Zulera Joanna Tallarico

Zulera’s diverse personality was shaped by the many things that have occurred in her short but illustrious career in elemental mastery. From her early years, she was always a very ambitious little girl, seeking for an increase in her abilities, and playful domination over her friends and family. Her personality continued to shape itself as she grew older, and soon it became clear what this woman’s intentions were. She was keen for power, for knowledge, and she had an undying sense of curiosity. There were stunts she would perform simply to say that she was able to do so. Many of them were dangerous. Zulera’s fearless and outright reckless attitude made her a difficult person to understand, but at the same time, the physical mastery she demonstrated was not the limit of her talents.

Zulera is also very charismatic, able to sway most people into believing things form her perspective. She is also an opportunist, taking advantage of any situation that comes her way, and if unable to take advantage of it right away, she would calculate *how* she could take advantage of it later. It was traits like this that garnered her so much support in the time of the Mark of the Avatar. To top it off, she is rather friendly and amiable, and has a surprisingly low and gentle voice that has a motherly vibe to it, which makes her sound comforting.

Most of all, however, is the fact that while she is often times amoral and selfish, she is also unusually friendly, and surprisingly easy to get along with. If she finds something or someone fun, she is not afraid to stab them in the back. However, she does not ever commit evil for the sake of being evil. As long as there's something in it for her, she's generally a very amiable woman.

Perhaps the best way to describe the ambitious young Avatar is that she marches to her own beat. She is reckless and brave, but that does not mean she is stupid. She is a very brilliant woman--she is also very cunning and sometimes indifferent. exceptions to this are whenever she wants to learn something, usually skill or power-related. when this happens, she's enthusiastic as can be. Zulera is the type of person who is not willing to help someone until; they've tried to first help themselves. Otherwise, she is often happy to assist when she is needed.

Zulera is also notably shameless, unafraid of what people think of her, or of her body. There are a few quirks, however, both physical and mental, that she is a bit shy about, and she is strangely poor at handling compliments. ultimately, there are few things that Zulera enjoys more than a good swim, or a stroll under the moonlight. she is also a sucker for a good massage, unable to ever turn one down. While she does have a morbid phobia, she is skilled at concealing it. More than that, however, she is very sensitive about her height, and usually gets upset when she is teased about it.

Zulera is playfully arrogant, but when she takes her sincere side, she is a lot humbler and lives up to her mistakes, owning her faults and never shying away from confessing the things she’s done. Despite her lax moral code, Zulera never outright lies. There will be times where she will omit or twist the truth, but she will seldom, if ever, say something completely false and be serious about it. One thing is clear about her though—to understand this erratic creature takes a lot of work.

She has an odd passion for building and designing things, particularly different types of larger machines and mechanized statues, preferably if they resemble someone she knows. She is the type who would build something grand simply to say that she built it. She has lately taken a keen interest in technology, and hopes to share it with the world by introducing an industrial revolution.
When all is said and done, however, Zulera doesn't mind being the Avatar, but she prefers to be known as Zulera before being known as Avatar Zulera. This identity has kept her surprisingly level-headed and down-to-earth for most of her life, and that does not appear to be changing any time soon.


