Mechanics
This quest's mechanics, such as they are, revolve around a variant of the Truth system originally created by
@Squishy.
Truths
A Truth is something that is known, or at least believed; it is a kind of ontological inertia. It describes your relationship with the world and the world's relationship with you—a Truth is as much one of your themes as it is a representation of your abilities.
Truths belong to one of four general categories: Personal Truths are things you know or are known about you; Community Truths are things that are known about the group you're a part of; Consequences are things that have happened to you, such as physical or social injuries; and Advantages are specific reasons why you are not just the sum of these other Truths, such as endlessly looping through time.
Truths are defined by two elements:
Certainty and
Impact, which are respectively represented by the bracketed numbers (1/1) attached to each Truth, and which run from 1 to 5, where 1 is nominal and 5 is all-encompassing or earth-shaking.
As an example, one of Azula's Truths is this:
(3/5) Fire Enfleshed
At fourteen, you were one of the greatest firebenders in the world—you commanded the cold fire earlier than any other in history, and you were the first since Sozin ordered the dragon hunt to call flame of another colour.
That was before you started looping through time.
You are greater than great, now. You are incandescent.
Certainty is the breadth of the Truth: the range of situations in which it matters. If Azula's Truth were at Certainty 1, it would rarely matter. While she could still firebend, she couldn't expect anyone else to really care, and she would have a very narrow set of tricks. Very few benders are at this level for their bending Truth, and most of those are just learning their craft. On the other hand, if her Truth were at Certainty 5, she could reasonably expect that merely the knowledge of her bending would be enough to shift any given situation in a way that favoured her, whether her aim was intimidation or violence or even performance and beauty.
Impact is the extent to which the Truth defines the situation. At Impact 1, Azula's Truth could only bend the arc of the story: an enemy might flee, but likely only to link back up with their reinforcements, or the information they divulge is only of minimal importance. A Truth that has Impact 5—like this one—is, on the other hand, strong enough to dramatically alter the story. When Azula killed Aang with her firebending, it took a singular, unrepeatable miracle to bring him back to life, and he still had to pay a spiritual and physical price in the aftermath.
To bring these two ideas back together: with
Fire Enfleshed at a rating of (3/5), it is unusual for Azula to encounter a situation she cannot overcome in some capacity through an application of her firebending unless she is opposed by an equally significant power, of which there are few.
Truths are more broadly applicable than 'merely' situations of narrative importance. Azula's firebending can be used to conquer her enemies and intimidate her rivals, but it also governs her ability to recognise if somebody has used firebending at the scene of a crime, or whether a particular non-bender martial art has drawn inspiration from firebending forms.
It is important to be aware that a Truth is a double-edged sword. When you come to define yourself by an idea, you become vulnerable to that idea being turned against you—for example, while Azula is an astonishing firebender, the pleasure she takes in the art is something she can lose herself in, and she may find herself over-reliant on firebending as
the solution instead of
a solution.
Revelations
Azula is timeless, but not static. Though her Truths are what make her what she is, she, like any originally-fourteen-year-old child, changes as the world changes. She comes to learn new things, meet new people, and experience new things that affect both how she feels about the world and how the world feels about her. Changing Truths is done by experiencing a
Revelation.
A
Revelation is a collision between the story and a Truth that reflects a shift in what is known about Azula and what Azula knows about herself. When one occurs, Azula either
Adopts or
Breaks a Truth: she adds or removes Certainty or Impact from one of her Truths, or creates a new Truth entirely by adding them where the Truth does not exist.
When Azula experiences a Revelation, she can
Adopt something new:
…a Consequence, transforming it into a new Truth (like an injury healing and becoming a storied scar);
...an Advantage, transforming it into a new Truth (like a weapon or creature becoming a core part of her legend);
...an existing Truth, adding a point of Certainty or Impact to it and allowing her to modify its description to reflect the change.
Or, she can
Break a Truth, removing:
...a Consequence, eliminating a downside at the cost of any opportunity or growth it might have generated;
...an Advantage, eliminating a benefit at the cost of any compulsions it might have imposed;
...an existing Truth, removing a point of Certainty or Impact from it and allowing her to modify its description to reflect the change.
Adopting and Breaking Truths are not fundamentally distinct. Though a Revelation can merely strengthen or weaken an existing Truth, it may also Break a Truth so dramatically that it forces the Adoption of another; or it can deduct some Certainty or Impact from one Truth to strengthen another, reflecting a change in importance of an aspect of personality or culture identified with; or it may simply change the narrative description, reflecting a more subtle shift in approach, emphasis, or personality.
Azula has experienced a number of Revelations across her life, and her loops, before reaching the point at which the quest begins. Some of these are made plain in the language of her current Truths; others will be hinted at (or outright considered) in her narration. One obvious example is that her beginning to loop through time Adopted points into
The Phoenix.
When Azula experiences a Revelation, I will notify you of the effects to her character sheet in a spoiler box at the bottom of the relevant update. You will not have the opportunity to vote on what those effects are—they will be the natural result of the choices you have helped her make across the quest until that point. They may help, or hinder, her progress in escaping from the loops that seem to have her trapped without end; consider their nature and wording carefully.
