Avatar The Last Airbender (IC)

[Imbasel]

The air smells of a rich meaty sauce as you guys walk through the pavilion, the gigantic tent is set up in the middle of the Fire Nation island of Kozar, Kozar is both the name of the island and only town, and the island is celebrating its 150th town anniversary. There are firebender's performing, as well as waterbender's showing off their bending skills. The festival is not as carefree as it should be however, as a group of earthbender's arrived the day previously and have constantly complained about the town, and many citizens are worried about any trouble they may cause. Currently you are near the port of the town where Firebender's are going against a mock fight against waterbender's. The firebender's are winning so far, but that could change at any moment.

OOC: Please post character actions also if you know another character please tell me if you've already met them at the festival or will meet them shortly.

[peterpaulrubens]

Jangbu, having recently been thrown out of the Earth Kingdom military, does his best to eat, drink, and be merry without advertising the fact that he is an earthbender, nor really attracting any attention at all. Mostly he just watches the mock fight, content to observe the different bending styles.

[Kumori]

Have wandered around the city, Jessie eventually came upon the pavilion wherein the mock-fight was being played up. Taking an interest in the fight, she turns to her companion. "I'm getting a little hungry. We should eat here," she says to Kawren, pointing to the nearby vendor.

As she sits with her friend to eat, she discreetly throws a puff of air between the combatants, trying to interfere with their bending. The keen eyes of those nearby who have been exposed to airbending in the past, such as other benders eating at the same place, may have noticed....

[Katiara]

Kawren smiles at Jessie, knowing exactly what she had done. "I'll get us some drinks." She says, stepping away from the table. "what would you like?"

[Miyako]

He looked ridiculous waving it around, like he was hacking the limbs off a thousand attackers.
All the people around him wore red-over-black uniforms of the Fire Nation’s domestic army. Thin, comfortable outfits, sometimes missing sleeves or midriffs, topped with lightly coloured sedge hats shading the soldiers’ faces from sunlight.
The guards had intensive instructions not to antagonize anyone. The long shadow cast by the hats must have made them look sinister. What else could have caused this annoyance?

Out of all the places where groups of sentries had been posted, the Earthbender looking for trouble chose this one. An intersection only a few feet from the pavilion, crowded with street vendors selling festival trinkets and cold sweets.
Flanked by most of his men, Captain Shino tried again; he was trying for the fifteenth time.
”Our guest book helps track peaceful tourists, and make their stay more pleasant. No one wants to ruin the festival with impolite behaviour. Isn’t it too hot to be swinging weapons around?”

The Earthbender was drunk, maybe. That must have been the problem.

His eyes shot between different faces, frightened, but angry too. The Earthbender hadn’t wasted any time answering, spraying Shino with a fine mist of loop-warm drool. ”No, a black list, naming all the tourists so you can label people to spy on!”
Captain Shino nodded, pleased that no one else had bothered with their own spears, or swords, or whatever they had. It would have been a lot simpler to just arrest him but, no one really wanted to work that hard. It was searing hot today, as in sunburn-within-seconds all the pale skinned nobles stayed indoors. At least they had hats. The hats made everything bearable. Or maybe caused this whole thing… Shino thought about it while he spoke.

”Well, we name all the tourists so we know who may not have come here under legitimate circumstances on a chartered boat. That helps us arrest pirates. We came up with the idea mostly for the festival. The cooks were saying something about always cooking a little more than the amount of guests we were supposed to receive. Or in case someone wanted seconds. It goes farther than you might think. Our fishing ships need to know how long they have to stay out, too.”

The Earthbender kind of just drooped. ”Oh.”

”Listen,” Now! Victory! “the dance with the Waterbenders inside is supposed to be really good. It would be Sad if you to missed out on it. If you hurt someone with that by accident, we’ll have to arrest you. It’s a lot cooler inside the pavilion than in our makeshift prison.”

After a few seconds mulling it over, he finally sheathed his weapon. He was already on his way inside, gruffly complaining over his shoulder, ”Fire Nation scum accosts me for no reason!”

Shino wiped the drool droplets off his face with a soft cloth. All quiet at the festival.

In the Pavilion
There were guards here, too. A necessary evil trying to be as unobtrusive as possible; someone had to mitigate crime and that duty fell to the domestic forces. They had other duties, too. Sometimes that meant doing something you never expected. One of the guards sitting near a table, wearing a distinctive Phoenix Mask, gently slid a note inside her pocket.

She seemed to float onto her feet more than stand, and glide more than jump, onto a podium. The Phoenix took up a silk hanging scroll, and rushed into the middle of the mock battle with it.

