Post by gandalan on Mar 23, 2008 20:41:02 GMT -5
Name:Hibiki (no last name)
Age:14
Gender:Male
Group:The Rebellion
Nation:Earth
Bender?:Sure, why not?
Physical Appearance:Hibiki's frame is very small, although he stands at a moderate size for boys his age in the earth kingdom. The reason he is so small is that his frame has been destroyed by the work in the mines- after all, it is hard work, and it has taken its toll on him. The main reason for his small frame despite his moderate height is that he is malnourished. He will most likely continue to grow upwards at a somewhat normal rate (depending on how tall he eventually gets) but he will most likely have a small frame for the rest of his life.
His skin has paled considerably since he began working in the mines, and so it is much lighter than most peoples in the earth kingdom, though you couldn't tell this through the layers of dirt and mud. His emerald eyes are usually directed down at the floor. His nose is a bit wide along the ridge, but is of medium size elsewhere. His mouth is small, even when opened. His ears are hardly noticeable behind his hair, but they are of medium height, although they are a bit small width wise.
His fallow colored hair is often matted into small clumps with dirt or mud. The amount of dirt and mud in his hair varies from day to day, depending on whether he's been allowed to clean any out or not. It comes down just past his shoulder blades if he lets it, though he usually wears it in a loose ponytail to keep it out of his face. He has a long forehead. His hair is thick, straw hair that doesn't often stay where he wants it.
His hands are small, and his fingers are long- they are somewhat callussed from his work in the mines, and are very dirty due to his work. His arms are thin and sport little muscle. His legs are thin as well, although they are less so than his arms. They aren't as thin as his torso, which is so small you can see some of his ribs. His feet are heavily callused, and often dirty- they are also fairly large for his size.
Overall, his body's growth has not truly been stunted- he is still about as tall as he should be, more or less in the middle of heights of boys his age. However, he is extremely thin, and he is very weak in bodily strength. Likely, if he were to be better fed, he would regain his strength, but he will most likely have a small frame, regardless of what happens, for the rest of his life, simply because he hasn't been able to grow completely normally. Otherwise, he is in good health- the soldiers try to keep their prisoners in working condition, in any case.
Clothing/Armor: Hibiki isn't exactly rich, so the clothes he has have to last him. Thus, they are all very old and worn. His first layer is a pair of underwear (if you must know, they are tan) and a short sleeved wraparound shirt which is forest green, with auburn trim around the neck and shirt cuffs.
Over this, he wears a long sleeved ecru shirt, which acts as more of a robe- it wraps around and ties off with a small sepia colored obi, and goes down to nearly his knees. The sleeves are closely cropped to his arms, and they go down to his wrists, where they are tied off with some white bandaging. The sides of the shirt (below his waist) are cut open, so that the shirt doesn't restrict his movement.
For pants, he wears a pair of hunter green pants, which fit him loosely, and go down to his ankles. He ties them off with a bit of white bandaging, to keep them from getting in his way.
All of his clothes are made out of the same thick cotton compound, akin to canvas, but quite a bit lighter. Hibiki doesn't wear anything on his feet- he's an earthbender.
Weapons:None
Personality:Hibiki used to be a very blunt, very bold person, before he was worn down by the defeat of his village and his work in the mines. Now he is afraid of all authority figures, and generally does whatever they tell him without question. Most of the people in the mine are the same- cowardly, frightened, and without hope, they simply accept their situations, and hope they don't lose anything else.
Hibiki is very stuttery in his speech to his captors, and most people in fact, except to other slaves. Even then, he speaks in low tones, not wanting to anger anybody. Often, he will not speak at all. Hibiki will generally do whatever it takes to avoid having to fight somebody, or in his case, get punished- unless it means selling out a friend. Hibiki, despite being a coward and a weak person, does have a very distinct belief system of right and wrong- he wants to do what is right, but frequently fails because of his cowardice. He is rather down on himself, and will often say “I'm sorry”, even when something was not his fault.
When meeting other people, Hibiki will generally look down, and address them as 'sir' or 'ma'am'. He believes that most people are of higher status than him (they generally are) and so he doesn't put much worth into himself.
Hibiki has a few habits- he loves to drink tea, when he can get it, and he plays pai sho sometimes (though he's very bad). He isn't much of a womanizer, although his quiet demeanor can charm some girls into thinking he's the mysterious type- he isn't, but they don't need to know that.
