@Birdsie just a silly thing I would like to ask you...
What is the daily routine of Hue Sar? What is he doing with his life while Tie is training? Because since he seems to be destined to be the "Non-Bender Member" of our Gaang, it would be great if he is learning martial arts, or swordsmanship, or something similar...
What is the daily routine of Hue Sar? What is he doing with his life while Tie is training? Because since he seems to be destined to be the "Non-Bender Member" of our Gaang, it would be great if he is learning martial arts, or swordsmanship, or something similar...
0900 - Wake up.
0905 - Morning calisthenics.
0910 - Sandwich snack.
0920 - Lay down in bed for a while longer.
0940 - Get up again.
0945 - Select attire for today.
0955 - Go to the lounge and piss off White Lotus member by showing LEET "Crafting (Sandwich) (Wis): +50" skill.
1000 - Go to the kitchen once they yell at him profusely.
1005 - Make more sandwiches. Sandwiches for days.
1015 - Once finished, go to Dining Hall and show off sandwiches. Eat and look satisfied. Only share if the peasants beg for it.
1030 - Go back to room and retrieve nunchuck from weapon drawer. Then train LEET "Ninja Skills (Nunchuck) (Dex): +12" skills and hone them to perfection.
1235 - Get tired and go to the hot springs in town.
1250 - Peep on Fire Nation ladies.
1300 - Get kicked out by security. (Return tomorrow with another fake ID so it's okay. The staff can't do shit because it's all "legal." Know the bouncers on a first-name basis.)
1310 - Go to secret underground laboratory and order minions to prepare "the cauldron."
1320 - Approach the cauldron.
1325 - Add in secret ingredients.
1330 - secretrecipe.jpg
1335 - peanutbutter.exe
1340 - Make peanut butter sandwich.
1345 - Eat peanut butter sandwich. Perfection.
1350 - Nap in secret underground lair.
1520 - Get woken by minion. Go to observe the Avatar's training routine. Make sandwiches in the meanwhile and eat them. Flirt with the instructor there and there. Any unconsumed sandwiches will be stuffed and hidden up sleeves for later feeding.
1610 - Accompany Tié on his way back from that weird colosseum.
1612 - "How was your day?" etc.
1615 - Finally get there.
1620 - Dear Yangchen, so tired. Take a nap.
1730 - Get up. Make more sandwiches.
1750 - Get bored with sandwiches. Pick up nunchuck and decide to try one of these "pranks" or whatever the kids call them nowadays.
1800 - Dumb White Lotus members don't expect shit.
1810 - Put bucket full of sandwiches and nunchuck on the upper edge of a slightly open door.
1815 - Find a loser. Tell him to go through.
1820 - Mfw
1821 - Lol, dumb idiot. Dispose of corpse and evidence. Take nunchuck, eat sandwiches, throw corpse into the incinerator.
1825 - Hitman Absolution.exe
1830 - Seek out Master Shiko and flirt.
1831 - Get kicked in the ass. Retreat Advance in the opposite direction.
1832 - Decide to become Solid Snek.
1835 - Hide in cardboard box of true sneakiness.
1840 - Get discovered by random person. Roundhouse kick in the jaw, then a sweep kick to make the sucker fall to his feet. One blow of the nunchuck to the forehead solves the problem.
1841 - Dispose of corpse by hiding it under cardboard box.
1841 - Metal Gear Solid.exe
1842 - Realize cover was blown because cardboard box is covered in images of sandwiches. Facepalm.
1845 - Throw cardboard box and corpse into incinerator and order new one off of ebay. It has images of sandwiches on it.
1846 - Slick.gif
1850 - No one seems to be noticing suspicious activity. Think to self: "Who else can I piss off today?"
1851 - Plan.bulletlist
1855 - Visit Master Jirou. Challenge him to Pai Sho. Hide a White Lotus tile in sleeve.
1900 - Begin playing.
1906 - Game continues, about to end. Time to make the critical move.
1907 - Pull out ace from sleeve. Slam it onto the Pai Sho board with pride.
1907 - It's one of the sandwiches made when watching the Avatar do laps and shit.
1907 - Fuck.exe
1907 - Master Jirou looks in confusion. He pokes the sandwich. Heresy detected and dealt with immediately through the application of blunt force to the forehead swift justice with nunchuck device.
1908 - Flee the scene. Nothing major. The old codger is ancient, they'll just assume he died of a heart attack.
1910 - He's too high-level so he doesn't die. It only stuns him for 2d3 rounds. Don't know that. Assume he resurrected the next day. Fucking Buddhists.
1915 - Go and try to learn Firebending. Fail horribly because the sun is setting. Screw your bending.
1920 - Meditate on poor life choices.
1932 - Break down crying over the amount of poor life choices made.
1935 - Cry self to sleep.
0900 - Wake up.
And so the cycle continues...
1815 - Find a loser. Tell him to go through.
1820 - Mfw
1821 - Lol, dumb idiot. Dispose of corpse and evidence. Take nunchuck, eat sandwiches, throw corpse into the incinerator.
1825 - Hitman Absolution.exe
1832 - Decide to become Solid Snek.
1835 - Hide in cardboard box of true sneakiness.
1840 - Get discovered by random person. Roundhouse kick in the jaw, then a sweep kick to make the sucker fall to his feet. One blow of the nunchuck to the forehead solves the problem.
1841 - Dispose of corpse by hiding it under cardboard box.
1841 - Metal Gear Solid.exe
1842 - Realize cover was blown because cardboard box is covered in images of sandwiches. Facepalm.
1845 - Throw cardboard box and corpse into incinerator and order new one off of ebay. It has images of sandwiches on it.
it doesn't count things put into a spoiler.
also, @Birdsie tié hasn't finished the book yet? jesus it's been a year shouldn't he have had 4 tries to understand instead of one?
