| "Somewhere along the line, the language of Middlers had infiltrated their relationship. Kalyaan had saved his life before, and now the debt was being called in. What had happened to them? How had they come to this? You didn't try to square accounts with your own flesh and blood. The notion was madness." |
| — Kavik's thoughts on Kalyaan.[1] |
Kalyaan was a waterbender and informant who was the son of Ujurak and Tapeesa, and the older brother of Kavik. After his family migrated from the Northern Water Tribe to the shang city of Bin-Er in search of a better life, Kalyaan joined the city's famous errand runners before being posted to Jonduri as a deep plant of Zongdu Henshe within Zongdu Chaisee's errand runner association.
History[]
Early life[]
Kalyaan was always talented in comparison to his younger brother. While he took care of Kavik, he also teased him, being physically rough with him during wrestling and throughout their childhood conditioning the younger boy to feel weak and unresponsive in his presence.[5]
During his youth, Kalyaan and the then eight year old Kavik got separated from the rest of the family during a hunt, and were subsequently lost in a powerful snowstorm for nearly a month. Kavik was convinced he had cursed the hunt in some way and began to cry, though Kalyaan told him that everything was going to be alright. At one stage, Kalyaan cut strips from one of his mittens and fed them to Kavik, a desperation tactic to give his younger brother the energy to keep walking in the cold. He subsequently lost two fingers to frostbite from where he had opened his mitten, but told Kavik not to worry about it, as eight was considered a lucky number in the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation.[6] The adults who could not find them suspected that the two brothers getting lost was potentially caused by spirits.[7]
Four years later, the family moved to the shang city of Bin-Er after hunts began to sour across the region.[6] With his younger brother nervous about stepping foot onto the continent, Kalyaan told him the spirits would protect the family if they made the leap onto Earth Kingdom soil together. On the count of three, they all jumped off the umiak together and landed in perfect unison, cheering as they arrived at the docks. They later got work at Nuqingaq and Partners, an all-Water Tribe store in the city.[8]
Errand runner career[]
After six months, Kalyaan walked out on his job, having chosen to secretly become one of the errand runner informants common to the shang cities. Early on in his career, he became friends with Henshe, then a low-level administrator, and the pair started working together to secure small advantages and trade them into bigger ones.[1] He used the money from his new job to gift his parents a new house, convincing them that it was better to live closer to the international district, even though the new wooden structure was harder to clean and to keep warm. Not long after, Nuqingaq and Partners had their most critical customers poached by someone with intimate knowledge of the client list and contract renewals, and most lost their jobs, though Kavik and Ujurak stayed on. Kalyaan never came home after this, making it obvious that he was to blame.[8]
Thanks in part to Kalyaan's aid, Henshe got his name out in the ranks of Bin-Er leadership, and eventually became zongdu of the city. Taking advantage of the resources that Henshe's new role offered them, Henshe sent Kalyaan to the city of Jonduri, then ruled by Zongdu Chaisee, to serve as a deep plant within her organization. Kalyaan rose through Chaisee's ranks quickly, eventually becoming the head of her errand runner association. As part of his job, he took care of matters that Chaisee did not want her name linked to, giving him a degree of influence with her.[1] At some point, the two of them became romantically involved and conceived a child together.[9]
Unanimity project[]
When Kavik, now working as an agent of Avatar Yangchen, arrived in the city to investigate the Unanimity project, Kalyaan kept tabs on him as he stayed with Tayagum and Akuudan, and allowed him to join up with Chaisee's errand runner association from behind the scenes.[10] Kalyaan also met up with Henshe around this time, the Bin-Er Zongdu asking Kalyaan to arrange transportation for all members of Unanimity from Jonduri to Bin-Er without Chaisee's knowledge, in order to suppress unrest there.[11]
After Kavik destroyed a large amount of cargo while trying to prevent it from burning during a raid on a warehouse, Kalyaan used his influence to frame his younger brother as a hero who saved half the goods instead of destroying them.[1] He would later be reunited with his younger brother when Kavik was sent to meet with him about the incident,[3] with Kavik screaming and physically attacking Kalyaan for disappearing on the family. Kalyaan let Kavik attack him - which Kavik suspected was an "apology gift" from Kalyaan for beating him at wrestling so often - until Kavik knocked the back of Kalyaan's head against the floor, prompting Kalyaan to immediately overpower his brother. He let Kavik go afterwards and asked how their parents were, but Kavik snarled that he did not get to ask that after not contacting them for so long. Kalyaan said he could never have done so, and explained his links to Chaisee and Henshe, why he had left Bin-Er, and everything he had done since arriving in Jonduri.[1]
Kavik sarcastically supposed that Kalyaan had been "protecting" the family by not contacting them. Kalyaan explained how he had kept his brother safe since he arrived in Jonduri, and asked him why he would risk his life for the Avatar, having deduced his loyalties by Kavik arriving in a way that only made sense with Air Nomad traveling privileges. He supposed that they had both started with the same motivation of wanting to keep their family safe. After Kavik accused Kalyaan of having Qiu killed, Kalyaan remarked that he was in a bad spot, as Yangchen's investigation could smash apart the whole trade route. He suggested that the Avatar be distracted while he smuggled Unanimity to Bin-Er; Kavik asked what Unanimity was, but Kalyaan stated that it was simply leverage, and that nothing bad would happen if the Avatar did not get her way.
