Avatar Enki

PLEASE FULL VIEW THIS.

Done for ~Avatar-OC-club's contest.

EXPRESSION SHEET
BUST SHOT

This is Enki, from the Southern Water Tribe, and he's the Avatar. *dodges rotten produce* Don't worry, he's not in Aang's timeline and mention of Aang's timeline is miniscule at best. Enki is a wannabe-historian who happens to be great at doing lots of stuff... as long as you dangle the "Let's Learn History" carrot in front of him. Once Mr. Carrot goes bye-bye, his interest goes bye-bye, too. He wasn't actually going to have the name "Enki" since I normally choose names from the Americas or from China and Japan, but this one just totally fit the bill. "Enki" literally means "God of the Soil" in Sumerian, because to the Sumerians water and soil are practically the same as both nourish plants. Enki is the God of the Sweet Waters, which is his title, and his name means "God of the Soil," if that makes ANY sense. XD;

I left out a lot of stuff in the description, but if anyone wants to know more about him beyond just that, just note me and I can summerize. It's just my fingers are getting soar and there aren't enough fields to put in other things. I may fill out *bibly's huge-ass character profile thingy that goes into the psychology of the character, but I think this is enough for now. w00t for typing this up in two hours!

Drawn in oC3, like usual. 'm not exactly in love with this pic, since it is rather unflattering, but I do like his hair and the line art. Full description below for those who like reading lots of text!
--------------------
Name: Enki (Named for the Sumerian "God of the Sweet Waters" who resides over Abzu, the watery abyss, and whose domains are water, magic, and wisdom.)
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 160lbs.
Build: He is in wonderful shape underneath his clothing heavy clothing, well-built but certainly not overly muscular. Kinda normal-looking as long as he doesn't start showing off his pecs (which he'd never do anyway).
Hair Color: Dark chestnut brown.
Eye Color: Sea blue.
Haled From: Sourthern Water Tribe.
Hometown: Southern Water Tribe's tribal village. (I don't think it has a name. XD)
Current Residence: Ba Sing Se University campus; travelling around while doing studies with his buddies.
Occupation: student and teaching assistant for the school of history; the Avatar
Family: Father - Anghi (alive; fisherman for the tribe); mother - Tenan (alive; takes care of the family); brother - Jing (alive; 13 years old); brother - Korin (alive; 18 years old, apprenticing as a potter); sister - Ling-Yi (alive; 15 years old)
Scars/Distinctions: He wears glasses, which are a fairly new invention that a previous Earth Kingdom student at BSSU had invented as a final project. He's somewhat nearsighted, so he wears them for reading or staring at things that are far away, but he usually forgets he's wearing them so they just stay on his face for the most part.
Best Quality: He has a dazzling intellect and an amazing aptitude for finding and gaining knowledge. He loves learning new things, especially when it comes to historical events. He also has an undying, childlike curiosity about the world around him.
Greatest Flaw: He does not have a lot of self-confidence or self-assurance, which makes him overthink decisions to the point of putting himself and his friends into danger. He fears going into a situation and making the wrong decision, especially if that decision could mean the life or death of one or more people. Because of this anxiety, he also has acquired some irrational and unfounded fears, as well as some perfectly rational and founded fears.
Bending Skills: He's the Avatar, so he can bend all four elements. He's an expert waterbender and he's nearly mastered earthbending. He knows firebending is going to be a challenge, but he's keeping himself level about it.
Fighting Skills: He hates fighting and tries to avoid conflict for diplomacy, but if diplomacy fails he will fight to the best of his ability. He has been well trained in the bending arts and is definitely a formidible adversary, but he can still be overtaken if his mind isn't fully in the fight.
Weapon: He is proficient with rapiers and other martial piercing weapons, but prefers to not carry weapons with him other than a short sword that he hates using. As said, he would rather try diplomacy before going in and killing things.
Personality: He's rather passive when it comes to people he has just met or doesn't know very well, usually taking a backseat until the first words are spoken, but with friends he'll be a little more open and friendly, to the point of an almost complete turnaround from his usually reserved nature. He loves talking about history, especially when pertaining to the history of his homeland; he gets very fired up about it all and does wild, happy gestures in tune to what he's saying. He's fairly introverted otherwise, but not because he's unhappy, but just because he's thinking on this or that or feels it's inappropriate to speak. If he's being too quiet, just poke him and strike up a conversation about the penguin population of the South Pole in a given time period and he'll be up and at'em.

