There is a city outside the Western Gate of Nautilus.
This is Helix, Solaris' city. It has a layout similar to Nautilus, but the buildings are MUCH taller, particularly in the center. We are talking like, skyscraper sized (with a few exceptions, such as the Sears Tower, most of the buildings in Nautilus don't get to be much more than three stories high).
In Helix, only Solaris and his Ashura can Bend. Angelii can Bend if they focus very, very hard, but it will give them rather bad headaches, and everything they make will be Helix-flavored (i.e., likely brass and copper colored, and with little sun images everywhere).
Helix is immune to reality storms; and, in fact, if you're suffering from a storm and run out into it, the effects will fade slowly. If you're shapechanged and run into Helix, you'll change back to your normal form the moment you get over the bridge.
Dying in Helix has the same effects that it does in Nautilus (i.e. You'll come back in a few days).
The architecture in Helix, while very tall, is also primarily Arabian in decor and style, though the colors are primarily red and gold. The sky is also a reddish color, like the rest of the Western district, however, Helix has two suns. It is always extremely hot in the city.
Interestingly, you will get hungry and thirsty in Helix/need Energon! Luckily, it's easily found; there's a large open air market near the center of the city that's always well-stocked with whatever you might need.
SOME NOTES
- There are a few NPCs that are Ashura to Solaris—namely Orpheus, and Zor’davki. (Saviel is a deer hybrid, but is not an Ashura, and it’s not a Deva or an Angelii, but it’s not… a Wakened either; it’s Something Else.)
- The city is currently maintained by creatures called Sprites; these are kind of white (lesser) Nobody-like critters that Deva can create in a pinch from their essences. Most of them are silent.
- There are very clear signs that once Solaris’ city was very heavily populated, but most everybody had been killed when he decided to leave Isis. (Solaris is unhappy about this, as much as he is capable of being.) Some of whom had also gotten brainwashed and stolen by her given that Solaris’ followers tended to be rather lawful.
- There are stores, apartments; it’s actually a fully functional city, much like an Earth city. The upper levels of all the buildings have.
- They all have gardens inside glass domes, all of which provide food.
- Outside the far gate (the one not on the Nautilus side) there’re vast agricultural fields, all in very neat rows; everything from apples to flax to zucchini. So not just food, also supplies for clothing, et cetera. The fields were once withered and dying, but the irrigation system was repaired by citizens of Nautilus. Orihime Inoue visits frequently to take care of the fields and make sure they thrive.
- Then there’re mountains with mines that are free to explore. There are even animals populating these areas.
- The main difference between Helix and Nautilus is, Nautilus you can Bend things into existence, whereas Helix you kind of have to work for. You can’t just Bend things; you have to get that iron out of the ground (i.e. build a hoe, till the earth, et cetera).
Basically, Solaris’ philosophy was more focused on learning how to live normally at first and then you can Bend.
- Helix has two suns.
- The city itself, however, feels like southern Egypt. All. The Time. It never rains; it’s always about 100 degrees, and sweltering hot.
- The center of the city is about the same size as the Heart of Nautilus, but square and filled with sand, and the center of that is a rather odd swirled thing made of what looks like blown glass. This is where Solaris lives.
There is sort of a traditional way to the way his people built stuff. For instance, the Wakened could focus sunlight through the crystal parts of their bodies to the point that it was hot enough to melt sand, so they’d then shape the molten sand with tools into homes and buildings. They’re also completely heat resistant.
- There are fountains, lots of them, and they’re designed so that you can actually drink from them and so they’re clean, and a lot of them that you can walk through them as well. (There are not as many as Nautilus, which kind of was a huge fountain until Cyrus died.)
- Statues are generally abstract and most things are art deco (as opposed to Nautilus’ art nouveau).
- Shops have things from all kinds of worlds, including some very weird stuff (khepri berries from perdido street station). Unfortunately, everything’s abandoned and unlike in Nautilus, stuff doesn’t preserve as well, so stuff is dusty or rotten save in the open air market.
- Some of the houses still have evening meals spread out, or chess games in progress. Basically, it’s a ghost town.
- You can’t build stuff from other worlds there, because there’s no Bending. However… you’ll note that the architecture is inspired by different worlds… a canny eye will see that unlike Nautilus, they weren’t just built up from nowhere. They were clearly built over time the way normal buildings are in fact in the South there’s a new neighborhood being built, or was… But of course, the work crews are all gone.
BENDING
If you Bend yourself stuff OUTSIDE Helix, it’ll stay with you, but you can’t get rid of it in the city. Trying to Bend feels like there’s something just out of reach but you can’t get to it (even if you jump. For instance, Angelii can ‘jump’ a little closer to that out of reach item and sometimes nudge it a little. However, it will leave them exhausted; not to mention it takes a long time).
Your powers will be with you since, technically, you Bent them. It’s easier near Bent effects, though, like Solaris’ powers that are keeping the fields alive, and the market going. However, if your powers are to be used for destruction or offensively, they won't work.
Near the market in fact even regular people can kind of try to Bend if they focus really hard but barely.
Ashura can Bend as well as new Wakened can in Nautilus when they’re in Helix.
POPULATION
Helix was once a thriving city of other Wakened (at least a hundred thousand Wakened, a hundred Angelii, and ten Ashura at the city’s height. All those Wakened came from a myriad of vastly different worlds, some of which were very weird, so despite Solaris’ restrictions on Bending and powers, in that nobody had powers in his city). The problem was that Solaris obviously had a very different teaching philosophy.
Note: Solaris was against anthrocentricism so he still let you stay a giant robot or whatever if that was your thing. Despite his restrictions, it’s still reflected in how the people built that city. In other words, Helix was built, not Bent. Solaris made the supplies, everyone else built it. And then he put gears under the whole thing.
THE GEARS
If you go outside the outer walls, or else down into the sub-basements of the building, you start to find access tunnels. Steampunkish access tunnels.
This is even true if you go way down under the fields/mountains in the far west, where eventually you find skyscraper sized gears, and engines that don’t seem to run on anything, and springs, and ridiculous clockwork. This is the engine that lets the whole city move, and is as large as the city itself.
Currently it’s been turned into idle mode, so it’s moving but very slowly, but you still will hear the very faint sound of clockwork everywhere in Helix, leaving an eerie feeling considering how empty the city is.
SAVIEL’S TOWER
Southwest corner of the city has Saviel’s tower, which is just a big ol’ tower covered in flowering vines with no door. These vines are climbable, but they’re also very dangerous. The tower also has windows, which are one foot tall and they are landscape windows (i.e. they wrap all the way around the top of the tower, and they’re about five feet from the floor exactly). There are little white birds that nest around it.
