Reelan

Reelan is a Mechanist from the Southern Water Tribe, and an NPC in the first generation chronicle, Wilting of the Lotus. He is father to Rai Kana, Kaidas, Terhal, Myro, Kelyss and Tezana, although he has a tense relationship with all six of them (especially Kaidas) due to his actions after the death of their mother, Mayna. He has yet to appear in the second generation chronicle.

Physical Appearance
Reelan is 6"0 and lanky of build, and usually rather unkempt looking, with dark brown hair beginning to go grey at the temples and blue-grey eyes. He is either clean-shaved or has a decidedly unkempt beard, and he usually ties his shoulder-length hair back in a single braid. Although not entirely unattractive, he has a rather unnerving air about him, at least in part because of the unnaturally focused look of his eyes and partially because of the underplayed nature of his expressions, giving him a rather blank look that contrasts sharply with the more expressive natures of his six children.

Personality
Reelan is fundamentally a very sensitive and gentle person. He has never had any kind of interest in hunting or physical combat, could not waterbend, and was ill suited to physical labour, leading to him being dismissed as largely useless by his father and the rest of the men of his tribe. Hurt by this rejection, Reelan retreated into himself, channelling his considerable intellect-- perhaps even genius -- into the creation of small contraptions using his considerable skill with a whittling knife and various other small, precise tools. He spent his early teens hiding in an underground ice cave that he converted into a workshop to aid him in going about these tasks quietly. He has a crippling fear of being alone, a fear that led to a two-year-long breakdown and the abandonment of his children after the death of Mayna, the first person to genuinely take an interest in and support him. He still feels a considerable amount of guilt over this, as although he wishes to be involved in the lives of his six children for a good decade following Mayna's death none of them really forgive him.

Mechanics Lore
Reelan has been attempting to master Mechanics and Engineering for several decades, and is adept at creating complex machines in order to accomplish various tasks, including the attempted collapse of the ice shelf underneath the Southern Water Tribe. It is stated by Raikana that although her father is a genius, his ideas are so big that he struggles to produce tangible results.

Chibending
Reelan knows a single Chibending move, taught to him by Mayna, for the purposes of enhancing ones bending power.

Backstory
Reelan was born the only child of an arranged marriage between two non-benders, Keirun and Tezana. Although the two were civil to each other, their relationship was never particularly loving, and the environment Reelan grew up in was a distant one. This was exacerbated by the fact that Keirun had desperately wanted a warrior for a son, and was flummoxed by his son's inability to stomach violence and his interest in things that to Keirun seemed boring, such as engineering and construction, and his fascination with how things worked. As such there was a considerable rift between Reelan and his father, one that led to Reelan secluding himself from the rest of the tribe and feeling like a disappointment for much of his youth.

At the age of fourteen, shortly after the death of his father Keirun in a hunting accident, he found an underground tunnel leading to a cave system underground, the first of which he made into his private haven in which to create his inventions. This hideout remained undisturbed for nearly a year until, much to Reelan's surprise, a girl fled down the tunnel, ignoring him entirely, and collapsed in a teary heap in a corner. She completely failed to notice him right up until he offered her something to blow her nose with.

The two of them struck up a deal: Reelan would let her hide in the workshop whenever she needed to, and if his inventions required the help of a waterbender, she would assist. This arrangement continued for a few months without the duo really speaking to each other, but as the year wore on the two gradually came to be friends. Mayna was the first person to encourage Reelan to follow his considerable talent as a Mechanist and to take an interest in what he was doing, and in turn Reelan himself recognised that the often bratty and abrasive girl was a kind and gregarious person at her heart.

Reelan never really pried into Mayna's life outside the workshop, so when one day she stormed into the workshop, obviously upset, and proceeded to tell him everything came as a surprise-- he had known Uran had a daughter, a troubled young girl who was prone to fits of apparently unprovoked rage, but he has never connected her mentally with the quiet, sullen girl who frequented his workshop. It was this incident that led to Reelan forming a genuine attachment to Mayna. Like him, she felt like a failure and like she could never obtain that which she wanted most: a family of her own.

