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Welcome back @Nova Belladonna.

[Cancelled] Children of the Apocalypse

@Yankee We've been using pinterest for the images of our NPCs. You can use this as a jumping off point and search through similiar images. He's actually the faceclaim of my original character and one of the NPCs in this game. Also, if you prefer and are more comfortable with it, a description is completely fine.

[Cancelled] Children of the Apocalypse

...for the skills, are we to come up with our own, or choose from the ones listed next to the descriptions of our character's faction?

@calliope

You can choose your own. However, the skills tagged to a faction will have an NPC there that can instruct your character on that specific skill, allowing you to level it up once. If you'd rather pick another skill that is not native to the faction, you're free to do so. There are other ways to level up skills in this game such as finding literature in some abandoned library, but having an available teacher is easiest.

...do I need to divide my character's stats with a number involved? As in, I have 20 total and must give points to each category so altogether they equal 20?

@calliope

You start with a total of 8 points that you can divide how you would like into your stats. I'd recommend checking the list of skills to determine where you want them. Or if you want to go the RPing route, you can make your character as you'd like to portray them. Each stat can have a maximum of 6 points so you may max out one at the start of the game.

There are ways to earn more points over the course of the game.

ᵀʰᵉ Last Avatar. & ᵀʰᵉ Red Lotus. Player Handbook

_{P2__}

Si Wong Desert w1 Tu Zin w2 Synergy Power Plant w3 Fauna w4 ??? w5 _ ______________________________.............. _

- The Wilds. The world outside the walls of Ba Sing Se. The Wilds is the name given to the mostly desolate lands surrounding the last city. As stated previously, much of the land has been ruined by the 'Great War'. The former Bending nation's capitals were destroyed by bombs and surrounding cities were abandoned shortly after, leaving much of the planet empty, left to be reclaimed by the world. Thanks to heavy synergy radiation as a result of the weapons used by the Republic, much of flora and fauna has been changed. The exact nature of this change is still unknown but the people who have survived in the wilderness long enough to tell their tales, share stories of beasts unlike any they've seen before. Twisted corruptions of the wildlife they once knew, roaming the land ever hungry with an appetite impossible to satiate. The cities that bore the brunt of the destruction are actively avoided. Some believe the synergy saturating the air can slowly drive a man insane, sapping him of his will until his mind is no longer his and he's taken. Others say the air is poisonous and will eventually kill any who enter. Still, there are those brave souls who throw caution to the wind and venture into these zones, discovering within whatever treasure or old knowledge they can find. Notable locations include the Synergy Power Plant that is situated in the abandoned husk of what was once Republic City. To the south of Ba Sing Se lies the expansive Si Wong Desert. An ocean of sand nearly impossible to cross. Si Wong Desert. b1 The ocean of sand and heat that stretches from the walls of the city south, past the horizon. At one point in time, it had been bordered by a large river that connected the Full Moon and Chameleon bays, effectively halting the desert's march. In the years after the war, the change in climate eventually dried up the North bay, draining the river of its source and allowing the desert to expanded further before stopping again at the foot the city. Of the many dangers in this region, the most prominent are sandstorms which occur frequently and have become extremely violent. Powerful winds can whip up a wall of dust and sand that is capable of tearing through flesh. However, these are typically formed closer to the desert's heart and will only approach the Lower Ring on very rare occasions. There is strong belief that a tunnel system exists below the surface of the sand as sightings of fauna remain constant. The only way they'd be able to survive the storms is if they had access to shelter. Tu Zin. b2 _ _ _ _ _ See Tu Zin. _ _ _ _ Synergy Power Plant. b3 Formerly the Republic City spirit portal. The city and surrounding area have been reduced to little more than the plant itself and the living areas and shops necessary to support it and its employees. The work pays well but is also unusually dangerous for what would otherwise be a simple job. There are constant and sporadic accidents that occur on site putting some people off to such a career. Oddly enough, the accidents have increased in frequency in the last few years and some believe it's coming to a head. Extra safety measures have been put into place and routine maintenance checks have been increased. Like Ba Sing Se, the plant has a small wall built around it that is continuously patrolled. The process of collecting and refining energy was developed by the Moon family alongside Varricks. Eventually, the entrepreneur left the energy business allowing Moon to take over. This plant is still owned and operated by them today. It feeds the city power via a pipe system traveling the distance between itself and a storage facility located just inside the Lower Ring. _ Fauna. b4 While still existing in the world in and out of Ba Sing Se, many familiar species from the last century have gone extinct. Most large animals such as the flying bison no longer exist while many smaller creatures can be bought for exorbitant prices if you know where to look. However, usually, only those in the Upper Ring can afford to purchase and care for a pet. Beyond the walls, any wildlife that still thrives has adapted to a dramatically changed environment. Some were lucky enough to live on land mostly untouched by the war while others have mutated, changed in surprising and strange ways from prolonged exposure to lingering synergy radiation. Most have turned feral. Others have evolved, exhibiting behavior that seems similar to spirits from the spirit world. There are many who argue that they are spirits but since so few have ventured out into the wilderness to see these phenomena themselves, truth remains but a rumor. Pets are allowed but must be approved by the GM. ???. b5 _ _ _ _ _ Come here, child. _ _ _ _ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________..

