Perkahn

"My name is Perkahn. A fugitive, traitor, and born liar, as this man would no doubt tell you. You've heard. Exiled from Ta-Koro for selling information from the Makuta."

- Perkahn to Krayzikk

Perkahn
		}}
Species	Toa
Element	Iron
Kanohi	Kakama
Alignment	True Neutral
Weapons/Tools	"Rebellion"
Powers	Element of Iron, Mask of Speed
Occupation	Warrior, hunter
Group	Ta-Koro
Creator	Eduard Bernstein
{{{Row 10 title}}}	No information
Too many parameters

Perkahn Highwind is a renegade Toa of Iron, considered a threat by both Makuta and the Turaga.

Biography

Origins

Perkahn spent his early life in Ta-Wahi, serving in the Ta-Koro Guard, developing his career quickly and rather noticeably, becoming relatively famous as a war hero and talented leader, to the extent that he got the ear and attention of Vakama himself, thus being fortunate enough to learn several important secrets, such as the whole story of the Great Rescue. However, in the ultimate result, this knowledge helped him little, quite the opposite, in fact: when Ahkmou learned from Makuta of what the Turaga had not told the Matoran, and when Onewa, and consequentially the other Turaga, found out, he was accused of being behind this. Although the Turaga still lacked evidence to this theory, when the Makuta started more and more effectively predicting the Mata Nuians' war plans, Perkahn was ultimately accused of high treason. Vakama, however, was reluctant to kill his former protege and instead banished him from Ta-Koro. A sullen and angry Perkahn, still maintaining he was completely innocent, retreated into the quietest part of Mata Nui he could find: deep within the jungles of Le-Wahi.

Out In The Wild

In Le-Wahi, Perkahn established himself a home, moving around, making a living off trapping and hunting wild animals. He intentionally avoided contact with any sort of civilization, more because of the fact that he felt resentment towards it than because of any fear to be recognized. He tried living as if the outside world, and the war, didn't exist.

A few months into his exile, Perkahn's banishment caught the eye of Makuta himself. After sending out agents to deliver an offer to join him, Makuta was not at all surprised to learn Perkahn had refused the offer rather brusquely: by making sure his agents would not return to begin with. For the next few decades, Perkahn spent his life almost monotonously disposing of Makuta's agents sent to kill him, gradually losing even the thrill of battling and losing them: it eventually became something of a bother for him. It became a bother for Makuta too, who decided Perkahn was done for good and not worth it. After that, Perkahn lived a relatively quiet life in the forests. He developed several useful skills during this period: a basic grasp of herbalism and an advanced grasp of brewing mead and ale.

Back Into Civilization With A Bang

That all changed one day when Perkahn, enjoying some of his own homemade mead with a few newfound friends - Neirak and Alissita - gave Neirak some mead that quite unfortunately turned out to be poisoned. Considering that this didn't at all seem like Makuta's style, and seemed a one-time-incident, he decided to ignore it, until a similar poisoning was attempted only a little while later. With the goal of discovering who was behind this rather annoying attempt at subterfuge, he travelled to Ta-Wahi, where, he heard rumors say, an old acquaintance of his - Tillian Juturna - was at the time, intending to use Tillian's connections to acquire information on who kept trying to poison him. In Ta-Koro, however, things worked out slightly different. Perkahn met Raknar, and with a remarkable lack of reluctance, possibly hoping to make a name for himself again and attract the attention of whoever tried assassinating him, was recruited for the faction he once would've expected to join the least: the Crew of the Infernavika, only slightly after what they set out towards Po-Koro.

At Po-Koro, Raknar's crew kidnapped Turaga Onewa while Perkahn was left in command of the ship. This turn of events gave Perkahn an unexpectedly good chance to look into the case that brought him to the Infernavika in the first place, first-handedly.

