Post by kuang on Aug 24, 2008 7:01:47 GMT -5
Name: Kuang Lu
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Group: Citizen
Nation: Earth
Bender?: No
Physical Appearance: Kuang has extremely dark brown hair, often mistaken for black when not in the sunlight. Her hair when left down reaches to slightly past her shoulders, but is usually swept up high in a ponytail with a tight dark green ribbon as to not interfere with her work. It is very thick, and from often exposure to heat, and slightly rough and tangled. Short for her age, she is around 5 feet tall. She weighs about 112 pounds due to her lack of size. Her eyes are a piercing forest green reflecting her demanding personality. She has fairly strong arm muscles from her work in the kitchen (compared to the rest of her family) that allow her to hit rather hard if needed. On the other hand, they're Her skin is a rather light brown, as she is in the sun whenever she has the chance. There is a small and barely noticeable bald patch at the base of her neck from when she fell during the Fire Nation Raid in her village. Her face is rather rounded at the bottom, giving her a somewhat refined look.
Clothing/Armor: Kuang wears a practical sepia tunic tied with a strip of dark green cloth that reaches to slightly past mid-thigh. Her tunic is trimmed with a wide strip of beige cloth on the edges of the tunic, the sleeves, and the hem of the garment. It is one piece, and the sleeves reach to a little bit before her elbows. The neckline is square, and is cut along her collarbones (it isn't too low). Underneath that, she wears a pair of loose khaki-colored pants that fall to just above her ankles. She chooses not to wear any jewelry in case it may fall prey to the open-fire stove. On her petite feet are a worn-in pair of thin black slippers, which happen to be her only pair of shoes.
Weapons: In case of self defense, she will often use her fists, but if needed she can resort to using a stray (and most likely boiling) cooking spoon.
Personality: Kuang is very frugal, and prefers to only spend money where required. She is a hard worker, and wants to do her best for her guardians. She is also very straightforward at other's mistakes, and frowns VERY deeply on dishonestly. She has no problem with speaking in front of crowds, and at times will attract a bit too much public attention when in an argument (it doesn't often help with bringing in customers to the restaurant). On the other hand, while at work serving customers, she manages to bite down her anger and insults for the sake of her aunt and uncle. She dislikes people who take promises lightly, and mushrooms (because she hates the way the feel in her mouth). The easiest way to quiet her brash personality is to tell her a fairytale or story, because after cooking, stories are the only things that she honestly takes a real interest in. When she is off her shift, she will most likely be taking a walk down the streets of Ba Sing Se for a bit of fresh air. She dislikes spaces that are too open, as she finds then to be silent, which unsettles her. However, most of the time, she'll be working as there are only three people in the restaurant. She also likes to carve wooden figures to remind her of each story she hears from customers. In this way, she never forgets a fairytale, as she can simply look at her collection to remind herself of it. Although she doesn't quite understand why Ba Sing Se completely ignores the war, and is slightly irked by it, would prefer to go along with the flow as to not cause trouble for her aunt and uncle.
Background: Kuang was born and lived at a very small Earth Kingdom village at the west coast. Her father was sent to fight in the war shortly after she was born, and had not been heard of since. There is, however, a chance that he is alive, though slim, as the family hasn't heard from him in an extremely long time. It is in question his location or status at the moment. As a child, she was very quiet, and loved to watch her mother earthbend. Often, she would play in the earth a fair amount pretending she was like her mother, although she could not bend (even though the was oblivious to this at her young age). She was very fond of her aunt and uncle who would make various sweets for her to "test". As she got older to the age of about three, her personality shifted to be a slight bit more brash, and she became a tad loud and boisterous. However, she still enjoyed playing in the kitchen with her Aunt and Uncle (who had to remind her almost constantly not to touch the fire) and her mother (who couldn't help but laugh when she saw her daughter playing so happily in the dirt).