”In the name of the Heavens, amuse the stars with a dance of peace, or suffer the wrath of the great Phoenix!” The Guard-turned-performer unfurled the scroll like it was a great artefact and showed it to both sides, fully aware of what terrible things might befall it.

[peterpaulrubens]

Jangbu sees Jessie air-heckling the performers and decides to walk over. Maybe I should stay away from something that will attract as much attention as an airbender... but I can't resist!

Jangbu sticks out his hand in greeting. "I always envy the airbenders for their subtlety. It's so OBVIOUS when I lob a rock into the mix. " He cracks a huge grin. "I'm Jangbu.. Jangbu Nawango."

[Kumori]

"You s-saw that then, did you?" Jessie asks in reply, stuttering a little out of surprise. She quickly recomposes herself before making an introduction of her own. "Nice to meet you. I'm Jessie Lothel, and this here is Kawren. I presume you're an earthbender, then?"

[Imbasel]

The waterbender and firebenders fight stops as the princess Miyako's guard approaches them to turn the bending into the dance. The firebender's and waterbenders look nervously at each other and then shrug, while the leader of the firebenders says Sure, why not?

Together the waterbenders and firebenders start a dance, and they are bending fire and water, to create beautiful sights, flowers blooming red, and banners flying across area. They continue their dance and as a finishing act, create the Fire Nation symbol, with water and fire, a balance in between them.

The benders now done start to dance and they start shouting Come join the dance. The drum beats move fast, as the people in the crowd join in doing a fast dance step, with their partners.

OOC: If any of you want to go really crazy at dancing you can attempt a perform dance check to see what happens, as you solo it.

[Miyako]

Heartbeat, Thunder, Rocks, Eight Thousand Feet

A whirling tornado of priceless silk pounced over the table hosting Jessie and Jangbu like a cat after a mouse; soft and soundless on the leap and the landing. Laughter like fresh snow over blue grass lingered in the way a girl missed the warmth of her lover when she left early.
She had all the tension of a striking snake, every step was a leaf on the water. Which way would she go?

Nothing was what it seemed – and everything happened when it was expected least. A ribbon of fire that lashed out at the air, twists that made her clothes snap, dizzying spins and impressive back-flips. Covered from toes-to-nose and wearing a Laughing Goddess mask, the dancer committed to the song, for better or worse.

Time to steal the floor!

(1d20+8)[18] Perform (Dance)
(1d20+8)[21] Firebending

[4is111]

Iaryo gets up to try her hand at dancing, but hesitates.
How am I ever going to compete with that? I can't even bend. Wait, what am I thinking? Its a festival isn't it? If I make a fool of myself, well, I'll move along soon enough anyway.
She steps up to dance, waving her fans about.
Perform (Dance):(d20+3)[14]

[peterpaulrubens]

Jangbu turns and walks away as the dancing erupts across Jessie's table, trying to blend into the crowd without looking like he's actually trying to distance himself from the dancers.

Too much attention, he thought. Not good.

[Kumori]

Jessie's a little taken aback at first as Jangbu backs away. She glances back and forth between the spectacle put on by the fire nation and waterbenders and Jangbu as she reads the situation. She moves to the next chair over to get a better view of Jangbu in the crowd, trying to watch to see if he flees or just hides himself. "Kawren, maybe you should go get me that drink you were offering now." She lowers her voice a little before continuing, "Keep an eye on him. He intrigues me, and a second angle might be revealing."

[Katiara]

Kawren smiled, "Sure thing. I'll get us some juice." She walked towards the vendors counter, keeping an eye on both Jangbu and the dancers. After signing to the bloke at the counter for two drinks, Kawren focuses her attention back towards the crowd. Through the flying fire, water and silks she could see Jessie sitting at the table tapping her toes to the music, and Jangbu, standing back from the crowd.

A tap on her shoulder told her her drinks were ready. "Thank you." she says as she pays. Turning she heads back towards the table, being careful to avoid the dancers in front of her. The dancers move quickly, and are hard to predict with the blending of styles. One of the more enthusiastic dancers crashes into her from behind and the both head towards the floor.

(1d20+2)[8] tumble
(1d20+11)[17] waterbending (spilled juice)

ooc- no amulet at this moment

[Miyako]

Revenge!

She could have been angry but, there was something wrong with her. She thought differently from everyone else. Time to show off the supple smoothness waterbending was famous for.
Avoiding that girl’s fans was easy, crouch in the long grass like a tiger. She was doing a good job improvising; she wouldn’t fool anyone with real skill. Festivals were all about letting go of your inhibitions and being swept up by joy.
Grasp Kawren (the girl with clumsy feet!) in imitation of leaves around the hands.

