Shamo Hua
The Avatar
”You may wander the Shi Wong desert for many moons, crossing hundreds of miles. You suffer from the heat. Your body will give in to the scorching sands and dehydration, and just as you are about to die, you may come upon a flower. The only flower in the entire desert, your one chance at surviving. I am that flower. Hello, my name is Shamo Hua, and I am the Avatar.”
Full NameShamo Hua
NicknamesSha
Amo
Ami
Princess of the Sands
Age18
GenderFemale
SexualityHeterosexual
AbilitiesBeing the avatar comes with the perks of having a certain natural talent for many things, most prominently bending of all kinds. However it is her upbringing as a sandbender princess that has given her a leg up in many other skills. She is an excellent survivor and tracker, having been raised in the Si Wong desert. Hardy and as unrelenting as the sand she bends, Shamo Hua is near tireless, can withstand great heat (without the use of airbending insulation) and she
will find you, if given a reason to.
As a noble, the princess of the sands is well spoken in diplomatic situations, well versed in inter-tribe relationships and politics. As the avatar’s duty is to bring peace and balance to the peoples of the world, this is a fantastic trait to have, and she will approach any situation with a word before a fist.
In terms of her spiritual ability, Shamo is not particularly gifted nor cursed. When she puts her mind to it and truly applies herself, she can usually accomplish what she’s attempting to do, but it’s hardly easy like such things were for Avatar Aang. She hasn’t yet mastered spiritual projection, but she has made contact with the only past life available to her, that of Avatar Korra, but she prefers not to. In terms of entering the Avatar State, she has not yet mastered the elements as needed, and has not transcended well enough spiritually to call upon it at will, so it remains as a life or death defense mechanism.
As a bender, Shamo is as excellent as you would expect from any avatar. Although she is still in training, she has nearly mastered earthbending, but has only been able to accomplish metalbending in the Avatar State, even though she does possess the knowledge of how to do it. Due to this, it is believed that Shamo herself is not a metal bender and can only perform it by channeling the abilities of avatars past. Her earthbending is at its best when working with sand, however, which is something to be expected of one of the sandbender nomads. Her attention to detail with sandbending is truly astounding, subtle, yet potent. It is thanks to her roots as a sandbender that Shamo is very adaptable in her non-native bending arts.
The other three bending arts are not mastered to the same extent as earthbending, but she is adept. Normally one would expect a native earthbender avatar to have trouble grasping traditional airbending, but thanks to the similarities it shares with sandbending, she took to it very quickly. The only subschool of bending she currently has any training or practice in is with water healing, but even that has a long way to go. After all, water is the last element an earth nation avatar learns, so it’s what she has the least amount of practice with.
Fighting StyleIn a fight, Shamo Hua proves to be as relentless and offensive as a firebender, no matter what style she happens to be using. She prefers to keep the enemy off balance, battling with a quick succession of powerful yet swift blows meant to induce death by a thousand cuts. More than one individual has commented that her fighting style resembles a storm, with a constant flow of assault coming from nearly every direction. In her own mind, Shamo is enforcing her will to those that would deny it. She
is the Avatar, she
is the Balance, and you will submit! After all, she was born in an inhospitable land, one that is very unforgiving. This translates both to her fighting style, and her approach in maintaining balance.
Physical AppearanceSlightly taller than average for a woman, Shamo stands at 5’5” with a slender build. Her features scream “feminine” in nearly every way, being just about the opposite you could expect from a stereotypical “rough and tumble” earthbender. Of course, that’s only a stereotype, for the earth only bends to those who are patient and listen, willing to command it when it is ready. Shamo definitely fits what most people think about with those qualities in mind. She is a lady, but is also the daughter of the sandbender nomads’ chief, making her the equivalent of a princess and it shows. She takes care of her appearance to look regal and well kept. Her lips are full, sexy one might even describe, while her eyelashes are long. Her eyes themselves are green, and look to command respect, as does her entire posture and body language.
Even her clothes are made from the finest green silks imported from the Earth nation territories. The outfit’s design is utilitarian, fitting for a nomad that lives in hostile terrain, while at the same time possesses a certain style and quality that says, “I am important.”
Equipment and Personal BelongingsGoggles - Important for sandstorms, snowstorms, sea storms, basically any situation that would get things caught in your eyes. Wears them atop her head like a crown most of the time.
Waterskin - You have to stay hydrated! Especially if you need to make sure your skin is kept moisturized and looking good, like mine.
Pangu - Every avatar has a pet animal/spirit guide, and Shamo is no exception. Her best friend is Pangu, a pygmy badgermole about the size of a wolfbat. He’s a good boy. Mostly quiet, doesn’t bother people much, and doesn’t show his affection outwardly like most pets do. If he has taken a liking to you, it’s shown in a more quiet respect. Highly protective of his friends, loves music.
