Post by sugarland31 on May 28, 2007 11:46:07 GMT -5
Title: Mandate
Summary: In retrospect, someone should have seen it coming. The creation of Fire Lord Sozin and his hundred years' war. [prologue: first came da suan]
Notes: huge thanks to flameraven and loveroftheflame for beta-ing this. Rated T for eventual adult-ish themes. This is only the prologue. There will be more chapters.
Link: if you're interested, here it is @ ff.net
Exactly 132 years before the arrival of Sozin’s comet, there was another conflict, on a much smaller scale than the 100 Years’ War. It would later be referred to as the Da-Suan War, after the small, southwesterly portion of the Earth Kingdom that became the centerpiece of the fighting.
Da Suan was a fertile farming region, bordering the ocean that separated the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. In times past, many peoples of Fire Nation descent had lived in the region, and it had constantly passed between the two nations, occasionally peacefully, but more often through violence. This newest conflict, therefore, was not unusual, just a note in the long chain of disputes.
The only difference this time around was found in the battles themselves. The earthbenders fought with wooden spears and the earth itself, charging out into battle as a massive human wave; it was in this manner that the wars of older ages had been fought, with hand-to-hand combat, one warrior versus another.
But the Fire Nation had evolved. Reports had come to Ba Sing Se as early as seven years before that the Fire Nation was building frightening new technology; stories were told of strange metal monsters impervious to storm or stone, of machines that destroyed warriors before they could even strike. The Earth Kingdom had dismissed the reports. Such a battle would be unprincipled; what sort of honorable foe would murder the enemy before they were even seen? And such weapons would go against traditions and degrade the warrior spirit, the gifts given to fighters by the spirits themselves. Such warfare was unthinkable, especially from the firebenders, with their great emphasis on honor and dignity.
The Earth Kingdom was disastrously wrong; instead of swords and fists, the Fire Nation fought in metal tanks (though still primitive compared to their later technology). From clifftops they flung flaming projectiles from steel catapults; they sailed in iron-sided ships.
It was, by all accounts, a slaughter. The Fire Nation retook Da Suan in less than ten days; as they paraded through the familiar streets, the Earth Kingdom army limped home, to Omashu and Ba Sing Se and other grand walled cities built of stone.
For the next 70 years, the Earth Kingdom publicly stewed over the demise and humiliation of Da Suan. There were appeals to the other nations, cries to the Avatar for Da Suan to be returned to its homeland, never mind that the population was quite evenly split in half between those of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom descent.
It wasn’t until the early years of the reign of Fire Lord Kunan that Da Suan was returned.
The Earth Kingdom itself was not able to secure the return of the region; it was in fact a collaborative effort between the Water Tribes and the Air Nomads (and the ensuing pressure they placed on the Avatar) that finally led to the release of Da Suan.
In truth, the other nations could have cared less about the fate of Da Suan. Their initial concern was for the strange new weapons used by the Fire Nation. Like the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes and the Air Nomads were unindustrialized, and relied on crude, traditional weapons. The Fire Nation’s sudden military upswing was intimidating and terrifying; if war were to break out on a larger scale, the result would be devastating for the other nations.
Under Fire Lord Kunan, the other nations saw their opening. Fire Lord Kunan was an easily persuaded man, a pacifist by all accounts. His tendency to shy away from any sort of conflict or tension was well known throughout the world; the other nations took advantage of this well-publicized weakness, convincing the Fire Lord that a conference between the four nations was needed in the interest of global interaction, and, once there, bullied and coerced him into signing a treaty.
The Water Tribes and Air Nomads, by way of the peace talks, sought demilitarization, a relapse in production of industrialized weapons in the Fire Nation. The Earth Kingdom took advantage of the negotiations to sue for the return of Da Suan. With any other Fire Lord, it most likely would not have worked. Concession awarded nothing to the Fire Nation, except for the empty promise of peace and friendly relations. However, rumors soon spread that Kunan was overjoyed with this arrangement, and wholeheartedly believed in the integrity of the other nations.
And so, early in his reign, Fire Lord Kunan signed away Fire Nation rights to Da Suan.
The treaty was titled the Da Suan Agreement. It guaranteed that the region of Da Suan was to permanently remain in Earth Kingdom hands. Additionally, the Agreement limited Fire Nation industrialized weapon output, dismantling the industries that produced their tanks and catapults.
On the same day, Fire Lady Henai was brought to bed of a son, the new Crown Prince of the Fire Nation.
The child was named Sozin, after the Fire Nation spirit of peace, and in honor of the Da Suan Agreement and the new, harmonious world into which he had been born.
