Episode 1: A New Journey Begins

[Stengleronymous]

Late Autumn, 97 AG

Ba Sing Se University, Middle Ring

Ba Sing Se, Earth Kingdom

 

It's a crisp autumn day in Ba Sing Se, and the pleasant campus of Ba Sing Se University is bustling with activity. Students walk the spacious walled quadrangles with armfuls of books, scrolls, quills, and other tools of learning. Merchants selling street food, eager to take advantage of hungry young customers, set up their carts all along the public streets just outside the walls of the University complex. Professors and scholars sit on benches in shady, park-like groves of trees, debating philosophy, science, and all manner of topics.

 

The department of Anthropology sits tucked in the southeast corner of the campus, near a decorative pond populated by several elegant eel swans. Students mill around outside, complaining audibly that Professor Zei has recently returned from another near-fatal episode of getting lost in the Si Wong desert, and that his classes will be taught by the irritable Professor Tongu instead while Professor Zei recovers. Up one flight of stairs and down the hall, the third door on the right is the faculty office of Professor Ko, Ba Sing Se University's expert on Air Nomad culture. Outside that door are two small benches for students to wait to speak with the professor. Today, however, those benches await no ordinary students, but rather, a special team assembled by Professor Ko for a specific purpose..

 

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by Stengleronymous (see edit history)

[moarhair]

Fei flows through the crowd with ease. She ducks under a street merchant's extended arm as he shows his wares, slips through a small gap between two groups of passersby, hops over a small hare-dog, its yips accompanied by its owner's protestations. Fei wheels around on her left wheel and smiles apologetically. "Sorry!" she says briskly, before completing her 360 degree pivot and diving back into the throng.

 

She emerges from the mass of bodies and passes through the university's gate with visible relief. She takes a moment to catch her breath, smooth down her uneven hair and her plain clothing, before looking over her shoulder at Khulan. "Come on, we're going to be late," she says, as if she wasn't the one who'd overslept.

 

Fei leads the way through the campus confidently. She largely ignores the students, but bows to passing professors and smiles or waves at the staff as she passes.

 

Fei stops as she and Khulan round a corner to find an old man mopping the hallway floor. The man looks up, his worn features compressing into a frown for a moment before his eyes light up with recognition. He cracks a smile. "Fei! I thought you quit? Have you come back to give these old bones a break?"

 

Fei smiles back. "I'm afraid not, Mr. Hua. I have other business here today." She looks at the sparklingly clean floor and hesitates. "We'll... uh... go around."

 

Mr. Hua chuckles. "It's you, it's okay. Go ahead," he says with a tilt of his head.

 

"You're too kind, Mr. Hua, but we'll go around. I remember," she says with a conspiratorial grin. "This way," she tells Khulan, as she heads off to take the long way around.

 

The two girls arrive at Professor Ko's office fashionably late. "Sorry," Fei says to the others with a bow. "It's my fault we're late."

[Robodogg]

Unlike some, Khulan is accustom to working to a timetable. Chronically waking up with the rising sun, she hasn't been tardy to anything in years. By the time Fei awakes and bursts out the front door, Khulan isn't just prim and proper herself but is busying herself with a couple small chores around the house.

 

"Fei!" While Khulan is never more than a few steps behind Fei, she moves to avoid the crush of the crowd rather than ducking through the middle of it. "Slow down!" she calls out to little success, giving the yipping hare-dog a wide berth. "You're going to knock somebody over!" Exasperation is the only thing on her face as the pair pass the gate to Ba Sing Se University. How could she be so reckless!

 

"Going to be late?" Is all Khulan can sigh before falling in behind Fei again, mimicking exactly who she ignores and who she bows to. She didn't really have a choice, without Fei to lead the way she is utterly lost and she has to blend in more than anything right now. The university seems to be even more sprawling than the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, and Khulan did not have nearly enough time to reconnoitre the campus properly. Yet.

 

Considering the rush Fei is in to make up for being so late, Khulan didn't quite understand why they stopped. But it was obvious that she knew the custodian, so she didn't pry. She just steps back against a wall and stays silent, being as nondescript as she could manage. Waiting for Fei to finish talking to the man first, Khulan then lowers her head in a bow. "Apologies for the interruption, Mr. Hua." She leaves him with, quickly trailing after Fei's long way around.

 

There was nothing further to add after Fei's apology to the others. Placing her fist to her palm, Khulan bows deeply and simply offers a taciturn, "Professor."

