Yeah, sorry about my awful posting lately... hopefully I will be able to progress this soon.
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The captain chimes in, "I'd prefer to take the passengers. I know they only have limited supplies, so I don't want to leave them on shore too long. Kasom was much too expensive to keep around, but better than getting attacked by pirates." He doesn't exactly sound completely convinced on that matter. "If you're going to do this in exchange for passage, you can let the passengers know that it'll just be standard fare for their group, so they can see the faces of the people who are doing us all a big favour here. But... do you folks need anything? Weapons, or... well, weapons, really. Oh! Or maybe food for your journey? We have plenty of dried and pickled goods. Do you like pickles?"
"It was a threat, but they seemed ready to do it. We had to give everything they demanded, I didn't want to have anything like that happen on my ship," explains the Captain.
"The pirates appear about halfway through our trip," the Captain answers Taikahana. "I expect that they are watching from the other side with a looking glass to watch for any ferries that are launching. That way they can intercept from wherever they are hiding. The first time we encountered them, before Kasom, the hippo shark was mostly a threat. That they would throw some people to the hippo shark. It's mostly aquatic, but I think it could actually do some damage to the ferry if it tried. It's a large creature."
"A duel with me? Why, you're a spirited rapscallion!" laughs Kasom, "I'd be glad to show you a-" He flexes once more, and then points outwards, "-pointer or two." While Kasom does not seem to understand much of what these younger people are talking about, he definitely understands that they are trying to steal his job. "Captain, surely you don't want to tr-" The Captain shakes his head towards Kasom and says, "The lost fares are absolutely killing us. If they're going to chase those pirates away for good, well, that's worth it to me!" He seems to be a lot more perked up than he was when the group had arrived on deck. "But look how young they are! What if something happens? Think of the children, Captain. The children!" protests Kasom, "If I stay ashore, I'll never be able to protect them, and it will haunt me! I'll be a shell of a man, all because I let inexperienced children get slaughtered by river pirates!" The Captain gives a tense smile and says, "If you feel so strongly about it, Kasom, how about you give me a break on your fee?" This seems enough for Kasom to back off. "This is not going to be on my head!" He runs and leaps off the side of the boat, leaving a big splash behind, then swims back to shore, apparently not so keen on climbing down the gangplank. The Captain just watches with a bewildered expression. He shakes his head and then looks towards Team Avatar, "I'd be happy to let you and your animals ride for free if you can get rid of these pirates. Er, except for the bison, there's a weight limit to take those people across, but he can fly right?"
"River pirates," repeats Kasom, holding out a hand towards the Captain while interrupting him. "A fiercer lot of river pirates, I've never seen! They have a fearsome hippo shark pulling their riverboat, with teeth the size of me! And I am no small man!" He laughs and slaps Taikahana on the back in a familiar way. The laugh is cut short when he processes what the firebender said. "If those cowards were not so quick to run away, I'd have given them my famous one-two punch! But you can't travel the lands on an empty wallet or an empty stomach. So what about you kids?" says Kasom, putting his hands on his hips, "Are you able to pay the fee?"
The captain scowls and turns towards Jampo, "Is that what they are saying? A creature? Well... it is more what the creature comes with that I am worry. It seems to be be trained by some river pirates. You ever hear of river pirates?" He lets just enough of a lull to make it seem like it paused, and then bangs his hands against the rail, "Me neither! This just started, and Kasom from the Norther Water Tribe has been helping us out. By reputation alone, he's managed to keep them at bay, but his help hasn't come cheap." The captain scowls, "But if you think that you can actually fight them off, be my guest! I would rather not pay another copper to that greedy son of a-" "Are my ears burning?" says a dusky-skinned man, stepping out of the captain's quarters. He needs to duck underneath the doorway, as he stands at nearly six and a half feet tall. "Are you singing my praises, captain?" He does a one-armed flex, showing off his huge biceps coming out of his sleeveless, fur-lined top. "My name is Kasom of the North! Strongest man to come out of my city, and one of the best benders around." Perception (5):
This guy's got muscles coming out of his muscles. Wow. Geez. Perception (10), Knowledge: Bending (12, 8 for Tikaani):
In fact, he is so muscular, that it's unlikely that he focused all that much on waterbending training. Given the flowing movements that waterbenders prefer, he's probably exaggerating how good his waterbending is.