Reviews are love!
Summary: In retrospect, someone should have seen it coming. The creation of Fire Lord Sozin and his hundred years' war. [prologue: first came da suan]
Notes: huge thanks to flameraven and loveroftheflame for beta-ing this. Rated T for eventual adult-ish themes. This is only the prologue. There will be more chapters.
Link: if you're interested, here it is @ ff.net
Exactly 132 years before the arrival of Sozin’s comet, there was another conflict, on a much smaller scale than the 100 Years’ War. It would later be referred to as the Da-Suan War, after the small, southwesterly portion of the Earth Kingdom that became the centerpiece of the fighting.
Da Suan was a fertile farming region, bordering the ocean that separated the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. In times past, many peoples of Fire Nation descent had lived in the region, and it had constantly passed between the two nations, occasionally peacefully, but more often through violence. This newest conflict, therefore, was not unusual, just a note in the long chain of disputes.
The only difference this time around was found in the battles themselves. The earthbenders fought with wooden spears and the earth itself, charging out into battle as a massive human wave; it was in this manner that the wars of older ages had been fought, with hand-to-hand combat, one warrior versus another.
But the Fire Nation had evolved. Reports had come to Ba Sing Se as early as seven years before that the Fire Nation was building frightening new technology; stories were told of strange metal monsters impervious to storm or stone, of machines that destroyed warriors before they could even strike. The Earth Kingdom had dismissed the reports. Such a battle would be unprincipled; what sort of honorable foe would murder the enemy before they were even seen? And such weapons would go against traditions and degrade the warrior spirit, the gifts given to fighters by the spirits themselves. Such warfare was unthinkable, especially from the firebenders, with their great emphasis on honor and dignity.
The Earth Kingdom was disastrously wrong; instead of swords and fists, the Fire Nation fought in metal tanks (though still primitive compared to their later technology). From clifftops they flung flaming projectiles from steel catapults; they sailed in iron-sided ships.
It was, by all accounts, a slaughter. The Fire Nation retook Da Suan in less than ten days; as they paraded through the familiar streets, the Earth Kingdom army limped home, to Omashu and Ba Sing Se and other grand walled cities built of stone.
For the next 70 years, the Earth Kingdom publicly stewed over the demise and humiliation of Da Suan. There were appeals to the other nations, cries to the Avatar for Da Suan to be returned to its homeland, never mind that the population was quite evenly split in half between those of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom descent.
It wasn’t until the early years of the reign of Fire Lord Kunan that Da Suan was returned.
The Earth Kingdom itself was not able to secure the return of the region; it was in fact a collaborative effort between the Water Tribes and the Air Nomads (and the ensuing pressure they placed on the Avatar) that finally led to the release of Da Suan.
In truth, the other nations could have cared less about the fate of Da Suan. Their initial concern was for the strange new weapons used by the Fire Nation. Like the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes and the Air Nomads were unindustrialized, and relied on crude, traditional weapons. The Fire Nation’s sudden military upswing was intimidating and terrifying; if war were to break out on a larger scale, the result would be devastating for the other nations.
Under Fire Lord Kunan, the other nations saw their opening. Fire Lord Kunan was an easily persuaded man, a pacifist by all accounts. His tendency to shy away from any sort of conflict or tension was well known throughout the world; the other nations took advantage of this well-publicized weakness, convincing the Fire Lord that a conference between the four nations was needed in the interest of global interaction, and, once there, bullied and coerced him into signing a treaty.
The Water Tribes and Air Nomads, by way of the peace talks, sought demilitarization, a relapse in production of industrialized weapons in the Fire Nation. The Earth Kingdom took advantage of the negotiations to sue for the return of Da Suan. With any other Fire Lord, it most likely would not have worked. Concession awarded nothing to the Fire Nation, except for the empty promise of peace and friendly relations. However, rumors soon spread that Kunan was overjoyed with this arrangement, and wholeheartedly believed in the integrity of the other nations.
And so, early in his reign, Fire Lord Kunan signed away Fire Nation rights to Da Suan.
The treaty was titled the Da Suan Agreement. It guaranteed that the region of Da Suan was to permanently remain in Earth Kingdom hands. Additionally, the Agreement limited Fire Nation industrialized weapon output, dismantling the industries that produced their tanks and catapults.
On the same day, Fire Lady Henai was brought to bed of a son, the new Crown Prince of the Fire Nation.
The child was named Sozin, after the Fire Nation spirit of peace, and in honor of the Da Suan Agreement and the new, harmonious world into which he had been born.
Reviews are love!