Avatar: The Last Dicebender (A:TLA/A:LOK Quest)

Your feet shuffle across the desert sand. As time passed, you realized the reality that you'd have to face the White Lotus. You decided to have something to show to them when they come. Something is better than nothing, and two somethings are better than one.

You spin your hands, mimicking the movements you asked Bung to show you. A month ago, your dad sat with the village elders and spoke about who would succeed him as tribe chief, seeing that you are going away. They agreed to choose Siph reluctantly. It's not her gender, but her attitude. She is too immature and prone to giving her emotions control over herself, which is the opposite of what a wise chieftain should do. She's also a bit histrionic sometimes.

Trying to fruitlessly bend other elements for the past month has left a distastefulness in your mouth that you can't wipe away. Water has been coming along slowly, although you've focused on it because you find the movements similar to sandbending.

Hue-Sar watches as you train, holding a small book in his right hand and reading into it. He is giving you advice every now and then with a dismissive glance. "Quicker, but move in tighter arcs; keep the elbows close to your body unless making a distant movement."

You heed the word. At first, you doubted how he'd know what waterbending looks like, but then you realized he's probably seen it at least a few times over the course of history.

Despite that, the training is not that bad. You're currently manipulating a small puddle of water, making it orbit around you. Your airbending has been going along fairly well too. You can produce a gust of air strong enough to make someone's hair rattle with confidence.

You stop, jerking into a neutral position and breathing out. You return the water to the jug you took it from and look at Hue-Sar. "Hey, give it back."

He doesn't and he keeps reading a book of proverbs you found on the attic. He clears his throat, raising his index finger with a serious glower. He quotes in a dramatic voice, "An old proverb says: when you don't know what to say, say a proverb."

You snatch the book from his hand. "Find your own book of proverbs. Or better yet." You pause and look him in the eyes. "Write one."

He places his fingers on his chin. "Hmmm..." He looks you back in the eyes with a blank expression. "Proverbs do not make a philosopher?"

You consider, then shrug. "Not bad, I suppose."

He continues thinking, slowly losing himself in thought. You are impressed by this conviction, you've barely given him the idea and the desire to complete a book of proverbs is already a deep-rooted objective of his. You can tell from the devoted focus in his eyes.

"By the way," you say, as you sit down next to him and pour two cups of tea, handing one to him. Huzzah accepts and gives you a nod. "Thank you for helping me learn, I suppose. Even though you're just pointing out my mistakes when I slip up."

Huzzah smiles at that. "No problem. Telling people why and in what way they suck is one of my favorite things to do." He sips the tea.

Widening your eyes, you look forward and sip as well. Bonding with this guy is weird.

+4 Waterbending.
+2 Airbending.
+Waterbending Level 1 achieved.
+Airbending Level 1 achieved.
+2 Wisdom.
+4 to social with Hue-Sar.
+Get Hue-Sar to like you as a friend. (+500 XP, +1CP.) Fulfilled! +500 XP! +1 CP!
+Learn another style of Bending than Earthbending. (+6,000 XP, +8CP.) Fulfilled +6,000 XP! +8 CP!
Level Up!

---

For the past few weeks, you've been teaching Hue-Sar how to interact with other people in an organic way. The lesson you are having right now is as tedious as they can be, but slowly, Hue-Sar is grasping what the purpose and correct time to say 'thank you' and 'please' is. After twenty minutes repeating the basic stuff, you give him a short exam.

You look him in the eyes sternly. "What is the right time to wink?"

He thinks on the question for five seconds. No more, no less. "When I'm plotting something."

"Good. And when do you whistle?"

He raises his finger with a smile, answering without a beat. "When I have not done anything bad and have no correlation to any recent scandals!"

"Good." You think of another question, slowly running out. Oh! Here's a good one. You've been beating the answer to this one into him - he is programmed to answer right. "What do you do when a girl invites you for a date?" You let an internal feeling of trepidation fill you rightly, as Hue-Sar's face becomes serious. A long second passes, and he answers:

"I say 'eww, girls are yucky,' and proceed to stick my tongue out."

