'If you’re having fun without me, then you’re not really having fun'
Character Age: 12
Character Gender: Male
Character Race: Fire Islands (Jemmu’s father is of the Fire Islands and his mother is of the Earth Kingdom)
Bending: Jemmu is a Firebender, and an exceptionally proficient one at that, especially when considering his young age. Ever since he manifested his first embers as a toddler, he’s been under the tutelage of his father Zhou Hongza, “The One-Eyed Dragon”. Given his current level of skill and talent, it would be fairly easy to label Jemmu as a prodigy, but that would be painting a mostly incomplete picture. There were many aspects of Firebending that Jemmu initially struggled with, but he was fortunate enough to have a master Firebender to help guide him through much of it. Of course, while there’s nothing to dispute that he’s clearly naturally talented; there’s also no way that he’d be as advanced as he is now with bending if he hadn’t put in the years upon years of training with his father. He’s proud of the significant progress he has made, especially considering that he’s one of the few people that can comfortably keep up with his father during most of their more intensive training sessions. Regardless, he still has a lot to improve and it will be a long time before he’s considered a master bender like his father.
Skills: - Swordsmanship: Jemmu’s new found skill with a blade is almost entirely an extension of his Firebending training under his father. What he has been taught is to use it to augment his fire and flames, and to seamlessly integrate it in the martial arts that make up the core of his Firebending.
- Parkour: Having lived his entire life within Si Wong City, there is a barely an inch of the city that Jemmu isn’t extremely familiar with. It was just the natural progression of his childhood to climb structures and buildings until he realized it was faster to travel by rooftop than the streets below.
- Pai Sho: Pai Sho is Jemmu’s father’s favorite game, so he had plenty of exposure to it while growing up. He also played against his father plenty of times, when his father wanted to emphasize nurturing a strong mind and strategy. It was just an inevitability that he would eventually become rather good at it. Jemmu even occasionally plays against others for money, though both his father and mother disapprove of him doing that.
- Gregarious: Jemmu has always been a people person, and in this regard he is much more like his mother than his father. He has always made friends quickly and easily, and he would always make a great effort to turn an enemy into an ally if he could. An extension of this is that he’d be totally lost in complete solitude, and despises the thought of spending any considerable amount of time alone.
Weaknesses: - Naive: Jemmu is young, thereby lacking the life experiences that many other people have. He just doesn’t have a reason to not trust people at face value, and could be easily taken advantage of by anyone who saw the opportunity. His insistence to see the good in people is going to be exploited one day in the future.
- Impatient: Never one to wait silently on the sidelines, Jemmu has developed a bad habit of rushing into things before fully thinking them through. This is possibly most prevalent in his Firebending; if he sees an opening, he’ll rush to take advantage of it, likely overexposing himself in the process. His father has attempted to teach him to be more thoughtful, but this has largely fallen on deaf ears.
Posessions: - Firebending Sword: A gift from his father, the blade of this shortsword is made with a highly conductible and combustible metal that makes it perfect for use in many different Firebending styles. The blade can be ignited, and the flames can be manipulated in a much more directed way. Exceptionally deadly in a variety of combat situations.
- Pai Sho Set: Another gift, this time from both his parents. Kept in a pouch, these pieces were expertly carved and commissioned especially for Jemmu.
Biography: Jemmu’s birth coincided with the summer solstice, an important date for the people of the Fire Islands, and a sign among the superstitious that he would be bound for greatness. However, he was born in Si Wong City, ensuring that his birth would also be met with celebration, albeit under much different circumstances. His father was Zhou Hongza, “The One-Eyed Dragon”, considered to be one of the greatest Firebending masters of the current age, and the de facto leader of the burgeoning Fire Islands minority within Si Wong City. His mother, Tei Li, was a scion of a family that had held considerable influence in Si Wong City ever since its founding, and was a powerful Earthbender in her own right. Their love had developed completely independently of any political machinations, though it still served as a useful alliance between the Earthbending majority and the Firebending minority. Jemmu’s closeness with his mother had always resulted in a very strong relationship, whereas his paternal relationship was much more tenuous in nature. Jemmu was fun-loving, extroverted, and loud. His father was the polar opposite - serious, reserved, and quiet. Oddly enough, despite being father and son, they had nothing in common… except for Firebending. The ability to bond as father and son was ultimately replaced with a stalwart relationship between master and student. Initially disappointed, Jemmu eventually grew to be happy that they could truly communicate through the sacred art of Firebending.
