Post by Avatar Avani on Jul 24, 2014 10:52:19 GMT -7
Prologue
When Avatar Kora combined the spiritual and physical worlds, she did not realize what consequences it would have on her world. At first, Kora thought the spirits and humans would learn to live together in peace, but despite her best efforts, she could not get them to coexist. Some spirits chose to live peacefully among the humans, but not all had good intentions, and those were the ones that caused the problems. The humans did not help either; like in Capitol City when vines covered half of the city, the humans refused to accept the change and adapt. Because of this, Kora struggled to keep the peace, and was forced from one conflict to the next throughout her lifetime. She worried constantly what would happen to the world when she passed and the new avatar was too young to control the tension between the spirits and humans, but could only hope things would settle. As she grew older, she started to seriously doubt things would work out. She was right to worry.
Eventually, one of these conflicts claimed her life, and the world was without their mediator. Chaos quickly ensued, leaving officials to desperately hope for the arrival of the next avatar. Time passed, and as the conflicts between the spirits and humans grew, they started to lose hope in the avatar, and began searching for other methods to rid their world of the spirits. They began to believe the only way their lives could return to normal was if the spirits were removed. They began planning an attack, gathering their forces. They had no idea if it would be possible for them to win, but they felt they had no other choice. They were desperate, and desperate people do desperate things.
War broke out between the two, a war like the world had never seen before. Hundreds of people died just to remove one spirit from the world. The four nations fought desperately, but they were no match for the spirit's power. They unleashed disaster upon the earth, deforming it entirely. The climate changed, becoming colder. The Ice at the poles grew, lowering the sea level. Earthquakes rocked the larger continents, breaking them apart, creating new islands. Once great cities like Ba Sing Se fell, becoming charred rubble overnight. The weather became unpredictable and destructive, causing many more deaths. New volcanoes appeared where there had been none, and dormant volcanoes erupted like never before. The Fire Nation grew in size, but it's people were almost wiped out during the eruptions. The young Air Nation suffered greatly, losing two of their four temples, and at least half of their people. Capitol City was leveled in the first months of the battle, killing most of its inhabitants.
The fighting lasted for ten years. When the smoke finally cleared, the spirits had won by a landslide, but rather than remain in the physical world, they chose to leave, disgusted by the humans, and longing for the peace of their own world. Only a small few remained, because they pitied the humans and decided to help them.
The survivors of the war regrouped in the earth kingdom to begin rebuilding. They were angered because of their losses, and desperately in need of somebody to blame. At first, they blamed the avatar, for allowing the spirits to enter their world in the first place, but because the avatar was nowhere to be found, their blame quickly turned to the next best thing; benders in general. Conflict arose around this subject, and eventually the people broke apart, returning to the four nations, because of their inability to agree on what to do about the benders.
The Air Nomads did not believe the benders were the cause of the war, but people in general, so they allowed their people to continue to bend. They regrouped at the southern air temple, where they decided they would stay out of the conflicts between the other nations.
The Earth King was one of the few that believed that benders were the cause of the war, and placed strict rules on those who could bend. Only those serving in the military could use their bending freely, so most benders joined the army.
The Southern Water tribe's few benders had all died in the fight, so they weren't really affected by the argument, but the Northern Water tribe's entire existence revolved around their benders. With the loss of most of the world's technological advances during the war, their city had returned to heavily relying on benders to function. They could not do without them, so they allowed their benders to continue bending.
The Firelord had always hated benders, because his wife had been one. Soon after the birth of their twin daughters, she had gone rogue, attacking people at random and causing a lot of trouble for her husband. Because of this, the Firelord was a big supporter of the anti-bender laws, and placed many similar restrictions on his people as the earth king did.
An uneasy peace settled over the land, and slowly the four kingdoms began to recover, but the world would never be the same. The effect the war had on the planet was still quite obvious. Random, extreme natural disasters still rocked the world, making it hard to rebuild. It was like a constant battle against nature to simply get a small city going. On top of that, the colder climate made the growing season shorter, so it became very hard to grow enough food for everyone. Poverty plagued the kingdoms.