So if you guys were all worried about the earth Queen finding out who we are, why did you tell one of her servants that we are the Avatar because that makes all the arguments that were being made about not letting her know who we are yet pointless. Also Birdsie can Master Shiko use lightning and is her fire blue instead of red because with out being strong enough and knowing how to do those two thing I do not see her matching Azula when she is in her right mind. She only "lost" the fight she had with her brother a Katra because she was of her game mentally and physically.
Also can we please not get stuck as police officer in Republic City for live because we are the Avatar and we have a duty to the world. Also our Authority comes from being the Avatar not from any position any government gives us so we should so make sure not to get to caught up in the politics of the place any more then necessary.
[X]Plan Get to Level 7 earthbending ASAP
Sure. We can travel the world constantly while it's at peace! Just show us where the paycheck we get from being Avatar is and we can travel, even though the biggest problems in the world currently is Vaatu, The Equalists in Republic City, and the Earth Queen, whom we'd need tons of political clout to justifiably investigate.
[X] Plan Hot Rock
[X] Try to inform Huzzah there's an assassin following you.
-[X] Use Sandbending to write it on any table near him, erase it once he reads it, tell him that you are going to fight him and that he needs to be ready to act and/or warn your teachers.
[X] Bid him goodbye and walk out of the kitchen through an exit on the other side. Thirty-eight seconds and loss of visual contact with the killer.
-[X] Draw the assassin somewhere where you have a fighting advantage and then surprise-attack him. The bastard won't even know what hit him, or failing that, you get to fight on your own terms. Worst case scenario: You enter the Avatar State and rip him a new one.
[X] Yang.
[X] Friends at school.
[X] Bending.
-[X] Firebending. x2
[X] (Short-Term) Find out who's Vaatu. (+600 XP.)
[X] (Short-Term) Find out what the Red Lotus is. (+600 XP.)
[X] (-12 CP.) You find an earthbending scroll. x2
[X] (-1 CP.) +2 Charisma. x5
[X] (-2 CP.) +2 Charisma. x1
[X] (Free Action) Copy your Airbending scroll and send it to Tenzin in Republic city
[X] Plan Get to Level 7 earthbending ASAP
[X] Try to inform Huzzah there's an assassin following you.
-[X] Use Sandbending to write it on any table near him, erase it once he reads it, tell him that you are going to fight him and that he needs to be ready to act and/or warn your teachers.
[X] Bid him goodbye and walk out of the kitchen through an exit on the other side. Thirty-eight seconds and loss of visual contact with the killer.
-[X] Draw the assassin somewhere where you have a fighting advantage and then surprise-attack him. The bastard won't even know what hit him, or failing that, you get to fight on your own terms. Worst case scenario: You enter the Avatar State and rip him a new one.
[X] Yang.
[X] Friends at school.
[X] Bending.
-[X] Earthbending. x2
[X] (Short-Term) Find out who's Vaatu. (+600 XP.)
[X] (Short-Term) Find out what the Red Lotus is. (+600 XP.)
[X] (-12 CP.) You find an earthbending scroll.
[X] (-8 CP.) Huesar does something useful.
[X] (-11 CP.) +2 Charisma.
[X] (Free Action) Copy your Airbending scroll and send it to Tenzin in Republic city
Hmmm... The votes seem pretty close, but alright. Expect an update soon.
If you don't see an update soon, assume the following happened:
- I started writing.
- Got bored/tired/lost in thought while looking for words to use for description.
- Looked at my bed.
- "Holy crap how comfy that thing looks."
- Lie down on that boie to see how comfy it is.
- Don't get up.
- Maybe will finish tomorrow.
Hmmm... The votes seem pretty close, but alright. Expect an update soon.
If you don't see an update soon, assume the following happened:
- I started writing.
- Got bored/tired/lost in thought while looking for words to use for description.
- Looked at my bed.
- "Holy crap how comfy that thing looks."
- Lie down on that boie to see how comfy it is.
- Don't get up.
- Maybe will finish tomorrow.
You know, I started writing up an April Fools special but it kind of got removed when I was resetting my PC for some reason, so, uh... I'll just move onto the normal update.
You know, I started writing up an April Fools special but it kind of got removed when I was resetting my PC for some reason, so, uh... I'll just move onto the normal update.
You know, I started writing up an April Fools special but it kind of got removed when I was resetting my PC for some reason, so, uh... I'll just move onto the normal update.
To everyone who's waiting for the update, I apologize for the hellish wait, but it's really fucking long. I've written 3700 words thus far and I'm barely halfway through. I am confident this will be the longest update yet. I'll work on it for 10-20 minutes more, then finish (hopefully) it tomorrow.
EDIT: Actually, not even halfway through. It's closer to like, 35% done.
[X] Plan Get to Level 7 earthbending ASAP
[X] Try to inform Huzzah there's an assassin following you.
-[X] Use Sandbending to write it on any table near him, erase it once he reads it, tell him that you are going to fight him and that he needs to be ready to act and/or warn your teachers.
[X] Bid him goodbye and walk out of the kitchen through an exit on the other side. Thirty-eight seconds and loss of visual contact with the killer.
-[X] Draw the assassin somewhere where you have a fighting advantage and then surprise-attack him. The bastard won't even know what hit him, or failing that, you get to fight on your own terms. Worst case scenario: You enter the Avatar State and rip him a new one.
[X] Yang.
[X] Friends at school.
[X] Bending.
-[X] Earthbending. x2
[X] (Short-Term) Find out who's Vaatu. (+600 XP.)
[X] (Short-Term) Find out what the Red Lotus is. (+600 XP.)
[X] (-12 CP.) You find an earthbending scroll.
[X] (-8 CP.) Huesar does something useful.
[X] (-11 CP.) +2 Charisma.
