Elder Avia
"I'm in my element," she remarked, smirking at the ecstatic chaos of the Southern Air Temple.
Introduction
Elder Avia is a friendly and kind soul, with just a touch of untamed pandemonium and relentless humor. She lights up the room wherever she goes, but also works extremely hard to better herself and her temple.Table of Contents
Character
Appearance
Avia is an average built nomad standing at about 5’4 with long golden hair with some kept into two buns on the top of her head and the rest freely flowing down her back. She has a tan complexion and light green eyes (that some might say resembles those of an earth kingdom citizen).
Clothing
She wears dark red robes which she bought upon being promoted to Watcher, though prefers her sparring clothes: a form fitting grey sleeveless shirt and burnt orange flowy pants. She often wears a gold headband and gold cuffs on both her arms as well as her keeper necklace: a gold chain adorned by a lapis pendant. She embezzled her keeper necklace with one single rock she found in Ba Sing Se, and welded onto the top of the pendant.
Personality
Avia, also known as “Mash”, is a stubborn and extremely determined nomad. Avia’s moral compass follows her heart, and thus can stay with her stance on issues, even when it could cause problems. Her friends see her as extremely trustworthy, and know they won’t be let down; her superiors know that when they give her a job, it will get done, no doubt.
Avia often comes off as cold to those who don’t know her personally, but she has a fiery childlike spirit. Avia gets along with many of the Air Nomads, and loves to banter with them (even when it leaves her with a few bruises). She is known to care deeply for those new to the Nomad life as well, as she once was in their shoes, and often sends new novices gifts and letters to make them feel welcomed.
Life
Avia was found on the main grounds of the Western Air Temple as a newborn left by her parents. Through a few biological tests taken in her teenage years, Avia found out her parents were an Earthbender and an Airbender, which explained her light green eyes and air bending talents. The gold jewelry she wears was actually left by her parents when she was a baby, and Avia refuses to take them off as she sees it as a sign that they are always with her.
Avia was taken in by the air nomads after her parents left her and began her master training at a young age at the Western Air Temple as she grew up besides the likenesses of Master Yua and Elder Jinji, who were bending prodigies. She however was hesitant in becoming a master, a route all her peers seemed to be following, and wasn’t as dedicated to her training as expected of her. She became very unmotivated and for a period of time and avoided practicing at all because she felt like she didn't measure up. Avia wasn't naturally gifted at airbending, and to this day suffers under sparring pressure. She would rather make people laugh and joke than focus on bending abilities.
At 14, Avia decided to quit her formal master training, and at age 16 began to travel the world. She originally traveled the world alone, making few friends, and preferred to ride solo for a long period of time during her youth as she explored the other nations and their historical monuments. Because she was so young to be traveling alone, Avia would often make up lies about how she was staying with "her parents" or "friends", which led her to become a naturally gifted liar, something she isn't all too proud of. She liked traveling alone and became accustomed to having to rely on only herself, a trait that remained with her throughout her life.
However, after stumbling upon a group of air nomad adventurers in the Northern Air Temple during one of her adventures, Avia found friends, and they became close quickly. Formally known as Monk Hasan, Nun Maia, Monk Rai, and Monk Ginzu, they would travel mainly to the Earth Kingdom and had lots of fun joking around. One of these friends, Maia of the Eastern Air Temple, turned out to be one of her cousins, and they instantly became close friends, almost inseparable at times. It was also Maia that introduced the idea of becoming a Keeper to Avia, an idea seldom mentioned during her life at the Western Air Temple, as she grew up surrounded by Guardians and people who wanted to become Masters. Avia immediately became infatuated with becoming a Keeper, as her adventures all over would give her adequate experience. Avia dropped in her bending abilities, relying mainly on airscooter, airblast, and her trusty glider to get around. This disappointed the guardians she had been previously training with, known as Guardians Bikhi, Kodachi, Jay, Willy, and Kaito, who had seen great potential in her.
Since finding people she got along with and a sense of a stronger bond with her community, Avia moved to the Southern Air Temple to expand her studies. She immediately bonded with everyone there and knew she had chosen the right temple. After a few years of waiting, Avia was accepted into the keep. She was embraced warmly by those anticipating her selection and worked diligently on tasks for the betterment of the Air Nomads.
As a Keeper, Avia went on many adventures. It was during an expedition one day that Avia came face to face with a spirit. The spirit cooed over not just her likeness, but Lhili’s as well, to a relative of theirs. Avia stood dumbfounded as the spirit and the others in the group saw that Watcher Lhili and Avia were sisters, and a distant relative of the spirit. A sense of comfort fell upon Avia as she suddenly felt less alone; something younger her would’ve been appreciative for. Having a big sister was something she would forever value.
After being a keeper for half a year or so, she came face to face with what is known as the Watcher Test. The Watcher test was a daunting task for Avia, as it had 5 separate volumes full of tests she hadn’t even begun to think about; each volume a different and tricky task. While some she was able to complete faster than others, each required immense effort and discipline. It wasn’t as easy as all the guardians made it out to be compared to their Master test. Avia lost motivation easily, especially when things went awry during her last volume.
