Avatar: The Last Airbender Quest
Water. Earth. Fire. Air.
Long ago, the Four Nations – the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads – lived in harmony. But all of that changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all Four Elements, could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.
It has been 90 years since the Air Nomads were wiped out by the invading Fire Nation army and the Avatar disappeared, leading many to believe he was somehow killed for good, despite the unbroken chain of reincarnation that stretches back to the dimmest reaches of human memory.
It has been 90 years since the Fire Nation's war of global conquest began.
The Air Nomads, a pacifistic and spiritual people, were attacked without warning, by an enemy whose strength was at its peak, and were wiped out to the last man, woman and child. What few may have survived were rigorously hunted down later, and even if any survived, no one has seen a living Airbender since.
The Water Tribes, living in the North and South Poles, were cut off from each other by the war. The South was systematically raided, its military strength eradicated over the course of three generations. There are no Benders left in the South, and they have been reduced to a pale shadow of what they once were. Only the North stands strong, an impenetrable but eternally besieged fortress that can count on no aid from outside to relieve them.
The Earth Kingdom, the largest and proudest of nations, still fights on to hold the line and take back what they've lost. But it is a battle they are steadily losing. With every year, they lose more ground, and more of the provinces and cities of the Earth Kingdom are either destroyed or conquered by the Fire Nation's implacable war machine. Of the great citadel-cities of the Earth Kingdom, only Omashu and the capital itself, the Impenetrable City of Ba Sing Se, still stand strong.
You, though, are only dimly aware of any of this. At 7 years old, you are only beginning to take your first tentative steps into an understanding of the wider world, only just beginning to learn and grow into your potential.
Through your parents, you were born with the potential to connect with one of the Four Elements, and on this day, your 7th birthday, you will begin to realize that potential. Which element will you one day strive to master, and in what circumstances will you learn to harness them?
[] Water
Water is the element of change. Water has no set form, and takes on the form of whatever contains it. Water does not exert force itself, but travels in the direction of the forces acting on it. In the same way, Waterbenders move with fluid grace; shifting seamlessly between attack and defense, they follow the "flow" of battle and adapt and change to best counter their opponents. Rather than directly strike or block, Waterbenders prefer to redirect and counter, using the opponent's energy against them rather than expending their own.
Waterbending, like its equal and opposite Firebending, is strongly tied to a celestial body. In this case, the moon. Waterbenders are stronger at night than during the day, and their power waxes and wanes with the phases of the moon: strongest at the full moon, weakest at the new moon, and in the rare case of a complete lunar eclipse, absent entirely for the duration.
-[] Northerner
You were born into a prominent family in the Northern Water Tribe; your father is one of Chief Arnook's closest military advisers, while your mother is well-regarded as one of the tribe's best healers. Your upbringing will be safer and more secure than most, but you will have few opportunities to see and learn about the world outside of the North Pole, at least until you come of age. And even then, you will be expected to put your people before yourself, and do what is best for the tribe. And unlike the Fire Nation, the Southern Water Tribe and, to a lesser extent, the Earth Kingdom, your gender will heavily impact what opportunities are open to you.
Bending: Northern Style Waterbenders are very skilled in quickly shifting water between its different states, and the style has the largest library of techniques making use of ice and snow. In the Northern Water Tribe, gender roles determine how you learn to Bend. While every Waterbender learns all of the basic principles of Waterbending, only men are taught how to fight with Waterbending, while only women are taught how to heal with it. The Northern Style is the oldest surviving form of Waterbending, and is the most "orthodox." When one hears the word "Waterbending," it is this style they are likely to think of.
-[] Foggy Swamp Tribal
Hundreds of years ago, migrants from the South Pole settled in the Foggy Swamp in the southwestern Earth Kingdom. Insular people who kept to themselves, living in a place few had any interest in visiting, the presence of these Waterbenders in the midst of the Earth Kingdom was swiftly forgotten by most, and the Foggy Swamp Tribe developed its own unique culture, and its own unique form of Bending. Your people live close to nature, living in harmony with the swamp and seeing it, and the world, as one vast interconnected system.
Bending: The Foggy Swamp Waterbending Style is very different from the forms practiced in the North and South Poles. One can notice a strong influence from Earthbending in the stiff, choppy movements of the style that resonate with the stagnant, muddy waters of their swampy home, and the style incorporates far less ice in its Bending than their cousins in the poles. There are more direct attacks and blocks in this style, most of them utilizing large volumes of high-pressure water to attack or defend.