GoalShamo desires to continue the avatar’s duty of maintaining balance in the world, and wants to be the most effective and most powerful avatar that ever lived. Naturally, this involves knocking President San’s block off to prove his dogma is wrong and the world still needs its avatar.
SecretShamo holds a certain amount of self-loathing, not for anything that she did, but for the actions of her previous self, Avatar Korra. Due to what she sees as Korra’s weakness, the link to all her past lives before Korra are inaccessible, so she cannot draw upon their wisdom and guidance. For this reason she dislikes her most recent past life, and refuses to call upon Korra’s spirit for guidance and often lies even to her closest friends about her ability to contact Korra, stating that she just “hasn’t figured it out yet.”
HabitsLikes to pull up her scarf around her face even when there’s no sun or cold to protect against. Consistently maintains eye contact with anybody who is speaking nearby.Has a habit of referring to her teachers and bodyguards as her “servants.”
OtherEnjoys to prepare cooked meals for her friends and “servants.”
Likes o Being listened to
o Making friends with her “servants”
o Animals and spirits (they have their own natural order and they don’t muck it up the same way people do
o Jewelry and fine dress
Dislikes o Having to compromise
o Jasmine tea (somewhere in the spirit world Iroh is crying)
o Bullies
o Some crazy politician telling the world that she’s no longer needed
Strengths
o Excellent diplomat
o Highly adaptable and versatile
o Empathetic to the needs of others
Weaknesses o Selfish
o Dislikes criticism
o Distrustful and proud
PersonalityWhereas Avatar Aang was terrified of his duty and ran away from it, and Avatar Korra thrust herself head first into her duty with excitement and enthusiasm, Avatar Shamo Hua is something of a mix between the two. She has openly and gladly taken on her role as the avatar
because she is terrified. On the outside she appears to be calm, cool, and in control at all times, but the facade is only skin deep. The avatar is tasked with maintaining order for the entire world. Such a tremendous responsibility would be daunting enough, but Shamo Hua has the added stress of knowing that there is an enemy out there that is expanding, which has eyes and ears hidden everywhere in the world, and that enemy is specifically seeking her out to end the avatar. It’s no surprised this would be such a daunting, even horrifying destiny, but she holds to one of the core values of earthbending: hold your ground, stand firm, weather any assault, and outlast your opponent. This attitude is only reinforced by her cultural roots among the sand benders: survive at any cost.
Aside from that, Shamo is something of an elitist. She prefers the finer things in life. Food, dress, make-up, everything, really. Coupled with her semi-royal background and you can be forgiven for thinking that she’s something of a snob, or self-important. The fact of the matter is that, well, she is. Shamo believes in a natural order in things, which includes authority, and the highest authority is, or should be, the Avatar. She recognizes that she is still an avatar “in training,” but this attitude still bleeds out in her interactions. It isn’t that she believes she’s inherently better than other people, just that everyone and everything has their place and the Avatar is, well, kind of an important position. So no, she is not a humble avatar, and she does not like compromising her own values or comfortability, but that does not mean that she doesn’t value the people beneath her.
In fact, quite the opposite. Shamo’s empathy is quite strong and there are few as willing as she is to get involved in the muck and grime of the common man. She does what she can to help out anybody in need, not just in accordance with her duty but out of a sense of necessity, out of a strong humanistic value. In fact, one of her favorite activities is to take the work load (usually cooking) off of the people in her life, as a way of saying “thank you” just for being there.
Additionally, Avatar Shoma does have a sense of humor, but it is rather dry and deadpan, filled with sarcasm she’ll spout out with a perfectly straight face.
Brief HistoryThe life of Avatar Shamo Hua is one that has been fairly short and uneventful thus far, at least as far as avatars go. By the same age, Avatar Aang had ended the Hundred Year War and founded the United Republic. Avatar Korra had accomplished even greater feats, bringing the human and spirit worlds closer together, bringing back the extinct Air Nation, opening a new spirit portal, and helping to rebuild the Earth Kingdom into something new. By contrast, Avatar Shamo has done nothing of any particular note. This is something which grates on her nerves.
After the deaths of Korra and her friends, the Avatar Spirit, and Rava, reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle: Earth. There in the Shi Wong Desert, amidst the various tribes of sandbender nomads, was born the next Avatar. The White Lotus immediately began scouring the Earth Nation for her, but it took a while before she was discovered. The sand benders travel across the empty wastes of the Shi Wong almost constantly, hundreds of miles of inhospitable scorching heat. Thanks to their isolation, and the fact they move around so much, Shamo was five before her talents were found out. The young girl, daughter of the tribe leader, accompanied her parents to every meeting, every barter, and earned their ways. Then one day, when the sun was particularly high in the sky and the sand particularly brutal, Shamo Hua was particularly thirsty. Her requests were being ignored as the grownups focused on a trade agreement between different tribes, so she reached out for her father’s waterskin herself and lo, she bended the water to quench her thirst.
