The Fire Nation



"Fire is the element of Power.

The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want."

The Fire Nation is one of Naipan’s four nations. It is a Shogunate led by the Fire Lord. Geographically, the nation is located in the west of the Continent of Spirits and south of the Shadowlands and is comprised of the volcanic mountains and plain as well as a few volcanic islands along is southwestern coast. Its capital, and seat of the Firelord is Yinshan. The ancestors of the Fire Nation people were gifted with the ability to bend the element of fire to their will, and as a result fire elementalists on Naipan all draw their lineage back to the Fire Nation.

The Fire Nation is the second-largest nation in terms of population and third in area, following the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes respectively. The Fire Nation's economy is one of the most powerful in Naipan; its strong industrial sector and extensive technological developments enabled the Fire Nation to create an extremely powerful military, their greatest discoveries including gunpowder and steam power.

The Capital of the Fire Nation and seat of the Firelord is the city of Yinshan. Built inside the crater of an extinct volcano, the city's outer wall is the crater wall itself.

Appearance
The people of the Fire Nation tend to have black or brown hair and amber, gold, brown, or gray eyes and relatively pale skin. There is a prevalence of distinct cheekbones among the population. Adult and older men tend to have large but neatly groomed beards, mustaches, and sideburns, while younger men are usually clean-shaven, or wear small mustaches and goatees. Women typically keep their hair worn back. Aristocrat women of the Fire Nation are known throughout all of Naipan for tending to have long, well-manicured finger nails. Almost all citizens of the Fire Nation wear top-knots, often held in decorative gold, red, or slate top-knot piece. The Samurai class and other high-class citizens tend to ornament their hair with a flame-styled piece. The more prongs indicate higher social and economic status. The Fire Lord is the only figure who wears a full five-pronged piece. To wear such a piece is a crime punishable by death. Most normal citizens wear simple one-pronged pieces.

Clothing ranges in color throughout the nation from deep reds to dark browns, grays and blacks, with the occasional white or pink. Armor tends to be decorated with shoulder spikes, with more spikes indicating military and social rank.

National Emblem
The emblem of the Fire Nation is a stylized teardrop-shaped flame forked into a trident. This insignia is prominant on the Fire Lord's banners, pennants and uniforms. The symbol of the three-pronged flame is always incorporated into the emblems of individual families, usually stylized in a way unique to them.

Fire Nation currency consists of gold, bronze, and copper pieces of varying sizes. These coins are stamped with the Fire Nation emblem on one side and the face of the Fire Lord from the time the coin was minted on the other.

Government
Government: Shogunate

Head of State: Fire Lord

Religious authority: Council of Fire Sages

The Fire Nation is ruled by a Shogun called the Fire Lord. There have been countless dynasties in the Fire Nation's history, as though the position is hereditary, dynasties have been overthrown particularly by military force in the past, creating a new dynasty. Because of the nature of the rule being by a Shogun, should a Fire Lord be bested by another by conquest, he is no longer deserving of the title. The current dynasty belongs to the House of Shoto, under Fire Lord Ozan. The rule of the Fire Lord is an absolute autocracy, and the Shogun maintains his rule by ensuring that all power, privilege, and prestige flows from him to the samurai houses who owe him fealty. Past Fire Lords have often pitted rival houses against each other to deal with rivals to their own power. This allows the Fire Lord both to ensure his subordinates remain in line rather than plotting to overthrow him, and it ensures the military might of the Fire Nation is kept at a keen state of training. Almost all of the Fire Lords have exhibited some skill with bending elemental fire.

The religious authority comes primarily from the Council of Fire Sages, who are a monastic order of priests and monks who tend the shrines of the Fire Nation's patron spirit, Agni. The Fire Sages have little political power, but retain what they have by acting as spiritual council to the Fire Lord and overseeing regular rituals to grant offerings to appease the Great Volcano Spirit.

Culture
The clothes, symbols, and even architecture of the Fire Nation are modeled after fire, naturally. Red, the color associated with the element of fire, is a common primary feature of all of these things. The majority of structures are built out of stone. They also have red-pagoda style roofs, with palaces and temples (particularly those dedicated to Agni) being covered in red jade and trimmed in gold.

Names commonly utilize harsh consonants like the letter 'Z', and are typically no more than 2 or 3 syllables long.

Customs
The Fire Nation places a great deal of emphasis on respect and honor, especially toward the nobility and elders. When one comes into contact with a superior or elder, it is polite to bow down, with the depth of the bow corresponding to the degree of separation in social status. Should one be honored by the presence of the Shogun or his family, the person is required to prostrate themselves in respect or risk being challenged to a ritual combat to avenge the disrespected Royal's honor. These kinds of honor duels can be quite common, though most are resolved after first blood, they can often be deadly.

Death is dealt with in solemn and ritualistic fashion in the Fire Nation, and it is considered taboo for the nobility to touch or deal with a dead body. For this reason, the dead are almost always cremated, and it is considered highly dishonorable to be buried.

Season
Each of the four nations is influenced by their own distinct dominant season. The Fire Nation's season is Summer. Summer contains the most national holidays than any other season, including the Fire Festival honoring the Great Volcano Spirit, Agni, during mid-summer, and the Fire Lily Festival in late-summer. Most children born with the gift of bending elemental fire are born in the summer.