Tu Shanshu App

[oceanblue]

Player Information:
Name: Tori
Age: 21
Contact: AIM: honootori plurk: dovefire
Other Characters Played: none

Character Information:
Name: Katara
Canon: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Canon Point: Book 3, episode 21. Katara is trying to save Zuko’s life with her healing after he has jumped in front of Azula’s lightning to save her.
Age: 15
Reference Links: http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Katara

Setting:
“Water. Earth. Fire. Air. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days, a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all four elements. Only he could stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years have passed and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war. Two years ago, my father and the men of my tribe journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to help fight against the Fire Nation, leaving me and my brother to look after our tribe. Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads and that the cycle is broken, but I haven't lost hope. I still believe that somehow the Avatar will return to save the world.” (Katara, Episode 1, Book 1)

The world of avatar is defined by the ability to manipulate the four elements, water, earth, fire, and air, that most people of the world possess. Katara can be found in the era of the 100 Year war and the Fire Nation’s reign of terror, wherein the Fire Nation seeks to destroy and dominate the other elemental nations.

Each of the nations has it’s own unique culture, though all of them are based on predominantly east-asian/chinese culture. Their differences are most easily explained by one of the show’s characters:

"Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will and the energy and drive to achieve what they want. Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom ... Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything."
— Iroh to Zuko on the people of the four nations.[1]

Their technology is simple, heavily influences and propelled by the elements that each of the groups possess; for example, the earth kingdom relies on a network of rock structured shoots and slides to transport goods with the use of earthbending to make it work. The fire nation, on the other hand, is much more ‘tech-savvy’ and inventive, creating different types of metal machinery(such as a massive drill intended to drive through stone walls of an earth kingdom stronghold) and boats--powered by the steam created by their element. Animals are used commonly for transportation (ostrich-horses) and communication (ie, dragon hawks).

The animals of the Avatar world are also actually strange hybrids of animals-- the residents are more shocked when they find that animals can be only one type of animal. Ostrich birds, as mentioned above, are used as transportation, and the rich might keep platypusbears as pets. Adorable turtleducks, massive badgermoles, hog monkeys, mongoose dragons, flying bisons...all just normal creatures in the Avatar world…. Dragons are about the only ‘normal’ animals one might find. And those are incredibly rare. In fact, only two are currently known to exist, and only few actually know. Everyone else thinks they’re extinct, thanks to the Dragon of the West (more commonly known as General Iroh of the Fire Nation).

Katara’s current setting/state:
After stumbling across the boy avatar that most had assumed dead long ago, Katara and her brother travel across the nations in attempt to help aang reach his full potential in order to defeat the Fire Lord, Zuko’s father, Ozai. During their travels, they meet many different people and learn quite a lot.

Katara’s canon point begins at the height of action in the series: the final battle between the avatar and the fire lord. She specifically finds herself fighting along side Crown Prince Zuko against his sister, Azula. Her waterbending skills having been refined through her travels, she willingly engages in battle with the crazed Azula just after Zuko has put himself in the line of fire to take a deadly lightning attack to protect Katara. With Azula finally detained with chains thanks to the waterbending master’s clever plan, Katara rushes to Zuko’s side to heal him.

Unfortunately for Katara and Zuko, this is the exact moment when she will be pulled into Tu Shanshu, and the boy’s fate will remain unknown until she finds him… if he is there to find.


Personality:
Emotional+Maternal+Compassionate+Driven+Bossy+Fiery+Optimistic

Katara: Relax Aang. They're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving overly emotional speeches about hope all the time.
[Everyone stares at Katara]
Katara: What?
Aang: Yeah, that's not you at all… [awkward]

Katara was born and raised in the southern water tribe, and for a few, too-short years, lived a peaceful life with her parents and big brother. When her mother was killed by a military group of firebenders, Katara became the tribe’s only remaining waterbender, spared by her mother’s love and sacrifice. Though she has since confronted her mother’s killer and has found a sort of closure, she will never forget that day, and takes her role as a master waterbender very seriously, determined to protect the people she holds dear now that she is no longer vulnerable as she was as a child.

The murder of her mother also placed Katara in a maternal role for her family which was only strengthened as she traveled with her friends. Not only is she very emotionally driven and passionate, but she also wields a commanding-- read ‘bossy’-- demeanor with everyone’s best interests in mind. She is responsible and unafraid to make suggestions, so long as they are for the better of the group.

Katara is confident in her skills and is unafraid to display her power when the situation calls for it. A waterbending master, she has learned to wield her element with total control through strict discipline. Having no one to teach her the basics--she grew up the only waterbender in her tribe--Katara taught herself the art, and zealously pursued it when given the opportunity while traveling with Aang and Sokka, even before finally meeting Master Pakku.

Strict on morality-- She hates being dishonest, even to the point of chiding her friends when they pull dishonest pranks to earn money in the series.

While--as her element, the element of change, suggests-- Katara is flexible in most cases, she is truly one to hold grudges against those she feels truly deserve it. For example, though she was the first to originally trust Prince Zuko, she refuses to trust him for quite some time after he converts to good and joins her and her friends. She also held a rather impressive grudge against Toph after one of their arguments. Both were eventually resolved.

While flexible with the right guidance, she can also be bossy, stubborn, and self-righteous, traits that often get on her friends nerves. She is most often looked upon as the most responsible of the group, but with that responsibility comes a high expectation--or so she thinks.