He is very afraid of certain things, especially his duties as the Avatar. He gets fairly anxious around situations where lives are at stake or there is a conflict that he can't resolve with words. He is, however, phobic of heights, so he'll never go into tall buildings past a certain point. (To be completely accurate, severe and paralyzing anxiety kicks in at about 50ft. He won't be moved higher from that point as he will no longer be fully functional, most likely clawing to get to lower ground. There's more, but it's all psychoanalytical and fairly indepth.)
Other Necessary Information: Because of his background in historical studies, he tends to dress more appropriately for the South Pole rather than for the Earth Kingdom climate of BSSU, always wearing his furs and warm clothing out of tradition. He doesn't really get hot or uncomfortable, but it makes people wonder if he's hot under all that thick fabric.

The beaded lock of hair on the right side of his head presents a feather from a rare arctic bird that his father had helped when it was injured long ago. He wears it so he can keep the spirit of his family and tribe near him where ever he goes. And he did the beading himself.

He's also allergic to papaya, but that's only been a recent discovery.
Background Information: Enki was born down at the bottom of the world, in the Southern Water Tribe. The tride has always been small and will continue to be small until Kingdom Come, it seems, but it suits the tribespeople just fine. Enki was born into the love-locked community and was christened with the strong name of "Enki" by his father with aid of the elders, born as the son of Anghi "The Great Whale Rider" and Tenan, his wife.

Enki's life was pretty uneventful for quite some time until he was old enough to learn how to control his waterbending abilities. At a young age his parents had learned of his great bending abilities, which was incredible for some of his age. He mastered waterbending by the age of 11, but it never really became a passion for him. Instead, at the tender age of 8, the stories his fellow tribespeople told around the icefire* at night during the great evening feasts became an obsession: he wanted to learn more but the absense of books in their tribe made it seem impossible. The tales of the great waterbender Katara, her brother, the Warrior Sokka, and their adventures with Avatar Aang made him interested in not only his own tribe's history, but of the history of the Avatars and of the world. His father did not approve of this interest at first, but the glow in his son's eyes when the old stories were told made him reluctantly approve.

By this time, Enki was 10 years old and the shamans of the northern tribe were coming south. They had not found the new Avatar amoung their people of the north, so they could only assume he was amoung the people of the Southern Tribe. They came with much bravado and made their presense known, a grand feast was held for them the very evening they arrived and in the morning, the ritual of finding the new Avatar began.

It was nearly sunset when Enki, the last of the children, was called. He took the innane trial, the shaman stroked their beards, then sent him away. The next day, they left without word or notice. Enki was somewhat saddened about this, however. He wanted to learn from their wisdom and all he ended up getting was the cold shoulder.

Time passed slowly, and though the tribe had become drawn into its usual mundanity, Enki was trying to get himself into Ba Sing Se University when not practicing his waterbending. He had heard that it was a grand place of learning and knowledge, so without his parents' permission, he began sending letters to the university, asking for admission. Each time, he recieved a letter back saying it could not be done; a 13-year-old boy cannot join the ranks of the best minds in the world--you're far too young to understand the fundamentals of our scholastic endeavors. He decided he would then wait three more years; 13 is the age of majority, but 16 is the age of true maturity and freedom.

The age of 16 came and he once more pleaded with the dean of the university to let him in. The letter was sent, but he would not be there for the reply: the day of reckoning had arrived. He and his family were urgently called to the Northern Water Tribe for a very important but unknown reason. Upon arriving at the sister tribe's gates, Enki was quickly raced toward the temple where the shamans had gathered. It was within this icey fortress before these icey men that he would learn something that would dash his dreams forever: he was the next Avatar of their world.

