cyclicality | Welcome to Republic City!

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Welcome to Republic City!

It was a bright and sunny normal day in Republic City. Children were playing, spirits were chirping about, and everything was going along like normal. Well at least that's what everyone seemed to think. That is until so many people seemed to be appearing out of nowhere. For some reason Republic City seemed to be more lively and the crowds bigger.

The spirits have grown restless as if something important was about to change, and to try to fix that change, the spirits with their big long tree like limbs dragged people into the world left and right. Even the vines covering Republic City seemed to help. Although the spirits had the best intentions in mind, some people were more affected by the grab than others. There's talk that people in this city don't even know what this place is. People who have never heard of the words "bender" or "non-bender."

Welcome to Republic City! And to those who already live here: Happy Saturday. Please make yourselves at home and don't mind a little spirit gunk. It's mostly harmless. Go enjoy yourself a classic mover. Maybe you're the athletic type. If that's the case, come watch a few Pro-bending matches or form your own team. Just watch out for any Satomobiles. They can be deadly no matter how pretty the driver is.

Please remember to enjoy your stay and don't cause too much trouble. The Republic City Police don't need more riffraff to take care of. And don't stray too far. To make the the peace is kept, there's a huge spirit barrier around the perimeter of the city. It seems pretty strong, but it won't be able to last forever. Still, it's worrying. Radio signals and telegraphs don't seem to be getting past it.

[ OOC: The game is officially open! From this point on, feel free to make any posts you want or tag into this. Please remember to tag your posts with Canon: Character. Finally, although the game has no real network, you're free to respond with prose or brackets, whatever you're comfortable with. With that said, have fun! ]

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"It's no problem. I'm just glad I can." Really. Maybe it's not fixing the bigger problem at hand, but it's still doing something. "Besides... Dwarven vow number two! Never abandon someone in need." He says that with all the confidence of a well-worn quote, one he clearly believes in because he doesn't hesitate before following Opal with the bag.

At that Opal blinks a touch in surprise at him. And then she can't help but laugh brightly.

"I like that! Dwarven Vow number two? So there are more?"

Not surprised that Opal's never heard of the Dwarven Vows (okay, maybe a little, just because he's so used to them himself, but he knows dwarves aren't common on the surface at all), Lloyd grins at her. "Yeah, there's lots! Most people don't know very many, but I can quote all of them by heart." Some people might think that's a stupid thing to be proud of, but for Lloyd, it's something he knows better than almost anyone else, something he's worked hard for. Why not feel proud to be an expert for once? "Want me to recite them for you?"

Opal. Opal, be warned. There's over a hundred of those sayings. He's not kidding about there being a lot.

Lots? Opal thinks on that statement a moment, then carefully replies, "Define what you mean by 'lots'."

Lloyd quotes a number that is at least one hundred thirty four (or possibly more ~~but canon details on the vows are patchy and incomplete~~.) Yup, that many vows, and he knows them all! Not even Genis can boast better than that.

It may be a trick of the light as they walk but one could swear Opal visibly pales at the reply. Her voice trips a bit.

"Maybe just your favorite one..."

Secretly, Lloyd's just as glad to have the offer rejected. While the opportunity to feel knowledgeable about something doesn't happen that often, it probably would have gotten a little bit boring quoting that many dwarven vows. Of course, picking just one vow poses a different kind of challenge.

"My favorite, huh?" He has to think for a moment. There's a lot of good ones, but if he had to pick just one... "Dwarven vow number sixteen, then! You can do anything if you try." That one feels like it encompasses the spirit of a lot of the others.

"I think I'll have to agree, that one really is good." Though the talk of Dwarven vows -- whoever Dwarves may be because she sure doesn't know them -- makes her curious about what supposed world this man either is from or thinks he's from.

"So what sort of place is Iselia?"

It hasn't really occurred to Lloyd yet that he's in a completely different world. As far as he's aware, the only reason there was ever even two worlds was because his world had been split in half. He's pretty sure he would have heard if it had been split in more pieces than that. So, Republic City? Must just be in a part of the world he's never visited. Or heard of. Hey, the world's big. It could happen!

"It's a pretty small town. Not a whole lot happens there, usually." He tries not to think with a guilty wince about the last time something big had happened. It's over and done with, and the town's recovering from the fires the Desians had set. He pushes that thought aside. He doesn't really want to bring that up, and he doubts it's something Opal wants to hear about. "People have farms, or flocks," he continues. "Or they do things like woodworking, or work with leather - you know, stuff like that. My Dad's a smith. He's one of the best." Because really, it's hard to compete with a dwarf when it comes to metalcraft.

"What about where you're from?" Curiosity goes both ways!

"It sounds more like a village then, right?"

That said, Opal considers. "Well... Zaofu isn't exactly a village but it's not really as big as Republic City. It was founded by my mother when she was younger and she eventually married the chief architect of the town - that's my father. Since my family is known for their metalbending abilities, a lot of the town consists of various metals."

"Right! A village!" That's totally what he meant to say.

But even as he opens his mouth to comment on the idea of her mother starting a village of her own, he gets tripped up by that unfamiliar word. He blinks, then echoes it back to her. "Metalbending? Is that another word for being a smith?"

She blinks a bit, obviously surprised. And then immediately after realizes the problem. "That's right, you're not from here." Amazing how easily she's just accepted that, whether it's completely true or not.

