Avatar Portal's

Avatar Renaissance Championships

Battle #9: ATLA Mythology

This contest was primarily inspired by Travahar and set up by Aikidude (Captain Pooru). It was supposed to be judged by Winnkey and Aikidude, but Winnkey was not available for the judging so Scooz assisted with the judging instead. This marks the first of the September 2007 battles. 

1st Place: ScarletCougar; Fire Nation
2nd Place: Travahar; Water Tribe
Best Nation: Water Tribe

 RULES

Theme:
Avatarize a myth. Example: Hephaestus, a criple firebender being banished by Zeus, a gifted lightning bender. (thank you Trav, for a nice example)

Definition of a Myth(since I'm getting questions to what can or can't be used):
(from wikipedia)
A myth (mythos) is a sacred story concerning the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to have their present form. The active beings in myths are generally gods and heroes. Myths often are said to take place before recorded history begins. In saying that a myth is a sacred narrative, what is meant is that a myth is believed to be true by people who attach religious or spiritual significance to it.The part about concerning the origins of the world is not always true, some myths explain how gods came into being, other myths do not concern creation of anything, but the rest is always true.

Points:
First place: 100 points
Best Nation Average: 25 points
Second place: 25 points

Scoring system:
Each fanfic gets rated, scale of 0.0 to 10.0, by each of the judges. The average of those scores make the fic's base score. Afterwards there is a 0.1 point deduction for every big spelling or grammatical error to no more then 1.5 points. That forms the individual ending score. Best nation is decided based on the average score per Nation.

Rules:
Re-write a myth into a short one-shot fanfic. Must be a MINIMUM of 500 words; NO MAXIMUM number of words. If your myth is not well known (ie: there wasn't a blockbuster movie made based of it) then provide a link where the original myth, or a summary of that myth can be read. Hand in by both, PM (winnkey, aikidude) and posting in the topic. PM is to both judges (just use a ',' to seperate the names in the recipients line)

Deadline:
September 1st, 7:30 AM, GMT+1

WINNERS

SCARLETCOUGAR :  Myth of Agni

TRAVAHAR:  Exile of Hephaestus

ScarletCougar’s Myth of Agni: 891 words

Based off the Hindu myths of the Fire/Sun god Agni

-         http://www.karma2grace.org/encyclopedia/agni.html

-         http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1780&chapter=94589&layout=html

Long, long ago, after Wolf walked across the ice to the humans of the world and taught them to live as a family, civilized them into tribes, there came a need to warm and feed the growing human population. A great spirit, a god, lay dormant in the womb of ten mothers. The pleas of the world ignited the life in these wombs. And so Agni, god of Fire and the Sun, was born of ten mothers. In the depths of the earth, he rose to boil up in hot springs and heat the earth and rock into gems and obsidian. In the great ocean, he erupted with fire and created the volcanic islands. And, in the sky, he blazed as the sun traveling around it so he could see the whole of creation.

However, split in three ways as the God of Fire and the Sun was, he grew tired and the world began to complain that it was too hot. He saw withering and dying, but did not know what to do. Then one day, Black Dragon rose from a shady place and flew to Angi in the sky. Black Dragon was a dangerous spirit who was strict about laws, order and contracts. Black Dragon was furious. Apparently his beloved, DragonHawk was consumed in one of the island’s volcanic flames and died. Black Dragon threatened to end the life of the Sun with a curse. He even had a contract written to show this promise that if Agni did not comply with the return of his beloved, he would blot out the Sun for ever, swallowing it into darkness. Not wanting to die in darkness and believing himself honorable, he agreed to the contract and vowed to find and restore the life of DragonHawk. Black Dragon, who was also a spirit for the people and handling their contracts added to this original contract. “You must also gift your people with knowledge and strength, honor and love. Agni was both surprised and confused that he had people that expected him to be their ruler in some way. He felt humbled and worried for their existence in the cruel heat he emitted. He readily agreed to Black Dragon’s contract.

