Friday, December 5, 2008
It's that time of week again.
BARA MAGNA
- Greg: "The Skrall situation is different from the rest. Skrall do not have individual names -- they're just called Skrall, which is the name of their group -- unless they distinguish themselves and so earn a name. Other Glatorian have individual names and are not strictly a part of a "tribe" -- they just work for the tribe."
- Skrall are not clones, but rather living individual beings who happen to live in a social group that lumps them together as a warrior class and sees no reason to give them individual names. The Skrall army numbers more than 20.
- The tribes are not made up of Glatorian-sized characters -- they are made up of Agori, and the Glatorian work for the tribes. In the case of the Skrall, their Glatorian are not allowed to work for any other tribe and wouldn't want to anyway, so they are considered to actually be a part of the rock tribe. There are also many more Skrall than there are non-Skrall Glatorian.
- "Skrall" isn't properly the name of a tribe. It's a species name. We will encounter Skrall with individual names.
- Greg would say that not all Skrall look the same, and some carry different weapons according to their role in the tribe. All Skrall are black.
- Greg considers the Skrall set to be of a particular Skrall.
- Tuma rules over both the Agori rock tribe and the Skrall.
- Greg would assume there are female Skrall, although none are expected to appear in story.
- Greg, on the social system of Bara Magna: "Let's say I have a village, and you have a village. One day, one of my Agori stumbles on an oasis halfway between our villages. I claim it, but so do you - and there's no way to prove who saw it first. In a lot of places, that might lead to a war over a resource as precious as water is in a desert. Not Bara Magna. I send my Glatorian, you send yours, and they fight. Whichever wins, his village gets the claim to the oasis. The Glatorian system was set up so the villages don't waste lives and resources on wars."
- As we start out 2009, no tribe is considered to be "evil" in story. Whether that changes as we move through the year, only time will tell.
- Greg, on currency on Bara Magna: "It's mostly goods or services. For example, if you were doing a job escorting a trade caravan, they might give you some of their goods in payment (like armor or weapons), or they might give you water and food, or they might give you something else of value that you could trade elsewhere."
- One becomes a Glatorian by being hired for the job; Glatorian is a title.
- The Glatorian do what they do for reasons of necessity, payment, and enjoyment. There is a need for them, and in return, they need food, shelter, equipment repair, things like that, which can best be provided by a village. Glatorian make various earnings for winning battles.
- Although Glatorian are essentially freelance, some, such as the ones we will encounter 2009, have preference for a single tribe and work regularly for them. Any tribe of one color could hire a Glatorian of a different color.
- Glatorian of the same tribe do not at all look identical.
- Although Glatorian is a job name, not a species name, Greg does not see the Glatorian (those besides the Skrall) as being of separate species.
- Greg: "Skrall are not the same species as the other Glatorian are ... that's why they are stronger, faster than other Glatorian. While they do the job of Glatorian, they are not the same in the sense that they have no choice when it comes to fighting for their village. They are basically soldiers being sent to fight in the arena."
- Greg pictures Glatorian as about the same size as Toa.
- Glatorian are not the only ones to carry Thornax launchers.
- Bone hunters are nomads who live in the desert of Bara Magna. They are related in some way to the rock tribe, but not actually members of it. They are bandits, mainly, raiding trade caravans and now and then a village to steal food, weapons, and whatever else they can get their hands on. If they do hit a caravan, they rarely leave anyone alive to tell the tale. And they all ride creatures called rock steeds.
- Fero is a Bone Hunter.
- Offhand Greg is not aware of any other intelligent species on Bara Magna other than Glatorian and Agori.
- Glatorian and Agori do wear masks/helmets.
- The 2009 characters are native to Bara Magna.
- The inhabitants of Bara Magna actually ingest food.
- There are some smaller regions on Bara Magna that are not desert. There are no oceans.
- The sand tribe does not reside in an oasis.
- Certavus "was" an individual. Certavus never appears In story and only gets referred to.
- Thornax fruit are found in the desert.
- Greg would guess the 2009 characters' weapons are not hard enough to pierce Makuta armor.
- Mata Nui arrives in Bara Magna at the outset of the summer story.
MATA NUI
- Mata Nui cannot pursue his original mission in his current form.
- Mata Nui arrived on planets unnoticed if he came down fast enough, leading people to believe he was a meteor or something like that.
- The purpose of Mata Nui's mission was not to find a place for conquest or for colonization, but it was tied to the story the Energized Protodermis Entity told and the consequences of that story.
- Mata Nui's purpose is not to find additional sources of energized protodermis.
- Greg would say that Mata Nui is not in search of something specific when he visits worlds, just gathering information.
GREAT BEINGS
- The Great Beings' homeworld was idyllic before the event of a certain cataclysm. The planet the Energized Protodermis Entity came from is the homeworld of the Great Beings.
- Greg believes the Great Beings are settled only on one planet.
- Protodermis was a big key to the Great Beings' being able to do what they did. It may be that energized protodermis is the naturally occuring form of protodermis and that its other forms are the result its being able to be duplicated artificially minus its energized properties.
MATORAN UNIVERSE
- If any beings of the Matoran universe were to leave, they would not lose any abilities because their powers do not derive from their environment. They come from inside them.
- The west southern island chain was Bitil's region.
- Chirox oversaw the region including Visorak and Keetongu's island. He created the Visorak.
- The system that produced/routed the molten protodermis in the area of Voya Nui was contained in the base of the island and still active during the time it was floating.
- Voya Nui shot out from the southern continent from the impact of the fall -- the same way that if you are carrying something and you suddenly, say, fall down the stairs, the thing you are carrying might fly into the air, or a plane that crashes might have one of its engines fly into the air on impact.
- It is possible that there are very small islands that have not been shown on the Matoran universe map.
DESTINY WAR
- Tobduk most likely secured Tridax's Olmak for the Order of Mata Nui.
- Trinuma's ability to fly is a function of his tools.
- Helryx's mask is called the Mask of Psychometry.
GENERAL
Brotherhood of Makuta
- Teridax has sent Rahkshi into Metru Nui in order to make sure the Matoran keep working. Most of the Rahkshi Teridax is now employing were existing, others he could have made himself, being antidermis in Mata Nui's body.
- Teridax now knows which Matoran are destined to be Toa and can pick them off at leisure.
- Up until his defeat by the Toa Metru, Teridax originally planned simply to take Mata Nui out of commission and take his place in the hearts of the Matoran. It was not until the Metru beat him that he decided he could actually BE Mata Nui.
- Makuta Teridax, Mutran, and Antroz had Toa Hagah teams. Among those Makuta who didn't were Bitil, Vamprah, and Miserix.
- Greg does not think that the Kanohi the Makuta in Karda Nui wore were one-of-a-kind.
Endless Ocean Planet
- The organic birds did not arrive on the endless ocean planet with Mata Nui.
- The underwater rays and insects that Mantax and Takadox commanded are native to the endless ocean planet.
- The Red Star is not attached to anything larger than itself.
Mysticisms
- There is no reason to believe tapping into one's inner light would suddenly turn oneself into someone with Toa of Light powers. At best, one would be able to hurl a light blast like Av-Matoran can.
- Tapping into one's shadow power does not drain one's light and increase the amount of shadow one has at one's disposal.
- A Toa's powers are tied to his spirit, hence going into a different Toa's body does not net you his powers. Mata Nui's powers ARE tied to his body -- if they weren't, he would still have all of them in the Ignika and Makuta would have basically gained nothing by taking over the body.
- If a spirit leaves a body and the body goes uninhabited within a given amount of time, the body dies.
- A Toa transformed into a Turaga can still have a destiny as a Turaga.