[Cancelled] Children of the Apocalypse

@calliope Posting here is definitely okay. And yes, your character sheets will eventually be moved to the Character tab but please post the skeleton here first or you can also submit them to myself or @Chrysocoma via PM so we can look it over. You're also right about the IC tab. That's where all the fun happens lol.

And you're doing great by the way. Feel free to ask about anything and also welcome to the Guild! I hope you enjoy your time here on the site and also here with us.

ᵀʰᵉ Last Avatar. & ᵀʰᵉ Red Lotus. Player Handbook

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<sub>Hello and welcome!
This is the official player's guide to ᵗʰᵉ Last Avatar. and TLA: ᵗʰᵉ Red Lotus.
Please DM any questions regarding either game or this handbook to myself.

This Tab: Places and Items of Interest...
Ba Sing Se | P1 The Wilds | P2 Tu Zin | P3 Items | P4
The Underground | Coming Soon... Ba Sing Se Rings Expanded | Coming Soon...

Handbook is currently under renovation...</sub>

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ᵀʰᵉ Last Avatar. & ᵀʰᵉ Red Lotus. Player Handbook

_{character concept by vietmykeC5}

Age. 23 Gender. Male Residence. Technically, Jin Wei possesses a small apartment around the SynEn Power Plant, but in actuality, Jin ends up living out of his car more often than not. Occupation. SynEn Piperunner Element. Air Form. Air Level. • Chi. • Piperunner Kit. While Piperunners don't have any particular uniform, they do generally possess the same components: Utilitarian, durable clothes with plenty of pockets, a sealed helmet to filter out the sand and toxic air, a SynEn ID badge, an outer coat to protect from the sand and winds, and typically a rucksack with survivalist supplies such as spare batteries, flashlights, emergency rations, first aid kit, survival knife, and the like. Sato Armory L-45 'Defiant'. This short barrelled lever action rifle was originally designed as a marksman weapon for RSF scouts. A relatively older design, the L-45 has since been phased out for newer weapons, but still remains rather popular amongst survivalists, gun enthusiasts and frontiersmen alike. Durable, reliable and chambered in a relatively high caliber, the L-45 still sees use among groups such as the SynEn Corporation's Piperunners as an accurate but affordable weapon that can handle the dusty and rough conditions far away from society. Jin Wei's rifle has a medium range 1-4x scope and aiming laser, as well as a side mounted ammo carrier. ___________________________........	Who are you? A free spirit and a blue collar worker- admittedly one of the few instances in which such a combination were ever possible. Work is still work, but no one from SynEn corporate really wants to wander their way out into the desert long enough to tell me how to do my job (or fire me for that matter), so they usually leave me alone and let me do my own thing. So long as the Synergy keeps flowing, I guess they don't particularly care how. Being a SynEn Piperunner isn't glamorous work: Take one part plumber, two parts pest control, and one part border security, slap minimum wage on it and you have me. Granted, base pay for SynEn is much better than anything you'd get in the city' and hazard pay on top isn't bad either, so I'm scraping by a bit better than some folk. I can afford the basics: ammunition, lodging and food- but it always feels like I'm short a buck or ten more than is comfortable. Kinda forces you into being a bit more resourceful when we're out in the sands... Between you and me, none of us out here really pay for fuel- I mean, there's a whole pipeline's worth of power a few meters away. We're always patching leaks anyway, so what's a few more missing units of Synergy, right? I mean really, the big bad power company can't afford to provide fuel for the people who keep their pipelines in order? They make me pay for my