So the Sun dipped beneath the horizon for the first time as he diligently sought the DragonHawk spirit in the Spirit World. There was a brief encounter with Koh the face-stealer, but Agni escaped with his face intact. He then met a monkey spirit who directed him to the DragonHawk spirit. This took many weeks and months. The world froze over in his absence. His determination and dedication to his vow fueled the flames within him ad spurred him onward till he at last found DragonHawk. “By fire you died, and so by fire you will be reborn. Honor and duty gives you life. I will call you Phoenix. Return now to your love, Black Dragon.” A great and beautiful Phoenix erupted in the flames and rose from the largest of the island volcanoes to be greeted by her lover. Both were so grateful that they showed Angi how to fly a straight path across the sky and how to rest and rise again.

As Black Dragon passed among the shadows of the Fire People, he remembered the remainder of Agni’s contract and once again confronted Agni in the sky, demanding he prove his worth. “Agni agreed, “Honor is the Law.” Black Dragon reminded Agni of the people below and of his own love for Phoenix, “And Love is the Bond.”

Agni, God of Fire and the Sun, devourer, destroyer, consumer, transformer, inspirer, ruler… Agni, protector of humans and their homes, God of hearth fires and of passion. He taught the Fire People how to fight to protect themselves from the dangers that lurked in the world, how to protect their families and their homes. He gifted his people with fire and intelligence and poured fiery passion into their hearts. He ruled them firmly, but like a father, protecting them and guiding them.

Finally, he taught his people how to honor the spirits. “Into the sacred fire of your home, sacrifice wood and ghee (melted butter). The Fire is fueled by these things. Face the East, where I rise each morning, when you worship and make offerings to me in the fire. Face the North to make offerings in the fire to the other Gods and Spirits. Face the South to make offerings in the fire to the dead and to your ancestral spirits. And, cook in the west to honor your family. During the Longest Day (Summer Solstice), celebrate with a great Fire Festival. During the Longest Night (Winter Solstice), hold vigil by a fire you have lit before my light dies out and guard its flames till I rise again.”

He reached over and touched a few of his people. Their eyes turned golden and they were given the gift of firebending. Into the souls of the Fire People, he burned the first rules of the people. “Honor is the Law and Love is the Bond.” If a dispute broke out and could not be resolved, there was a Kai, a meeting before Agni, where the honorable person would win the battle and thus the dispute. This was called Agni’s Kai. And so the people grew into a great Nation….

We are the Sons and Daughters of Fire!
Honor is the Law! Love is the Bond!
HUO!! HUO!! HUO!!

 Scooz’s judging: This fanfic scores a 9.4. It is scary when I find grammatical errors in SC's story, but only a few minor ones. There were some great Avatar and myth references. Very interesting, and it was very well written, as usual.

 Aikidude’s judging: This fanfic scored 8.0.

 Travahar’s Exile of Hephaestus: 2100 words

Based off the Greek myth of Hephaestus or the Roman myth of Volcanos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephaestus#Hephaestus.27s_craft

My grandmother used to tell me stories of the old days. A time of peace when the rulers of the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Air Nomads kept balance in the world. These leaders often paid each other diplomatic visits. Zeus, the mighty Fire Lord and Inventor of the Lightning Attack, was married to Hera, who was –as usual in those days- of royal blood just like her husband (as a matter of fact she was his niece twice removed). The Fire Lord and his wife had many children, all of whom were gifted in one way or another. Of all these children, Hephaistos was the one who loved his mother more than his father.
His father, Zeus, was very much interested in other cultures … and his favourite topic were the female species of these cultures. Being a wise leader, you might expect Zeus to be smart enough not to cheat on his wife, but sadly enough he did and even though he always returned to his wife after one of his ‘adventures’ Hera was devastated by the behaviour of her husband.

This had been going on for quite some time and after a particular long “diplomatic visit” she attacked her husband upon his return with all the fierce force of a jealous wife. After stopping the smouldering of his eyebrows, it was the Fire Lord’s turn to exercise his rage on his wife.
“What?!?” bellowed the Fire Lord and his eyes shot flames, “I spent weeks and weeks away from home and this is how I am welcomed by my wife?”
Hera laughed bitterly and answered: “Don’t play innocent! I know you!! You probably flirted with the half of the females at the Water Tribe!”
Fire Lord Zeus remained silent for quite some time then opened a bag and retrieved from it a golden necklace. “See this?” spoke the Fire Lord quietly, “it’s made from the finest Earth Kingdom gold, forged by the best goldsmith the Kingdom has,” and suddenly the Fire Lord lost his cool and bellowed loudly, accentuating every other word, “I have been away for so many WEEKS so I could present my WIFE with a PRESENT worthy to be worn by her. It took the goldsmith FIVE weeks to crafts this … this … BLOODY THING!!!”