[Gan Anail]

Sitting in front of one of the benches, using the bench as a table, Mahin he had been there for a while. Not with any interest in being early, but rather knowing he'd be late if he studied elsewhere and just decided to study there for the morning until the others showed up. On the bench was a strange doll with lines engraved over it in strange paths. His motions were strange, a weird mixture of styles and obviously a bit rough because the two weren't exactly designed to mix. As Mahin was moving his hands down the body, little clicks were heard.

 

Mahin started to move his hands towards another direction as the two ladies "slowly approached" which caused him to flinch. Right after the flinch an audible 'kling' sound is heard. "Dead." He mutters softly. "Too much force." He then messes with the doll a second and pops it open revealing water and other ingredients in it. "Also too much mineral accumulation. Wouldn't have survived even if I hadn't flinched." Mahin shakes his head in disappointment. With a thrust of his hand towards the open doll, the minerals and other ingredients seem to suddenly push back into the water and start dissolving. Looking up from the two girls he gives them a lopsided smile. "No worries, the Professor is running a bit behind himself." Mahin stands up and flicks his wrists, causing all the dust on himself cast off. He makes a series of small, but strangely fluid for earth bending moves, gathering the dust into a small rock which he then tosses out into the garden. "Fei and Khulan, correct? I'm Mahin. I've seen you around but I don't think we've been formally introduced."
 

[DogTheGoblin]

The shade of the trees coupled well with the gentle autumn breeze that rolled through the campus, the chatter of merchants just outside the walls mixing with the mutterings of the student body and what sounded like the yipping of a small hare-dog created a gentle ambience for Xu who was sat on one of the many benches drinking it all in. It reminded him of the tea shop, minus the detail of Miki and himself being rushed off their feet. 

 

Speaking of which, where was that hot-headed girl? "Miki..." A sigh rolled through his smile, he had already wasted enough time. Standing to his feet and tightening the knot on his arm, he turned to enter the university properly. She'll arrive on her own time, as always. Just hopefully without any commotion. 

 

Xu's smile beamed as his head looked down the hall and saw three familiar sights. "Fei! Khulan! Mahin! It's good to see you all again." He nodded to each respectively.

 

 

 

 

[Robodogg]

This news is so shocking that Khulan doesn’t seem to even know what to say while she slowly rises from her bow to stand ramrod straight.

 

“The Professor is late?”

 

She’s at a loss, never in her entire time at the academy had this happened before. Short of being called in to an emergency war council meeting, her instructors were never absent or unpunctual. Perhaps, like her gracious host, running late is just how things work in the Earth Kingdom? They were supposed to just… wait around?

 

Khulan shakes her head, her eyes ending up on Fei. “So you didn’t even need to run through half the ring like an escaping komodo rhino!” An irritated grunt is as far as she’s willing to let her composure slip in mixed company.

 

“Correct, Mahin.” Khulan nods her head politely, pausing as another of their number approaches. “And Xu?” She nods again. “The pleasure's mine. I’m glad to see you’re both well, considering what happened. Last time didn’t spare us even a second for formalities, did it?”

[Kyoh]

"Another fight?!" the manager shouts. "Miki, if this happens again, you're fired! You hear me?"

 

"But it wasn't my fault! They were being rude to me just because I'm a firebender."
 

The manager rubs the bridge of his nose, then lights his pipe and puffs angrily. "Miki, everybody is rude to you because you're a firebender. I'm rude to you because you're a firebender. I'm telling you to deal with it in a way that doesn't involve you punching performers, customers, or your co-workers. You're a janitor at the greatest music hall of Ba Sing Se, not some Lower Ring tavern bouncer. Now get outta here before I wise up and fire you today."

 

Miki storms out of the music hall, her always-gloved hands balled up into fists. She all but runs down the flight of marble steps and turns down a winding alley, making her way through the twists and turns until she reaches a familiar dead end. The walls of this dead end are charred and blackened. Miki glares at the walls, her chest rising with every angry breath.

 

From behind her, an old homeless man rounds the corner. "Oh, hey, Miki." He smiles a toothless smile. "Think you can get me some buns from-"

 

"Not today, Jiyu!" Miki snaps. Miki shouts and punches, sending a huge wave of fire at the wall.

 

Jiyu gulps and runs, knowing better than to mess with Miki when she's mad.

 

For several minutes, the alleys are filled with the sound of Miki shouting and the whoosh of flames. When Miki is finally finished, she stands in the toasted alleyway, shoulders heaving from the strain. She wipes the sweat from her brow and stares up at the afternoon sun. "Oh crap! The meeting!"