own ammunition for spirits' sake... Anyway, life isn't that bad out here for the most part. Its hot as all hell, but people leave you alone usually. And if trouble does come knocking, usually other Piperunners will always keep an eye out for you too. There's an honesty to life out here that you don't really get in Ba Sing Se. A bit rough and rugged sure, but you know everyone's angle. There's no gang politics or corpo backstabbing, no con men or thieves with hearts of gold. The people out here are either out to steal Synergy and shoot you, or back you up and shoot them. That's the type of simplicity I can get behind. I've got my gun, I've got my car, and I've got Sumire on the Radio. What else could I need? Well, other than an ice cold beer and working AC. What is your opinion on Benders? Well if you asked me in public and for the record, I'd tell you that benders were the devil and all deserve to be thrown out into the desert and left to wander the wastes until their bodies eventually shriveled up in the heat or went crazy from all of the Synergy radiation. Now of course, if you asked me behind closed doors... its... a bit less cut and clear. I mean, all my life I learned that Benders were the reasons behind all the troubles society went through- and I was happy to believe that until I found out that I could do a bit of airbending myself a few years back. Now, I know I'm not exactly what you'd call an "upstanding member of society", but I've had time to take a step back and look at things and how they are right now- and I'll tell you what... Benders for the most part are gone, any and every bender they find are snuffed out quicker than people knew they existed. And after all of that, guess what? Ba Sing Se still has problems. Gangs still run the lower levels, the aristocrats still pretend none of us shit-stains exist behind their high walls and ivory towers and legions of bought out RSF. Maybe, just maybe, Benders aren't the problem. Now, I'm no revolutionary, I'm not gonna get up in arms and start fighting the system- I'm not an idiot, and I'd like to live and see another decade. I'm just saying, as far as I'm concerned, if I run across you and you're a bender? I never saw ya. _____________________________________________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _	Sumire Lin. 20 years old. Jin Wei's junior in the company. Occasionally accompanies him on his outings into the wastes, but usually functions as a dispatch operator, coordinating with the local Piperunners and sending them where needed. The only person who knows that Jin Wei is an Airbender, though that discovery was made by accident. Excitable and friendly. Moonlights as a street racer whenever Jin's vehicle is in town. Is typically noticed out in the deserts by her signature bunny eared helmet. Sato General Automotives Kyoshi RS. Jin Wei's personal vehicle is a highly modified Kyoshi RS. Suspension and handling has been modified to make it a viable offroad vehicle, and its chassis has been replaced with armored plates to protect its occupants from both gunfire and the general hazards of the lands outside of Ba Sing Se. Armored shutters replace the glass surfaces of the vehicles, the high winds and sands typically render visibility moot anyway, so the vehicle relies on a series of multispectrum cameras to allow the occupants to see while the shutters are lowered. Storage racks on top of the vehicle provide additional storage, and the back seat has been replaced with a plush bench that doubles as a sleeping mat. __________________________________.... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ᵀʰᵉ Last Avatar. & ᵀʰᵉ Red Lotus. Player Handbook

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<sub>Hello and welcome!
This is the official player's guide to ᵗʰᵉ Last Avatar. and TLA: ᵗʰᵉ Red Lotus.
Please DM any questions regarding either game or this handbook to myself.

