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Now what?
Welcome to Neo-Republic City
293 a.g.It has been 293 years since Sozin started the 100 years war, almost wiping away the last of the Airbenders. 122 years since Harmonic Convergence. 48 years since the death of Korra. 20 years since Avatar Li, her successor, killed himself. Under dubious circumstances, at best. And it’s been 20 years since we have had an avatar. As you can see… much has changed.
The city, once a charming affair with silvery facades over brick and steel, now seems something else entirely. Vast skyscrapers covered in glass rising far and wide, casting shadow and light in equal measure. Maglev Train systems run beneath, above and between them, transporting goods and services at breakneck speeds. Trade flourishing, still, under the foundations of an economic boom - first set in motion by President Zhu Li Moon, and the technological genius of Asami Sato.
While Wongyong might have set into effect many decrees against the expansion into the spirit realms, over the years these ‘ideals’ have been suppressed - and now the train network not only travels within the city, but also out of it - through the Neo-Republic City Portal, and into the spirit realm. From here it expands out to the North and South Pole Portals - connecting the three continents.
As such, around the Northern and Southern Portals, vast cities have been built as well, and had been given the names North and South Republic City respectively. Quickly enough the cities bled into the spirit realms and spanned the connection between them. The three became one, Neo-Republic City, the aforementioned cities being renamed as Northern and Southern Districts. For many years Spirits opposed this expansion, but for every ‘calm’ and 'traditionalist' spirit there might have been, there too existed a greedy one - prone to compromise and commerce, and those could always be bartered with. With the death of Korra, and the birth, and subsequent suicide, of the Universally considered ‘failure’ of an avatar - Avatar Li - the expansion of Human influence, and it’s industries could not be stopped. Giving rise the sight that is Neo-Republic City, now the home of almost 40 million people, spanning across three continents and far into the spirit plane itself.
The greatest changes within the city become stark when night sets in, when neon light floods the skies and the streets, reflecting off the chromatic and glass surfaces that made up most things in the city. Pinks, purples… White for the Airbender Districts, Red for Fire, Green for Earth, Blue for Water. These are mostly for show, however. The idea of nations has become a bit of a social faux pas. A quaint little idea that is highly marketable and mostly for show. What matters more are your alliances, whether it be to the social elite, to academic circles, crime rings, or to official and unofficial police - as these things have become far more important over the years.
Spirituality, too, has become a thing of the past, as children and elders alike traverse the city, linked into social networks, security guards more often than not no longer depending on bending - preferring to use guns and knives instead. People rarely wear the garb of their nations, preferring to express themselves with spirit body modifications, some even preferring to add cybernetic enhancements to their bodies - not always just for utility, and often for fashion.
Yet, among this seemingly universal swathe of apathy, some spirits have come to whisper. Tales of why no new avatar seems to have been born. Whispers saying that the world does not need an avatar anymore. That Li had known this, and killed himself because he knew he had no reason to exist anymore. Some say that he became so disappointed at the lack of spirituality in the world that he could not bear it anymore. Some say that vast social media campaigns pointing how ineffectual he was, drove him to the brink, and broke the Avatar spirit. As it is, no new avatar has been identified for at least 20 years. And, for the most part… it seems that no one cares.
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