Kavik realized that Kalyaan was asking him to betray Yangchen. Kalyaan stated that it was no great betrayal to the four nations, but simply passing on outdated information. Kavik still questioned why he would even consider it, to which Kalyaan replied that Henshe had him in a bind; if Unanimity did not get to Bin-Er, Henshe would reveal Kalyaan as a plant to Chaisee, which would land him an unimaginably gruesome fate. Wanting to win Kavik over, he spoke of having kept an eye on Tayagum and Akuudan, wondering if they were Kavik's substitutes for their parents, but Kavik replied they were more substitutes for Kalyaan himself. Kalyaan looked genuinely hurt, and assured him that he was going to come back, before insisting that anyone else meant nothing, and the only one Kavik owed was Kalyaan. Nevertheless, he told Kavik that he could have it both ways; if he redirected Yangchen to Port Tuugaq, he would have plausible deniability for her failure and could remain one of her companions, while also providing Kalyaan with an agent on the inside of the Avatar's retinue. Finding his limit, Kavik broke and capitulated to Kalyaan's request.[1]
Kalyaan ordered Kavik to spend the next two days at the association safe house rather than Tayagum and Akuudan's inn, telling him that the association would knew if he warned his friends of anything. Afterward, Kalyaan ordered Kavik to get on a ship for Bin-Er that was also boarded by Yingsu, Xiaoyun, and Thapa, the three combustionbenders who made up the Unanimity project, passing him off as one of the authorized cargo mates. Kavik deduced that the false identity he was given must have been something Kalyaan had prepared as a means to come home.[1][12] After discovering that Unanimity was actually three people, Kavik sent Yangchen a letter revealing both the truth and his betrayal, allowing her to return to Bin-Er and defeat the three combustionbenders.
While Kalyaan did what was ordered of him, it was at the cost of acting against Chaisee's interests. Kavik and Yangchen later thought that it was only a matter of time before his invincible luck would run out, and thought that he was in more danger than he had ever been after the members of Unanimity were successfully apprehended by the Avatar's allies in Bin-Er.[13] Henshe later offered Yangchen the name of his informant when he was confined to the Northern Air Temple, though Yangchen refused his information trade, as she already knew this from Kavik.[14]
After the Bin-Er Crisis[]
At some point following the events in Bin-Er, Kalyaan confessed to Chaisee about his original role as Henshe's plant in her organization, with the zongdu of Jonduri forgiving him for his deception.[9] Roughly six months later, Kalyaan took part in a raid on the Northern Air Temple alongside a group of Chaisee's agents, Chaisee having learned that Yangchen had imprisoned the three combustionbenders within the surrounding region after defeating them in Bin-Er. While Chaisee's team attended to Unanimity, Kalyaan infiltrated the temple proper and murdered Henshe, silencing a potential source of damming testimony against Chaisee.[15]
Following the retrieval of Thapa — who had turned on his fellow Unanimity members — Kalyaan traveled to the city of Taku in advance of the zongdus' upcoming convocation, where Chaisee intended to use Unanimity against the leaders of the four nations. After learning that Yangchen and Kavik had bankrupted Zongdu Iwashi — the city's ruler — over a game of Sparrowbones, Kalyaan infiltrated their official residence to congratulate them on their feat, before warning them that such tactics would not work on Chaisee. Advising Yangchen to limit herself to easy opponents like Henshe and Iwashi, he offered to not harm the team she had bought into Taku, but stated that she was to stop manipulating Kavik in exchange, the older waterbender accusing the Avatar of taking advantage of his brother for the sake of her goals. His terms given, Kalyaan then left the residence after taunting both Yangchen and Kavik.[5]