Katara is, above all else, compassionate, and refuses to leave those in need, even if it means risking her own life or wellbeing. She has even gone so far as to dress as the painted lady, a legend, to hide her identity in order to help a community threatened and controlled by fire nation brutes, despite her friend’s wishes and the very real threat on her safety. Despite her prejudice, she has also spared Fire Nation soldiers during battle.


Appearance: X X

Abilities:
Waterbending-- Katara is a master waterbender, able to control water in all forms and manipulate it into its other states. Unable to find a master by which to learn when she was young, the girl taught herself the basics of waterbending which she later refined and perfected during her travels with the Gaang and, eventually, with a true master in the Northern Water Tribe.

Her waterbending techniques include (but are not limited to!) turning water to ice, stopping rain mid-air, using water/ice as transportation (like surfing), creating massive waves (given a big enough water source), water whips, water knives, ice shields, water cloaking (the bender takes on water to cover their body and can use the excess as ‘tentacle’ like appendages to attack and defend) and more. When working in tandem with an earthbender, waterbending can also be used to purify dirty water.

Waterbending in greater detail can be found here!

Healing-- Katara also harnesses the power to heal through the manipulation of chi paths in the body. She learned this technique when redirected by the master waterbender who refused to teach her how to harness the power for battle, suggesting she take up the art of healing instead. Luckily for Katara, she is able to do both, and do them well-- a rarity to the water tribes.

Bloodbending-- Though she is absolutely loathe to utilize this power, Katara is able to manipulate the water contained in blood and thus control the body of the person it belongs to. Bloodbending, simply, is a very dark and unethical (to Katara) sort of puppetry. She is incredibly hesitant to use this ability.

Misc:
She is also a capable midwife, having helped with many births in the watertribe as she grew up. While traveling with her friends, she also helped deliver a baby named Hope.
Katara is also agile and acrobatic, as seen in the many battles that take place in the series. She is quick to evade attacks, though, of course, is not perfect.

Inventory:
Waterskin-- Holds a generous amount of water which she uses to bend quickly.
Her mother’s necklace-- it is precious to her
Hair loopies.

Suitability: Having been born and raised during the Fire Nation’s reign of terror, Katara is well acquainted with the rigors of war. She refuses to leave those in need and would be an excellent ally...or enemy.

Suite:
Of all the locations, I think the Wood sector best suits Katara’s needs. Though I believe she would be more used to middle-class, she certainly isn’t above ‘poor’ living conditions-- the water tribe she grew up in definitely doesn’t focus on luxury. The natural atmosphere would also keep her at ease, as she is used to camping and travel. The people of the wood’s sector might annoy her at times, but she would likely enjoy being one of the more ‘put together’ in the community.


In-Character Samples:
Third Person (Prose):

The water rose up over her head again as she drew her hands through the air, watching the shimmering wall carefully as it stretched skyward. Then, with a swipe of her hands, the water swept sideways and around her, following the path set by the smooth motion of her upper half. With a deep breath in, Katara continued to work through the easy motions, twisting her hands this way and that to conduct the water in it’s dance, before slowly stepping into a more intricate set, pleased with the way the liquid flowed. A few moments later, however, she let it splash back into the river with a frustrated sigh and clenched fists at her side.

Even this wasn’t working to calm her nerves.

Anxious, the girl paced by the river side before sitting and leaning back heavily onto her palms, steady blue gaze settled absently at the center of the water nearby, watching it tremble still from the momentum of her toss.

She had finally accepted that she couldn’t change anything, but it didn’t make it much better. In fact, it left her feeling almost helpless which, of course, she hated. She could find no way to get it off of her mind; she had, after all, spent her entire life amidst one war, and when she finally thought that one at least had a chance of coming to a close, she had been dragged into another one. On top of that, a good friend’s life was right there, right in her very hands, right before she had been taken away.

She splashed water at random by flicking her fingers forward, then absently drew circles over its surface after she returned her sitting to a more upright position. She rested her head against her free palm, her elbow pressing into her knee. She had to find something to keep her mind occupied... Was she the only one from her world here? That question, at least, gave her a little more hope. And she was starting to adjust to things. Her new apartment, while not luxurious, was nice. And the district... well, that was nice too... it reminded her a lot of traveling.

She flopped back onto the ground, her arms held out to the sides as she now stared at the sky. After a few minutes, a ball of water would pass back and forth over her as she juggled it through the air. There was no use in fighting it. She had done all she could. For now she... would simply have to wait.


Network:

{Video}

[The video flickers on to show a large pair of blinking blue eyes, and relays a voice muffled by the ridiculously close proximity to the microphone]

“--ng supposed to what? Oh.”

[The blue eyes are suddenly pulled back to a much more comfortable distance, and a girl comes into view, her brows bent as she skeptically looks toward the camera.]

“Yeah, I guess I’m not really used to the idea of this thing…” [A sigh, and a curl of the shoulders in a shrug.] “It won’t hurt to try though.”

[Her expression quickly mellows into a calm but bright smile, though worry stays rooted behind a professional, gentle stoic of deep blue.]

“I’m Katara,” [she explains, motioning a slender hand toward her chest.] “And, um.. I guess I’m new here. Even if… this is a really bad time…”

[She sighs and shakes her head, her brows furrowing as she looks into the camera to explain.]

“A friend of mine got hurt while protecting me, and I was going to heal him, but now I’m here and I don’t know what’s happened to him. O-Or any of the others…”

[Her eyes widen a little, and she looks down for a moment as if realizing something else as the last words leave her mouth, then returns her gaze to the camera, filled with an urgent determination.]

“Please, if any of you have any news on my world, could you tell me?”