As Gotan's father had implied, the guards seem to let the group by without any trouble since the ship is not scheduled to cross (though they do warn against starting any trouble). The ferry is decorated in bright greens, yellows and reds, with a curved gabled roof in traditional Earth Kingdom style. This ship has a waterbender on it, near the back, likely the one in charge of propelling the vessel across the wide river. The river appears to be miles across, with the distant rocky shore seemingly tinged blue in the distance. The captain is out on the deck dressed in a long forest green coat with gold coloured buttons, and he looks out across the wide, glittering expanse with concern etched into the features of his face. As your footsteps come closer, he glances over his shoulder, "Ah? Are you needing to cross?"
"Thank you! Thank you, Moesashi Taikahana. I'm sure you will be more protection than their hired help anyways, and then we'll get to go home..." says the man, his voice hushing slightly at the mention of the boat's preferred enforcer. "The captain is on board, I'm sure he will talk to you if you ask for him."
"Thanks, mister master airbender!" says Gotan, bowing in return, "I'll be the best airbender of all. Whoooosh! Whooooosh!" He returns to running around with his arms out and making airplane sounds in excitement. The child's father seems relieved when Taikahana offers to talk to him near the ferry, and hurries towards the shore. When enough of Team Avatar is around, he says, "They've been talking about something in the river. Some kind of... creature. The ferrymen are talking about extra pay for protection, or they're not going to cross. We don't have enough between us here to afford what they're offering... We only planned for standard fare." He glances back to the group. "But if you all could protect the boat on the trip..."
The people by the river point upwards towards Uupa when his shadow passes over, smiles apparent on their face: even now, it's rare to see a master airbender with a sky bison. "The other famous guys were in the sky!" cries Gotan at the twist. "Wow, that's so cool! He's got real tattoos!" The large man holds up a hand towards his son to try and quiet his excitement down a little bit. He says, "I see now. You have your own way to get across... I- we were hoping..." He trails off. Sense Motive DC 10:
It's clear the man is embarrassed to ask something and that something has him troubled. He doesn't want his son to worry, but he is anxious. Sense Motive DC 15: Something about the ferry is causing his,
and most of the adults present, to be worried.
The boy regards Taikahana with great scrutiny, deciding on the man's fate. "No mercy!" he cries, and he gets ready to unleash his finishing move when a boulder of a man intervenes. "Gotan!" At the sound of his name, the boy rolls his head back and says, "Okay, fiiiine, mercy." He nods towards Taikahana, "You got lucky, buster! Let me know if you need a new airbender, 'cause I kick butts!" The man steps forward between his son and the samurai, speaking in a low gravelly voice, "My son didn't mean anything by it! He got very excited after hearing the stories about Avatar Aang back at the festival." He looks towards his son and then back at the two travelers. Anxiously, he adds, "Are you going to be crossing on the ferry?"
Aside from the scuffle outside of the gates of Republic City, Team Avatar does not find any hardship along the way to the river crossing to Yu Dao. There are some travelers upon the shore, waiting to board the ferry to get across the river, mostly those who could not afford a satomobile and needed to journey back to Yu Dao on foot after the Avatar Day festivities. There are only about five or six families here still waiting. "Hey!" a bald-headed boy with a faded arrow drawn onto his head and a few missing teeth points out behind at the approaching group. "It's those famous guys!" There's some mumbling among the crowd as they turn around to see, and the boy zooms towards Team Avatar with his arms outstretched while making some plane sounds. He doesn't look up, however, and instead wonders, "Hey, where are the rest of the famous guys! Did you lose some members of your team? Where's your airbender?" He doesn't allow an answer before offering, "I'll be your new airbending master! See this, I got my tattoos! And I can airbend! Watch this!" He punches up in Taikahana's general direction, "Whooosh! Whoooosh! You can feel the breeze on your face now! Whooosh! I knocked you off your ostrich horse!"
"Maybe you did too good a job healing him," observes the firebender when Slick starts to stir. Still, despite Tikaani's words, Mee lugs him over her shoulder and starts off, while the firebender does the same to his similarly dressed counterpart. "Alright... Flameo!" he throws up a hand lazily in farewell to the benders who just trounced them and walks back towards the city.
