Ordeal By Fire: An Avatar the Last Airbender GSRP

Reader mode
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Name: Sayuri
Pronouns: She/Her
Archetype: Artist
Politics: Fire Colonialism
Earth: 2
Water: 3
Fire: 1
Air: 2
Bender: No
Starting Location: Kaya

Bio:
One could easily think there's no people born in other nations residing in the Fire Nation , if one were to be ignorant.
One more informed may think all are there under duress , are exploited , are dreaming of escaping , if one were to listen to fools.
One would naturally think that those foreign born living in the Fire Nation were going to follow all Zuko if they had to follow a Firelord to begin with , but one would be very wrong in the case of Sayuri.

She was still young when the Fire Nation came and annexed her village , but she was old enough to remember the hunger she felt before they came , when tax collectors took in the name of the Lord of the land , and she was old enough to remember the copper a Firebender tossed her when she answered a few questions.
They did hit her around , but what of it really , when half the adults she had known did not hesitate to correct wives and childrens , when they had not been corrected themselves by the earthbenders of the former Lord ?

Sure , she did receive choice looks and words when she ran away into the colonies , but what what were a few funny insults when there were so many songs and more to hear besides.
What interesting things to see really ! There were theaters that anyone could buy a ticket in and that had so kind actors showing you tricks , machines and new boats that could transport you from one town to the next so fast with soldiers willing to tell you stories of the war , scrolls so much more common than any place she had knew of in the Earth Kingdom.
And throughout all this , Sayuri caught herself thinking about how the men in the village might have been less dour if they had read more , the women more happy if they could have the opportunity to go to a big festival , of how some of her extended family might have been still alive surely , if they could have moved rice so fast from one valley to the next , if they had not had to worry about the boundaries of the Lord , and those of the King in the next valley , if it had all been better like in the Fire Nation.
What of national pride when there's nothing for peasants to feel proud of ?
All of she had done that she had felt proud of she had done in the Fire Nation.

It was a simple choice when rumours were beginning to swirl that the Lords of old , those that had ruled there before the colonies , were coming back : hop onto a boat and into where anything was possible.
Anything if not for some of men of the Fire Nation like Zuko sadly.
They want to stop the progress that the Fire Nation enjoy to benefit more people , they want to hoard it and leave the choice to the Earth Kingdom , she knows what the Earth Kingdom will choose.

Azula , Azula was the answer.
Had she not brought the most people into progress in whole fell swoop , without even warring , had she not convinced the Dai Li itself ?
Was she not the most brillant , and the most dashing ?
Werent even those men in the Fire Nation that wanted girls corrected or following orders cowering before her , cowering even thinking of her ?
That's why when she was doing a routine dance with a few friends in a estate in Kaya , and she heard very important and very silly people said they lied to Azula , when she heard them say very dumb things like plotting to betray her and kill her , she had to straighten them up ; a few hours later and she was introducing herself to the first loyal follower of Azula she could find , covered in the blood of one noble and with the names of the others.
Time to support Azula as she danced across the Fire Nation , indeed.
 
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The Ashen Corpse

Name: The Ashen Corpse (Captain (Ret) Lai Lee)

Bronouns: She/Her

Archetype: Officer

Politics: …Anarchist

Earth [3] Air [1] Fire [3] Water [1]

Bender: Fire

Location: Rangshao

Bio:

A corpse haunts the Fire Nation, the corpse of Ashwalker Captain Lai Lee.

Since ancient times the Lees of Rangshao served nobility and nation as gamewardens and foresters, ensuring the protection and bounty of the forests and hills that spread out across the region. In time they were even named as the hereditary Royal Foresters of Rangshao's province by the Avatar Szeto.

The Lees' loyalty and skill, built in peace, served the Nation just as well in war. In service to the Fire Lords and their generals across generations the Lees spilled blood in the soil of the Earth Kingdom and the seas of the Water Tribes for nigh on a century of duty.

Lai Lee was merely the latest in a long line of Lees to enlist in the Fire Lord's armies and make landfall in the colonies, ready to serve the newly installed Fire Lord Ozai with the firebent arrows that were the family calling card.

With a hundred generations of knowledge of the land and skill with the bow bred into her marrow making her a natural born light infantrywoman Lai was a natural candidate for the newly formed First Special Operations Force.

A forester by training, Lai took to the doctrines of the Ashwalkers through the lens of ecological control. Pruning, controlled burns, cullings, quarantines, exterminations… All knowledge that could be dispassionately put to use on men as much as it could be on animals.

Disdaining the arrogance and sadism of most Ashwalker officers, Lai instead was an emotionless and stoic servant of the Fire Lord dispassionately "culling" the Earth Kingdom's restive peoples with a ruthless efficiency that saw her become one of Qatun Tsagaan's most trusted officers.

Promoted first to Lieutenant and then Captain, Lai expanded her skillset to include the leadership of men and women. Becoming not just a hunter of men, but a capable military officer in her own right. Learning the officers skills of training, leadership, logistics, tactics and strategy, Lai honed her newfound talent not just against partisans but regular units of the Earth Kingdom's military

Then, nine months before the return of Sozin's comet, Captain Lai and her entire unit disappeared while conducting anti-partisan operations in the contested frontier between the Colonies and the front lines.

Written off as dead like so many Ashwalker officers and soldiers before her, her reappearance a half year later shocked the unit of garrison troops who found her. Responding to a report of a massive column of smoke in the hinterlands, a colonial patrol found Lai alone in an abandoned village throwing the bodies of peasants and soldiers of both sides into a massive pyre.

Unwilling to speak on what happened, it took two months for the madwoman found in a nearly destroyed fire nation uniform to be identified. An identification process not helped by her refusing to refer to herself as anything other than "A corpse, like any other found in this land. Just one with a very shallow grave."

