Tea For My Uncle Book 1 Chapter 5
"Air...Water...Earth...Fire
In Ancient days, the four Nations lived in harmony. Then the Fire Nation made it's war. Wiping out the Air Nomads, and subjugating the rest of the world. Everyone said the only way for peace to be restored would be by the Avatar, master of all four elements.
After a hundred years of waiting he finally did. It's been One year since the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai, and the end of the war. The old scars are healing, and peace, however fragile has begun to blossom amongst the people. But there are mysteries now, and people searching for answers. There are some who can't let go of the feelings they've had for their entire life, and there is a dark cloud on the horizon that threatens everything the Avatar and his friends worked to build.
But with so many occupied, this new danger could go unnoticed. It is time for new heroes to step up, and new stories to be told, no longer does destiny rest on the shoulders of one, instead all the nations must work together to defend the world we have created."
Previously on Avatar:
- Sozu informs the others that the men are from a group called "The Fire Society." She calls them a cult, who worship Fire Lord Ozai - The Fire Society soldier says they serve a man named General Zeng - The Captured Fire Society Officer told them that the Fire Society would gather for the first time in their history, on the peninsula north west of Omashu, from there the army would attack, but they had not yet been told where the attack would fall. - Oma refused to let her city go unwarned. Finally they agreed that they would go to Omashu.
Book 1: Air
Chapter 5: The Lessons of Omashu
The Death Trap swooped in toward Omashu, discovering all of the city walls completely open. Once they landed and spoke to the guards, the party met Commander Quei, head of the Omashu army, who explained to them that by order of King Bumi, the walls were to remain open for as long as the Fire Nation was on the beach. Sozu explained that there was a difference between “Fire Nation” and “Fire Society.” Quei didn’t seem bothered by his slip up, and turned to Princess Oma, suggesting he take them to see her Grandfather.
On the walk, the party discussed the architecture of Omashu, with Sozu bringing up difference between the buildings in the Fire Nation constructed of metal, vs the buildings in the Earth Kingdom made of stone. At the mention of the Northern Water Tribe, Sozu commented on their buildings being made of ice. Nilak corrected her saying most of them are made from snow. Sozu, being unfamiliar with snow outside of a passing knowledge of it’s existence, was confused by the notion of a practical use for it. Nilak was completely astounded by this, as snow is so integral to her culture. She had to take a few minutes to get over it. It was obviously entirely a conflict of culture.
Yan mistook Sozu’s confusion for a lack of understanding, and proceeded to explain to her what snow is, even pointing it out on the nearby mountain range. This eventually devolved into a plan to have a snowball fight at a later date.
Finally the party reached the court of Omashu. There they met King Bumi. He told them that he was well aware of the Fire Society gathering, but there was something far more important that required his attention. Today was the day of his annual Old People Paisho-a-thon. This deeply terrified Sozu, excited Nilak, and caused mild interest in Yan, Song, and Oma. Bumi elaborated, telling them that each year, one representative from each of the four nations gather to play Paisho against each other. Yan asked who the participant from the Fire Nation was three years ago. Bumi told him that three years ago, they held the tournament in small town in the Fire Nation colonies, and General Iroh was the Fire Nation representative, and after that it was Master Piandao. This utterly astounded Sozu, who felt this could be considered treason.
Bumi then introduced his guests for this years tournament. First offering Sozu the chance to represent the Fire Nation, when Sozu declined, Bumi agreed that his original invite would take the spot. Ambassador Iroh would take the Fire Nation spot. King Bumi would represent the Earth Kingdom, for the Water Tribes, a new player; Hue from the Foggy Swamp, and from the Air Nomads, the representative should be obvious.; Guru Pathik. Nilak was very upset that Master Pakku would not be representing the Water Tribes. Bumi told them that the guests had already arrived, and the Party would have a chance spend some time talking to them before the tournament begins.
The party discussed what to do now. Yan spent most of the discussion in quiet meditation, leaving Song to apparently fill in, repeatedly making comments to encourage arguments. When the group finally talked, they agreed that it would be disrespectful to leave and not watch the tournament. So they agreed to speak to the various representatives while they waited.
While everyone else went to speak to Ambassador Iroh, Yan spoke to King Bumi. He asked for potential meditation techniques, to help keep him calm with the Fire Nation so near. Bumi encouraged him in a few methods, not only on meditation, but accepting, and overcoming the boundaries between the four nations. Finally, Bumi suggested that Yan might wish to focus on why Bumi is taking the action he is taking.
Nilak, Oma, Song, and Sozu meanwhile all went to speak to Iroh. The first question brought up, by Sozu, was a request for further clarification on Iroh playing games of Paisho with highly ranked citizens of countries the Fire Nation was at war with. Once Iroh explained as best he could (which was still no where near adequately enough) The group turned their attention back toward discussing the issues at hand. Oma asked Iroh if the Fire Nation assisting in dealing with the Fire Society. Iroh told her that he trusted his nephew, and the people of Omashu to make the right choices in dealing with the problem.
With the initial round of conversations over, the group split up. Sozu stayed behind to talk to Iroh alone, and Oma went to speak to her family; King Bumi. Nilak stopped in to speak to Hue, and finally, Song and Yan spoke to Guru Pathik.
Oma asked Bumi for recommendations on how to help Sozu calm down. Bumi offered up a number of suggestions, including causing an eclipse. Oma came up with a plan regarding that.
Nilak asked Hue how long he’d been playing Paisho for, and the two of them engaged in a practice game. They discussed the recent spirit world related adventure the party had, and Hue suggested that he and Nilak jointly represent the Water Tribes in the tournament.
Yan and Song both spoke to Guru Pathik, discovering that it was not he who sent them the request to come to the Eastern Air Temple. He suggested that it might have been Professor Chiang, the worlds greatest expert on the Air Nomads. Song and Yan thanked the Guru for his time, and he told them that he believed he should travel with them when they leave Omashu. They both agreed, with Yan commenting that they intended to head to the Air Temple next.
When the discussion was over, the Guru suggested Song remain. He told Song that he seemed to be searching for ways to improve himself. The Guru suggested together they might take a journey where Song might learn more about the way energy flows through the body. Throughout their discussion though, Yan sat nearby hidden and listening.
With all the discussions over with, the time had come for the Paisho-a-ton to begin! The first match saw Guru Pathik vs Ambassador Iroh. The match was a quite a display, with Pathik commenting that Iroh’s style was reminiscent of Monk Gyatso, minus the cheating. The first match ended in a victory for Iroh, and lead into the second challenge, King Bumi vs Hue/Nilak.
With neither Nilak, nor Hue nearly as experienced with the game as Bumi, they were already at a disadvantage, but when going up against King Bumi’s tactics, they were at a complete loss. With Bumi putting valuable pieces in the open, diverting the Water team from their initial strategy of going after his less valuable pieces, then overwhelming him. Often, they would find, when they moved to take out the more valuable pieces, they would be far better positioned then they seemed. Finally, the game ended in Bumi’s victory.
This lead into the last match of the evening; King Bumi, vs Ambassador Iroh. This match lasted the longest, with both players engaging in multiple strategys. The game played long into the night, with Sozu, and Oma falling asleep. Yan stayed awake out of duty, Song out of stubbornness, and Nilak out of sheer excitement and interest. The battle of wits ended with a victory for Iroh, and the enjoyment of most of the party.
By that point it was early in the morning, and all of the Party chose to retire for the evening, except Nilak, who stayed awake, trying to recreate the match she’d just watched. Eventually though, Nilak fell asleep, and that was where she was found when everyone woke later on that day. The Party was now resolved to head out and look at the beach where the Fire Society had set up. Yan spoke to Bumi, telling him that he believed he understood. “A stone that sits still is harder to move.” Bumi replied “A stone with a crown on it is a far more attractive stone to try and lift.” Bumi then gave Yan a letter to give to the leader of the Fire Society.
The group spoke to Commander Quei, and he told them he had a team of scouts watching the Fire Society, a new group heads out every twelve hours. The Party volunteered to transport the next group of scouts out and then return. The Commander agreed, and after loading the men, the group headed off in the Death Trap out to near where the Fire Society had set up. Arriving, the scouts told them everything they knew about what the Fire Society was up to. Overall, five airships had arrived, including the two that showed up the day before, in addition, the Fire Society has had four coal powered naval ships, waiting off the beach. They keep a limited number of people ashore, who maintain their camp.
Several times, the Fire Society had staged attacks on the scout camp to cover moving one of their vehicles. Three airships, and one of the naval ships have all vanished. When the scouts sent men in to investigate where they went, the men were captured and killed.
The party, being a bunch of teenagers, naturally assumed the scouts were incompetent, and only the party could deal with this.
Yan moved around, to approach the Fire Society camp from a different angle. He traveled down to the camp where he was immediately surrounded. He carried the flag of truce, and asked to speak to Zeng. Watching all of those occur, the rest of the group prepared to rescue Yan. Song went and powered up the Death Trap, and readied it to swoop in.
When Zeng arrived, he looked Yan over, commenting on the fact that the party survived thier time in the Earth Kingdom village. Zeng then made known his intentions to take Yan prisoner. Yan handed Zeng the letter Bumi gave him, and then tried to leave. When the Fire Society refused to let him, Yan dived into the ground, bending a tunnel in front of him. This would have unlikely allowed him to get away, except at the same time Song swooped in, buzzing the camp with the death trap. The armor plating prevented the numerous fire blasts from doing any damage, and both Song and Yan managed to get away, damaging one of the remaining airships on the way out.
Having successfully regrouped, the Party took the scouts back to Omashu, and discussed what to do next. Yan and Song both admitted to seeing a large cave, big enough to fit an airship into, and Oma recalled that during the occupation of Omashu, earthbenders were taken and forced to work nearby. With the situation suspicious, Yan, Song, and Oma were convinced that the Fire Society had made a mistake by working in a cave, and chose to block them in. Nilak wished they could gather a fleet of waterbenders to attack them as well.
Regardless of their plan, most of the party agreed it was time to attack, and they would give their allies two days to gather together, before they launched an attack, with, or without King Bumi’s support.
ere.
Chiyoko "Aang's only student to have pulled off Airbending" - Alex
Nilak "Pakku's first female student since Katara" -Victoria
Miyak "Katara's best waterbending student" - Jill
Yan "Ex Dai Li agent, and protector of Princess Oma"- Tom
Princess Oma "Bumi's Granddaughter"- Crystal
Song "Student of the Kyoshi Island "School"- Andrew
Princess Sozu "2nd Cousin to Fire Lord Zuko" -Alice