Avatar Legends
1/1/15 AE
Created by
Many people in the Avatarverse are benders, possessing the ability to manipulate one of the four elements—earth, fire, air, or water. But whether they’re benders or non-benders, the people of this world have faced centuries of trials and tribulations, conflicts within and between nations, peoples, and even spirits! For most of the world’s history, the Avatar—a human capable of bending all four elements—has been responsible for maintaining balance in the world and serving as a bridge between the spiritual and physical planes of existence. Following a cycle through the elements from earth to fire, fire to air, air to water, and water back to earth, the Avatar reincarnates after each lifetime into a different nation, carrying forward the Avatar Spirit and its great responsibility. Many people look to the Avatar for guidance and justice, hoping to see the most capable bender in the world solve their problems and placing an enormous burden on this lone person to be a savior. But the Avatar is not the only hero in this world. Many are called to bring balance where there is disorder and seek justice where there is suffering. Some of these heroes are benders themselves, but others use martial arts, weapon training, or technology to triumph in their amazing adventures and build a better world. These heroes might sometimes stand with the Avatar in times of great trouble, but often they must join with other heroes—without the Avatar’s guidance—to bring balance.
This campaign takes place during the Aang Era. The Aang Era specifically details the state of the world just after the conclusion of the Imbalance comic trilogy. The Hundred Year War is finally over thanks to Avatar Aang and his team. This era is one of hope after a long stretch of strife. It is a time of possibility, cooperation, and healing, restoring balance to the world. For the first time in years, the nations have a chance at true cooperation, but many struggle with embracing the forgiveness needed for collaboration. Plenty fight against progress towards social and political cooperation, and those who cannot change find themselves left behind, holding onto narrow-minded attitudes that are quickly becoming outdated. Fire Lord Zuko now sits on the Fire Nation throne after joining forces with the Avatar to stop his father, and he faces unhappy citizens who’ve made attempts on his life. Aang and Zuko work to repair the damage done by the Fire Nation during the war, but despite their best intentions, it hasn’t always turned out the way they’d like. Decolonization is well underway in the Earth Kingdom. The Harmony Restoration Movement was intended to establish balance among the nations by moving Fire Nation colonists back to the Fire Nation, but it wasn’t universally embraced. Many people didn’t want to be forced out of settlements they had lived in for so long, and multicultural families did not want to be broken up. While some in the Earth Kingdom strive to remain integrated, other places push to separate—and not always due to nationality, but also to increasing tensions between benders and non-benders. This is exemplified by the bending supremacist uprising in Crane fish Town. Though the Avatar and his team stopped the uprising, plenty of people (most of them benders, though not all) believe only benders should be in leadership roles. Tensions caused by the bending supremacist movement aren’t going away any time soon. The Water Tribes face their own obstacles on the path towards healing. The Southern Water Tribe slowly works on reconstruction after a century of extreme hardship during the war, but rebuilding has come with its own set of problems…