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[seaboards]

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE

There have been a lot of riftfarers arriving lately. It seems like there have been more arriving than usual. So many different kinds of people from different kinds of worlds with stories to tell and experiences to give.

A little game has appeared on the shellphone network in hopes of getting to know just a little more about these otherworlders. You might find it on your shellphone as you’re scrolling through one day.

Tell the world two truths and one lie about yourself. And let others try and decipher which of the three is your lie. If they can guess right, perhaps you’ve been able to make a new acquaintance. Or in the least learn more about someone from another walk of life.

Comments

[VIDEO]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Nope! Nice try! The third one's the lie. I'd never dye my hair, even though I did consider it when I was younger because I just wanted to fit in.

[VIDEO]

[empyrean_mirror]

I suppose I can understand that. Blonde hair isn't common in Sumeru.

[He shakes his head a bit, but he isn't going to say out loud what he's thinking. Instead, he smiles, all mischief.]

So tell me more about this knight, hmmmm?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Wait, it's not? Were you ever given a hard time over it?

[There's a pause followed by a blank stare.]

...Why?

[empyrean_mirror]

Among other things. Blonde is more common in other nations, but most people in the rainforest have black or brown hair. Green and silver aren't unheard of, either.

[Kaveh pauses. And sighs.]

Because it sounds like you have a type and I'm trying to tease you about it, Darin.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

I don't have a type, I just have Zelda. Besides, Zelda couldn't be further from Lady Valeria if she tried.

[He has a type he just doesn't realize it yet.]

[empyrean_mirror]

No? Lady Valeria wasn't honorable, proudly idealistic, and kind?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

...I thought she was.

[Darin rubs at the back of his head with an inscrutable look on his face.]

I kinda worshipped the ground she walked on when I was younger. She was one of the strongest knights in Arclight, practically untouchable in terms of strength and beauty. Put a lance in her hand and she was a force of nature. Tall, muscular, incredible physique...the whole package. She came to my Old Man for new armor because he was one of the best and she always made a habit of giving her coin to businesses without ties to bigger money. I had just begun apprenticing at the time and my Old Man actually gave me the commission. It was a dream come true.

It didn't really turn out like I'd hoped.

[empyrean_mirror]

If she was all of those things, then she was very much like your Princess.

[Kaveh pauses, though.]

What happened?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Poured my heart and soul into the commission. Made some of the finest armor I could. Even as an apprentice, I'd put it up against a journeyman's best work. I designed it from scratch to her exact measurements which...were really embarrassing to get. I was a teenager, pretty sure you can imagine it.

My Old Man presented her with the armor and she was thrilled. Then, he revealed to her that I was the one that made it. He was trying to prove my talent, that people had been underestimating me and he wanted to give me some confidence by receiving praise from the woman I idolized.

She wouldn't take it. She didn't want to wear or associate herself with armor made by someone who 'looked like me.'

She raised hell with the Guild. My first real commission almost cost me my apprenticeship and my place in the guild.

[empyrean_mirror]

[Kaveh's silent for a long moment, but they're on video. Darin can probably watch him go from stunned to murderously angry live in real time.]

She did what?

[He doesn't raise his voice or anything. But that's the tone of a man who'd like to shove a bloom core right up someone's sphincter.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

What? Haven't I told you? People with hair like mine are said to have demonkin and beastkin blood. We're considered 'pitiable' by the church. 'Lost Lambs that deserve salvation despite never being allowed it.' All that talk did was make people look down on me like I was a monster or cursed.

Wearing my armor would be a bad omen, she said. My armor would be jeopardizing the lives of everyone she went into battle alongside.

[Despite the somberness in his voice, Darin doesn't appear too upset. He'd made his peace with this years ago.]

My Old Man paid to have her armor commissioned by another Master to settle things up so I wouldn't lose my apprenticeship. It's ancient history now. Almost ten years ago this happened.

[empyrean_mirror]

...Ridiculous. What a vile way to treat people for nothing more than the circumstances of their birth.

[He is practically vibrating with fury.]

You took it to heart at the time, though, didn't you? You were young. You believed what she said about you.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Well, yeah. I believed what everyone said. From the moment I woke up as a child and everyone started calling me 'cursed' because I survived an attack that should have killed me when the rest of my family didn't survive. That kinds sticks with you, you know?

Thing is? Even with all of that? I don't regret it. Because if I changed even a single thing about my past, I wouldn't be where I am now.

[empyrean_mirror]

[...Well that's a sentiment he knows well enough. Doesn't mean he likes it any better.]

...I know better than I'd like to, but that still doesn't mean I like it.

I take it back. She's nothing like the princess, if her ideals were so shallow.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

That's what I said before. Zelda's nothing like her!

Besides, I don't really have a type.

[empyrean_mirror]

You definitely have a type.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Yeah, it's "Zelda."

How can I have a type? I've never been in love with anyone before.