Leah

"Everyone we know and love is on this Island; our home. And if we can save it and them, then there is nothing that can stand in our way to that goal."
— Leah

Leah
Toa Leah, wearing the great Ruhaku
RPG	BZPRPG III
Element	Water
Species	Toa
Gender	Female
Equipment & Traits
Kanohi	Ruhaku
Powers	Advanced control over the element of water, including manipulation, absorption and creation. Extremely powerful in her element's use, due to the essence-stone. The Kanohi Ruhaku allows her to see the intent of almost any being she comes across in the form of a coloured aura.
Weaponry/Equipment	Protosteel extending Bo-staff, Small satchel filled with medicinal herbs, energy-cans, light- and heat-stones and other field-equipment.
Alignment	Lawful Good
History & Relationships
Group	Toa Maru
Affiliation	Mata Nui
OOC Information
Status (IC)	Alive
Status (OOC)	Active
Creator	Vezok's Friend

Leah is the Toa Maru of Water and was a member of the Wanderer's Company, like the other Toa on the team. She originally hails from Le-Koro, where she is a member of the Gukko-Force.

Biography

Early Life

For as long as she can remember, Leah had lived in Le-Koro and the jungles of Le-Wahi. That did not change, until the arrival of the first Toa. Not much of her activities from those early years is known, but somewhere along the way, Leah became close friends with another Le-Matoran named Sisk, who was also her neighbor. The two discovered that they had a lot of interests in common: A free spirit, the lust for adventure, an interest in the wildlife of Mata Nui and most importantly a desire to help others. However, these traits expressed themselves in a sort of restlessness which the Le-Matoran tried to balance out with a lot of sports, such as free-running and leaf-sprinting, teaching herself the basics of bird-riding and meditation. Eventually, she decided to find the best way to apply her interests and soon after she joined the Le-Koro Gukko-Force, together with Sisk, who decided to join at the same time.

Le-Koro Guard

As an ensign in the guard, Leah went through the basic training, where she discovered an affinity for martial arts and her future weapon of choice, the Bo-staff. Her first assignment on active duty was as an errand-runner and messenger, a stressful position that required a lot of rapid traveling on bird-back, to communicate information with the other villages effectively. During this time she was taught the ropes of properly flying the Gukko and Kahu by Boreas and Kongu and became a rather skilled pilot herself, which Turaga Matau observed once (during a visit to the guard-HQ) to be thanks to the great effort she put into not only piloting but also understanding the birds she was riding, to be more in tune with them.

Eventually her superiors noticed as well and she was re-assigned to the tamer-units, specialized Matoran in charge of taking care of the Gukko-Force's Rahi and their well-being as well as keeping an eye on the local wild-life. There she was reunited with her best friend, Sisk, who had wanted to work with Rahi for a long time. For the next few decades, the two Matoran worked to keep the Gukko and Kahu birds healthy, a highly important task as the Gukko-riders often engaged in combat with other flying Rahi, such as Nui-Rama and Nui Kopen. The other task of the tamers was to deal with the occasional Rahi-threat to the village itself, such as stray or infected Muaka. Leah distinguished herself during that time through her dedication to the force, her hard work and her ability to keep a calm head under stress, which earned her her first promotion and a command, as 2nd Lieutenant, being put in charge of a team of tamers.

However, it would not be the last. It was around that time that the Toa Mata arrived on the island and fueled the conflict with the Makuta, which up until then had been one of attrition, trying to wear the villages defenses down. However, with the arrival fo the first Toa, it became full-on war against the master of shadows and his forces. Most notably for Le-Koro was the first raid on the major Rama-Hive as well as the final stand against the Makuta's Rahi-hoards at the Kini-Nui. Leah's team of tamers supported the Gukko-Pilots during both events.

When the Toa Mata did not return it was up to the Gukko-Force and other guards to shoulder the entire defense of the villages, a task not made easier while mourning the loss of their heroes. Thext few decades went by in a constant stream of conflict, Leah honing her skills as a team-player and leader during that time, until new Toa began to show up. At first it seemed like this marked a turning-point, but unfortunately many of the newcomers were under the Makuta's sway or pursuing their own goals. The sudden increase in powered beings began to stretch the guard's resources thin.

