I E Southern Water Tribe Raids
e following is a list of important events, which occur leading Forty years into the war, Fire Lord Sozin’s successor, Azulon,
up to and during this era. Each event has a list of the current
consequences for stories in this era.
The Disappearance of Avatar Aang
Nearly a century ago just before the Fire Nation a acked, Avatar
Aang disappeared a er running away with his sky bison, Appa.
Struggling with his identity as the Avatar and upset over the
news that he had to leave the Southern Air Temple to begin his
o cial training, Aang ran o only to be caught in a storm. To
survive, he involuntarily entered the Avatar state and froze him-
self and Appa in an iceberg, where he still remains. No one in the
world (except for rare individuals, such as King Bumi) knows
what happened to the Avatar, what his name was, or what he
looked like, only that the Avatar disappeared. Some, like Prince
Zuko, believe he is an old man, but others believe the Avatar’s
reincarnation cycle simply came to an end.
C :
• There is no Avatar.
• Most people don’t believe the Avatar will come back.
• The world has lost more of its connection with the Spirit World.
The Air Nomad Genocide
Not long a er the Avatar’s disappearance, the Fire Nation a acked
the other three nations with overwhelming force. When Sozin’s
Comet passed overhead, all Firebenders experienced a monumen-
tal increase in their abilities. With this temporary ampli cation of
power, the Fire Nation killed all of the Air Nomads and severely
damaged their temples.
e speed and e ciency the Fire Nation used to exterminate
the Air Nomads stunned the world. While the Air Nomads’
allies intended to come to their aid, they were busy contending
with the Fire Nation on other fronts, creating the perfect envi-
ronment for the Fire Lord’s nefarious plans. Fire Lord Sozin’s
actions in the Roku Era built up the Fire Nation’s military to a
force that the Air Nomads were unable to contend with. ough
Avatar Aang was the prime target of the a ack, he ended up
being the only survivor of the Air Nomads—though that truth is
unknown to the world.
e Air Nomads are now relegated to footnotes in history
books for the new generation of this era. Even then, there is
li le history the Fire Nation hasn’t warped to t its narrative and
many records on Air Nomads are incomplete. A few people may
visit their temples and wonder at the lost civilization but a scant
few truly remember the Nomads.
C :
• There are no Air Nomads.
• The Air Nomad temples are for the most part
empty (see the Mechanist on page 63).
• There is no one to tend to the spiritual sites
the Air Nomads once cared for.
58 A L :T R G
targeted the Waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe. His
soldiers took many Waterbenders to high security prisons or
murdered them, and the population of the Southern Water Tribe
dropped drastically. Rather than helping their fellow tribespeo-
ple, the citizens of the Northern Water Tribe further isolated
themselves, shoring up their own defenses in case the ire of the
Fire Nation turned on them next. is served to isolate the two
tribes from one another, where they once presented a united
front on many occasions.
e Southern Water Tribe raids only ended when Azulon was
satis ed that he rid the world of the last Southern Waterbender,
a woman named Kya. In truth, she was not the bender they were
seeking, but lied and said she was to protect her daughter Katara,
the real Waterbender (page 72).
C :
• The Southern Water Tribe numbers are dwindling.
• Most Southern Waterbenders are imprisoned.
• The remaining Southern Water Tribe warriors have left their
homes to launch guerilla attacks on the Fire Nation.
The Siege of Ba Sing Se
e failed Siege of Ba Sing Se ended only a few years ago a er
lasting a grueling six hundred days. General Iroh, heir to the Fire
Nation throne at the time, led the siege. e Fire Army got as far as
breaching the Outer Wall and made their way through the Agrarian
Zone. Around this time, Iroh’s son, Lu Ten, was badly injured in the
assault and soon succumbed to his wounds. Su ering his son’s death
made Iroh realize that the siege cost too many lives and destroyed
the morale of the soldiers. Iroh ended the siege and eventually Ba
Sing Se retook their lost ground and repaired the Outer Wall.
C :
• Ba Sing Se is one of the last strongholds of the Earth Kingdom.
• The Ba Sing Se government grows increasingly xenophobic.
• The Fire Nation is working on new technologies
to breach the Outer Wall.
The Death of Fire Lord Azulon
A er Iroh withdrew from Ba Sing Se, his brother Ozai demand-
ed that their father remove Iroh as heir to the Fire Nation throne.
Fire Lord Azulon, infuriated by this demand, ordered Ozai to
kill his rstborn, Zuko, so that he would understand the pain of
losing a rstborn son as Iroh had. Ozai planned to follow these
orders, but his wife Ursa made a deal with him instead. She cre-
ated a poison Ozai could use on his father in exchange for him
sparing Zuko’s life. Ozai banished Ursa and secretly assassinated
Azulon so he could claim the throne.
C :
• Ozai, not Iroh, is the current Fire Lord.
• Prince Zuko is exiled from the Fire Nation until he finds the Avatar.
• Ursa is missing, presumed dead.