[] Earth
Earth is the element of substance. Earth stands strong and endures, solid and unmoving. Its strength is its rigidity. In the same way, Earthbenders move with great force and purpose, and stand their ground with boundless determination; whether attacking or defending, the Earthbender always stands strong and steady. An Earthbender is always direct; they may seem slow to act, but it is only because they are as patient as the stone itself, and when they strike it is with the thundering force of a landslide.
-[] Imperial Prince/ss
Your older brother and the current Earth King, King Kuei, is merely the latest in a long line of Earth Kings and Queens dating back to the very beginning of recorded history and perhaps even further, as old as the city of Ba Sing Se itself. Your ancestors were the most powerful people in the most powerful nation in the world at one time. But even at your age you've begun to notice just how little power your brother actually holds compared to the head of the Grand Secretariat, Senior Grand Secretary Long Feng.
Bending: The Imperial Earth Style is the most popular and widely known Earthbending style by far. It was codified millennia ago and is what most people think of when they hear the word "Earthbending." It mimics the solid nature of Earth with solid, grounded stances and techniques that provide an impenetrable, immovable defense and an unstoppable offense. In principle very simple, but with an innumerable number of responses to most any situation. Though it is relatively simple to learn, true mastery requires years of study and conditioning both physical and mental, but the rewards are great.
-[] Si Wong Tribal
In the vast expanse of the Si Wong Desert, life is harsh and can be taken away at any moment. Yet even here, the enduring nature of the Earth Kingdom people is strong, and though sparsely populated, people survive and thrive even here. These are the Sandbender Clans of the Si Wong Desert, and though much of the outside world considers them honorless scavengers and bandits, these pragmatic survivors possess a rich culture and place great value in their loyalty to their kin. Among these nomadic clans, Earthbendings are the most prized family members, and are accorded great prestige and status.
Bending: The Earthbending style of the Si Wong Desert clans is very different from that practiced in the rest of the Earth Kingdom, mostly due to the different environment. Sand is very difficult for Earthbenders not used to it; its loose, shifting nature and the individual grains that compose it is almost foreign to those used to molding strong, steady earth. But though any Earthbender can eventually learn to bend sand, the Sandbenders are the undisputed master of the art; their unique form of bending is much more fluid than normal Earthbending, in keeping with sand's nature. Scholars debate whether the Si Wong style takes more from Airbenders or Waterbendings, but there is a clear influence from both.
[] Fire
Fire is the element of power. Fire has the power to destroy and consume all that get in its way. In the same way, Firebenders are filled with energy and drive to achieve their goals and desires, letting nothing stand in their way. A Firebender believes that the best defense is a strong offense, and all Firebending styles are fast, aggressive and powerful, just as fire itself spreads and engulfs everything it touches too quickly to be stopped.
Firebending, like its equal and opposite Waterbending, is strongly tied to a celestial body. In this case, the sun. Firebenders are stronger during the day than at night, and their power waxes and wanes with the course of the sun in the sky: strongest at high noon, weakest at sunrise and sunset, and in the case of a complete solar eclipse, absent entirely for the duration.
-[] Little Soldier Boy/Girl
For over a hundred years, ever since the ascension of Fire Lord Sozin to the throne, the Fire Nation's military has grown drastically in both numbers and technology. The Fire Nation is the most technologically advanced and heavily militarized nation in the world without question, which is in large part why they have been so successful against the most larger and more populous Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes. This militarized culture has romanticized and lionized the military, and Fire Nation propaganda everywhere paints military service as the greatest contribution a person can give for their nation.
Your parents are both in the military, as were their parents before them: your mother is a soldier in the garrison of your home city and your father is a low-ranking officer in the navy. Despite the way those from the Fire Nations proper often look down on the "colonials," your parents are both staunch patriots of the Fire Nation and harbor strong hopes that you will continue the family's history of service. Being a low-ranking officer and a soldier and both being colonials who aren't particularly powerful or skilled benders, your parents' prospects for further advancement are almost non-existent. But your father does have one connection that he has made use of for your benefit: like many other naval recruits, he was trained by Admiral Jeong Jeong, who is famous for becoming a master Firebender before he even reached adulthood. Though your father was not a very good student, he nonetheless became a friend to his old mentor and the admiral agreed to tutor you while he makes use of his vacation time for the first time in decades.
Bending: Fire Demon Style is the official Firebending style of the Fire Nation armed forces and the first form of Firebending taught to scions of the royal family. It has thus become the most famous and well-known style of Firebending throughout the world, celebrated in the Fire Nation and loathed and feared elsehwere. Fire Demon Style is exceptionally aggressive, and calls its users to power their bending with their own "inner fire;" rage, hatred, aggression, even the simple thrill of battle. These aggressive impulses give a Fire Demon practitioner the ability to create large amounts of exceptionally hot fire. It encourages very fast direct attacks like jabs and snap-kicks meant to force the opponent onto the defensive to deliver a powerful finishing blow.
