Ishiko (Ee-she-koh)

The Prodigy

Ishiko is a prodigy from the small volcanic town of Makapu in the Earth Kingdom. 
His father, Haruto, was an Earthbender who specialized in creating pottery for their small business. His mother, Kanae, is a Fire Nation immigrant. In the later months of Kanae’s pregnancy, there would often be dust devils swirling around her feet. She would rarely notice, distracted by coincident kicks from her unborn child. When she did finally give birth, she, the midwife, and Haruto would be unable to ignore the swirling of dust and the shaking of the house. 
When the child was given to Kanae to hold, his crying stopped and he calmed unto sleep, and with it, the dust and earth settled. Kanae would smile up at Haruto and say, not without a nervous tinge, “He’s an Earthbender like you, but to have a connection to the earth already... he’s going to be special. I know what his name will be. Come and meet your son, Ishiko.”
Haruto was an Earthbender of average talent, but due to frequent illness was not capable of the physical labor that other Makapu Earthbenders often took as work. Instead, he would use his abilities to become a humble but successful potter. He would dig for the clay-rich earth under the surface and bring it to their workshop. After shaping the earth into various simple cups, plates, vases, flower pots, and the like, Kanae would add finer detailing and ornamentation. Kanae would finish their wares with glaze and fire them in their kiln. 
For the first three years of young Ishiko’s life, they would be happy. But would take a turn and Haruto’s illness would worsen before eventually taking his life. Kanae, now a single mother, would barely have time to grieve as she took on Haruto’s roles as well as her own to make pottery. Even working long hours, she wouldn’t be able to keep up with their previous output, and what was a humble income would slip into poverty.
After a fateful event in his childhood, Ishiko swore to himself to become the best Earthbender in the world.

PRINCIPLE: Excellence vs Community
CONDITIONS (current will be in red):
Afraid -2 to intimidate and call someone out Angry -2 to guide and comfort and assess a situation Guilty -2 to push your luck and +2 to deny a callout Insecure -2 to trick and resist shifting your balance Troubled -2 to plead and rely on your skills or training
FATIGUE: 5x
STATS:
Creativity: 1 Focus: 2 Harmony: 0 Passion: 2

MARKED BY FATE

You aren’t just capable in your area of skill and training; you’re astonishing. A true prodigy, excelling and learning far more quickly than anyone would expect. You start play with one additional mastered technique.
Choose two areas in which your mastery is particularly impressive:
„ Shaping „ Sensing „ Maneuvering „ Forcing „ Breaking „ Guarding
When you rely on your skills and training, use a combat stance, or otherwise trigger a move while using your mastery, ignore penalties from conditions or statuses.
When you see someone use an unknown technique, if it is available to your skills and training, you may mark fatigue to shift your balance towards Excellence and take the technique as learned. You can only do this if your balance is at +1 Excellence or higher. You must still get a mastery condition from a master of the technique in order to move the technique from practiced to mastered.
When you study with a teacher to learn a new technique, shift your balance towards Community and automatically learn the technique at the practiced level (skipping learned). You cannot learn techniques by studying with a teacher if your Balance is +0 Community or lower.
When you spend time teaching a fellow companion a technique available to their skills and training, roll with Community. On a hit, you teach well enough; they learn the technique. On a 7–9, you get impatient or frustrated; choose to either take it out on them and inflict 2 conditions, or take it out on yourself and suffer 2 conditions. On a miss, you get too frustrated with their inadequacies; both of you suffer 2 conditions, and you can never try to teach them this technique again.

Age

18

Pronouns

he/him

Gender

male

Eyes

Unkown

Hair

Black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale

An Open Mind
You can learn techniques from other skills and trainings, as long as you have a teacher. You can learn up to three such techniques, total. Take a +1 on the training move to learn such techniques.
Challenge
When you throw a boastful challenge at an opponent before a fight, roll with Passion. On a hit, the challenge lands; if you win the fight, choose 1 from below.
But your challenge goads them to impressive heights; they may choose 1 extra technique in every exchange for the duration of the fight. On a 10+, clear all fatigue at the end of the fight if you are victorious.
If you win, choose 1: your opponent must…
• teach you a technique of theirs, or help you master one you already know. • give you answers or an item of your choice. • acknowledge your superiority; shift your balance twice towards Excellence. • take your side in a future conflict. On a miss, they dismiss your challenge and refuse to fight; they inflict a condition on you

TECHNIQUES

Earth Sinking* | advance & attack | Sink a foe into the earth itself. Mark 2-fatigue to trap an enemy standing on the ground in the earth; they become Trapped
Lava Star* | defend & maneuver | Create a floating, spinning star of lava that can cut through nearly anything. Mark 1-fatigue and become Favored as long as the star is active. Every time you use the star as part of an attack, you can also cut through or destroy part of the scenery as if you had used the Smash basic technique, at no additional cost. You may mark 1-fatigue at the end of each exchange to keep the star active.
Detect the Heavy Step* | defend & maneuver | Use seismic sense to detect the instant an enemy is about to move against you. Become Prepared, and at any time during this exchange, you may lose your Prepared status and mark 1-fatigue to interrupt an the enemy as they use a technique; they must mark an additional 3-fatigue or you disrupt their attempt to act, canceling the technique.