Sohi

Sohi

A young, budding initiate of the White Lotus, carrying on the burden of her Father who has recently passed. She is still waiting to get her tattoos as a master Airbender. She has a pet Flying Bison named Ooma.
What tradition do you represent as its icon? Why can’t you set down the role? The Order of the White Lotus I can’t set it down because it is all I’ve ever known. My father was a member of the white lotus and I’ve been raised within the organization. It’s my role to carry on this tradition of guiding the nations into harmony, no matter what it takes.
Who was your chief mentor, teaching you the nature of your burden and its value? My Father Tahn . He was a high ranking member and taught me the principles of peace, order, and protecting the world by helping the Avatar and guiding political decisions. His death has left Sohi as the Icon of the next generation of the Order being asked to step up too soon.

Who showed you that even with the weight of your burden, you could still find ways to play? 
 Goyin, an Earthbender and a sculptor, and the constructor of several fine buildings in all the nations. She taught me to see the beauty and opportunity in every situation, to learn to wait for the picture to reveal itself to you instead of forcing it into being. She is also a member of the White Lotus, although one who is not always as invested in being active in the world. Her approach tends to be one of neutral jing and letting things work out on their own. This patience regarding real events left plenty of time for drinking tea, discussing philosophy, and flying around the world.
Ishana or "Ish" for short (he/they) - an Air nomad friend of Sohi's at the North Air Temple. One of the few people who knows about the White Lotus and has been sworn to secrecy. He is a fun-loving and free-spirited nomad who would prefer soaring through the skies to the responsibilities of the world. He is frequently encouraging Sohi to skip meetings, go on impromptu adventures, and to forsake the world for joy instead.
What token of your burden and tradition do you always carry? A Pai Sho tile. The identifying mark of the White Lotus

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Small and slight, with a wiry and muscular body that bends and twists like a spring

Body Features

Brown hair that is usually braided in two buns or pigtails. Hair is always falling loose from the braids.

Facial Features

Freckles and light brown eyes and glimmer in the light. Usually some form of a smile is found on her face

Apparel & Accessories

Loose Airbender robes over a cropped haltertop is her typical outfit.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Sohi has lived most of her life in the monastic tradition of the Airbenders and the tradition of the Order of the White Lotus. Her Father trained her in philosophy, spirituality, meditation, and the ways of the world at a very young age and began her bending instruction early.
By the time she was 12 she was being brought along to high level meetings or on missions, staying quite in the corner of the room. With Goyin and/or her Father, she sometimes traveled the world and explored many obscure sights across the 4 nations. The rest of her time has been spent at the Northern Air Temple training, learning, and studying under the monks and her Father.
One of her favorite close getaways is Laghima's peak near the Northern Air temple. She and Ooma have flown there a few time to meditate. Her exploration in the spirituality of non-attachment and letting go of earthly tethers sometimes leads to questions about how the principles of the White Lotus can mix with her beliefs.
Tahn, Sohi's father, died about 3 months before the Inciting Incident. Sohi has been coping with this loss with lots of meditation and being asked to step up her responsibilities with the White Lotus. The other members of the order expect her to begin acting more like a full member in the future, doing what her father used to do. It was these responsibilities that led her to be at Kyoshi's secret meeting.

Sexuality

Ace/Aro - not really interested in relationships. Pretty detached from relating to people in that way.

Education

The spiritual practices of the Air Nomads
The traditions of the White Lotus
The histories and politics of the 4 kingdoms
The defensive aspects of airbending
Care for Air Bison

Employment

The Order of the White Lotus was formerly a secret society, formed centuries ago by the wisest scholars from all over the world. It is a group based on defending the principles of beauty and truth, no matter the cost. Regardless of Nation or politics, they were devoted to sharing ancient knowledge, and playing Pai Sho. Fire Lord Zuko’s uncle Iroh, a Grand Lotus of the Order always said “Pai Sho is more than just a game.”
The Order of the White Lotus’s main purpose is to find each new Avatar, see to his or her training, and provide protection from enemies who wish to harm the Avatar.
When it was originally emerged, the Order of the White Lotus was supposed to always stay a small secret society of like-minded individuals. As it gradually grew in numbers and influence, the order became ever more sophisticated. It transcended being a mere club and assumed responsibility for sharing knowledge around the world. Eventually, the order began to influence various Avatars and steer them toward working for the good for all mankind, as its members covertly became the Avatars' teachers and protectors.
By the time of Sohi, the organization was struggling with its existence, trying to maintain balance in a difficult world after the failures in the finding Kyoshi years ago and some internal disagreements about involvement in the affairs of the nations. The Lotus has been involved in Kyoshi's time as Avatar, but at varying distances and usually without her fully understanding their purpose or desires. Because of this, the Lotus has also been doing work beyond the guidance of the Avatar, trying to balance tenuous political situations. It is this involvement that Sohi occasionally struggles with and desires freedom from.