[X] (Free Action) Copy your Airbending scroll and send it to Tenzin in Republic city
You flick your wrist. A nearby salt container tumbles and releases its contents. Huesar looks at it. "Oof, that's bad luck."
"Yup." You move your fingers subtly, carving out letters in the sea of salt on the counter. They are imprecise but readable.
'KILLER FOLLOWING ME.'
He looks at the letters. Despite what Huesar may seem, he's not actually stupid. He's just more emotion than reason driven. That's not a bad trait. It exchanges certain aspects of life for other aspects. Emotion speaks to him more than logic, but that doesn't mean he's not intelligent. No. He understands quickly and plays along, not making a sound, pretending everything is fine.
"I've been mixing batches of chocolate recently, trying to find the best consistency. Mixed them with milk as well," he says. The new, unrelated, but feasible direction he took the conversation in confirms that he is speaking in code, or at least doing something similar. "Any idea who might want to taste it?"
"I heard Master Shiko and Master Jirou are into sweets and candy, but I'm not sure whether rumors are believable. In case they don't want it, you should just taste it yourself."
Huesar nods. "Good idea." He gives you a sideway look, waiting.
You fold your arms behind your head, stretching. "Anyway, I'll probably be heading to bed soon, unless you start a chocolate party." You add in a short chuckle.
"Good night, kiddo." You remove the message in the salt with a flick of the wrist, then head in the direction of the exit on the other side. Thirty-eight seconds and time to stack the deck in your favor, plus support coming anytime soon.
The assassin, wreathed in darkness, steps out into the courtyard. He scans, to the left, then the right, failing to notice the child on the roof behind him. You calculate the distance, tighten your stance, then hunker down and leap, intending to land on him.
DC: 15
Roll: 1d20+3=6
Failure!
He spins around and catches your foot, spinning back again and throwing you against the concrete, which lightly embraces you as you bend the earth just in time to dip into the earth like a pebble into water. It then spits you back out, small stones flying in every direction. You face the assassin.
That's when you notice.
A subtle mist, white and thick like milk, licks his body conspicuously. Small tongues of the fog expand beyond his body. Beyond these subtle features, he is identical to a certain historical figure, or, if you prefer, a recent folk tale of the Fire Nation.
"So, an enthusiast?" You exclaim at the eerie figure. With far too sharp swords on his back, the figure gazes at you. You ignore the lack of response. "Gotta say though, that mist is pretty cool. Any chance you're using some fire and water bending combination?" You asked in that nasal presumptuous tone those rich kids at school used. "Come ooon, I need to know. A thing like that? Definitely would come in handy."
"..."
You raise a brow. He's not talking? You'd think an assassin who got discovered would at least show some common decency for conversation, but this one probably didn't get the memo. "Hey, weird misty guy, I'm talking to you!" With a harumph, you stare at him as if he was beneath your nose and planted fists at your waist.
When no answer came forth, a figurative candle lit inside your head. With a gasp of realization, and slamming a fist into a palm, you point at the masked intruder with the intensity of a thousand Sozin's Comets. "Hah! You're one of those 'In-Character' guys everyone at school talks about!" Mystery solved, you nodded your head and crossed your arms with an aura of smug so thick, you may as well have had your own mist.
You look at him again. Argh. You hate it when playtime is over.
"We're gonna fight, aren't we?"
"..."
At last, he responds. The assassin nods. Lightly. Just enough that you saw the tilt of his head. His arms reach for his swords, and he unsheathes them without so much as a hiss. In aheartbeatt, the masked figure enters into a stance. The ever eerie gaze your only warning.
You move your hands up, entering a basic stance for Firebending. It's only proper you'd fight the scourge of the Fire Nation with it.
Level 12
Main Profile
Hit Points (Lvl+Con)x2: 46+(5)=51
Armor Class (Lvl+Dex+Con+Str)/3: 12+(6)+(9)=27
Initiative (Lvl+Dex): +15
Round 6
(37) Blue Spirit: Escape - 1d20+6=9 (Failure)
(26+10) (Attack of Opportunity) Earth Prison - 1d20+20=26 (Success) Enemy Trapped.
Master Shiko arrives.
END
(Funfact: I was going to roll a 2d6 to decide after how many rounds someone arrived to help. Since you enlisted Huesar's help, it ended up being a 1d6, with an unfortunate roll of 6. She arrived just on time to see the ending.) He attacks first. In the blink of an eye, the Blue Spirit covers eight meters between you. His right hand brings down a sword attack. You lean back, the blade narrowly missing you. The other blade comes from the other direction, aimed lower to compensate for your previous dodge. In response, you go even lower, practically touching the ground with your back.
With a furious sizzling, fire leaps from your feet as you kick both of them forward. The attacker jumps away, the fire not catching up and dissipating before it reaches him. Flowing forward with your twin-kick, you get onto your feet and stand again.
The Blue Spirit eyes you from six meters away for a moment. Your gazes make brief contact and then––he leaps with his head and chest at the front. It makes him seem open, but he's not with his swords. A way to trick rookies into a fool-hearted offense. Is he professionally trained?
The first lunging stab aimed at your gut misses as you step to the left – a mistake, his right hand is clear, damn it – the blade runs across your exposed right midriff and paints it red, tearing a part of your robe in the process. He's not playing around. As he flies past you, his head reaches toward the ground and he rolls, landing on his knees and quickly prostrating himself for another round of combat.
––Guh. Blood begins to leave your wound. A searing burn agitates the place he struck. "D-Damn you." You clench your teeth and place your hand over the wound. A shot of pain goes through your chest when you do so, and you move your hand away at once with a grunt. Your right hand has a red line on it.
The Blue Spirit cocks his head to the side, as if asking, 'Had enough, kid?'
