnetism, such as a Fa-Toa like myself, are normally associated with gunmetal and black, though I'm mostly blue, with some gunmetal. Blue, in turn, is associated with Water, as you can probably tell by most of the natives here. While Toa have the lion's share of powers, even Matoran like Mura here," patting the su-matoran on the back, "have some elemental power. Like, he can resist heat a Karz of a lot better than most other beings. Fa-matoran, like I once was, can navigate very well due to our internal compass." Casanuva gestured to Vakua, who was conversing with the Ba-Toa. "De-matoran have it pretty bad, though. They get overly sensitive hearing. Vakua there got some unusual qualities, though, with sensitive eyesight and the inability to vocalize. Neither bothered him much, but its why he wears the tinted visor and sound-dampening headphones now. And why he got that mask. I've never seen someone else wear it, but it allows him to talk to others via telepathy."

And that is something I personally agree with; Vakua had no way of knowing this, though. To extend my analogy, the stranger's culture places the hands as the most powerful, delicate, and important part of the body, and must be protected and hidden from sight. However, to the person who is simply trying to sign (metaphor falls apart unless you assume everyone can understand sign language), he gets yelled at for doing something he has to do.