Interviews with Lei by colonial healers revealed that she had developed not just novel forms of chronic defeatism and soil madness, but a crippling melancholy that rendered her useless as an officer or soldier.

Taking pity on the poor woman, the Army discharged Lai with only a ticket to her hometown, the uniform on her back, and a bow of Earth make.

A woman calling herself only "An Ashen Corpse" arrived in Rangshao as Zuko took the throne and the war ended. Caring only that she had left the blood and ashes of the war behind her, Ashen Corpse haunted the forests and fields around Rangshao, going through the motions of what she had been in life,

Though she found a small measure of peace in haunting the land and its people as a rarely seem figure in the distance, war was not yet finished with An Ashen Corpse. Indeed it followed her across the oceans and into the Fire Nation's heart.

At first Ashen Corpse refused to pick a side in the squabble between Ozai's whelps. Let them kill each other, such was always the way of kings and nobles. Rule by blood, rule by *blood*.

Ashen Corpse also ignored the early days of Kasai and Toloph's brewing rebellions, wanting little part of war. But again, war came for her, and she was faced with the sight of Fire Nation troops approaching a patchwork and badly armed militia, weapons drawn.

Something was reawakened in Ashen Corpse that day, a spark of fire that spread from her heart into her arrows and into the necks of the advancing troops as one of Toloph's peasant militias found itself routing a company of the garrison instead of being slaughtered.

Reawakened from her hauntings as a revenant of war, Ashen Corpse led the militia in pursuit of the shattered garrison troops, chasing them into Rangshao itself, taking control of several Fists through pure force of personality and the clear evidence that she actually knowing what she was about.

Ashen Corpse doesn't welcome the war, but she knows the fate of the people of Rangshao if either the Burnt Lord or Pheonix Lady and their armies return: complete devastation.

As an excellent commander, and an even better forester, Ashen Corpse knows that there is only one way to restore the health of the Fire Nation. And that is to cull the population of parasites and predators known as the "nobility" from the land.
 
The Lord Commands and We Obey

Over the Hills and Far Away!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XYzUGlvr94&t=1308s


View: https://imgur.com/a/TboSdXK


Name Shikaku Surudoi

Pronouns: He/Him

Soldier with the rank of Major (Brevett the bastards never confirmed the promotion)

Leading the 95th Susong Archers

Non-Bender Stationed in Susong

Ideology: Fire Nation Colonialism (Zuko)

Stats:

3: Earth
1: Water
3: Fire
1: Air

Biography

Some men are born with a lucky star above their heads. Others are born in a brothel in Yu-Dao without any idea who their father is or who they are supposed to be in this world. Shikaku Surudoi belongs firmly to the later category by virtue of his status as a career soldier in an era that needs them no longer. Surudoi took the Lord's Copper when hard times and unfortunate circumstances left him nowhere to go but the Fire Army. He was given a spear, a red coat, and his orders. He was told to march, to dig, to fight, and to hopefully not die.

Surudoi didn't think much of many of the propaganda pieces that the camp would always circulate every day and night Not many of the rankers did. They were more concerned where they would rest their heads and wether pay was going to arrive on time or a season late again. The boots didn't fit, the helmet sweat like hell, and you could be a goner at any minute because some bloke with a rock decided you looked like a good target. Yet the army was home, and Surodoi found out that he was a survivor. Marching in formation of the 12th Brigade in many campaigns against the Earth Kingdom, it was during one of these fateful battles that Surudoi would prove something to himself and to the people around him.

His commanding officer had been cut off from the rest of the men, nearly surrounded by the enemy. If that general had died right there it might have meant the end of the campaign. Most rankers probably would've just run, saved their own skin. But Surudoi had to be both brave and foolish at that moment. By that time he was a corporal, and he had been given a bow and arrow for his troubles. In 15 seconds Surodoi closed the gap he needed to take down 3 earth bending soldiers with a bow and arrow before anyone knew what was going on.

For that act of heroism, they gave him a commission. Rising up from the ranks to become an officer, but never a proper one. Surudoi only learned to read after he earned his lieutenant's buttons, and barely learned to write by the time the exigencies of war made him the leader of a detachment of light company Archers bound for operations all over the Earth Kingdom. In charge of a light company of men and women without fire bender support, Surudoi's handpicked men and women would become attached to the 95th Suhon Regiment and saw continuous fighting throughout the land.

To Surodoi life was simple, he had his orders, he had his soldiers. It was his job to keep them alive and to fight where his generals told him to. He was from the ranks, he was a soldier, and he was damned good at what he did. The Fire Nation was his home, simple as. The end of the war came as something of a shock to Surodoi, who was still waiting for new deployment orders and maybe some reinforcements to deal with the ongoing insurgencies in the Earth Kingdom. The demoblization of a large number of units made Surodi think that perhaps at least he and his soldiers would be going home at last. The recall to Susong was supposed to be the final disbandment of the regiment and Caldera City was supposed to fill the paperwork to get these men and women reimbursed and stabilized

But then the clouds rolled in, then the news rolled in, and then chaos in the regiment and in the ranks. Surodoi more than anything wants to go back home to Yu-Dao and hang up his bow (after getting paid of course) but there's no telling when that might happen. What he's got is his bow, his soldieries, and the willingness to fight. The man came from the dirt, maybe that's where he'll be buried, but damn the rest of them if he won't fight like hell to get his men justice before this is all over. It seems like circumstance has likely forced him to declare for the Fire Lord Zuko.
 
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Born the third son of the established Yomoto Clan Majeek's interest in mechanics was encouraged with tutors and visits to workshops across the country. As expected of a man of his station Majeek would serve as a mechanic in the Fire Nation Navy noted by his superiors for his ingenuity and good work ethic. Seeking advancement, he used his family connections to serve aboard Admiral Zhao's Empire-Class flagship shortly before the doomed invasion of the North Pole. He watched the greatest technological power in world history pushed away by the Avatar with ease narrowly drowning in the process. Leading efforts to evacuate the levels of the flipped over ship he saved many of his fellow sailors as water started to overtake the vessel. Traumatized by the experience as many of the survivors were he was transferred back to the home islands, leaning upon his family's connections yet again.