Zulera is a jack of many trades, and was a prodigy at an early age. her brilliance was somewhat wasted by her lazy mind, but she still accomplished much, learning the elements, mastering a couple, and putting a great deal of effort into becoming strong and skilled. it was one of the few places she was motivated to do work in, and it paid off.
Hand-to-Hand: Zulera is an expert at hand-to-hand combat, given that she has always been a brawler since she was a child in school. her powerful fists and feet are her favorite weapons, given that she is almost always unequipped with anything but the clothes on her back (though even those sometimes go missing), and this is where she often demonstrates her immense physical strength.
Waterbending: Born in the Water Tribes, Avatar Zulera got a head start on waterbending, and has long since mastered the art. She considers healing to be its own class of waterbending, and could barely pass off as a novice in that one. Even without the Avatar State, Zulera is capable of mighty tsunami-sized waves and other powerful bursts of water and ice, mastering the physical power behind waterbending. She has an aggressive but smooth-flowing form to her bending arts and abilities, which makes it quite an impressive sight to watch.
Earthbending: With Earth as her 2nd element, Zulera has also had plenty of time to get most earthbending techniques down. an element of stubbornness, resilience, and strength, Zulera definitely had an affinity for earth that helped her pick up the element with utmost ease, and the stubborn aggressiveness of her bending moves shows particularly in her earthbending of the elements she wields. her blunt, straightforwardness in life also augmented her bending skills, and so, added to the fact that Zulera was and is also a prodigy, she learned and mastered earthbending fairly quickly.
Firebending: Zulera's reckless behavior gave her trouble during firebending at first, but after she calmed down and learned the techniques, she was able to fuel her flames quite well. Driven by passion as opposed to anger, she has since become an expert in the art of firebending, and then mastered it shortly after. However, she also possesses great levels of control, which augment her firebending greatly, and enable her to have proficient use of lightning as well.
Airbending: The lack of spirituality in Zulera gave her a bit of trouble with airbending as well at first. Even today she's only about average, but she can perform airbending moves to a legitimate extent. she prefers stronger and more assertive forms of fighting, but the nimble tricks and dodges that airbenders had long since mastered proved to come in handy for the little Avatar, who uses them and her small size to her advantage. She has since overcome these obstacles, however, and mastered the element.
Lightning: Zulera's control of firebending has given her adequate skill in lightning, though for her it's usually just a powerful burst shot, rather than skillfully controlled electricity. she doesn't suffer from lack of control either, however. with fire as her opposite element, she just has to put more time and effort into it before she will increase in this skill.
Metalbending: Zulera is an expert metalbender because of her forceful, blunt nature in so many things that she does. her mastery of earthbending also included skills in metalbending as well, and this has worked to her advantage on many occasions. however, there is still more of this technique that she can learn, and she thus only considers herself an expert metalbender.
Engineering & Other Talents: Zulera enjoys building things, designing things, and drawing things, to name a few of her talents. She is decent at constructing things she maps out, although they do not always work. when that happens, she simply shrugs and tries again. She has invented and successfully operated a large mechcanical statue of herself, and plans to start building them en masse.
Spirituality: Over the last few years, Zulera's spirituality has increased exponentially, helping her master the remaining elements as well as the Avatar State. While she uses it very rarely, Zulera's Avatar State is a fierce and primal form that is greatly feared by those on the receiving end. Her spirituality has helped grant her an in-tuneness with the spirit world, and as such, she is drawn towards portals wherever they are opened.



Owing to her active physical lifestyle, Zulera is rather muscular. She wears a variety of clothing, but is by far most often seen decked out in various types of blue and brown clothing reminiscent of the styles seen in the Water Tribes. Over the sleeveless shirt and baggy pants she has on, she wears a brown fur-lined skirt which she likely made herself. Her outfit is topped with thick boots and fur-lined bracers around her wrists, worn over light coverings that cover her forearms and most of her hands. Her right arm also has another brace near her shoulder. While this is her usual getup, she has a strange habit of stripping (or being stripped) completely bare from the waist on up. Why this is has yet to be figured out.
Lately, she is usually seen wearing a pair of metallic gloves, a loose, short-sleeved shirt and pants, and has been barefooted. This getup shows most of her un-tattooed skin, as well as showing a bit of how big her arms, hands, and feet are. While short (and very sensitive about said shortness), Zulera Joanna Tallarico is a very sturdily-built woman who has shown to take care of her body.
Zulera’s skin is unsurprisingly dark, and her hair is dark brown as would be expected from most individuals of Water Tribe origin. It is wavy and unkempt, with her bangs often hanging into her face. Her eyes are a vivid shade of electric blue, and while she has no distinct scars or other physical markings or defects, it’s clear that her rough-looking frame has seen plenty of years of experience, even outside of the recent war. despite this, her skin remains oddly soft. Her back is adorned with tribal tattoos, which, while supposedly have a meaning, do not look like much more than intricate but abstract markings. They are brown in color, and are etched over the muscular shape of her back. These tattoos have gradually been expanded to include her hands and forearms, as well as parts of her sides, neck, and thighs. her feet, face, and biceps remain mostly untattooed.
Zulera's physique, posture, and facial expressions tell a lot about her. her athletic build reveals that she is physically active, and that she is tough. her hunched posture indicates that she has seen a lot and is a bit worn and tired at all times. her face reveals a lot of things, with mystery being at the top of the list. There is often a calm expression upon her visage, although it is sometimes coupled with a mischievous glint in her eyes. The avatar is always up to something, whether she admits it or not...


