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Arsonist's Lullaby: An Azula Timeloop Quest

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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This is such a great quest! The mechanics are so faithful to the premise of a groundhog's day story and the choice of character is perfect. The writing is incredible too!
 
[X] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?
 
[X] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?
 
[X] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?

This is just a natural narrative beat, after what just happened.
 
[X] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?
 
[x] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?
 
[X] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?
 
Mechasaurian said:
Azula has, so far, showed a lack of curiosity regarding why the loops are occurring.

I assume that's because she already had the panic and crisis over time looping endlessly the first two times around (along with the general madness brought on by the mental/psychological chickens coming home to roost). And as of now, the story isn't about the mechanics of the loops - it's about Azula, and how she uses the loops to self-actualize.

Still, I do wonder if the story will ever get around to the nature of the loops and if an explanation is forthcoming.
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I think there was mention in earlier chapters that she rummaged through whole royal library in search of any mentions of simillar situations she found herself in but found nothing.

So now she doesn't expect to find any written answers and tries find a way out herself.
 
[x] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?
 
[X] Your mother. Zuko is obsessed with her. He won't hear a word against her—won't even think that she's capable of doing wrong. Especially not when you're the one saying it. But Lo and Li have been around since before Zuko was born. They've seen it all. They know it all. They can give you the evidence you need to finally drive home to Zuko only he was ever loved—and prove you right that you were not.
 
[X] Sozin. The visionary. The genius. The conqueror. Every living person in the world must know his name—and for the last hundred years, most of the dead as well. What led him there? What made him decide to burn the world down, a century before you ever thought the same? And at the end… what did he think of it all?
 
[X] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?
 
[X] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?
 
[X] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?

Voting this not because I believe it's most likely to help, but just because it seems the most natural thing for Azula to ask about after that last loop. Also:

Magery said:
[ ] Because they can help.
No.
[ ] Because it's how you win.
No.
[ ] Because Zuko wouldn't expect it.
No.

What a stupid question.

You don't need reasons like that.

You're just going to save them because, after everything, they're still your friends.
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God I love the crossed out choices and how they lead to insight on Azula's own mental state/changing beliefs. I've tried to do stuff like this myself in my own (faux) quest, but I don't think I've ever done it quite so effectively. Amazing use of quest formatting. 👏
 
[X] Your mother. Zuko is obsessed with her. He won't hear a word against her—won't even think that she's capable of doing wrong. Especially not when you're the one saying it. But Lo and Li have been around since before Zuko was born. They've seen it all. They know it all. They can give you the evidence you need to finally drive home to Zuko only he was ever loved—and prove you right that you were not.
 
[X] Sozin. The visionary. The genius. The conqueror. Every living person in the world must know his name—and for the last hundred years, most of the dead as well. What led him there? What made him decide to burn the world down, a century before you ever thought the same? And at the end… what did he think of it all?
 
[X] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?

Azula has always struck me as jealous without ever consciously recognizing her own jealousy, like at some point she tried and failed to identify the feeling, skimming right past the correct answer, and then casually disregarded it because she worked herself around to the idea that she had nothing to be jealous of because she was the best.

While Iroh is the natural forward beat here, and I believe the outcome will be interesting, I suspect the most powerful outcome will probably result from Ursa, since it would force Azula to confront the fact that she actually is jealous of Zuko, both for having the spine to stand up to daddy and thus ensure the old man doesn't 'love' him, and for being the one Ursa and everyone else seems to love more than her.

Her obsession with loyalty likely even springs from viewing the killing of Azulon as the ultimate test of loyalty. She's constantly trying to manufacture and test-through-personal-sacrifice a relationship like the one she saw between Ursa and Zuko.
 
[x] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?
 
[x] Iroh. Coward. General. Prince. Once, he was the favoured heir, a legendary firebender, the greatest hero the Fire Nation had known since Sozin—now he's a pathetic, doddering fool who thinks he can make everything right with tears and tea. How did he fall so far? How can he possibly think he's still able to rise?
 
[X] Sozin. The visionary. The genius. The conqueror. Every living person in the world must know his name—and for the last hundred years, most of the dead as well. What led him there? What made him decide to burn the world down, a century before you ever thought the same? And at the end… what did he think of it all?

Considering the prompt was Azula considering getting a new perspective, zooming out makes the most sense to me. Sure there's tactical information to try and 'win' the conflicts coming in the next loop, but better understanding of the state that lead to the events that lead to these conflicts is probably the most 'big picture' we can aim for.

Rather then re-analyzing previous moves by the players to glean insights, we could instead ask why all these players were in conflict to start with.

After all, this quest hasn't really had a good track record of winning fights compared to avoiding them.
 
[X] Sozin. The visionary. The genius. The conqueror. Every living person in the world must know his name—and for the last hundred years, most of the dead as well. What led him there? What made him decide to burn the world down, a century before you ever thought the same? And at the end… what did he think of it all?
 
I went with Iroh because my thought is, if we want to change Azula's view of her family I think starting with the uncle who prefers her brother is an easier beginning than a mother that Azula refuses to believe loved her.
 
[X] Sozin. The visionary. The genius. The conqueror. Every living person in the world must know his name—and for the last hundred years, most of the dead as well. What led him there? What made him decide to burn the world down, a century before you ever thought the same? And at the end… what did he think of it all?
 
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