The firebender who was engaged in combat with Taikahana looks over when Tikaani calls a time out, but the block of earth to his face sends him in a three quarters midair rotation to land on his face next to the samurai.
While the triad earthbender remains on her back, the other firebender puts up his hands and says, "Hey, whoa, was just following orders. Now that nobody's watching... I should get my friend," he gestures to the other firebender, "Outta here. Mee, pick up Slick, let's ditch." Mee stands back up and approaches the man in the blue outfit.
I'm really not good at calculating CR. They're four normal second level characters, built in the way that PCs are. I'm still sort of testing how gestalt characters will fare against these kinds of enemies; your characters are a cut above the average bender. These thugs might seem arrogant, but it's more like you all are supposed to be real cool! As for whether you can use martial flexibility for improved two weapon fighting, I think that's fine, but because a prereq is +6 BAB, I think that you're only going to make use of that at 6th and 7th level, since you get it automatically at 8th level as part of your brawler's flurry. You'd only be able to use it when you are acting as if you have two weapon fighting, too, because that's the only time you qualify.
Kinetic fist isn't its own weapon; it's a way to add kinetic damage to unarmed attacks. It won't normally add to a staff, only to unarmed strikes and natural attacks, but it is to be used in tandem. In order to use it with flurry blows, you either need to accept one point of burn (which Jampo did, causing Jampo two points of nonlethal damage at this level) or have gathered power prior. So to add the damage, it's either sacrificing some HP to boost the power of it or sacrificing a round of action for more damage in a later round. I don't think it's OP, it's what being a gestalt class looks like, but it works particularly with monk because monk does a lot of unarmed damage to start with. In the same way, Palila can use her brawler flurry with her unchained rogue sneak attacks and (later on) apply the debilitating effects of the sneak attacks. A lot of your builds just work very strongly as gestalt combinations.
When Palila moves towards the second firebender, he stops lobbing so much fire towards Mica and starts focusing on the non-bender in front of him. Her first strike gets his attention, but he weaves away from the second with his attention refocused. The suited earthbender is knocked down onto her back again with a heavy thud, growling with displeasure at the blow that Tikaani follows up with. She thrashes about on the ground, trying to kick and punch at Tikaani's legs, but does little but violently thrash like a fish out of water.
The other bender takes the moment that the samurai is winded to unleash a blur of blows to the armoured man's midsection, hammering at any vulnerabilities that he can until Taikahana is on his back. When this concludes, he checks a moment to make sure that the other firebender is not bleeding and has no lethal injuries to treat. He mumbles, "Kid's got some fire in him." Satisfied, he rights himself and raises his fists to survey the battlefield.
Jampo's blows land on the man in the blue suit, and as the last blow smashes into his chest, the thug coughs and falls forward on his face, his breath becoming more haggard.
The tap to the woman in the suit's leg sends her off balance, and she swings her arms in order to remain balanced. Left to his own devices, the lone slower firebender triad swirls fire around himself and tries again, sending a blast of fire right towards Mica with a second more focused punch.
The man in red near Taikahana is too busy to consider whether his boss wants them to back off or now, as the Samurai in his face has occupied his attention.
He retaliates by replying to the Samurai's challenge, fire swirling around his arm as he thrusts his palm for the unarmored portion of Taikahana's midsection, slamming the same place with his opposite fist to add a bit of insult to injury. He seems, however, to have understood that this is not a duel to the death, so while he no doubt tries to hurt Taikahana, he seems to be striking for non-vitals.
There is a moment of hesitation in Blue Suit's expression when Palila threatens him, and he starts to speak, but then Jampo's staff comes down on top of his head and he growls in surprise, "You're gonna pay for that, kid."
He still seems to be a bit dizzy from the blow to the head, and he stumbles while swiping uselessly at Jampo with his fists, though his unpredictable movements allow him to sidestep Palila's blow. The woman in the suit falls on her back, but just as quickly hops back up to her feet (leaving herself open to attack). She performs a spin kick, attempting to slam Tikaani with her heel. Despite the power of the kick, it is obvious enough for the pro-bender to be able to dodge easily.
