Varsha Zere Zakau

Varsha's personality, like that of many kids her age, is very diverse, and sometimes a bit unpredictable. For the most part, her most defining traits include passionate, studious, and honest. She respects all but the most corrupt authority, although she is also also unafraid to question anything and everything, part of her drive as a knowledge-seeker. This is her drive in the world, and she is always seeking to better her skills, humbly respecting those more skilled than she. While she respects the skilled and the intelligent, those who talk much and show little will often just get openly mocked by her. Similarly, if she dislikes someone's personality, she will have difficulty respecting them, regardless of position or skill.
Varsha is humble for the most part, but she is also confident, almost to the point of foolish bravery. There is little in the world that can faze her, and death is not on that list. Her humbleness comes from knowing that while she is a competent fighter, that there is still plenty of knowledge, both physical, mental, and spiritual, for her to learn. Knowing that there is more out there for her gives her more reason to seek it out ambitiously.
While Varsha knows her manners and how to behave in proper and/or formal situations, she is also very laid-back outside of said circumstances, with an amiable personality and a good sense of humor. With this, she sometimes likes to playfully tease people, but only ever in good fun, for Varsha cares for the people she calls her friends. Varsha is also a strong believer in the phrase: 'Fight with honor and accept defeat with grace.' She takes that into her fighting style, and when she loses, she believes it only makes her stronger.
Despite being almost 21, Varsha has not shown much in the ways of romantic interest, leading some to believe that she might be asexual. Whether or not this is the case, remains to be discovered.

Varsha's history allowed her access to a good education, both academically and physically, and so she is very clever and calculating, knowing much about the world around her, even if she realizes that there is still great amounts of things left for her to learn. While she did learn some basic firebending moves, Varsha's passion was for the martial arts behind the moves, both of firebending, and of the other bending disciplines. These are her favorites, and she is swift and agile. Her firebending lacks power, but it's not like her fireballs wouldn't hurt. Varsha's forte is hand-to-hand combat, where she often fights with a staff and sometimes channels small fireballs through it. because of the physical requirements of her training, Varsha is also in very good shape, and so is rather tough for someone of her age and gender.
Varsha is a self-declared "Beginner Firebender", but this is only one side of the coin. in terms of firebending, she is a beginner, fully capable of basic moves such as channelling flames through weapons or shooting fireballs, but little more than that. Her skills lie in martial arts or hand-to-hand combat, as well as skill with the staff. Thus, just because she says she is a "Beginner Firebender" does not mean she cannot hold her own in a fight. More than that, she recently discovered that her chi paths were not open enough, and with the help of Tarek Raiden, she was able to open them. This has improved her firebending substantially, and she is now beginning to more avidly study the bending arts to augment her already keen skills in martial arts and self-defense.

Varsha has jet-black hair, light brown skin and golden firebender eyes. She once had a slightly smaller than average build, standing at around 5'1" and weighing about 112 pounds, but she was not finished growing yet. She hit a growth spurt and shot straight up, passing 6 feet and gaining a good few pounds from her athletic lifestyle.  Unlike many Fire Nation citizens, Varsha does not wear a topknot, but instead wears her hair down. she keeps it neat when in formal situations, sometimes adorning it with circlets or flowers or the likes, but most of the time the long, slightly wavy stands just hand down behind her, about halfway down her back. her bangs, while long, are usually kept out of her face. Varsha has a slightly pointed face with distinct features, and a body that was built for agility. Her body is well-toned because of the physical activity she undergoes, but she is still small, and unlike the bodies of some larger earthbending men, Varsha's muscular system would not serve as a very good tank or wall, because she's not made of that sort of stuff. She is not weak, however, even if she often attacks with small moves that stack up instead of a few powerful strikes.
In formal situations, and sometimes on the side, she usually wears red and gold Fire Nation robes and slippers, and carries herself with a sophisticated stride. in less formal situations, she is usually seen in loose trousers and a jacket similar to karate gi, and she is often barefoot. this outfit is what she wears when she trains, which is often. A lithe woman by nature, she is light on her feet and quick to react.
BONUS: here is an image of her in her karate gi