"Don't underestimate me!" In anger, you lash out. Your furious kick transfers into a shockwave of rocks that travels the ground. He jumps over it––not just that––he jumps over your head, making a kind of sideway somersault - your heads almost collide. As he does this, one of his swords cuts you across the shoulder, near the neck. You jump back quickly as to not get stabbed in the back and you look at him, tears of pain forming in your eyes.
He was aiming for the head, but there wasn't enough space to get the right angle. He's merciless.
Fear. You feel it again. Not the same fear as before; it's different. The fear of death. You feel something inside of you, yearning to be released. A fury. A will to live. Pure survival given determination. A force, pushing you to your limits. It's a step away from being unleashed. One more wound and it'll be free. The Avatar State?
Not a second passes, however. He doesn't stop moving. He doesn't wait for you to deal with your pain. He continues his relentless assault, completely careless for the fact that you may die. His intent is to kill indiscriminately. His movements are precise, determined. He doesn't pull his swings, neither does he aim for less-lethal zones of the body. He's aiming where it hurts. He's aiming where it bleeds. He's aiming where you can't dodge.
He wants to kill you. A boy. The Avatar. Who is he? Why would he want this? Is he a vengeful spirit of some kind, carrying out a mission that was never finished? No, he can't be. If he was, he'd want to capture you alive. This being's, or, maybe this man's, intent is to kill you. When he leaves this villa, he intends to leave your body behind.
Tears spill out from your eyes in excess. The fear intensifies as he runs closer. The embodiment of your own death before you. But...
You move your hand out, fingers stretched, convinced you would die, as if to shield yourself. It doesn't even make sense. Using your hand to shield against a bladed weapon is as good as not shielding yourself at all. But... it works, somehow.
Various rocks, stones, and boulders from the nearby area suddenly, like projectiles fired from their respective cannons, fly at him. He can't dodge with projectiles from this many directions. He hasn't even made full visual contact with most of them. In fact, he assumes that if he jumped, he'd just be hit by rocks that were aimed higher. As such, he instead covers his head with his hands. A smart move, unlike yours. It doesn't matter if his hands get bruised, but if his head got hit, he would suffer more severe wounds.
The rocks, however, are unrelenting. They crush him. One of them blows a hole through his torso as if he was made of cardboard.
...
No. Your eyes widen, the tears still flowing free. The fear of death becomes a reality. The man stands before you. In less than two seconds, the white smoke around him gathers into the wound and replaces what was made by the boulder. His body isn't real. He's made from fog. The illusion of color and strength is what convinced you he is a person. That must mean he is a spirit.
No. Wait. He's not.
It doesn't make sense. It's impossible for a spirit to form like this. What kind of stimuli would it require? Why would he pretend to be the Blue Spirit? Why would he want to kill you? You don't have any beef with spirits, at least not that you know of. There was that rock king, but he would definitely not bother going to the Fire Nation. You don't have much time to think. He's about to attack.
Again, no. You're wrong. The Blue Spirit backs up. You realize something. Now, you've proven yourself dangerous in his eyes. When hurt or cornered, you lash out wildly. He's considering things more deeply. Either end this in one blow, or not at all.
Right now, it doesn't matter what he is. Anomalous spirit, trying to kill you for reasons undisclosed. Incredibly talented chi-bender in a costume he found in some desolate river. Maybe he's just a fake; a hollow illusion. But even if he is an illusion, he is one you must overcome.
If the enemy is an illusion within your mind, then he is merely the manifestation of that which you must overcome. He is doubt, and fear, and despair. If the foe is fought within, then if you conquer the battlefield that lies inside you, the enemy is going to disappear like the illusion he is.
The tables have turned. You stop crying, the tears stop in your eyes, and your red face becomes stalwart. Instead, you grit your teeth and scowl at him. He reads the gesture and extends his blades, protectively. The mist is slowly healing him.
You don't even twitch an eyebrow as you perform your next move.
Reaching into the nearby pond, you mimic the movements you've seen on the waterbending scroll. In the blink of an eye, his feet are tangled with hardened, tangible water. You reel him in closer, knowing that he is on the defense. He will try to escape, but you won't let him.
As soon as the water arm falls to the ground, seeing that you're preparing for an attack, the Blue Spirit performs a move with his feet and lunges away. Before he can jump, he is intercepted by a robust wall of earth. He looks to his sides, trying to escape by going right and around it, but he is cut off by another wall. Before he even knows what's happening, he is encased from every side.
Just in time, Master Shiko arrives and sees the last seconds of the fight. She watches, shell-shocked, as you confine the assassin in an earthly prison.
"Good Roku and all that is holy!" she calls out in disbelief.
You look at her, a smidge of pain on your face from the bleeding wounds. But not a trace of fear. It has abandoned you completely, much like dissipating mist.
Master Shiko runs up to you and holds you by the shoulders. She's focused on your wounds. She calls out. "Get a doctor!"
A pair of White Loti run in just in time to hear her. Huesar did something useful, but his help came too late to matter.
Master Shiko carries you away to another room and helps treat your wounds. A doctor arrives moments after, taking it from there. Shiko looks at you, disconcerted.
A long minute passes. The doctor leaves once your wounds are covered up. As soon as the door closes, without even a beat or a warning, your master looks at you with grave disappointment and insults you. "You are extremely stupid."
"I beat him."
"You almost died." She lays her hands on your shoulders, with a look asking you to maintain eye-contact. You do so. "Your behavior crossed the line between bravery and stupidity. Just because you're the Avatar doesn't mean––"
You shake your head, interrupting her, as rude as it is. "If I can't face an assassin in combat, I can't face anyone in combat. What kind of Avatar would that be?"
She smiles at you softly. Her expression is a mixture of sadness, disappointment, and at the same time... pride? "You're nine." She almost laughs at that. "You don't have to prove you're the best Avatar yet. You're only learning how to be one."
