#bone hunters

[nattarthetimedragon]

Bone hunters. Fero (he/him) and Skirmix (he/him) (Rock Steed), Sara (she/her) and Rarunis (she/her) (Rock Steed), Lunara (she/her) and Blips (he/him) (Rock Steed), Securis (he/him) and Collisa (she/her) (Rock Steed)

[randomwriteronline]

thinking about spherus magna so so so much and i NEED to write about the tribes and their bodies and their eating habits

to start off - agori and glatorian are like dogs and wolves: same progenitor, compatible to create hybrids capable of reproduction, different appearances and strengths but similar genetic curriculum.

the seven tribes have specific differences in appearance but most of their anatomy is still the same - humanoid, sharp spaced teeth, vestigial minuscule stubby tail, flat nose, small ears. cross-tribe children weren't very common before the shattering (big ass planet and all) and might become more common as time passes (lots of people died and whatnot), but due to there being no real hierarchy in the gene pool they wont necessarily be perfect hybrids of their parents: more often than not they will resemble only one of them, or showcase smaller traits of the other.

Tapyri (Fire tribe) - oval pupils stretched horizontally, tough skin that secretes a layer of protective mucus good for hot dry climates. different skin pigmentation in the form of spotted patterns, mostly on the back, is surprisingly common.

Gaquri (Water tribe) - crescent pupils stretched horizontally, drop-shaped sturdy scales that slightly overlap. hands and feet are lightly webbed between their fingers, while the eyes have a protective lid for underwater diving.

Lebori (Jungle tribe) - beaded pupils stretched vertically, short thin feathers, mostly greenish, which generally have little use. fingertips, palms and soles have small hooked cells to better their grip when climbing trees and rocks.

Koniri (Ice tribe) - rhomboidal pupils stretched vertically, thick fur that sheds and changes color depending on the seasons. powerful nails and bite, build up fat much easier than other tribes and are incredible sprinters on short distances.

Banuri (Sand tribe) - slit pupils stretched vertically, very small polygonal scales tightly placed together. small sharp horn-like protrusions all over the body, mostly the head, and remarkable adaptability to varying temperatures.

Potori (Rock tribe) - rectangular pupils stretched horizontally, wooly fur that varies in thickness depending on place of origin*. duller teeth, immune to most poisons, have heightened endurance in harsh climates and tougher bones.

Fezeri (Iron tribe) - round pupils similar to a photocamera's aperture, sectioned carapace not unlike that of an insect over skin. have a tendency to develop reddish crusts with age which need to be removed through cyclical moltings.

when it comes to food. oh baby.

ANY CREATURE in the desert is fair game. theyre most of the meat available and by god these people will Fucking Get It or die trying. blood is both cooked and drunk (usually on special occasions) and is often given to sickly, pregnant or young individuals; bones are generally split open for marrow, but while smaller ones can be grated or used to make stock broth, the bigger ones are kept to make weapons or tools - the only ones that eat them are the Bone Hunters, which is why they're called that in the first place, and the Zesk and Vorox, who have built in weapons.

Tapyri have very fertile soil but horrendously high temperatures, so they can grow only a select few plants, mostly cereals. common foods are iron snails and a type of edible lava residue, but a real delicacy is the elusive heat-resistant mole, which is incredibly fat and tender but also fucking FAST. they cook mostly on slabs of rock heated over lava, or on roasts

Gaquri eat anything that enjoys humidity - slugs, leeches**, tadpoles, frogs, other small amphibians, fish and crustaceans if they had any. their vegetables are cave mosses and freshwater algae or kelps - a specific type produces "kelp jades", round fruits that are sticky as hell. they tend to eat things raw, but can also afford to steam or boil their stuff

Lebori have the vastest array of fruits and greens available thanks to living in the green lung of a fucking desert and everybody imports that good stuff from them. their local protein source is comprised mostly insects***, worms and other invertebrates, which they employ in various methods. since they have access to oil, they often default to frying food

Koniri have access to small game and a discrete amount of forests in which they've learned to recognize edible berries, leaves and especially branches. a typical dish for them is a bundle of sticks wrapped in very far strips of meat. in some lakes they also harvest a strange type of anemone. when they don't freeze-dry their food, they tend to either boil or roast it

Banuri relied evenly on hunting, gathering, and husbandry. Zesk and Vorox have adapted thoroughly to the desert ecosystem, and while the first still gather lichens, the latter most hunt in packs

