Te Sihung

Te Sihung was a governor in the Eastern Provinces of the Earth Kingdom and the administrator of Zigan. Appointed at an early age to succeed his father, Te's early rule was notoriously corrupt and incompetent, resulting in widespread suffering in his territories. When his life was saved by Avatar Kyoshi, however, he decided to change his ways. In the next two years, he became a charitable and popular official, greatly improving the living standards of his subjects.
== History ==
=== Early life and rise to governor ===
Te Sihung was part of the the Te family, an Earth Kingdom noble clan that was notorious for being deeply corrupt and using their positions as officials to exploit others. His father served as governor in the Eastern Provinces, administering his territories from the town of Zigan. While Te Sihung was still very young, his father prepared him to succeed him by teaching him about politics, though his lessons mostly focused on how to use one's governorship to amass a fortune.
When his father died, Te Sihung was installed as the next governor despite being just a child. At first, his appointment was opposed by Jianzhu, one of the most prominent Earth Sages. Over time, however, Te proved himself to be very susceptible to being influenced, and Jianzhu began to regard him as a useful pawn. Most importantly, Jianzhu left Xu Ping An in Te's prison, as the young governor asked no questions about the highly-politically-sensitive inmate. As he grew older, Te Sihung put his father's teachings into effect to disastrous effects. His territories were mismanaged, he skimmed from the Earth King's taxes to enrich his coffers, and let his people go hungry while taxes remained high.
He also did little to suppress daofei outlaws in his territories. When bandits were captured, he did not execute them as most prefectural leaders did; instead, he had them imprisoned in his mansion's jails. Outlaws attributed this policy to a "romantic notion of mercy" which Te followed. Besides governing his realm, Te mostly acted in accordance with Jianzhu's wishes, and would always report anything important first to him instead of other sages. He also sent many gifts to Jianzhu's pupil, the falsely-identified Avatar Yun, such as an original, unabridged copy of the Poems of Laghima, and a single precious white dragon seed.
=== First encounter with Avatar Kyoshi ===
One night in 296 BG, however, Te awoke and found his mansion under attack by a small army of daofei. As his guards battled the outlaws, Te fled into his mansion's saferoom, locking himself there but leaving the staff outside to face the attackers' wrath. Though intended to endure a siege, the saferoom had also suffered from Te's incompetent management: he had replaced the water stores with wine and replaced other necessities for lasting out a siege with luxurious carpets and silken pillows.
Eventually, two outlaws, Lao Ge and Kyoshi, broke through the saferoom's iron door and confronted the governor. Though frightened, Te initially put up a brave and defiant front, declaring himself to be the governor and refusing to answer when Kyoshi asked for his age. The woman promptly took him by his neck and threw him out of the saferoom into the anteceding floor. This action instantly evaporated Te's arrogance, and the boy began to plead for his life. Lao Ge reminded Kyoshi of the governor's extremely incompetent and corrupt rule, stating that she should kill him to ensure the people's welfare. Instead, Kyoshi turned on Lao Ge and escaped with Te, taking him to the mansion's stables. As she put him on an ostrich horse, Te thanked Kyoshi and offered her money or titles, but she told him only to undo his wrongs as governor by opening his stores to the people and seeing that treasures were returned. If he did not do so, Kyoshi threatened that she would do far worse things to him as Lao Ge or the other outlaws had originally intended.
Frightened yet thankful and utterly confused, Te realized that he had seen Kyoshi bending both earth as well as air and that she had to be the true Avatar. Kyoshi responded by telling him that was just one more reason to do as she said. She then slapped the ostrich horse and bent a bridge across the mansion's ditch, allowing the governor to escape on the enraged mount.
=== Changing his ways ===
Te eventually reached a place of safety where he was recognized as governor despite wearing only his nightgown, as he still had his personal seal on his body. His first instinct was to inform his long-time patron, Jianzhu, of what had transpired. He quickly wrote a letter, relating that Xu Ping An had fled from his prisons, and two assassins had come to kill him. He went on to describe how one had decided to save him instead, and how this woman had bent two elements. Furthermore, Te had decided to do as Kyoshi had told him; he wanted to change his way of ruling for the better, and he ended his letter by requesting if Jianzhu could give him a few lessons on proper governance. The letter reached Jianzhu in record time, though the master was only interested in the information relating to Kyoshi and ignored Te's request for aid.
A few months later, Kyoshi revealed her identity to the world; she consequently contacted Te, and made clear that she still considered their deal to be valid. The young governor made good on his promises to the Avatar and began to improve his territories. By 295 BG, he had established a new school and a herbal clinic in Zigan Village, provided aid to its poorest citizens, and increased the settlement's population. However, due to his inexperience and the lack of real understanding of his role, the young politician requested instruction from outsiders in making better governing decisions, as the village still needed improvements. This left him susceptible to individuals of dubious motives, with a daofei named Meili seeking to exploit Te's inexperience.Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Core Book, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 264.
== Appearances ==
=== Chronicles of the Avatar ===
==== The Rise of Kyoshi ====
== Trivia ==
* Te Sihung was the first official of the Earth Kingdom to learn Kyoshi was the Avatar.
* He enjoyed reading and tea.
== Notes ==
== References ==
es:Te Sihung
ru:Тэ Сихунг
Category:A to Z
Category:Characters
Category:Earth Kingdom characters
Category:Kyoshi novels characters
Category:Minor characters (Kyoshi novels)