Leaning in closer, Master Shiko hugs you. The tenderness reminds you of your own mom. It's a kind of warmth you weren't expecting from her. The only kind of fire she has shown you so far was the fire of stern fury at your mistakes. "Master?"
"You're the dumbest Avatar ever, Tié," she says, deadbeat. She moves back and looks you in the face with a kind, sympathetic smile. A soft expression you've never seen her bear. "But you're my Avatar."
The Avatar is meant to travel the world and gain mastery over all four elements, but that's not all of it. There is a nuance to his travels, a kind of deep, spiritual bond with those he meets. His masters aren't just supposed to be masters. They're supposed to be compatriots, staunch allies, and friends for life. The Avatar makes lifelong, enduring connections during his journey. Sometimes, these bonds can last across lives.
After three seconds of silence, you smile at her, returning the gesture of friendship, peace, and goodwill.
Then, she smacks you over the head. "But what in the hell were you thinking fighting that guy?!"
Yup, that's your master alright. You clutch your head, rubbing it, and grinning sheepishly.
Later, you return to your own room. You've heard from the White Lotus that they didn't manage to recover the prisoner. When they opened up the prison you made, there was nothing inside, as if the intruder had vanished into thin air. They put in extra security around the building - your room in particular.
You went to sleep that night, calmly, thinking about what happened.
+5 CP!
+1,000 XP!
+If Huesar is around when a fight begins, you can enlist his help (free) to shorten the time it takes for allies to arrive by half, regardless of circumstance. Permanent.
"You'll have to concede, Yang."
The hawk squawks at you, refusing to take your letter.
"C'mon! I'll feed you seeds later!" You chase her around the room, moving up to the cupboard. As soon as you're near, she defiantly flies away to sit on the window sill.
"Damn it, fine. You can have some chicken! Just deliver this, it's important!" Yang cocks her head curiously, then emits a squawk. You move closer, carefully, slowly, deliberately.
You tie the letter to her leg and release her.
Hopefully, she's trained enough to know where Republic City is. There, they can sort the letter out. You've attached a sealed original of the Airbending Scroll to it. It's a cultural relic, after all. You made a copy overnight, just for keeping. You even signed the letter 'Avatar Tié' so Tenzin of Air Temple Island knows it was from you. It'd be nice to get a good rep early on, right? Especially that he'll likely teach you Airbending.
+4 to social with Yang.
+4 to social with Tenzin.
Fire Nation schools are interesting. Every day, you learn plenty of new things. Like geography, mathematics, and history. The last of the three contains a healthy dose of propaganda. Not malicious propaganda, mind you. Just the right amount of propaganda to prevent Fire Nation youths from hating their own nationality. Everyone treats you as an exchange student, but no one yet knows that you're the Avatar. Mostly, you didn't tell anyone, because no one asked.
Not that you're expecting a kid to come up to you asking, 'Hey, Tié. Would you happen to be the Avatar?' But you know how it is.
Your teachers seem to be just as oblivious to the gravity of the being they are tutoring. You love it when Ms. Xiao can't find the reason for her coffee suddenly spilling out. You're not malicious. No. Just vengeful. You believe it to be an act of unforgivable injustice to hand out exams on one, specific topic, after only one short lesson regarding said topic. It is cruelty of the highest form. A bit of a playback doesn't hurt.
She can write her own notes on the Fire Nation colonies. You don't give a damn. And neither does her coffee, apparently.
Other than that, you're getting along well with the kids at your school. The local girls have a fondness for you, unreturned of course because girls are yucky. Ew.
Or maybe you're nine years old and afraid to admit the truth? No. No, you're not.
+4 to social with Local Kids.
+4 to social with Local Teachers.
+2 Intelligence.
+Knowledge (Int) (Fire Nation History): +5
+Knowledge (Int) (One-Hundred-Year War): +3
+Knowledge (Int) (The Nations): +3
The Fire Nation Palace. The very heart of the entire Nation. As you pass through the scarlet halls, adorned with ornaments, decorations; gold and marble alike, you pass by beautiful, intricate paintings of all Firelords in recorded history, including the two most recent ones; Zuko and Izumi.
The reason for your visit, as abrupt as it is, was in fact, an invitation. Zuko got wind of your existence and invited you to the coronation of the new Firelord, his daughter. The likeness is already there because the decision was made almost two months ago, but the actual exchange of the crown and therefore all of the duties will take place today.
Following beside you are Master Jirou, Master Shiko, a White Lotus bodyguard, and other retainers that you consider obsolete for the simple reason that you don't need to babysitters. Then again, after what happened with that assassin, they might argue otherwise. And as a child with 'no experience', you can't argue back.
A shame you couldn't bring in Roku, or Huesar. Unfortunately, animals are not allowed. Yes, they both count as animals. Well, no. They count as pets when you think about it. Then again, since an Avatar created Huesar, wouldn't he be more like your son? It's a weird thought you haven't had before. Is he technically your spiritual offspring? Because that'd make the whole situation even weirder. He's older than his parent-s-ish.
You need to stop thinking about this at all cost.
Think about the Blue Spirit, you internalize the encouragement, think about how much you kicked his ass.
You finally make it to the ceremony. Even though you're the Avatar, you won't bask in the spotlight today. You're only here to pay witness to the events unfolding. You, do, however, have a seat in the front row. That's good. You look at the rows of seats. People are everywhere; most of them important dignitaries, politicians, and military officers. The front row has a lot of seats taken, except for its left side. You move through to the very end and sit down beside an old lady in a wheelchair.
A wheelchair. A curious device.
You sit and wait patiently for the ceremony to begin. Two long minutes pass until a sound breaks your almost meditative trance. The old woman speaks all of the sudden. To you. "Isn't Firelord Izumi beautiful?"