Bone Hunters, being scavengers, eat anything and everything; the Skrall had a more plant-based diet, but in Bara Magna added salt-dried meat; other Potori prefer vegetables like briars and thistles

Fezeri lived in fairly comfortable climates and could afford a pretty varied and balanced diet. Telluris allegedly eats, but nobody can confirm. Sahmad is trying to fuckin survive. give him a break

*Bone Hunters, native to the Bara Magna area, resemble goats; the Skrall, native to a snowy mountain area, resemble sheep. similar cases are found in all tribes across Spherus Magna (ex. BaMa lebori are more akin to geckos, BoMa lebori to lemurs)

**Gaquri would, as such, be the first to try and eat a kraata or krana without even thinking about it. the consistency would not bother them, but they would be mostly perplexed to discover there's food that tastes, respectively, "dark" and "bright"

***scarabax beetles not included, because they taste horribly and are not worth the effort of catching to feed off of them for anybody. Click will live forever

[sepublic]

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I think I’ve found a pretty good real-world analogue to the Thornax from Bionicle! Gents, I present to you... the Durian fruit!

Native to Southeast Asia, the Durian is a beast; Hard, spiky shells, with a pungent odor that you either love or hate. The same can be said for the soft insides, which are of a distinct flavor.

There have been stories of Durian traps being used in the Vietnam War, and I can totally believe it. These things have the weight and durability to kill, and have done so many times in the past when dropped on some unsuspecting sod’s head.

As we know, the Thornax is also hard and spiky, and used primarily for combat for this very reason. It’s considered a delicacy by the Glatorian and Agori, with only cultures who grew up with and are accustomed to the Thornax being used to it i.e. the Bone Hunters and Vorox. Thornax stew is said to smell revolting, have a rubbery consistency, and taste awful; Things Durian haters typically say about the fruit!

Cultures who eat these spiky fruits are also considered primitive by racist westerners and are regarded as unusual for their tastes

[irradiated-imp]

Khazaak and Zilaak

Okoto Nui was rather peaceful for many centuries, and prospered in that peace. Drawn in by the prospects of easy prey, many Bone Hunter gangs moved to the island seeking easy profit on the mostly unprotected island. They ran rampant across the island, often warring with one another. Though the Bone hunters were a very present threat, they were largely disorganized and easily dealt with. Until the arrival of the Skakdi Twins, Khazaak and Zilaak. Like the Bone Hunter gangs, the pair came to Okoto Nui to take advantage of its people. The two quickly formed the idea to conquer and unite the various Bone Hunter gangs. The two challenged each gang leader on the island. They handily defeated all of them. They took leadership from the former leaders, and the gangs that didn't like this were summarily wiped out. By the time they were done, only six gangs remained, each spread across the island based on their mounts.

Khazaak Khazaak is the brains of the duo. The plan to take over the Bone Hunter gangs was mostly his. His element is Air, and he has impact vision. His Impact vision allows him to fire bursts of energy which carry powerful concussive force in them, able to shatter stone. His weapon is a Thornax rifle, armed with an axe in place of a stock.

Zilaak Much more brutish than his brother, Zilaak wields water as his element and has explosive vision. His vision allows him to blast energy from his eyes that cause the target to explode. His chosen weapon is a mace with a powerful drill on the other end.

[siren-darkocean]

Do you ever think Bara Magna true to a desert would have a Monsoon Season? Where there would be heavy rains and thunderstorms that would last for hours if not days and cause major floodings

So yeah Bara Magna would have water besides from Tajun but it could be devastating from all those floods

Vulcanus definitely makes sure to prepare when the first signs of the season so their forges don't extinguish and loose the lava from the insane amounts of water

Tesara isn't normally used to the huge floods due to their plants being low water based (meaning they can go a LONG WHILE without water, such as Cati but ofc the Thornoraxx plant) and some times some plants die due to the insanely large amounts of water

Tajun is the second most prepared for them next to Vulcanus and use this for more water (even tho their the main water trade on Bara Magna of the villages), you would occasionally find Terix trying to get Kiina inside because she's just laying on her back in the rain with the biggest smile as the rain falls (Berix would literally be hiding away in Vulcanus to avoid the monsoons, Ackar would actually offer the kid to stay at his place to make sure he doesn't get sick from the storms)