By this point, benders all over the world who hated the laws against them had gathered together in secret, to try to better the world. They took on the name of the White Lotus, and made the search for the avatar their duty, hoping with its return, the world would finally recover…
When Avatar Kora combined the spiritual and physical worlds, she did not realize what consequences it would have on her world. At first, Kora thought the spirits and humans would learn to live together in peace, but despite her best efforts, she could not get them to coexist. Some spirits chose to live peacefully among the humans, but not all had good intentions, and those were the ones that caused the problems. The humans did not help either; like in Capitol City when vines covered half of the city, the humans refused to accept the change and adapt. Because of this, Kora struggled to keep the peace, and was forced from one conflict to the next throughout her lifetime. She worried constantly what would happen to the world when she passed and the new avatar was too young to control the tension between the spirits and humans, but could only hope things would settle. As she grew older, she started to seriously doubt things would work out. She was right to worry.
Eventually, one of these conflicts claimed her life, and the world was without their mediator. Chaos quickly ensued, leaving officials to desperately hope for the arrival of the next avatar. Time passed, and as the conflicts between the spirits and humans grew, they started to lose hope in the avatar, and began searching for other methods to rid their world of the spirits. They began to believe the only way their lives could return to normal was if the spirits were removed. They began planning an attack, gathering their forces. They had no idea if it would be possible for them to win, but they felt they had no other choice. They were desperate, and desperate people do desperate things.
War broke out between the two, a war like the world had never seen before. Hundreds of people died just to remove one spirit from the world. The four nations fought desperately, but they were no match for the spirit's power. They unleashed disaster upon the earth, deforming it entirely. The climate changed, becoming colder. The Ice at the poles grew, lowering the sea level. Earthquakes rocked the larger continents, breaking them apart, creating new islands. Once great cities like Ba Sing Se fell, becoming charred rubble overnight. The weather became unpredictable and destructive, causing many more deaths. New volcanoes appeared where there had been none, and dormant volcanoes erupted like never before. The Fire Nation grew in size, but it's people were almost wiped out during the eruptions. The young Air Nation suffered greatly, losing two of their four temples, and at least half of their people. Capitol City was leveled in the first months of the battle, killing most of its inhabitants.
The fighting lasted for ten years. When the smoke finally cleared, the spirits had won by a landslide, but rather than remain in the physical world, they chose to leave, disgusted by the humans, and longing for the peace of their own world. Only a small few remained, because they pitied the humans and decided to help them.
The survivors of the war regrouped in the earth kingdom to begin rebuilding. They were angered because of their losses, and desperately in need of somebody to blame. At first, they blamed the avatar, for allowing the spirits to enter their world in the first place, but because the avatar was nowhere to be found, their blame quickly turned to the next best thing; benders in general. Conflict arose around this subject, and eventually the people broke apart, returning to the four nations, because of their inability to agree on what to do about the benders.
The Air Nomads did not believe the benders were the cause of the war, but people in general, so they allowed their people to continue to bend. They regrouped at the southern air temple, where they decided they would stay out of the conflicts between the other nations.
The Earth King was one of the few that believed that benders were the cause of the war, and placed strict rules on those who could bend. Only those serving in the military could use their bending freely, so most benders joined the army.
The Southern Water tribe's few benders had all died in the fight, so they weren't really affected by the argument, but the Northern Water tribe's entire existence revolved around their benders. With the loss of most of the world's technological advances during the war, their city had returned to heavily relying on benders to function. They could not do without them, so they allowed their benders to continue bending.
The Firelord had always hated benders, because his wife had been one. Soon after the birth of their twin daughters, she had gone rogue, attacking people at random and causing a lot of trouble for her husband. Because of this, the Firelord was a big supporter of the anti-bender laws, and placed many similar restrictions on his people as the earth king did.
An uneasy peace settled over the land, and slowly the four kingdoms began to recover, but the world would never be the same. The effect the war had on the planet was still quite obvious. Random, extreme natural disasters still rocked the world, making it hard to rebuild. It was like a constant battle against nature to simply get a small city going. On top of that, the colder climate made the growing season shorter, so it became very hard to grow enough food for everyone. Poverty plagued the kingdoms.
By this point, benders all over the world who hated the laws against them had gathered together in secret, to try to better the world. They took on the name of the White Lotus, and made the search for the avatar their duty, hoping with its return, the world would finally recover…