Weaponry & Other Gear:
Item Name "The Twins"
Materials: Refined Steel
Description: "The Twins" are a marvel of Water Tribe craftsmanship. They are two identical weapons about as big around as a loaf of bread (but only about 2/3 as long as a store-bought loaf) that have a variety of uses. The base of each one is cylindrical, with a u-shaped handle attached to one end for easy gripping. Located on this handle are a series of switches that can be gripped to trigger different mechanisms.
On the opposite end are triangular hooks that look like narrowed 4-sided pyramids, attached at the base to a chain. When a switch is pressed, the chain launches out via a spring, and the hook fires straight out at whatever is in front of it.
However, there are other switches that change the hooks. instead of one big spearlike arrow, it is actually composed of four smaller claws that come together to form that spearlike point. One of the switches shifts these four claws so they are facing outward, enabling it to claw and grab at objects or enemies. Another switch inverts these claws similar to a grappling hook thrown over walls of cities and such.
Of course, releasing the switch that launches the chain will cause it to reel back in. If the user is holding onto the weapon and the claws/hooks are latched firmly enough onto something, it can pull the user towards that object, which can be nifty for getting around places sometimes.
The final feature of these weapons is that right above the hole where the chain comes out is a much smaller hole. The last trigger on the weapons will cause a thin metal bolt to unleash itself from the weapon and fire like a crossbow. These are situated in a ring around the coiled chain, and can be reloaded once the supply of roughly 44 bolts is exhausted. Obviously these weapons take a considerable amount of proficiency to wield properly, which is why Zulera has not mass-produced them. Like everything she makes, Zulera has labelled these weapons with her trademark "ZJT-301".

Item Name Mirabelle
Materials: Cedar Wood, Refined Steel
Description: Mirabelle is a powerful automatic crossbow that was built and designed by Zulera as a one-time project. It is very similar to this only that the "bow" has two parts that unfold like an X.
The weapon contains bulges on both side where thin metal bolts are inserted, and then fed into the "barrel" and fired. The windup mechanism to pull the string back is easy to use and operate, and so anyone who knows how to use a crossbow can use this weapon. The blade at the end of the weapon and be retracted and tucked away, and the entire thing folds up so that the bow runs parallel to the body of the weapon, and thus causing easy storage or carrying. It's often able to be strapped to one's back this way. This marvel of craftsmanship was created by Zulera herself, who labelled it with her trademark "serial number": ZJT-301.
This item is no longer in Zulera's possession, however, for she has since sold it to a man that introduced himself as "Mr. Svenja", and once the money changed hands, where this weapon went was no longer Zulera's concern.


Zulera's crazy life of carnage began in the Southern Water Tribes, where she was born as the eldest of 7 (and only girl) to Zurok Mia Takamatzu and an unknown father. her parental situation has always been considerably odd, since even 30 years later, she still has no idea who her father is. While that itself is not very strange, the fact that Zurok had 7 children with the same man and none of them know his identity is part of what draws suspicion. Worse yet, is that Zurok does not speak of him at all, and raised the entire family by herself as a strong family matriarch. Even to this day, Zulera still has a fairly strong bond with most of her family, particularly her youngest brother Akhet, and her mother, Zurok.

The most predictable aspect of the young avatar, however, was that she was unpredictable. There was once even news that the next Avatar had been discovered in the foggy swamp tribes. This, however, just made Zulera laugh.
She recognized herself as the Avatar before the age of 16, and then quietly disappeared, only to leave a slow-spreading wake of people who knew her identity behind her. word soon got out, however, but by that time, Zulera was off learning her next elements. Naturally, this caused the impersonator from the swamps to fade back into the oblivion from whence she had come, and little more was thought of that woman. Once the real avatar had emerged, no one cared about the fake.

While she did not become fully realized by the time she was internationally recognized as the Avatar, Zulera was still very competent when that time came. she did not stop her rigorous training routine, her ambition an determination to become a master being part of her drive. the rest of her drive came from knowing that the more powerful she was, the more she could get her way, or the things she wanted. That was her main goal at this point.
The time she put into these practices paid off, and soon Zulera was a master of two elements, and at expert level or competent with the remaining two. at 28, this was her current power status, but there is far more to her life than learning and mastering the elements, and it does not involve being the hero or the good guy, in most cases.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things about Zulera is that she has little interest in revealing her identity up front. She prefers people to know her as "Zulera" first, and as "The Avatar" next. Her mother never gave her any preferential treatment, and so she grew up as normally as her other siblings, and Zurok tattooed Zulera just as she did with her other children. This lack of different treatment is where Zulera gained her mentality. Not that she does not enjoy being the avatar, but to her, it's simply a nice convenience, rather than something to build her identity around.