The fancy fellow in red points at himself in surprise when Taikahana calls him out, wide-eyed, and before he knows it the gap between him and the samurai is closed and a flash of shining steel has him clutching at his chest, in immense pain but surprised to see that his chest has not been split open.
"Augh!" cries the man in the blue suit, stumbling when the clump of dirt strikes him right in the face, and he orders "Get her!" to the only member of their gang who is not already preoccupied.
When the other fancy red fellow sees his companion struck by Taikahana's blade, he steps away from the traditional warrior in order to put a little extra distance between himself and Taikahana. Still, he knows who the real target is here. He turns, fire swirling up around himself, and then uprights himself, palm facing forwards towards Mica. The fire he creates swirls around the young pro bender, but doesn't make direct contact. Still, one wrong move, and she may still be set ablaze!
Almost the moment he stops speaking, the leader of the triads drops into his combat stance, he leaps forward at Mica and initiates with a couple of surprisingly
While the spin kick he attempts to initiate combat with misses (mostly due to his clumsy form), he uses the momentum from the spin to jam his elbow back into Mica's chest.
Seeming to have intuitively understood that her boss was intending to teach these kids a lesson, the broad woman in the suit stomps her foot solidly to launch a piece of stone into the air, which she volleys towards Tikaani with her fist. She raises some more stone immediately afterwards with a stomp of her other foot, readying for another attack.
The triad with the blue suit drops into an inelegant looking fighting stance, favoured by some of the local gangs, "I dunno how old you look, but I'll let the boss sort it out." Initiatives:
You've just got to sign up and join the game, and then I'll assign you your player token and then we'll get ready to rumble!
Roll20 is up, still sorting out sort of how to use it as a GM, again, thank you for your patience everyone. Let me know when you're all set up in here and I will assign you your characters. pin, I'll probably be asking for your help while I figure this out and making sure everyone sees everything ok.
I swear I am working on something! I am still trying to figure out how I want to do the maps, local and world, and this next few moments will require me to have a cold hard thing that you guys can use. I am not sure how you all feel about using Roll20. I am also asking my sister to make Avatar style (I mean, it won't be perfectly replicated) uh, avatars for your characters. Are there any significant ways that your character appearances might be different from your paizo pictures? This will just be for character portions. Or if you want to provide a physical description, that will work. In the meantime, I'll likely just use your paizo pics. I hope to have something up this weekend, sorry folks.
Blue-suit-guy does not look up when the shadow passes over him, and he seems a bit taken aback at the expression on Mica's face. Is that a smile or a snarl? He recovers quickly, though, and says, "So rumor has it that you kids are the new Team Avatar, huh? I was thinkin' that it's sorta funny to start that without having already found the Avatar, yeah? Then I got to thinkin'." He juts out a finger towards Mica and says, "What if Beifong /had/ found the Avatar after all? But she didn't want everyone to know just yet. Well, I had to come out myself and find out." While he speaks, the two men in red start to circle around the group of youngsters, while the woman in green stands near and slightly behind him. "So? You the Avatar? I'd just like to... pay my respects."
The further out from the city gates that the group gets, the closer the group of pursuers get, but they still seem to be trying to match the group's pace. At this distance it is becoming more obvious that they are dressed in needlessly flashy and modern outfits, the kinds that people with more money than taste tend to get themselves into. There are four of them in total, two young men who are wearing all kinds of dazzling reds, one stout and dour young woman in a green and brown suit, and finally a man in a baby blue suit, probably the oldest of the lot, getting on middle age. Know (local) DC 10:
Based on the outfits, these people are likely from one of the bending triads, gangs of thugs who still war for turf in the cities. What they are doing outside of their own domains, though, is anybody's guess. "Hey there!" calls the man in the blue suit, flashing his dazzling white teeth, "Kids. I want to talk to ya."
Probably edit an existing map, though I'm not against making a new one. I just want to create a map of the Avatar world that actually has the regional divides, so you know what belongs to what nations!
Does anyone know some good map editing software that's free? I want to just remake the map of the world according to our non-canon universe here, because all the maps that I find of the Avatar world are not really great political maps.