While in Caldera he witnessed early tests of War Minister's Qin airships becoming fascinated with the concept of flight quickly seeking to transfer there. The engineering of the airships was a new frontier for the Fire Nation with Majeek working quick to learn from those already working on the project before making innovations of his own to the project. To bolster funding and support for their efforts Majeek would adorn gold painted armor doing elaborate air maneuvers to the crowds of nobles of the capital obtaining the moniker of the Golden Fire Hawk. Working under Qin's guidance Majeek would help complete the airship armada that Firelord Ozai would use for his operation of using Sozin's Comet to wipe out the Earth Kingdom. Aboard the fleet serving as chief engineer of Sozin's flagship he became increasingly distressed about what was about to happen. When the Avatar arrived to fight Ozai and his friends took out the fleet Majeek was relieved before screaming with the rest of the men as they tumbled to the ground. Having built a prototype landing craft Majeek along with a number of the crew narrowly survived.

Returning to the Fire Nation Majeek went to Caldera pleased that Ozai had failed began to look forward to using his skills for matters beyond conquest. The traitors however had other ideas and now the fear that consumed Majeek about the planned inferno of the Earth Kingdom became reality villages across the Fire Nation.
 
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"Righteous? I do not believe Firelord Zuko's rule to be righteous. While the values he sponsors are certainly righteous, that does not change that he rules by the right of his blood, blood tainted by the crimes of Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai. Whatever trouble I may have with the Firelord's rule, however, is offset by the monster wearing a girl's skin who opposes him. If the path I walk cannot be called righteous, then at least I can say it is the one least soaked in blood."
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LIEUTENANT OUJI SHINWOO
STARTING LOCATION: TOTTORI
BENDING:
LOYALTY TO: ZUKO
AGE: 20
OFFICER
HARMONISM-REJUVENATIONIST.
EARTH: 2 WATER: 3 FIRE: 2 AIR: 1

The second brother of four, Ouji Shinwoo was born in a somewhat odd position. Even though his father was a noble--one of the most powerful nobles of the entire country in fact--his mother was a woman of peasant origin, so he was shunned and mocked from the halls of Fire Nation high society. He was above the average when it came to Firebending, but nothing in comparison to the insane talent displayed by his two younger siblings Han and Yui.

Determined to prove himself more than just a weak half-breed, Ouji joined the ranks of the Fire Army when he was sixteen years old. Even though he was not the strongest bender, Ouji had a knack for leadership and tactics that it was hard to match. He climbed the ranks of the military not through sheer martial prowess like his father before, but with a quick and adaptative mind, a steadfastness to see things through, and stubborn determination in front of challenges.

It was during his period in the army that the seeds of doubt were planted deeply within Ouji's mind. As any child of the Fire Nation, he was raised to believe their war to be an honorable mission of enlightenment and civilization to the lesser people. But what he and his fellow officers did at the service of the War Council and Lord Ozai was in no way honorable or promoting progress of any kind. How could they justify the wanton butchery of innocents before the Spirits? What purpose did such carnage have, and whom did it benefit but themselves?

But whatever doubt he had at the time, Ouji set aside. His desire to be acknowledged as a true noble drowned his moral concerns over the war. So when he returned home after three long years of service to find his father on his deathbed and the Shinwoo on the verge of falling into Han's hands, he decided to do something. He challenged his brother to an Agni Kai.

Han was talented, more talented than he even, but three years on the field of battle made his skills progress more than any paltry training. Ouji dominated the match and had Han at his mercy until...

He hesitated.

The same nagging voice that questioned the righteousness of their Great March of Civilization now made Ouji wonder if siblings killing each other for power was truly right. The voice forced him to hold his hand. Han did not hold his hand, however, and Ouji lost.

He left Tottori soon after. He left the army soon after too.

In the year that followed, Ouji learned. He learned about the true nature of the war, about himself, and the inherent unjustness of nobility. He cheered like few of his countrymen when Zuko ended the war and he joined the Firelord's ranks as a Lieutenant when the madwoman Azula launched her own vengeance war to reclaim a throne that did not belong to her.

There was a part of Ouji that cheered too when he heard his brother joined Zuko. They had parted as enemies, but Ouji could now see that he his ambition had created the rift between them. His division would be one of the ones assigned to reinforce Tottori and Ouji prayed to Agni that he could meet his brother again as a comrade at arms.

But Han was dead. Many of Ouji's commanding officers would die too, alongside a full tenth of his men. So many lives lost.

All of it is because of a single woman's ambition. All of it because of a single woman's greed. Azula. Azula. Azula. AZULA.

In the rubble of his home town, Ouji made a promise to the Blue Dragon.

"I won't rest until I KILL YOU."
 


Okono Nori

Pronouns: He/They (Alternating)
Archetype: Pirate
Politics: Anarchism
Earth: 1
Water: 3
Fire: 2
Air: 2
Bender: No
Starting Location: Southern coast
Bio: Okono Nori - mark that name down - had, for his many sins, a prosperous upbringing. The Nori clan aren't notorious mariners: no, their trade is in fishing, and it has made them the lifeblood of the Nation in periods of feast and famine both.

From their vantage point in Sandu, their modest fleet's dominance of this vital industry on the northern coast afforded the family many luxuries: among them, the educating and outfitting of their thirdborn child for naval service.

At twenty-one, Okono Nori was on the cusp of joining the fleet, having completed their examinations as a cadet, when the war ended. This was all well and good to Nori: his heart truly resented the tight regimentation of ship life, and he had no unique enmity toward the distant Earth Kingdom.