Hibiki has a habit of cringing when a hand is raised- it generally means he's going to be beaten. He is also deathly afraid of firebending, and of the rhinos the fire nation used to overrun his home.
Background:Hibiki was born to an earthbending father, and a loving mother in a small village called Tsumei, in the mountains. The lifestyle was peaceful, one of simple farming and living off the land. The people there were peaceful, and so was the life. Hibiki was born into this simple lifestyle, and followed suit with most people by being a farmer at higher altitude.
In his younger years, there was little he could do to help his father on the farm. Being an only child, he was easy to keep track of for his mother. He would play in the streets with the other children at whatever game it was, from tag to capture the flag. His friends were many, and his memories fond. Some of his best friends were Rin, a girl a year younger than him, and Arai, a boy a year older than him. The three were inseperable.
As he got a bit older, he began to learn about life. His father taught him about the seeds that grew the crops, how to store them. He taught him about how to put them in the ground, how to sow them, how to care for them, to raise good, sturdy crops. When he was six, he learned that he was an earthbender, and his father took great pride in teaching him how to earthbend. He was a bit slow to master the forms, but eventually, he gained a good understanding of the basics- they were all he needed after all. He used his abilities to help his father sow the fields, and move large quantities of earth, diverting rivers to aid in the irrigation of the crops. His mother taught him how to read and write (though he never was a good writer) and basic math. She also taught him how to cook, and how to take care of minor wounds. His life was good, and he was happy, as everybody was.
At age ten, his life changed forever.
The Fire Nation had learned about the village and its fertile ground from scouts in the area. While they would have initially disregarded this, since a town that small posed little military value, and because they already had many occupied lands with good farm land. However, in addition to this, scouts had also discovered that the nearby mountains contained coal, and other minerals which would greatly boost the war effort for the Fire Nation- if only they could get at it. It would have taken several months of drilling, and many troops would have had to be diverted to guard the many workers which would have had to be brought there to mine the coal. However, the military soon came up with a much more elegant solution (from their point of view).
They would simply subjugate the village and its inhabitants. Surely, among any population in the earth kingdom, they reasoned, there must be earth benders. If they rounded up the whole of the farming population, they figured that they would have enough to operate the mines. Also, most of the people who were earthbenders around the area most likely didn't know how to use their abilities for fighting, because they'd have been busy sowing the land for crops- better and better. The final straw was reached when they learned that the Earth Kingdom had had to divert their own troops away from the village to defend other parts of the Earth Kingdom. The time to strike was now.
The Fire Nation sent a horde of troops to the mountains, and attacked the village. The tiny garrison of soldiers had no hope against such numbers- those that did not surrender were slaughtered on the slopes of the mountains. Many men, including Hibiki's father, volunteered to help, and were killed in the attempt to save their small village. Hibiki was heartbroken, and was not himself for some time.
Once the Fire Nation had crushed the opposition, they rounded up the survivors. The earthbenders among them, including Hibiki, and those of able body, were placed in one group, and the rest of them, mostly women and children, were placed in the other. The bending group was enslaved in the mineral mines further up the mountains- the rest of the populace was left to work the farms, and live their lives as best they could. Hibiki looked out of the bars of an iron cage as he and Arai they were carted up the mountain, tears rolling down his face as he watched his mother and Rin wave helplessly goodbye.
That began the next part of his life- mining. Always always mining. The first day at work, Hibiki was very headstrong and bold. He refused to work, and then caused setbacks using his earthbending. However, this was put to an end when threats were made against the villagers still free down the mountain- he was told if he didn't work, or if he tried to escape, they'd kill his mother. Broken, Hibiki worked as hard as they told him to, and did whatever they demanded.
The work Hibiki did was mainly the work of carefully plotting where more mining could be done, and then carving out the earth so that the other, nonbending slaves (such as Arai), could go there and begin excavation. Since it was a large operation, there were many levels in the mine, and the operations themselves were very intricately balanced. If the mine was pushed to far or too rashly in one direction, there might be a cave in, causing long delays and deaths among the slaves, which would be detrimental to the effort (although the Fire Nation wouldn't paricularly care about the person who was actually dead.) Hibiki would use his earthbending to judge if the rocks in one location were strong enough to allow the mine to expand, and if so, he would begin expanding it, VERY, VERY carefully. Once that was done, Hibiki would begin helping to excavate as well. He also helped 'push' along the materials up carts on railroad tracks, since they were very, very heavy. He has done this work nontstop through his time at the mine, and will likely continue to do it a long time into the future.