Jian wishes the young Team Avatar their farewells once all of the gifts are presented, offering to them to take some food from the road. Before they leave, she wishes them a final, "You'll all do well. I know you will. Safe journey to you." Outside Jian's home, the streets are no longer quite so full of life and people as they were during the Avatar Day celebrations, though there are still some people cleaning up the area, and some revelers who are out in the early morning. The cabbage merchant who sold you the produce that was part of your previous evening's meal looks upon his cart, and the young man who is laying across it with the cabbages all scattered and shredded on the ground. "My cabbages!" he laments, hands pressed up against the side of his head, but his concerns are not yours. Finding the Avatar is a grand task, but even walking through Republic City to the southeastern gate may impress upon the young people the monumental task ahead of them. Still, with only a few comments from the citizens (mostly people who recognize you from the ceremony offering congratulations and well wishes) you find your way to the southeastern gate and onto the open road. Perception DC 13:
In the city, there were many people travelling on foot, and there were a few people travelling together in a group. While it seemed natural that there would be people going the same direction as you in the city, once you are outside, they seem to keep the same distance and pace as your group. Sense Motive DC 15, if Perception is passed: They seem to be watching your group with a great deal of interest, but they are trying to seem casual, looking away any time a member of your group looks back at them.
Works for me, Taika. It basically will just let you gather power while armed, which should probably ultimately be an option for any of our armed characters.
Here you go! I will add it to the campaign tab.
Avatar Hishen is not a character from the show. Some of the lore stuff is going to have to be canon in this universe! But for the purposes of in-game, Hishen is the Avatar three cycles before Roku, which would be 15 Avatars ago, so a very very long time ago, over a thousand years. As such, you probably don't know much about Hishen except for old stories which might have become mixed up with fictions by now. Because of Taikahana's background, he would know that Hishen is old school, and probably someone who your character's family would see as a model for the Fire Nation to follow, possibly why they are still ashamed of the events from the 100 year war. He was known for his restraint; even if he had mastered the Avatar state, he did not use more power than absolutely required. He used a sword that was dulled on the edge in order to avoid killing his enemies. Still, most people don't know who he is these days. For more information, Knowledge (history) will be the roll. As for your fighting style, I figure that in general, even when bending, Taikahana's form will be a fusion between the samurai fighting style, similar to how Prince Zuko fights (in the linked fight, you see Zuko fighting first in melee, and then using firebending). If you would like to discuss ways of fusing the styles, I would be open to it, but with the other non-kineticist character classes in the gestalt (monk and fighter), there is not necessarily synergy between the bending and their martial art, but they'd still be evident in the style of the bending, if that makes sense. In general, though, I am open to flavour when using any of the mechanics in place (you can describe your sword wreathed in flame when using kinetic blade, for example, even when normally kinetic blade is its own thing). I just don't think the samurai-fire kineticist will be any weaker or stronger than the other combinations in the group. Like I said, though, I am happy to discuss alternate options! I hope this helps a bit, but we can chat about it further! Good questions! Sorry about not elaborating on Hishen (who only exists in the canon of my game, because I need to add my own parts of lore where there are blank spaces, since there are many blank spaces in the series!) As for the elemental attachments, I think I addressed it in the player's guide a bit (though I don't think anyone's read it, which is fine, I think it's not terribly exciting reading), as to what kineticist abilities you each have access to at level 2, and will be expanding it going forward. We will be using the Avatarland connections; for the most part, the kineticist abilities actually act very similarly to the abilities in Avatarland with the key exception that lightning falls into air's domain in Pathfinder, while lightning falls into fire in the game. As such, I'm giving air Thunder abilities, while fire gets Lightning abilities.
