Post by yulan on Apr 6, 2007 18:30:25 GMT -6
Name: Yulan
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Height: 5’ 5”
Nationality: Earth Kingdom
Appearance: Like most other citizens of the Earth Kingdom, Yulan has strong facial features and skin tanned from many days’ work under the sun. Layers of old calluses have hardened the skin on her palms and feet into a rough, leathery kind of armor, and she has never been bothered by sharp pebbles or thorns against her bare soles. The angles of her cheekbones slope downwards and meet at a gently pointed chin, and her small nose helps her radiate an essence of cuteness even though she considers herself a young woman now, no longer a little girl. She has chocolate brown eyes and straight black hair with an unusual gray sheen that makes her appear a bit sickly, but she’s perfectly healthy; Yulan surmises that the color came from an incident when she was four, involving accidental ingestion of a poisonous plant.
Her garb is nothing fancy since she is but a humble farmer’s daughter: a loose robe-like shirt, one side tucked beneath the other and tied off with a dark green sash. Her pants are long and just as loose as her shirt, and both articles of clothing are a light, dusty brown hue. To hide the burnt skin from onlookers, Yulan has swathed her lower left arm and hand in bandages.
History:
When Yi Gao retired from the Earth Kingdom army, he decided that he’d had enough of fighting to last him a lifetime and settled down in a farming village on the plains with his wife. They had two sons and a daughter, and for a long time the family lived in peace and relative happiness, growing crops and raising poultry.
Because he was a former soldier and loved his children, he taught them what he knew best: how to fight, in both the martial and bending arts. These lessons were well-received by all three of his offspring, even his daughter Yulan. While she enjoyed learning because she found natural delight in physical activity, Yi Gao was satisfied because a girl who knew how to defend herself would be better off in this world. Though he hated to admit it, he could not protect her forever.
The Fire Nation attacked their village when Yulan was sixteen. Thanks to the Earth Kingdom army, they avoided capture, but even after the enemy had retreated, evidence of the siege was all around them… Their homes had been burned to ashes, their crops and livestock had been destroyed, and some of their neighbors had been killed in the battle. Yulan didn’t just lose her home and lifestyle that day: one of the Fire Nation soldiers grabbed hold of her when she tried to chuck a boulder at his head and cruelly scorched her left arm black. As a result, she lost her ability to earthbend.
There was much rebuilding to do, but Yulan was convinced that she was useless this way: rocks no longer followed her command and one of her arms was no good for lifting heavy objects. After pleading and arguing with her father for two months about this, she was granted permission to leave the ruins of their village to search for someone who could heal her arm. She’d heard stories of waterbenders with healing powers… Hopefully she’d find one willing to help her, and afterwards she would return and aid in the post-attack reconstruction.
Personality: Yulan is determined but not quite courageous, meaning that while she’ll suffer hardship to reach a certain goal, if the odds are stacked too high against her, she’ll give up and flee with her proverbial tail tucked between her legs. She hates injustice as much as the next person, but she’s the timid girl who remains watching in the crowd, not the brave one who steps forth to aid an underdog. Because her father always put emphasis on kindness to strangers, Yulan is friendly and always hopes to make a good impression on people with politeness and humility.
Other Info/Summary:
- Yulan covers her burned left arm with bandages.
- She can earthbend, but since chi no longer flows through her injured arm, she cannot figure out how to direct her energies to make bending happen again.
- She’s not bad at hand-to-hand combat, and carries a wooden sword on her back to fend off bandits and other nasty villains.
- She is mostly illiterate. Yulan can write her name, her family members’ names, and her village name, but that’s all. Reading is a slow and painful process for her.
Her Character Development post is here. I wrote it up last year, but since the character herself hasn’t changed, I hope the post is still valid.
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Height: 5’ 5”
Nationality: Earth Kingdom
Appearance: Like most other citizens of the Earth Kingdom, Yulan has strong facial features and skin tanned from many days’ work under the sun. Layers of old calluses have hardened the skin on her palms and feet into a rough, leathery kind of armor, and she has never been bothered by sharp pebbles or thorns against her bare soles. The angles of her cheekbones slope downwards and meet at a gently pointed chin, and her small nose helps her radiate an essence of cuteness even though she considers herself a young woman now, no longer a little girl. She has chocolate brown eyes and straight black hair with an unusual gray sheen that makes her appear a bit sickly, but she’s perfectly healthy; Yulan surmises that the color came from an incident when she was four, involving accidental ingestion of a poisonous plant.
Her garb is nothing fancy since she is but a humble farmer’s daughter: a loose robe-like shirt, one side tucked beneath the other and tied off with a dark green sash. Her pants are long and just as loose as her shirt, and both articles of clothing are a light, dusty brown hue. To hide the burnt skin from onlookers, Yulan has swathed her lower left arm and hand in bandages.
History:
When Yi Gao retired from the Earth Kingdom army, he decided that he’d had enough of fighting to last him a lifetime and settled down in a farming village on the plains with his wife. They had two sons and a daughter, and for a long time the family lived in peace and relative happiness, growing crops and raising poultry.
Because he was a former soldier and loved his children, he taught them what he knew best: how to fight, in both the martial and bending arts. These lessons were well-received by all three of his offspring, even his daughter Yulan. While she enjoyed learning because she found natural delight in physical activity, Yi Gao was satisfied because a girl who knew how to defend herself would be better off in this world. Though he hated to admit it, he could not protect her forever.
The Fire Nation attacked their village when Yulan was sixteen. Thanks to the Earth Kingdom army, they avoided capture, but even after the enemy had retreated, evidence of the siege was all around them… Their homes had been burned to ashes, their crops and livestock had been destroyed, and some of their neighbors had been killed in the battle. Yulan didn’t just lose her home and lifestyle that day: one of the Fire Nation soldiers grabbed hold of her when she tried to chuck a boulder at his head and cruelly scorched her left arm black. As a result, she lost her ability to earthbend.
There was much rebuilding to do, but Yulan was convinced that she was useless this way: rocks no longer followed her command and one of her arms was no good for lifting heavy objects. After pleading and arguing with her father for two months about this, she was granted permission to leave the ruins of their village to search for someone who could heal her arm. She’d heard stories of waterbenders with healing powers… Hopefully she’d find one willing to help her, and afterwards she would return and aid in the post-attack reconstruction.
Personality: Yulan is determined but not quite courageous, meaning that while she’ll suffer hardship to reach a certain goal, if the odds are stacked too high against her, she’ll give up and flee with her proverbial tail tucked between her legs. She hates injustice as much as the next person, but she’s the timid girl who remains watching in the crowd, not the brave one who steps forth to aid an underdog. Because her father always put emphasis on kindness to strangers, Yulan is friendly and always hopes to make a good impression on people with politeness and humility.
Other Info/Summary:
- Yulan covers her burned left arm with bandages.
- She can earthbend, but since chi no longer flows through her injured arm, she cannot figure out how to direct her energies to make bending happen again.
- She’s not bad at hand-to-hand combat, and carries a wooden sword on her back to fend off bandits and other nasty villains.
- She is mostly illiterate. Yulan can write her name, her family members’ names, and her village name, but that’s all. Reading is a slow and painful process for her.
Her Character Development post is here. I wrote it up last year, but since the character herself hasn’t changed, I hope the post is still valid.