| Azshrak: Reshaped Realms, Dread Caverns | |
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Azshrak: Reshaped Realms, Dread Caverns is a project on LEGO CUUSOO created by MachineWolf7 on January 22nd, 2013. Designed as an original Ultrabuild series, it is meant to try and capture the excitment and thrill BIONICLE's early years held.
The first chapter of the story can be viewed here.
The second chapter can be found here .
This message was written by the creator of the project. Do not modify the message in any way.
Previous installments of the serial will released on the Lego Cuusoo Wiki, view-able here:
http://cuusoo.wikia.com/wiki/Azshrak:_Reshaped_Realms
The reason for this is to prevent the main page here from growing to excessive size and becoming less then practical.
The Story: The Saga begins with four heroes awakening in a massive underground cave (known as a Refuge), filled with machines and sleeping capsules. These four are the heroes of the tale, and are all of different species, none with any true memory of their pasts, save for that written on their sleep pods. Amidst a broken control room, they find that the world of Azshrak, in which they live, was reshaped a thousand years prior. These four have been assigned to scout out a new home for the still sleeping occupants (the Ookren) and awaken them when the time is right. Their awakening will be delayed however, as the heroes find the mechanism to awaken the Ookren is not working, and they will need to get a replacement at one of the other hidden Refuges scattered around the outer world.
Heading out, the group is first confronted with a small hive of monsters which have broken free from sleep and set up residence in the exit tunnels. Upon leaving the cavern networks, the group arrives on the surface, finding a strange and wondrous new land dotted with only a few structures from the old world still standing. Searching, they look for suitable habitation for the sleeping populace.
Problems arise when they are confronted with Queen Varma, who is not too interested in having the Sleepers awake. She is a dominating creature and commands the Kragnar, a group of monstrous beings that live in the wilds. Varma and her horde are not particularly enthused by the concept of sharing their space with 'Civilized Destroyers.' She even convinces Traela and a confused Drassnal to side with her. Every step of the way, the group is hindered from completing their mission. At last the two wayward Heroes return to their mission, stopping Varma and retrieving the replacement parts. The group also makes a shaky peace with the Kragnar, though this is not long lasting. They return to the Refuge where they awaken the Sleepers. Now freed, all begin to construct new cities at three separate locations.
(At this point, the story can end if it lasts only one season. However, more can be read in the Serials, Azshrak: The Chronicled Odysseys, seen below).
Heroes:
Drassnal: Drassnal is a warrior, armed with sword, strong wings, natural armor and the dark powers of shadow. He is greatly disturbed by these powers, and even more so by the lack of information of him in the history records. Whereas the others in the group are mentioned several times, his name shows up only during, 'The Falling Dusk,' when the world was reshaped.
The personality of Drassnal can be described as a knight, though an unsure and un-confident one at that. He tries to do what he believes is right and will not abandon a friend in need. Although he will not back down from a challenge, his greatest fear is his own shadow powers. While he can do some exceptionally useful tricks with them, he often feels plagued by fears while doing so. He also fears that they might somehow consume him one day...
Loquina: A deft user of healing, Loquina can repair tremendous amounts of damage suffered by her comrades. She does this by a mix of her own recuperative powers and the ability to drain injuries from others: when the damage is drained from another, it is transferred to Loquina, whence she can heal herself.
Loquina's personality is quite passive, usually calm even under stress. She is almost always caring of others and is always willing to lend a hand when needed.
Aside from her healing powers, Loquina carries a small sword, capable of cutting through most armor or shields. She does not wear much armor, though this is mainly because she does not tend to get into many fights.
Traela: A fast hunter, Traela is skilled at scouting and survival in the wild. She is described as having found many ideal location sites for cities and bases in the past.
Her personality is friendly, though gruff at times. She tends to remain on topic, and can frequently have a one track mind. Traela also shows a great delight in nature, though she isn't troubled if its resources are used, if done so wisely. Waste of almost any form can make her exceptionally angry.
Her equipment consists of the massive claws she always seems to wield. She also wears an animal shaped helmet, the rest of her armor being naturally fused to her.
Powers include: exceptional tracking skills, good hearing, smell, amazing speed and uncanny dodging abilities. She is also surprisingly strong and quite deft with her oversized claws.