It doesn't take long for the meal to conclude and for Jian to retire to her study for the night, encouraging all of you to do the same. In the morning, after breakfast is prepared for your group, she is ready and dressed in her official Grand Lotus outfit. "I have prepared some gifts for all of you, before you go." First, she presents a black sphere to Mica. "This is made of star metal. It's uncommon, but my grandmother used it to learn metal-bending. As did I. You can use it in order to learn metal-bending. Someone with your strong will should be just the right personality to learn metal-bending." Suyin's Star Metal:
Second, she turns to Taikahana. "Avatar Hishen had an aversion to killing, and we should all strive to be merciful to even our enemies. I would like you to make use of his sword, Moesashi Taikahana, for when you wish to show mercy to your enemies." She offers the sword to Taikahana. Hishen's Blade:
Next, to Jampo, she says as she present to him a staff, "I found out from your teachers that you have wanted an airbender staff, and I can understand why. I have one that Korra left for me in her will. It's my understanding that she used it in her youth." Korra's Glider:
To Tikaani, she offers a small bottle. "This is spirit water from the north pole. When Aang was struck with a bolt of lightning, this brought him back from the edge of death. Maybe even further than the edge... I hope that you don't need to use this... but if you do need it, you will be glad to have it." Spirit Water:
Finally, she says to Palila, "Palila, I have something for you as well." Which may come as a surprise to the young woman, as Jian might have implied that the relics left to Palila would be the extent of her gift. "Asami was willing to part with her glove... she crafted this herself, you know. She took on some powerful benders with this, and always stood on equal footing." She nods once, emphatically, offering the glover to Palila. Asami's Glove:
Jian's home is large and tidy, and it's more than likely that she can host all of you while still providing separate rooms. This likely comes from both being the heiress to the Beifong fortune as well as all that she's been provided by her famous mover star father. She has a lot of abstract looking metal sculptures around from her time as an artist, and plenty of bookshelves from her time as a scholar, both of which are things she still considers herself. When Jian returns, she looks tired and worn, but eager to get into the kitchen to prepare a meal for the young Team Avatar. "Thank you for doing the prep work. I will take it from here. Please, relax," she says to any who remain in the kitchen upon her arrival. The meal that she prepares and brings out is fit for a sendoff; it is traditional Earth Kingdom fare which should not be unexpected given her lineage. The food prepared for Jampo is a bit different than the others, as Jian is sure to respect the Air Nomad's assumed vegetarianism. Once she has served everyone, she takes her seat at the table. After allowing time for any of the young people time to give thanks for the food in whatever way is customary to them, the meal begins. "My apologies that it has been such a hectic day. So you've all decided to travel on foot? I have some roads that I would recommend, though I warn you that some areas have become troubled there, unable to adapt to the decentralized power of the Kingdom. There have been some brigands giving trouble to some of the smaller towns and to some of the merchants in the area," says Jian, seeming to be momentarily troubled. "If you see anyone in trouble, please consider helping. Your quest to find the Avatar is of great importance, of course, but service to the vulnerable is of no less importance."
Jian nods with appreciation towards Palila and says, "Excellent. Excuse me, I still have to find the rogue Avatar Hishen actor." She nods her head, and then starts off through the crowd to correct this outrageous poorly researched costumed actor who has been allowed to roam loose all festival. Not on Grand Lotus Jian Beifong's watch.
"Ah, the honour would be mine, Team Avatar," says Jian without changing expression. "I will be back in time to cook dinner," she looks towards Palila meaningfully, hoping she remembered the shopping list, "But I have more work to do out here. Enjoy the festival, and I will see you off in the morning. I hope to have parting gifts arranged for you all."
"You have an ostrich horse as well, Mica?" says Jian. "Well, that will be nice, perhaps Siba can make a new friend as well. Traveling on the ground can be okay. It allows you to talk to people from smaller villages who might be more familiar with the local happenings." She looks towards Taikahana at his question and says, "If you all do not mind, you would be welcome to stay as guests in my home for a night." Jian lives in a rather large home and, until Palila's arrival, it was just her who was staying there. "It would give me a chance to give my farewells in the morning." "But if that would not be suitable, I can give you directions to somewhere else you can stay," she adds.
"The traders in Omashu will likely have some information about their movement patterns," says Jian, "But if they don't, I would recommend going to the Misty Palms Oasis to ask. There are plenty of Earth Kingdom citizens who visit there as well, so it may be worthwhile to keep an ear to the ground if you go there." She gestures to a point on the map, around the southern edge of the desert. "There are spirits who call the oasis their home, as well, and they may be able to give you some direction," adds Jian.
"Be careful about trying to bend on the dunes," Jian cautions Mica, seeming to barely register her enthusiasm, "It's different than trying to bend stone or even metal. Everything is always shifting. I'm sure the sandbenders could show you some things, though. I only barely got the hang of it with practice, but the sand still got into my joints."