At the same time, the Makuta's forces made their move, and began to assassinate the former member of the Chronicler's company. When Tamaru was killed, Sisk decided to join a Toa of fire named Merror in investigating the murder and finding the ones responsible, which left Leah's unit of tamers short-handed. Sisk's departure from active duty in the tamers prompted Captain Kongu to promote Leah once more, this time to 1st Lieutenant and directly answerable to him.

This put her in charge of the guard's entire cadre of support-units. Leah took to her new responsibilities well, handling both administrative activities as well as hands-on work in the hangar. 

The Wanderer's Company

Leah continued her daily work in the position of 1st tamer Lieutenant, until she was called upon to support the combined attack on the Rama-Hive led by the ILF. While the windriders and ground-units led the attack, Leah's troops set up a fallback position. Fighting both the Nui-Rama and Makuta's forces led by Heuani, this rear-position was involved in fighting off the flying Rahi while assisting the injured attackers in the field, rescuing downed pilots and their birds and treating the wounded. 

When Heuani started to field Rahkshi and worse - the Parakuka-infected Turaga, Leah joined the attackers, among them some of her future brothers in arms. Together they managed to subdue the Turaga and drive off Heuani, though not without several losses. 

In the aftermath of the battle, Leah stayed in Pala-Koro for a little while, before returning to Le-Koro, followed shortly after by Sisk and the others members of the "Rahkshi Hunting Squad". While they waited to be formally acknowledged by Captain Kongu, Leah returned to her duties. 

Some time later, she received a surprise-visit that would mark a turning-point in her life: Carrying a list of chosen names, Stannis the Wanderer and Reordin approached the Le-Matoran after work and revealed to her that she was one of several chosen Matoran destined to fulfil a prophecy that would finally bring the Makuta down.

Initially torn between her duty to Le-Koro and the new duty to the whole island, Leah joined up quickly after being granted an indefinite leave of absence by Kongu, setting out together with the Wanderer's company to find the essence-stones of the Toa Mata. And at first, progress was good, retrieving the essence-stones of Onua and Gali within a few days. But their progress did not go unnoticed by Makuta and his agents began to hunt them, eventually tracking them down in a secluded fjord in Ko-Wahi shortly after their arrival in the small fishing-village. Unexpected help arrived that night in the form of Joske, Matoran-turned-Toa and destined to clear the path for the company, including retrieving the crystals from the temples of virtue across the island. Only his timely intervention prevented the Matoran from being captured, but the team was split up by an avalanche when they tried to escape the area through an underground tunnel. Separated from Stannis and Oreius; Leah, Reordin, Sulov and Lepidran were forced to continue with the quest, not knowing whether their friends had gotten away or not. Especially Reordin was shaken by the event and Leah found herself taking charge of the small group until they found their way back above ground. Knowing time was running out quickly with Makuta's servants on their trail, they pushed to retrieve Kopaka's essence-stone within two days, before returning to Le-Wahi, arriving late at night and setting out the next morning to find the last essence-stone on their route. During that time, Leah and Reordin found themselves getting closer to each other, eventually confessing their feelings for each other after the return to Le-Wahi.

Luckily, Stannis and Reordin had managed to escape the dark Toa, escaping to the Massif together with a Matoran named Lepidran, assigned as chronicler by Stannis. Managing to find the last essence-stone they returned to Le-Wahi just in time to reunite with Leah and the others at the site of the Rama-Hive Raid. Burned to the ground in the aftermath of the battle, the structure revealed to have been built around a special Suva - their own.

But the diffculties were not over yet. Lewa's essence-stone would not accept Lepidran as the rightful heir, instead revealing that Korero was destined to inherit the power of the stone. Even more worrying though, Oreius had been attacked and joined by a Parakuka while visiting the hut of the late Turaga Onewa in Po-Koro.

Despite these unexpected changes, the compans resolved to proceed with the plan. Equipped with their respective essence-stone, the Matoran took their places around the Suva and then placed the stones in the Suva. There was a rush of energy, a blinding white light and then, Leah found herself lying on the ground, still feeling liker herself. But at the same time, she had become much more: Toa Leah, heir of Gali, Toa Maru of water.

Toa Maru

Toa Leah Maru, illustrated by Demitsorou.

When she awoke, Leah found herself considerably larger, stronger and charged with an amazing amount of elemental energy. Most surprisingly for her though was the change from a green-colored body to blue, even though some of her native still shone through in the hues of her armor.