Battle of the Infernavika

However, his goal turned out to not be so easy. The Infernavika was attacked by the Aggressors. In the ensuing chaos, Perkahn tried his best to stand his ground and prevent them from freeing the Turaga, but he was eventually unable to do so, distracted by subsequent battles between him and Skyra (during which, albeit short, he acquired Skyra's broadsword, which he later forged into his battleaxe), and afterwards him and Tillian, who seemed reluctant to fight and even offered to grant Perkahn a pardon, which he refused, claiming he would not betray his new allies even if they would betray him. Tillian escaped, and so did most of the Aggressors and the Turaga. Perkahn had no choice but to flee alongside the rest of the Crew of the Infernavika to Ga-Wahi for repairs.

Zijak and Desdemona

The Infernavika, repaired in an isolated fjord in Ga-Wahi, was soon visited by Zijak, a former member and a very, very brief-lived captain of the Infernavika. After a minor conflict between the crew and Zijak's companion, Knidia, Zijak rejoined the crew, and they set out towards Le-Wahi, only to be redirected to Po-Wahi moments later by a mysterious message delivered to Grochi via some bird-like Rahi. Before the group could leave, however, a female Toa of Plantlife named Desdemona emerged from the water of the bay and demanded she be allowed to accompany them.

Tillian, Lohkar and Mark Bearers

Some time later, Perkahn attended Tillian Juturna's wedding, and after the attack by Dorian and his supporters in the Mark Bearers, he convinced the Crew of the Infernavika to go on a hunt for the Bearers, secretly scheming to use this to gain a pardon for his (untrue) crimes. On the way, the Crew picked up a new member, Kelp. Using information he gained from Skyra and others, he reached the good Mark Bearers (Tank, Tuara, and Kearstrunn) on the beaches of Ga-Wahi, where the Crew argued on how to proceed, as Perkahn, supported by Grochi, Gunner and Yasurek, decided to agree to help the three in dealing with Dorian and the others without any reward. Subsequently, Kelp revealed himself to be none other than Lohkar (the Infernavika's original captain) in disguise, who offered to assist in this venture. Perkahn and Grochi quit nevertheless, but agreed to proceed with a joint plan to bring the evil fraction of the Mark Bearers down.

The now fractured group kidnapped Nikarra, one of Dorian's numerous lovers, relying on Tillian Juturna and his contacts in the various guards of the island to spread the word that "Dorian's girlfriend" had been captured. Dorian, hearing of this event, indeed, as Perkahn had planned, set out to free her. At the time, Perkahn was in Ga-Koro, elaborating on the plan with Grochi, Airu (who had joined them by command of Tillian) and Tarcvor (who volunteered to assist), could not capture him. Lohkar, when Dorian arrived on the Infernavika, betrayed Perkahn, letting him go. Gunner, out of respect and friendship with Perkahn and Grochi, informed them of the event. Perkahn's new group attempted an investigation on their own, which was interrupted by a terrorist act that struck Ga-Koro a few days later.

Khalrak and Arkei

Perkahn and Grochi soon bore witness to a terrorist act, where a tavern in Ga-Koro was mercilessly blown up. After a brief investigation, the pair discovered that behind the act was a psychopath Vortixx named Khalrak, and tracked him down as he was on his way to Ko-Koro. However, the moment they identified him in the fields outside Ga-Koro, Perkahn ran into an old acquaintance and enemy of his - Arkei. Perkahn, Grochi and Arkei engaged in a battle, the first two eventually imprisoning the last in an underground cavern that they filled with plasma and sealed up tight. Arkei's fate remains unknown, while Khalrak, although he got away, was reported to the authorities as the man behind the attack.

Then, Perkahn and Grochi went back to Ga-Koro and had an unfortunate incident with bad milk stout, widely acknowledged as the best moment of BZPRPG 2012.

