Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

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Gunmetal_Rainbow
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Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Gunmetal_Rainbow »

It's a steel-sky day in the Earth Kingdom in the small coastal village of Tuyadi. The sky threatens rain, but so far it has been no more than threats.

As your group arrives in the village, you think back to your meeting with Long Feng, the grand secretariat of Ba Sing Se. The well dressed politician had invited your group not long after your valiant defense of your hometown. Even though it was ultimately lost, Long Feng was apparently impressed enough to summon your group to Ba Sing Se. Even going so far as to pay for your travel expenses to the capital of the Earth Kingdom with one his agents acting as a guide after delivering the invitation itself.

Long Feng himself comes across as an impressively competent man, and being not one of, but THE top political in the Kingdom it comes as no surprize. His offices are not the opulent and overly decorated accomodations one might expect of such a high station, but practical with bookshelves and tables covered in books, scrolls, maps covered in maps and a few comfortable chairs sets before a grand desk as the only "soft" feature of the room. And the man himself, not dressed in overly rich robes, but something more practical and functional though still of good quality. He has smart, sharp eyes and exudes competence in every conceivable way. You simply know nothing happens in Ba Sing Se that is not aware of, and the palace in particular. So aware that even your most kleptomaniac impulse is stayed, knowing that somehow Long Feng would know of any single chopstick that sticky fingers might find.

The meeting isn't long, as Long Feng has a great many responsibilities to the city, so he keeps things short and to the point. He has heard of your group's defense of Shima Zho through his agents and though he regrets the loss, he is impressed with how long you held the place with such small numbers, and he wants to put your talents to use. A notorious Fire Nation General, Onomu, has defected and stolen war plans out from under Fire Lord Ozai's very nose. She wants to bargain the plans for safe passage to and asylum in Ba Sing Se, and Long Feng knows those plans will be instrumental in the continued defense of Ba Sing Se.

The negotiation for compensation likewise doesn't take long. The grand secretariat was very efficient about it, simply asking what your group wanted for your services. While the details need more ironing out, the overall premise of re-establishing a village where Shima Zho once stood and ensuring its protection was reasonable enough for Long Feng to sign off on, ensuring that he would write up the order and plans to be reviewed once your group returned successful. While he did seem to agree to the request somewhat easily, you don't get that it was an empty promise, but something that was easily within his influence to have done, even if there were numerous details, particularly in how to ensure the new village was adequately protected in these times of war. The agreement at the very least rings with sincerity in principle.

First thing is first though, getting the ex-general Onomu back to Ba Sing Se in one piece with the war plans.

Snapping back to the present, your group enters Tuyadi's market square. The village is small and smells of fish, both raw and cooked and consists of only a few dozen huts and slightly larger lodge type buildings with a central 'square' meeting area of the village and the only other notable feature of the village being several drying racks and makeshift docks on the village's beach that several boat are tied securely, but most are out fishing, even in the rough, choppy waters. Being so tiny, the village holds no strategic value to the Fire Nation and has so far been left unoccupied, making it ideal for this pickup.

You find Onomu where Long Feng's agent informed you the day before along the road where she would be. Wearing a hooded green Earth Kingdom cloak with a small red patch on the hem, hood up against the potential of rain, enjoying a warm bowl of dumpling weed soup. The red patch is a signal to your group, but to a casual onlooker would look like just a scrap of red material used to patch the cloak. You can tell from where your group stands that while she seems engrossed in the meal, she is attentive, guard up and on watch. She knows someone is coming to collect her to be escorted and you know the hand sign to signal to her subtly that you are her escort.
Control is now to your group. You're across the square and can signal Onomu any time to come over, rather than approaching her yourselves. Everything seems peaceful at the moment and the only tension is whether the sky will open up with rain or not.

What would you like to do?
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Doctor Malsyn
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Li
Fatigue: 5 - Conditions: None
Status: None
Balance: <Friendship> -1/+1 <Survival> (Center: 0)


He felt it long before he really understood what it meant, a shift in the air as beginings of a coming storm took shape. He couldn't guess when the dam might finally break, maybe Minnow could, but it all the same made him wish he'd packed himself a cloak. Could that he might've 'secured' one for himself, but these people here were struggling to survive as they were.

As he had many times before, Li would just have to grin and bear it. Then again... Were they really sure that jerkbender needed that hood of hers after they confirmed her identity? Decisions, decisions.

"Dosnt look very impressive from here." He commented, watching the woman from accross the way.
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Vivid
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Vivid »

Minnow
Fatigue(unmarked): 5
Conditions: None
Status: None
Balance: <Excellence> -1/+1 <Community> (Center: 0)


Minnow shrugs a shoulder at Li's observation. She knew that looks could be deceiving.