Despite being part of a prominent family and a capable bender, Tei Li shifted much of her focus in raising her son. In nearly all respects, Tei Li was a kind and caring mother. Yet, if Jemmu was ever caught misbehaving, she was fully capable of transforming into a saber-toothed moose lion in an instance. For this very reason, there was no one else that Jemmu loved or feared more than his own mother. However, despite his mother’s swift discipline, Jemmu was the type of mischievous child that never seemed to learn. It wasn’t long at all before Teil Li put Jemmu to work in the family’s flower shop to earn his weekly allowance. It was definitely no exaggeration to say that she worked her son to the bone, mostly to help keep him out of trouble. It worked, to a certain point, but Jemmu somehow still found the time to embroil himself in all kinds of trouble, regardless.
Indeed, Jemmu often found ways to wrangle others into his many misadventures - considering that he never found it especially difficult to befriend others. Jemmu’s extroverted nature allowed him to not discriminate when it came to those that he made friends with. From those belonging to the upper echelons of Si Wong City like himself to those at the bottom, it made very little difference to Jemmu. In either case, he was almost always the natural leader of these groups. Starting from the time that he was a small child, Jemmu had always been well-known throughout Si Wong City - often for all the wrong reasons. Of course, Jemmu always found a way to drag his friends into many of his countless escapades. It was rare for any of them to ever complain since Jemmu usually found a way to make any adventure fun, even if it ended up blowing up in his face at the end. Without a doubt, the positive personality that Jemmu exhibited upon others was highly infectious.
It went without saying that Jemmu was quite easy going in regards to most aspects of his life. All except for the art of Firebending. Jemmu’s passion for it wasn’t equaled by almost anything else, and so it remained one of the few things in the world that he actually took seriously. After all, it was the one common language that he was able to share with his father. Even his own mother couldn’t quite understand, given that she was an Earthbender. Jemmu had obviously trained with and against several other Firebenders many times before, and it just wasn’t the same. It always lacked the same intensity and chemistry that Jemmu and his father had built up over the many years. After all, Jemmu had been training with his father from that time that he was barely more than a toddler. The training itself wasn’t easy, nor was it intended to be, constantly challenging body, mind, and spirit. From time to time, other Firebenders had attempted to train with Zhou and Jemmu, but it was rare for them to last long. Others that did study under Zhou were often given a more manageable regimen. The level of Firebending training performed on a daily basis by Jemmu and his father is practically on an entirely different level than almost anywhere else within Si Wong City.
More recently, Zhou’s training of Jemmu has taken a slightly different route, involving the craft of integrating weapons in the martial arts of Firebending (most notably spears and swords). At first, this was a hurdle for Jemmu, considering that he simply wasn’t used to adding anything else to his martial arts than the fires that he can conjure. Eventually, he came to favor the sword, and it truly became an extension of his arm, though just like with Firebending Jemmu was still a far cry from being a true master like his father. Upon attaining proficiency, it wasn’t long until his father gifted him a custom sword, made with a highly conductible metal that made it perfect to use when bending fire. Jemmu was deeply honored by the gift, and it still remains his most precious possession. Additionally, it adds an entirely new layer to Jemmu and his father’s routine sparring matches. At first, Jemmu couldn’t keep up with his father for longer than a single minute, truly a testament to the incredible abilities of his father. However, after years of training, along with considerable progression of his own Firebending, Jemmu has been able to inch his way into having truly amazing Firebending bouts with his father. After all these years, just watching Jemmu’s overall progress with Firebending has been a truly humbling experience for Zhou.