He came out utterly disillusioned. The shaman thought it was shock from finding out he was the Avatar and his whole life would change, but in his mind he could see his entire future falling into ruin. That evening, a feast was held in his honor, regaling his newfound glory with song, dance, and merriment. He hated it, but put on an obviously fake smile and went with it. Fate threw him a curve ball and he had to live with it.

The next morning he sought out the head shaman of the northern temple and asked him if his Avatar training would interfere with his dream of going to Ba Sing Se University and becoming an historian, writing down verbal lore from all over the four nations and most especially his home tribe. He certainly did not seem to understand the boy's interest but he said if he can get into the university then they could work something out with the university. This made the young Avatar greatly happy. Not only will he be learning new bending styles and possibly their history, but he'll be furthering his knowledge by going to BSSU!

Enki and his family finally returned to their home in the south, but Enki would not be there for long. As to further his Avatar training, he had to get together his belongings and move to the north where his abilities in waterbending could be properly gauged. Shortly before he was to leave, however, a letter of acceptance from BSSU arrived for him. His mother was so proud of him while his father was only mildly supportive. Even so, he wished his son luck.

Without fail, the ship to lead him away from his family for a long while arrived. Leaving his small tribal village was hard, but he stayed strong, vowing to return after he finishes his training and studies. He gave each member of his family a long farewell and all of his friends and tribesmen saw him off beside his tearful mother and family. It would be the last time he would see any of his family for a very long time.

After arriving at his new "home" in the north, he performed for the shaman of the temple as well as for the waterbending masters of the tribe. Each and every one found him to be an extraordinary waterbender. When pitted against the best of the best, he won hands down, even though he exuded an air of uncertainty each time. He didn't like besting everyone and recieving the fame and envy that was being put upon him. After spending about a year there he was sent off to the other nations to learn from their best.

But not without showing the elder shaman his acceptance letter from BSSU. To be truthful, they were not expecting him to actually be accepted, so they had not really planned for such a thing. After an emergency council meeting, they declared to him that they would speak with the dean and work out a deal where he could both get his Avatar training and still learn all there is to know about history. With this knowledge, he happily continued in his training.

He soon came to the realization that being the Avatar is like being the ultimate historian. Past lives can be relived in an attempt to right the historical wrongs of the world and to put together a great library of knowledge by writing down the stories that they know. He then bought himself several blank journals to write down notes and findings while on his great journey to becoming the Avatar. Questioning elders and going to festivals, he could use his Avatar title to aid in gaining insight into the pasts of the people of this world, securing that future generations will have the exact same knowledge to look back on!

Another year passed until the council of elders got back to him about his availability to attend BSSU. He was far into his earthbending training by this point, surpassing anyone's expectations; the shear excitement of him wanting to do all of these things invigorating him to excel past anyone's dreams. A letter came to him on a fairly rainy day in Omashu, and Enki was spending his time bending the water out of mud. With childish enthusiasm he opened the letter, his smile growing wider and wider as he carefully read each word, then ended his reading with a large "Yaaahoooooo!" that could be heard throughout most of the city. After finishing his earthbending training he could travel to BSSU and take their placement examination to see if he really was scholarly material. This even greater enthusiasm only shocked his instructors as he breezed through the rest of his training with flying colors and by winter of that year he was ready to take the journey to his Paradise-in-Waiting.

The journey took about a month, and he mostly hitchhiked his way there, carrying only his bag of writing provisions (journals, brushes, and inks), some jerkied beef, and a canteen of water. But it was worth the long trek. When he saw that momentous structure steepling forth on the horizon he knew he had found heaven; it was the most glorious site he had ever witnessed in his entire life. He felt almost unworthy to be entering such hallowed halls, even if he was the Avatar.

Upon his arrival that late afternoon, the dean (having heard word of his approach) was waiting for him at the gate and quickly prodded him in. He spoke of the test and that he would allow Enki to prepare some for it considering the odd circumstances and said that whenever Enki was ready they could administer the exam. Of course, Enki's eager nature for learning thrust him into overdrive. He spent the entire first evening in the library, reading as many books as humanly possible, and by noon the next day he proclaimed he was ready for his exam. The dean thought him crazy to be so impetuous and said that he could take the exam the next day, that way he could have time to set up a proctor for the exam. With a pout, Enki, now of age 18, waited for the next day, still studying hard that evening as well, and was then given the exam.

