The reason for the specific arrangement of symbols eluded Velike, but he knew that Time was unique among the elements, for only it had an intrinsic connection to every other aspect of reality, stronger even than the already mythical Light and Shadow. The flow of water and wind, the growth of plants, the eon-long shifting of earth and rock... none of these would happen if Time stood still.

Due to its unique nature, the element of Time would normally be placed in the center of a display, if its symbol was included at all. Here Time was marked on the ring as if its placement was almost arbitrary, equal to all other elements.

Only the Great Beings - creators of all things - could possibly hold Time in their grasp to such an extent that they would consider it equal to all others. How old was this temple...?

"someone else has been here recently" Lutorian informed the group before his attention was pulled to the new device he had obtained, he used it to scan the room to see if anything changed, "do either of you guys know what this device is used for?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:18, Tue 02 June 2020.

Lutorian passed the scope of the device over various features in the temple, and as he did so the gauge it was attached to reacted. The readings flickered, but on average they appeared as follows:

General area: 0-5%
Pointed at furrows or alcoves: 10%
Pointed at central statue: 15-20%
Pointed at White Muaka totem: 30%

All the while the compass pointed directly at the statue of Mata Nui in the center of the temple, though it jerked towards the Muaka totem when the Matoran stood close to it.

The barometers did not change for the most part, predicting stable weather. A slight dip in temperature was detected near the Muaka totem after Tameku placed it in its socket.

Tameku stepped back from the totem when the cold suddenly gripped him. After the first surprise had passed, he couldn't help but recall Turaga Lhevan's totem, which had also reacted to his touch.

"Do you think this totem might have been infused with elemental power by the Turaga of the Glacier Village?", Tameku asked no one in particular.

He looked around at the other alcoves in the temple, in case they held similar totems - or at least had room for ones.

Tameku also studied the furrows in the floor, counting them and searching for the place where the closest one ended. He had a feeling that there might be one for every element.

By following the furrows in the stone from the statue to the end, Tameku easily found the other marked spots. When he had finished counting, Tameku had found 16 slots. All the elements were accounted for, including Light and Shadow; the latter two were not on the list retrieved from the Dark Hunters in Parau Koro.

They were scattered at differing heights around the temple. A few of them were placed off in the smaller side rooms. Not every furrow ended in an alcove: at least one slot sat on the floor in a corner, and following the lines revealed that Air and Lightning must be on top of the pillars in the central area.

There was a notable lack of fitting totems.

A waist-high pillar bearing the mark of Time was located in a separate chamber directly behind the central statue. This room was otherwise featureless and did not have a furrow leading to it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:07, Wed 03 June 2020.

In reply to Game Master (msg # 53):
"This.. This is quite odd... Time has been placed as if it was considered an element merely... equal to all the rest..." Velike noted, a mixture of confusion, and interest lacing his tone as he continued to look over the symbols and ponder.

"Only the Great Beings themselves would see Time as equal to all the rest, and this is far too deliberate a carving to have been done by a mere fool who did not understand the elements, and their importance... How ancient must these grounds be to have such carvings?"

Velike's rumblings were all of a sudden interrupted by the cry of a mahi coming from the temple's entrance. "Mata nui! I have heard a lot of different rahi cry but the mahi sounds the worst of them!" The ta-matoran on top of the crab lamented. "I know that you don't register their awful sound anymore Poriko but I can't stand it" Oiroh said almost yelling to the po-matoran walking to his side "sorry I can be a little short-tempered some times" The blacksmith excused himself softening his tone of voice.
The two matoran,one on a ussal crab and one on foot with a mahi on his side entered the temple ruining the silence present beforehand.

"Mahi are wont to make noises, but if you are troubled by my companion I shall bind it outside the temple," Poriko replied patiently. The Po-Matoran nodded a short and polite greeting to the three others he had met before, then left to do as promised.

Tameku studied the new arrival. "Seems like this temple is getting a lot of visitors today", he remarked. "You don't happen to have seen a couple Matoran researchers around the area, do you?", he asked Oiroh. "Otherwise don't let our presence keep you from paying your respects. We're just going to search this place real quick and then be on our way again.

"Let's check the other parts of the temple grounds for any hints", Tameku told Lutorian and Velike - maybe look for discraded equipment, signs of a struggle or the remains of a campsite."

In reply to Tameku (msg # 61):

"I didn't see any researchers but I'm not here for worship either. I was sent here by..." the ta-matoran thought about the best way to tell the stranger about the light entity that told him to come to the temple "...a strange entity to meet up with you and your friends. The reason why is unknown to me" Oiroh hoped for the le-matoran to belive his strange but true tale.

Oiroh rolled 1 using 1d6 with rolls of 1.  Convincing Tameku .

out of the two rolls I have done after joining both were 1! That's incredible!

Tameku considered the Ta-Matoran's words. He had an inkling of who the "strange entity" could be, but didn't really see a reason for him to recruit more Matoran - unless they knew something of importance.

"Name's Tameku", Tameku introduced himself, "The 'Traveling Tradesman' - although I guess right now I'm not in business. You sure that you know nothing about any Researchers or Dark Hunters? Are you native to Rangi Motu?"