Many Firebenders use their rage and anger to augment their bending, though Zhou ultimately rejected this, and passed these lessons down to his son, Jemmu. The focus instead lies within the incredible willpower that Firebending should inhibit, most purely represented by the ‘internal fire’ from within to fully accomplish desires and ambitions. Instead of destruction, fire is life, to be harnessed with the utmost care. It is also passion, to be used to protect the people and values that you care the most about. There is a pathway for Firebending to promote peace and not war. Zhou’s legacy is to push this philosophy, and Jemmu is completely dedicated to it as well. At the end of the day, Jemmu is just a goofy kid who likes to have fun like any other, having learned Firebending to be able to connect on a deeper level with his father. At the same time, he is well aware that his skills as a Firebender can be used to protect his family, friends, and Si Wong City, all of which are deeply important to him. If the day ever comes in which he’d have to sacrifice to protect any of those, he’d do so without a second thought.
Supporting Cast: Zhou Hongza: Jemmu’s father. A member of the once-powerful Hongza clan, Zhou’s extraordinary talents as a masterful Firebender was noted throughout the Fire Islands even back then. He was an aggressive and violent young man, relishing the opportunity to fight in the endless wars that were constantly being waged throughout the Fire Islands. The political climate of the Fire Islands is always extremely turbulent, and it was only a matter of time before the Hongza clan fell to tragedy. Zhou remained one of the few survivors, and the circumstances were such that he was forced to flee from his home. He was now angrier than ever, becoming a mercenary to fight primarily under the banner of Ba Sing Se. It was after a near-death experience that Zhou finally had an epiphany and the weight of the destruction of his family finally came over him. He realized how senseless and pointless war truly was, and he began to travel throughout the world to find himself a worthy purpose. He began to meditate with the Air Nomads at various Air Temples, becoming quite receptive to their philosophy of nonviolence. He was directed to Si Wong City after much time with the Air Nomads, encouraged by a city that was a melting pot of all the differing cultures. He chose to finally set down roots there, and became close to Tei Li, who soon became his wife and mother to Jemmu. From there, he became the de facto leader of the Fire Islands minority in Si Wong City, and remains a loud proponent for peace and opponent of senseless violence.
Tei Li: Jemmu’s mother. Tei Li belongs to one of the most prominent Earthbending families within Si Wong City, and even a prominent ancestor was a companion to Avatar Si Wong. She was tasked with helping Zhou Hongza settle within the city after he was vouched for and sponsored by the city’s Air Nomads. Romance eventually blossomed between the two, they married, and Jemmu was born not long after. Their marriage served as a way to bridge the Firending minority and Earthbending majority together. A talented Earthbender in her own right, Tei Li is more than capable of giving her husband and son a good thrashing whenever they warrant it. Also, it is quite beneficial considering she grows nearly all the flowers that she sells in her shop, and Jemmu has spent enough time helping his mother to know how passionate she is about flowers. Jemmu remains very close to his mother, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
An: The dragon of Jemmu’s father. Zhou Hongza was given An as a child and she has remained his constant companion ever since. Like his father, Jemmu has become just as close to An, as a stalwart companion that can always be relied upon.
Old Man Lu: A friend of Jemmu. He calls himself a travelling merchant, but the goods that he sells were clearly illicitly gained, and he seems to be a con artist of some sort. Still, the majority of these illegal activities have gone right over Jemmu’s head. Jemmu has relied on Lu to attain certain Firebending scrolls to train advanced styles that his father had refused to teach him so far. Lu is also a decent Pai Sho player, and was the one who introduced Jemmu to the illegal Pai Sho betting circles in the city. Both his parents have disapproved of his continued association with Lu, but he has mostly ignored their advice so far.
Xu Zheng: A childhood friend of Jemmu. Having known each other since childhood, Xu is often a critical component of whatever Jemmu is doing. As such, if Jemmu is up to any trouble or mischief, then it’s a good bet that Xu is providing the torch to start the fire. Much of Jemmu’s experience at combat against Earthbenders is from his multitude of friendly sparring matches against Xu.