Zxxss An outcast of the Skkrrk species, Zxxss is quite alone and fortunate to have met people such as Drassnal, Loquina and Traela. Unable to survive for long without the company of others, he feeds off the vibrations living beings give off. It does no harm to them, and instead empowers Zxxss' shock-waves when he fights in battle or heals his allies.
Villains:
Season One: Varma: Varma is a warrioress of both fiendish skill and intellect. Although she seems to have a code of honor, it never seems to stop her from pulling rather dirty tricks or from backstabbing an opponent. She is by no means a coward, and will fight to the death, however, only if there is something to be gained. Her schemes are simple: remain Empress of the Wilderness and Queen of the Kragnar, while keeping all opposition asleep. She does actually seem to provide protection for her minions unlike most villains, though if this is for manipulation or a genuine care, no one can tell. She is quite effective at psychology, and is more then willing to trick others, though she is somewhat slow to betray another. However, Varma's supposed ideal of protecting nature is what tricks Traela into temporarily joining her. As for powers, Varma is skilled in the use of weapons , though her most effective ability is her own strange powers. These consist of Nature Manipulation mixed with Shadow. She is not above using the latter to trick Drassnal into following her.
Varma wears only minimal armor, preferring dexterity to brute attack. Pictured here with poisoned claw and Shadowed Sword, it proves that she is far from defenseless.
Creatures:
Ookren: These smaller sized creatures are some of the most adaptable beings on Azshrak. They can not only build and modify their environment, but to a degree they can do these adaptations to themselves, changing their armor and weapons to enhance things such as speed, strength, agility, sight, etc.
Ookren are not truly great fighters, as they instead focus on engineering and construction. In a corner however, they can put up stiff resistance.
These creatures are some of the first to be awakened by the heroes. They are also responsible for almost all the structures that still remain on the surface.
A Brief Note on Azshrak from the Author: Bionicle was one of Lego's most popular and beloved series in its history. Its end in 2010 came as a sad blow to thousands of fans. Unfortunately, to many, its replacement, Hero Factory, has neither lived up to the same quality in both story and sets as its predecessor. Azshrak is not meant to replace Hero Factory, but rather to create a new, original series that brings back the adventure and mystery that Bionicle had. It is a new story, unconnected to any previous Lego saga's or any other worlds. Please leave suggestions or helpful thoughts in the comments section. While Azshrak may never truly live up to Bionicle's shear greatness, it is meant to supply fans with a new world to explore and travel in. And I sincerely hope you enjoy it :)
~MachineWolf7
Number of supporters required for next serial release: 0: Part 1: A Sleeping World (viewable on the Lego Cuusoo Wiki) 15: Part 2: Dread Caverns 50: Part 3: The Surface 150: Part 4 300: Part 5 700: Part 6 1000: Part 7 3000: Part 8 5000: Part 9 7000: Part 10 9000 Bonus: Season 2
Note: writing will start when support is achieved. The serial should be posted in decent time thereafter. Please forgive should a delay occur.
Part Two: Dread Caverns ______________________________________________________________________________________ The four heroes stared at the strange, pentagonal shaped cells that lined most of the cave's walls, unsure what to make of it.
“It does resemble a nest based structure,” Zxxss said.
Traela rolled her feline eyes as she ran a hand down the strange structures. “You seem to have some sort of fascination with nests,” she said.
“I'm a social creature,” the rogue Skkrrk replied. “To us social insects, a nest not only represents home, but community. In a way, family.”
Traela smiled slightly at the two of them as she absentmindedly fingered the jars of healing fluid on her belt. Drassnal walked to the front of the group, his sword held tightly in his hands. He scanned about, keeping an eye out for trouble.
“What kind of creature could build this?” he asked.
“Not one that comes to mind, off the top of my head,” Traela said. “I do know of several creatures that build similar structures, however.”
They continued onward, hearing nothing at first other then their own footsteps, until the cave took a sharp turn. When they turned the corner, they heard the faintest and strangest tapping noise from ahead. The four halted, listening carefully. The tapping continued to grow louder, approaching them.
