Trespassers V2: Tales of the Masks [IC]

[StormLord]

Cell looks around, obviously rubbing his chin, squinting, and crouching down in thought.

The two newest members of the group had already noted they wanted nothing to do with the water, as had Edmond.  It had been discussed previously that Gozer would be able to go underwater without much issue.  That left the tank, the mage, the captain, and himself.  The tank seemed like an obvious no-go for several reasons, notably it had a whole crew and they only had one waterbreathing mask.  The mage used primarily fire to attack, a problem even the captain could puzzle out.
So Cell walked over to the Captain and walked him to the water's edge.  He gestured down, to the mask of waterbreathing, then between the two of them, as if to ask "You or Me".

[Hal Henderics]

Gozer stares blankly ahead, before walking into the water.

[DragonRage]

Once his eyes are submerged, Gozer almost immediately spots a sunken temple, rough stonework encrusted with coral, barnacles, and other marine life.  This has got to be where the Toa Stone is.  Off near the mouth of the bay, nowhere near the temple, a pair of strange reptiles engage in a boxing match, pounding at each other's bulky torsos and unmasked faces with great enthusiasm.

[Hal Henderics]

Gozer walks forward towards the temple, instead of swimming.  He is utterly unconcerned by the sight of the creatures.

 

 

[StormLord]

Cell shrugs, equips the mask of waterbreathing, and follows Gozer into the water.

[Strider]

Edmond for his part, paced, staring out over the water. It felt awkward to just wait here for something to happen, like sending one person to call for help in a horror movie. It wasn't like they had a choice, but that made it no less stressful.

 

"Really wish we had a rope or something, no communication sucks." He'd have to try to get everyone set up with waterproof comms at some point, once he had his tools, supplies, again and most importantly, time.

[DragonRage]

The inside of the temple is covered in coral and worn, stylized carvings of beings of Bionicle, strange creatures, matoran, and taller beings.  However, what really draws the attention are the Toa Stone and silver Mask of Power sitting near the entrance, just waiting to be picked up.  Two more masks sit nearby, outside the temple.  One is rusted, pitted, and scarred with corrosion, giving off an unsettling aura.  The other appears to have been dented and cracked by a massive fist.

 

Gozer and Cell find the Water Stone, the Kanohi Pakari, a Broken Kanohi, and an Infected Kanohi

Spoiler

Kanohi Pakari, the mask of strength.

This silvery, metallic mask is shaped like a cross between a hockey mask, a circuit board, and Darth Vader’s helmet.  When worn, it color-coordinates with its wearer’s outfit.  Donning the mask of strength greatly increases the wearer’s physical power.

Gives you a +2 bonus on strength checks, and a +1 damage bonus with strength-based weapons.  Incompatible with other masks.

 

Broken Kanohi

This was once a Kanohi Mask of Power, before its wearer got punched in the face by a Tarakava, badly damaging the mystic item.  It does not currently function; Matoran tales and experience hold that damaged masks lose their powers forever, but with techniques from another world this might not be the case...

 

Infected Kanohi

This mask of power has been oozed on by a Kraata for an extended period of time.  Any who wear it will fall under the control of the Makuta until it is removed or destroyed.

 

[Hal Henderics]

Gozer picks up the stone, leaving the masks to Cell.

[StormLord]

Cell grabs the three masks and follows Gozer out.

[DragonRage]

The walk back to the surface is as uneventful as the walk down, and Cell and Gozer are able to rejoin the group with no trouble.

 

Hahli is surprised that there were no Rahi there to defend the stone, and more than a bit suspicious.  Nuparu is more concerned about the Infected Mask, and makes sure to impress Cell on the importance of never letting anyone wear it, as wearing an infected mask lets the Makuta control your mind.  Still, the Toa Stone and Kanohi Masks are the real deal, and neither matoran can really complain about nobody being in much danger as the mask is retrieved.