But they drifted, as all the young demobilised junior officers did, toward radical fraternities: at first it was the Rejuvenationists, a particular sect of anti-militarist republicans being popular in tea houses. But a wave of persecutions and crack downs saw them detained in Rangshao under disciplinary measures when the civil war broke out, and promptly released in the brief birth of the Free Territory therein.

Free at last, he roamed away from the Free Territory, gathering with them a small but growing following of former navy men and women: in Laotie, they took charge of the frigate Turtleduck, beginning to run smuggling missions to Rangshao which took them across the broad swathe of the coast.

It was when they attempted a return from the first of these missions that they saw the pyre of Rangshao in the middle distance, the sails of the Azulite fleet around its throat like iron fangs.

With sorrow in his heart, Nori ordered an about turn, and faded again toward the coastal haunts that would still give them and their crew succour.

They struck black sails, and vowed to live free.


Satow Kimi

Pronouns: She/Her
Archetype: Officer
Politics: Rejuvenationist (terrified, thank you for asking)
Earth: 1
Water: 3
Fire: 1
Air: 3
Bender: Fire
Starting Location: Tottori
Bio: Satow Kimi was not supposed to be in charge of anything as major as the Battle of Tottori.

She was promoted from the role of Quartermaster by the incredible, improbable aim of the Crown Princess, which summarily executed her immediate, ranking superior.

Colonel Kimi is, she thinks, a patriot. She was too young for the Great War, winning a commission on account of her family's small estates around Tottori, held in the junior officer corps and doing small service attempting to repel the Avatar's invasion until the Fire Nation's formal surrender.

Her superiors have described her as 'skittish and meticulous' and 'cowardly but efficient', all characterisations she has done absolutely nothing to refute.

Not even at Tottori, at the moment of her supposed utmost military dignity.

At Tottori, Colonel Kimi hesitated. She dithered. She gave conservative orders. She grew more and more distressed at the deaths of the officers she had - mere days ago - drank sake with in local cafes and planned the future of the army through the cultivation of volcanic agriculture.

She was, all in all, the Quartermaster.

So why is Colonel Kimi still alive, when so many other competent officers lie dead at her feet?

She stammers, offers a smile, and repeats some vague nothing even she is embarrassed by.

Then she tries to collect the pieces of her army, and grieves.
 
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Base Character Sheet
Name: Commander "Tiger Shark" Asaruh
Pronouns: He/Him
Archetype: Sailor
Politics: Draconic Rule
Earth: 2 Water: 2 Fire: 3 Air: 1
Bender: No
Starting Location:
Bio: From his father's side, Asaruh comes from a long line of merchants, sailors and seamen. The latest of which earned some measure of honor, glory and gold serving the Fire Nation. Enough to see his grandfather elevated to the lower rungs of nobility. With a small estate in Shu Jing and everything.

His mother was the spare daughter of up and coming colonial entrepreneurs with too much dirtblood in them -but noble dirt, mind you. Who had long fallen into penury by the time Sozin unleashed his war- from that union were born Two girls and a boy, Asaruh, between them.

The oldest took her chances in the army. Asaruh, raised on old tales of great sea heroes and dastardly villains of his allegedly noble bloodline, only had eyes for the navy. And we do not talk about the youngest sister.

Asaruh's soon found to his detriment that for the most part, the Navy in general did not much care for his beloved family history, unverifiable as it was. Being a non bending petty noble to boot, why, to some other cadets and officers, that was even worse than being a commoner. More level headed, tempered men would have weathered the culture shock better, perhaps. Would have shown their valor through skill and merit, swallowing the slights until the right moment to strike back. Or something, Asaruh had never really paid attention when he got that kind of advice.

Because Asaruh was not the calm, tempered type. Being a nonbender, the proper channel of a traditional Agni Kai was beyond his means. But he still could punch the sneer out of a bastard's face even if his fists weren't on fire. And he was actually pretty good at that. Enjoyed it too, the thrill of the fight. The way it made his blood pump and got him all hot and light headed in a good way.

It was even better when he was doing it to enemies of the Fire Nation. Asaruh's stint with the Southern Raiders was particularly defining for him. The trophies he took from the slain, the bonds forged, the experience gained and the scars. So many of them. They almost took off his face with a boomerang once. Had to get dentures too. But it was alright, his ones were sharpened to perfection and made biting all the more effective.

After the Southern Raiders, Asaruh managed to earn his own command. Sailing around the coasts of the Earth Kingdom and the Colonies. Supporting the army, fighting pirates, razing a village or two to pass the time. Sometimes Asaruh even found Earth Navy ships to attack.

Then word through the grapevine reached him that something big was coming. That up and coming careerist Zhao was gathering every ship he could get his hands on for a strike against the North Pole. And Asaruh, who still had fond memories of fighting the Southern Water Tribe decided that he had to get in on it. To see how the Northern ones fared, to see if Waterbenders were any harder to fight. To show the world once and for all that the Fire Nation ruled the seas as easy as it ruled the land. And to take part in one of the big victories of the war. History remembered those much better.

Then the Avatar and the Ocean Spirit disabused Asaruh of his belief in the invincibility of the Navy. Of the unassailable superiority of Fire and the inevitability of the Fire Nation's victory.

The Tiger Shark survived the debacle through no merit of his own. Shocked into inaction, he was dragged by quicker thinking sailors away from a watery grave. Eventually making their way back to the Fire Nation, where the shame of their failure was only surpassed by the scale of the disaster. Meaning that the Navy could ill afford to dismiss them at the moment.

That, more than anything else, saved Asaruh's career. But not his faith in the Fire Nation. The experience shook the pillars in which his world was built. If all the might, if all the genius and power of fire could not overcome the power of the Spirits, then what? If the Avatar could wipe out the greatest fleet the world had ever seen, then how could they fight him? And if the Avatar, if the Spirits were so powerful, and if power means right, then what did that say about the whole philosophy that guided the nation to start with?