The crowd gives the youngsters some enthusiastic applause, especially after Tikaani's speech to the crowd. Even Bolin might be heard saying to Mako on the subject of the pro benders, "Those two are real tough benders! Reminds me of us when we were young!" Mako cups his chin in his hand and answers his brother with, "I don't see it." Once everyone is down from the stage and seems ready to listen to the more official parts of the business, "Thank you again, to all of you. We have a few leads right now, and a map that shows the path to take... First, we have reports of an individual in Omashu who has been gathering followers and has rumoured proficiency with firebending as well at earthbending. Naturally, you all know what that would imply, but it needs to be investigated. This is not the first time that we've heard such claims." Jian shows the political map, and points out where Omashu is in relation to Republic City. "I would recommend to go here as your starting point, but there is also a sandbender by the name of Aranna who lives in the Si Wong desert. She is rumoured to be quite spiritually adept, rare among the sandbenders, but expected if the Avatar were born to their people. She's supposed to be a member of the Gobi tribe." She shakes her head and says, speaking in a more hushed tone, "We've heard some rumblings from Earth Kingdom members of the White Lotus that there are other groups looking for the Avatar. To what ends... it's unclear. I have heard that the Red Lotus is involved in the search, but they were scattered back in Korra's youth when their leadership was imprisoned or died in battle."
The metalbender frowns and continues, "If you hear anything on your travels, please send a message to me through the White Lotus. For now... if you wish to continue enjoying the festivities, you may feel free, but I would recommend by the latest starting your travels tomorrow morning. If you wish to leave now, I understand." She adds, speaking mostly to Palila now, "But before you start your journey, let me know so that I can say my goodbye."
I hope everyone had a happy holidays! I will be posting us along tomorrow, sorry for the delays, but this time of year can be all kinds of crazy!
Jian nods at the encouragement that she receives. "I am confident that you will do wonderfully," says Jian. She also answers Mica, "You can wave to the crowd if you feel it's appropriate." Some people start gathering in front of the stage, though there are plenty who would prefer to continue with the festivities rather than to listen to a speech delivered by some woman who is not even the Avatar. Still, the crowd is larger than it was for the drum players, possibly because there is a rumour that the White Lotus did indeed find the Avatar, a rumour fanned by the fact that Jian has spent some of her time with some young benders from various nations. In the front, the former members of Team Avatar start to gather. Bolin speaks to his brother, Mako, and Asami. He loudly boasts about how his little girl is going to be the one giving the speech, which transitions into a couple of embarrassing stories (though he's puffed up with pride all the while), while Mako listens patiently and Asami seems amused. Knowledge History or Local, 5:
Bolin is a mover star, he got his debut doing propaganda films for the Southern Water Tribe during a time of conflict between the North and the South. Despite being an Earthbender, he depicted Nuktuk, Hero of the South, on the big screen with the help of special effects. Knowledge History or Local, 10:
When Korra first moved to Republic City, she joined a pro-bending team with Bolin and Mako, two brothers who were an earthbender and a firebender, respectively. Because both of the brothers were very poor, in order to participate in the pro-bending tournament, they needed to be sponsored by Future Industries, owned by Asami's father, Hiroshi Sato. While Asami was not a bender, she used technology to keep up with even skilled benders on combat.
Korra, Asami, Bolin and Mako formed the previous team Avatar, and are all celebrities in their own right, even though Bolin lives the celebrity status up the most.