A couple of days later, Kalyaan met with Kavik in a small park at the break of dawn. The two brothers talked about the development of Unanimity and Kalyaan's involvement in it — Kavik having discovered both since their last meeting — before Kavik warned that Yangchen and her team would reveal Kalyaan's role as Henshe's plant to Chaisee if he did not give them Thapa's location, unaware that Kalyaan had already confessed about it to her. Playing along, Kalyaan asked if Yangchen would truly forsake her Air Nomad principles, knowing as she did how Chaisee dealt with plants, but Kavik retorted that Kalyaan and Chaisee had both cost her a lot with their actions. Kalyaan then asked if Kavik would be fine with betraying his brother, commenting that he would likely have to reveal things to Chaisee himself, but Kavik replied that he would be happy to see his brother get what he deserved, causing Kalyaan to remark on the hold Yangchen had over him.
Kalyaan then claimed that the reason Kavik could not catch up to him was because he constantly sought validation from others, and thus was incapable of making decisions for himself. He then revealed that he had admitted his original role as Henshe's agent to Chaisee and been forgiven for it, thereby depriving Yangchen and Kavik of their leverage on him, and that he had also told Chaisee of Kavik's involvement with Yangchen. As Kavik reeled from this news, Kalyaan stated that Chaisee wanted the two brothers to be together, and that he intended to take Kavik from Taku, retrieve their parents, and then their entire family would be completely untouchable to the rest of the world. Kavik declared his brother mad, but Kalyaan replied that he simply had faith in the woman he loved, adding that Chaisee would soon be dealing with Yangchen over at the Taku convocation hall. The news caused Kavik to try and run to the hall, but Kalyaan stopped him from doing so, before calling out Tael and six other members of Chaisee's association from a nearby restaurant, intending to have his brother confined elsewhere until he came around to Kalyaan's way of thinking.
Before Kalyaan or any other member of the gathering could take action however, they were confronted by seven agents of the Order of the White Lotus, who had secretly tailed Kavik in the hope he would lead them to Kalyaan, and thus give them an opportunity to capture the older brother and acquire his knowledge on combustionbending. With him and his brother trapped between the two groups of fighters, Kalyaan instructed Kavik to stay still for his own safety,[9] but Kavik instead opted to initiate the fight on the side of the White Lotus, prompting Kalyaan to restrain him and partially immobilize him with chi-blocking. He then attempted to drag his brother away from the battleground, but Do, a member of the White Lotus, seared his arm with firebending in his dying moments, forcing Kalyaan to let go of Kavik. He then lost track of his younger brother and, before he could rejoin him, Kavik was stabbed by another assailant.[16]
Upon reuniting with his brother and discovering his wound, Kalyaan took him into the waiting room of a seemingly unused apothecary in order to treat him. Right after setting Kavik down on the bench though, Kalyaan was ambushed by Akuudan and Tayagum, who had been waiting for him. Kalyaan attempted to kill them both, but the pair deflected his attacks with their own bending before restraining him with rawhide bindings, depriving him of the ability to bend. The two older waterbenders then claimed that Kavik had been attacked on their orders, before indicating to Kalyaan that they intended to torture his brother until he gave up the details of Chaisee's plan. Though starting to panic, Kalyaan stayed silent, and Akuudan responded by aggravating Kavik's wound with his hand, causing him to let out a whimper. Alarmed, Kalyaan protested that Kavik was their teammate, but Tayagum reminded him that Kavik had already betrayed them once, before Akuudan tortured Kavik again, this time making the younger waterbender scream. Kalyaan attempted to intervene, but was forced back by Tayagum, and Akuudan claimed that Yangchen had ordered them to do whatever it took to find out about Thapa. As Akuudan continued to hurt Kavik, Kalyaan shouted that Chaisee had not given him Thapa's location, before breaking down and revealing that the signal for Thapa to launch his attack would be the great gong of Taku - the city's means of keeping track of the time of day - chiming three times at the wrong hour. The two older waterbenders had Jujinta - another agent of Yangchen's - relay the information to the Avatar, before finally bandaging up Kavik's injury.[17]