Little known to most people who were not involved with the plan, Zulera was the leader of a small revolutionary group known as the Legions of the Mark.  While most would say that the group never accomplished anything before it disbanded, Zulera disagrees that it has been disbanded at all, and instead has just fallen into dormancy as it awaits the right time to rise back up and make a move.

Currently, it remains "officially" disbanded, but Zulera enjoys having those types of connections for later times. it didn't launch the world into some sort of crazy all-out war, but it did trigger a few crazy things, particularly in the Earth Kingdom, and to a much greater extent, the Water Tribes. While there is no solid evidence to support it, it is believed that Avatar Zulera was and is responsible for the deaths of the last three Northern Water Chiefs, and the last Southern Water Chief as well. she supported her cousin Renayu in her efforts to gain the Southern throne, and was equally pleased when she succeeded. However, she was rumored to be involved in her downfall, and may have played politics to help situate her mother on the throne as the Northern Water Chief.

The episode in the Earth Kingdom had a few stops in it as well, from unexpected twists and such. she assisted Queen Meili from behind the scenes in her rise to power, and almost overstepped her bounds, receiving a stern and serious warning from the queen herself telling the young Avatar to know her place. that was enough to get Zulera, who took those words to heart.  For her, the world was a place waiting to be played with. there was always someone to exploit, someone to play with, that sort of thing. However, she and Meili have patched things up in recent years, and are now good friends, with the latter providing support and endorsement for one of the former's great projects.

She also sold herself as a mercenary every now and again. this was not enough to be considered her main profession, and the unemployed Avatar travels the world and works when she needs to, therewith gambling or exploiting for her money. It's not necessarily that Zulera is evil, but rather that when there is something she wants, nothing will stand in her way of getting it, regardless of who gets hurt.

Despite these acts, Zulera is not necessarily an evil woman. she never strikes out at someone for the sole purpose of harming them, and in fact, most of the time she is rather friendly. her one constant is that she remains very erratic and unpredictable. she might be committing an act of treachery one day, and then be going back to living a normal life as a contributing member of society for the next few weeks or months. she seldom stays in the same place either, living nomadically across the world, particularly the Fire Nation, western Earth Kingdom, or Northern Water Tribe. Her criminal life, however, did not necessarily disappear just because she stepped out of the spotlight. there are still wanted posters of the Avatar in some far reaches of the world, although few wish to challenge such a powerful creature, and because of her generally friendly demeanor, few have interest in trying to turn her in apart from those who know her on a slightly more personal level (AKA those who have actually met her in person)

she often dramatizes just how big her life as a criminal was and is, but it's also not like she's wanted by every world leader in every reach of the world. besides... like anyone with Zulera's calibur of audacity, she knows how to cover up evidence. A natural trickster, perhaps this is why Avatar Zulera Joanna Tallarico still breathes the free air.

After 28 years of this type of fiery carnage, Zulera could at best be called an anti-hero, and at worst be called a villain, depending on one's views of good and evil and of right and wrong. Such is a lecture that she has heard before and has no interest in hearing from anyone else but herself or her mother. Her mother is the only one she ever goes to for guidance any more, also having left out any attempts at spiritual guidance, which she feels she does not need. After all... she is not aiming to be a hero, just as she is not aiming to be a villain. she is neither evil nor good... just... there.

Near her 29th birthday, Zulera cracked down and worked on mastering the other elements, having been inspired by a particular episode she had had in the spirit world. It also helped her gain mastery over her spiritual side, and by the time she was 30 years old, she was a true Avatar State Master. It was also at this time that she managed to bring about the fall of Firelord Novai, and was the one who directly executed him for his crimes. While the other nations experienced some instability for other various reasons (some of which Zulera may have been involved in), she did manage to give her blessing to Tarek Raiden, and bestowed the title of Firelord upon him and his wife, since Novai had not had any heirs.