 

With the water stone in your possession, all that's left is to travel to Ta-Koro and retrieve the fire stone.  The journey up the Mangai volcano is a rough one.  While there is a well-paved road, the incline is fairly steep and the air hazed with vog.  As you reach the lip of the volcano, the village... No, the fortress city of Ta-Koro comes into view, a great citadel resting on an island in the center of the volcanic caldera, a thick stone bridge allowing safe if not comfortable passage over the molten rock.  The air is sweltering, though survivable, the choking gasses normally associated with an active volcano not reaching the bridge.  Red, yellow, black, and blue matoran man the walls and gate, carrying disks, spears, and round shields.  As you approach the gate, the great stone slabs slide aside and the portcullis raises, revealing a figure standing on the other side.

 

He's slightly taller than the matoran, despite his stooped-over posture, stern-looking, orange mask contrasting with an armored, black body.  The way he stands, leaning on a staff crowned by a flickering, orange-red orb, and the cast of his eyes suggest great age and hard-won wisdom.  "So," He begins, voice strong despite his apparent age, "You're the ones who've been going around making such a fuss.  Found five of the Toa Stones, have you?  And I suppose you want the sixth?  Well," He sighs, and turns walking back into the city, "I suppose even the Makuta can't fight destiny forever.  The Toa Stones will be united.  And the Toa will be called.  I am Turaga Vakama.  Leader of this village of Ta-Koro.  You lot have stirred things up something fierce.  Every time you get a stone, the stars change; Turaga Nuju's been quite upset over it.  He doesn't like having his foresight disrupted.  But he'll come around.  We'll all have to," He chuckles, as he leads the party through a bustling bazaar where all sorts of handicrafts are being hawked by enthusiastic matoran, many of whom stop to stare at the strange procession the party makes, "The ways we Turaga used to hide the Toa Stones so long ago are no longer available to us.  And I'm getting a bit old to be fighting the Makuta personally.  I'd do it if I had to.  All of us Turaga would.  But our days of heroics are long past and...  I'd like to think I could still give him a run for his money, but mutually assured destruction is more realistic.  At best.  Calling the Toa is the most favorable chance we have, and without you lot...  No one knows what's coming now.  Things that have been set in stone and in the stars are now mutable and fluid.  We won't know what the future holds... But neither will the Makuta, and he can read the stars as well as any of us.  It's exciting, in a way.  Ah, but look at me ramble on, we've arrived."

 

Turaga Vakama leads the group into a modest hut near the center of the city, nestled against a large citadel in the place of honor.  The simple, stone structure has enough room inside to comfortably fit the whole party with room to spare, its insides holding a small forge, bed, and desk, as well as a large, sturdy-looking safe.  Lightstones stud the walls, bathing everything inside in a constant glow, leaving nowhere in shadow.  "The Makuta's arrogance is not unfounded; his power is immense, beyond our full comprehension.  But it's also one of his weaknesses.  He'd never expect his old foe, who fought him so many times and lived to tell about it, to live in such modest accommodations.  Or to hide the most important things around outside the vaults.  No one beats the Makuta in a contest of raw power.  But in wits?  He might be intelligent, but his character flaws blind him.  And in a place like this, one without shadows to lurk in..."  Vakama takes his staff and holds it to the safe.  A tongue of flame emits from the tip, and he begins using it to cut into his safe, ignoring the lock.  "I've rigged my safe with Madu extract," He states cheerily, "And welded it shut.  Try to open the lock?  It won't work.  Try to force it open?  BOOM!  Try to teleport inside?  There's a lightstone in every wall to keep the shadows away.  The Makuta's never been as good a metalworker as me.  Doesn't have the patience for it, you see.  He tried his hand at mask-making once, but he always rushes his work.  Quenches too early, hurries his carving, cracks the protodermis, lets the power escape.  And with what's in here..."  His smile turns fiercely satisfied as he presumably imagines the Makuta falling victim to his trap, "Let's just say that if the Madu extract doesn't get you, you'll wish it had."  The elder continues slowly cutting around the door, humming a cheery if slightly unsettling tune.

 

Hahli and Nuparu seem shocked by Vakama's rambling speech; apparently he doesn't normally act like this.