Opal mulls on how best to explain. "Well, you see... benders are people who can manipulate various elements through their own energy. An earthbender can do this with earth, a waterbender can use water, a firebender can use fire and an airbender does it with air. Metalbenders are earthbenders who use their ability to manipulate the bits of earth still in metal to bend metal as well."

She pauses there, then asks, "So... does any of that make sense?"

"Oh!" His confusion clears with that explanation. "You mean when someone uses magic!" Kind of a weird way to describe a spell, but he's more than familiar with what she's describing. "We just call them sorcerers where I'm from. My best friend can do all of that!"

Well, maybe not with metal, but Opal makes it sound like that's a part of earth magic, and Genis is definitely capable of that. It's even possible that he can but hasn't ever tried. If someone gave him the idea, Lloyd's pretty confident Genis could do even that.

Oh thank goodness. Opal breathes out an audible sigh of relief. The part about his friend though... she looks like she's trying to decide if he's not just babbling here.

"Only one person can bend all four elements... ah, at least here anyhow. That's the Avatar."

"Really?" Lloyd blinks at Opal, nonplussed. "But... I've seen lots of people use four elements or more - even one of my other friends and my dad." Thinking about Kratos still brings a dull ache to his chest, even after making peace with his father's decision to leave more than a year ago. He doesn't want to dwell on that right now, though.

Fortunately, the topic of conversation right now makes it pretty easy to forget about things like missing his father.

"More?"

Wait, there's more? Seriously?

"Well, yeah. Didn't you know?" He holds up his fingers to tick them off. "Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Thunder, Ice, Light, and Dark." When he reaches the last, he looks pretty pleased with himself. See, Professor Sage? He can memorize things besides just his times tables and all the Dwarven Vows.

All in all, Opal's rather impressed by the list of elements. He has a right to look pleased with himself over his memorized list.

"And your friend can control most of those?"

"All of them but Dark," Lloyd confirms. "At least, last time I saw him. It's been a while, so who knows? Maybe he's figured Dark out, too."

While they've been talking, they've been drawing steadily closer to the bay. That's right, she said they were going to an island.

"How are we getting to the island we're going to? Is somebody waiting for you with a boat?"

"There's a ferry that tends to wait here when air acolytes are in the City itself actually. It should still be there or it should come back soon if it isn't."

That said, their trek to the dock finds the ferry waiting, drifting calmly on the water. Opal gives Lloyd a big smile.

"See, there it is. I think it might just be me and you this time though."

The closer they get to the ferry, the more Lloyd stares at it, admiring. It's not exactly large, but it looks really well built, even with the foreignness of some of its design. Some of the elements of that design might be good to remember, though, when it comes time to building his own boat. It's certainly sleek, with a prow that looks like it can cut right through the waves. It takes him a moment to tear his eyes away from it.

"If it's only waiting for air echolights..." He's not quite sure what an echolight is, but he's putting two and two together. "Does that mean you're an echolight? What do echolights do?"

Echolights. Opal takes a moment to try not to laugh at the pair board the ferry. Honestly she rather likes the new moniker, it sounds... cute? Is that the right word? It would probably be a little off to say as much so she just grins as she sits her own bags down once on the ferry.

"Acolytes are students basically. If you see someone dressed like me in town --" and here Opal gently at the orange cape over the yellow outfit "then they're probably one of the air acolytes. We're students studying airbending over on Air Temple Island."

Airbending. Air magic. So Opal must be a wizard! "I get it," Lloyd says, and he's pretty sure that he does. "So Air Temple Island is your school." It's a little odd to him that someone would study only one element, but hey, maybe it's a school for people who are just really bad at all the other subjects. Lloyd can empathize with that! If there was a school for just Arts and Crafts, I'd definitely go to that school!

Once they're safely on the ferry, Lloyd looks at her outfit with new interest. While not really colors he'd choose for himself, they're still bright and cheerful enough. The style's a little odd, but then, he's not really one to talk. After all, how many humans go around wearing dwarven-made clothes? Probably only him, which is really a shame, because Dirk's handmade clothes are the best, in his opinion. People just don't know what they're missing out on. As clothing goes, though, Opal's looks pretty good.

"Those look comfortable," he remarks. Honestly, too. Her clothes look loose enough to allow her plenty of freedom to move.

Well that was easy enough. He may be missing some on the finer points of bending but frankly so was Opal. So if he could comprehend the idea of a school for airbenders in terms of what he understood already, who was she to argue?

Once they're both on board, Opal takes a bit of a specific looking stance and begins gesturing gently. A soft gust of wind blows through in the next moment, catching the ferry's sail and setting them to moving. She smiles at his remark and replies, all the while still moving.

"They actually are. Though I do have to say your own are much more colorful. And intricate."

Don't you get tired snapping buttons at some point with that coat, Lloyd?

"You like them?" Lloyd asks, pleased at the perceived compliment. "My Dad made them for me. He's made all my clothes for as long as I can remember, and he even adds extra buttons when I ask." Too many buttons? No such thing!

Some of them aren't meant to be undone, though, so it's not like he has to open them all every time he wants to take his coat off.

The odd stance earns her a curious look, though Lloyd hasn't connected the sudden breeze to her moves. There's no visible sign of mana being used, so... "What are you doing?" he asks.

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