Meanwhile, seeing her husband in rage with the golden chain dangling in his right hand, Hera had retreated to the furthest corner of the room, tears running over her ivory cheeks. In one swift motion Zeus grabbed her hair and pulled her out of the room. He climbed staircase after staircase until the royal couple found themselves in the highest tower. While holding his wife’s hair in his huge left hand, he forced to put the necklace around her neck. Then he threw her over the crenellated wall, holding her only by the necklace. Conjuring fire in both hands the gold became unbearably hot, causing Hera to cry even harder. It took her a while to realise that her husband was no longer standing on the tower. She looked up and noticed that the golden chain had melted and was now stuck against the tower’s crenellation. It was the only thing that kept her from falling towards certain death and still she despised the thing. Not because it was hurting her but because it made her realise how unjustly she had accused her husband.

Looking down she noticed several small dots in the royal courtyard – seemingly – many miles below her, gathering underneath her and pointing at her. Then her husband appeared (she could easily recognise him by the shining Fire Emblem in his hair) and the people all seemed to remember they had an urgent appointment.
The whole palace was tense that day. Nobody wanted to anger the Fire Lord and during assembly of the Fire Lord’s generals and his advisors, they all agreed unanimously with every subject that had to be discussed that day. But the Fire Lord didn’t notice this extraordinary feat, all day long his thought were somewhere else and after each general and advisor had requested and received several high raises in wage and many acres of good farmland (which they usually never got) they all agreed something had to be done. It took them quite some time to decide which one of them should talk to the Fire Lord (picking straws didn’t help since all of them were firebenders and would incinerate the straw in their palm, frightened as they were to end up with the longest straw). They started bickering about organising search parties for some fire-resistant weed when they noticed the Fire throne was empty. They could just hear his footsteps outside of the room. For a moment all of them remained silent, then as one, they followed him. Soon the men were joined by members of the royal family and the personal servants of the Fire Lady.
At the top of the tower a surprise awaited. While the Fire Lord had been sitting on his throne his son Hephaistos had seized the opportunity to try and free his mother. Not being a firebender of the same skill as his father, Hephaistos hadn’t managed to loosen the gold from the wall. Instead his mother’s neck had red marks where the hot gold had scorched her skin.

When the poor boy saw his father, he begged for mercy: “Please, father, I only had everyone’s best interests at heart.”
Behind the Fire Lord the sun was setting and the boy couldn’t see his father’s face but an icy feeling surrounded his heart when he heard his father speak: “You will fight for your honour.”

The boy fell to his knees and bowed until his forehead touched the floor: “I meant you no disrespect.”

The Fire Lord walked towards his son and said: “Rise and fight prince Hephaistos!” but the boy replied: “I won’t fight you.” At these words the Fire Lord reached for his wife and pulled her free from her shackles, before pushing her into the crowd of people where her servants tried to ease her pain. Facing his son, he said: “You will learn respect and suffering will be your teacher.”

With a swift move her grabbed his son and threw him over the crenellations. His scream was heard for a very long while. For poor prince Hephaistos it felt like he was falling for ages. In his panic, flames erupted from his hands, his feet and his mouth until he had turned into a blazing inferno. By sheer luck this saved his life because the heat made the stones melt and made them soft enough to break his fall instead of his neck. Nevertheless he was badly injured and would be crippled for the rest of his life. The people who had witnessed the boy’s fall stared down but none dared to go down and help him out of fear for the Fire Lord’s rage.

All alone and abandoned by everyone – even by his mother – Hephaistos climbed out of the puddle of molten stone, mixed with blood. Realising he’d never be able to face his father again he left the palace. Once the pain in his legs had diminished he joined the Cyclops. They were people who had committed crimes against the Fire Lord and had been marked by a red scar over their left eye, thus earning the name Cyclops. They lived in a mountain where they dug for ore and forged it into stuff that was useful for the Fire Nation, hoping to redeem themselves for their past crimes.

It was there that Hephaistos learned the art of forging and soon it became obvious that he excelled at it. After a few years he had gained their respect and had become their leader. But Hephaistos wasn’t happy. After all these years since his fall, the mother he loved dearly hadn’t cared to contact him. This negligent behaviour hurt him more than his fall had hurt him. He devised a smart plan to pay her back. For weeks he didn’t leave his forge and allowed nobody to enter it. The Cyclops had become used to placing a tray with food three times a day in front of the door and taking away the previous tray.