Mental Trauma

Loss of her Father about 3 months before the Inciting Incident

Morality & Philosophy

Her Airbender philosophies are a mix of non-attachment and radical acceptance as opposed to involvement and trying to change the world. Life is best when one accepts what happens to them and has a measured response to it. The freedom of letting go, not taking things personally, and choosing non-action and non-aggression.
Within this denial of material concerns is the valuing of discovery and realization. Classically, this is through meditation for Airbenders, but Sohi believes that discovery and realization are just as possible through exploring the world itself. This means a valuing of the wonders of the planet, the creatures that live in it, and their beauty.
There is a balance in her beliefs between the Air Nomad principles of detachment and non-involvement, and the love for life, beauty, and human ingenuity that is held sacred by the White Lotus. The Lotus holds the human mind up as a powerful thing and believes strongly that culture and history should be upheld and defended. If this means destroying those that might harm it (or change it in some circumstances) than that is what must be done. Sohi struggles with that last sentence, sometimes questioning how much involvement is going too far.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Burden & Tradition
Responsibilities: Serving and defending rightful rulers (the Avatar), performing rituals (to find the Avatar), safekeeping records and relics (the history and sacred items of the 4 nations and the Avatar)
Prohibitions: never publicly reveal your role, never start a fight, never deny someone knowledge or truth
Role means defending beauty, truth, and legacy by whatever means necessary. Role means making sure that the transition of power between Avatar's is smooth and the world is not in chaos before the next one can take over. Role means preserving the nations and the world by not allowing threats to those things to remain. Role is about loyalty to the White Lotus and its principles.
Freedom means non-involvement and detachment. Freedom means nonaggression and choosing peaceful alternatives. Freedom means pursuing pleasure, joy, or discovery instead of a responsibility. Freedom means doing what I want instead of what I'm "supposed to do". Freedom means finding my own solutions instead of the ones that have been handed to me. Freedom is about making her own choices to live non-attached and in pursuit of joy.

In reality, these two are like a loop that constantly feeds back on itself. The conflict inside of Sohi is how to resolves these two principles, these two identities, these two ways of being involved in the world. Her desires for Freedom often lead her into an awe and appreciation for the world that eventually lead back to the Role of defending and preserving its beauty and truths.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Goyin (she/her), an Earthbender friend of Tahn (Father) who Sohi and Tahn frequently visited and stayed with. She is also a member of the White Lotus, although one who is not always as invested in being active in the world. Her approach tends to be one of neutral jing and letting things work out on their own. She was a free spirit, a sculptor, and the constructor of several fine buildings in all the nations. She taught Sohi to see the beauty and opportunity in every situation, to learn to wait for the picture to reveal itself to you instead of forcing it into being.
One of her favorite pastimes was flying on Ooma so that she could see landscapes from above and learn design ideas from nature on the grandest and smallest scale. This led to lots of flying across the world and exploring obscure sights.
*member of the Dian family (related to Xo Dian)
Ishana or "Ish" for short (he/they) - an Air nomad friend of Sohi's at the North Air Temple. One of the few people who knows about the White Lotus and has been sworn to secrecy. He is a fun-loving and free-spirited nomad who would prefer soaring through the skies to the responsibilities of the world. He is frequently encouraging Sohi to skip meetings, go on impromptu adventures, and to forsake the world for joy instead. Another character to encourage the Freedom principle

Taiji is a nickname from Sohi Brady maybe referring to the balance aspect of Tai chi without knowing that it translates to "Supreme Ultimate" :p seems like too egotistical if it's a chosen criminal name. Either way, heating up food and ready to chill for a bit while the fight resolves

Family Ties

Father - Tahn A Member of the White Lotus for the last 20 years of his life. He was a young airbending monk who had aspirations of entering the Spirit World when he was recruited into the Lotus to help keep the world safe and advise world leaders about matters with spirits. He raised Sohi mostly alone, keeping her in the dark about her mother who was "lost too soon, to things beyond my control" (Not sure about the Mom tbh - could be a Spirit World thing but also could just be something tragic and sad and not addressed too much beyond that) Tahn died about 3 months before the events of the Inciting Incident while on a diplomatic mission in the Earth Kingdom that Sohi did not join him on. With him gone, the White Lotus has asked Sohi to step up and take on a few of his responsibilities as his child and natural successor. (This is why she was following Kyoshi to this meeting instead of someone higher up in the organization)

Religious Views

Sohi has studied many of the old Masters in the Air Nomad tradition under her Father and the other monk of the Northern Temple. She has a special inclination for religious poetry and has memorized several of the works by the Guru Laghima, a former resident of the Northern Air Temple. In fact, Sohi and Ooma have even been to Laghima's peak a few times in search of deeper spiritual visions or enlightenment.
Her spirituality has sometimes been part of the pull toward Freedom as a principle, the desire to disconnect from the concerns of the world and find freedom in the wonder of nature, the spirit world, and feeling un-tethered by responsibility. (See the Morality & Philosophy section - "Life is best when one accepts what happens to them and has a measured response to it. The freedom of letting go, not taking things personally, and choosing non-action and non-aggression")
Tahn tolerated Sohi's more mystic views but he was a more practical and terrestrial air bender. While he valued the principles of meditation, stillness, and patience, his White Lotus membership often made him more involved in the world than most Air nomads.

Hobbies & Pets

Ooma - Flying Bison
Sohi picked Ooma out 10 years ago and has been best friends with her ever since. Ooma is a big bison, with longer hair that is often in her eyes and getting tangled in knots. Brushing her hair out is often a meditative practice for Sohi and a way that she can relax and find her center after stressful situations.

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Age

16

Date of Birth

30 Juyue 9568

Birthplace

The Northern Air Temple

Current Residence

The Northern Air Temple

Gender

Female

Eyes

Green

Hair

Brown

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Lightly Tan

Height

5'3

Weight

105 lbs