The group stood ready, Drassnal and Traela guarding the front, Zxxss and Loquina in the back, all with weapons raised. The group had figured out this method worked best as the two in front were best with melee, while Zxxss could fire from the back. Loquina could then supposedly heal her comrades should something happen.
They waited as the nerve wracking clatter moved forward. The noise crept ever closer until whatever it was, sat just around the corner. There was the sound of heavy breathing, almost a sniffing sound. The four held there breath, waiting a safe distance back should something jump from around the corner.
Moments passed. All that was heard was that continuing sniffing.
The group's nerves were nearing the breaking point, when something massive jumped around the corner. It bore down on the group, moving far faster then a creature of its size truly should. Drassnal and Traela swung their weapons as best they could, but all they met was very hard plate. With no difficulty at all, the creature bowled Traela over. The others, still caught off guard, immediately tried to get it off of her.
Traela initially began to furiously fight, but soon, her cries of anger turned to ones of surprise.
Then to laughing...
“Its ok”, she said, waving off her comrades, “it isn't attacking.”
The group stopped in astonishment and then looked down. Indeed, the creature was merely giving happy, sloppy, affectionate licks on Traelas metal helm.
“It's... tame?” Loquina said at last.
“Apparently so,” Drassnal said, gently motioning the thing to move back. This it actually did, happily bouncing on the cave floor. Traela slowly sat up with the aid of Zxxss, trying to wipe off the eye pieces on her helm with a free hand.
“Most fascinating,” she said. “It must know I like creatures.”
The thing was certainly difficult to describe. Although heavily armored, and carrying several nasty looking appendages, it also seemed quite docile. Its somewhat odd eyes were bright and cheerful, though decidedly disturbing in the dark sections of the tunnel.
“Um, so, what is this creature?” Drassnal asked.
Traela thought for a second, a look of concentration on her face. After a moment, she finally said, “I think its a Ghlak, a species once used for mounts.”
“You remember that?” Zxxss asked
“Yeah...” Traela said. “I was drawing a blank for a second and then suddenly just remembered.”
“Maybe we shall all be so fortunate to regain our own memories,” Drassnal said, holding the back of his hand up for the creature to sniff.
- * *
The group moved on, the Ghlak walking along beside them. They had decided to bring it along, seeing as it might be useful for a mount once they reached the surface.
They noted that the amount of 'nest' material on the walls had increased the farther they moved on in the tunnels. There were also a great number of foot prints, very similar to the ones the Ghlak was making, suggesting that more of them lay ahead. Several passages had branched off from the one they traversed, though they were decidedly smaller and many had collapsed.
Eventually, after an eternity of walking, the group heard the sounds of more Ghlak feet ahead. Walking up a steep rise in the floor, they found a half dozen of them, sitting in a larger chamber. One side of the area had fallen away into a massive chasm, which vanished into darkness. Apparently, based on the wall structure, this section had collapsed during the reshaping of the world.
The other Ghlaks in the chamber were as equally happy to see the four adventurers as the first had been. Within a matter of moments, all four had been greeted with exuberant licks and tackles.
“Well,” Traela chuckled as she tried to wipe her wet helmet off with an equally wet arm. “They are certainly glad to see us.”
“Domesticated creatures certainly seem attracted to intellectual beings,” Zxxss said.
Drassnal kept quiet, and merely stood still, his head tilted, ignoring friendly greetings met on him. He seemed to either be in deep thought, or listening intently to something.
Loquina noticed his expression and asked, “Something wrong?”
“I... sense something...” the warrior said.
The Ghlak seemed wary as well, for they began to become skittish, trying to lead the party away from the main chamber. When the party resisted, the kindly creatures began to panic, using their great strength to even pick up the heroes and then run off.
“What's gotten into them?” Loquina asked, struggling in a massive claw.
Traela spoke softly to one of them, trying to calm it down. Her efforts though only seemed to make it run faster, chittering quietly, yet urgently.
The answer came when a massive Ghlak broke into the room, roaring, snapping and swinging at anything moving. All the other creatures panicked and fled, leaving the area and almost taking down the adventurers as well.
Drassnal looked up at the creature, his sword in hand and at the ready. The Ghlak snarled down at him, revealing large sets of broken, yet sharp teeth. Drassnal swung in a parrying blow, keeping his head from being caught in a massive bite the creature tried to administer.
