Kyoku
Introduction
Kyoku is a survivor. With cold cunning and a sealed-off heart, he guided his nation into greatness. When his liege grew weary of a grand war, he took the throne as a necessity and arranged a peace to end the grueling world war his predecessor Kano and the Water Chief, Irelia, had caused.Table of Contents
Character
Appearance
Kyoku is six feet tall and is well built from his time training in isolation. Kyoku has dark brown eyes and curly dark brown hair. He typically wears simple robes, but when doing important business he wears heirloom garments that were passed down to him by his old friend Zai Dan. Kyoku often appears annoyed or tired, mostly when he's in deep thought. He also has a scar over his left eye which seems to have come from an animal, or a knife, which he won't discuss with anyone.
Personality
With time, Kyoku has learned to control his emotion and often appears expressionless or deep in thought. His seemingly cold personality is hard to break through, as he has lost trust in strangers with time. Most of the time, Kyoku finds his humor at the expense of others, and many times they don't realize what he is doing. He is a strong manipulator and uses it to get what he needs; a necessary survival skill of someone with his background.
Backstory
Kyoku was born in New Kasen. He never knew his birth parents and he grew up with his younger brother and sister (Nani and Jimi). Ever since he could remember, he had moved from orphanage to orphanage and foster home to foster home with his siblings. Eventually, by the time he had turned 15, he had run away for the final time. He stumbled into a small town named New Arsen and met a boy named Zai Dan. Zai Dan was 2 years older than Kyoku, but Kyoku was arguably 3 years more mature, possibly because he was forced into a parental mindset from such a young age. However, they got along well. Maybe it was due to the fact they were both orphans growing up, or that Kyoku needed to make a friend to survive, but regardless; Kyoku had made his first friend.
Zai Dan was already successful at a young age, and out of friendship (and possibly pity), he invited Kyoku to his business: The Black Market. Within the Black Market, Kyoku made new friends, quickly bonding with the other market leaders: Rayah, Kairo, and Sushi of the Water Tribe. Kyoku also met the mayor, Yuza Ukiyo, and they found themselves to be cousins. Kyoku, Jimi, and Nani decided to stay in New Arsen with Yuza once again reuniting their clan. Over the next year, Kyoku mainly trained his fire bending while helping Zai manage the market. Zai was a strong bender, and Kyoku never really had time to train his bending at the orphanages. However, he was a quick learner, and within months he was able to surpass Zai. When Zai turned 18 and decided to join the military, he told Kyoku to keep training and eventually join him; Kyoku agreed but decided to train by exploring the world.
The two went their separate paths and did not hear from one another for many years. Kyoku traveled the world in this time and through his travels learned the styles of the 4 elements and the strategies they followed. He visited ancient civilizations and lost ruins; collecting forgotten items and ancient bending scrolls on his way. Eventually, his travels brought him to Sun Warrior Island, and for some reason, he stayed there for 2 years. Kyoku never told anyone what happened on that island, but somehow, he came out of that island much stronger than he came in. He also came out of that island, claiming his last name was Ran, and continuing to use it as a surname.
When he finally returned to the Fire Nation, he soon found out some horrible news; Zai Dan had passed away. In his will, Zai had left his belongings to Kyoku as well as the Black Market. At the funeral, he was reunited with Sushi. The two sat next to each other and reassured each other; Zai's death would not be in vain. Over the next two years, Sushi and Kyoku spent a lot of time together, mainly working to manage the Black Market, but also in their leisure. Kyoku soon proposed and the two became engaged. However, Kyoku, soon left the crescent's; his spiritual strength heightened yet he had lost touch with his physical strength. He approached General Kano and rejoined the military as a sensei, one who has mastered the art of bending well enough to teach it.
During Kyoku's time as a military Sensei, General Kano became Fire Lord, and later approached Kyoku asking him to be his Royal Advisor. During his time as advisor, Kyoku proved he had sharp intellect and instincts. Kyoku helped Fire Lord Kano to reform the military, government branches, and domestic branches, and helped create one of the Fire Nation's most prosperous eras. Unfortunately, tensions rose between the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation, leading to tense global conflicts. After a few years of ongoing war, Fire Lord Kano had grown weary of the throne and decided to hand it off to Kyoku. Fire Lord Kyoku was not fond of war, as in the past he had seen many comrades die over mere politics. Instead of continuing the war, Kyoku sought to make peace with the tribes and proposed a fair trial over “Rai'' the soldier who initially started the conflict. When the tribes refused a fair trial, Kyoku continued negotiations and within weeks ended the conflict. During this time, Kyoku also worked with his trusted advisor Kaeru on establishing the city of "Kyoten" and grew a strong attachment to it.
Only a year later, Kyoku would see a strange spirit in his dream that would guide him to a forest, and he would leave the throne to Kaeru. During his time away, Kyoku’s ideals grew radical, almost anarchist, and he began to despise the world governments that caused war, conflict, and suffering. When he returned, he returned as a self proclaimed “Grand Uniter” and ordered all nations to dissolve their government systems and join him in one unified nation. Naturally, world leaders scoffed at him, and to establish his movement, Kyoku gathered a group of three other talented benders to take over the island of Kyoten.
During the battle, Kyoku “killed” Fire Lord Kaeru (although it was later revealed that Kyoku faked Kaeru’s death), and claimed Kyoten in the name of “The Great Unification”. However, before the group was able to make advances on the Western Air Temple, a mysterious fog rolled in and consumed all life on the island. When Lord Kaeru would return to the island, he would find Kyoku’s journal which left a day by day account of the incoming fog. The last page in the journal is unfinished, but documents his concern as ships were returning empty, soldiers would go missing at night, and the fog getting closer and closer each night. Kyoku went missing at 27 and remains missing, but would be 35 years old now.
Kyoku
Political Figure:
Fire Lord Reign:
(316 AG-317 AG) Previous Fire Lord:
Fire Lord Kano Sentō (313 AG-317 AG) Nation:
The Fire Nation Current Residence:
Kyoten
Basic Information
Gender
Male (he/him) Age
35 Bending
Fire