"Good!" You smile, satisfied with his correct and fitting answer. He appears to have mastered the arts of social interaction with little difficulty. You bow to Huzzah, and he bows to you. After the exchange of respect, you drag him outside and have him speak to a grown man.

Indeed, his charisma has grown exponentially.

It takes a full two minutes before he gets yelled at and scared away with sandbending. He then proceeds to interact with more people, and you follow him, stalking and eavesdropping from the alleyways. You nod every time he applies your teachings in a conversation.

Finally, tears well up in your eyes, as Hue-Sar runs screaming, a mob of angered tribeswomen chasing after him across the large street. They grow up so fast!

+Teach Hue-Sar how to fit into society. (+600 XP, +1CP.) Fulfilled but Not Really! +600 XP! +1 CP!
+Hue-Sar is now capable of pissing off any woman; wisdom or ability to resist anger is irrelevant, as a successful invocation of anger in a female member of any species is practically guaranteed.

---

The man's wounds stop bleeding. You clean infections with waterbending and proceed to carefully bandage the wounds up. Although blood soaks through the first two layers of bandages, the third, fourth, and fifth provide a reinforcement to them without wasting excessive materials. The cuts on his body are minimal, and thanks to you, his life is saved.

"Who did this to you?" You reach for a jug of water to give the man to drink. Your mom watches from behind your back as you care for the man. She has a happy look on her face, seeing that her child has all of the knowledge necessary to help a man in need.

"The buzzards got me," he answers. "I was traveling to Omashu when they attacked me."

"Going to Omashu through the Si Wong Desert?" Your eyes perk up. You don't need extensive geographical knowledge to be aware this means he's from the east. "Just how far away are you from?"

"A small town in the islands," he answers. "You haven't heard of it." He pauses to drink some more water. "I've had to abandon my ostrich horse on the way here. Thank you for the help."

"What's your name?"

The question catches him off guard. You sense conflict in his eyes. It's like he's hesitating to tell you, like you'd stab him in the chest when he made the reveal. Finally, he speaks up. "My name is Tozah. What's yours?"

"Tié. You can stay here for as long as you need to recover."

Your mom winces at that statement. Of course, she won't take it back now that you've said it, but you can tell from the reaction she originally didn't intend to offer this level of hospitality. She's not wrong - the desert is harsh and the tribe has to look out for its own people first, plus you've been excessively kind to random people lately.

"Thank you," he nods. "But I need to get a move on. I am required in Omashu within the next month."

"Are you on official business there?" You're aware that asking so many questions isn't very charismatic. You just don't see a lot of people from outside the desert. You always wondered what grass looks like. All you know is father's vague description of: 'it's green and looks kind of like strands of hair but a bit wider at the bottom and shorter overall.'

"Yes," he answers. "I bear an important message for someone there, you see. It's confidential, so I can't give you the details."

You nod, understanding that this is a matter of national security. You look to your tea set. "Care for a drink?" You look at him.

"Sure?"

+Favor from a stranger?
+500 XP!
+1 CP!
+4 Heal (Wis)
+4 to social with Tozah.

---

The trance in your mind is like a whirlpool, consuming all thought. The depth and force of the metaphorical whirlpool throws you across the realms of your own subconsciousness, a process that you are not even aware of. The chi flow in your body is steady and controlled, like a calm, second blood flowing through the paths of your body.

But you see something, in the depths of your mind.

Something you don't like. Something you resent.

Your eyes shoot open. You sit, staring into space, then lay down on the ground. A distressed, uneven frown forms on your face. Anxiety fills your mind. Fear in your mind, specifically. The fear is overwhelming, like a dark omen hanging over you and whispering advice. But the advice is not the right choice. It's the easy choice, but not the right one.

But... the temptation exists.


You shake your head, remembering the stories of Avatar Aang. He ran away and because of his fear, because of the burden he had to carry as the Avatar, and his inability to handle it, people suffered. The War began and he wasn't there to kick the Firelord into resignation. No, there was only the ball of ice. You do not want to end up like that. You don't want to bail on the world when it might need you for something in the future.