The lithe girl, even small for 15 (her deceptively-noodle-thin arms looking even more sparse in the oversized sleeves of her Earth Nation cloak) looks for a good vantage point from which to watch for trouble. She had no doubt she'd be able to get to where she needed to be if things went south. Her layered-cut short brown hair framed a round face and pixie nose set in skin made more dusky by the sun. Bright blue eyes usually unwavering and still like the calm ocean can flash to a choppy mischievous or, rarely, an unbridled, furious storm.

If she sees a good place to watch from she'll point it out to her companions "I'll watch from there." and make her way.
Flynnarrel
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Flynnarrel »

Zumu Yin
Fatigue: 5 - Conditions: None
Status: None
Balance: <Experience> +1/-1 <Humility> (Center: 0)


Zumu nods trusting her companions to know how best their skills can contribute. In the past few months they've proven themselves capable, but also quite a handful. She wasn't sure if Minnow always had a trickster streak in her or if she was picking up bad habits from the foundling, Li. But Yim knew she couldn't be shepherd to them 24/7. They had to make their own messes, dig their own holes, and then figure out how to get out again without destroying all they had been working towards. Yin, herself, was taught such principles. She would try to impart that quality to the others.

"I'll make contact." she says. She had wanted to take the measure of this woman anyway.

She freed a stray strand of grey hair from under her own hood but pulled it to shield her wrinkled face from the sun as she began crossing the square with an unhurried pace. Yin was not shy about approaching the general's table.

She pulls out the chair opposite the eating woman. "You'll not begrudge an old lady a moment's rest, will you?" she says, sliding into the chair with only slight 'old person' sounds - popping tendons, clicking joints, the sigh at bending the body hinges that get too quickly used to being in one position.

"You've got a long journey ahead of you, Miss, I can tell." she says sagely. Like a prophet casting stones and interpreting the marks of destiny that come up.

"But unfortunately, I am your first boulder on that path." Yin says, finally flashing the hand signal that Onomu would have been waiting for.

"Now, I am too old and you are too desperate to be playing games, so how about we cut the garbage in our conversations with each other, hmm?"
"Something pithy this way comes."
Flynnarrel
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Flynnarrel »

Zumu Yin
Fatigue: 5 - Conditions: None
Status: None
Balance: <Experience> +1/-1 <Humility> (Center: 0)


Yin sits up straighter, letting the military steel of her training infuse her spine. "Please tell me the circumstances that surround your... choice to be here today." The old lady doesn't openly use the word 'defection' but it's implied. She pitches her voice low so as not to carry.
"Something pithy this way comes."
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Doctor Malsyn
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Li
Fatigue: 5 - Conditions: None
Status: None
Balance: <Friendship> -1/+1 <Survival> (Center: 0)


Falling back against one of the nearby structures, he watched as Elder Yin pressed the scorcher for more details. She might've been uptight, but she certainly knew how to get results where they were needed.
Am I dead? Am I alive? The answer may surprise you!
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"What a week, huh?" "Doc, it's only Wednesday."
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Gunmetal_Rainbow
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Gunmetal_Rainbow »

Onomu glances up, face passive at first as Zumu Yin sits down with her, but the expression hardens as the elder earthbender flashes the hand signal casually. She glances about for anyone else nearby and while it's clear she would like to scold Zumu more openly, the public location prevents her from doing so, not without blowing her cover anyhow. Either way, it's clear enough to Zumu that the ex-general is not pleased with this approach as it already goes against the plan.

"I'm certain I don't know what you mean..." Onomu may be disciplining herself to speak with an even tone, but the teeth grinding is clearly implied. "I'm just enjoying a quick lunch before moving on. I'm afraid I am on something of a strict schedule." The last bit more an urging that they do not have time to sit around and prod each other here in the open public like this.
Flynnarrel
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Flynnarrel »

Zumu Yin
Fatigue: 5 - Conditions: None
Status: None
Balance: <Experience> +1/-1 <Humility> (Center: 0)


Yin's shrewd eyes look over the general. Even at the few scant words she learns so much. The haughty tones, unbending, unbroken; the leer as she looks at other citizens of the Earth Nation; it told her what she needed to know.

Zumu Yin began the process of getting to her feet.

"Well, seems like you'll be needing friends. Best mind how you talk to them." She arcs her back with a wince and a crackle. "If you're done with your meal, escort an old woman out, will you?"
"Something pithy this way comes."
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Gunmetal_Rainbow
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Gunmetal_Rainbow »

Onomu stands up and with a barely masked glare, she falls in to play to the act of assisting the elder earthbender. "Where might I escort you to?" the subtext of the question being "Where are the rest of you?"