 

At the professor's office, the other students can hear Miki before they see her (a rather common phenomena). "Move, move, move! I'm late!" they hear her distantly shout, followed by the sound of something crashing and people angrily shouting. Miki bursts into the room, nearly taking the door off its hinges. "I'm here! I'm here!" she shouts. She comes to a stop, resting her her hands on her knees as she catches her breath. "Just in time?" she asks hopefully.

[Gan Anail]

Mahin looks back and forth a bit furtively. "Are we supposed to talk about last time?" He says in a quiet voice. "I thought we were pretending that didn't happen in public."

 

When Miki arives he shrugs. "Not late, but I don't know if you're on time." He states with a smile as he closes up the strange doll and puts it next to the bench. "I think the professor has one of his new 'research projects' in mind."

[moarhair]

Fei shifts uncomfortably at Khulan's recriminations. "Well, at least now we're not late," she says with a sheepish smile which makes her younger age all the more apparent.

 

She gives Mahin and Xu a small, stiff bow. She opens her mouth to greet them, but shuts it promptly as Miki comes barreling down the hallway, shouting as she goes. Fei purses her lips and looks away.

 

She walks over to one of the benches and sits, her feet dangling a hair's breadth from the floor. She stares at them for a moment before looking up. "Has anyone heard from Mr. Durruk?"

[Robodogg]

Khulan matches Mahin in lowering her voice. _{“No, of course you’re right. However-“} As if her point needs to be shown before them, Miki barges in like she's trying to make as much noise as possible. _{“-when people draw attention to all of us like that, what’s even the point.”} She sighs and tries very hard to not roll her eyes, for the sake of team morale. She instead puts that irate energy into rolling her shoulders, both joints audibly cracking.

 

Khulan shakes her head “Not for a few days." She takes a couple steps sideways to stand next to Fei. "Sifu Durruk is like the tide, coming and going on a whim. Spirits know I haven’t been able to pin him down to a timetable…”

Edited September 17, 2022 by Robodogg (see edit history)

[Tavanesh]

 

Durruk had left his modest apartment at a reasonable hour. He enjoyed seeing the sun rise over the bustling city streets, and Welko needed a bit of fresh air and exercise. His steps were purposeful but also somehow flexible, as he ebbed and flowed past shops, street sweepers, and into a food market. He made his way towards a meeting with Professor Ko and the students he had become quite fond of, but found it was important to savor the little things on the way: the sounds of his favorite fountain pumping ostentatiously amidst the market, the gentle breeze taking the sting off of the hot, morning sun, and the smell of steamed buns wafting from a nearby cart.

 

Welko, who had just finished a lap in the fountain, slithered up Durruk's leg, wrapped gently around his neck, and propped his head up on Durruk's shoulder. Durruk pretended not to notice the desperate water pupsnake trying his damndest to make eye contact with him, a pleading look plastered across those adorable saucer eyes. At wits end, Welko let out a quiet grumble and gently licked Durruk's cheek with his forked tongue causing Durruk to let out a short but hearty laugh.

 

"I'm pretty sure any good water pupsnake needs to make two laps around the fountain to get a morning treat," Durruk said teasingly. Welko's ears popped up with the acknowledgement, but just continued to beseech with a stare. Durruk stared back and raised his eyebrows, and Welko started a soft whimper.

 

Shaking his head with a soft smile, Durruk broke the staring contest: "Very well, my friend. We can skip a second lap today, but only because I'm going to be late as it is." In truth, Durruk was particularly famished as well, and humorously did not himself desire to lead by example and do a lap around the fountain. He walked up to the delicious smelling cart and dropped a few coins, one more than necessary, for two buns and a few pieces of cooked meat for his rider. As he was being handed the morning meal, a yipping broke through the noise of the crowd and Durruk peeked over his shoulder to spy Fei and Khulan vaulting over a hare dog before taking off down the street. 

 

"Slow down! You're going to knock somebody over," he heard Khulan shout. Durruk cocked an eyebrow disdainfully, but also could not hide a small smile.

 

"Always so eager to get where they're going..." he said, under his breath, while remembering how he used to be the same way. He was pretty sure Beho had said those very words to him... or had he said it to Beho? Time was funny, and even though Durruk understood the flow of water well, the flow of time eluded him. Here in Ba Sing Se, the Dai Li tried to control time, or at least people's sense of it. His face contorted into a slight sneer, he had tried not to let such thoughts pollute his morning, but he couldn't help but notice the oppressive air: the sidelong looks of pedestrians, the hesitation before initiating any conversation, the politeness and sterility of it all, the shadows in the alleys and on the rooftops... It wasn't usually an agent, but the fear that it might be was enough.