After that particular conversation, Reelan and Mayna quickly became close friends, and during the year that followed Reelan gradually began to develop feelings for her. Initially, he did not realise them for what they were, as they included absolutely no physical attraction initially, but as Mayna began to transition from girl to woman Reelan began to notice, much to his agitation, that she was rather easy on the eyes. It was during this time that he was introduced to Uran, who provided him with resources from the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom in order to continue his studies of Mechanics.

Him and Mayna were married in -14 AG, producing Raikana the next year. They then went on to have five other children, however complications with Mayna's proneness to illness and the fact that she was pregnant with twins ultimately led to her death in -3 AG. This prompted a two-year downward spiral in which Reelan effectively abandoned his young family. It wasn't that he refused to leave the workshop-- he just didn't seem to have the motivation. Mayna, the light of his life and the first and only person to truly and unconditionally believe in him, was gone, and he sincerely believed that he could not live without her.

It took two years before Reelan truly returned to the land of the living, and he realised almost immediately that any standing he had among the tribe has been irrevocably ruined and those of his children who still remembered him had attitudes ranging from Raikana's sudden wise-beyond-her-years bitterness to Kaidas's outright hatred and disrespect to Terhal's flagrant disregard for his authority, or for authority at all. Myro and his twin daughters did not remember him at all.

Since then, he has gradually been attempting to rebuild his life and his relationship with his children, with varying degrees of success. Kelyss and Tezana accept his presence but rarely listen to him, Myro attempts to semi-successfully bond with him over mechanics, Terhal continues to flagrantly misbehave, and Kaidas's sense of hurt and betrayal never really left.

Worst of all, though, was his eldest daughter. Raikana, who had been a bright and bubbly ten year old, was now quiet and restrained, going about her household duties with the calm efficiency of someone well beyond her years. In his absence, she had effectively taken over as head of the household, with some help from her grandfather Uran. When he looked at her, he saw not the eyes of a twelve-year-old girl but an adult woman, a woman who had already seen too much. In his absence, Raikana had sacrificed what remained of her childhood in order to keep their family together, and Reelan still feels guilty for making that sacrifice necessary-- all the more so when he learned that Raikana had, during his years away, defended him.

His Parents
Reelan had a turbulent relationship with both his parents. The child of an arranged marriage, his parents were civil but distant towards each other. His father Keirun, one of a long line of warriors, had wanted a more martial son, and had difficulty hiding his disappointment that rather than a fierce warrior like himself or Reelan's mother, Reelan was withdrawn and bookish, fascinated by stories of the machines found in the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation and by items such as airbender's gliders, choosing to spend most of his time observing the natural laws of the world around them and attempting to exploit them to power various small contraptions. Although Keirun genuinely cared for his son, he had difficulty relating to him, and Reelan always felt like a failure due to his lack of martial ability. This feeling was never really resolved due to Keirun's early death.

Reelan had a considerably better relationship with his mother, Tezana. Tezana understood Reelan's need for a place to escape to, especially after the death of his father and his less-than-good relationship with the rest of the tribe. However, she drew the line at Reelan eating or sleeping in there and would often appear in order to bodily remove him to make him sleep in a proper bed, although she did admit at the time that the fact that Reelan had created his own facilities with which to bathe at the age of sixteen was decidedly impressive. She was familiar with Mayna and deemed the young girl a positive influence on Reelan, especially since Reelan began coming home of his own volition and making an effort to take care of himself not long after Tezana discovered their friendship.

Tezana aided in the upkeep of Reelan's house during his downward spiral, helping Raikana with various household tasks and teaching the girl how to cook, as well as teaching Kaidas a basic grasp of hand-to-hand and polearm-based combat. However, she fell sick during a particularly harsh winter in 1 AG and subsequently died.