The work was done at a slow rate. They worked long, hard hours, in dark caves lit with torches, under the lash of cruel overseers. A small garrison of soldiers was left to govern over the slaves, who were kept in cages inside the cave, guarded by firebenders and soldiers. The garrison was delivered food and water to give to the slaves, although the soldiers got good food and wine for themselves. When the slaves were too tired to continue working, or if they fell behind schedule, they were brutally beaten, lashed with a whip, or further deprived of food. Morale was extremely low- the slaves were hopeless.
Arai and Hibiki stuck together to protect each other. Since beatings were common, and they both sustained bad injuries from time to time- each would help the other survive. The rations they were given were not only horrible- there was hardly anything to eat. Combined with the fact that they were working so hard, they lost weight each and every day. They were slowly, but surely, wasting away.
The soldiers saw this, and decided to make two changes. First, they increased rations by a small amount for each meal- just enough to keep the slaves alive, albeit very, very thin. Second, to take the slave's mind off of their work so much, and to raise morale just a little, they decided to allow visits from the village below for good behavior. It would allow the Fire Nation to remain in complete control, but allow the slaves at least some time off of work, and with their friends and family. It was very popular- output increased literally overnight, as the slaves attempted to be the next one to get a visit. Eventually, Rin, though not Hibiki's mother, was able to come up and visit them for an afternoon- Hibiki's mother was forbidden to come to her son, as the soldiers still remembered his outburst on the first day of work. They were kept inside of an iron cage, and she could only come up to the bars. The afternoon was a brief bit of goodness in his life, but Hibiki was still broken. A few more visits happened later on, but always, there was the monotonous mining.
Mostly, Hibiki has given into his life. Although he is 14 years old, he is not strong in any way. He is prepared to live this life forever so long as he doesn't lose anything else. He always hopes, on the edge of his mind, for escape, but he knows it's impossible. Nobody could ever rescue the tiny village... could they?
Sample RP:Hibiki sat in his cage, looking across at Arai. They were waiting, anxiously, for Rin to come visit. The boys were both filthy, and Arai had a cut on his lip from being beaten earlier- but thankfully, they had still been allowed to see Rin. Arai sighed, and moved slightly, but otherwise, did not speak. Neither one of them dared to do so- anything that might take the visit away was something that they would not do, and because they couldn't be sure what that might be, they did nothing. The dank cave in which they sat was lit by torches placed on the walls. Three fire nation guards stood, placed about the small room, guarding the slaves.
Surrounded by earth- but unwilling and unable to use it.
The large open door at the other end opened, and Rin stepped through, guarded by three more soldiers. She wore a ankle length green dress, and her eyes lit up and her head turned to see the two. “Arai! Hibiki!” Her light brown hair's luster was drained away as she turned back to the three guards, who instructed her that she had 3 hours. They would be waiting just outside. And no funny business.
She knew they meant it. She nodded solemnly, and they left. She ran to the cage, and the two boys clasped the bars to get as close as possible to their friend. They embraced as well as they could through the bars- though the boys were dirty, she didn't seem to care.
“I've missed you guys so much,” she whispered. Arai whispered something back, and Hibiki could only nod. The three stayed like that for a while, until they found it necessary to talk of other things. Rin told them of the plantings that had happened, and who had grown older. She even was able to whisper in some news about the Avatar- apparently, he was nearing Omashu. A small glimmer of hope... but what could he do against the whole of the Fire Nation? They told her little, since there was little she would want to know.
After 3 hours, the soldiers came back to take Rin back. She begged them for just a little more time, but as usualy, they denied her request. She hugged them each once more, and promised to bring back more news next time. They clasped the bars of their cage, watching her leave, tears again flowing down their cheeks as they remembered back to the many years before when they'd first been carted off.
When would they have peace? They wished for it. Hibiki let loose a small prayer to
the spirits to protect Rin on her way back, and to help them have the strength to continue their work for their captors, lest anything bad happen to the villagers.
