Obsidian

During the course of his life, Ronin has been known by many names.  He is many thing to many people, and thus it’s fitting we describe him as such.
The War Hero:  To the people of the Earth Kingdom (and her allies), Ronin was the greatest hero to emerge from the War of The Tipped Scales.   Ronin was everything a soldier should be:  Brave, loyal to a fault, a natural leader, a creative thinker and of course an unmatched fighter.  He was the most decorated officer of the war, and with good reason.  He accomplished many amazing deeds on the battlefield.  However, when he was off the battlefield, he remained a kind and humble man.  The Earth Kingdom made him their ‘Recruitment Ideal’, and the tales of his courage inspired many men to join the fight against Novai.

Ronin has a very strict set of morals, and is a consummate gentleman.  He does needlessly kill, but he will do what he has to if the need arises.  He is a friendly, kind and charismatic man who is capable of inspiring great confidence in others very easily; his men would gladly die for him.  But his leadership and charisma go deeper than that.  He can rally troops from the brink of defeat to victory, and has brought even the most rebellious young soldiers into line with but a few words.

The Enemy:  To the Novai’s hordes, Ronin was a nightmare.  Many tales and legends arose amongst the Fire Nation ranks about Ronin’s skill and ferocity in battle.  Some believed he was an angry earth spirit, summoned by Meili to help defend the Earth Kingdom.  They called him The Empress’ Wrath.  Others still called him the ‘Steel General’, since metalbending of Ronin’s calibre was seldomly seen.  

As a warrior, Ronin was fiercely intelligent, supremely skilled, extremely stubborn and absolutely unrelenting.   In short, the worst kind of enemy to have.

The Victim:  Ronin’s amazing feats and renown earned him his fair share of enemies…some closer than he ever expected.  Being the man he was he was very trusting; especially when it came to his most loyal friends.  In the end it was his downfall.  Jealously and greed proved stronger then loyalty and friendship and he was betrayed and left for dead.  The incident left him a husk of his former self, with all four his limbs being amputated.  

The event would have left most shattered, but Ronin had mastered his mind and emotions long ago.  He came out of it for the stronger, and refused to let a disability hinder him.  

The Vigilante:  Ronin overcame his disability with prosthetics, but without a war, he was nothing.  He had always been a soldier, it was all he knew and he wasn’t good at anything else.  Without a purpose Ronin decided to track down his betrayer.  He followed him to Zulera City, where people flocked to start anew and make their fortunes.  Unfortunately many groups of people abused the system, forming gangs to exploit the innocent and haul in the rewards.  It was then that Ronin realised that although the Earth Kingdom Military didn’t need him anymore, that he had the power to aid the innocent and oppressed.  It was from that day, that Obsidian was born.

Ronin’s abilities are numerous.  He is a skilled tactician, an inspiring leader, a legendary bender and unequalled fighter.  He thinks quickly and decisively and finds creative ways to deal with his opponents.  He knows when to attack head on or when to strike from the shadows.  He is analytical and can quickly adapt tactics in a fight to get the upper hand over an opponent and exploit his or her weaknesses.  He leads by example, always going into a fight first, and never sends troops in like they are expendable.  To Ronin losses are unacceptable, and no one is left behind.

Earthbending:  Ronin is as stubborn as the earth he bends, and it makes him an excellent earthbender.  Physically, Ronin is quite large and strong, but he is not at all brutish like most earthbenders.  While he can easily reduce buildings into rubble and toss massive boulders around like they were pebbles, he prefers finesse and skill more.  In fact he uses earthbending very seldom in a fight.  He sticks with his blades and uses the earth below to slide him effortlessly and at great speed through groups of enemies.  This phenomenon makes it seem like he is floating in battle.  This is why many of his enemies in the war believed him to be a spirit.  

Metalbending:  Ronin was one of the early metalbenders.  He mastered the art very quickly which is another reason he was so effective against Novai’s troops who still had no idea how to deal with the relatively new bending form.  He is also one of the oldest metalbenders alive, making him all the more experienced and skilled.  Though he isn’t the most powerful bender around, he is argumentably the most powerful metalbender alive.

Weapon Use and Hand-To-Hand:  Ronin adapts an unorthodox fighting style.  He usually uses his twin Katanas and fists in his fights, switching between the two as necessary.  After the accident however, he received Metal prosthetics outfitted with a number of gadgets and tricks (to be explained in ‘equipment’) which he uses in his vigilante crusade.  He is fast, experienced, and has killed more men barehanded than most men manage with weapons.  He is truly a formidable fighter.

Prosthetics:  Ronin’s steel limbs grant him increased strength, speed, agility, endurance and resistance to bloodbending.  They contain many different gadgets and tricks that he uses through metal-bending.  


(256) Ronin is very tall man, with a muscular and athletic build.  Despite his age he is physically in his prime.  His eyes carry a lot of emotion in them, and his face is handsome yet weathered, like a man who has seen and experienced much.  His long brown hair has streaks of grey, another indicator of his age.  He has an air of nobility and an aura of inspiration around him.  His voice booms with authority yet his eyes are filled with kindness.

Without a shirt or shorts, one could easily see the advanced and beautifully smithed star-metal prosthetic limbs attached to Ronin.  He can use these appendages as dextrously as any normal person with arms and legs of flesh.  However, they are extremely durable and increase his strength greatly.  He wears a full set of flexible metal armor underneath a traditional shinobi shozoko and dons a mask to hide his identity and strike fear into the hearts of his enemies.  His Obsidian outfit is entirely black.  