This Tab: Player characters and NPCs...
Chu Hua | C1 Remax Xuoshi | C2 Weiyuan | C3 Vasra Dermok| C4 Jim Wei| C5

Handbook is currently under renovation...</sub>

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ᵀʰᵉ Last Avatar. & ᵀʰᵉ Red Lotus. Player Handbook

_{character concept by Passable WriterC4}

Age. 23 Gender. Female Residence. Middle Ring. Travels often to other rings for extended periods of time for work. Occupation. Medical Doctor, professional idealist, and constant source of annoyance to wealthier, older doctors. Element. Water Form. Water Level. • Chi. • Extra. Vasra maintains a number of shadowy contacts that are willing to sell her spirit infused water that they have acquired through dubious means. Although far from a criminal, Vasra herself, when moments permit it, has been known to "recover" small quantities of spirit water that might otherwise have been unfortunately lost to circumstance. Vasra has a journal full of medical notes and her own thoughts, written in short hand and using a rudimentary cipher of her own making. While it is possible to decipher what she has written, doing so would take quite a bit of time and effort. By virtue of her profession, Vasra carries a large leather medical bag on her person at at all times. The bag contains scissors, scalpels, surgical tubes, forceps, bandages, and a number of vials of carefully secured spirit water Sonam Manihn. 21 year old resident of the Lower Ring and the only survivor of a once proud family of Air Benders. Sonam is Vasra's most trusted source for illegally acquired spirit water. A true believer in Doctor Dermok's personal mission to provide medical care for those in the Lower Ring and beyond, Sonam is remarkably loyal to Vasra despite her triad allegiance. ______________________________........ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Who are you? An excellent question, even when posed to oneself. I swear! I swear I am not mad! I write simply because I cannot speak freely. It is only in this journal that I can record matters related to medicine without fear of cruel censorship. And it is only here, here in this battered journal, that I may examine the truth of my world without worry that I will find myself languishing in a dark, cold cell tomorrow. Such pleasantries and pleasant thoughts aside...I am Vasra Dermok. I am a doctor. I am a resident of the Middle Ring, as I have ever been. I am the daughter of Besre and Hulok Dermok. I am the younger sister of Tarnelu Dermok. In times long past, my ancestors were Water Benders. I know little of them. I know nothing of their arts. I know precious few details concerning their lives. Only stories remain. Distant memories passed on from one generation to another. The memories of my people shattered as their cities fell and burned to ash along with their books. We are not the people we once were. We cannot recall our culture. We cannot perform our ancient customs. And we are much reduced for it. There is no harmony. Not with nature and not with ourselves. Peace, peace eludes us in these bitter times. Alas! My sorrows will not help. There is but one cure...and that is action! I beg that no one misunderstand me! Compared to others trapped in this city, my suffering has been but a drop of water cast into a roaring river. I come from a family of modest means, this is true. I grew up in the Middle Ring, in the Rirlaq quarters. It was a neighborhood of artisans, craftsman, and low level bureaucrats who worked for the nobles that resided in the Upper Level. The Republic Security Force were a regular presence. They treated us well enough. We gave little reason for them to respond with violence. We starved seldom. We had toys. We had several sets of clothing. We lived in our a house, cramped as it was with all four of us. My parents were stern, but kind. They only meant well, even when I angered them. They still only mean well. My parents worked often, my parents worked long hours, keeping a small textile shop that secured our fortunes. As a result, I spent much time with my older brother, Tarnelu. He was always stronger than me. Always faster. Always a bit braver. But he was kind. He taught me so much about life in Ba Sing Se. In those days, he was kind, he was a bright light that shielded me from the darkness of this city. It has been some time since I have last seen him. He left when I was fourteen. He joined the Republic Security Forces. He did not doubt as I did. He asked few questions. He said he was doing it for us. For all of us. For everyone in Ba Sing Se. And I believed him. I still believe him. But I miss the brother that left us. He was kind. He