With the war still raging, there was nothing Asaruh could do but ponder these questions in the silence of his own mind. Quietly looking into the underground anti-war movement and other dissident proclamations. With mixed results. His own mental meanderings did not really match with whatever passed for alternative political philosophies at the time. But it did help to distract from the growing sense of disgust that came whenever he reflected on his past service and the nosediving quality of his own current efforts at serving the nation.

His career, his life even, would surely be in danger had the Avatar not defeated the Phoenix King when he did. And what was that if not a sign for all the world that the ideals of Sozin were rotten and false? That the Avatar was the mightiest and the Spirits were unmatched by vain mortal sciences and will?

Unfortunately, many people didn't seem to accept the message. Too many for comfort. The Spirits are finally punishing the Fire Nation for a century of crimes against the natural order. If the nation is to survive, if it is to avoid the Avatar's wrath, Fire Lord Zuko must triumph. His will must be made absolute so that the land can be brought into Harmony
 
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Kogo Tsagaan
Archetype: Soldier
Politics: Rejuvenationist
Earth: 3 Water: 3 Fire: 0 Air: 2
Loyalty: Zuko


Qatun is eleven years old. Kogo is one. Both are in Caldera City on a visit with their parents, oohing and ahhing at the fireworks and firebending performers commemorating the unification of the home islands. While Qatun is transfixed by the fireworks, Kogo is drawn to the displays of power shown by Azulon's elite Royal Procession. She hopes that she can bend fire too one day, just like her big sister. Maybe she could even be part of the Royal Procession, perhaps even bend lightning like the Fire Lord can!

<->

Qatun is nineteen years old. Kogo is nine. Qatun is home visiting her family in Yosor, a last minute trip before she's deployed with the new "First Special Operations Force" commissioned by War Minister Qin. Her parents are so proud of her, and so too is Kogo, envious of how her sister had been recruited into one of the most elite units in Fire Nation history. Her father and mother were veterans fighting in the Earth Kingdom, and so too were her grandparents, but none of them had gone up the ranks as fast as Qatun had.

When Kogo asks if she could come with Qatun, her sister merely laughs and ruffles her hair. "Maybe when you're older," she says. "Hell, you're progressing faster in your firebending lessons than I did!" The fact that this is true is lost on Kogo, but in the end she doesn't mind.

<->

Qatun is twenty-four years old. Kogo is fourteen. The Fire Nation Royal Academy for Girls has, in an omen of things to come, conducted an accelerated graduation for its students. Kogo, as the top scorer in her class and despite her protests, is given a cushy position in Sandu as part of the city garrison. The military officers assure her that she's on the fast track to gaining a position in her big sister's division, the Ashwalkers, yet all she can do is kick her legs and look at maps, drawing out battle strategies from her mind and playing them out in her head.

Kogo envies a lot of things. She's seen the power of lightning bending, demonstrated by Crown Princess Azula when she attended the Royal Academy in the last year of Kogo's attendance. She wants to generate lightning too, to feel the power coursing within her. She envies Qatun too, off fighting the good fight in the Earth Kingdom.

Maybe when she finally joins the Ashwalkers, meets her sister again, finally sees real combat, then she'll start feeling complete.

<->

Qatun is twenty-six. Kogo is fifteen. The two are staring at a burning village on the outskirts of Omashu, Kogo clutching her armor specially embossed with the golden dragon sigil of the Ashwalkers in shock. "You'll get used to it," Qatun says, covered in dust and blood from two weeks of constant war and sleepless nights and somehow still standing with a smile on her face. "An ordinary person would have died on the first day of their deployment, and look at you! Still standing! I'm so proud of you, Koko!"

Kogo numbly nods in horror at the sight before her, of the troops torching homes and burning crops and doing all sorts of horrible things. All she wants to do, after two long weeks of brutal slaughter, is to go home. But the expectant gaze of Qatun, once welcoming yet now shockingly dangerous, drills into her soul, and instead she says "thanks, big sis. I love you too." Qatun grins in response, putting an arm around Kogo's back and steering her away from the carnage, rambling on about introducing her to one of her most trusted subordinates, a Captain Lai Lee.

Kogo finally manages to obtain permission from High General Shinu to transfer out of the Ashwalkers five, brutal, bloodsoaked months later.

<->

Qatun is twenty-seven. Kogo is sixteen, and her fire has gone out. Whenever she tries to bend, to summon that internal blaze that made her a prodigy in her class at the Academy and a wonderful child in the eyes of her family, she is instead met with emptiness, with the knowledge that she had participated in five months of brutal murder. Instead, she is honorably discharged from the Fire Army, and Kogo wanders the streets of Caldera City, living off her soldier's stipend, hoping against hope for an end to the horrible war their "civilized" nation was waging.

Mother and Father and Big Sister hadn't taken the time to send a letter during Kogo's wanderings. Kogo could see why Qatun hadn't sent anything; she was busy burning down villages and setting peasants on fire (and even eating them, but she doesn't dare think about that), but her retired parents surely had the time to do so. The fact that they hadn't was tantamount to an official disownment.

Kogo does know some things. She knows that the war is wrong. She knows that the vast majority of the Fire Army and Navy were more horrid than even the worst depiction of the Earth Kingdom in official propaganda. She knows that Fire Lord Ozai is a brutal tyrant. She knows that she can't bend.

And finally, she knows that she can't do anything to stop the war. That, most of all, makes her cry at night.

<->

Kogo is seventeen. Qatun is dead. She's not sure how to feel about this; her sister was a horrible, horrible person, but she was still her sister. She prefers not to dwell on it too much.

She still can't bend.