Like wind, a slave to harmony. As the water, flawlessly cooperative; Earth crept unobtrusive over the mountain. Fire had the lightest touch, and she always left her mark. Saying nothing, the dancer in the Laughing Goddess mask pulled on hapless Kawren, they’d be an undeniable whirlpool!

Was the Waterbender a good swimmer?

(1d20+8)[24] Perform (Dance)
(1d20+2)[12] Grapple; martial arts and dancing are one!

[Imbasel]

The dancers make way as Miyako, steals the floor and along with it the waterbender. The crowd starts clapping along to the movement, and the waterbending and firebending styles mix in the dance, the short quick movements, with the seemingly fluid motion of one step to the next. As the music comes to a climax the crowd claps for the last time, as the music ends and a small boy walks up and says while pulling on his fathers shoulder Daddy, I wanna learn how to dance like, that do you think they would teach me?

[peterpaulrubens]

Jangbu continues to head away from the dancers, until he reaches the edge of the crowd and the majority of the people are looking the other way from him.

[4is111]

Iaryo curtiously takes a seat in the shade, enjoying the moment.

[Kumori]

Becoming ever the more curious of this fellow Jangbu, Jessie decides it's time to begin following along. She begins to move towards her friend Kawren first, weaving her smoothly and effortlessly through the crowd. "Mind if I cut in?" she asks the girl who's with Kawren rhetorically as she takes Kawren's hand and pulls her away. With her friend in tow she moves to follow the man. "Curiousity has found me, Kawren. I want to knows what's with this guy and he's leaving. I'm gonna follow him. You wanna come or meet up later?"

Moving through the crowd: Take 10 Tumble = 17.

[Katiara]

Panting, Kawren deposits the floating juice back into the glasses she had miraculously held onto during the whirlwind dance. "I think I need a breather." She said passing Jessie a glass, "I'll meet up with you later." Chairs had been pushed aside to make room for the dancing. Kawren sat in one of them and took a sip of her deliciously cool juice. She looked to her side and smiled seeing the fan-dancer sitting next to her.

[Miyako]

Laughing Goddess Dancer
Careful breathing, intuitional posture, she finished with a crouch. She stood slowly and smoothly, whirling around at all the faces and covering her mask’s open mouth. It was a gesture of feminine modesty, as if to say ‘Oh, ho ho ho. That was nothing special.’

She went gliding through the crowd, into a partitioned area set aside for wealthy families. She could make her exit quietly through there, with no one the wiser who this Laughing Goddess was. Except for her guards but, they did not count. Apparently they had rented a nondescript estate from a well-off merchant – she would go there and relax away from the crowds.

There were probably countless things to do. She could use whatever time she had.

[Imbasel]

Jessie, easily winds the the crowd which is breaking up, and gets close enough to the man to shout, as the party starts to disperse. The earthbenders look a bit upset and a man shouts Free ale, at the Dead Dog, all come if you want to have a good time.

[4is111]

Iaryo's ear perk up. As long as its free I might as well have a drink.
She gets up and follows the man.

[Miyako]

Character Actions

Spoiler

Show

Once Miyako reaches the estate, she takes the time to change clothes, cool off, wash with a cloth and bowl, then soak in a bath and have her attendants take care of her with the usual routines.

Nails, hair, skin, massage, clothes, outfit, body paints, probably leading to falling asleep. Assume Miyako wakes up later to hear reports after everyone has scouted the situation in Kozar.

She can decide how to best influence the situation in Kozar based on those reports.

If anyone from the group comes snooping, assume they're turned away with the pretense of ignorance and modesty (unless you want to start a quest all about sneaking in).

Questions
-What are the demographics of Kozar?
-How are the different groups interacting? Are they harmonious?
-How many Earth Nation are around?
-How many Water Benders?
-How is the population of Kozar reacting to the tourists?
-How does everyone like the festival?
-What festival events have happened so far?
-What festival events are scheduled to happen later?
-Have there been any crimes?
-Are there any problems like supply or food shortages due to the festival?
-Are there any famous or noteworthy people around?
-Is there anyone people have found particularly suspicious (weed out the racist perceptions)?
-Are there any gangs or troublemakers working in the area?
-What is the prediction for the weather?
-How large is Kozar?
-Have there been any pirates or bandits hampering travel?
-Whar are the local hangout spots?
-Are there any persistent rumours around town?