Iconox is usually the least prepared due to being in the mountains, all the villagers do is being stuff indoors mainly in their arena areas and get buckets and other containers ready to collect water

Skrall and Bone Hunters use this time for any Agori or Glatorian they capture to give them the slow torment death of drowning to amuse them (alongside multiple resuscitations and drownings to watch them drown multiple times)

Most of it includes setting out containers to capture water since water outside of Tajun is scarce

There would be ofc the foolish ones who go out of their villages during these storms which would lead to some veteran Glatorians to find them in either a) a successful rescue mission, b) they take shelter till a storm passes or the search party to find them or c) Skrall or Bone Hunters would find them to take them back to their villages to do their drownings

I could add some angst shit for Berix (bc I wanna traumatize the kid more than he already is) but that's up to you

[outofgloom]

I saw some of your writings on what the Skrall language might be like, and it got me thinking: The Bone Hunters have their own language, right? I imagine Bone Hunter is more a term applied to that group than a term they describe themselves as.

I believe it is stated somewhere that the Bone Hunters have their own linguistic variant, although it's unclear if this is actually a distinct "language".

Since the Bone Hunters are an offshoot of the Agori Rock Tribe, I've usually thought of them as speaking a dialect of Agoric (technically a variant of North Agoric), with a lot of contact with the Skrallic Language.

As for the name Bone Hunters itself, I suppose it could go either way, really. They are/were scavengers in the desert, hunting for the "bones" of past civilization.

[kanguin]

On Speciation of Sentient Species on Spherus Magna

Complicated name for a complicated subject!

So we know from 2009/10 that the three groups on Bara Magna were the Agori, the closely related warrior species known only by their usual profession, Glatorian, and the Skrall, who were more distant relatives to the others.

We know that before the Shattering, all three groups existed as they were by the time of Mata Nui's arrival. Spherus Magna had a society ruled by god kings, Elemental Lords, who were themselves created, or rather elevated, by Glatorian scientists we know as the Great Beings, and these Elemental Lords fought amongst themselves over a resource (energized protodermis), which is what caused the shattering.

The timescale in this story is huge. So, my idea is, what if long ago, and I mean long long ago because of how advanced Spherus Magna's technology was, all three species were once Agori? The Agori are the vast majority population on the planet, were chosen as the template for Matoran. They ally themselves with larger species (Glatorian for most tribes, Skrall for the Rock Tribe), and have physical similarities to both.

A key point in my idea that the three are related is that there exists a fourth quasi-species: Bone Hunters. Canonically, they are stated to be closest to Skrall in relation, but are not quite Skrall, and are Agori-sized. This mingling of traits could maje Bone Hunters a "link" between Agori and Skrall.

I personally believe that over Spherus Magna's long history, the Agori species slowly diverged into Agori and Bone Hunters after ages of geographic separation, and then some Bone Hunters eventually evolved into Skrall, becoming larger and more fearsome. These Skrall, seeing as they saw themselves as more powerful, would then start attacking Agori, who eventually created an augmented subspecies that they called their "Warriors" to fight back.

This conflict would go on and on and on, and eventually nobody would remember they were ever the same. So even when the Great Beings tried creating order with the Elemental Lords, all they did was create further cultural divides among an already divided world. Iirc, Greg Farshtey once stated that had Bionicle continued, there would have been focus on the political divisions on Spherus Magna, and if my interpretation of their history is correct, I can totally understand why.

[dark-hunters-inc]

Has there been recuited anyone new from Spheres Magna since you all ended up there?

Certainly. The planet of Spherus Magna has its fair share of outcasts, thieves, and reprobates, all merely waiting for an opportunity like the Dark Hunters to arrive. Strakk, an exiled Glatorian, was one of our first signups. Other exiled Glatorian and Agori have followed suit, eager for a chance to sleep in a bed again, no matter the pay. An agreeable Agori named Metus has a tentative deal with us finding recruits.

We were also able to recruit more than a few Skrall, as well, with promises of conquest and “honorable” missions. The Bone Hunters have been a hard sell, as their way of life is already well suited to the desert. However, a few of their more ambitious members have been more than willing for a change of pace.

There is some discrimination among the ranks against organics, but I have never turned away a recruit just for their type of being. They all have a use to me... and on this new world, organics have more experience than any of my other operatives. So they will continue to be of use to me, for the foreseeable future.