Jin
"I returned from war to find myself a foreigner in my own home."Temujin (affectionately, Jin) Jochi
AGE22
BIRTHPLACE Ba Sing Se
ELEMENT Earth.
APPEARANCE DETAILS Temujin is perhaps a few centimetres above average in height, mostly a product of exceptional diet and health that all high born people can claim the benefits of rather than any exceptional genetics. Jin's skin is the light brown of a river beach's sand with increasingly many minor scars from burns and cuts. His raven hair is left long, messy (sometimes bound up to not get in his eyes), and he has eyes that are dark brown, almost black like rich volcanic soil. He is clearly built to be a soldier, possessing an impressive musculature if on a somewhat average frame.
PERSONALITY Temujin is a person with very strong principles. He will not lie about who he is, what he plans to do, or really anything unless a very convincing case is made that the life of a good person depends on it. He epitomizes what nobility is meant to be, rather than what it is in the Earth Kingdom. As a joke he would often be told he belonged more in the Fire Nation, perhaps being adopted from a lost child of theirs. Though he has a certain haughty arrogance to himself that all people of privilege bear, he very deliberately makes a point of being charitable and kind to those less fortunate than he even now as he has little more than the clothes on his back, dropping silver pieces into the cups of beggars even as his stomach growls. All the while, he tries to do such good deeds as discretely and anonymously as possible, fearing that if he does it publicly he would be doing so insincerely, vaingloriously, for the spectacle of charity rather than its literal purpose.
Beyond that, Jin is a deeply hurt person. All of his values and beliefs that he assigned to the Earth Kingdom were brutally crushed as he was stripped of his rank and position and de facto exiled from anything but the recesses of the the nation's society. This fear of betrayal manifests almost as a paranoia, employers of the now mercenary treated with constant suspicion that they might not pay him out or will send him to his death with glee. This learned behaviour contradicts his natural predisposition to trust people and take them at their word, this conflict within leading to many a tearful night.
As a soldier he had always sung along with his troops when it came to marching songs, or stuck around with them to sing drunkenly at campfires. Now with great nostalgia those memories bring him yet more interest to that, and even now he oft hums jingoistic tunes of the Earth Kingdom's army.
Though born a relatively powerful bender, and particularly well trained at it, he also takes a particular interest in martial arts. Thus Temujin in much of his spare time will practice swordplay, archery, javelin throwing and more. While not a legendary warrior, he has still come to appreciate the blade and be quite a duellist in his own right.
Meditation has come to be a rare solace to the warrior. He used to dismiss it as sentimental hooey for weaklings from the Air nomads or for some lily livered water benders. In public, he still does so. But when alone, it has come to at least clear his mind from his worst thoughts: the violent, the self indulgent, the self-destructive.
Usually, this meditation he masks as another favoured pass-time if caught in it: excercise. Since he was a teenager he was told he would have to maintain his physique, and he did not wish to become one of the rotund generals that rested on their laurels. He always believed he had to be a warrior-paragon, and this hasn't changed since.
Something that keeps him up at night, and often daydreaming, is a constant concern about the future. He is always afraid that it is too late for him to amount anything, that qualities he thought were good have lead him to abandon a chance at anything but being a vagabond. Is scraping by to be his entire life? Even as he joins the rebellion, this does not leave him. While he cares not for noble privilege that he once had, the thought that he can no longer influence the lives of so many people as he once had by worrying about his men brings terror and shame alike.
BIOGRAPHY Honour and duty above all, tell no lies, stand for your homeland, and many such platitudes well rehearsed in adolescence were taken dearly to heart in Temujin, even if the rest of the socio-economic elite of the Earth Kingdom tended to disregard such things the moment they were old enough to have a concern about personal finance. Perhaps ironically, even as a teenager he was seen as a black sheep of his family for his refusal to partake in all sorts of schemes and intrigue that the aristocracy of Ba Sing Se indulged in. He was a problem they knew not what to do with, but when he kicked up his first stone and sent it airborne there was a very obvious path for him.
At the age of eleven he was signed up for cadets of the Earth Kingdom's army, the future profession of a soldier increasingly prestigious as the culture of the nation shifted. Excelling in both theoretical and practical lessons of the military academy, young Temujin was able to graduate ahead of schedule with honours straight into an officer's position without his family even having to pay the bribes they were already setting aside money for.
Marching proudly in the Earth Kingom's army it was not very long before war came, and Temujin was called straight to the front. He swiftly made a name for himself there. While a highborn officer he ate meals with his troops, listened to their concerns, and marched and sang together with them rather than haughtily looking down on them from the back of a mount. Where other officers threw their troops to their deaths to complete an objective, the mere suggestion of such a practice sickened Jin.
But he did far more than merely respect his men. He always honoured his promises to treat surrendering foes well. He respected the property of civilians in conquered villages, and made sure to pay off any farmers and the like for food and other supplies requisitioned from them. The foemen that fell to his commands were always given proper burial.
Some would have claimed this was sympathy to the enemy, but this was far from the case. Temujin did his duty with brutality, ferocity, and efficiency. To go about this he quickly gained a reputation for inventive stratagems. From using tunneling engineers and Earthbenders to bypass the waters that defended an enemy stronghold, to using captured Waterbenders to heal both his troops and other prisoners he quickly earned the respect of more senior military staff.
Yet, as impressive as his career was with all the medals and promotions he got, it would come to an abrupt end when he quarrelled with a General Huo after the destruction of a Fire Nation colony. The refugees leaving the burning ruins were accosted by the troops of Huo, shaking them down for anything from jewellery to cutlery that could be sold and made Huo wealthier. Temujin put an abrupt stop to this, believing that was the end of the matter. After all, looting the defenceless and defeated was a dishonourable thing to do, and as far as he was concerned he was in the right.
He was very, very wrong.
What he didn't know was that just as for anybody in his family, there were rumour-mongers compiling lists of everything he did that somebody in the Earth Kingdom might object to from the trivial to the most egregious. General Huo in his rage obtained this, and published it to the Dai Li and anybody else wishing to defame and harm the Jochi family.
A dishonourable discharge came, and to avoid ruination his family disowned him. He was de facto exiled from any meaningful part of the Earth Kingdom's society. Thus he wandered briefly, a bitter, lonely, hateful sellsword scrounging up money the only way he knew how. He was so young, and yet he felt his entire life and future were stolen away from him as punishment for doing the right thing. He raged at himself, his people, his family, his friends, his oaths and duties and the entire world.
When the Avatar awoke, so too did some semblance of hope in Temujin. He cleaned himself up, shaved, sobered, and sharpened his blades. Perhaps he wouldn't be welcome by those that recognised his face. But his hopes were high that his practical knowledge of the workings of the Earth Kingdom's armed forces would be much appreciated in the coming struggle. But just as much as he sees opportunity, Temujin is deeply scared of the future. What if for who he was, and who he is, he will be betrayed again? What if he fails to find belonging, and is simply cast out? With rage and fear simmering in equal proportion within, Jin has a concern that if he fails now he will never get a chance at anything again.
TRIVIA Going for a more Manchu & Tungusic feel with the fella, i.e. his sword is a Mongol sabre.
listened to this while making him