Age:14
Gender:Male
Group:The Rebellion
Nation:Earth
Bender?:Sure, why not?
Physical Appearance:Hibiki's frame is very small, although he stands at a moderate size for boys his age in the earth kingdom. The reason he is so small is that his frame has been destroyed by the work in the mines- after all, it is hard work, and it has taken its toll on him. The main reason for his small frame despite his moderate height is that he is malnourished. He will most likely continue to grow upwards at a somewhat normal rate (depending on how tall he eventually gets) but he will most likely have a small frame for the rest of his life.
His skin has paled considerably since he began working in the mines, and so it is much lighter than most peoples in the earth kingdom, though you couldn't tell this through the layers of dirt and mud. His emerald eyes are usually directed down at the floor. His nose is a bit wide along the ridge, but is of medium size elsewhere. His mouth is small, even when opened. His ears are hardly noticeable behind his hair, but they are of medium height, although they are a bit small width wise.
His fallow colored hair is often matted into small clumps with dirt or mud. The amount of dirt and mud in his hair varies from day to day, depending on whether he's been allowed to clean any out or not. It comes down just past his shoulder blades if he lets it, though he usually wears it in a loose ponytail to keep it out of his face. He has a long forehead. His hair is thick, straw hair that doesn't often stay where he wants it.
His hands are small, and his fingers are long- they are somewhat callussed from his work in the mines, and are very dirty due to his work. His arms are thin and sport little muscle. His legs are thin as well, although they are less so than his arms. They aren't as thin as his torso, which is so small you can see some of his ribs. His feet are heavily callused, and often dirty- they are also fairly large for his size.
Overall, his body's growth has not truly been stunted- he is still about as tall as he should be, more or less in the middle of heights of boys his age. However, he is extremely thin, and he is very weak in bodily strength. Likely, if he were to be better fed, he would regain his strength, but he will most likely have a small frame, regardless of what happens, for the rest of his life, simply because he hasn't been able to grow completely normally. Otherwise, he is in good health- the soldiers try to keep their prisoners in working condition, in any case.
Clothing/Armor: Hibiki isn't exactly rich, so the clothes he has have to last him. Thus, they are all very old and worn. His first layer is a pair of underwear (if you must know, they are tan) and a short sleeved wraparound shirt which is forest green, with auburn trim around the neck and shirt cuffs.
Over this, he wears a long sleeved ecru shirt, which acts as more of a robe- it wraps around and ties off with a small sepia colored obi, and goes down to nearly his knees. The sleeves are closely cropped to his arms, and they go down to his wrists, where they are tied off with some white bandaging. The sides of the shirt (below his waist) are cut open, so that the shirt doesn't restrict his movement.
For pants, he wears a pair of hunter green pants, which fit him loosely, and go down to his ankles. He ties them off with a bit of white bandaging, to keep them from getting in his way.
All of his clothes are made out of the same thick cotton compound, akin to canvas, but quite a bit lighter. Hibiki doesn't wear anything on his feet- he's an earthbender.
Weapons:None
Personality:Hibiki used to be a very blunt, very bold person, before he was worn down by the defeat of his village and his work in the mines. Now he is afraid of all authority figures, and generally does whatever they tell him without question. Most of the people in the mine are the same- cowardly, frightened, and without hope, they simply accept their situations, and hope they don't lose anything else.
Hibiki is very stuttery in his speech to his captors, and most people in fact, except to other slaves. Even then, he speaks in low tones, not wanting to anger anybody. Often, he will not speak at all. Hibiki will generally do whatever it takes to avoid having to fight somebody, or in his case, get punished- unless it means selling out a friend. Hibiki, despite being a coward and a weak person, does have a very distinct belief system of right and wrong- he wants to do what is right, but frequently fails because of his cowardice. He is rather down on himself, and will often say “I'm sorry”, even when something was not his fault.
When meeting other people, Hibiki will generally look down, and address them as 'sir' or 'ma'am'. He believes that most people are of higher status than him (they generally are) and so he doesn't put much worth into himself.
Hibiki has a few habits- he loves to drink tea, when he can get it, and he plays pai sho sometimes (though he's very bad). He isn't much of a womanizer, although his quiet demeanor can charm some girls into thinking he's the mysterious type- he isn't, but they don't need to know that.