 

He munched on his bun, lost in thought, as he continued to stroll in the direction his students had went, pausing occasionally to snatch a piece of meat from the bag he had strapped to his belt and pass it up to the eager passenger on his shoulder. At least Welko waited now, Durruk thought. There was a time when the feisty fellow would have had his head in the bag before Durruk could blink. Durruk looked down the alley he was passing, spotting what he had hoped to find.

 

"Jiyu, my friend!" he exclaimed to the old man who seemed a little more shaken than usual. "I see our mutual... err...  firecracker has put up some fresh scorch marks," he followed up as he stared at the crisp blackened streaks upon the walls. Durruk made a mental note to keep a closer eye on Miki. This kind of behavior could attract... unwanted attention. Durruk had noticed people go missing, and if they did come back, they came back changed. He would not allow that to happen to any of his students, not if he had anything to say about it.

 

"Master Durruk! It is good to see you. Say, you wouldn't perhaps-" Jiyu started to say before Durruk thrust a bun into his hands. "Oh, thank you so much!"

 

"Don't mention it, old friend," Durruk replied. "My only request is that you drop the 'Master' honorary. I am a master of nothing, never have been, never will be."

 

"As you say, Master Durruk," Jiyu said before voraciously biting into the bun. Durruk sighed but chose not to correct the man as he continued on his way, well and truly late. Jiyu had had a tough life: served for years in the war before being kicked to the curb, seeing as how in Ba Sing Se there was no war for him to have served in. Just another beat-up, old vagrant. Ba Sing Se had plenty of those...

 

Eventually, Durruk found himself walking up to Professor Ko's office and the full complement that awaited him.

 

"Good morning, students," he said with a stretch. "I apologize for being late, but these old bones just aren't what they used to be,"

 

Durruk looked down to see Welko's head rummaging around in the bag and couldn't decide whether to sigh or laugh.

Edited September 13, 2022 by Tavanesh (see edit history)

[Stengleronymous]

Outside the office

"Your bones and my bones both," comes a voice from just down the hall, and you all turn to say Professor Ko himself walking down the corridor. As usual, he's dressed in a simple back silk scholar's shirt - well-made and well-kept but unostentatious - and black breeches. Professor Ko is a tiny man, barely five feet tall, slender, and bald as an egg. He's somewhere between thirty and sixty years old, if you had to guess, but more than that is hard to say. Many students assume his baldness is a nod to the Air Nomad culture that he studies so closely, but the Professor maintains that it all fell out years ago and has saved him a lot of trouble besides. His short black mustache is neatly trimmed, and he peers through his round spectacles at each of you.

 

"You'll all have to pardon my lateness," he continues, "but I'm glad to see you all here, ready and eager to work. After all, the mysteries of the past have been kept waiting long enough, hm?" he prompts with a small smile, unlocking his office with a key from his pocket and motioning you all inside.

 

Inside the office

Professor Ko's office is simply appointed with few flights of fancy. There is ample natural light from tall windows with carved wooden screens all along the far wall, and the Professor himself moves to sit behind a simple wooden table. Beside the table is a scroll holder made from a carved wooden stump, which holds the scrolls for whatever project the professor is working on at the moment. Behind his desk is a wall of crisscrossed diamond-shaped scroll cubbies, and two bookshelves filled with books, as well. A pair of framed ink landscapes show different views from the Eastern Air Temple, apparently both the work of a noted Air Nun artist several hundred years ago. There is plenty of seating in the form of benches and a few chairs, but with seven of you all in the office at once, it's still a bit cramped. You all notice the wind chimes that you retrieved for the professor in your last foray hanging just inside the windows.

 

Once everyone is inside, the Professor nods to Durruk in a silent request for him to close the door. Assuming he does so, the Professor steeples his fingers and looks you all over.

 

"I've been working to translate some of the visible inscriptions on the map and relate them back to old Air Nomad writings to figure out where our search should take us next," he says, and gestures you all over to the map in question. It's currently under glass, and Professor Ko takes out a red grease pen, which he used to circle an area on the glass itself so you can all see where it is on the map. It's a river running north of West Lake.