The Conclusion

Perkahn and Grochi, on their way to Le-Wahi, encountered Dorian and Grokk on a bike, just outside the walls of Ta-Koro, trying their best to pedal away. The two (latter) miscreants were also followed from Ta-Koro by Loren, Lumira, JL and a troop of guardsmen under Tarotrix. Surrounded by enemies and supported only by a timely-appeared Naara, Dorian and Grokk's fate seemed grim, but a sudden attack of the village of Ta-Koro by a legion ofRahkshi resulted in their attackers, including Perkahn and Grochi, retreating to assist the villagers. Perkahn and Grochi, left behind and cut off from the village by the Rahkshi legion, entered Ta-Koro through a secret passageway Perkahn had previously used to get into the village through the sewers. There, Perkahn briefly reunited with his wife, Arianna, and his son, Jolek, only to leave to prepare to defend the fortress-village from invasion.

Placed in command of the levy reserve force in the defense of Ta-Koro, Perkahn, alongside the men and women of Ta-Koro rebuked the Rahkshi assault, in no small part thanks to the defeat of Makuta.

Appearance and Tools

Perkahn's armor is a mixture of the colors dark red and brown - while rather atypical for a Toa of Iron, no particular explanation for this coloring has been provided. His mask is somewhat weathered, with some minor scars, while his right hand is covered with a figurative net of mild, long-forgotten, no-longer-painful burns.

Rebellion

Perkahn's battleaxe is called Rebellion, and has been fashioned into the outstanding Toa Tool that it is today only with extreme amounts of effort and diligence. Beginning as an ordinary axe given to a novice Toa, Rebellion was gradually improved by Perkahn using his smithing abilities as a Toa of Iron, most notably when Perkahn forged one of Skyra's broadswords that he had stolen during the Battle of the Infernavika into the battleaxe, strengthening its ability to channel Perkahn's elemental powers. While Rebellion has no particular abilities of its own, it is very sensitive to Perkahn's own, and works as an excellent transmitter of those abilities.

Abilities and Traits

Despite his tendency toward loneliness and his lack of a concern for what's going on in the war, Perkahn is a pretty lighthearted, extroverted character when he's actually in a group of people and not out alone in the wilds. He's not one to be the life of the party, but he's certainly its soul, and has no qualms about a good time with his few friends by a glass of mead.

Perkahn is an excellent hunter, herbalist, smith and brewer, skills that were in no small part necessary for his survival in Le-Wahi and elsewhere in the wilderness.

Relationships

Family

• Arianna (wife)
• Jolek (son)

Friends and Allies

• Crew of the Infernavika
• Mark Bearers
• Raknar
• Grochi
• Neirak
• Tillian
• Merror (acquaintance)
• Skyra (acquaintance)

Enemies

• Makuta
• Dorian
• Nikarra
• Arkei
• Khalrak

Quotes

"You look a witty lad, so I'll ask you a question this one would be deaf to: if I had joined the Makuta, why'd you think I would've been spending time isolated and alone in the jungle? I'd have a new master to go to. Mangaia's nice this time of year, I hear."

- Perkahn, to Krayzikk

"I want to find out who wants me dead. And why. And, it so coincidentally happens, that most my friends who can help me are dead. So I have to trust people who do not trust me. One of them is in this room."

- Perkahn

"[I'm] Neirak."

"Gesundheit."

- Neirak and Perkahn

"Almost makes me want to live in the forest."

- Neirak, on Perkahn's mead

"I don't trust them either. Of course they don't trust me. But I won't betray them. I'm not a traitor. Out of all the Toa on this island, I'm the least a traitor."

- Perkahn, to Tillian

Trivia

• Perkahn once slapped and lectured a Muaka into submission until it turned its tail and ran.
• Originally intended (at least in the BZPRPG) to be something of a Neutral Good character disillusioned with Matoran society and the Toa's priorities of winning the war over caring for the Matoran, Perkahn quickly developed into a wrongly punished former war hero from Ta-Wahi over the course of a single conversation, that with Neirak.
• Dovydas of Gulet initially (back in the Locus Abeo saga) based Perkahn strongly on Baltic and Slavic mythology, mainly his name, which came from the god of thunder in Baltic mythology, Perkunas.
• Perkahn speaks in a Dutch accent.
• Perkahn has a pet Gukko named Ark. It was this Gukko that he used to arrive, via crashlanding, at Tillian's wedding.