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--- obsidian:root:avatar_timeline [2023/11/15 08:15]
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 They split up with Sein after getting through the Cinder’s District to the south side of harbor city. Jannu again resists a callout by Sein to rely on her before they leave. The gang settles into the local community center for the night and gathers some information from the locals. They learn about a path that leads to the cliffs the harbor gate are attached to, and that the water tribe seems to have a boat outside of the harbor they water walk to. Jannu and Kianari have a heart to heart about responsibilities which is a comfort to Kianari.
+====== Episode 3 - Eggcellent Day For a Sail ======
+Waking up the morning, the group addresses the most pressing they have: what to name the egg. Man names are kicked around including Harold and Barney, but BB is the most popular. They then take stock of their plan, knowing they want to talk to the water tribe about the egg. They chose to avoid the walking trail on the south ridge to stay covert, instead heading to the main gates to the harbor. There’s a checkpoint here looking for id scrolls the gang doesn’t have so after some assessment, they instead decide to have Kianari’s polar bear dog Vata carry them across the northern ridge.
+The gang meets up with Vata in the cinder’s district. They work together, to create mud and then bake it into a toboggan for Vata to carry half the party with, the other half riding on her back. They make it around the ridge before the toboggan falls apart, and spot a water tribe ship anchored along the coast outside of the harbor. Kianari heads down to speak to them. She meets Makwa, Kollana, and Lallu, three waterbenders assigned to investigate the spirits here. After a short interlude where Lallu hears about Vata and races up the cliffs in an impressive display of waterbending, the rest of the gang joins Kianari on the ship.
+At first the gang isn’t sure they can trust these waterbenders with the secret of the egg, Kollana calls out Tudi’s principle of action and they end up discussing freely. Makwa shares that they are investigating dark spirits appearing in the fire nation and they tend to appear near where a dragon hunt takes place. They’ve tried to investigate, but a military task force lead by a man named Ojum always beats them there and prevents them from investigating. They also know that dragons can find each other naturally, so if they find a living dragon, it might be able to find the dragon’s mother. The waterbenders just heard of a village that has a dragon guardian so the group decides to sail with them to check it out.
+They have a day’s sail to make to the village. Kianari asks Lallu to help her learn a new waterbending technique. Lallu challenges Kianari’s reasoning on why, at first Kianari says because of her responsibilities as Icon, but with prodding she admits she wants to learn the skills for herself, even if the northern tribe doesn’t teach women combat waterbending. Lallu, a princess of the southern tribe and a total free spirit, respects this and helps her. Kianari becomes insecure from comparing herself to Lallu’s waterbending and troubled by going against her culture, but succeeds in the end. Lallu is impressed, even if she was launched into the ocean by the icy deck Kianari created!
+Shaizu and Tudi end up speaking on the ride. Shaizu starts the conversation but she’s really looking for Tudi to say how he as an earthbender feels about the fire nation, as Shaizu is becoming disillusioned with some of their practices. Tudi describes the fire nation with an open mind but also says it’s not for him, too formal and rigid, and Shaizu thanks him for his opinions, taking the time to think them over.
+Jannu catches onto the stresses Kianari acquired from all the training and makes multiple attempts to help her new friend relax. Jannu’s way with words is lacking, but the effort is appreciated (as are the buiscuits she shared). Shaizu is able to truly get Kianari to open up, asking why Kianari is so worried about being good at combat bending. Kianari shares that she learned her combat bending from a friend, not the masters of the water tribe, and she has a chip on her shoulder for that. Her tradition also only wants her to know healing and spiritual matters, so Lallu’s mastery of all things waterbending is foreign to her.
+As those two guide and comfort each other, Jannu wanders to the deck, seeing Lallu practice an Ice Gauntlet technique. Jannu’s creative and open mind thinks she can make this move work as a fire bending technique. The two talk and Lallu helps Jannu try to adapt the move. So far Jannu is only able to form smoke gauntlets, but she’s confident given a little time she can make it fire.
+All things said and done, they rest as best they can on the ship and arrive at a rocky beach in the morning. They anchor a little off shore and head to shore, faced with a massive, dark forest filled with evergreen trees. The forest is eeirly quiet as they travel through it along the path to the village, until they hear a sudden snap from behind them, along with the pounding of paws.
+====== Episode 4 - An Egg’s Mother ======
+From behind them a deer dog appears, acting as if it was tracking prey. Next appears it’s master, a earth bender mercenary who informs the group he’s been tasked by Lord Farquad to retrieve the egg they stole. While it’s not personal for him, the pay is good so when they refuse he starts a fight. He wears out Tudi significantly, but is otherwise overwhelmed by the party and surrenders when his deer dog takes a few combustion blasts from Katsumi. He promises to tell Farquad he couldn’t find the group, and makes a retreat. The party gives his deer dog Bowbow a few buiscuits as a treat.
+The group arrives in Kibiki Village, a small former mining village that has turned to logging in attempt to save the village after the ore veins dried up. The village is known to have had a dragon guarding their village for over a century, hence the group’s visit. Makwa suggests they head for the chief’s place, but stops just short of it when he spots a member of Ozai’s Dragon Task Force standing at the entrance. He refuses to approach, not wanting to invite more trouble from the group than they already have, since both investigate the scenes of dragon deaths. Kollana is angered by this and along with Katsumi, Tudi, and Shaizu, approach. Kollana also tests Kianari’s balance, asserting that Kianari should be the one representing the Northern Water Tribe as it’s Icon.