“Let me guess, this thing woke up on the wrong side of the cave, and its cranky now,” Drassnal said, jumping back from another attack.
The angered Ghlak swung around, making flailing and biting attacks at the group. The four ducked and weaved, trying desperately to keep out of harm's reach.
“Any suggestions here?” Zxxss asked, letting out a slight shock-wave, which only bounced off the creatures hard shell.
“Look for a weak spot,” Traela called out.
Loquina hopped on a nearby fallen rock, safely out of reach of the creature. She carefully studied the angry creature, though through the eyes of a healer and not a warrior like Drassnal or Traela. While they could certainly see a good place for a weapon strike, she saw things in a different light.
At first the creature seemed simply like a mad Ghlak, until she got a better look at its back. A huge section of armor had been torn away, leaving an ugly wound that looked quite painful. Just as rapidly as she saw it, an old saying came back to her. Something about nothing can be more dangerous then a wounded creature...
“Try to hold it still!” Loquina called out to the group. “I'm going to try something.”
“Easy to say,” Traela grumbled, grabbing hold of one of the creatures legs. “Not so easy to comply with.”
The Ghlak tried to turn, but Drassnal grabbed onto a facial horn, keeping it from biting at Traela. Zxxss jumped forward, grabbed another side, and pulled, his clawed feet scraping on the hard floor.
Loquina wasted no time in jumping forward, landing on the uninjured part of the creatures back. In the same motion, she dug her small blade partway into a crack in the armored shell. She then held tight, using this as an anchor, for when the Ghlak felt her land, it almost immediately began to buck. Almost falling off twice, she was at last able to put a hand on the large wound, having only an instinct on how to proceed. Energy pulsed and flowed out of her hand, initially covering the damaged area. Energy then seemed to flow back into her, turning from a healing blue, to a painful red. The other three heroes heard Loquina let out a cry of agony.
The creature bucked again and Loquina, flipped off, landing hard on the ground. The three others who were holding the creature were thrown aside, Zxxss, being sent straight over the cliff ledge. He tried to reach out to save himself, but missed, falling deep into the darkness below. The Ghlak itself ran out of the room, with little noise and no more screams of pain.
“Zxxss!” Traela cried out, seeing the Skkrrk vanish far below.
Drassnal jumped to his feet, his eyes narrowing and glowing brightly. He ran past the unconscious Loquina, calling to Traela, “Look after Loquina!”
Not even waiting to see if she had complied, he held his hands out over the edge, a darkness spreading out over his clawed fingers and seeming to reach down into the shadows below.
Traela could not see what he was doing clearly, and instead did as ordered, kneeling down beside the healer. Looking upon her, the warrioress saw a massive wound on Loquina's back, looking both painful and potentially quite dangerous. Being more of a fighter type, Traela had little idea what to do, but looking closely, she saw to her amazement, the wound was healing. It did so slowly at first, then faster as it progressed, until hardly even a scar could be seen. The healer's eyes slowly opened at last, blinking quickly, trying to focus her vision.
“Did... it work?” Loquina asked slowly.
“If you mean getting that Ghlak out of her, then yes it did,” Traela said. “What were you doing anyway?”
“It was injured, in great pain,” Loquina said. “I thought if I could heal it... maybe it would calm down. I just had not realized that I heal by taking damage from someone... it was quite a shock. Fortunately I apparently have the ability to recover rapidly.”
“Well your little plan has just cost us Zxxss,” Traela suddenly snapped. “The Ghlak threw him over the cliff when you did that.”
“What?” Loquina exclaimed, sitting up horrified.
The healer suddenly stopped and peered over Traela's shoulder. The warrioress watched her for a second before turning herself. What she saw shocked her as well.
Zxxss was there, levitating off the ground, held up by a pair of massive hands, composed completely of shadow. Drassnal stood tall, streams of shadow energy pouring out of his hands, controlling the dark clouds that held up his friend. Zxxss was slowly set to the ground, the shadows fading away back into the chasm.
Drassnal seemed to shiver, staring at his hands, before looking up in complete terror.
“What in these dread caverns am I?” he whispered.
To be continued in Part 3: The Surface