She has settled down recently, so to speak, and has been seen and involved in several flings, romantic or otherwise. Zulera holds a very close bond with her mother, Zurok Takamatzu, where it is rumored that the two young children that are often seen in the matriarch's care, actually belong to Zulera herself.
Zulera is still a busy woman, and even has an actual occupation now. Ever since she was a child, Zulera had always enjoyed building and tinkering with things, and so nowadays, the avatar spends her time inventing new things, and is now actively working to bring about a worldwide industrial revolution.

She is also working on a grand-scale project that she simply calls "Zulera City". If she is successful in this field, then she will know that her industrial revolution will come to pass. Having gained the Firelord's blessing, support form her Water Tribes, and official endorsement from the Earth Queen, the odds of the project being stopped are very slim. Limitless ambition and determination are Zulera's driving forces, and it is why she is unstoppable.


Reasons Why You Believe You Deserve a Master-Tier Character/Position:
Because I am Zulera, the Leading High Goddess of New Chapters, and am equal to or greater than all but the founder himself.

**Required of ALL Master Tier Characters**
With Sample RP (522)

Zulera Joanna Tallarico

Zulera strode into the Northern Water Tribe Palace with a touch of confidence in her step and a smirk on her face. Those in the grand hall, however, did not seem quite as thrilled to meet her. She was suddenly grabbed on either side by a couple of guards. initially she was able to throw them off, but eventually they clarified their intentions. "One does not simply walk into the halls of the Tribal Chief as freely as you." they warned. Zulera did not shrug it off, but allowed them to lead her in front of the Tribal Chief. "So," she said, giving the man a respectful gesture, What does the Northern Water Chief wish from the humble Avatar?" "Tell me something, Avatar Zulera." he began, "Tell me what this unholy crusade you have started across the world is meant to accomplish. Tell me what these wars are for, and tell me why you have pitted yourself against the four nations?" "I cannot say I know what you are talking about." Zulera shrugged. "Your dishonesty will get you nowhere in the Water Tribes. You may be able to get away with such treachery in the underground reaches of the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. You may be able to pull a veil over the eyes of the Air Nomads, even. However, such falsehoods will have no place among the Water Tribes." "You won't be able to handle the truth when I tell you." Zulera cooed. "You cannot prove it until I have seen it." he countered. "I cannot say I know their intentions." Zulera replied, "it seems that they wish for a new form of world government to be set into place, and they wish for it to be led by the Avatar. not everything done in my name is endorsed by me, and contrary to popular belief, I am not all-powerful or all-knowing." "You are really a terrible liar, Avatar." "Am I now? If I told you that I was behind each and every one of these attacks and that I endorsed it with all of my zeal, would you believe me?" "Absolutely. All evidence points to you." "If if did that," Zulera smirked, "then why am I not being arrested? If these silly theories concocted by you, the Southern Chief, the Earth Queen, the Air Council, and the Fire Lord were true, why have I not been imprisoned? There have been no reports of prison breakouts from any nation, so it certainly cannot be said that they have tried to arrest me." There was a moment of silence before Zulera continued. "perhaps it's because you *CAN'T* pin it on me, because there is not enough evidence to link it to me. Mayhaps I am not as guilty as you think." "Whatever the case, I suggest you watch your step." the Chief warned, "for I may not always be this benevolent towards you and your followers, Avatar." "I would suggest the same unto you," she replied, "but it seems redundant. I bid you a fond farewell, chief." With that, Zulera strode out of the room, a smirk clearly on her face.

Mood: Opportunistic Condition: Perfect

Link:

By typing your Forum name below, you acknowledge that your Master-Tier Character requires a considerable degree of activity(to be judged by our staff), and that you are subject to removal from your position of your Master-Tier Character if site staff unanimously decide you are not fulfilling this required level of activity in an undue respect. This judgement will also apply if abuse of this position occurs, whether in or out of character (IC or OOC).

Approved. One stipulation though, I'm not going to change your color to the avatar color unless Liao wants to. For now you can just be a master waterbender. And remember, with great power comes great responsibility.

updated, yaddey yaddey and all that happy horseshit.
enjoy.

Seems good to me dude. Sorry this got left alone.

I'm gonna BUMP this, because I pretty much overhauled it. everything is much longer, and now reflects the post-war Zulera a bit better.

APPROVED with pleasure