WIP - Earthbender. So, this thread came up late last night (after I should've gone to sleep). Haven't had time to dabble with this today and frankly I think the bender that Inertia posted is better than my concept. I'll post this anyway, maybe someone can get a bit of inspiration or something from it. It's barely a first draft, made with the old template and only half thought out. [hider=earthbender]Ning Qiang [img]http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/avatarrp/images/d/d1/Yasuo.png/revision/latest?cb=20150223122912[/img] Your friendly neighbourhood landslide. ”When the very ground you rest your feet upon rebells against you, what will you do?” Full Name Ning Qiang. Nicknames here Age 25. Gender Male. Sexuality Straight. Abilities Earthbending. Seismic sense. Fighting Style Very traditional. Balance, control and power. Low stances, what can be done with one attack will not be done with two. Duality in bending (everything is both defence and attack). Physical Appearance Pretty much like the picture. Ning is young, and doesn’t have the muscle-bound look of many of his peers, instead he almost looks weak and inexperienced in comparison. Equipment and Personal Belongings Only his clothes. Other Has raised and trained a Beardog named Polo, won’t go anywhere without him. Likes The last king of the Earth Kingdom. Dumplings. Most hybrid dog-breeds Dislikes Pro bending / benders. Long boat rides. Spicy food. Habits here Strengths Dedicated earth bender. Powerful, offensive personality. Deceitful looks. Weaknesses Rigid traditionalist. Soft spot for animals. Brutally honest. Personality An earth bender takes power from his conviction. His mind must be unyielding like the boulders he wishes to move, any hesitation will result in a failure. This means letting go of many “restraints” that normal people place on themselves to avoid saying or doing hurtful things. Ning has always aimed for greatness, and now that he is traveling with and instructing the Avatar he feels that holding anything back will only be in the interest of their enemies. Ning isn’t a bad person to be around, despite all this, he can be very cheerful and jovial, and he understands that positive feedback is one of the most powerful teaching methods there is. However, if you become too cocky he won’t hesitate to take you back down to earth, At the same time, Ning can be a quiet observer, a master in the art of neutral jing. He might seem to do nothing, but is in fact listening and planning his response based on what lies ahead. When Ning goes silent it is because he needs to think hard before acting. Brief History Ning was born and grew up in a small, nameless village not far away from Republic city, but still within the Earth kingdom provinces. He had a reasonably good life, working the earth by day, training his bending with the village’s self-proclaimed teacher in the evenings and dreaming about being a pro-bender at night. Ning was glued to the radio every night that a pro-bending match was on (and the weather wasn’t too bad), he admired the quick and fluent style of the pro earth benders and asked his teacher to instruct him in this faster type of bending, but was only laughed at and assigned extra work for every time he mentioned it. Ning was a bright and talented young boy and he took his bending very seriously. He practiced every day, sometimes he was only going through the motions as the radio described an epic fight in the background. It didn’t take him long to out-skill his old teacher. Years later, when he was in Republic city to visit a few relatives a small bird whispered to him that the local arena was hosting an amateur-tournament. Rag-tag teams could apply, or single benders could show up and create teams as people arrived. Not surprisingly, Ning was there. He found pro-bending extremely hard. He was forced to stay on the move at all times, throw attacks and blocks and hope that they did something, and the stupid rule about only bending one plate at a time was seriously screwing with his powerful form. To adapt he needed to slow down, and concentrate on each movement separately. His team did fairly well, but Ning felt like he could’ve led them to victory with more training. Sadly, pro-bending was never meant for farmers, and the advanced teacher that took up Ning’s training shared the views of the old one when it came to pro-bending. Ning had to train in secret, listening to the radio and trying to copy what he imagined the moves looked like. He returned to Republic city a few years later, a lot stronger and more confident than ever after outclassing yet another master. A new pro-bending team was forming and needed an earth bender. Ning applied, despite him being a bit awkward with the restraints he was the best, and was asked to join the team. He was thrown into a low-level tournament later that evening and his team was disqualified in the first round on three counts of over-use of force. Enraged by his dreams being shattered Ning sought out a proper master to teach him real earth bending. He was used to being the biggest fish in a small pond, learning from a real teacher, in a real dojo, in a real city was something very different. Every day he went to sleep exhausted, and woke up in pain. He trained until he threw up and broke several bones in his body, but kept on going. A year ago, after being given his diploma as a certified master, he walked into the arena after a finished fight, introduced himself to the earth bender of the victorious team and challenged him to a duel. At first he was refused, but the team’s manager saw a good chance for some good PR and convinced the bender to agree. The fight was held in an abandoned quarry nearby. Lots of stone, no innocent bystanders and only a radio crew to report the fight. “The fight” was over before it began, as the gong rang the pro-bender was on the move to evade an incoming attack that never came. He stopped for a second to root himself and launch a head-sized rock against his opponent to feel him out, but was brought out of balance and thrown into the air by the ground he tried to root himself in. As he landed Ning was there and restrained his arms and legs until he was declared the winner. “I didn’t do it to discredit pro-bending” He told the reporter “I did it to prove that pro-bending is not a stronger form of bending, it is simply easier, faster, but more restrained. My opponent could not foresee my attack because his mind is a cage full of tiny stone discs.” A white lotus agent contacted him shortly after that and offered him a job as a servant to the Avatar. The mere thought of working for the Avatar was enough for Ning to sign on. When the Avatar’s teachers were announced from those trusted by the White lotus he was honestly shocked to hear his name being called. He could name ten more capable teachers in his line of sight alone. [/hider]