Seeing Onomu closer, Zumu can get a better assessment of the woman. This was no lazy general getting fat off the hardship of her subordinates. Knowing she is a firebender, Zumu can tell the general is in keen fighting shape and could hold her own quite handily if needed, though ideally, you'll never need to test that.
Flynnarrel
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Flynnarrel »

Zumu Yin
Fatigue: 5 - Conditions: None
Status: None
Balance: <Experience> +1/-1 <Humility> (Center: 0)


"Just there, to the NorthEast." Yin gestures by way of letting her companions know where to rendezvous. Northeast is the general way to Ba Sing Se as well.

"You are so kind." she says to Onomu.
"Something pithy this way comes."
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Vivid
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Vivid »

Minnow
Fatigue(unmarked): 5
Conditions: None
Status: None
Balance: <Excellence> -1/+1 <Community> (Center: 0)


Minnow will seemingly disappear from her watching point and rejoin the others at the edge of the village just as bold as you please, eating an apple. When Li shows up she will toss him a second one.
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Doctor Malsyn
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Li
Fatigue: 5 - Conditions: None
Status: None
Balance: <Friendship> -1/+1 <Survival> (Center: 0)


He catches the fruit casually, with nary a comment on how he never saw her purchase one. It's just a couple apples, the seller probably would've thrown some of them out eventually anyway. While eating, he eyed up their apparent ward with no small amount of suspicion. If Elder Yin was still with the woman though, then he guessed that meant whatever her intentions were she could at least be trusted to behave herself.
Am I dead? Am I alive? The answer may surprise you!
------------
"What a week, huh?" "Doc, it's only Wednesday."
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Gunmetal_Rainbow
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Gunmetal_Rainbow »

Onomu looks at the two younger escorts as they match step and arches an eyebrow at Zumu. "You must be joking... they're....children." She doesn't raise her voice, of course intent on not causing a scene, but her tone is unmistakable incredulity, with a note of worry. After all, she is meant to rely on the three of you to get her safely to Ba Sing Se, avoiding not only Fire Nation patrols, but to avoid detection by Earth Kingdom forces that might wish to extract some vengeance against the Fire Nation on any vulnerable target.

That is of course not to say Onomu has not taken willing participation in the attacks, raids and colonization of the Earth Kingdom, but to her perception, she's done it to quell resistance against the good intentions of the Fire Nation to uplift the people of the other nations and overthrow their current, corrupt leadership.
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Doctor Malsyn
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Li
Fatigue: 5 - Conditions: None
Status: None
Balance: <Friendship> -1/+1 <Survival> (Center: 0)


"And you're just the right age to be our new mother! Perfect cover, right?"Li grins, but it doesn't reach his eyes. It's only when they turn to Yin that they seem anywhere near kind. "What do you say, granny, should we get moving or check our supplies first?"
Am I dead? Am I alive? The answer may surprise you!
------------
"What a week, huh?" "Doc, it's only Wednesday."
Flynnarrel
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Re: Avatar Legends: Ash and Steel [Roleplay thread]

Post by Flynnarrel »

Zumu Yin
Fatigue: 5 - Conditions: None
Status: None
Balance: <Experience> +1/-1 <Humility> (Center: 0)


Zumu Yin smiles indulgently but her eyes hold annoyance when she gives a side glance to the general. She reigns in the thousands of sarcastic comments she could make, though. Reminding herself that this was all just as new and scary for the Fire Nation officer. Her voice contains notes of both steel and empathy. "A unit of the finest Earth Nation military would draw too much attention and provoke a response from the plentiful Fire Nation forces scattered through this land. A small family of travelers, on the move," she nods to Li's idea regarding ages and answers his query, "would draw much less response."

"This may require some temporary sacrifices in dignity and safety as you get to experience the condescension and haughtiness of Fire Nation soldiers from this side of it. I imagine you will find it eye-opening. Know that our goal is not to fight our way to Ba Sing Se, though my companions, Li, and Minnow are exceedingly capable and wickedly cunning in that regard when needed." a twinkle comes to her eye as she quickly adds "Though not SO capable they don't have a thing or two to learn from a voice of experience, mind."

"Also, and I will share my thoughts openly in the spirit of honest communication, we were the best group to send if you were part of an elaborate trap, small, mobile and if I had sensed any hint of deception we would have simply disappeared. I don't know what kind of reception you were thinking you'd receive or what kind of worth you think you possess but Long Feng cannot be sure of the value of the plans you bear, or your worth to him as an individual. Your asset as a military advisor would be balanced against the resources needed to watch you (a confirmed, potential betrayer afterall) and the increased heat (pardon the pun) that the Fire Lord would bring to bear in effort to erase the embarrassment you represent. Be prepared for a different reception than you might think you are due and adjust your expectations accordingly." she says bluntly. "Plus, you being an unknown factor twisting in the wind means more of the Fire Nation resources searching for you and less causing directed mayhem against the Earth Nation. Long Feng is a crafty lion-snake. Remember that too."

"I am Zumu <Grandmother> Yin and we will need something to call you as we travel. Do you have a suggestion?"
"Something pithy this way comes."
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