When Kuang was about four, she was awoken in the night to a series of loud noises and bright flashes (she was later informed that this was a Fire Nation raid). According to her uncle, she had tripped over the doorstep on the way out of the burning house and fell on the back of her head, which at that point, her uncle carried her out of the village where he was supposed to meet with his wife and sister. However, according to Kuang's aunt, her mother was taken captive, and the three had to run into the valley leaving her mother behind. Thanks to her fall, Kuang has a small bald spot on the back of her head at the base of her neck, but as it is an old wound, hair has regrown there. Kuang accordingly, did not remember much about the event because of her age. The three took refuge in the large valley that the village had been taking resources from for years. They lived in a small cave next to the river for a couple days or so before moving along the river traced in the valley to reach Full Moon Bay to take the ferry, which, from there, the small family arranged for a home in the capital, Ba Sing Se. As it was the capital, it was the first choice as to residence. On the other hand, they did not meet up with any of the other survivors as a small trickle of the raiders were hanging around the village, and it would be unsafe to return. When they reached Ba Sing Se, they were first moved into the lower ring with the other refugees that rode the same ferry as them, but gained status with their cooking, and were upgraded in social status as a possible business in the middle ring. There was no problem with the Dai Li, as they fit in well with the other survivors of raids. After a week or so, Kuang's aunt and uncle caught the drift that the war was not to be spoken of, and told Kuang to do the same (although she was rather young, and didn't quite understand the reason behind it until later on).
At this time, Kuang's aunt and uncle bought a small restaurant in the middle ring of Ba Sing Se, and switched residence from their smaller house to the upper floor of the restaurant. It was around this point when Kuang turned five. She could clearly remember telling her uncle that the room smelled of cat, and his hearty, hollow laughter.
Kuang began her training as a kitchen helper at around the age of seven. Seeing as she had been with the kitchen from childhood from being there with her aunt and uncle, she caught on quickly, and learned how to skillfully use the stove and according pots under the watchful eyes of her loving guardians. She had always enjoyed being in the kitchen, as it was a very comfortable and extremely familiar place to her. She loved everything about it, the smells of the cooking oil and meat sizzling on the fire, the way she could taste everything in the room when she breathed in through her mouth. She was even more fond of the way the pans and utensils fit in her hand, the metal ones that were cold and soothing, and the wooden ones that were sturdy and reassuringly firm. It was of her greatest joy that she would one day be like her uncle, the way he could turn over the rice so fast and fluidly, or like her aunt, who's weathered fingers could move the spatula rhythmically.
At the age of twelve, she became a real "employee" of the restaurant, cooking food for the customers. Although she sometimes made some mistakes, her guardians simply encouraged her to just do her best. It was around this age that she gained her constant drive to to work hard.
During the years of about seventeen to the present, she became more social than before, and made a couple friends among the regular customers whom she found easy to talk to (most of them older citizens). As she was mostly in the restaurant for the remainder of her life, she didn't get out much, and although she made a large amount of friends within the seniors that were customers at her restaurant, she rarely ever saw people her own age (let alone talked to them). She also was not schooled, as she was needed at the restaurant, and preferred to work as an employee anyways. It was also at this time that she developed an interest in old folk legends and fairytales from conversations with her senior customers. She will often converse as much as possible with customers who are travelers to quench her thirst for stories.
Sample RP: The air smelt faintly of salty frying rice, and tangy orange-lemon sauce as the pot in front of the young woman sizzled. To her, it was a pleasant sound, and let her know that everything was going correctly, and the rice would finish frying in about a minutes time as long is it was tossed constantly. She refrained from humming contentedly, even though she knew nobody would her her over the warm roar of the open stove. Grabbing her spatula and turning it over in her hand, she expertly poured the steaming, slightly sultry cooked rice on a ceramic plate. Handing it to her aunt who was coming in for the order, she smiled, and turned back to the heat of the flames to continue cooking. Wiping sweat off her brow, she turned to grab her pot of oyster sauce, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
Rather surprised, she looked up to the source of the arm, and saw the wrinkled, kind face of her uncle, who said over the fire,
"There's someone who you might want to see. Care to take over waiting for now?"