-[] Sun Warrior
Fire is the element of life. Fire has the power to destroy and consume, but it also has the power to nurture and create when harnessed properly. The Sun Warriors, remnants of the very first humans to learn Firebending from the dragons, know and respect both the destructive and creative aspects of fire. They live in isolation from the world, at first to protect them from their enemies, then to protect their traditions, and now to safeguard the last living dragons from those who would hunt them. Your father was a deserter from the Fire Nation army who found his way to the Sun Warriors, where your mother saved his life and took responsibility for him. Your father has told you of the world outside, speaking mostly of the horrors of the world and the way the Fire Nation has twisted Firebending into pure destruction and violence.
Bending: The Dancing Dragon Style of Firebending is the closest style to the original form of Firebending practiced by the dragons. Though fierce, quick and strong, it is a more versatile and less aggressive style than Fire Demon Style, and incorporates fluidity of motion as well as defensive techniques meant to redirect force. The circular movements of the style call to mind Airbending, which some suspect might reflect the dependence of fire on air to survive.
[] Air
Air is the element of freedom. One cannot grasp the wind, and one cannot survive without the air they breathe. Just as air takes the path of least resistance, moving around obstacles rather than trying to force its way through them, Airbenders used their speed and agility to make circular motions to evade and avoid an enemy's force. As dedicated pacifists, the Airbenders ended fights by escaping, tricking or subduing enemies when force was required.
-[] Gift of the Spirits
You have no memories of your past before you were discovered just a few weeks ago by an extremely old man who answers to the name Pathik, who found you on Whale Tail Island, claiming he had been led to you by visions from the spirits. Pathik believes that you have some great destiny in store that is somehow tied to your instinctive ability to Airbend. He also said he thought you were the Avatar when he first saw you Airbend but then said that was impossible because the Avatar hadn't "returned yet", though he hasn't yet explained what an "Avatar" is. He has promised to teach you how to Airbend better, though, using both his own knowledge of Airbending (though he's not an Airbender himself) and the large caches of scrolls left by the Air Nomads that apparently lived in the ruins he took you to.
Bending: The Air Nomad Style of Airbending is technically a large number of interconnected styles which were developed over many centuries and eventually codified into a unified method of Airbending. You learn just as much about meditation and other spiritual and mental pursuits as actually learning to fight, since the style is primarily meant as both a means of meditation and of self-defense.
-[] The Last Airbender?
The Fire Nation makes the claim that they managed to completely and totally wipe the Air Nomads from the world, and almost everyone in the world believes. Some have realized that it seems to stretch belief to think that every single one of the Air
Nomads were slaughtered down to the last man, woman and child: though the majority of the Air Nomads lived in and around the four Air Temples, they migrated between them at different times for festivals and other momentous occasions (the reason so many of the Air Nomads were at the Air Temples at the time the Fire Nation attacked, ironically, was to observe and celebrate the comet that came to be named after Fire Lord Sozin). Though the vast majority of Air Nomads died at the Air Temples and many of the remainders were hunted down afterward, a very small few managed to escape, usually alone or in very small groups.
To survive, these Airbenders hid their heritage and lived in hiding, mostly as Earth Kingdom citizens but some were forced to hide in the Fire Nation itself. Just as air becomes stagnant and dead if it doesn't keep moving, these Air Nomads lost their Airbending as they denied and refused to use it for fear of discovery. But perhaps as an echo of the spirit of the Air Nomads, you have inherited an irrepressible curiosity and desire for freedom, and see the sky and the birds that fly in it with a strange longing. But perhaps even that might not have allowed you to manifest your Airbending were it not for the discovery of a young, living sky bison that you've made.
Bending: You will have no mentor or tutor save for the young sky bison you've discovered. This provides the advantage of meaning that you will learn Airbending from one of the original Airbenders, creating a style different from the meditative, philosophically-influenced Airbending of the Air Nomads. This Ancient Air Style will be even more fast and agile than the Air Nomad Style but comparatively even less focused on actual offense, preferring instead to use the powerful force of air to outrun, evade and when necessary simply overwhelm obstacles to make good an escape. It will be up to you to learn actual dedicated offensive techniques if you so choose.