Ronin’s body carries many scars…wounds from battle, burns from firebenders.  But the most obvious is the terrible frostbite damage from his betrayal.  Patches of red and black are littered across his skin, and part of his nose was completely destroyed.  The once handsome man now resembles a walking corpse.  For this reason he is hardly ever out of his Obsidian Suit.  He is very self-conscious about his appearance, fearing that he would scare people off, and so only the closest of his friends have seen him without his mask.


Weaponry & Other Gear:

Ronin’s metal prosthetics contain many hiiden surprises.  Among them are:
Metal Grappling Cables,  50 meters
Dual Katanas, able to extend out from forearm forewards from the wrist or backwards from the elbow
Metal dart and projectile launchers
Smoke Canisters
Electrical Power pack (invented by Korra)
Two Collapsible Crossbows
Flamethrowers
Blasting jelly explosives

History: (995)

Ronin’s tale begins in a small town near the Great Divide, where his family had been Shepherds for many generations.  He was born in a time when metalbending was still very new and rare.  For this reason, any potential students with a strong affinity for bending were taken and trained by the Earth Kingdom to help usher in a new generation of benders.  Ronin was one of the few chosen.  The chosen children were treated very well by the Earth Kingdom, they were allowed regular visits to their families and were given the best training and guidance the Earth Kingdom had to offer.  They were trained and groomed to become officers and warriors of no equal.

Amongst the young trainees, two in particular stood out as extraordinary benders, Ronin and Minato.  These two star pupils formed a very strong bond, and were literally inseparable.  They became brothers in spirit, and there was nothing they wouldn’t do for each other.  Their friendship blossomed in training, but their bond was sealed in the fires of combat, where all soldiers become brothers in blood.  They always had one another’s backs.

By the time of the war of tipped scales, Ronin and Minato were already officers in the Earth Kingdom army.  It was in one of the early battles where Ronin became renowned.  It took place when Novai’s legions invaded Omashu, using their airships to get past the cities earthen defences.  Despite being seriously outnumbered and outgunned so to speak, Ronin rallied the Omashu troops and held off the invaders for three days straight until Earth Kingdom reinforcements could arrive from Ba Sing Se.  Ronin instantly became a hero, celebrated by all and known as the Saviour of Omashu.

This victory was only the beginning for Ronin, after months of successful campaigns; Ronin became the ‘recruitment ideal’ for the Earth Kingdom Armies.  He inspired a nation, and many men and women joined the military because of his fame renown.  His became a household name and the streets were filled with heroic posters of Ronin and he was generally viewed as the greatest warrior in the Earth Kingdom and he was certainly the most famous.  

During the war, Ronin and Minato were closer than ever.  They were blood brothers, with their friendship forged in the fires of combat.  While they had both risked their lives for each other on many occasions, the most notable time was when Ronin infiltrated the Fire Nation Capital just to save Minato who had been captured as a prisoner of war.  

Ronin was soon the most decorated soldier in the military, so much so that he couldn’t be promoted.  The Military simply could not lose a soldier and symbol of his character and put him behind a desk.  Instead he was given command of the Shadows, an elite Earth Kingdom Special Forces unit under General Yun.  Minato was also promoted to Ronin’s second in command.  With the freedom to operate without all the normal red tape, Ronin accomplished even more in the Shadows than ever before.  He led a series of successful strikes against high priority targets, bringing Fire Nation operations in the Earth Kingdom to a grinding halt.  He became infamous amongst the Fire Nation soldiers, given the name ”The Empress’ Wrath,” because they believed him to be an unstoppable Earth Spirit summoned by Meili.  Of course this was far from the truth, but it didn’t stop Fire Nation troops from telling ghost stories at night.

Despite all his victories, danger lurked closer than Ronin would have ever thought.  Ronin’s best friend Minato had developed a terrible jealously of his childhood friend.  Despite never leaving Ronin’s side, it was always Ronin’s name the people chanted in the streets, and never his.  He felt that he deserved equal recognition, and this jealousy continued to grow month in and month out.

Near the end of the war, Minato’s jealously had transformed into a terrible hate for Ronin.  He now despised the man he once called his brother.  It didn’t take long before he had a plan to destroy Ronin and take his place as the Hero of the Earth Kingdom.  Despite Minato’s hate for Ronin, Ronin still loved his best friend, and did not suspect a thing.  He still trusted Minato with his life…a grave error.

Minato fabricated a reported that stated the Fire Nation troops were massing in an uninhabited part of the Northern Water Tribe, staging a Naval attack on Ba Sing Se.  He suggested that Ronin and he should investigate.  Ronin agreed.  They trekked a few days in through blizzard and cold, but alas could find no sign of the Fire Nation.  The two soldiers eventually arrived at a large cliff which overlooked a barren and desolate valley.  As Ronin looked out towards the frozen expanse, he felt Minato’s cold dagger sink deep into his back.  Before Ronin could even react he was shoved off the ledge, turning just in time to see the hateful eyes and hear the cursing words of his brother Minato.  Betrayed, Ronin fell into the depths of the icy canyon.

Ronin awoke two years later in a Water Tribe healing hut.  Two fishermen happened upon his body on an excursion deep into uncharted territory.  Frostbite had Taken Ronin’s limbs and scarred his skin and face so much so that he resembled a corpse.  He would have been dead if it were not for the unparalleled healing skills of Zurok.  The skill it took to revive him took miraculous skill, and it is still unknown exactly how Zurok managed to do it, some even theorized that a strange type of healing blood bending was used. Despite the miracle it took to restore Ronin’s life, he still took two years to recover from the coma he had slipped into.

Now awake, Ronin has to face a changed world as a changed man…

(there is much more history that needs to come here, but it will be added through Role Play)

**OPTIONAL**
Sample RP and Character Box:

Obsidian	He’s the hero Zulera City deserves.
Mood: Unknown Condition: Healthy	Obsidian

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