was so kind! I swear on all that I hold dear! Once, my brother was a kind boy. A happy child, empty of all hatred. He is different now. Colder. More serious. I can see the pain he carries. I can feel it. He will not permit me to treat him. He will not admit that anything is amiss. He will not speak of serious matters with me. He doesn't want me to know. He is afraid I will act. He is afraid I will cure him. I say for myself, as much for anyone else, I have not given up! I will not. But as to my early years... As a child, I listened well to my parents. They told me to work hard. They told me to keep my hands busy. They told me to do my duty. They told me to serve the Republic. They told me to ask fewer questions. They told me to cause no more ripples and no more waves in the waters of Ba Sing Se. And they told me to steel my heart to the suffering that surrounded me. All this I did with great love and fealty. However, I could not close my heart to others. They have always said I have been too kind. Too quick to help. Too unthinking when it came to following the whispers afflicted my conscience. I do not deny this. I could not close my heart to others. I would not. Not then, and certainly not now. Still, I was a gifted student. I loved to read. I borrowed so many books. I hounded my teachers for information. For more lessons, for more stories to memorize. I asked so many questions! Too many questions, many would say. As I grew, my desire to learn more only grew greater. I sought out knowledge. I sought out wise teachers. I attended lectures. I sat for the entrance exam to attend one of the institutes of higher learning. In time, I acquired a generous patron, his lordship Yaraik Teem. Thanks to his tireless support, I attended the Hou-Ting Academy. Many say it is the finest school in Ba Sing Se. I do not doubt this, although I cannot say that I enjoyed all aspects of life in those storied halls. At the Academy, nestled in the safety and comfort of the Upper Ring, I was trained by the finest medical minds and teachers yet to be found across our ruined lands. I found mentors willing to guide me. I found a great wealth of knowledge. And I found new friends from all the three Rings. I took to medicine quickly. And I believe medicine took to me as swiftly. I left the university as a fully fledged medical doctor. Many doors were opened to me as a result of my training and my new degree. I found myself with many new friends from the university and on professional terms with those far above my original station. Disease and injury are unfortunately common in our present world. The services of a doctor are always needed. Mortality makes little difference between wealth or status. Some grow complacent in my position. Some grow fat off of their endless profits. Many swell with pride at their ability. Most relish their status. I have striven for balance. I have attempted to find a better way. I could do nothing else. I treat all that seek out my services. I have no aspirations for acquiring great wealth. I accept what payments my patients can offer. I make no distinctions between the residents of rings. Upper Ring, Middle Ring, Lower Ring, and even the shunned travelers of the Underground, all deserve compassion. All have a right to have their ailments cured and their injuries healed. Be they troubled in matters of the body, the mind, or the spirit. There must be no imposed distinction between these aspects of the patient, for they are all interconnected and affect the health of the patient. At least, that is what I have humbly come to believe. Forgive me, I ramble, even in my writings I find it hard to limit my words. I am troubled. I am troubled by this world. I am troubled by what it has become. I am troubled by the suffering of the people in Ba Sing Se. I fear for the people yet living beyond the walls of our city. I am full of sorrow, but I must continue, there is work still to be done. The hour grows, and my time is short. Many things are best left unsaid for now. I maintain a clinic in the Middle Ring, in the Shoh Kye quarters. I have never bothered to name it, but the people in my neighborhood know where to find it, the signs plastered on the wall say Doctor and Medicine in fading script in my own hand. It is a small building, but I keep it meticulously clean. I would have it no other way. I took over the clinic after the venerable Doctor Gyon Maki retired some years ago. He was a great man and a kindred spirit. I have changed little in the clinic. Funds do not allow it and I do not have the time. I work primarily from in the clinic. In fact, I sleep in a small room above it. One never