Mayna
Although Mayna and Reelan spent the first few months of their acquaintance largely ignoring each other, once they began talking Reelan found the initially abrasive and bratty girl surprisingly pleasant company, especially since she took a genuine interest in is attempts at Mechanics and became the first person to actively encourage him to pursue it. Reelan gradually developed romantic feelings for her and they were married in -14 AG, having six children together. After Mayna's final, fatal pregnancy, Reelan spiralled into despair-- he couldn't see himself being able to live without her and locked himself away in the sincere belief that without her, he would die. He was wrong, and he is still living with the consequences in terms of a fall from grace in Uran's eyes and fractured relationships with his children.

Rai Kana
Although Rai Kana loves her father really, she still resents him for deserting the family during a time that they desperately needed him. Reelan still feels guilty about this-- over the course of two years, Kana changed in ways Reelan's return could not reverse. Kana had always been wise beyond her years, but when Reelan looked his twelve-year-old daughter in the eye he saw he eyes of not only an adult, but a tired and jaded one. She had become largely self sufficient without him, and Reelan is very aware that his younger children defer to Raikana and Uran more than they do him. He thinks they're right to, especially since Raikana made a very efficient mother figure for her younger siblings. He tries very hard to be a supportive parent, but the problem is that Raikana no longer wants his help. They make their amends during the first invasion of the Southern Water Tribe, during which Reelan succeeds at being a supportive parent for the first time in a decade. Their relationship improves drastically after that, with Reelan providing a shoulder to cry on after the death of Kallai and offering blunt advice on the matter of Keidanai.

Kaidas
Of his children, Reelan's relationship with Kaidas was probably the worst. Kaidas resented Reelan a good deal for placing a burden on his sister and himself they were not emotionally prepared for, and for checking out in a time where his family dearly needed him. Although Kaidas accepted Reelan's presence in the house, he didn't accept any more than that, and was frequently outright disrespectful. In addition, as he got older Kaidas became involved as a message runner and courier between the various villages, meaning he was away from home more and more as time wore on. Reelan had no idea how to go about repairing matters with his eldest son, assuming that he would come around in time. However, Kaidas died during the first invasion of the Southern Water Tribe, rendering this moot.

Terhal
Terhal, unlike Kaidas, gradually warmed to Reelan as time wore on, although this didn't stop Terhal's rampant pranks and misbehaviour throughout most of his teen years. Like his elder siblings, Terhal never deferred to Reelan's authority, but their relationship was generally friendly and cordial as long as Reelan made no effort to curb Terhal's misbehaviour. Uran and Raikana tried, with moderate success, but Terhal didn't really settle down until after the death of Kaidas, as after Raikana leaving and Kaidas dying he felt the position of "most responsible sibling" fell to him. It was during this period that his relationship with Reelan improved drastically, as by that point Reelan had the opportunity to redeem himself by stepping into a parental role and supporting his children, and by the time Terhal reached adulthood he and Reelan were on good terms.

Myro
Of all his children, Reelan probably had the best relationship with Myro. Although Myro was aware by the time he entered his father's tutelage at the age of eight that Reelan had not been the best father, he was a perfectly decent mentor and tutor in Mechanics, and Reelan leapt at the chance to bond with his youngest son-- Myro had been three when Mayna died and as such barely remembered him or Mayna. Myro and Reelan maintained a fairly good relationship throughout Myro's teens and adulthood, and as Reelan grew older Myro took over his position as Mechanist.

Kelyss and Tezana
Like Terhal, Reelan had a fairly cordial, if distant, relationship with his twin daughters. It took them a while to come to terms with the idea that Reelan was biologically their father, but in terms of their lived reality it made little difference what Reelan's identity was-- they took their cues from their older siblings, especially Raikana, and he never really held much sway over them for most of their childhood. When Reelan took the opportunity to step into a more parental role following the first attempt at invasion by the Fire Nation, his relationship with Kelyss and Tezana improves a fair bit.