Omashu


 * This article is about the city. For other similar uses, see Omashu (disambiguation).

"earth"

- The Earth Kingdom city of Omashu! I used to always come here to visit my friend Bumi.

The city of Omashu is the second largest in the Earth Kingdom and the capital of one of its provinces. Ba Sing Se, the titanic walled capital of the Earth Kingdom is the only metropolitan area of greater size. One of the last great strongholds of the Earth Kingdom, it continued to supply the Earth Kingdom army with troops and supplies until it was taken by Fire Nation forces in the closing months of the the War. The gates of this bustling metropolis are guarded by an army of earthbenders. This city is also well known for its famous delivery system powered by a combination of earthbending and gravity.

The tall mountain peak on which Omashu was founded is located in the Kolau Mountains in the southwestern Earth Kingdom. It rises high out of a deep chasm and was created several centuries ago by earthbenders. Being built on this mountain provides the city with one of its best defenses, the only way to reach the gates of Omashu is across a long narrow bridge of stone that spans the sheer gorge.

Previously ruled by King Bumi, Omashu was conquered by the Fire Nation during the War and renamed New Ozai. However, during the Day of Black Sun, the powerless firebenders are evicted from the city, and it is once again reclaimed by the Earth Kingdom.

Founding


An ancient legend states that a man named Shu and a woman named Oma, each from one of two feuding towns, met atop a mountain that divided their peoples and fell deeply in love. Although their relationship was forbidden and it was dangerous for them to continue meeting, the couple found a way to continue seeing each other in secrecy. After becoming the first earthbenders by observing the ways of the badgermoles, they created a great labyrinth in which only they could navigate. This allowed them to meet secretly, while anyone else who tried to follow them would become lost forever in the ever shifting tunnels.

However, one day the man did not come, nor would he ever come again after he was slain in the war between their two villages. The woman, stricken with grief and sorrow was driven into a frenzy that could have easily destroyed both villages in her terrifying display of earthbending power. Instead, she declared the conflict at an end and demanded that the two villages live in peace. A city was soon created in honor of the couple's love, which eventually grew into the city of Omashu, the name being derived from the combination of their two names. The short epitaph found on the lovers tombs deep with in the cave reads only "Love is brightest in the dark".

During the conquests of Chin the Conqueror, almost the entirety of the Earth Kingdom, Omashu being no exception, fell into the hands of this tyrannical warlord. The city remained under his rule until Avatar Kyoshi refused to allow Chin to conquer the peninsula she called home. Chin fell to his demise in the sea below when he stubbornly refused to move as the rocks underneath his feet were crumbling away. His death signaled the end of the war. It remains unknown who the immediate successors of the warlord were, but during the time of Avatar Aang, the city was ruled by King Bumi.

Omashu's main industry was producing weapons and supplies for the war effort; civilians had developed a complex and efficient mail system used to transport goods throughout the city that employed earthbending and gravity using extensive ramps and chutes. Bumi and Avatar Aang used the ramps as slides in their past.

Capture


Sometime during the late winter season, before Aang, Katara, and Sokka's last visit to the city during the War, Omashu was besieged by Fire Nation forces. King Bumi, always pragmatic and enigmatic, surrender the city to the Fire Nation forces without a fight. The city was rechristened "New Ozai" in honor of Fire Lord Ozai by his daughter, Princess Azula, around that time.

The entire city underwent massive reconstruction to better suit the needs of the Fire Nation. Construction of a massive statue of Fire Lord Ozai began, and the Palace was completely leveled and replaced with the metal pagoda architecture favored by the Fire Nation. This may have been in part do to the fact that the old palace was designed specifically for earthbenders and as such most rooms could only be accessed with earthbending. This would make entrance and egress impossible for non-earthbenders. Many of the ordinary buildings were commandeered by the Fire Nation, most likely forcefully, and turned into factories with chimneys protruding the top, which were probably being used to build weapons.

Mai's father became the Governor of New Ozai, replacing the displaced King Bumi, who was taken into custody after surrendering the city. However, Many citizens and soldiers were able to escape and form an underground resistance group.

Liberation
During the Day of Black Sun, the imprisoned Bumi saw that the time to liberate the city and release himself from imprisonment had come. Following that, he proceeded to defeat the powerless firebenders and single-handedly reclaimed his city from the Fire Nation; he even went as far as defiling and destroying the recently completed statue of Ozai, while laughing maniacally and eating jennamite. This was vital to the eventual liberation of the Earth Kingdom from the Fire Nation.

After the War, Omashu, like the rest of the world, presumably began to repair the damage inflicted on them by the long war with the Fire Nation, and those citizens who fled the occupied city returned hoping to rebuild their home and lives.