Newly transformed, the Toa Maru were not granted much time to get used to their new appearances and bodies. Just as they had taken their first looks at each other, a secret opening appeared in the Suva and a full team of Rahkshi emerged from the darkness to challenge Mata-Nui's new defenders. Knowing the power of Rahkshi, the Maru intinctively tapped into their elemental powers and to their own surprise, managed to defeat the sons of Makuta in fierce but short one-on-one fights.

With the discovery of the instinctive advanced control of their elements, but still without their proper masks the Maru decided to not delay any longer and set out to Kini-Nui. 

When they arrived they were greeted by the trio of Joske, Agni and Angelus, but any exchange of pleasantries had to wait. With his Lieutenant defeated, the time to strike at Mangaia had come and the Maru still did not have masks of power. Joske, fulfilling part of the prophecy, then opened a gateway to the keeping place for the Maru, and they entered its world, finding themselves standing in a wonderous, lush jungle atop a ridge above a waterfall. 

Quickly recognizing that this was merely a beginning series of tests specifically for them, the Maru took a leap of faith off the cliff. But instead of an impact, Leah found herself in yet a different place, a place of even more trials. 

Devoid of light and feeling, surrounded by strange voices, the newly transformed Toa of water was threatened to loose herself in the myriad of cascading voices, until she managed to pull herself together, finding herself again and passing the test. An instant later, she was transported to a metaphysical seaside cave, where she found her new mask: The Kanohi Ruhaku.

Taking a few minutes, Leah enjoyed a last moment of peace before being reunited with the other Maru above the cliff, returning to the Kini-Nui together.

Without further ado, the six decended into the Mangaia below, soon facing the first line of defense in the form of Makuta's Manas. The crabs soon found themselves outmaneuvered and defeated though, Leah and Reordin joining forces to freeze two Manas at once, then bathing them in acid. But there was no time to savor this first victory, as Makuta sent out the Toa Mata - not dead, as the island had believed, but transformed into the darkness' obedient and deadly slaves. Thoroughly corrupted, they challenged the Maru to 1 on 1 duels and Leah was faced with Whiru, the Toa once known as Tahu. 

Whiru confidently began to toy with her and taunted the Toa of water, not realizing that she herself was using that time to drag out the fight and keep the Toa of shadow from ganging up on any of the other Maru. Still, the fight was brutal, the former Toa Mata nearly overpowering the Maru on numerous occasions, until eventually disarming her. Fortunately, her playing for time had worked; and a timely intervention by Reordin allowed her to turn the tables on Whiru, knocking the dark Toa out and joining her bretheren in their fight. One by one, the former Mata were defeated until only Heuani remained. Oreius, using the raw power granted to him by the Parakuka Inu, violently beat down Reka (the former Gali) seemingly killing her. Distraught over the apparent death of the Toa whos legacy was in her, Leah cried out to the remaining Toa of Shadow. Realizing that his fight was about to cost him the only love he ever cared about again, Heuani desperately teleported himself and Reka's body away, leaving the way open for the Maru to face their final confrontation.

But instead of  finding the master of shadows in his true form, they were greeted by the form of Takua. Takua showed them a brief vision of how the Toa Mata fell. After a brief exchange of words, the Matoran revealed his true form as Makuta and attacked, both physically and with his considerable mental powers. While besieged by his swirling shadows, Leah protected herself in a bubble of water, but was trapped in a dream by Makuta.

In the dream she seemingly awoke some time after the battle, back home in Le-Koro, celebrated as a victorious hero. But after being led to the ceremony to commemorate the occasion, the dream showed her as the betrayer of the team. Turned into a Toa of shadow, the Turaga (who had also fallen under Makuta's sway and erected a statue in his honour) demanded she execute the rest of her team. Realizing the mental trap, Leah instead attacked the stature, shattering it and escaping from the dream, back into the real world to resume the fight. 

After the other Maru escaped their visions as well, they combined their powers to drive Makuta back, but even while earth, rock and fire formed a volcano beneath him and air, water and ice unleashed a Blizzard, Makuta taunted them, before renewing his attack. However, in his gloating he allowed Toa Stannis some final words. Stannis seized the opportunity and with the help of his Kanohi, Makuta was banished into legend, somewhere beyond the realm of physical existence.