Varsha's exact origins are unknown, but she was adopted as a child by Fire Nation nobility. Given that she was an infant when this happened, the chances of her being from another nation were negligible. This proved true as she grew up, given that she turned out to be a firebender. Thus, she grew up with wealthy parents of Fire Nation heritage, whom she always considered her real parents. Living the life of the nobility had its perks. Foremost, they provided her with a wide variety of educational opportunities of both physical and mental varieties. she became book-smart, and physically, became very adept at martial arts. While originally her parents were disappointed at her lack of honing her bending skills, but after she proved to be a very skilled martial artist and a skilled user of the staff, they let her divert her training focus into those departments. While her father was a weaponsmith who specialized in high-end weaponry, he also made his daughter a hard, sturdy staff which she uses to this day. Varsha's mother was a teacher and librarian, and so access to book-related knowledge was also at Varsha's fingertips, which she enjoyeed and took advantage of many times.
Varsha's idea of "fun" was practicing martial arts, reading, researching or gaining knowledge of any kind. she knew she had shortcomings, but they didn't bother her, as she trained to rid herself of some shortcomings. her life wasn't over--the ones she still had, were ones that she would eradicate over time.
when she turned 16, she began working as a teacher's assistant at a martial arts academy, and now 3 years later, she is striving to become a teacher of her very own academy and dojo. she sets her bars and dreams high, and then strives to do whatever it takes to reach them. While she refers to herself as a "Beginner Firebender", it was only because her skills (and interests) lie in other places.
She also discovered, with the help of a scholar named Tarek Raiden, that her chi paths were not flowing well enough, which had inhibited her firebending before that time. He was able to help her open them up, which began to dramatically improve her firebending. This discovery
led her to develop a newfound enthusiasm for learning firebending, which she continues to do to this day.
Since knowledge is not limited to the Fire Nation, Varsha has also travelled a bit, most of it with her family. now that she's on her own (for the most part--she still pays plenty of visits to her family), she travels to various corners of the world to try and learn more about it, its people and cultures, and anything else in between. She continually seeks for knowledge and skill, knowing that there is still plenty out there for her to learn and master. the road to becoming a master is long and difficult, but hard work will pay off, and perhaps one day, Varsha will become so proficient at a skill that she will be able to be called a Master. Her expertise in martial arts and self-defense has served her well, and now her latest ambition is to bring her firebending skills up to that same par.

**OPTIONAL**
See Character Box. (it's technically only 329 words, but I have proven myself ages ago, and shown several master-tier RP samples)

Varsha Zere Zakau

Varsha listened attentively and politely to Tarek's backstory as he revealed it to her. she smiled as she heard him out. "after I learned of my lack of power, I focused more on physical combat, honing and refining my skills, learning the various stances and techniques of the four bending disciplines." she explained once he had finished. "so it seems that we both pursued knowledge, just the stuff that wasn't exactly common knowledge. I like that thought, and the idea of that. it seems that we both are trying to gain as much knowledge as possible, and for the same reason. I seek nothing but enlightenment from learning of knowledge and wisdom. I do not seek it to exploit others." she smiled. she had always been taught that knowledge was sacred, just like the bending arts, and that it was not to be abused, and so Varsha lived by those words as much as she could. "well, my step-parents have been as real as any parents I've ever had." she smiled, "but I do not know them off the top of my head. I once had a dream though... a dream that I found someone with a lead on my father. he was a wandering mercenary, and that he was purposely avoiding my mother for personal reasons that had nothing to do with their relationship... like they were trying to keep something or someone safe... the trail eventually led to my mother, who was a pirate queen on the high seas." she paused, almost fantasizing about the powerful mercenary warrior and the stalwart pirate queen who roamed the seas. she wondered if those were actually her parents. the dream had seemed so real... like there had been spirits involved in it. "either way... I know that I was adopted, as my step-parents have told me such. it does not bother me... I am mostly just curious as to who my real parents are and what has happened with them..."

Mood: Calm Condition: Perfect

Link:

Pushed through the process for the sake of posting.

(other) admins, if this character appears OP I'll be more than happy to tone her down if there is sufficient enough reason provided.

"channelling flames through weapons or shooting fireballs"

"staff and sometimes channels small fireballs through it"

Cool skills, don't get me wrong, but a beginner firebender can do this? I thought they were just able to barely produce flames, that too in small quantities, and cannot manipulate them.

Otherwise I have no problems with the character, but since you already approved it, we can't do anything about this.

I think she is only capable of those two things really, she is a beginner firebender.

[weird. can't post as Varsha here]
I actually forgot I said channel, but all I meant with that was that she can sometimes put flames at the end of a weapon. more often than not though, she doesn't, given that it's less-than-practical for her.

I've always pictured beginners as benders with a limited arsenal, and Varsha's arsenal is basically that move, heating things, and throwing a few basic fireballs... and that's it.

Ah okay, thanks for clearing that up.

Thread bumped, Varsha's profile update complete.

Seems cool to me, dude.