Chapter 44

Wan Shi Tong began by telling me about the Air Nomads. The air nomads were a bending based theocracy. They had no real system of government covering their extended lands. The Air Nomads would step in to settle disputes between people and apprehend criminals but otherwise left the island inhabitants to themselves. This system allowed the local farmers and merchants to get rich in cash crops. The people of these lands would pay the Air Nomads for their help, but also to keep Air Nomad noses out of the business. The only other thing was any air benders born would be taken to the temples and there wasn't anything you could do to stop them. They kind of reminded me of Jedi. Preaching about impartiality and compassion, but were fundamental in supporting a corrupt system. Because the islands had a harsh divide between the treatment of the different classes. For every sugar or pepper Barron, there were hundreds of farmers struggling to eat.

Then we talked about the Water Tribes. Who ran the global trade markets. Although calling it a cartel might be equally accurate. The Water Tribes would transport the spice Barron's supplies or they would be paid protection money. Which was somewhat legitimate, because when the water tribe wasn't trading on the ocean they were fighting pirates. The Water Tribes held a near-complete control/monopoly on the sea. Water Benders were just very hard to beat when at ocean.

The Earth Kingdom would probably be more accurately called the Earth Kingdoms. The 'Earth King' was a loose title that swapped hands frequently. In some portions of history, the person who held the title would change several times in a decade. The 100-year war actually led to one of the strongest regimes as the various city-states agreed to at least temporarily stop fighting. City States would rise and fall all over the Earth Kingdom. When in the rare instance that the Earth Kingdom wasn't at war internally it was at war externally against the Water Tribe for control of ocean trade, Air Nomads for Spice, and the Fire Nation for land.

The Fire Nation was historically the weakest. It had no great benefit over the other countries. It had less land and the land was less useful. They only had three things going for them. First, fire was a good element for soldiers. It didn't have the versatility of the other elements but was very good at fighting. Second, was their ability to forge metals. Fire did have constructive use though, in making forges easier and more efficient to use. Third, is that the Fire Nation held mostly one cultural identity and there were very infrequent large scale internal conflicts. Leading up to the 100-year war their forging and metallurgy started to advance rapidly finally giving them a distinct advantage.

National history was how I spent the first day of instruction. The second day revolved around the avatars. It was a little surprising to learn that despite everyone looking for guidance in the avatars there is at least a 1/4 chance that the current avatar isn't any good. Aang should be an incredibly talented and successful avatar, but he was 100 years late. While I don't personally hold this against him as he is a child, it could be argued that it was his fault. His predecessor Avatar Roku is typically seen as a good avatar, but he didn't have many problems to face and the major one he did face wasn't resolved. His inaction directly led to the 100-year war. Kyoshi was definitely a bad avatar. She killed two different Earth Kingdom 'Kings'. They weren't officially kings, but they were people who more or less ran the country, and she killed two of them. Then she implemented a secret police state in the Earth Kingdom capital Ba Sing Se. While I don't think doing nothing was the solution, killing two heads of states and subverting people civil liberties seems like a bad solution. The previous Water Tribe Avatar is near-universally regarded as a bad Avatar. He was lazy, arrogant, and really only survived because of his predecessor's success. He lived a short life and his death was soon followed by large scale pirate and bandit uprisings. The previous Air Avatar was so loved she is often regarded as a Saint.

This past cycle has been uncharacteristically bad. Depending on how someone counts it this cycle could have 4 for 4 bad avatars. Wan Shi Tong hadn't really thought about it, but this cycle of avatars is one of the worst cycles ever. We covered a fair few other avatars including Wan the first Avatar, but he couldn't remember any series of worse Avatars without doing research.

On the final day of instruction, we discussed spirits. He was I think intentionally vague. We went over the spirit world and how best to treat with and communicate with spirits. The advice could be summed up as don't go to the spirit world it is a bad place to be for mortals, and when dealing with spirits bribery and flattery are usually very effective.

I thought we would finish early after that, but then he got serious and very specific. He just started dropping names and descriptions of Spirits that should I encounter I should just run.

"It is the end of our third day of lessons, I thank you for your wonderful instruction"

"I wish more humans that came here were more like you. Do you have any final questions?"

"You wouldn't happen to know where a giant lion turtle is would you?"

He makes a very human sign and brings his wing up to his face.

"I mean there as big as islands if there are any I'll find one eventually. Plus just because I find one doesn't mean he'll tell me anything. So you'd really only be saving me time."

He stares down at me for a few seconds.

"Fuuu Lion turtles treat humans like dear dog puppies if you find him he'll be more than willing to talk. I'll tell you, but as this goes past the original deal I want you to do something for me. "

"Sounds fair what would you like me to do?"

"One of two things or both if you're feeling generous. First, the man who came here before you stole information that if used will truly end the balance. He intends to kill the Ocean and Moon spirits. If he does so yes water benders will lose their bending, but it will break the truce between humans and spirits. There are thousands of spirits just waiting for a chance to cause chaos this would be their chance. You must stop lieutenant Zhou from killing the spirits at the Northern Oasis. The second option is to train the Avatar. I know he will appear soon, and our lessons have made me realize that the world needs a competent Avatar. Another bad avatar will only increase the downward spiral of the world."

"I accept I will complete those tasks"

"Then you will find your lion turtle in the southwest ocean of the fire nation."

"Thank you for everything Great Spirit of Knowledge"

We bow to each other before I leave the library heading to find a lion turtle.