Understanding completely, Kuang lightly masked her excitement, and straightened her apron tan apron, patting out the creases and tightening the knot at the back, handed the spatula to the man, and waved. He nodded, and she exited through the door to the left of the small room that was the restaurants kitchen. She grabbed the waiting tray of dishes, and taking a short glance at the orders written in her uncle's chicken scrawl, delivered them to the respective tables. She turned her head from side to side, trying to spot the person mentioned before. She knew she had found what she was looking for when her eyes fell on a hooded figure in the corner.
It was a clever place to hide from prying eyes or bothersome waitresses such as herself, but Kuang was determined not to let this treasure chest escape. The corner was dark, and shadowy in contrast to the sunlit tables on the other side of the room. The figure appeared to be clothed in a blue cloak, which was odd for someone living in the Earth Kingdom. She peeked down again at the orders, and lifted a plate of fried pentapus off her tray, placing it on the table next to the mysterious "corner-lurker". Then, heading over to the lurkers "lair", she asked,
"Are you from around here?"
It was a sentence that had left her lips a million times before, hungry for the excitement of adventure from the comfort of the place she knew best. The person lifted his (her?) head, and looked straight into Kuang's eyes. She knew her uncle's hunch had been right when she saw the dark skin and bright, cerulean blue of the man's eyes. Water Tribe.
He shook his head.
She pointed to the seat next to him, and said,
"Could I sit here for a moment?"
He nodded.
Although a quiet man, from experience, Kuang knew that she could crack him. Most travelers were extremely similar to the man present, quiet and soft-spoken, people of little words. For now, anyways.
"Do you happen to know any good Water Tribe legends?" Kuang asked, at this point, her eagerness breaking through her calmer facade.
The surprise was evident in the man's eyes, but he slowly nodded.
Kuang had struck gold.
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Group: Citizen
Nation: Earth
Bender?: No
Physical Appearance: Kuang has extremely dark brown hair, often mistaken for black when not in the sunlight. Her hair when left down reaches to slightly past her shoulders, but is usually swept up high in a ponytail with a tight dark green ribbon as to not interfere with her work. It is very thick, and from often exposure to heat, and slightly rough and tangled. Short for her age, she is around 5 feet tall. She weighs about 112 pounds due to her lack of size. Her eyes are a piercing forest green reflecting her demanding personality. She has fairly strong arm muscles from her work in the kitchen (compared to the rest of her family) that allow her to hit rather hard if needed. On the other hand, they're Her skin is a rather light brown, as she is in the sun whenever she has the chance. There is a small and barely noticeable bald patch at the base of her neck from when she fell during the Fire Nation Raid in her village. Her face is rather rounded at the bottom, giving her a somewhat refined look.
Clothing/Armor: Kuang wears a practical sepia tunic tied with a strip of dark green cloth that reaches to slightly past mid-thigh. Her tunic is trimmed with a wide strip of beige cloth on the edges of the tunic, the sleeves, and the hem of the garment. It is one piece, and the sleeves reach to a little bit before her elbows. The neckline is square, and is cut along her collarbones (it isn't too low). Underneath that, she wears a pair of loose khaki-colored pants that fall to just above her ankles. She chooses not to wear any jewelry in case it may fall prey to the open-fire stove. On her petite feet are a worn-in pair of thin black slippers, which happen to be her only pair of shoes.
Weapons: In case of self defense, she will often use her fists, but if needed she can resort to using a stray (and most likely boiling) cooking spoon.
