The story of Lucis itself is very, very long - or thousands of years, which is long for him at least - but thankfully the dance doesn't encompass all of that, so he can skip most of the formative stuff.]
Lucis has been at war with Niflheim on and off for hundreds of years- they've been pushing against the whole world, expanding territory, and we've lost ground for most of it. At one point, one of the past kings used the ring and the Crystal's power to make a huge barrier, a magic wall that covered most of the continent to keep Niflheim out, and the Crownsguard was formed to protect what we had left and counterattack when we had to.
[He gives the table a thoughtful tap. There's no pen or paper here, but it's a little easier with a visual.]
In the dance, the leader is the king, and his partner represents the people of Lucis. For the first part, you start in the center, then send your "soldiers" out into the world, following along the blades of the crest. [He traces out the movement with a finger on the table.] There's a circle at the end of each blade, the adamantite towers that amplify the Crystal and keep the barrier active. Those're the turns we did- [He draws each circle in turn, switching between the two- blade, tower, blade, tower, returning to the center with each set.]
Eventually the wall was too draining for the king, so it was scaled back bit by bit until it only covered the Crown City. The spins represent the four directions, the four corners of the city and the crest itself. The lift is the king putting the people above his own needs, and...
[He pauses, hesitant; it's scraping up against the things he doesn't like to think about, no longer as distant as the rest had been. All of that happened before he was born. This, though, is the life he grew up dreading- one that ended when his father's did. He's free of that, yes, but at the cost of everything else, including his family. That's hard to think about in the same calm, distant way he'd been able to thus far.
It's then that she reaches for his hand, and without even thinking about it he accepts, giving it a light squeeze and drawing upon that to finish.]
...and the drop is a test for the dancers, a demonstration of whether or not the king can support the people and hold up the wall without falling. And that's where the superstition comes from.
no subject
The story of Lucis itself is very, very long - or thousands of years, which is long for him at least - but thankfully the dance doesn't encompass all of that, so he can skip most of the formative stuff.]
Lucis has been at war with Niflheim on and off for hundreds of years- they've been pushing against the whole world, expanding territory, and we've lost ground for most of it. At one point, one of the past kings used the ring and the Crystal's power to make a huge barrier, a magic wall that covered most of the continent to keep Niflheim out, and the Crownsguard was formed to protect what we had left and counterattack when we had to.
[He gives the table a thoughtful tap. There's no pen or paper here, but it's a little easier with a visual.]
In the dance, the leader is the king, and his partner represents the people of Lucis. For the first part, you start in the center, then send your "soldiers" out into the world, following along the blades of the crest. [He traces out the movement with a finger on the table.] There's a circle at the end of each blade, the adamantite towers that amplify the Crystal and keep the barrier active. Those're the turns we did- [He draws each circle in turn, switching between the two- blade, tower, blade, tower, returning to the center with each set.]
Eventually the wall was too draining for the king, so it was scaled back bit by bit until it only covered the Crown City. The spins represent the four directions, the four corners of the city and the crest itself. The lift is the king putting the people above his own needs, and...
[He pauses, hesitant; it's scraping up against the things he doesn't like to think about, no longer as distant as the rest had been. All of that happened before he was born. This, though, is the life he grew up dreading- one that ended when his father's did. He's free of that, yes, but at the cost of everything else, including his family. That's hard to think about in the same calm, distant way he'd been able to thus far.
It's then that she reaches for his hand, and without even thinking about it he accepts, giving it a light squeeze and drawing upon that to finish.]
...and the drop is a test for the dancers, a demonstration of whether or not the king can support the people and hold up the wall without falling. And that's where the superstition comes from.