knows when a patient will arrive, after all. Often I have the *ahem* great honor, I travel to the Upper Ring to offer my services to some of the residents of the Upper Ring. When time permits it has become my practice to travel to the Lower Ring, to offer my services to those with far fewer means. It is a habit of mine little beloved by my eminent colleagues, but respectfully, their objections do not move me. The world remains afflicted with innumerable diseases and the scars of deep wounds beyond our own time... Compassion is the least we can provide. The essence of our vocation must be to heal the people of these lands and to offer our aid whenever and wherever we can. What is your opinion on Benders? Benders. Bending. These are two dangerous words to utter in Ba Sing Se today. Since our youth, all residents of Ba Sing Se have learned of the great ills that benders inflicted upon our world with their bending and how they steeped the lands in suffering. Few groups in our long history have been as vilified as bender. Few heroes are as condemned by our textbooks as those known for their bending. We curse the Avatar and all their ilk or so our official records proudly proclaim. As a matter of legality, it is of course highly illegal to practice bending. Breaking the laws concerning bending, in any way, is met with swift and merciless punishment, regardless of the nature or severity of the offense. I confess I have grown weary of this unbending...this unwavering belief. I am a learned woman. I have studied the great tomes of my profession that survived the Great War and the Great Cleanse. I have read the writings of many of the old masters and philosophers...Those books that were permitted and some books that to put it most delicately might simply have been overlooked by the censors in their fervent haste to protect our growing minds. Between careful words and subtle prose, medical practitioners of the past speak of the power of bending to not just destroy, but to create...and to heal. Accomplished scholar call these case studies fanciful tales created by a primitive, brutish people seduced by the evils of bending. However, I would disagree. I do disagree. I disagree strongly with such words. We have forgotten the spirit. We ignored the mind. We treat only the body. Lost are the lessons of the past heroes. What if we could do more? What if we could do better? What if we could harness the power of chi to heal our patients? Surely, spirit infused water cannot be the end of our research and our medicine? Synergy is but the product of a greater process. SynEn is not our master, no matter what the corporatists tell us, and no matter the violence that they threaten us with. More may yet live beyond these metal walls...and we must seek the truth. My esteemed colleagues call me a dreamer. They have gently advised me to ask no more questions. They find me rash. They believe me too young. They have warned me of consequences. Trusted friends among them have suggested that I might offend the wrong parties if my words do not soften. I offer no apology for my actions. I will not be swayed by fear. I will not fall victim to ignoble ignorance. If I err. If I am too forward. If I say what should not be said. It is only because I must. It is only because the people, this city, and this world are dying. I cannot stand by as all suffer. I cannot keep my eyes shut any longer. I will not silence my tongue. Instead, I will listen to my heart. I offer no apology for simply doing my duty. I am a student of the art and science of medicine. I can only do what I believe to be good. I desire only to see the people healed. I hope only watch as our great city flourishes once again. And I wish only to discover that the lands have been restored. In these pages, in my own words, I freely admit to these subversive thoughts. I am no bender. I have performed no bending. Jealous rumors have assailed me and ruthless accusations have followed me despite my continued innocence. I have never sought out conflict with my esteemed colleagues, but my conscience will not permit me to spread falsehoods. I am a doctor. I am a healer. I simply collect what knowledge I can discover. I merely use the tools I have been provided. I will not beg forgiveness for my skill at administering spirit water. What crime is it to cure the sick and to mend the broken? Truth, truth is only an affliction that gives rise to deep wounds in those already enveloped by corruption. The cure for such diseases may be painful to the patient, but is necessary to save the mind, body, and spirit. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________..