+Shaizu convinces the guard that they have urgent information to relay, and he fetches his superior from inside. Captain Ojum is the leader of the Dragon Task Force and he ignores every trick or intimidate tactic they try. He eventually tells them to leave and resumes his meeting with the chief. Not to be stopped, Tudi and Katsumi sneak around the exterior of the building to listen at the windows. Tudi only manages to find the bathroom, but Katsumi listens to the tail end of Ojum’s meeting with Chief Unoko.
+Ojum tells Unoko that Dragon Force has investigated and the dragon that’s been missing for months has simply decided to leave. Unoko tries to challenge this, but he makes it clear his assessment is not to be questioned. He tells her to spread the word of his investigation and then leaves.
+After Dragon Task Force leaves, Katsumi, Makwa, Tudi, and Shaizu head to meet the chief in person. The chief tells them their dragon guardian, Vepiot, has been missing for months and it’s unlike her. She lets them know Dragon Force have been in town for a day and a half, they flew into a clearing on the village outskirts in a hot air balloon. She also shares that Dark Spirits have shown up recently, forcing the town’s folk to hide at night. The party offers to do their own investigation alongside Makwa and Chief Unoko gives them a wax seal that states they’re helping the chief.
+The party reconvenes outside and decide to talk to the townsfolk who’ve been out logging and might have last seen Vepiot. They meet a muscular woman carrying bundles of firewood in one hand with a jovial attitude first. Katsumi talks to her and she mentions that she saw Dragon Force marching north yesterday towards one of the original mines from the town’s founding, north of the village. The party takes this clue and runs with it, heading for the mine.
+Tudi and Kianari navigate them through the woods with Tudi’s wilderness background and they come upon the cave. A purple miasma permeates from the cave. Makwa identifies this as related to dark spirits but not directly harmful, and the group pushes into the cave. There, in a massive cavern, they find the corpse of Vepiot, battered with ballista bolts, firebending burns, and other deep wounds. Vepiot was clearly hunted. This horrifies the water tribe members as a Dragon is a powerful spirit and should be respected. The four immediately want to perform a ritual to separate the flesh from the spirit so Vepiot’s spirit can return to the spirit world without an earthly tether, but they are interrupted by a ghastly wail from deeper in the mine.
+Out from the dark tunnels comes a ghostly image of Vepiot, filled with a deep purple malice and made of condensed Miasma. This is Vepiot’s spirit, corrupted and turned dark. Kianari’s knowledge of spirits comes to her aid, knowing that a spirit pushed to become dark like this must have had a Principle that truely mattered to it on the mortal realm, and reminding the spirit of that principle can bring back it’s true self. Katsumi is first to approach the violent spirit, taking a wave of fire breath in which she was shown visions of the dragons cares. Katsumi, Jannu, then Kianari all call out that the village misses her, the hunters are not with them, and that it should not worry for them.
+Jaanu, in a fourth attempt to reason with the spirit as it wears down the party’s reserves, sees one final vision in the flames. The vision is of an egg, one very familiar egg sitting in a nest in this mine. Jaanu reveals the egg and reassures Vepiot her egg is safe, no longer in the hands of Farquad and his men. This is what finally brings Vepiot back into the light, she has a soft final moment with the egg before she fades away, headed for the spirit world. Even her body fades, truly being at piece.
+The exhausted party collapses on the spot, wondering what to do next when Makwa suggests they speak to the Sunbenders. Makwa only knows of them, but most of the group has also heard of the group that lives with Dragons and practices “traditional firebending”. It’s a start, though they’ll have to find them first.
+====== Episode 5 - Hatching a Plan For an Egg ======
+We skip ahead to the party returning to the outskirts of the Fire Nation Capital with the Spiritualists. The Spiritualists bid them farewell and good luck in their hunt for the sunbenders as they must return to the Southern Water Tribe to get help with spirits like Vepiot’s. The party debates getting back into the city, unsure of how much security is hanging around. They decide to hide Tudi in one of Vata’s water barrels and try to convince the guards Jaanu is a prospective Royal Fire Academy for Girls student. The harbor guards pay the group no mind, and their plan works with the Caldera City security as Kianari, Shaizu, and Katsumi all have papers to re-enter the city.
+In the city, the party decides to go to Katsumi’s family home to stash the egg and maybe get some information from the family archives about the sunbenders. The Yuda clan head butler greets them and tells Katsumi she’s requested by her grandfather, but Katsumi resists the callout and brings her friends to her room first. Katsumi then goes to meet her grandfather, aunts, uncle, and father who are all assembled. Her aunt Ilano is furious Katsumi was identified in the fight outside the Royal Fire Academy and wants Grandfather Yuda to punish her. Meanwhile her other aunt (Arumu) and uncle (Dorum) are proud of her as they aren’t fans of the fire lord. Her father Arusen is quiet.
+Katsumi is able to tell half truths to make it seem like unfortunate circumstances were to blame, but her Grandfather is still disappointed it happened at all. He tells her she’ll be under house arrest until she can be re-educated in her role at a Yuda clan member. She makes a deal to allow her friends to stay the night as well though.
+After Katsumi is put in her room and the others are taken to their own, they decide to do some snooping. They find Grandfather Yuda’s study via a map Katsumi drew earlier and search for signs of the Sunbenders. They find a document that hints that Arusen may know more about the sunbenders, but as they haven’t been introduced yet they return to their rooms. Later they use the excuse of walking Vata to go to the garden behind Katsumi’s room. They come to her window and covertly discuss the egg and their objective. Arusen had entered the room during the conversation at least caught on that they wanted something from him, which worked out: he wanted their help as well. He’s going to have them help with a Fire Nation Intelligence mission and offers the Sunbender’s location in return.
+====== Episode 6 - Investieggation Gone Rotten ======