-[] Righteous Orphan
Fire Nation propaganda (and in fact the propaganda of the Earth Kingdom as well) likes to portray the entirety of the Fire Nation and its people as united in the purpose of fulfilling Fire Lord Sozin's "great dream" of a world under the dominion of the Fire Nation. In actual fact, Fire Lord Sozin faced significant opposition when he first began proposing the expansion of the Fire Nation through conquest by leaders of the Fire Nation for many varied reasons ranging from the practical to the moral, and these leaders only grew more angered when Sozin ignored their arguments and created the first Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. It was in fact one of these dissidents who alerted Avatar Roku of the Fire Lord's actions, hoping he would solve the problem. But though Roku warned Sozin not to continue his expansionist policies he did not force Sozin to return the lands he had taken, and after his death the dissidents knew it was only a matter of time until the expansion proceeded apace, and in that time these policies continued to gain more and more popular support. Using secret channels facilitated by a secret society called the Order of the White Lotus, these dissidents found common cause in their opposition to Fire Lord Sozin's policies and planned a rebellion against the Fire Lord that would be designed to quickly remove Sozin and his key supporters from power and replace them with a Fire Lord amenable to the dissidents' views. This was later dubbed the "Righteous Orphan Rebellion" by the dissidents and the "Riotous Orphan Revolt" by the Fire Nation. The rebellion was a failure, as Fire Lord Sozin had actually planned out the assassination and removal from power of several of the rebellion's key figure (by either amazing intelligence or spectacular coincidence) at roughly the same time the rebellion was planned to begin, which was also at the same time as the attention-grabbing and highly publicized attack on the Air Temples.
In the wake of their crushing defeat, those of the Righteous Orphans (as they came to call themselves) who escaped the abortive coup once more turned to the Order of the White Lotus for assistance. Though they also focused many of their attentions on trying to find and safeguard what few Air Nomads might remain, the White Lotus also organized the smuggling of the Righteous Orphans out of Fire Nation soil (and spent the next decade or so working to free captured Righteous Orphans and bring them to their brethren in the Earth Kingdom). In the years since, the Righteous Orphan Rebellion has become something of a public branch of the White Lotus (though the links are well-hidden), doing the society's work in sabotaging the Fire Nation's war efforts through sabotage, espionage, and all sorts of assorted skulduggery and thuggery. Though originally made up of refugees from the Fire Nation hailing themselves as the "true" patriots of the Fire Nation, they have since expanded to include many Earth Kingdom members and also small amounts of Water Tribals and become a dedicated movement intent on fighting Fire Nation expansion. Though they still brand themselves as righteous revolutionaries, in many of their branches they've taken on the trappings of organized crime, ostensibly to gather funds to support the war effort; this has given them a bad reputation even in the Earth Kingdom, and the actual Earth Kingdom military tends to see them as dangerous, opportunistic criminals despite their contributions to the war against the Fire Nation.
The efforts of the Order of the White Lotus to find and safeguard the few remaining Airbenders did see some success, but most of these surviving Air Nomads, with the Order's assistance, retired into quiet lives in hiding, and over the generations lost their ability to Airbend. One of those survivors, however, abandoned the Air Nomad ideals of non-violence and detaching oneself from the material world and negative emotions by becoming a violent revolutionary, joining the Righteous Orphans in order to avenge the deaths of the Air Nomads. This Airbender donned the mask of a famous spirit of vengeance, and struck from the shadows to wreak bloody retribution upon the Fire Nation. Daring acts of sabotage, theft of important documents and other vital information, and the seemingly impossible assassinations of key Fire Nation officials led many people to believe that this Airbender was in fact an angry spirit come in the flesh. Several times, this so-called spirit has seemed to die, but their body has never been recovered by the Fire Nation and the spirit always returns shortly thereafter. Obviously, many in the Fire Nation suspect that this rebel is merely many people in succession donning the mask and name, but even they do not suspect that it is a single lineage of Airbenders trained to inherit the mantle, and that this is the secret behind their seemingly impossible feats. As the child of the current bearer of that mantle, you will be trained to inherit both the mask and the will of that spirit of vengeance that your ancestor chose to don.
Bending: The Vengeful Storm Style created by your ancestor is extremely different from the evasive, defense-oriented style used by the Air Nomads. Though it retains much of the focus on speed and mobility so key to all Airbending, it abandons the preference for avoiding and escaping conflict and the focus on air's immutable, ungraspable nature in favor of the fury and unstoppable power of a storm. Ironically making it somewhat similar to the Fire Demon style of Firebending, the practitioner overwhelms the opponent with incredible speed and aggression, and the style includes several moves meant specifically to kill, with techniques meant to do things like rend the flesh from an opponent's very bones or collapse their lungs to deny them air. It also incorporates bladed weapons rather than staves, with particular focus on throwing knives and single-edged swords whose slashing motions are used to create long-range blasts of air that slices through flesh.