ᵀʰᵉ Last Avatar. & ᵀʰᵉ Red Lotus. Player Handbook

_{character concept by KillamriX88C3}

Age. 19 Gender. Male Residence. Formerly of the Lower Ring in Ba Sing Se. Now residing at Tu Zin. Occupation. Worked as an animal keeper at "The Catgator's Meow". Element. Earth Form. Earth Level. • Chi. • Extra. He keeps an old pocket-watch on him; a gift from his grandfather. Apparently it had originally belonged to his great-grandfather who died during the assault on Ba Sing Se. His grandfather had found the man buried in rubble, the watch damaged and broken, forever stuck at the time the invasion had begun. He, perhaps unsurprisingly, has numerous scars. The main ones are the ones on his scalp, though his hair mostly hides these, and the one on his neck. Then are the ones on his back and forearms from trying to protect himself. Lastly, he has various, smaller, faded scars all along his arms, legs, and torso from his first... incident. Most of the time, his clothes hide the vast majority of his scars, but the ones on his neck and forearms tend to be visible to some degree unless he really buttons up his jacket. He knows all the turtle-ducks in the store by name. He's also the one who names them. He was once tricked into eating turtle-duck soup. The only reason the other man is still alive is because all the ducks in the store were still accounted for... and yes, he finished it all, and yes it was delicious... ______________________________......	Who are you? That's a complicated question sometimes. When I was younger I realized I could earthbend. I thought it was amazing, but my family was terrified and only my grandfather would have me. Later I made the mistake of letting more people know. Instead of being turned in or executed, they decided to deal with me themselves. They beat me until I was unconscious. I was asleep for days afterward. I was never really... the same after that. I don't talk anymore. On the bright side, I was "born." Don't worry about me, though. I'm not really anyone at the end of the day. I just help deal with things when they get a bit too hard. Umm, people who know about me say that I ended up with something called "split personalities." I thought maybe I got hit too hard, but they said it was probably just because I needed to become someone else to deal with the stress of what happened. Anyway I learned my lesson and didn't try to bend again after that. That kind of made things better, but then I lost my grandfather and I had to try and take care of myself. I guess people don't always like that I don't talk, because I ended up getting hurt again. They didn't beat me quite as bad as last time, but a piece of glass got stuck deep in my throat. I got lucky though. A friend found me and got the glass out. Later on a doctor told me that even if I wanted to learn to talk again, it would be pointless because now there was too much damage. I've gotten good at sign language, though! Actually, I can talk. Kind of. I can whisper, but have you ever tried to hold a conversation on a busy street while whispering? It's a nightmare. Anyway, that's not even the whole story. It was a friend of mine that saved us. My mentor, Chae-Won. Apparently earthbenders can control glass. With her help and instruction, together we got the glass out. They did most of the work, of course, but they couldn't feel exactly where the glass was inside me, so I had to help direct it. Not my idea of fun, but it was an interesting lesson. But yeah, I've made sure to keep learning, but unfortunately I'm not usually in the driver's seat, so it's hard to get very far. You think I've been able to even budge glass since? Ugh. Don't tell him that, though. He's not ready to get back into it all. I don't even want to think about how much he'd freak out if he knew. Yuan just thinks she's a friendly neighbor. Now I work with animals. They don't care if I bend or not, or if I talk or not. I've also learned that some people actually like that I don't talk. It makes me really good at keeping secrets. I know they're not great people, but I have to survive somehow. What is your opinion on Benders? Benders are very bad. They wouldn't have hurt me so much if they weren't. And yet even when you stopped, you still got hurt. I've stopped bending. I just want to be normal. You'd be dead if you were... _____________________________________________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _	Chae-Won. Most days she really does just run deliveries. The reason she's made this into a viable career is because she's earned a reputation as one of the few people who can traverse the entirety of the Lower Ring, the Underground, and sometimes even outside the walls without being robbed, jumped, or otherwise accosted. She can even be convinced to dress up a bit and go into the Middle Ring on occasion. The problem is that, in order to keep a steady flow of income, the things she needs to bring from A to B aren't always... innocuous. Sometimes what she's asked to deliver is a beating, though she tries to be picky with those ones. She yearns for the day that she can go back to being just a friendly delivery girl, but that day hasn't come yet. Tee only other skill she has she can't show to people -- except for one. When she first caught him practicing, she played dumb, just scolding him and telling him to be more careful. However, she kept a close eye on him after that, sometimes just quietly watching him try to use his earthbending, pretending like she was fascinated. Eventually she took a risk and revealed her own abilities. Whether it was out of pity to teach him, since he could barely lift more than a few grains of sand, or because she was lonely, it was hard to say. It turned out the boy, Yuan, had his own secrets of course. There were two of him, the one she taught in secret, and the one who just really liked feeding the turtle-ducks and needed a friendly face to greet every day. Maybe she'd needed that too. __________________________________.... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _