Post by .:|FiresFury|:. on Oct 5, 2013 8:57:28 GMT -8
The Plot
Our story begins, with a world experiencing peace for the first time in over one-hundred years. A world where the Avatar Aang has ceased a war, a century in the making, and made whole a planet ripping itself apart for petty schemes. For one hundred years, peace has reigned supreme across the world. The Fire Lord Zuko, has returned the lands stolen in his father’s war, and the Airbenders, reborn at last through Aangs use of Energybending. The lost knowledge was restored to a small group of willing and eager nonbenders to bring the Air Temples back to the world again. The Southern Water Tribe, the North, and their Swamp brethren are again joined, and communications reestablished, and the South is able to rebuild and become a great nation once again. The Earth Kingdom serves as the hub of commerce and trade, making the crossroads of the world available for all. The Earth King is once again allowed absolute power over his large domain and all, it seems, it right at last.
But as is often the case when a peacemaker is lost, the world once again descends into darkness. With his passing in the year 110 A.W. (After War), it was a short ten years before the peace he had created was fractured. But it was not the firing of cannons, nor the proclamations of war which broke it. It was a conspiracy, conducted in dark rooms and long forgotten chambers of men, drunk with wealth, and inflated on power, who plotted the overthrow of the Earth Kingdom. As with all shortsighted plots, these men did not intend to throw the world into chaos, but they did so none the less, beginning a spiral of loss and darkness from which, it seemed, there was no way out.
In 120 A.W., the wealthy from the western end of the Earth Kingdom gathered soldiers and arms, preparing for a civil war. From the Serpents Pass to the coastline bordering the western sea and down along the edges of the Si Wong Desert to the southeast, the rebels stole the lands largely responsible for the Kingdoms economic growth. The captains of industry carved out their own empire, with thousands of soldiers turned traitor in the name of gold. They cut off the northern continent from the military capitol of Omashu, where they laid siege against the Fatherland. It was here that the Earth Kingdom held its ground, and it was here they failed. But it was not the strength of their arms that failed them. Rather; it was the integrity of their soldiers. Promised better pay and increased wealth if they were to join them; and they did. With rations cut short, and a kingdom now throttled for coin, the rebels were able to double the gains of their land with the military leadership in Omashu.
By 123 A.W. they marched on the Eastern Mountains and claimed the lands bordering the Si Wong Desert up to Gaoling where they were met with intense resistance from the heavily encamped Earth Kingdom army. Between the two rebel factions they were able to broker peace with their parent nation, who had no choice but to accept for fear of losing more land to the power of coin, which they now lacked. With this development the world’s economy was fractured, leaving the Rebel Earth Nations with a large claim to power through trade and commerce.
To defend his nation, The Earth King moved troops from their outlying lands to defend Ba-Sing-Se and prevent further insurrection. Several more were moved to defend the coastline that was now opposite the two rebel factions, with the largest numbers sent to the southern coast of Chameleon Bay.
Cut off from the mainland by the rebel movement, the Earth Kingdoms chain of five islands to the south cut ties with the Kingdom in 124, and went into isolation, for fear of taking sides. With weak leadership, the island nearest the Eastern Air Temple offered themselves to the Airbenders in exchange for safety, to which the Temple agreed, and half of the island fell under their borders.
To the West, the three islands there saw the fear of their brethren and, rather than looking to the monks closest to them, they sought the naval and military prowess of the fast growing Southern Water Tribe, who graciously accepted the expansion of their lands. The remaining center island and half of the Eastern Island overthrew the leadership there. They put in place a figure that was sympathetic to the rebel cause and, in 125, joined with them in a binding defensive pact calling themselves The Allied Earth States. Kyoshi Island became neutral in the conflict, taking no sides and instead became an independent entity in uncertain waters. With control over what was once Earth Kingdom navy, the Allied Earth States now had both land and sea opposition enough to rival the Fatherland. With so much already down for them, the Earth Kingdom could only sit by and watch as their former lands fell from their grasp.
In the middle of so much conflict, the Si Wong Desert slowly fell into tribal rule and was left unclaimed by any nation on the continent. As a result the raiders there took advantage of unguarded borders and led several hit and run missions for supplies and weapons. Several of the tribes united and were able to set up trade agreements with the Allied Earth States, though many raids were still led on their borders for goods that would eventually be sold back to them. By flying no flags the tribes were able to point fingers all over the desert for the raids, and no blame was ever taken. Called pirates by many, the tribes were unable to broker deals with the Earth Kingdom, who dealt with their theft most severely.
What had begun as a small cult in the year 80 in the Earth Kingdoms northwestern continent, had grown into a full movement by the 110, shortly after the death of the Avatar. Mostly leftovers and bitter remnants from the Fire Nation war, this group called for the destruction of the Avatar and the breaking of the Avatar cycle. They were called the Free World Movement and their ideology sought to bring about a world in which the Avatar did not control the ultimate decisions made between nations. They sought to bring about a world in which benders had the final say. Through worship and interaction with the Spirit Realm, they intended to achieve these goals. It was not until the religion had spread far across the whole of the continent, infecting all that lived within the realm.
The Earth Kingdom learned of the movement far too late to intervene in its growth and could do nothing until it came to their main land, where they opposed its spread fiercely. Imprisoning all those who attempted to spread their beliefs, they put in place heavy laws and restrictions against them to curb its spread. Though such a loss was a devastating blow, the Earth King issued a decree, severing all ties with the land mass in 128 and turned his eyes from the doings of those there. The fear of what repercussions could come from the Avatars supporters led him to such a decision, for the Earth Kingdom could not withstand a second conflict within so many short years.
The Allied Earth States took advantage of the split and put in place trade agreements with the zealots of the Free World Movement and, though they were never a part of the Allied Earth States, they agreed to defensive pacts to ensure security across the entire Western front of what had been Earth Kingdom lands, expanding further a dangerously large sphere of influence across the western coastline.
In 129, a powerful new leader took the throne after the death of their father in the Southern Water Tribe. The father, unlike the child, promoted peace and sought a nonviolent resolution to the many conflicts in the Earth Kingdom. Though they practiced a nonviolent attitude toward the situation, they built their military for fear of a fight coming to their shores. Because of their focused efforts on the Earth Kingdom, and the growth of their own power, communications between the poles broke down and by 131 all word between the two was lost as it had been, over two centuries before.
Deep inside the mountains of the Earth Kingdom in the North a group emerged from hiding after several long years in the dark. At the time communications between the water tribes were lost in 131, a cast of Airbenders from before the War came to the surface. For so long they had been in hiding amongst the peaks, they had not heard of its end until long after it had been penned into the history books. At first, it seemed as though this appearance was the stuff of miracles. The old ways of the Airbenders had been persevered and kept with them. But soon, they showed their true faces to be ones of bitterness and distrust. Emerging into the world that was, they saw only a second war that would encompass the world. From the mountains they threw off their nomadic ways and laid claim to the Northern Air Temple. The peaceful caste of new Airbenders who had taken residence there, were ejected from their home on threat of death. The old benders claimed that the new were nothing more than heathens who could never truly embrace the way of life that they had lost.
They called Aang a fool for bringing undeserved power to a charlatan race. The great numbers of the Old Airbenders far outweighed those of the few monks and nuns who lived in the North and sent them away, not caring if they lived. So paranoid were they in their taking of the Temple that they shut down communications with the outside world and began to seek military options for fear of a second genocide.
Meanwhile in the year of 132, tired of taking no action in a world ripe for the picking, the new Chieftain of the Southern Water Tribe and many of its people saw the goal of growth and realized the power the South could be. After the acquisition of the island chain to the north, the new Chieftain enforced heavy rules and regulations regarding the South and their interaction with other countries. After treating with the Allied Earth States for trade in an alliance of cooperation, a draft was put into place, arms were made, militant rule was the law of the land, and ships were built for invasion. The Southern Water Tribe sat on the cusp of war, waiting for opportunity to present itself.
With so few soldiers to oppose them, the Airbenders in the Northern Air Temple saw their chance to secure their fortunes in the world as the Earth Kingdom soldiers left to defend the border against the Allied Earth States in 133. They spread quickly through the mountains, claiming them in the name of the Old Airbender creed. Stopping at the base of the mountain network that overlooked the plains of the Earth Kingdom, they encamped themselves among the high peaks there. Airbenders poured in everyday to reinforce the line and the Kingdoms army could do nothing to stop them. The Earth King sent a garrison of men to enforce the border between them, for open war with the benders was something the diminished Kingdom could not afford. They created a long wall that would serve as a military outpost and sat watch over the militaristic Airbenders, despite the forces that massed in the mountains. The term Northern Air Empire became the name for the lands they conquered and many looked at this name as only the beginning of many things to come.
Not far from the Free World Movements plotting, a group called the Execution Squad sought the end to their goal in 138. Within hidden tunnels in the vast mountains of the Earth Kingdom a group of Fire Nation assassins, wronged by their Fire Lord had planned an insurrection. The Execution Squad, led by a young man who was called Sanosuke, had a vision of a world without a tyrant of fire and, rather than claiming the throne, sought to throw down the Fire Nation once and for all. Serving the nation for many years after they were put in place by Fire Lord Zuko, the squad had been attacked from within their own headquarters by the very army that they had considered their brothers. It was the Fire Lord, Zuko’s son, who had deemed them unnecessary. Rather than disbanding his group of loyal assassins he wished them silenced so that the secrets of their acts could never be shared. With only four survivors, they met in the Earth Kingdom vowing vengeance. They grew their ranks with new members on the foreign soil, looking for those who wished to see the Fire Nation burn in their own flames. Sending their members far and wide they spread their message to militant leaders of the broken world to acquire a military capable of tearing down the age old nation.