One day a big box stood in front of the royal palace, carrying a label “For the Fire Lady, from her loving son”. Quickly the Fire Lady ordered servants to open the box which was as big as herself. Inside the box was the most beautiful throne anyone had ever laid eyes upon. Fine gold and precious gems garnished the throne and a soft satin pillow was lying in the middle.

The Fire Lady was very happy with this gift and sat down. In the blink of an eye hidden springs sprung loose and the Fire Lady found herself trapped on the throne which resembled more of a cage now.

Her servants tried to free her without success. At that moment Zeus was in his private office reading the umpteenth letter from a nobleman explaining why he deserved a tax break. When Zeus heard his wife was in trouble, he simply burned all the letters with a casual flick of his thumb and ran towards his throne room. The Fire Lord studied the throne for quite some time before admitting that even he wouldn’t be able to free Hera. The springs had closed around his wife all around her body and if he tried to melt the gold, he would have killed her.

Zeus summoned all his children but none had ever seen the throne before. It was his daughter Athena, who had always been pretty smart, that noticed Hephaistos wasn’t present. Now that they knew the culprit the family tried to decide how to convince him to release Hera.

Finally they decided that they should send a messenger to beg Hephaistos to free his mother. Hermes, Zeus’ personal messenger and a good friend of Hera, volunteered to deliver the message. He was an airnomad and none would be able to reach Hephaistos’ forge faster, since Hermes was able to run as fast as the wind.

But the sight of Hermes made Hephaistos very angry. He said that if Hera had given the order, Hermes would have been able to safe him with his airbending powers. Hermes tried to convince Hephaistos and told about all the pain Hera was suffering but the young firebender wouldn’t listen and remained stubborn.

Upon Hermes’ return the family tried to come up with a new plan. In the end it was Dionysos who knocked on the door of Hephaistos’ forge. Dionysos was an older brother of Hephaistos but unlike his brothers Hephaistos and Apollo, he hadn’t received the gift of firebending from his parents. He loved cooking though and was known as an exquisite chef.

Hephaistos had always liked his brother because this one used to create delicious new dishes and Hephaistos had often tasted and tested the new recipes. “Ah, dear brother,” greeted Hephaistos when Dionysos entered his forge, “what brings you here?”

“A new dish that needs to be tasted by someone who’ll be able to appreciate its flavour.” replied Dionysos with a warm smile, “I call them flaming fireflakes.” and he presented a small pouch filled with flakes.

Hephaistos grabbed the pouch and had eaten half of the flakes before shouting: “Aaaaaaaaaaah, hot!!!!!” The smith left the forge and jumped into a nearby lake. By the time Dionysos had caught up with his brother, this one had drunk half of the lake’s water.

“You see, Hephaistos? This is the pain you are causing mother and father. It’s time you released mother from her cage and came back to the palace.”

After these words Hephaistos agreed to free his mother. He freed his mother and was welcomed back at the palace. Hephaistos thanked them but admitted he preferred to remain in his forge, where he could spent his days forging armoury for his father and arrows that would pierce any shield for his brother Apollo. In return for these beautiful presents, the Fire Lord arranged a marriage for his crippled son.

Zeus had found for his son a beautiful girl in the Southern Water Tribe, named Aphrodite, who was loved by many and able to ride the waves (it was so long ago she rode a wave for the first time, that people often joked she was born on a wave). Hephaistos was – unlike his father – a loyal husband but despite that the marriage didn’t last long. This, however, is a different story.

Scooz’s judging:

This fanfic scred a 9.0. It was a bit hard to read. The story was very clustered and could use some rearranging. That aside, it had good Avatar references and great mythological references. The ending tied up the lose ends, but I think you could have put a little bit more into it to give a better explanation and give it more of your own creative twst. Too much myth, not enough Travahar, lol. Great job though.

Aikidude’s judging:

This fanfic scored 8.0.

Best nation was the average score of all the entries from that nation. Thus the result was the Water Tribes holding the highest average. Shame some of the Fire Nation entries scored so poorly. At least they tried as did the Air Nomads. There were no entries from the Earth Kingdom.