After a few days of assessing Enki's aptitude and integrity through the tests administered, the results were given to him and he recieved a passing grade. To be fair, he wondered if they let him pass, but the high score and the numerous correct answers proved that it was his intellect and capacity for learning that got him through, not his title. This meant that from now until he was done with both Avatar training and schooling from the university, he would be hopping from one location to another to earn achievement from both.

That brings us up to date. He has mastered waterbending and earthbending but has yet to start on airbending and firebending, and has nearly completed his primary degree in Historical Lore and is hoping to begin a secondary degree in Historical Archieval. He's still in "the zone" as it comes to learning, and he's already been off doing minor Avatar-related commitments. He has formed a small a band of friends to help him in his quest and make sure he stays away from tall buildings (vertigo is BAD, I say). He does all this while saving the world, which makes some people think he's crazy, but his friends know it's just because he's very excited about it all. And despite his uncertainty about being the Avatar, he is beginning to come to terms with it, but he still feels completely unworthy to be given such a grand title. The travels help to record the past as well as the present, so it is becoming a compromise.
World Status: Beyond his own village, he had not had previous contact with nor much knowledge of the world north of his position save for what he was told within stories his tribespeople had told around the fire. When he actually was sent off into the world by circumstance, he was highly unprepared (his own tribes library consisting of a maximum of twenty books, all of which he'd read several times) but extremely open to whatever oddities and wonders he may find. The world he entered was far different from what he had read in the ancient books of his tribe or heard in the tales told under the stars, finding that in their isolation his people had missed out on great events. Famine, war, plague, great kings and terrible dictators had washed over the different lands, bringing turmoil and truimph.

Within more recent centuries, a terrible dictator, Hiutai, had been vanquished during the earlier years of this century, leaving a lot of rebuilding that brought forth a small Industrial Revolution amoung the Fire Nation's domains and some of the Earth Kingdom's equitorial lands. Nearly 50 years ago, a great depression followed an unfortunate famine that had swept over Earth Kingdom lands, causing widespread grief amoung most of the planet and its inhabitants. Nearly a hundred years before then, a great plague had hurt a large chunk of the Northern Water Tribe and the northern portions of the Earth Kingdom, ceasing both's development industrially until the fall of Hiutai, which aided in the Earth Kingdom's industrial development, but the Northern Tribe still struggled due to a strange atmospheric phenomena that was making it warmer in that area. The Air Nomads have experienced minor turbulence from these events, but have otherwise continued in their ways.

Enki's arrival coincides with a great reconstruction of almost all the lands of the world, save for his own which has stayed reletively the same in its isolation for more than 200 years. This makes it even more astounding that Enki has made it into BSSU, not just because he's the Avatar, but because he is the first of the Southern Water Tribe to study there in a long time. Beyond Enki's own personal goals, he wants to also make the Southern Water Tribe more accessible to other lands and make it less isolated. He hopes with providing his tribe with the means to write more of its knowledge in books, perhaps even open a library, and the fact that the Avatar is from that tribe will stir more interest from other nations into wanting to do commerce or trade with his people. Their borders aren't closed, but being so far from the main continent makes it difficult for traders to want to journey so far just for trade. His hope is that his advocacy will make people want to come and that his passion for his tribe will make people want to help his people become more in tune with the world they live in and help them to make further contact, perhaps even entice traders from the northern continent to impart some of their more advanced technology to them so that they can have an easier time of travelling to the main continent along with the traders.
--------------------
*Apparently, for fire, Inuit people burn blubber/fat of animals as a fuel for their fires. My brother told me that it's called "icefire," since it's not fire from wood. Whether he's right or not, I dunno, but if he's not, just yell at me and I'll fix it. My brother maybe a history whiz, but he is wrong sometimes. Not all the time, but every once in a while. XD;