"I've never seen her before. This is my first time in the palace." You answer honestly.
"My name's Lee," she introduces herself, looking at you with a happy expression. What you see on the old woman's face can be described as pure, unfiltered joy. Three long seconds pass. You realize you're staring and it's rude, but she's the first to speak after the silence, being in front of you by a split second. "What's your name?"
You were about to tell her. "It's Tié."
"Oh my!" she exclaims, her eyebrows raising. "That's a lovely name!"
You smile. For some reason, that cheers you up. It might just be the almost narcoleptic experience of talking with an old, crazy lady. By crazy, you don't mean to insult her. She appears to be a nice, kind person. But her demeanor just radiates with the oddity that makes you assume old age took a toll on her mind. "Thank you."
"You know, I've met someone with a similar name before!" Her eyes move up as if looking through memories. After a moment, she shakes her head. "I think he was... an Earth Kingdom soldier? I'm sorry, I can't quite recall..."
"It's alright."
A royal fanfare rings out. Lee's eyes dart toward the stage. "Ooh, it's starting! We should pay attention now!"
You nod and blankly state, "Yes."
If you have to be honest with yourself, the ceremony is boring at first. A reading of the Firelord's duties and oaths. Then the fancy, old priests in red robes transfer the crown from Zuko's hair bun to Izumi's. After that, everyone stands up and claps, hailing her and cheering her name. You cast a sideways glance at Lee. You notice that despite her old age, she is clapping very passionately. Patriotism.
After the ceremony, you go into the grand foyer of the palace. People begin to dance all around. You spot Master Shiko dancing with, you presume, her husband. You haven't seen a lot of the guy, but he does live in the massive villa. He's a firebender, a serious guy, but he can be pretty cool. The two of you don't interact too much, and neither does he know you're the Avatar. The official cover-up is that you're a rich son of a White Lotus member, training his skills with the best master available.
Of course, the chap probably doesn't buy it. But who cares?
A girl your age invites you to dance. Girls are yucky but you can't refuse. It might hurt her feelings, and you don't want to be mean.
DC: 16
Roll: 1d20+4=7
Failure!
You've never touched a dancefloor in your life. It shows. You stepped on her feet almost two times; averting the second one, barely. Your movements were snappy, out of tune with the violins playing in the background, and at the same time, you somehow managed to be too slow. She walked away giggling at you. It was a typical girlish giggle. It was a malicious laughter intended to make fun of you. Why does the opposite gender hate you? You only think they're yucky. It's not a crime, that!
After the dancing phase of the operation is over, you get hit in the back of the head by a small pebble. You turn around, to see Huesar with a rope tied around his waist, hanging outside the half-open palace window. You instantly reel him in with airbending to save the idiot from falling to death. He thanks you, claims all went according to his master plan, then intermingles with the guests. He pulls out a plate of sandwiches from you have no idea where and begins to hand them out, getting cheers from the guests who've tasted peanut butter for the first time in their lives.
It's beautiful, but you don't like social gatherings - a fact you just discovered.
DC: 16
Roll: 1d20=16
Success!
+200 XP!
You mingle around. Time passes. An hour. Maybe a little over an hour. But you're invited upstairs by a Fire Nation soldier. They revised their suits since the War. Less skulls, more glorious, but fake, gold. He says that her Royal Flameness requests your presence...
Okay, he didn't say that. But you wish he did.
You proceed upstairs, and you're invited to sit down at a long table, along with Master Jirou and Shiko. Somehow, Huesar manages to either charm or bullshit his way to sit at the grand table as well. The white cloth is stainless and pure. On it is the biggest buffet in the world. All kinds of meats, vegetables, and desserts. Not far from you are Zuko and General Iroh, and at the edge is Firelord Izumi.
You discuss. This is the first time you've ever spoken with the big fishes, so you're kind of nervous, but both Izumi and Zuko are pleasant people. They don't ask questions you don't want to answer, like 'Avatar Tié, how would you fix global warming?'
Wouldn't global warming be their fault, anyway? They're the ones burning hundreds of tons of coal yearly. If global warming wasn't a myth, that is.
General Iroh is someone you get along with from the get-go, even more than his mother or grandfather. He's very serious and stern, but self-controlled and well-mannered. It's appropriate for his rank, you suppose. Socially speaking, he has a straightforward, logical approach. Logical. That's something you can work with, so you two get along just fine.
Time at the table passes quicker. You have someone to talk with. Zuko even mentions some tidbits of his private life and is willing to share with you the amazing stories of his youth. He speaks with honesty, not omitting or concealing the parts where he hunted the Avatar with bloodlust in his veins because he considers it an equally important aspect of his journey and spiritual change.
Also, damn, his uncle seems like he was a swell guy. You wish you could've met him, took in his wisdom. The only way to do so now is through Zuko, so you ask him some important, life-related questions. He gives you sagely advice whilst stroking his beard.
As you learn more and more about life, but also the hosts at the table, time passes quicker than you've initially assumed. Before long, it is nightfall and you must leave. You bid the Firelord goodbye, give her a polite, customary bow, then do the same with Zuko, and General Iroh. They say they expect great things of you. It puts a small pressure on your shoulders, but nothing excessive. 'Great things' are what everyone already expects of you. Nothing new in that department, so nothing new to worry about.
You leave back to the villa. As you step through the palace, you notice Lee, sitting near the entrance and feeding birds. She gives you a wave, and you return it with a smile.
Today was a good day. You've met the ruling family of the Fire Nation, you've seen an impressive piece of architecture, and Huesar managed to be polite at the table. Well, at least by his standards. Which is already something.
+200 XP!
+See the Fire Nation Palace. (+2,500 XP, +2CP.) Fulfilled! +2,500 XP, +2 CP!
+Meet the Firelord and her family, including her legendary father. (+8,000 XP, +10CP.) Fulfilled! +8,000 XP, +10 CP!
Level Up!
1d100=32=24 TP.
Earthbending scroll, laid out before you, you attempt to copy the movements in real life. Elbow forward, hand down, posture slightly crouched. You dig your foot into the concrete and fire off two successive boulders at the target. They fly, parallel to each other, and curve midway, to hit the target from two sides and crush it. The wooden dummy still stands despite the damage.
Once again, you stomp the earth and it yields. A block of brown soil rises before you. You punch it five times, launching slabs of it at the target like cannon bolts.
But now, you want to try some more advanced moves. Jumping, the earth opens and swallows you as you fall. You close your eyes and work with it, then swim through it at high speed. The earth spits you out behind the mauled dummy. Stones gather around your body, forming a heavy armor. Your three-fingered hand penetrates the dummy's back and you rip out his white, fluffy heart, crushing it in your palm.
You smile, considering this sufficient for new moves.
+40 to Earthbending Training. Earthbending Level Up.
+Reach Level 7 of Earthbending. (+20,000 XP, +21CP.) Fulfilled! +20,000 XP! +21 CP!
Level Up! Level Up!
"Move it, lazy!" Shiko effortlessly tears through the wind, running past you, at twice the speed that you're running in. The sight of her speed discourages you and the straining weakness in your legs becomes intolerable. You stop to recuperate, taking only small breaths, as you feel like the left side of your chest is about to pop.
"G-G... Guh..." You spit out sweat, which made its way to your mouth from your forehead. Your entire face and body are red. She's peculiarly cold-blooded today, having you run twice the amount of laps, then deciding you actually have to repeat all daily exercises because they were insufficient. And your guess is that you're about to have to repeat them again unless you start running.
Hurt, clutching your chest like a wounded soldier, you run forward, pushing through the pain. Your master is already a hundred meters in front of you and hasn't even looked back once. She's been doing the exercises along with you but hasn't shed a single drop the entire time.
There's almost an uncanny futility to reaching her level. With clenched teeth, you mutter a high-pitched squeak, "She's... not... human."
It takes you three minutes to finally finish your last lap, but like a man pushed to his limit during a high-stake fight, you finally make it there. At the end, you let yourself collapse, hitting the ground with a satisfying thud, next to your master who watches you with calm, unbothered eyes.
"I..." Wheeze.
"Can't..." Wheeze.
"Run anymore..." Wheeze.
"That's alright," she says, then leans to you. "The purpose of this exercise was precisely to test your upper limit. What would be the last straws of your power when there's an emergency?"
You're about to say something, opening up your mouth to protest. You want to shake your head and say 'no, please, have mercy,' or anything of the sort, but your lungs wouldn't forgive you. You can feel them struggling, both are on the edge of collapse.
Master Shiko ends her thought. "I can see now that it's not quite enough. We'll have to push you further."
To her words, you respond with a strangled, tortured moan that was meant to be the word 'no, please' but came out more as "Nuauuuuhh... pleaadh..."
"Not today, of course. You're already on the verge. Pushing you would be stupid."
You sigh in relief, thankful.
"We'll work on your firebending instead."
You let out a strangled noise. At least firebending is better than running.
After speaking with Zuko and learning about his uncle, you decide it is time. No more cherry-picking of daily pearls of wisdom. No more weekly mantras to live by. It's time to get on with it. The proverb book is thick, but your mind is like a sharp, crystal-clear knife.
You lay down on Roku, who's grown large enough to practically serve as a bed at this point, and you begin to eagerly read the proverbs, one after another, and not just that. You take an appropriate time to consider each one, add its unique wisdom to your own paradigm, and then move on alacriously. You learn from the enlightenment the book contains within the two, hardcovers, and you begin to get a slightly wider understanding of life itself, as dumb as it might be to find this kind of knowledge in a book.
Who wrote this? You check for the author but find nothing. Shame. If you knew his name, you might have tried to find him. Both to get an autograph because whoever wrote this down knows a lot of proverbs, or, to take sagely advice from him, because what else to do when interacting with someone who knows proverbs for days?
Hm, proverbs for days...
Proverbs for days...
A candle lits inside your head. You decide that, as your Avatar, it is now your duty to help other people with the power of proverbs. You will give out sagely advice related to people's situations. What else should you do to help if not that?
+150 XP!
+Read through the Proverb book. (+500 XP, +???) Fulfilled! +500 XP! +Leaves From The Vine (Perk) added!
The entire room is empty save for the two masters who exchange grave looks. Both of them are in a state of deep thought. Master Jirou looks Shiko in the eyes. His own are tired, overworked. "Do you think he had anything to do with it?"
"Vaatu? No, I don't think so." Shiko shakes her head stubbornly, then closes her eyes and grasps her temple, rubbing it.
"Then what was that thing?"
"I'm still not sure," she answers, trying to think things through. "The Blue Spirit, he says. Mist, he says. If I didn't know any better, I'd have said it was a Kemurikage, but that's not possible."
"A Kemurikage?" Master Jirou pauses, twitching a brow. Although a firebender, who was born and raised in the Fire Nation, it's the first time he's heard the term. After all, he travelled most of his life and learned tidbits of other cultures, mostly forsaking his own.
"Fire Nation legend." She proceeds to explain, gesticulating. "A group of spirits, clad in masks and dark robes, wreathed in white mist. They traveled the land since before the Fire Nation and haunted warlords. Once the Fire Nation became united, they started kidnapping misbehaving children, but the last Kemurikage abandoned the land long before even Sozin was around. It lost heat near the end of the Hundred-Year-War and was almost forgotten, but parents found a new use for it; nowadays, it's nothing more than a story they tell to make their kids behave."
"But there's a connection with the Blue Spirit that we've seen."