When the scheduled time comes, Jian walks up to the stage. Instead of taking the stairs like a normal person, when she gets close enough she makes a quick gesture to raise the earth beneath her feet to elevate her to an even level with the stage. She stomps down afterwards, which knocks the stone right back where it came from. She seems to be able to bend regular stone with very little effort. Once everyone is in their place, she addresses the crowd, which dies down from the buzz into murmurs. With so many young people on the stage, the people are hopeful that the announcement will come with some very good news. "Hello everyone. I am Jian Beifong of the White Lotus." This introduction produces an enthusiastic cheer from Bolin, which Jian ignores. "I am glad to see everyone here enjoying the festivities. Avatar Korra would have been so proud to see how many people come to this event now. Today marks the day of our new Avatar's sixteenth birthday. However, the Avatar's identity has not yet been revealed to us." There is some murmuring in the crowd. While many people trust that Jian knows what she is doing, others think that she is only in her position because of a sort of favoritism shown to her by the Avatar, and this gives some ammunition for the latter group. However, Jian continues, "But we will not be discouraged. Every generation has produced its own heroes, and the White Lotus now believes that it is time to trust the next generation. I have gathered some of the most talented young people from the four nations to find, protect and teach the Avatar. I trust wholeheartedly that they will succeed in this task. Like Aang, Sokka, Katara, Toph, Zuko and Suki. Like Korra, Asami, Mako and Bolin. They will rise to the challenge. Today, I would like to introduce you to the next Team Avatar." There is applause at this time, the Team Avatar name plays great with the crowd. Jian gestures back towards the five who are on stage. "Mica Morishita is from Yu Dao, and like many from the United Republic lands, comes from a mix of fire and earth nation roots. Many of you may already recognize her, as she has represented her home in the pro-bending circuit. Her style of earthbending reminds me of the footage of my father when he was around her age. It is rare to see someone with her raw talent," says Jian, clapping her hands a few times to encourage the crowd to do so as well, which they do. "Taikahana Moesashi is another talented bender. I met him and his family during my pilgrimage to the Fire Nation Avatar Temple, and I was immediately impressed. His focus on the spiritual side of firebending, and on the preservation of the cultural heritage of his nation, will make him a wonderful teacher and role model for the Avatar," says Jian, once again pausing for applause. "Jampo Dorjee is a young airbending master, awarded his airbender tattoos at a young age. He came highly recommended by his masters, including Master Ikki and Master Meelo, grandchildren of Avatar Aang himself. Not only is he a skilled airbender, but his self-control and hard work are admirable." "Tikaani Kesuk is from the Southern Water Tribe, and he is from the same pro-bending team as Mica. They call him the Wolf, though I personally have difficulty comparing his flowing style to any animal. He is the very model of a waterbender, able to flow with the movements of his opponents and redirect their energy back at them." "Finally, Palila has been my assistant for some time, now, and I would trust nobody more to continue the search in my place. She has never failed to exceed my expectations, no matter how high I set them. She is also familiar with the Spirit World, which will be beneficial for the Avatar, as the bridge between our world and the spirit world," finishes Jian, introducing the young ones. She gives any of the new Team Avatar the chance to speak if they so choose, but if none of them do, she continues her speech, mostly now talking about the history of the Avatars, and about Avatar Kyoshi's great accomplishments in the Earth Kingdom, how Korra continued that legacy, and how she hopes that the torch will be carried by the new Avatar and friends. Once the speech is over, she descends from the stage by hopping down rather than taking the stairs, giving the young team the chance to talk to any former members of Team Avatar if they choose, but also expecting them to come back and talk to her further so she can give them proper instruction when done.
Jian shows some pride at Palila's response, offering her an encouraging nod, and then looks between all these young people, an eyebrow slightly raised at their conversation, and what she detects might be some friction, "I have full confidence that you will all be of great help in the Avatar's development. Many of the Avatars required multiple perspectives in order to grow into their responsibility to the people of all nations. It can be a heavy burden to bear, and I hope you will be there to lend support." She listens for questions and answers Tikaani's first one, "My resources will still go towards the hunt for the Avatar. The White Lotus has people all around, and we will provide you guidance when it is possible." Her lips press into a line for a moment, and she continues, "As for why I expect you to do better than me... It is just time that I pass this responsibility on to the young. You will have that energy, your team, and all your perspectives to help you find the Avatar. If you send for me, I will do anything in my power to help you." She gestures towards Palila and says, "Palila is also a member of the White Lotus, and will be on this journey with you." At Tikaani's second question, her lips press into a firmer line, and she says, biting back any tension in her voice, "Ah, you are a fan of my father's? He... will likely be in the front row during the speech. You'll recognize him." She pauses, and adds, "If you wave at him, I expect he will wave back." The drums start winding down, and Jian looks towards the stage. Despite her stony expression, anyone who knows her well enough knows that the expression is tinged with a bit of anxiety. It is hard for her to let go of the responsibility.
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