Knowledge Seekers

"spirit"

- Handsome little creatures.

The Knowledge Seekers were the fox-like spirit assistants of the spirit Wan Shi Tong, operating in the Si Wong Desert. They traveled the world collecting old books and parchments to contribute to the vast archives of Wan Shi Tong's Library. The Knowledge Seekers were also designed to help library patrons, so anyone who had questions about a library book could expect assistance from these little spirits, who might, however, expect a treat in return.

History
When Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Appa, and Professor Zei found a large tower in the middle of the Si Wong Desert, they didn't know that they were looking at the top of the Spirit Library, until, suddenly, a knowledge seeker appeared over a dune, carrying a scroll in its mouth. It ran up to the building, then up the walls without effort and entered through a small window at the top of the tower, which made the group realize that they had found the library and not just an ordinary tower.

Later inside the library, when Aang, Sokka and Katara discovered the remains of an old piece of paper that mentioned "The Darkest Day in Fire Nation History", one of the knowledge seekers led them to an ancient mechanical calendar that depicted the movements of the heavenly bodies and showed them how it worked. This allowed them to discover that firebenders lose their bending during a solar eclipse; for its help, Sokka gave the "fox guy" a treat.

Trivia

 * The Knowledge Seekers' close resemblance of foxes was likely due to the fact that like owls, foxes are commonly seen as sly and intelligent creatures.
 * It may have been based on the Korean nine-tailed fox or kumiho, which is said to be a mystical creature that brought books to the king in a golden age.
 * It may also hark back to the Japanese kitsune fox spirits that serve the goddess Inari. Like the knowledge seekers, kitsune also "seek knowledge" and were said to earn multiple tails as they gain more knowledge.
 * Despite the Library being almost completely underground and that humans were banned from accessing knowledge, they still brought in things, loyal to the library and to Wan Shi Tong.