"References I've found to a River of Sweet Persimmons - their words, not mine," he clarifies, "seem to match this area. Supposedly, airbenders traveling to or from the Northern Air Temple would follow this river not only for ease of navigation, but to feed their bison and themselves from the abundant persimmon trees that grew along the river's course. Many airbenders also stopped to trade or rest in villages along the way, and they were widely welcomed by the people there. Occasionally, they would even exchange gifts of goodwill, and I found a specific mention of a Mayor Yingjie in one of those villages who found a monk whose bison had been injured and brought them both back to the village, giving them food and shelter as the bison was nursed back to health. So grateful was the monk that he gave Mayor Yingjie an authentic airbender censer." Here, the professor shows you an old ink drawing of such a censer - a large brass or bronze metal bowl with a flat bottom and three sticks of burning incense mounted in bracket holders in the bottom.

 

"I'd like for you all to follow the river from West Lake northward, to try to find that village. If we're lucky, Mayor Yingjie's family still lives there and held on to the censer. That's what I'd like for you to bring back. Of course, you'll need to be very careful," he adds seriously. "The Fire Nation military is actively vying for control of West Lake, and the army is hard-pressed keeping them at bay. They could be active in that area. I've arranged for some basic supplies for you all - traveling food, tents, the necessities - and travel papers that will get you in and out of Ba Sing Se on the trains, as you're on official University business. Any questions?"

 

[Robodogg]

Offering her Sifu a polite nod as he finally shuffles his decrepit old bones over, Khulan quietly follows Professor Ko into his office. Once everybody is safely inside she immediately goes to the large, easily compromised windows and gives them a thorough inspection. If they’re under surveillance of any kind, this is the obvious observation point.

 

All the while Khulan studiously avoids the wind chime hanging just overhead, as if even accidentally brushing it with her fingers would defile the object. The last thing any remnant of the Air Nomads needed was a dutiful servant of the Fire Lord like herself being nearby. Or so she guesses, having no actual idea of any meaning or significance the wind chimes held.

 

Making a satisfied grunt, Khulan turns her back to the windows and chooses to stand as the Professor explains his plan for the next artefact. This she feels comfortable with. Standing to attention and listening to a mission briefing is such a reassuringly familiar feeling that for a moment the oppressive dread of being stuck in Ba Sing Se lifts from Khulan’s shoulders.

 

Lacking the Fire Nation red markings all over the northwestern coast that she's familiar with, Khulan has to recall from memory where exactly the mutable front lines last were. “We should hope that at least some of the family are still in the area. If they fled the war they could be anywhere from Ba Sing Se to Omashu.” She motions to the map once the Professor gives his orders.

 

“Assuming they and the censer remain in this village, I can't imagine they’ll wish to part with a family heirloom like this so easily." Khulan addresses to Professor Ko. "Are we authorised to secure the artefact by force if the need arises?”

Edited September 17, 2022 by Robodogg (see edit history)

[Stengleronymous]

2 hours ago, Robodogg said:

 

“Assuming they and the censer remain in this village, I can't imagine they’ll wish to part with a family heirloom like this so easily." Khulan addresses to Professor Ko. "Are we authorised to secure the artefact by force if the need arises?”

Inside the office

Khulan doesn't notice any concerning sort of surveillance outside the Professor's window, unless one of those eel swans is secretly a Dai Li agent.

 

The Sei'naka scion's question brings Professor Ko up short. He gives a slow blink, and it almost for a moment looks as though the possibility of a reasonable person simply refusing to donate their rare Air Nomad artifacts to the University hadn't occurred to him before. Nonetheless, he quickly recovers.

 

"Erm...no," he says. "No, force won't do. Assuming that censer is still in the hands of something resembling a rightful owner, of course. If it's been stolen by brigands or confiscated by the Fire Nation - spirits forbid! - then you can of course do whatever you need to to get it back. But we can't have University agents robbing Earth Kingdom citizens of their property. I'm sure you all can make a convincing case for them to donate the censer, though. We'll preserve it and keep it carefully here for generations to come. If they'd prefer, we could even call it an extended loan, with them and their heirs retaining the right to reclaim their property from us in the future if they so choose. If they insist on being paid for it..." the Professor pauses, and assumes a pained expression. "Well, it's literally priceless, so I don't know what we could offer them. Included in your traveling supplies is thirty silver pieces, which should be enough to keep you all fed and put you up at guest houses or the like on the road for the trip there and back. I suppose if you're keen to camp and forage, that money could be considered a discretionary fund, but I doubt they'd sell for so little. I suppose I can try to scrape together some more funding if they're willing to name a price, but..." he trails off, not looking terribly sanguine.

 

[Robodogg]

Avoid using force against Earth Kingdom citizens. How novel. Khulan hides a small smile at this by respectfully bowing her head.

 

“I understand, Professor.”