"My name is Oiroh, the blacksmith. I am in fact native to this island but I lived in a little hut facing the sea until a few days ago; I only know a small part of the island." Only a few days had past since Oiroh had left his little hut but he already felt a bit of nostalgia.
 "I saw only a couple of matoran while making my way towards east, one of those is Poriko" The blacksmith pointed at the Po-matoran outside the temple "but I have a feeling you already met him".
"Anyway, have you got any idea about what that voice/entity thing was since it told me to meet up with you and the others?" Oiroh asked Tameku. "If you don't it's fine; we'll figure it out"

Lutorian had paid little attention to the new guests entering the temple, until he had caught mention of an "entity" "Greetings fire-spitter!" Lutorian said holding a hand out to shake hands with this new arrival
"I'm Lutorian, You are called Oiroh correct? tell me, would you elaborate on what you meant by an "entity" just now?"

Poriko had finished tending to his Mahi, and entered the temple once more. He kept silent and marveled for some time at the place he had journeyed to find.

Eventually, when there was a moment for him to speak without interrupting the other travelers' conversation, the Po-Matoran voiced his thoughts. "Your earlier talk of Dark Hunters unnerved me," he said softly, "but hearing of this entity which guides new allies to you is reassuring, don't you think?"

"You are correct, that's my name" Oiroh said to Lutorian before starting to explain what happened to him "well... I'll try to explain the best I can. I was travelling towards east when I saw a big storm coming. I was going to take the sheltered path when I heard a voice that I didn't recognize." Oiroh paused to remember exactly what the voice said "You shouldn't travel alone, it is dangerous for someone with such potential, there are others like you. You should meet them at the temple. The island depends on it." The blacksmith said trying to imitate the whispering he hearď then with his normal voice he told the le-matoran what happend next "A few minutes after the voice disappeard I saw a beam of light coming from the ground and the clouds moved around the island leaving a clear sky."

"Hm... that certainly sounds like him", Tameku mused, "Though not to be rude, but you're a complete stranger to us, Oiroh, so I'd rather not say more just now. If you wish to join us, I won't complain, however. We can use all the help we can get, I daresay."

"Our quest is to find a couple researchers who've failed to notify their Turaga of their whereabouts for too long. We've discovered that they split up into three groups, one of those presumably having been here at the temple not long ago. Though our Po-Matoran friend here", Tameku nodded in Poriko's direction, "says that they headed to the village up on the glacier in the company of a Vortixx we think might be a Dark Hunter. We've run into some Dark Hunters already in Parau Koro. Far as we can tell, they are interested in the same elemental sites as the researchers, which is why the researchers might be in trouble."

"Currently, our plan is to scour the temple grounds for any potentially important clues on the researchers' plans and whereabouts, then head up the mountain as far as we can until it gets too dangerous to continue at night. That way, we should be able to catch up to the Vortixx and her companions tomorrow. That's all you need to know at the moment, I think."

"I understand. I won't ask any questions for now but I will still help you find those researchers" Oiroh paused "especially if I can ruin the plans of some dark hunters. Their last visit was... unpleasent." he said looking at the deep scratches and cuts on his forearms then he crossed his arms "Anyway, if that's the plan we should hurry it is getting really dark: In about an hour we won't be able to see anything " Oiroh said to Tameku while looking at the sky.

"Indeed" lutorian nodded, "it seems that we are being guided by the same forces to our destiny, we can leave now if Tameku also wishes, still I'm puzzled by the readings this tool is giving me, perhaps it's some sort of elemental energy?" Lutorian questioned while moving closer to examine the Muaka figure in detail.

Immediately, the meter's readings peaked again. If it was truly measuring elemental energy like Lutorian speculated, the totem held a lot of it.

In reply to Game Master (msg # 71):

Hello? anybody else here?

Lutorian looked up from his device, looking around the temple for the source of the voice "Looks like we got ourselves quite a gathering" he said to himself.

The evening stretched on into nighttime. In the dark sky above the stars shone oddly, for the swirling clouds still remained and only the eye of the storm centered directly above the island let any of their light through.

The sound of distant, primitive drumming echoed through the night. Soon chanting voices were heard as well.

Peering past the walls of the temple allowed everyone to spot the flickering torchlight of a group of Matoran marching where no road existed. Their colors were obscured in the poor light conditions, and so it was impossible to tell what tribe they belonged to. The group was coming through the brushwood deeper in the valley and would arrive shortly.


What do you do?



Tameku
[Observation]: The chant contains no words but invokes a somber feeling.

Lutorian, Velike
[Wilderness survival], [Survival]: Going so far off the road is not something most Matoran would do unless they were intimately familiar with the location.

Everyone
This event happens some time after your arrival. You don't have to interrupt any current conversations if you wish to finish them before dealing with the new situation. A suggestion would be dividing your post in half, using a divider or header text in the middle to separate 'early evening' and 'nighttime'.

In response to Kapeti & Lutorian:

Tameku considered staying quiet, lest he gave the group's position away to someone with potentially malicious intents, but he thought he recognized a Matoran voice and it seemed way too close for there to be time to hide, anyways.
"Who's there?", Tameku called in response. "Show yourself!"

I'll give Kapeti a week to react, otherwise I'll continue based on the last GM post, treating Kapeti as nonexistent until the player takes part in the game again.

"Be calm Tameku, I don't think our new guest poses a threat" Lutorian replied.

"We should be careful anyway" Oiroh said to Lutorian gripping his knife just in case the newcomer wasn't friendly