The tribe couldn’t have been more amazed and proud that they had produced a legendary figure. The Avatar. The bridge between the human world and the spirits. The one being that could bend all four elements. The one who would maintain balance in the world. Shamo and her father left the tribe on a journey to Omashu, where the tribe leader would turn in his daughter to the White Lotus so that she may begin her destiny. This was when Shamo eyed her first glimpse of the dangers the world held for its Avatar. The White Lotus were not the only interested party in finding her, and sadly they were not the first. Assassins sent by President San attacked Shamo and her father in the streets of Omashu. Her father fought valiantly to protect his daughter, but they outnumbered and overpowered him. Just before the killing blow was struck, Shamo cried out in horror, then blanked out. When she had regained consciousness, the entire city block was decimated. The stone buildings had been smashed, scorch marks riddled the area, and a small portion was drenched, but her father was alive.
She had awoken to find her father and two women around her. These women introduced themselves as members of the White Lotus, and educated her as to what had happened. She had gone into something they described as the Avatar State, a reflex to the mortal danger of her father, and as a result of being so inexperienced and untrained she had caused massive collateral damage. They further explained to her that she needed to be trained, that her duty was to the world, and that she needed to gain control of both herself and all four elements. Then she could bring balance to the world. Shamo asked if that meant that she could protect people, and make sure nobody else had to lose their daddies. The women answered yes, and so Shamo immediately accepted.
The next ten years were a blur for the young avatar. If she wasn’t training, she was being moved to a new discrete location, so as to avoid Republic assassins. People came in and out of her life far too frequently to really make any friends, and they were all there to help train her, to serve her in her role as the Avatar, so she took to calling them her servants, though the proper respect was still given. This attitude led to a number of the White Lotus calling her “Princess of the Sands” as a form of mockery, but she either failed to see the insult, or took it in stride as she quickly took a fond liking to the nickname. Once she had turned fifteen, Shamo insisted that she get some real world experience for her avatar duties. The Lotus vehemently refused, professing to protect her as she wasn’t yet ready, and this did not sit well with her. Ignoring their protests, Shamo left the Lotus compound in search of trouble that she could quell. After all, she was the Avatar. Who were these guards to deny her the responsibility bestowed upon her by the universe itself?
Taking a disguise, the young avatar found a small hovel of a farm that had fallen on hard times. The family gladly payed their respects to the wandering visitor, showing much hospitality they could not afford as they explained their plight. For a generation they shared their farm land with a nature spirit. Each night they would leave tribute for the spirit, and in return the spirit bestowed their land with great fertility and bountiful produce. Over the last few weeks however something had driven their spirit friend away. The farmers had experienced tremors and feared that some monster or dark spirit had snatched up their friend. With a smile, Avatar Shamo Hua assured the farmers that she would discover the cause of this problem, and solve it. As they expressed confusion, she headed out the door.
After some investigation, the young avatar had discovered the source of the problem. A badgermole, a runt judging by its size and how development, had taken up residence beneath their farm. It kept itself well fed by eating the underdeveloped fruit and vegetables from beneath the ground itself, and its presence had scared away the local nature spirit. Taking pity on the creature, she befriended it, giving it the name Pangu. Feeling victorious, she took Pangu to the farmers to show them what exactly had been going on. She explained that now that the pygmy badgermole was coming with her, they shouldn’t be having any problems with their crops and the nature spirit should return to continue their arrangement. The farmers thanked her profusely, asking who they owed their generosity to. She smiled and informed them they had the honor of speaking with the Avatar. Having successfully flummoxed them, Avatar Shamo Hua took her leave and returned home, glad to have actual experience in maintaining the balance, if only in some small way.
The victory did not last long, however. The White Lotus insisted that since she had blown her cover, they
had to move or else they risked President San’s assassins. Shamo felt insulted, but ultimately agreed to move yet again, so long as she could keep her new friend. That was three years ago now. Avatar Shamo Hua is now eighteen years old, and the United Republic forces are closing in on their position as she nears the end of her training. The White Lotus have decided that it would be best to move her, and as such have found new teachers and bodyguards willing to dedicate their services, maybe even their lives, to the Avatar. To her this is normal. A new home, new teachers, new servants, it’s all so expected. Yet this trip will take a turn for the exciting in a way that the young avatar could never had predicted...