Following the scene, Kalyaan threatened to gruesomely murder Akuudan and Tayagum, only to become distraught when Tayagum threatened to torture Kavik again in response. After hearing his older brother's distress, Kavik sat up and revealed that the torture had only been an act; his wound was real, but far from lethal, and Akuudan had used bloodlacquer to further exaggerate the severity of it. The realization that he had been outplayed caused Kalyaan to list to the side within his bindings. After Jujinta returned to the apothecary and the great gong of Taku began chiming soon afterwards, Kalyaan laughed and claimed that Yangchen had doomed them all, only for Kavik to gag him with his bandages. Kalyaan then waited and listened with the others; after silence persisted for long after the signal, making it clear that Yangchen had defeated Thapa and Chaisee, he glowered at Kavik and the rest of Yangchen's allies from behind his gag.[18]
With Chaisee's scheme foiled, Yangchen allowed Kalyaan to flee Taku with her and retrieve their child from Jonduri. The move was far from magnanimous however, with the Avatar intending to have the couple and their knowledge on Unanimity serve as a distraction for Earth King Feishan, thereby keeping him from waging war with the Water Tribe and the Fire Nation.[19]
Physical description[]
Kalyaan had a lean, handsome face. After leaving his family, he changed his hair style, keeping it long and untied.[1]
Personality[]
Kalyaan was very talented and confident, possessing an air of casual indifference and superiority. He was very cunning and had a quick, restless mind. He had an appetite for risks, but also an uncanny luck that allowed him to get out of bad situations and move around without being seen, gaining him a reputation as an untouchable phantom.[1][20]
A very capable liar and manipulator, he controlled the situation at hand by acting mockingly casual and genial, and he enjoyed causing his opponents distress. His sheer arrogance could be considered a weapon in itself, as it could make others doubt themselves.[5] However, it was also a weakness, as he could get sloppy and talk too much.[9]
He humored his younger brother and took care of him when they were younger, frequently telling him not to worry, but Yangchen could quickly tell he was abusive as well; he acted dismissive of him in a way that made him feel lesser in every way and was unnecessarily physically rough with him, tormenting his younger brother under the guise of "games" only he was allowed to win. Thanks to the way he conditioned his brother, he could easily render Kavik weak and unresponsive while Kalyaan himself felt free to do whatever he wanted, believing Kavik would not have the initiative to truly do anything against him.[5]
While working for the shangs, he wanted to provide his family with what he considered to be "better" things (which, while expensive, could be less practical), but he ended up abandoning them. He became a cold-blooded murderer who only cared about himself and his family, and he had a habit of betraying the people around him. He kept insisting he did it all for the sake of the family and protecting Kavik, and that his younger brother should protect him in turn for the same reason. He was even willing to kidnap Kavik so they could leave and live happily as a family, believing they would untouchable, with Kavik concluding he had gone mad.[9] Despite everything, Kalyaan did still feel genuine care toward his brother, as he panicked when he thought Kavik was under massive pain and close to dying, even betraying his mission to save him.[17]
Kavik believed that, without intervention, Kalyaan would have eventually run out of luck by overestimating his abilities and getting himself killed.[19]
Abilities[]
Kavik considered Kalyaan to be an extremely skilled waterbender. Kavik once speculated whether Kalyaan would have been able to flow through solid ice unimpeded, instead of having to squiggle his way through the walls of the Blue Manse.[2]
Relatives[]
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Appearances[]
Chronicles of the Avatar[]
The Dawn of Yangchen[]
- 113. "The Trade"
- 124. "Rememberance"
- 126. "The Reckoning"
- 128. "Following Through"
- 134. "Clarity"
The Legacy of Yangchen[]
- 211. "Second Option"
- 220. "Anonymity"
- 228. "Extraction"
- 230. "Choosing Sides"
- 231. "Casualties"
- 235. "Truth"
References[]
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