Aftermath/Uncertain Times

After Makuta's defeat, the Maru split up, each taking the dark walk dug by the Rahkshi to quickly reach their respective villages, in order to inform the Matoran of their victory. While the appearance of the new heroes was sudden and unexpected, the villagers soon warmed to their new protectors. Leah found herself fitting right in with the Ga-Matoran and soon became friends with Akiri Hahli. In honor of the Maru's victory, the Akiri invited Leah to take up residence in the former Turaga's hut, which had stood empty since Nokama's death. Leah humbly accepted the offer, but out of respect for the late Turaga, she has not made any changes to the hut, aside from putting up a hammock for her to sleep in.

Leah took up her duty as protector of the village, helping out wherever she could and even aiding in stopping an ill-planned attempt on the Akiri's life. As tensions between the villages began to rise in the following weeks, Ga-Koro was frequently visited by envoys from the other Wahi, along with Toa Reordin Maru, who stayed in the village of water for some days to spend time with Leah. It was during that time that Akiri Kongu called for a summit and the two Toa escorted Hahli to Le-Koro, where they would join up with Kongu and Toa Korero and head for Kini-Nui. However, Korero announced he would not be present at the summit, so Leah as a former Le-Matoran, was asked to watch over both Akiri. The summit went by smoothly as the Akiri realized their distrust was unfounded and with their long-standing friendship renewed, they returned to their villages. Leah stopped on the way back in Le-Koro spend some more time in her former home.

There, she had a run-in with Ketan, aka Greed, of the disbanded Toa Daedra. The Ruhaku quickly allowed the Toa Maru to determine his identity and Greed decided to make a run for it. Being a former native of the Wahi, Leah quickly caught up with Greed, trapping him in the swamp below the village of air. Bound to the Toa Code, she gave the criminal a choice: Come clean or be turned over to Ga-Koro's authorities. Knowing they would execute him for his involvement in the assassination of Tuaraga Nokama and his other crimes, Greed accepted and disappeared into the jungle.

But just as Leah returned to the village of air, ready to go home, news of Matoro's death reached her and only a short while later, Korero appeared, teleporting them both to Ko-Koro. Soon joined by the other Maru, save for Stannis, they aided in the investigation into the Akiri's murder. Leah determined that Jaa, the scribe who had been found standing over Matoro's body, was innocent. However, she noticed that Ambages, hand of the Akiri, did not register with her mask at all. Alarmed by knowing that the only other being to block its abilities previously had been Makuta, she quickly informed the other Maru. They decided that it would be best to track the architect, using Sulov's power, but before they could do so, their help was required to find a few missing Matoran who had been caught in an avalanche. Upon returning, the Maru learned that Ambages had left the village in the meantime to conduct some business. Worried, the Maru discussed their options, along with the newly-arrived Stannis and Oreius. While Leah pressed the issue of Ambages, Stannis kept bringing up the bigger picture: Many of Makuta's followers, including the dangerous Echelon, were still at large. After some back and forth, the Toa decided to split into teams, with Leah and Soluv assigned to track Ambages. 

But once again, they were interrupted, this time by news of the Piraka attacking Ta-Koro. With Korero's aid, the team quickly scouted out the situation in the village of fire, before teleporting there. After finding the Piraka spread out across Ta-Koro, the Maru began to square off with them. After some inital assistance, Leah began to duel with Reidak.

Appearance and Tools

Leah's body retained and amplified many of its previou physical attributes, like her fitness. Slim and well-toned, she embodies of the essence of Gali. However, the colours of her armour are more cerulean than dark blue, while the lighter armor of her legs and arms have a hint of teal in their light blue. She still retains a white tribal marking on her shoulder underneath the armour though, that shows her old rank and position in the Gukko-Force.

Leah's primary weapon is a telescopic Bo-Staff, which can extend about half its length when activated. Extremely durable and flexible, she uses it to channel her element during combat. Just a staff in most other people's hands it becomes a powerful tool.

In addition to the staff, Leah inherited Gali's clawhooks, which were stored in the late Turaga Nokama's hut. 