Hibiki has a habit of cringing when a hand is raised- it generally means he's going to be beaten. He is also deathly afraid of firebending, and of the rhinos the fire nation used to overrun his home.
Background:Hibiki was born to an earthbending father, and a loving mother in a small village called Tsumei, in the mountains. The lifestyle was peaceful, one of simple farming and living off the land. The people there were peaceful, and so was the life. Hibiki was born into this simple lifestyle, and followed suit with most people by being a farmer at higher altitude.
In his younger years, there was little he could do to help his father on the farm. Being an only child, he was easy to keep track of for his mother. He would play in the streets with the other children at whatever game it was, from tag to capture the flag. His friends were many, and his memories fond. Some of his best friends were Rin, a girl a year younger than him, and Arai, a boy a year older than him. The three were inseperable.
As he got a bit older, he began to learn about life. His father taught him about the seeds that grew the crops, how to store them. He taught him about how to put them in the ground, how to sow them, how to care for them, to raise good, sturdy crops. When he was six, he learned that he was an earthbender, and his father took great pride in teaching him how to earthbend. He was a bit slow to master the forms, but eventually, he gained a good understanding of the basics- they were all he needed after all. He used his abilities to help his father sow the fields, and move large quantities of earth, diverting rivers to aid in the irrigation of the crops. His mother taught him how to read and write (though he never was a good writer) and basic math. She also taught him how to cook, and how to take care of minor wounds. His life was good, and he was happy, as everybody was.
At age ten, his life changed forever.
The Fire Nation had learned about the village and its fertile ground from scouts in the area. While they would have initially disregarded this, since a town that small posed little military value, and because they already had many occupied lands with good farm land. However, in addition to this, scouts had also discovered that the nearby mountains contained coal, and other minerals which would greatly boost the war effort for the Fire Nation- if only they could get at it. It would have taken several months of drilling, and many troops would have had to be diverted to guard the many workers which would have had to be brought there to mine the coal. However, the military soon came up with a much more elegant solution (from their point of view).
They would simply subjugate the village and its inhabitants. Surely, among any population in the earth kingdom, they reasoned, there must be earth benders. If they rounded up the whole of the farming population, they figured that they would have enough to operate the mines. Also, most of the people who were earthbenders around the area most likely didn't know how to use their abilities for fighting, because they'd have been busy sowing the land for crops- better and better. The final straw was reached when they learned that the Earth Kingdom had had to divert their own troops away from the village to defend other parts of the Earth Kingdom. The time to strike was now.
The Fire Nation sent a horde of troops to the mountains, and attacked the village. The tiny garrison of soldiers had no hope against such numbers- those that did not surrender were slaughtered on the slopes of the mountains. Many men, including Hibiki's father, volunteered to help, and were killed in the attempt to save their small village. Hibiki was heartbroken, and was not himself for some time.
Once the Fire Nation had crushed the opposition, they rounded up the survivors. The earthbenders among them, including Hibiki, and those of able body, were placed in one group, and the rest of them, mostly women and children, were placed in the other. The bending group was enslaved in the mineral mines further up the mountains- the rest of the populace was left to work the farms, and live their lives as best they could. Hibiki looked out of the bars of an iron cage as he and Arai they were carted up the mountain, tears rolling down his face as he watched his mother and Rin wave helplessly goodbye.
That began the next part of his life- mining. Always always mining. The first day at work, Hibiki was very headstrong and bold. He refused to work, and then caused setbacks using his earthbending. However, this was put to an end when threats were made against the villagers still free down the mountain- he was told if he didn't work, or if he tried to escape, they'd kill his mother. Broken, Hibiki worked as hard as they told him to, and did whatever they demanded.
The work Hibiki did was mainly the work of carefully plotting where more mining could be done, and then carving out the earth so that the other, nonbending slaves (such as Arai), could go there and begin excavation. Since it was a large operation, there were many levels in the mine, and the operations themselves were very intricately balanced. If the mine was pushed to far or too rashly in one direction, there might be a cave in, causing long delays and deaths among the slaves, which would be detrimental to the effort (although the Fire Nation wouldn't paricularly care about the person who was actually dead.) Hibiki would use his earthbending to judge if the rocks in one location were strong enough to allow the mine to expand, and if so, he would begin expanding it, VERY, VERY carefully. Once that was done, Hibiki would begin helping to excavate as well. He also helped 'push' along the materials up carts on railroad tracks, since they were very, very heavy. He has done this work nontstop through his time at the mine, and will likely continue to do it a long time into the future.