Personality: Kuang is very frugal, and prefers to only spend money where required. She is a hard worker, and wants to do her best for her guardians. She is also very straightforward at other's mistakes, and frowns VERY deeply on dishonestly. She has no problem with speaking in front of crowds, and at times will attract a bit too much public attention when in an argument (it doesn't often help with bringing in customers to the restaurant). On the other hand, while at work serving customers, she manages to bite down her anger and insults for the sake of her aunt and uncle. She dislikes people who take promises lightly, and mushrooms (because she hates the way the feel in her mouth). The easiest way to quiet her brash personality is to tell her a fairytale or story, because after cooking, stories are the only things that she honestly takes a real interest in. When she is off her shift, she will most likely be taking a walk down the streets of Ba Sing Se for a bit of fresh air. She dislikes spaces that are too open, as she finds then to be silent, which unsettles her. However, most of the time, she'll be working as there are only three people in the restaurant. She also likes to carve wooden figures to remind her of each story she hears from customers. In this way, she never forgets a fairytale, as she can simply look at her collection to remind herself of it. Although she doesn't quite understand why Ba Sing Se completely ignores the war, and is slightly irked by it, would prefer to go along with the flow as to not cause trouble for her aunt and uncle.
Background: Kuang was born and lived at a very small Earth Kingdom village at the west coast. Her father was sent to fight in the war shortly after she was born, and had not been heard of since. There is, however, a chance that he is alive, though slim, as the family hasn't heard from him in an extremely long time. It is in question his location or status at the moment. As a child, she was very quiet, and loved to watch her mother earthbend. Often, she would play in the earth a fair amount pretending she was like her mother, although she could not bend (even though the was oblivious to this at her young age). She was very fond of her aunt and uncle who would make various sweets for her to "test". As she got older to the age of about three, her personality shifted to be a slight bit more brash, and she became a tad loud and boisterous. However, she still enjoyed playing in the kitchen with her Aunt and Uncle (who had to remind her almost constantly not to touch the fire) and her mother (who couldn't help but laugh when she saw her daughter playing so happily in the dirt).
When Kuang was about four, she was awoken in the night to a series of loud noises and bright flashes (she was later informed that this was a Fire Nation raid). According to her uncle, she had tripped over the doorstep on the way out of the burning house and fell on the back of her head, which at that point, her uncle carried her out of the village where he was supposed to meet with his wife and sister. However, according to Kuang's aunt, her mother was taken captive, and the three had to run into the valley leaving her mother behind. Thanks to her fall, Kuang has a small bald spot on the back of her head at the base of her neck, but as it is an old wound, hair has regrown there. Kuang accordingly, did not remember much about the event because of her age. The three took refuge in the large valley that the village had been taking resources from for years. They lived in a small cave next to the river for a couple days or so before moving along the river traced in the valley to reach Full Moon Bay to take the ferry, which, from there, the small family arranged for a home in the capital, Ba Sing Se. As it was the capital, it was the first choice as to residence. On the other hand, they did not meet up with any of the other survivors as a small trickle of the raiders were hanging around the village, and it would be unsafe to return. When they reached Ba Sing Se, they were first moved into the lower ring with the other refugees that rode the same ferry as them, but gained status with their cooking, and were upgraded in social status as a possible business in the middle ring. There was no problem with the Dai Li, as they fit in well with the other survivors of raids. After a week or so, Kuang's aunt and uncle caught the drift that the war was not to be spoken of, and told Kuang to do the same (although she was rather young, and didn't quite understand the reason behind it until later on).
At this time, Kuang's aunt and uncle bought a small restaurant in the middle ring of Ba Sing Se, and switched residence from their smaller house to the upper floor of the restaurant. It was around this point when Kuang turned five. She could clearly remember telling her uncle that the room smelled of cat, and his hearty, hollow laughter.
