An Audience with the Avatar

Inside the great city of Omashu, deep in the Kolau Mountain Range, the workers were busy. The streets were being dusted in preparation for a plush green carpet to be laid down, and vagrants and undesirables were being purged from view. The path up to the Royal Palace was receiving the treatment, and a grand display was being planned.

The reason was two-fold. Primarily it was to welcome the Avatar, who was descending upon Omashu after talking with the Earth King himself. With such a high profile visit of a diplomatic nature, it was only right for the city to respect his position. Secondly, it was Lu Ren’s first chance to entertain a dignitary since he had been instated as King of Omashu - and he was keen to show the people that he, like his Father, could be the statesman that the Earth Kingdom needed.

It was also a display of power for the people in the city who doubted the newly instated rule of the Lu Dynasty. This would be a chance for them to set in stone their position in the world, to show their ideals and how they intended to carry out business.

All in all, there was a lot of pressure on Lu Ren’s shoulders.

Fortunately, the work was carried out in good time. Before the Avatar’s party had even reached the long stone bridge to Omashu the carpet had been fully laid, and Lu Ren stood at the open gates waiting for his guest. He was dressed in full ceremonial garb, including a long white and green cape draped over his shoulders. The clothing felt stiff and unyielding to the young man, who was even now unaccustomed to such attire.

Along the sides of the carpet, next to the entrance, was the Royal Guard of Omashu. Warriors who had been sent from Ba Sing Se in direct service of Lu Ren - and trained to defend his life at any cost. They held long spears, but their attires were strangely split - half of them had metal vambraces and greaves, while the other seemed to have ones made of stone. Looking at them in this outfit, it was easy to tell which were metal benders and which weren’t. Ren’s fingers moved to the metal vanguards on his own forearms for a moment, thinking of the potential that they would have in a battle.

Not that you will be fighting the Avatar… Which is probably lucky for you.

The Avatar was a metal-bender, Lu Ren knew that much - and, with the considerable strength that every Avatar wielded he doubted that he was any match for him. Even with his secret, he wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to the man - although his firebending was potent, he was completely self-taught and was certain that there was much more to the element than merely releasing jets of flame.

”Avatar Wren Xue, in the name of the Earth King, I humbly welcome you to Omashu.”

He spoke the words as soon as the Avatar had approached - he had practised them constantly for the past few days, and he felt a strange out of body experience as he did so. Him, a King? His fortunes had certainly changed over the past few weeks - but he was yet to see if it was for the better.

The travel from Ba Sing Se to Omashu had been... uneventful.  Boring even.  Wren was a little tired of the travel.  There were very few in his entourage, there had been a messenger sent forward, but otherwise just a small escort of Earth Kingdom soldiers that one of the captains insisted he take not for the strength, but for the extra set of eyes and back-up in the wilderness.  The Avatar knew it wasn't always wise to travel alone, so he accepted and they had been very helpful.

Omashu came into view Early the day they arrived, Wren kindly thanked the soldiers and dismissed them at the gate even though they all entered the city.  Their orders were to return to Ba Sing Se as soon as they got the Avatar there safely.  Though Wren knew they would likely stock up on supplies real quick while they were here.  He began his ascent to the where the King of Omashu, the son of the current Earth king was. Omashu was very incorperating of Earth benders, so Wren had the option of going up via an Earth bending platform, which he accepted.  The Soldiers Sent him to the top where Wren was greeted with a plush green carpet, royal guards, and a king in ceremonial robes.

It was a view he was accustomed to, and it was likely the King of Omashu's first time entertaining any dignitary of the diplomatic sort.  So it all made sense.  Luckily he had dusted himself off while going up the Elevator with a simple earth-bending clap of his hands.  He was spick and span and good as new.  

Wren approached and the New King of Omashu, someone he had never heard of before, greeted him.  The words were perfect, too perfect.  Wren wondered if that was going to be this King's common vernacular.  "My Thanks, your welcome is appreciated.  We have a few things to discuss." Wren motioned towards the inside of the castle?... Palace? It didn't really matter. "Shall we?"

Although the Avatar was only five years his senior, Lu Ren felt a strange apprehension within him as the man approached. His words, unlike Lu Ren’s seemed to come almost naturally to him - evidently he had met many dignitaries in his time.

Obviously… You know he met Father already…

He firmly resisted shaking his head at himself in annoyance, instead offering Wren Xue a wide smile and stepping backwards, motioning towards the Palace. They walked side-by-side, with the Royal Guard following close behind. Lu Ren found himself wringing his hands slightly as they walked, trying to get rid of the thin film of sweat that had seemed to appear there.

As they entered the Palace, Lu Ren motioned to one of the adjoining side rooms. The Guards pulled the wide double doors opened and the pair stepped inside.