[Strider]

"Would the masks of Makuta then be those rusted and degrading ones that we have seen occasionally? They do tend to be a bit off-putting." Edmond stated, watching the careful cuts. Impatience, arrogance, and the belief that everyone schemed as much as he did, within the limits of their capabilities, those were the Makuta's flaws? Nothing came to mind immediately in the way of plans, but those were a dangerous combination of flaws. This was good, definitely.

[Hal Henderics]

Cap's eyes squint.

 

"What if he just tossed it in the magma?  Then it'd blow up from the heat and he'd get whats inside or it'd break."

 

"If I were impatient, that'd be the first thing I did..."

[DragonRage]

"Well, a bath in lava would certainly destroy everything inside," Vakama confirms, "Even a Toa of Fire couldn't handle that for long.

 

"And no, infected masks aren't forged by the Makuta.  He needs a functional mask to make that work, and his aren't that.  He uses kraata, these nasty worms he makes out of his own darkness, to do it.  If they ooze on a mask for long enough, it becomes infected.  We've been capturing them and imprisoning them, not in this city, somewhere else that you don't need to know the location of, to keep them under control.  If we killed them, their energy would probably just go back to the Makuta.  This way weakens him, however slightly."

[Hal Henderics]

Cap blinks for a moment.

 

"I guess that makes sense."

 

He supposes this world must not have dragons.

[kj1225]

Travis had been warily eyeing the sky every few moments after the mention of the stars physically shifting, but the talk of out smarting the enemy finally gets him back into the right head space. "All warfare is based on deception ecetera. And it's nice to know my fears that we were just depending on a fortress to protect this was unfounded, no offense."

[Unlurking Sentinel]

At first, Cicivexa sincerely doubted that Turaga Vakama had the power even for a mutually assured defeat of the Makuta. Perhaps he was mage of great power, but surely no individual could accomplish such a feat. But as they arrived at the vault, and the old man reminisced on having fought the Makuta countless times before, and on knowing and exploiting his every weakness, Cicivexa was dismayed.

 

"How... for how long have you fought with the Makuta?"

[DragonRage]

"Ta-Koro's walls are strong, but if the Makuta desired our deaths, he'd have them," Vakama states.  He seems to have gotten about halfway around the door to his safe, "No, he wants to rule us.  He wants the adoration and respect given to his brother, the great spirit Mata Nui, after whom our island is named.  He can't get that if he knocks down the walls and kills or enslaves us all.  And if he hits the wrong place...  He can't afford to destroy what I've got hidden here, and as long as he doesn't know where it is, his ability to act is limited.

 

"How long have I fought the Makuta?  Depends on how you define it.  I've only been face to face with him twice.  But I've been working against him for oh, over a thousand years by now.  It's certainly not been boring, if a bit slower paced than the early days."

[Chevaleresse]

"For someone who's over a thousand years old and supposedly almighty, he doesn't seem to hold up in a swordfight that well." Tsubasa commented idly as she followed the group about, taking in the various sights. She assumed that he must be this world's equivalent of a hermit. A bit more active than she might expect, but maybe things simply worked differently here? Something about mastering a craft, maybe. If he knew that much about working with metal and heat, had he worked with crafting anything less permanent? A meal made by a thousand-year-old hermit could only be the best. . . or the worst, but Tsubasa was an optimist.

[DragonRage]

"No, I'd expect he isn't," Vakama agrees, carefully working around the last of the safe door, "I've only seen him fight hand to hand twice, and both times he was looking for a chance to use his powers to end the fight rather than simply attempting to end it with his fists or his spear.  I would suspect that if you can keep him from simply defeating you instantly, he'd not hold up well in a sword fight."  Vakama eases the safe door out of its housing, and sets it aside.  Then he reaches in and withdraws a silver mask and the final Toa Stone, the stone of fire, from the brightly lit interior.  There's another item in the safe, a small, orange mask, and Vakama's hands hesitate over it.  "Is this the right time, I wonder?"  He muses, "Destiny is unmoored, strangers from another world travel our shores, the prophecies and legends that were once certain become less so...  Matoran lost," Vakama seems to deflate slightly at the thought, "So many matoran lost.  More than the Makuta would allow if he were the only one at play here.  But is it truly the time for this?"