"Yeah, but there's a few things off," Master Shiko argues, getting to the point quickly. "First, they abduct, not kill. Second, they travel in groups of at least three and are rarely seen without each other. And lastly, it wouldn't be the first time that the Kemurikage were impersonated."
Master Jirou strokes his beard and cocks his eyebrows, almost confident that this could be it. "Master Shiko, doth men vanish into thin air?"
"No, but it still doesn't make sense. There were other ways to escape. Maybe the bastard was an earthbender and the mist was generated by nearby allies? Or reverse - he made the mist, and an earthbender helped him out with the escape?"
"Tié has wounded the Blue Spirit. When he hit it with a rock, there was a clear hole through its chest. See-through. Any explanation for that, Master Shiko?" Jirou kept pushing her theories away, convinced they were faced with a ghost of myth.
She emits a groan. "Leave me alone, you geezer! Let me think a moment."
Three, long seconds pass and she finally gets an idea. "There are probably ways to fake that. It may have been an illusion of some sort. Maybe the assassin actually ran away under the cover of the mist after his second attack? At that moment, the Avatar lost visual contact so the assassin could have hid somewhere and been replaced by a mist puppet? I mean, do you think white smoke can really make that wound?"
"Many things are possible with spirits at play, Master Shiko," the old sage answers, then stands up. He gives her a nod and stretches, grunting as he feels his spine shake. "Well, I believe it is enough discussion for tonight. We are getting nowhere with these considerations. For now, we must simply assume that there is an enemy, and he is not a conventional one. He could be a man, or he could be a spirit, or perhaps he's something else?"
She puffs with skepticism, smiling at him maliciously. She speaks with sarcasm, "Suuure. Mist suddenly became alive and attacked the kid!" After a moment, she sighs, dropping her shoulders down. "But, yeah. We won't get anywhere with speculation. Any luck tracking the bastard?"
"No," he answers, deadbeat.
She nods in deep disappointment, then stands up. She gives the old man a cold look, then moves in the direction of the exit. While walking, and without looking at Jirou, she waves her hand and speaks, "Just so you know, I'm not going to let a bunch of smoke beat my damn Avatar around. It'll look bad on historical records."
Jirou smiles at that, shaking with a chuckle. "You've really bonded with Tié in this time."
She stops in the doorframe. "I guess. He doesn't have a sundrop worth of physical fitness, but his steely resolve is something to admire. The kid doesn't give up easily if you push him into it, and I give him credit for that. And he's a prodigy too, like me, so it's expected we'd get along on some level. Only, he's talented at both at bending and at that fancy-smancy spirit voodoo of yours, and the latter kind of puts us apart."
Once again, Jirou smiles and chuckles. "You were never good with spirits."
"Nope."
Currently: 168 AG, Summer.
Next Turn: 168 AG, Autumn.
Select two social focuses for the next year. You can select one option two times.
[] Huesar
[] Roku.
[] Yang.
[] Master Shiko.
[] Master Jirou.
[] Friends at school.
Select five two training focuses for the next year. You can select one option numerous times. Due to your Master's input, two of the training options automatically go to Firebending and Physical Exercise. One of them goes off for school studies.
[] Bending.
-[] Earthbending.
--[] Metalbending.
-[] Waterbending.
-[] Airbending.
-[] Firebending.
[] Meditation.
-[] Meditation.
-[] Chakra Control.
[] Physical exercise.
[] Learn philosophy, culture, history, geography, and science from the White Lotus.
[] Riding Roku.
Select additional ambitions. (1 Long-Term, 1 Short-Term, 2 Mid-Term. QM Note: You can pick no ambitions at all for the time-being, if you wish.)
[] (Long-Term) Reach Level 7 of Firebending. (+30,000 XP, +26CP.)
[] (Long-Term) Reach Level 7 of Airbending. (+30,000 XP, +26CP.)
[] (Long-Term) Reach Level 7 of Waterbending. (+30,000 XP, +26CP.)
[] (Mid-Term) Make yourself of use to the world like you're supposed to. (+9,000XP, +15CP.)
[] (Mid-Term) Defeat Master Shiko in a friendly Agni Kai. (+8,000 XP, +12CP.)
[] (Mid-Term) Defeat Master Jirou in Pai Sho. (+7,000 XP, +16CP.)
[] (Mid-Term) See a Fire Nation circus show. (+6,000 XP, +7CP.)
[] (Short-Term) Learn how to generate lightning. (+1,000 XP.)
[] (Short-Term) Get to know the White Lotus members. (+500 XP.)
[] (Short-Term) What is the "Convergence?" (+700 XP.)
[] (Short-Term) Step up your Pai Sho game. (+1,250 XP, +1CP, possible "item" rewards.)
[] (-1 CP.) Chi Roulette: 50-50 chances to double CP or lose all of them. You win, you grin. You lose, bad news.
[] (-4 CP.) +2 Constitution.
[] (-3 CP.) +2 Strength.
[] (-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.
[] (-6 CP.) You have the dream of a red-eyed spirit and a man following after it.
[] (-8 CP.) Huesar does something. That's all the detail you'll get.
[] (-8 CP.) Huesar does something useful.
[] (-8 CP.) You find a firebending scroll.
[] (-12 CP.) You find an earthbending scroll.
[] (-12 CP.) You find a waterbending scroll.
[] (-20 CP.) You find an airbending scroll.
[] (-30 CP.) You can train once more every turn. (May only be taken once.)
[] (-65 CP.) Become one with the cosmic energy. (May only be taken once.)
Ah, finally done. Took me two days but it was worth it.
I want to thank @Taka for helping me revise some of the update and replace a lot of the paragraphs with ones written more clearly. If you're asking which paragraphs those were, I'm talking about those preceding the Blue Spirit fight. Please, give him a big ol' hug.