The decor was simple, a few suits of armour dotted around the place as well as a large banner showing the Royal Insignia of the Earth Kingdom. In the center of the room was a table, with various maps laid out upon it. Lu Ren made his way over, standing at one side of the table and motioning to the maps.

”I took the liberty to laying out a few maps of the surrounding areas - I had received word that you were intent on informing the Earth Kingdom as to the whereabouts of potential Spirit activity. These maps range from Senlin Village all the way down to Gaoling - the full extent of Omashu’s reach. I’ve also taken the liberty of adding in maps from the Kaleck and Aelouanath Territories - they may belong to the Sandbender Tribes, but that doesn’t make them any less susceptible to attack.”

It was perhaps an ideal that was removed from the other Earth Kingdom nobility, but Lu Ren didn’t care. When he had accepted his place as King, he had vowed to help everybody who needed it - not just those who he could claim dominance over.

"Lu Ren... " Wren couldn't help but internally laugh at the coincidence between their names. The new king of Omashu showed him to a side room that had been prepared. The Avatar looked over the maps that the king had set out. Wren was impressed with the man. He had come prepared and that was very professional.

"Ah it seems you did receive my message." Wren breathed with a sigh of relief. "This will make business much quicker, I do appreciate it." Wren looked over the map thinking back on the spirit manifestations he had seen within the last couple of years. He stroked his chin as he did so.

"The main issues that the Spirit have had is encroachment on their territory, while it isn't serious yet they are afraid it will get much worse." Wren pointed to a few lines along the sides of villages that had boomed recently into cities. "These are the main places you should avoid if you don't want trouble." He pointed to a few more lines in another region along the side of a town that he knew was rapidly growing. Here the spirits are currently friendly and a little bit of expansion past these lines wouldn't hurt as long as proper due is given.

Wren relaxed and smiled. "There that wasn't too rough was it?" He curled his hand into a fist and bent his wrist. A pair of sturdy but comfortable looking chairs emerged from the ground, made entirely of stone. "Let's sit down, I'd like to get to know the King of Omashu better and I'm sure the King of Omashu would like to know the Avatar better. No need for formalities, let's just chat. If it's not prying to much, can you tell me who you were before you became king?

The Avatar made his body posture as friendly as he could. Switching to being casual like this took a bit of work, but if he could work up a nice conversation with the king of Omashu, perhaps he would learn more about the new Earth King. This was his son after all.

OOC: If the King offers a more comfortable space Wren will accept.

A frown grew onto Ren’s face as the Avatar spoke. He pointed out several places that they shouldn’t expand into, and several more that they could only expand into if they gave the ‘proper due’.

One of the villages that he motioned to was already known to the new King. During his dark years, when he had roamed freely after the death of his Mother, he had frequented there as a place to replenish his supplies. Shortly before he had assumed the throne he had visited again, intending to repay the kindness of those who had supported him.

What he had found was a graveyard, a scene of wanton destruction by the spirits. He had managed to quell the flames with his rudimentary bending skills, but there was nothing he could do for the charred bodies that lay beneath them.

”Forgive me if I am mistaken,” he said through gritted teeth. ”But is the Avatar a servant of the Spirits? It was my impression that the Avatar was to serve as the bridge between the worlds - and the spirits have been ransacking villages for months now. The only due that I will give to them is one deserving of their actions.”

He swallowed, a wave of regret coming over him. He was the King now, and he had to act like it. The fire within him bubbled away, but he forced it down beneath the mask of the King of Omashu. He cleared his throat. ”That is to say, I mean, that our nation has been under threat from the spirits for some time now. Will your actions serve to dampen their aggressive actions?”

As the Avatar created chairs, Lu Ren sat down quietly. He knew he had over-reached in his words, but he hoped that it wasn’t enough to convince the Avatar that he was a threat to balance - that was often a one-way ticket to the Spirit World, if the historians were correct.

”Before I became King?” Lu Ren said, carefully measuring his response. ”I grew up in a small village just outside of Gao Ling… I learned at the Earth Bending Academy in Gao Ling, and once my Father assumed the throne the responsibilities of Omashu fell to me. It is a great honour, one that I will be sure to give the attention and respect that it deserves.”

His speech was well practiced. He had learned to avoid speaking in too much detail of what had happened in the village, what he had done there. Lavabenders were rare, and he couldn’t link himself back to that just yet. After all, it wasn’t fitting for Earth Kingdom Royalty to be secretly a firebender - not fitting at all.

”I am sure that your story is much more exciting,” he said, hopefully cutting off any further questions on his past. ”Travelling the world to learn mastery of the elements is the task of a newly discovered Avatar, correct?”