You breathe out and decide not to meditate for now. Normally, it has a calming effect on you, but you want to take a break from all of the spiritual crap.

---

"I'm gonna whoop your butt," she says. Siph eyes you smugly, standing in a straight and calm position, feeling completely unthreatened by you in any way. "Feel free to go as hard on me as you can. Use your Avatar powers." She lowers her eyebrows; a sign that can only be read as her challenging you. You decide to partake in the offer.

"You'll be easy to beat anyway," she remarks with a chuckle.

"We'll see about that," you answer. "My skills have doubled since our last fight."

Siph's grin disappears into a kind of thoughtful face. Her eyes fly around, as she calculates what that means. She then looks at you, shrugging cluelessly. "Two times zero is still zero. Bring it, dweeb." She raises her arms and you can feel the chi radiating into the sand.

Siph grins wickedly.

---

---

She makes the first move. Making a full-body spin, she casts her hands in your direction with might and finesse. A storm of sand flies forward, but you confidently step forward and move your arms up, creating a wall of sand to intercept the one flying at you. After that, you follow up with an attack as sand flies in Siph's direction as a bolt. It only scrapes her, not even causing her to grimace.

She sends forth a whip and you duck to avoid. You follow through with a pair of sand balls directed by your two hands. Siph smirks at the brashness and redirects one of them at you, hitting you. The other one scrapes against her side like the previous one.

Time for plan B. You begin to move your hands rapidly. The ground under her feet sizzles with heat, prompting Siph to run to the side and launch a wave of sand in your direction. You dodge, simultaneously losing focus on your own attack.

Siph directs her hand and a lump of dust spirals upwards and then flies at you. You hold out your hands, hoping to airbend it away. She did say to use your 'Avatar Powers' so that's what you're doing. However, the shield doesn't rise in time and the attack gets through, hitting you in the shoulder.

The fight continues. Several exchanges of basic attacks and katas; jets of sand and other attacks fly around. Siph brandishes her whip at you, and you finally do it. You move your hands in a nearly circular motion, gathering air, and forming a wide, outward blow, almost like a disk, that protects you from the whip, practically desintegrating it upon impact.

Using the shield to your advantage, you fire a ball of sand that hits the surprised Siph in her midriff, prompting a reaction. Attacks of sand fly by and by again, and your shield is worn down by their strength and frequency. Siph takes the chance and attacks with another whip attack. As it is about to deliver its blow, you move your hand outward and create a gust of air, not as much dissipating it as slowing it down. The shield takes care of the rest and what hits you in the end is a line of moderately-fast sand.

Siph gets mad, apparently, as she growls at you. She sends up three sand balls in your direction and you see the opportunity.

The two first fly by you. The third is the golden shot. You jump lightly into the air, spinning around your own axis and delivering a side-kick into the ball. It flies back at Siph with doubled, no, tripled power and hits her strong enough to knock her over to the ground.

You smile confidently. Just to show her it's over, you form a sandwhip and strike her with it once. She yelps in pain and looks up at you annoyedly as you quote 'finished her with her own weapon' unquote.

The rolls were truly blessed. You smile at the sky and thank the Random Number God for his kindness.

+Beat Siph in a Sandbending Duel. (+7,500 XP, +10CP.) Kind of Fulfilled?! +7,500 XP! +10 CP!
Level Up!

---

"I'm not impressed," says the arm-folding stocky White Lotus member in the middle.

Your dad responds with a line that could possibly enter a contest for the one line that kings over all sarcasm. "Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot that it is expected for the Avatar to fully master all four elements in the first eight years of his life with no teachers! My most sincere apologies, good sir! We'll do better next time!"

"Save your breath," says the one to the right. "Please. We are not here to antagonize you, or your son. We understand such a discovery may be shocking, but nonetheless we thank you for doing the right thing by contacting us." He offers a polite smile, then looks at you. "Avatar Tié, yes?"