Government


The exact governmental structure of the Earth Kingdom being unknown, it is ambiguous exactly how Omashu is connected to, let alone controlled by, the Earth King or the imperial government. It is known that the city is ruled by a king who exercises absolute rule over his subjects. It is unknown whether the kingship is hereditary or is decided by some other means. It is also unknown if the king exercises any control outside the city, such as nearby vassal lands and villages.

During the time in which Omashu was conquered by the Fire Nation, a governor was installed by Fire Lord Ozai himself. This governor exercised both civilian and military control in the name of the Fire Nation central government, as demonstrated in his blunt ordering of all the citizens to be evacuated. He was answerable only to the Fire Lord. When King Bumi liberated Ba Sing Se, this governor's fate was unknown, however, the old government was apparently restored.

Layout and description


The city of Omashu sits within the Kolau Mountain Range, surrounded on all sides by steep canyons and an enormous gorge. The city's three gates are composed of massive stone, each five feet thick and towering over thirty feet high. As a result, the gates can only be opened by skilled earthbenders who guard its only entrance. The city itself is built on a number of hills. The Palace sits on the tallest hill, which is centered behind some other hills. The city has thousands of houses for ordinary citizens and nobles as well as hundreds of shops, restaurants and pottery workshops. Most types of businesses in Ba Sing Se would be present in Omashu as well. The city also has a complex mail system. Buildings in Omashu are generally built from stone, unlike most buildings in the Earth Kingdom and have green tiled roofs.



During the Fire Nation occupation of the city, the stone was in the process of being paved over, to be replaced by steel, likely so the earthbenders could not fight back. Scaffoldings were a common sight. The city produced pollution as a result of the Fire Nation's technology, which produced a high amount of fumes. A great statue of Fire Lord Ozai, was constructed in the center of the city. Soldiers also patrolled the city, enforcing the new laws on the citizens. A banner depicting the Fire Nation emblem could be seen hanging over the entrance to the city.

Palace
The Omashu Royal Palace was home to the city's king prior to the city's annexation by the Fire Nation and was located at the top of the Omashu's central mountain peak. It was a palace consisting entirely of earthbending-operated doors and would be impossible for anyone, with the exception of an earthbender, to navigate it.

Cave of Two Lovers


Located near Omashu, the Cave of Two Lovers is a secret tunnel that passes through a section of the Kolau mountain range. The tunnel is actually a giant underground labyrinth inhabited by dangerous animals including wolfbats and badgermoles. In the center of the labyrinth is the Tomb of Two Lovers. The tomb is a large room with two sarcophagi in the middle. In the sarcophagi are the bodies of the two lovers, this being their final resting place. The walls of the tomb are decorated with pictures and pictographs telling the story of Oma and Shu. The cave is illuminated by crystals (similar to those of Old Ba Sing Se) when any form of light is put out.

Omashu sewer system
The Omashu sewer system is a series of interconnected tunnels underneath the city of Omashu, used to transport water and sewage out of the city. The sewage system is a very dark and dank place full of all sorts of filth and unusual critters including the leech-a-pillar and pentapi. The sewer system exits at the bottom of the gorge and is one of the only ways to sneak in and out of Omashu. Aang knows about these secret passages from past experiences playing there with Bumi. Aang navigated the system along with Katara and Sokka when they wanted to enter the captured city, at that moment, by the Fire Nation.

Mail system


The Omashu mail system is a linking slide that goes on for miles in the city. Earthbenders move the packages around to a different slide in which can travel to any place of the city. Aang and Bumi used it as a giant slide a hundred years ago. One hundred years later, Aang utilized the system as a slide along with Katara and Sokka. This time, however, he was a bit wild, using airbending to increase their speed. Aang utilized the chutes again when trying to recover the captured King Bumi from Azula.

Trivia

 * Based on the ancient writing in "The Cave of Two Lovers," the Traditional Chinese way to write Omashu is 奥瑪舒. "Ào mǎ" (奥瑪) mean "mysterious carnelian," while "Shū" (舒) is a Chinese surname meaning "relax". In Simplified Chinese Omashu is 奥玛舒.
 * Omashu was built in a similar way the air temples were built, both being carved out of a mountain.
 * Since Oma and Shu were the first human earthbenders, even before the time of Avatars, then Omashu could be older than the first Avatar.
 * The shape of Omashu is similar to that of the Chinese pictograph character for "mountain" (山)shan.
 * Omashu also resembles the pyramids at Giza.
 * It is revealed that there are no take-backsies in this kingdom.
 * It is implied in City of Walls and Secrets that Omashu's social system is more or less 'equal opportunity', i.e. everyone can go anywhere, unlike Ba Sing Se. This is further evidenced when King Bumi went on the mail system without anyone protesting him being there as a king.

Notable figures

 * † indicates deceased.


 * Oma †
 * Shu †
 * King Bumi
 * New Ozai Governor
 * Governor's wife
 * Mai
 * Tom-Tom
 * Yung