Avatar

An Avatar is the name of a form a person with unique traits can take. These forms are immensely powerful. Comparisons of even the lowest strength Avatars put them above the combat power of a Tank. They have extremely high durability and can cause damage with ease that in some cases could put jets, and warships out of commission.

Career

Qualifications

To become an Avatar a human must have a strong innate Ether Conduction Level.
Researchers at Waddiche Academy have discovered Ether can travel through human bodies but it is often degraded as it passes. A majority of humans degrade large amounts of Ether during this process and scientists have developed a scale to measure the purity of the ether returned called Ether Conduction Level which ranged from 0 to 1.
It has been found that a minimum of a .7 conduction level is needed for a person to take an Avatar state. This level is speculated to constitute 0.00003 % of the world's population.
To discover Avatars across the world, Waddiche Academy has developed a way to expend Ether from the Flume Crystal and trace it as well as measure its return. Using this they are able to pinpoint locations where the Ether signature comes back without degradation and send teams out to locate the individuals tied to that signature. Because of this, some side effects of Ether transference have been found. One is the innate understanding of a universal language deemed "Bable."

Career Progression

An Avatar's training begins with testing and training a person's ability to shape Ether as it flows through their body. This begins with reshaping Flume Construct and then advances to forming primitive, preset, and nonspecific Avatar bodies nicknamed "Avatar Mannequins." These are done with suites embedded with Flume Gem and have simple features and bare simple weapons.
An avatar mannequin can test and train people to channel Ether into moving and controlling Avatar forms. This includes basic talents, combat, magic, and abilities. Avatar mannequins are remotely piloted while the person wears the suit, but the personal Avatar Body actually replaces the human form entirely when transformed.
Researchers have also discovered and coined a measurement for the amount of Ether a person is able to channel and then hold within their Avatar form. This is called Ether Capacity. The Capacity of an Avatar grows through two key factors: experience in training, and the perspective of the Avatar by the people of Earth. Once an Avatar reaches a Capacity of 900 they are ready to take on their own uniquely designed Avatar body.
The design of the Avatar body is developed and created by embedding Flume Gems within the person's skin and completing a Codex linked to the Flume Crystal. The codex is a collection of known runes, written in an ink derived from flume gems, that are slowly discovered over years of research and coordinated to the physical form and abilities of Avatar states. The codex interacts with the Flume Crystal and some unknown but individual aspects of the person to form a full Avatar body.
As Avatars continue to build Ether Capacity they are able to adjust the Avatar body further, developing greater skills, durability, magic, and abilities. This process is also done with the manipulation of the Avatars Codex.

Payment & Reimbursement

The United Nations pays Avatars an annual salary equivalent to 140,000 USD. 
Many Avatars also gain sponsorships from across the globe which serve to not only increase their income but also increase the exposure the Avatar has and thus the perception the people of Earth have towards them.

Perception

Purpose

Earth's Avatars serve many purposes on Earth and across other Planes.

Exploration

The Avatars of Earth are tasked with exploring Limbo and traveling to other Planes. Being the only beings able to handle extraplanar travel makes this a unique requirement of the job.

Defense

Because of the previous catastrophes of First Invasion and Second Invasion Avatars have become a much needed defense against what other threats may come from beyond our Plane.

Representation

Traveling to different Planes has come with a new aspect to Earth's political field. These other planes sometimes have inhabitants and societies of their own. This means that the Avatars must take on the role of ambassadors of Earth, creating treaties, alliances, and perceptions for Earth.

Service

The sheer power and strength of Avatars and their abilities put them in the unique place of being able to make large changes and accomplish unheard-of feats on Earth. Because of this many Avatars have used their talents to combat natural disasters, soothe world conflicts, solve epidemics, and perform general services to benefit humankind.

Social Status

Avatars have been revered across the world since their first appearance. Their unique place in society affords them an aspect of fame which also helps them to grow in strength. 
There has been some pushback and even shunning of Avatars from certain cultures and religions as when an individual attains so much power there becomes fear they could use it poorly, and in the case of some religions the place an Avatar takes in the doctrine along with Ether, Flume Crystal, and other new developments in the world is a point of contention as to its morality.

Demographics

There are currently 68 known and trained Avatars across the world, though based on speculations there is the potential of 2,000 candidates who could hold the Avatar state. The large majority of trained Avatars have been trained and serve within the Waddiche Academy. In recent years some countries have announced their own national Avatars. These countries are Turkey, the United States, China, India, and Brazil.

Operations

Materials

To take the Avatar form the person draws Ether from Earth into the gems embedded in their body. They then activate a separate Flume Gem that is directly connected to the Codex for their form. The gems within their skin grow rapidly covering their body and beyond. This process seems to remove the person's physical form entirely in an unknown way. The growing gems eventually shatter and left behind is the form of the Avatar.
In this process all physical materials worn by the person are gone and new ones associated with the Avatar form are manifested. This includes bags, tools, weapons, clothes, and equipment.

Provided Services

Other unique traits of Avatars include:

• Language: Though Ether seems to have given Humans a common language known as Bable, Avatars also seem to have languages unique to their form. It has been found that these have been useful in their connection to languages on other planes.
• Resting: Holding an Avatar state does not seem to be something that can be done permanently. A person still requires rest for themselves but also to refuel Ether to power the Avatar state. To do this Avatar states must be dropped out of, which has led to some very tricky moments for the Avatars traveling beyond the Earthen Plane. A quick hour out of Avatar state seems to recoup some of the Avatar's capability and even durability, but to fully restore the Ether connection it has been found a minimum of 6 hours out of state is needed.
• Durability: Avatar bodies are immensely durable in comparison to human bodies but they do seem to have their limits. If an Avatar takes too much damage they seem to break causing the person within to return. On Earth this seems to be fairly unharmful as the person regains full consciousness of their human form; however, it has been discovered that outside of our plane the person who is expelled from the Avatar remains unconscious and encased in a thin veil of ether as if in a coma until returning to the Earthen Plane, where they seem to return from their coma over a few days.
• Ressurection: It has been discovered there are certain forms of magic that allow a human to reconnect with Earth's Ether and retake their Avatar form. On any plane, this type of magic allows for the human to regain consciousness and immediately take on their Avatar state again. On Earth, a person can also resurrect their Avatar state by spending time at the Codex reconnecting to Earth's Ether. It seems this amount of time varies greatly as the complexity of an Avatar grows. 

Alternative Names

Heroes

Type

Arcane