The civil war rages on in the background, even with the death of much of Fire Lord Zuko's war council in the Siege of Tottori. Hundreds of thousands, possibly even more than a million, are dead. But there's nothing Kogo can do to help. Yet she can't just sit here, doing nothing.

A flier on the wall catches her eyes. It's colored pink. Kogo picks it off the wall, reads it, throws it to the side, then goes back and picks it up again. Yes, she thinks, maybe here I can make a difference.

Two days later, Kogo joined the Sisters of Rangi, bringing with her the experience of a former member of the Ashwalkers. And within her heart there was a terrible vengeance, to avenge everyone killed and maimed in the war, to redeem the Fire Nation from its sins, to do something good.

And even deeper in her heart was a wish to end the war in the simplest way possible, to redeem herself for all the horrible deeds she had done. She would kill Azula, one way or another. So swore Kogo.
 
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Majeek accepted.
Ouji accepted.
Tiger Shark accepted.
Kogo accepted.
 
@Weygand Anarchist Pirate accepted.

For everyone else considering applying, please consider Azula's faction or minor rebels elsewhere, and feel free to ask me questions.
 
Name: Ketaaq
Pronouns: He/Him
Archetype: Pirate
Politics: Anarchism
Earth: 2
Water: 3
Fire: 2
Air: 1
Bender: Water
Starting Location: The Turtleduck
Bio: Some Boiling Rock prisoners praised their good fortune, went home, and swore never to fight again. Some took up lives of responsibility and dignity, vowing to make the most of their return. And then some, like Ketaaq, who had lots of fighting left in him and nothing left to return to, raised the black sail and set to ruining the livelihoods of those who had taken his freedom. Until the Fire Nation, the engine of conquest that once held the world in its iron grasp, is completely and utterly dismantled, there can be no true peace, no true freedom.

Ketaaq is a ruthless fighter and expert Waterbender who has signed on with the Turtleduck because he sees in its captain the dual potential for revenge and victory. If he can slake his thirst for vengeance, humble the imperialists, and get paid all at the same time, then he'll consider himself triply-compensated and happy for it.
 
Name: Commander Aikan
Pronouns: She/Her
Archetype: Officer
Politics: Fire Colonialism
Earth: 2
Water: 1
Fire: 2
Air: 3
Bender: Fire
Starting Location: Jang Hui

Bio:
Commander Aikan hails from minor colonial nobility, but left that part of her life behind when she entered the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, her life destined for the rigors of combat for the glory of the fire nation – not merely a life of leisure for the glory of her family. Being only a few years senior to the Princess of the Fire Nation, her wartime deployment had been modest at first, commanding fresh conscripts in the colonies, safeguarding depots and harbors to free up the more veteran troops. This changed when one of said depots was chosen as a side for a new kind of weaponry, or rather: a new kind of military arm. There she saw what she was sure would be the future of warfare: flying machines. From the humble Hot Air Balloon, which allows for unparalleled visibility on the battlefield, to the might behemoths of the sky: airships of steel and cotton that were held aloof and propelled by heat alone. Was it a surprise that she did her best to join this new and promising arm of her nations military force?

Serving as an officer on such a vessel was different from the army – and she was told even more demanding than service in the more established navy. It was a life of ever new mechanical problems and ever returning political and military quagmires as the new military force was established. Throughout all of this, Aikan belonged to the first new officers and was promoted just as rapidly as the force grew. Getting transferred to the 2nd Aerial Force "Tarom", under Commander Tarom, she was put in command of a scout airship for the next weeks, hunting rebels, bandits and other earth kingdom forces – before getting presented with the 'Sulan', a rigid hull heavily armored airship that was just was lovely and wonderful as its name suggested.

The Sulan was still going through maintenance in the homelands under the new Captain Aikan when the day of Sozins Comet came – and was still in its drydock when the news came that the Firelord had declared himself Phoenix Lord, had declared the princess the new Fire Lord – only for both of them to be bested in single combat by the avatar and Prince Zuko respectively. The situation in the Aerial Base on the Coast of the Colonies was in short: Chaotic. While nothing was clear, the last repairs on the Sulan were finished – before news came in, that the Commander Tarom and his ship had been lost in the defeat of the Phoenix Lord and the armies were retreating from the front lines as the Earth Kingdom had somehow regained its capital against the garrison forces.

For the 2nd Aerial Interdiction Force his meant not only the loose of much of their senior officer cadres, but also widespread desertion in the support staff and ranks as rumors of a ceasefire and an end to the great war seemed to spread by itself. Gathering what resources and scant weeks of seniority she could muster, Aikan declared herself Commander in lieu of new Orders from the High Generals, gathered the squadrons military coffers and laid claim to the maintenance and building budgets. While this might see her before a tribunal later, it allowed the repair of the Sulan and the remaining airships on the base, while gathering dispersed personnel from multiple regiments that had been recalled or newly founded as troopers and onboard security. The result might not be up to official wartime standing – but better than nothing.

Things were in an equilibrium for a bit – the 2nd AIF was too large of a force to get dislodged by local militias or deserters – but when orders from the home islands came in to begin the demobilisation of the military, confusion was rampant – followed by utter chaos as a storm cut off all news from colonies. From one moment to another the airships colonial crews and staff found themselves cut off from any support from home, facing talks of civil war and rebellions, while moral was plummeting across its forces.

Seeing no chance to defend the territory with the airships alone, Commander Aikan gathered the heaviest of the surviving airships, filled them with supplies and troops she was able to buy thanks to the coffers she could take control off and finished repairs and training as swiftly as possible. With only one option for the continued integrity of their home in sight - the one promising the swiftest military return to the colonies- the second AIF pledged itself to the cause of Firelord Azula.
 