[Hal Henderics]

"Hey, uhh, old guy, I don't know what you're rambling about, but we gotta go kick that Makuta guy's butt or whatever.  If you got something important to say before giving us the stone, it's kinda now or never."

 

Cap says, shrugging to himself at the old guy's muttering.

[StormLord]

Cell takes a step towards Cap, wrapping his arm over Cap's shoulder and beginning to make speaking gestures like he's talking.  This goes on for a few moments like Cell is having some sort of deep discourse with Cap, finishing it with a hearty pat on back, shaking his shoulder, and stepping away again.

[Chevaleresse]

"Well, not that I trust the guy, but the Makuta said something about universe-eating monsters, and everyone else seems to agree they're the main threat. I'd say it's a pretty natural time to unleash everything you have, even if it leaves you vulnerable afterward." Tsubasa glanced at the rest of the group. "If there was ever a time for extreme actions, it'd be now. Especially if people are dying." The swordswoman looked down for a moment, thinking about something that didn't seem to be pleasant. She took a deep breath, and smoothed her expression out. I'm thinking too hard again. 

[Unlurking Sentinel]

"Not to mention the additional threat of Medusa, a second deity of darkness, having followed us and joined Makuta's ranks. The threat she poses is unpredictable. Nothing can be spared in dealing with the threats we face." Cicivexa was still stunned by facing this thousand-year adversary of a god, but if he had something that could combat such threats, it needed to be deployed with all due haste.

[DragonRage]

Vakama pulls the orange mask out of the safe, and lays it on his table next to the silver mask and the Toa Stone.  "These two," He gestures to the silver mask and the stone, "Take them with my blessing.  The toa stone of fire and the Kanohi Miru, the Great Mask of Levitation.  But this other mask...  It is not like any mask of power...  No, any power, that you have ever used before.  This is the Kanohi Vahi," He looks down upon the innocuous mask heavily, "The Great Mask of Time.  The most powerful Kanohi Mask I have ever seen.  Even the Great Masks said to be worn by the Makuta, and other mighty spirits like Atakha and Karzahni cannot compare.  Do you truly understand what it means to control time itself?  Can you imagine the consequences if you were to... lose control?  And worse still, the Vahi is not like other masks.  When damaged, it does not cease to function.  Instead, its power begins to leak uncontrollably.  And if it were to be destroyed...  I once threatened the Makuta with the prospect of this mask's destruction.  I told him that if the Vahi were to be shattered, time would cease to be linear.  All his plots, all his plans, they would become meaningless...  Because I or anyone else could simply walk into yesterday and undo them.  But truthfully, I do not know if the damage would be so... light.  I wore this mask, once.  Slowing down a single being for a few seconds was... one of the most difficult things I have ever done, and I could not prevent the mask from slowing myself as well.  Turaga Lhikan, a very... old friend and my mentor, sacrificed himself to protect me from the Makuta's bolt of shadow that, slowed as I was, I could not have dodged.  Even when used properly, the Vahi is a... troublesome mask.  And yet, the power it holds is...  It could very well tip the scales in your favor."

 

Kanohi Miru

Spoiler

Kanohi Miru, the mask of levitation.

This silvery, metal mask is very aerodynamic and light, with lots of holes, and a sweeping, beaked visor.  When worn, the mask color-coordinates with the wearer’s outfit.  Wearing the mask grants you the ability to levitate.

Makes you immune to falling damage.  Allows levitation but not flight on its own.  Incompatible with other masks.

 

[StormLord]

Cell steps forward as soon as Vakama mentions the Kanohi Vahi's name, Great Mask of Time.  He squints at it and listens as closely as he can to Vakama's telling of its powers and...dangers.  Cell shakes his head in denial at Vakama proposition, the potential of them using the Mask.
He takes a half step back and makes a motion as if he would push it away back to Vakama, without actually risking touching it.  Then with one hand he points at it and shakes his head again to reaffirm his opinion on it, while the other hand digs through his stack of metal cards.  He manages to flip up three sets of cards in succession.
"Been there."
"Done that."

"Not again."