You nod, not feeling the urge to speak.

He looks at dad. "Now then, if we may discuss the terms of your son's education."

Dad quirks an eyebrow and folds his arms. "Elaborate," he says dryly.

"At his own permission, we will take him to the Fire Nation to study Firebending from one of the greatest masters available. Ultimately, the choice belongs to your son whether he goes or not, but it is expected that by age eighteen, he commences his education already. The later Tié begins, the worse it will turn out in the long run, I'm afraid."

You...

[] Stay at home. You ain't going nowhere. Nuh-uh. (Stay for one year longer. You may repeat choice afterwards.)
[] Go to the Fire Nation with the White Lotus.
[] Try to convince them to bring the master to you. Studying in a home environment will have a positive impact on your training. Maybe some charisma will help.
-[] Otherwise, go to the Fire Nation.
-[] Otherwise, stay here for another year.

---

Currently: 166 AG, Autumn.
No training or social this turn.

Select additional ambitions. (2 Short-Term, 2 Mid-Term. QM Note: You can pick no ambitions at all for the time-being, if you wish.)
[] (Mid-Term) See the Fire Nation Palace. (+2,500 XP, +2CP.)
[] (Mid-Term) Earn a reputation in the Fire Nation. (+7,000 XP, +8CP.)
[] (Mid-Term) See a Fire Nation circus show. (+6,000 XP, +7CP.)
[] (Short-Term) Convince Siph to come with you. (+500 XP. Note: Morally ambiguous/selfish.)
[] (Short-Term) Convince Hue-Sar to come with you. (+50 XP. Note: Easy.)
[] (Short-Term) Read through the Proverb book. (+100 XP, +???)
[] (Short-Term) Attain Level 2 in Airbending. (+800 XP.)
[] (Short-Term) Learn Firebending. (+500 XP.)
[] (Short-Term) Unlock the Earth Chakra. (+1,000 XP, +1CP.)
[] (Short-Term) Get to know the White Lotus members. (+150 XP.)

LEVEL 9, +1 CP!
LEVEL 10, +1CP!
CURRENT CP: 22

May buy the same upgrade multiple times unless stated otherwise.

[] Don't spend CP.

[] (-1 CP.) Chi Roulette: 50-50 chances to double CP or lose all of them. You win, you grin. You lose, bad news.

[] (-2 CP.) +2 Strength.
[] (-2 CP.) +2 Constitution.
[] (-2 CP.) +2 Wisdom.
[] (-1 CP.) +2 Dexterity.
[] (-1 CP.) +2 Intelligence.
[] (-1 CP.) +2 Charisma.
[] (-1 CP.) You hear an interesting rumor.
[] (-4 CP.) During meditation, something weird happens.
[] (-4 CP.) Make an additional training action this turn. (May only be taken once.)
[] (-5 CP.) Tales from the Si Wong Desert. (???)
[] (-5 CP.) You find a sandbending scroll.
[] (-10 CP.) You find an earthbending scroll.
[] (-15 CP.) You find a waterbending scroll.
[] (-15 CP.) You find a firebending scroll.
[] (-17 CP.) You find an airbending scroll.
[] (-20 CP.) You can train once more every turn. (May only be taken once.)
[] (-50 CP.) Become one with the cosmic energy. (May only be taken once.)

---

Those rolls on the Tie vs Siph fight were dope as fuck though. I decided to mix up some Airbending (no Waterbending though because water isn't readily accessible in the desert,) and that glorious goddamn Aerial Deflect allowed Tie for an epic victory. Actually, tomorrow I'll run some Airbending Technique simulations to make sure that shit is not too overpowered. Actually, I might do it with all of the Bending styles. Just to be safe. I am not going to be retconning fights though because this one was too awesome (or at least I think the ending was; if not all of it) to do that.

Anyway, I hope the update didn't wind up too iffy, as I wrote roughly 30% of it from 2 to 3 AM local time. I hope you enjoy.

VOTE BY PLAN.