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Name: General Zakura Sho
Pronouns: She/Her
Archetype: Officer
Politics: Fire Imperialism
Earth: 2 Water: 2 Fire: 2 Air: 2
Bender: Firebender
Starting Location: Laotie
Bio:
Of a traditional noble family, Zakura embodies all that is good and glorious of the Fire Nation. She is a dedicated officer, chomping at the bit to engage in war and serve her country, and a ruthless view of anyone she can use to reach her objectives. Competent in all settings she has been put to, her main desire is advancement for herself and her family, being happily partnered with three daughters (5, 10, and 12).

In recent times, she has risen from the rank of colonel in command of Laotie's garrison to General of the Expedition to Subdue the South thanks to her Firelord Azula's favour. Having purged the bandit-deserter Zong, participated in the reconquest of Rangshao, and taken over a vast swathe of the southern main island, she commands a singularly powerful force and faces enemies just as great. No matter, she will crush them as well, stepping over as many corpses as the Fire Nation requires.

Some close to the General have noticed that the fall of the fire nation's imperial project and the spirit storm have caused a darker turn in her character, and she is frequently seen brooding above the highest pinacle above her headquaters.
 
Apps remain open, however, the specific people I have talked to aside, only Azula-loyal apps will be accepted from now on until I say otherwise. Particularly wanted are Sailors, Nobles, and Rejuvenationists.
 
Name: Tohmino Yozu
Bronouns: He/Him
Archetype:Noble
Politics: '''Anarchist'''
Earth: 1 Water:1 Fire: 3 Air: 3
Bender: Fire
Starting Location:Rangshao
Bio:
Tohmino is the inheritor of an ancient Legacy. Long ago in the age of Fire Lord Yosor the lands near Rangshao where not the greatest. Meager harvests, constant ash, and even with little forest after it all got cut or burnt down, there was not much to call home about. The reasons why had been lost to time as it were, but the legend goes that the ancient Daimyao Taosukan had enough of this and decided to do something to it. As was the custom of the time he beseeched the aid of the Spirits, who granted him an offer. He had no wealth to sacrifice nor did his lands hold anything to give.

His line would instead be the great bargin. They demanded that he and his family would give up his eldest child for some time, to serve as a proper agent of the spirits. They would protect the land and help to nurture it according to the will of the spirits, and some say to even help them against their kin. In exchange the land would be blessed and turned bountiful, forevermore. This was eagerly accepted, including a minor stipulation that wanted them to even ride a Osteritch-Horse. And so the Yozu clan was truly born, and took to this duty very seriously.

First of all was training, which started as soon as the first child could walk. Intense practice born from the already well known martial prowes of the Yozu's line, meticulously refined to ensure their talents were honed as best it could be. Much money was secured to forge only the best Heirloom armor and weaponry for them, as well as to breed the greatest steed availible. This strained fiances and allowed others to go ahead, but honor demanded their word be upheld no matter what. Centuries past to this tradtion, until during the peace before Sozin's reign did the Spirits proclaim the Yozu's side of the bargin fulfilled. There was joy, celebration even in their quaint manor in Rangshao's now bountiful countryside.

Yet the quest did not stop there. Though the spirits no longer needed it per say, the centuries of dedicated tradtion and inherited knowledge did not go away in the blink of an eye. Far from it, as even during this time of peace the current head of the Noble Family refused to disregard their now ingrained way of life. Especially since a lot of their funds came from that old dedication.

And so the blacksmiths, breedeers, and lessons continued down the line. This eventually lead to the time Tohmino was born. He was of course, the eldest son of the time, and as such recieved the full dedication and attention in the familial arts. Ones that he took to almost naturally as he grew, going out to fight off raiders or other Brigands who threatened the people as a mere boy. Such talent would not go unoticed, especially due to the 100 year war. Once of age he was quickly called to service in the Fire Nation's army, far off to the distant lands of the Earth Kingdom.

He served as it was his duty, and even grew to lead others that adopted the ways of the Osteritch-Horse. Yet he never really rised up the ranks, for he still held onto the old ways deeply. Especially of honor, and in the Court of Azulon those types were passed over in spite of any deeds. And whent he war finally was declared over he could rinally return to his beloved home, to refocus his eneregies to the ancient duty of guardianship.

For a good time that is what he did, even as the Fire nation started to burn around him and his Family. Two contenders arose and the land cut off from the rest of the world, but he tired of this politcal nonense. What was more troubling was the sudden chaos in Rangsao. A good deal of the nobility there were at least aquaintences of him and his family, and these new Anarchists seemed to spread fear and force the people into something they didn't quite jump at. He began to grew weary as they pushed closer and closer to his home and those protected by him.

Then it all changed when the Azulites attacked. He quickly heard of their attrocious conduct in Rangsao and elsewhere, and quickly hardened his heart to it. Azulon was one thing, but he didn't unleash warcrimes on his own subjects! And at least this Yeshe Tome claimed to care for the people, who he swore to protect. And so with little other option he came to their retreating forces on horseback, with an offer they couldn't really refuse.

And that is how Tohmino Yozu joined with a band of Anarchists.
 
Turn 3 has begun, however, as said, apps for Azulite characters are still open. The provisional deadline is to be the 13th of January, Saturday.
 
Name: Hanako
Pronouns: She/Her
Archetype: Spy
Politics: Sage Rule / Minority Constitutionalism
Earth: 1
Water: 3
Fire: 2
Air: 2
Bender: Fire
Starting Location: Kuza Island Interior

Hanako is colony born, younger sister of a firebender who died on the Day of the Black Sun fighting for Ozai's mad dreams. She spent years as a spy for the occupation forces, infiltrating or hunting rebels and subversives, trying to prove herself, bring peace, establish order. She had years of rising doubts, but she didn't see any way to change the order of things. Trying to secure her little corner of the mad world was all she had.