The work was done at a slow rate. They worked long, hard hours, in dark caves lit with torches, under the lash of cruel overseers. A small garrison of soldiers was left to govern over the slaves, who were kept in cages inside the cave, guarded by firebenders and soldiers. The garrison was delivered food and water to give to the slaves, although the soldiers got good food and wine for themselves. When the slaves were too tired to continue working, or if they fell behind schedule, they were brutally beaten, lashed with a whip, or further deprived of food. Morale was extremely low- the slaves were hopeless.
Arai and Hibiki stuck together to protect each other. Since beatings were common, and they both sustained bad injuries from time to time- each would help the other survive. The rations they were given were not only horrible- there was hardly anything to eat. Combined with the fact that they were working so hard, they lost weight each and every day. They were slowly, but surely, wasting away.
The soldiers saw this, and decided to make two changes. First, they increased rations by a small amount for each meal- just enough to keep the slaves alive, albeit very, very thin. Second, to take the slave's mind off of their work so much, and to raise morale just a little, they decided to allow visits from the village below for good behavior. It would allow the Fire Nation to remain in complete control, but allow the slaves at least some time off of work, and with their friends and family. It was very popular- output increased literally overnight, as the slaves attempted to be the next one to get a visit. Eventually, Rin, though not Hibiki's mother, was able to come up and visit them for an afternoon- Hibiki's mother was forbidden to come to her son, as the soldiers still remembered his outburst on the first day of work. They were kept inside of an iron cage, and she could only come up to the bars. The afternoon was a brief bit of goodness in his life, but Hibiki was still broken. A few more visits happened later on, but always, there was the monotonous mining.
Mostly, Hibiki has given into his life. Although he is 14 years old, he is not strong in any way. He is prepared to live this life forever so long as he doesn't lose anything else. He always hopes, on the edge of his mind, for escape, but he knows it's impossible. Nobody could ever rescue the tiny village... could they?
Sample RP:Hibiki sat in his cage, looking across at Arai. They were waiting, anxiously, for Rin to come visit. The boys were both filthy, and Arai had a cut on his lip from being beaten earlier- but thankfully, they had still been allowed to see Rin. Arai sighed, and moved slightly, but otherwise, did not speak. Neither one of them dared to do so- anything that might take the visit away was something that they would not do, and because they couldn't be sure what that might be, they did nothing. The dank cave in which they sat was lit by torches placed on the walls. Three fire nation guards stood, placed about the small room, guarding the slaves.
Surrounded by earth- but unwilling and unable to use it.
The large open door at the other end opened, and Rin stepped through, guarded by three more soldiers. She wore a ankle length green dress, and her eyes lit up and her head turned to see the two. “Arai! Hibiki!” Her light brown hair's luster was drained away as she turned back to the three guards, who instructed her that she had 3 hours. They would be waiting just outside. And no funny business.
She knew they meant it. She nodded solemnly, and they left. She ran to the cage, and the two boys clasped the bars to get as close as possible to their friend. They embraced as well as they could through the bars- though the boys were dirty, she didn't seem to care.
“I've missed you guys so much,” she whispered. Arai whispered something back, and Hibiki could only nod. The three stayed like that for a while, until they found it necessary to talk of other things. Rin told them of the plantings that had happened, and who had grown older. She even was able to whisper in some news about the Avatar- apparently, he was nearing Omashu. A small glimmer of hope... but what could he do against the whole of the Fire Nation? They told her little, since there was little she would want to know.
After 3 hours, the soldiers came back to take Rin back. She begged them for just a little more time, but as usualy, they denied her request. She hugged them each once more, and promised to bring back more news next time. They clasped the bars of their cage, watching her leave, tears again flowing down their cheeks as they remembered back to the many years before when they'd first been carted off.
When would they have peace? They wished for it. Hibiki let loose a small prayer to
the spirits to protect Rin on her way back, and to help them have the strength to continue their work for their captors, lest anything bad happen to the villagers.