Attempt after attempt left her lost and confused as she poured her heart and soul into things that just “weren’t enough”. Though her strong spirit didn’t let her quit, Avia became very tired and isolated. She would spend weeks in her room writing and rewriting trying to make details connect; more often than not surrounded by books from the Southern Air Temple library. Words turned to blurry nothingness as tears stained the books she so valued for nights on end. While Keepers Sulin, Maia, and Rue did their best to comfort her, and Keeper Raahon made her laugh, Avia knew only true self-perseverance would get her through.
However, things started to look up when she completed her assessment for Volume II, her last volume. She felt confident and sure that it would be approved, and sure enough, she was right. After 3 long years of testing and writing Avia humbly accepted the position of Watcher at the Southern Air Temple, standing among the likenesses of Watcher Astra and Watcher Rylo.
The days flew by as Avia worked tirelessly on the Watcher tests, frequently meeting with the Watchers from other temples. It became a constant state of flow—working and collaborating. However everything changed when Elder Nel decided to enter the spirit world, leaving Abbot Lui in charge. Not even a few months later Southern changed permanently—Elder Nel had decided to lead Eatsern after Elder Maari stepped down, leaving Lui to be the next Elder of the Southern Air Temple. It was also during this time that Avia’s close friend, Watcher Astra, was promoted to Elder and moved to Air Temple Island where she would be living and leading.
Though demotivated by losing two of her close friends and prominent figures of the temple—Avia pushed on. It was during this time that Avia accomplished many things. From continuing cast-aside keeper projects to helping the new Southern Elder Lui head the construction of new rooms, Avia found herself happier in the chaos that Southern was known for. It didn’t go unnoticed either, in the summer of 314 AG, Elder Lui asked Avia if she would join him in leading the Southern Air Temple as his Abbess. Avia ecstatically agreed and her inauguration occurred a few weeks later. She was excited to finally join her friends, Abbot Maia of ATI and Abbot Rai of NAT, in helping the Sanctuary. However a few weeks after Avia’s inauguration, her cousin, Maia left in a flurry one day for the Fire Nation, leaving Avia and the Air Nomads behind for a promised future outside in the unknown.
However, Avia’s whole world changed when there became word of spirits attacking. There had been mass destruction in Purenzu, and it was quickly followed by threats to the Air Nomad’s lack of spirituality. Many members of the Council took the warnings seriously, but Avia was not one of them. A World War had broken out and Avia saw the effects to be caused by the World Leaders inability to see the consequences of their actions. She saw the more materialistic versions of the War over the latter, and eventually suffered because of it.
One fateful day Avia woke up unable to airbend. For her, she had lost her sole connection to the Nomads and her home nation. She grew up airbending and it became so ingrained in her being that without it she was a shell of a human. Unable to process her failures she was thrown into a state of depression—which affected more than just her. As Elder Lui was constantly in the spirit world, they would leave Avia in charge of the temple and it’s upkeep. It is what’s expected of an Abbot: to care for the temple, but she almost seemed to carry the duties of her Elder as well. Avia suffered under the crumbling pressure of being a failure to her bending and the Southern Air Temple. She would carry out her duties, and those beyond what would be considered an Abbot’s legislation. Southern’s residents said they saw Avia as a zombie, someone merely going through the motions, as opposed to feeling anything.
It only worsened when Avia found out that Lui was stepping down, and her close advisor, Guardian Lahio, would be Lui’s successor. Pushing herself through the confusion and pain, Avia threw herself back into temple work. She would work on multiple projects a day so she didn’t have time to think about anything else. One day, Lahio approached her about a small meeting for the future of the temple, and Avia agreed. In the meeting, Avia came to realize that Lahio was everything Lui wasn’t; he understood her tears. Because of this, he was able to help build Avia back up into the abbess she previously was. As she recovered, Avia became closer with her fellow abbots: Ezra, Gyohn and Padma, finding that they often understood her struggles.
During a vacation to Purenzu’s stunning beaches, Avia received a letter from her old friend, Elder Yua. The letter stated that Yua would be stepping down and the Council wished for Avia to be the successor of the Eastern Air Temple. Avia estatically agreed and thus became the Elder of the Eastern Air Temple. Though leaving Southern was a painful goodbye, she looks to Eastern with a newfound confidence and attitude.
These days Avia can be found pouring over designs and graphs of the Eastern Air Temple, but always with a smile on her face, knowing her friends (and temple) have her back.
Relationships
Avia
Political Figure:
Eastern Elder Reign:
317 AG - Present Predecessor:
Eastern Elder Yua Nation:
The Air Nomads
Appearance
Year of Birth
290 AG
27 Years old
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Eyes
Light green
Hair
Golden
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Light tan
Height
5'4