In a cunning ruse, the sent the majority of their forces in ships to the base of the mountains near the Western Air Temple, while a smaller portion were sent to the coast of the Free World Movement. The smaller forces position was ‘leaked’ to the Fire Nation, who sent a great majority of their forces to crush the rebels there. When the time was right, and the Fire Nation had unloaded their troops, the Execution Squads forces fled, into the lands of the Free World Movement, donning the armor of their soldiers to report an invasion of the Fire Nation, and create an unrecruited ally in their plans.
As they fled, the sky grew dark before them and a great flame of black traveled across the land, scorching ground and destroying vegetation while leaving the air itself to be as a toxic fume. Those that survived stood in awe of the awesome sight that charged towards them, as waves of demonic entities surged across the plains. In their confusion, both Execution Squad troops and Fire Nation soldiers fought for their lives as their commanders shouted for them to throw down their arms and retreat. Many were cut down while others fled aimlessly into the black, where their screams went unheard. The Fire Nations military was crippled creating the perfect opportunity for the Execution Squad to complete their plans. But where this crippling force had come from, was unclear.
After many years of converting and subjugating others into their ranks, the Free World Movement sought the end of their long goals and made a name for itself. In tandem with the Execution Squads ruse in 138, the new Avatar at last took action. The Avatar was a young woman of the Foggy Swamp nation, new in her powers and not yet master of all the elements. She went to the home of the Free World Movement and was lured into a trap and restrained by hooded and cloaked cultists, who chanted prayers to the Spirit Realm.
Seeking to sacrifice the Avatar to the demons there, they meant to kill her, forever trapping her soul in the Spirit Realm and ceasing the cycle. But they overestimated their skill and lost control of the magics they used. Demons and creatures of the foulest sort poured from the doorway they had created, killing the Avatar and all those who restrained her. With control lost, the portal sprang open, a fire black as night spilled from it and raged across the land in all directions, scorching and killing those who had summoned it. They spread across the lands the Free World Movement had claimed and continued into Earth Kingdom lands, killing all that stood in their path.
Quick to react, the Earth Kingdom sent a large force from Ba-Sing-Se to contain the demons and send them back to the lands from which they had come. But when no end was in sight to the hordes they fought, they entered the lands of the Movement and found only devastation and other worldly beings seeking the death of the living. Unsure of what action to take, the soldiers were joined by three of the Five Generals of the Earth Kingdom military council, who requested temporary statehood for the area that had become known as the Bulwark. Soldiers from the Northern Water Tribe, the Western Air Temple, and even the Allied Earth States came to join the fight, recognizing the threat the demons faced to all humanity. Late in the year 138, the request was granted, and the generals were given additional forces to oppose the beasts of the now infamous Spirit Rift; a place it was said, where soldiers went to die.
Meanwhile, the Execution Squads military force crossed the ocean and landed among the mountains undetected. Their army swept across the land gaining control over the mainland in a matter of days with only a few small skirmishes. The Execution Squad made its way in the guise of captives, led by Fire Nation troops sympathetic to their cause. They were presented before the Fire Lord in his palace as trophies and, when the man began to gloat of his power, the Squad leapt from their loosened shackles and overwhelmed him.
The royal family was slaughtered before the tyrant’s eyes and he was executed publicly on the steps of his palace for his people to view. With their army in shambles, their Fire Lord dead, and the majority of their lands controlled by The Execution Squads military, The Fire Nation fell quickly. The remainders of their troops were crushed in quick and decisive battles across the archipelago. The Fire Nation was brought to its knees, destroyed, and in its place rose the Burning Legion; a haven for all bending nationalities and promising a new life to all who wished it.
Unknown to the conspirators, a small portion of The Fire Nations royal family had fled across the sea to an island off the coast of The Earth Kingdom. After an audience with The Earth King, they took refuge, in secret, under the Kingdoms protection. This small island was setup as a rallying point for all Fire Nation soldiers and navy left in the world. From this place The Fire Nation vowed to rise again and began what it planned would be its re-ascension to their lands.
The former Fire Nation was split up among The Execution Squads members who took over as regional governors so that power was spread out amongst them rather than resting in one persons hands. The Legion was set up as a place for all to be accepted and, though the majority of their population was of course of Fire Nation origins, many flocked to the new nation in order to flee the growing chaos of the world. Many bolstered the smaller, but growing protective forces which sat as their military power so that they might help defend the new found freedom.
Meanwhile in the Northern Water Tribe the chief there tried to keep his people calm in the face of the civil unrest which was rampant across the Earth Kingdom. Having been longtime allies of the once expansive nation they grew concerned but ultimately unable to help in the face of such widespread insurrection. Instead they promised their allegiences to help keep the beasts of The Spirit Rift at bay in cooperation with The Bulwark, The Eastern Air Temple, the Earth States, and the recently conquered Burning Legion.
Now, in the year 145 A.W., seven years after the opening of the Spirit Rift, with Water Tribes divided, alliances made, The Earth Kingdom broken, The Fire Nation fallen, Air Temples separated, the threat of The Spirit Rift growing, and the fear of war on every tongue, one question rests on the minds of us all; Who and where is The Avatar, and when will they save us?
TL;DR SHIT WENT DOWN. THE END[/center][/size]
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