Leah wears the Kahoni Ruhaku, which allows its user to sense the intent of any other creature in the form of an aura around the being. The Ruhaku cannot tell the user thoughts or specify how the particular intent being sensed is to be carried out; it is merely lightly clairvoyant, telling the user or a target designated by the user what others are going to do or are already doing to him/her based on their emotions. The mask is always on at a low level. The aura and their corresponding intent are as follows:

• Red – Angry/intent to attack

• Orange – Lying/intent to deceive

• Yellow – Afraid/intent to flee

• Green – Helpful/intent to aid

• Blue – Indifferent/no intent

• Violet – Passionate/strong and unknown intent

• No color - Mask is being blocked

Leah Maru by Vezok's Friend, 2014

Abilities & Traits

Leah is among the kindest and  most caring people hailing from Le-Koro one can encounter. Good-natured, quick to laugh and hard-working, she approaches life and her new duties on the Island with as positive an attitude as possible, reasoning that there is enough darkness on Mata-Nui already, without the people adding their own unhappiness to it. Having been granted the power of a first Toa, she is aware that she now has the ability to drive out much of that darkness as well. As a tamer for the Gukko-Force, she took pride in her work and approached it with a sense of duty and responsibility surpassing that of her peers. It was this devotion to the Gukko-Force, their Gukko and Kahu, as well as Le-Koro in general that earned her a promotion to First Lieutenant while she was still a Matoran, a rank she is still very proud of. And she applies that same sense of responsibility to her newfound powers.
She also knows that her duty includes the protection of her old home, Le-Koro, as well as her new on, Ga-Koro and the other villages, now more than ever. To that end, she continues to practice her martial arts with fervour, as the transformation has given her a great boost, turning a skilled Matoran into a full-blown fighter.
Like most Le-Matoran she has a thing for humor and her bright laugh often helps the morale of the Toa Maru, though lately she has felt a lot calmer, a side-effect of the essence of Gali. The full realisation of what these changes all mean has not sunken in completely yet, but she is determined to give her best, whatever may come.

Relationships

Friends and Allies

• Reordin
• Stannis
• Sulov
• Korero
• Oreius
• The Gukko Force

Enemies

• Makuta
• Heuani
• Whiru
• Reka

Quotes

"No, today, everything changes. Even you. Because you are afraid. Afraid of me. Afraid of us. Why else would you create such visions and offer the deals you offer? You couldn't stop us when we were Matoran, you couldn't even stop us before we knew our destinies. You can not stop us now. So you try to seduce us, so that we would bring about our own downfall...like the Mata did before us."

- Toa Leah to Makuta "I don't need to believe there is a chance...I know there is."

- Toa Leah "Yours is a saddening fate, Whiru. I would not wish it upon anybody."

- Toa Leah to Shadow-Toa Whiru, the former Tahu Mata. "If you have nothing better to do, than to try and talk the Matoran out of what little bravery we have, why don't you make like a tree and leave, Toa-Hero.' 'If you're not willing to do what you are supposed to, step aside and let somebody else do the job."

- Matoran Leah standing up to Toa Unari.

"First, you kick me out of my own hammock with a pillow in Le-Wahi, and now this? 'Really?

"Yup. It comes with the rank...and I never said you can't sleep here. Get in LT."

- Leah and Reordin "This is it lads. This is the crucible. Today we will test how much strength really is in Makuta! He thinks of us a little more then insects. Nuisances, interfering with his plan, easily crushed and left for dead. I say we show him that he's wrong. Not for one second think that just because we assist from behind the lines that you're not crucial to the success of what is about to happen! We're not just here for supllies and disks. We're the rear-guard! Whatever the outcome, this is where all the fighters will come back to! This is their safe haven and it is our job to keep it that way! I want each of you to look to your right and left. Look at the face of the one next to you. This is what we fight for, not just for ourselves, but for every free Matoran, wherever they may be. You've each been assigned to your teams and you know your duties. Make it happen! Guard the sky!"

- 1st Lieutenant Leah's speech before the battle of the Rama Hive.

Trivia

• Leah's character in the game was originally conceived as a minor NPC to provide exposition for another character, Sisk, but was turned into a  full character a few months afterwards, due to popularity. She later became part of the official staff-plot, making her career in the game one of the most unique from an OOC perspective.

• Leah joined the wanderer's company as the first of two replacements in the team, filling in the spot of the late Aurax. Unlike the first lineup of Matoran for the Wanderer's company, she did not participate in the contest to find its members, but was suggested to Nuju Metru by Tyler.

• Like the other Maru, Leah's transformation via the essence-stone of Gali makes her the most powerful player-controlled Toa of water in the game.