I really, really admire your art! It’s just so perfect, I can’t even begin to put into words how amazing it is. Really, I hope to one day be as good an artist as you. Do you plan on doing more Toa?
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Thank you 
. The standard Toa team includes six, so there’s at least two more coming in the next few weeks.
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Awesome! Can’t wait to see what’s in store.
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Alrighty, in-progress #5.
To the Matoran of Bota Nui, Ilani’s something of an enigma. A solitary hunter on the plains of Su-Wahi, the only part of the ‘civilized’ world that she regularly interacts with is Su-Nuva, which is little more than an outback trading post. Yet she’s also got a taste for rather fine clothing as a symbol of wealth and status, kept in impeccable condition in spite of her rough-and-tumble lifestyle. And that’s only the start; physically, there’s always been something off in appearance about the Vo-Matoran turned Toa of Lightning; an unusually large mouth and toothy grin, a significantly stronger physique than that of a normally lithe Vo-Matoran, and some swear that they’ve seen her armor change color… Ilani has done much to keep her true identity a secret; she never was a Vo-Matoran and now isn’t a Toa of Lightning either, and in the eyes of many probably wouldn’t even be a Matoran or Toa at all if they knew the truth. Ilani’s design is, in fact, half-Skakdi, and her element is Light. The Skakdi and Matoran were never really on friendly terms back on Spherus Magna, and there’s no other Av-Matoran at all on Bota Nui; past experience had already caused Ilani to mark herself as an outcast, and post-transport she’s taken care to avoid unnecessary contact with the rest of the Matoran as much as possible. This made her the only one of the ‘chosen’ Matoran on Bota Nui who actively didn’t want to become a Toa at all, who wanted to avoid the spotlight as much as possible, but at the same time she was pretty much the only Matoran available who had any combat training and experience in handling a weapon; much as she hates it, this team needs her, and to that end she was effectively blackmailed into to becoming a Toa. Though her skill and ferocity make her a very dangerous and very valuable fighter, she’s not sure how much longer she can keep her identity a secret, especially when her elemental powers, which she has been careful not to use too much, don’t really resemble Lightning at all to anyone in the know about the Lightning. Instead, she’s relying on her swords (now effectively lightsabers, though she’s passed them off as ‘lightning blades’ for now) and a wide assortment of throwing knives whose effectiveness is greatly enhanced by her Kanohi Sanok. Through it all, she’s keeping up a confident, stoic facade occasionally punctuated by sarcastic commentary and grudgingly trains the other Toa in the art of combat; the way she sees it, the stronger the team, the faster they’ll solve the crisis at hand. When that day comes, she’ll at last be free to leave Matoran society behind again…
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I love her design already, especially her Kanohi and how it relates to her combat abilities, as well as her backstory. I also like that she has a “toothy grin” and half-Skakdi as that’s was I imagined looking at the set version of the Sanok. The markings are really cool as well, and for some reason her robes remind me of a Hawaiian ■■■■■. Can’t wait to see it colored!
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…and Ilani’s finished. Just one more to go and the Team’ll be complete!
http://img03.deviantart.net/dec1/i/2017/099/6/e/bota_nui__toa_ilani_by_scorpion_strike-db5a5dx.png
edit: apparently, after a certain amount of time the title of a topic and the content of the OP can’t be edited anymore… I guess I’m going to have to come up with a better way to keep this stuff organized.
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I love the coat and the swords on this one.
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