The Way of the Heavenly Voice

The smallest and least influential of all the guilds of Ba Sing Sa the Way of the Heavenly Voice is regarded by most as nothing more then a creepy air bending cult. Though they won't say this out loud. Despite their small size they are one of the most feared and avoided guilds in the city. They are also known to be more secretive then the Sons of Agni and no one outside of their ranks has any knowledge about the workings of the guild. Rumor has it that they are practitioners of sound bending a higher form of air bending that supposedly doesn't exist.

=Membership and Daily Life= Only air benders are allowed into this guild and because air bending is least common of the four bending arts and most air benders are members of the Urban Air Temple has lead to this guild having the smallest population of all the guilds in Ba Sing Sa. It is not known the exact number of members the guild posses as when someone becomes a member they tend to drop off of the face of the earth. Except for their supposed guild champion Kai members are rarely seen outside of their district or guild hall. Their time is spent constantly training and meditating and trying to master the Way of the Heavenly Voice a warped air bending philosophy that states that power and dominating others is the key to spiritual enlightenment. As such their style of air bending is much more violent and direct. It focuses on ripping an opponent apart while dodging their attacks and unlike traditional air bending resembles Silat style martial arts as apposed to Baguazhang. Those deemed worthy are taught sound bending, arguably the most formidable of the higher bending arts and certainly the fastest. Master sound benders are able to amplify and manipulate sounds to confuse and mislead their targets. They can move in complete silence and can turn the simplest noise into a lethal weapon. When someone joins the Way of the Heavenly voice they are known as acolytes when they become sound benders they are known as a speaker and when they become master sound benders they are known as heralds. Currently only four heralds exist but this is only rumor as only one has ever been seen outside of the guild hall. The discipline in this guild is the most extreme of all guilds in Ba Sing Sa even the training of the Dai Li or the Sons of Ozai do not compare. Any failure or infraction of their laws can result in a severe injury or death. And all who join are bound to their path for the rest of their lives. An air bender must seriously consider what they are giving up before attempting to join this guild for though they will obtain power the likes of which is rarely seen they are also giving up their freedom which is the core of air bending.

=Guild Hall: The Temple of Shouts and Whispers= The district of this guild is a small rural area in one of Ba Sing Sa's lawless zones. Though saying it is their district is a bit of a stretch as they only officially own the grounds surrounding their temple and the members are rarely seen leaving the guild hall. Despite being a lawless zone where the police rarely intervene, the crime in their district is almost nonexistent. All the triads and the gangs that ruled this district strangely disappeared after the Temple of Shouts and Whispers was established. Though the common people fear the monks of the Way of the Heavenly voice they respect them greatly for keeping them safe and often leave donations and alms at the temple gate. The temple itself is small and simple and is surrounded by a meager courtyard however the true temple lies deep underground in a series of natural caves. These caves are where training and the day to day activities of the guild take place. Most of the caves are kept in a state of total darkness forcing the monks to develop their sound bending just to move around. The deepest levels are where the Grand Master and his heralds live it is forbidden for speakers and acolytes to travel their unless summoned.

=Guild Master: The True Harbinger, Fujin= The grand master and founder of the Way of the Heavenly Voice. He is that last living air bending descendant of Avatar Aang. When he was younger he and his siblings and cousins went with Avatar Korra and the United Forces to stop Rei's rebellion. He believed that the Air Nomads beliefs of non violence and mercy would be enough to stop the war but it wasn't. During the battle he and his brethren would strike down enemy troops with out finishing them off as per Air Nomad tradition. However every soldier they would knock out would eventually recover and rise up and attack them again. Soon the soldiers realized that the air benders would not strike to kill and attacked them with out worrying about injury. Soon his brother, sister and his cousins where taken out one by one until he was the last one left. He tried to keep pushing them back with his non lethal air bending but the soldiers would just keep attacking. It wasn't until he was completely cornered and one soldier lunged in to finish him off that he struck with the full force of his air bending decimating the soldier and rending him in two. After this Fujin immediately began killing soldiers left and right avenging all of his family members that were killed. However by the time he had defeated the division that had killed his family the battle had already been lost with the Avatar dead and the enemy rallied behind their new leader, Enoh. He attempted to sacrifice his life to kill the Avatar slayer but a young man dressed as a bard and wielding a lute stood in his way. Fujin tried to strike the bard down but to his surprise the man was a powerful air bender as well. His style was completely different from traditional air bending and unlike anything Fujin had ever seen before. Strangest of all the bard sang and played his lute during the fight and whenever he would sing or play a strong note it felt as if the song itself was dealing him a powerful blow. Luckily Fujin quickly learned how to partially counter the technique or else his ear drums would have been blown. In the end Fujin was defeated by the mysterious bard but his life was spared. It was at that moment Fujin realized the pointlessness of the Air Nomad philosophy of mercy and non violence. If his family had killed their enemies like they easily could have they would have lived and would have contributed more to the battle. Also if Avatar Korra had simply killed Rei instead of trying to take his fire bending away she wouldn't have been shot in the back by Enoh. He resolved to form his own school of air bending that would not allow such weaknesses to keep them from their goals. He trained deep in the mountains of the western air temple creating a more deadly style of air bending and perfecting the strange technique that the bard had used to defeat him, sound bending. When both were mastered he gathered as many students as he could from around the world and traveled to Ba Sing Sa to unify the air benders to his ideal. Though shocked that he was still alive few air benders joined his new guild so he took his students underground where they train and prepare for the right time to strike.

=Guild Champion: Kai, Herald of the West Wind? (actual champion is unknown)= The only sound bending monk regularly seen outside of the Temple of Shouts and Whispers. Kai is usually seen walking around the city carrying a monk staff and an alms box, asking people for donations. No one would suspect him of being a monk of the Way of the Heavenly Voice if he did not have their trademark grey arrow tattoo and black and white air bending robes. This is mostly because his demeanor is anything but monk like. He often tries to trick or guilt strangers into giving him money and has been witnessed traveling through every district in Ba Sing Sa including the lawless zones and the red light district. It is unknown if his self appointed title of Herald of the West Wind is legitimate (as their has never been any public evidence to prove or disprove if this is true) or if he is even a member of the Way of the Heavenly Voice. Nonetheless if what he says is true then he is a powerful sound bender and their is at least three other Heralds. Most doubt this is true as his dodgy laid back attitude makes him seem more fit as a conman in the Trader's Union then high ranking monk in a serious and secretive guild like the Way of the Heavenly Voice. Still he has the guts to walk around asking for alms in triad and Agni territory and has never been injured. The police has found the bodies of several gangs of street thugs with unusual wounds such as large slash wounds and internal brain damage. It is unknown who or what could have done this but witness testimony has stated that they saw Kai the monk walking around the same area that the murders took place in.