Kuang began her training as a kitchen helper at around the age of seven. Seeing as she had been with the kitchen from childhood from being there with her aunt and uncle, she caught on quickly, and learned how to skillfully use the stove and according pots under the watchful eyes of her loving guardians. She had always enjoyed being in the kitchen, as it was a very comfortable and extremely familiar place to her. She loved everything about it, the smells of the cooking oil and meat sizzling on the fire, the way she could taste everything in the room when she breathed in through her mouth. She was even more fond of the way the pans and utensils fit in her hand, the metal ones that were cold and soothing, and the wooden ones that were sturdy and reassuringly firm. It was of her greatest joy that she would one day be like her uncle, the way he could turn over the rice so fast and fluidly, or like her aunt, who's weathered fingers could move the spatula rhythmically.
At the age of twelve, she became a real "employee" of the restaurant, cooking food for the customers. Although she sometimes made some mistakes, her guardians simply encouraged her to just do her best. It was around this age that she gained her constant drive to to work hard.
During the years of about seventeen to the present, she became more social than before, and made a couple friends among the regular customers whom she found easy to talk to (most of them older citizens). As she was mostly in the restaurant for the remainder of her life, she didn't get out much, and although she made a large amount of friends within the seniors that were customers at her restaurant, she rarely ever saw people her own age (let alone talked to them). She also was not schooled, as she was needed at the restaurant, and preferred to work as an employee anyways. It was also at this time that she developed an interest in old folk legends and fairytales from conversations with her senior customers. She will often converse as much as possible with customers who are travelers to quench her thirst for stories.
Sample RP: The air smelt faintly of salty frying rice, and tangy orange-lemon sauce as the pot in front of the young woman sizzled. To her, it was a pleasant sound, and let her know that everything was going correctly, and the rice would finish frying in about a minutes time as long is it was tossed constantly. She refrained from humming contentedly, even though she knew nobody would her her over the warm roar of the open stove. Grabbing her spatula and turning it over in her hand, she expertly poured the steaming, slightly sultry cooked rice on a ceramic plate. Handing it to her aunt who was coming in for the order, she smiled, and turned back to the heat of the flames to continue cooking. Wiping sweat off her brow, she turned to grab her pot of oyster sauce, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
Rather surprised, she looked up to the source of the arm, and saw the wrinkled, kind face of her uncle, who said over the fire,
"There's someone who you might want to see. Care to take over waiting for now?"
Understanding completely, Kuang lightly masked her excitement, and straightened her apron tan apron, patting out the creases and tightening the knot at the back, handed the spatula to the man, and waved. He nodded, and she exited through the door to the left of the small room that was the restaurants kitchen. She grabbed the waiting tray of dishes, and taking a short glance at the orders written in her uncle's chicken scrawl, delivered them to the respective tables. She turned her head from side to side, trying to spot the person mentioned before. She knew she had found what she was looking for when her eyes fell on a hooded figure in the corner.
It was a clever place to hide from prying eyes or bothersome waitresses such as herself, but Kuang was determined not to let this treasure chest escape. The corner was dark, and shadowy in contrast to the sunlit tables on the other side of the room. The figure appeared to be clothed in a blue cloak, which was odd for someone living in the Earth Kingdom. She peeked down again at the orders, and lifted a plate of fried pentapus off her tray, placing it on the table next to the mysterious "corner-lurker". Then, heading over to the lurkers "lair", she asked,
"Are you from around here?"
It was a sentence that had left her lips a million times before, hungry for the excitement of adventure from the comfort of the place she knew best. The person lifted his (her?) head, and looked straight into Kuang's eyes. She knew her uncle's hunch had been right when she saw the dark skin and bright, cerulean blue of the man's eyes. Water Tribe.
He shook his head.
She pointed to the seat next to him, and said,
"Could I sit here for a moment?"
He nodded.
Although a quiet man, from experience, Kuang knew that she could crack him. Most travelers were extremely similar to the man present, quiet and soft-spoken, people of little words. For now, anyways.
"Do you happen to know any good Water Tribe legends?" Kuang asked, at this point, her eagerness breaking through her calmer facade.
The surprise was evident in the man's eyes, but he slowly nodded.
Kuang had struck gold.
that you would say she has strong arms?