It sucked. It all fell apart. She fled the colonies and found herself staying with her father's father's family on Kuza Island, and she began to understand there was another way, an old way. The military rule and the faceless bureaucracy that she took for granted - that wasn't the real history of the Fire Nation. She wasn't a child of one homogeneous people, she was the child of a specific family, from a specific island, from a specific federation. The Fire Lords made promises to her people, and her neighbor's people, and the island after that, and then slowly chipped away at them until they could be ignored. Ancient wisdoms were forgotten, pacts neglected, and the world fell into disharmony.

Her haunted heart and weary hands brought her to a monastery. She focused on meditation. She was horrible at it. The older monks told her was a long road, but worthwhile. As the nation fell apart, she struggled to stay still. As war broke out, she learned to make rice wine...badly. Kuza was a refuge from the dark parts of the world she wanted to forget, and she embraced that opportunity. She liked Akemi; she tolerated Zai. But she loved when they provided.

And the spirits. Something new, something revelatory, something exciting. The pact with the spirits became the first thing she had truly believed in for a long time...and getting gold from impious rich people was a thrilling blend of her old skills as a spymaster and new profession as a monk. She threw herself into the gathering of sacrifices, she practiced fire dancing, and she was there, watching, when they were rewarded with transcendence. She was there as her dream was torn apart.

Afterwards, she went back to the hills. Back to her monastery. The firelords are lost, she said. Their militarism, their recklessness, their defiance of the natural order - it is all cursed, all broken, all to be rejected by the wise. But you cannot stop them with confrontation. That is how Zai died, how Akemi died, how the sacrifice was soiled and trampled at the volcano's crown.

But I know the way, she said. The way that we can stay true to the spirits, stay true to our roots, stay true to the promise that Zai and Akemi showed us before falling sparks struck them down...
 
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Name: Sei Gou
Pronouns: He/Him
Archetype: Soldier
Politics: Fire Imperialism
Earth: 2
Water: 2
Fire: 2
Air: 2
Bender: No
Starting Location: Rangshao

Sei Gou grew up hearing tales of the glory of war. Though he was born to a family of farmers, he never wanted anything but to fight. When he was just fourteen years old, he ran away from home to join the army. He lied about his age, though small and scrawny as he was it's hard to believe anyone believed him. Even so, they let him enlist, and soon after he was shipped to the Earth Kingdom to fight.

He grew up on the battlefield, surrounded by soldiers. Perhaps another man would have suffered, the illusion of glory shattered in the realities of long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of extreme terror. But Sei Gou was not that man. Sei Gou loved war.

The siege of Ba Sing Se was the greatest time of his life. The Dragon of the West breaching the walls, fighting in the press of bodies, legends being made and dying the next day. He'd never felt such a rush. In those days, he would have followed Iroh to the ends of the earth. But then, Lu Ten died, and the Dragon of the West broke.

Everything went downhill after that. There were still some great fights, but nothing could reach that old glory. Ozai was a poor replacement to his father and his brother, and his children utterly failed to prove themselves. Zuko was banished to search for a legend, and even after he found it he spent his time getting beaten by children. Azula had seemed to have more potential, but she took Ba Sing Se without any loss of life. It was such a waste.

He wasn't even surprised when the Avatar took away Ozai's bending and the Fire Nation lost everything it had managed to achieve. Sei Gou went home despondent, expecting to waste away his days in torturous peace.

And then Agni smiled down upon him and blessed him with another war. He didn't choose a side at first, as neither child was worthy of his loyalty. When the anarchists rose up he got into some fun scraps, but the Azulite reconquest had been fully undeserved. That man Iwa was hardly worthy of his rank, getting beaten by that self-proclaimed corpse even as he took the city.

But Sei Gou was warming up to the Azulites as a whole. The stories he heard of legendary duels and terrible monsters called to him. And when he heard Azula had taken half a division to Kuza island and killed a dragon he decided she had sufficiently changed her ways. Thus he marched up to the Azulite recruiters and demanded they put him back on the front lines.

Thus, Sei Gou returned to his first and only love: war.
 
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Name: Captain Cai Cuifeng
Pronouns: He/Him
Archetype: Sailor
Politics: Fire Imperialism
Earth: 2 Water: 1 Fire: 3 Air: 2
Bender: Fire
Starting Location: Eastern Isles
Bio: "Do not loose a murderer to clear a cell for a thief. Do not blame an instrument for the musician's false note. All credit to the proper cause and all things in their proper place, man."

The wisdom of Cai's grandfather came to him as he treaded for his life. Brilliant, deserved victory had been stolen from the fleet by a walking Leviathan of a fish. Fascinating beast. Translucent, seemingly wrought from pure light and water. Smashed his legs worse than he'd done Aunt Mei's favorite urn, too.

He was lucky enough to be fished out of the icy water by the primitives and exchanged back when hostilities ended, but first he'd done some thinking. Who to blame? Not the glorious Admiral Zhao, of course, and not the simple waterbenders. Not the see-through fish. No, no. Captain Cuifeng was a spiritual man, he had been with tribesmen and in the temples. He knew, with a vague but burning certainty, that it was Water itself that had struck the fleet down, that same Water that had haunted the Cuifeng name.

Who else? What greater villain for this worldly piece? As he lay in his sickbed, drenched in sweat, he dreamt of his slain maritime ancestors, crushed, drowned, swallowed. What Hundred Year War could compare to the eternal war waged by the sea? What mortal prison could compare to the hellish and unfathomable deep?

For months Cuifeng's command has raged against the arrogant spirits and their storm, but there is no escape. Now, finally, he comes about. It is time to sail home, to raise his blade for Azula and against an unbearable peace.

The Fire Nation shall be restored. Then he can depart on his true mission, hidden from all but his most trusted officers, to conquer the tempest and calm the wave. He will plunder the secrets of the waterbenders, and among them find a way to do what the great Zhao could never have dreamt:

Kill the Water Spirit.


(could I get a discord link? link in OP seems to be timed out)
 
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