Zolian

Zolian was a Fire Nation duke and the leader of the Saowon clan during the adolescence of Avatar Yangchen.
== History ==
The duke asked young Avatar Yangchen for help after unseen forces caused damage to the edge of their villages on Ma'inka Island. He and his cousin and heir, Earl Lohi, worked with Yangchen, and agreed to appease the phoenix-eel spirits of the island by staying more than three li away from the caverns where they lived.
The disobedient branch families under the Saowon did not obey the agreement for too long, and started excavating near the cenotes. As a result, the children of the Saowon were cursed by the spirits not to wake from their slumber, and would eventually waste away. Zolian tried to appeal to Yangchen by sending a messenger hawk, which arrived at Jonduri and fell into the possession of Zongdu Chaisee, passing it on to the Avatar. Before Yangchen arrived, the rest of the Saowon tried to appeal to the spirits the best that they could by cutting off their top-knots to show their dishonor.
The duke was informed that Yangchen had arrived when he was still dealing with business with clan elders. Zolian then came to his private study to see her, bringing Lohi along with the box of the top-knots that had already been cut from other members of the clan. Yangchen was furious about him breaking the agreement, and did not want to hear anything he had to say for himself. She repeated the terms that they had originally agreed to, but Zolian could not respond adequately as to why it had been broken. He instead appealed to Yangchen's sense of compassion about the children who had been cursed, asking if he could take her to the hospital, but she refused. Zolian and Lohi showed them the top-knots to show their sincerity, before cutting their own top-knots off. The Avatar acquiesced, but the mental strain left the duke incapable of further discussion, and left Lohi to discuss the situation further. Yangchen and the spirits came to a second agreement that would release the children from the curse if they did not regrow their hair for five hundred moons and would suffer many other inconveniences, hits to their coffers, and quirks to exclude them from Fire Nation rituals, meaning that they would be disgraced for a generation, but could rise again one day and not bring further wrath of the spirits upon themselves.
== Abilities ==
For a very brief moment, Yangchen entertained what it would look like if she challenged Zolian to an Agni Kai for breaking the agreement with the spirits, indicating that he was a firebender (although not particularly skilled, as Yangchen was sure that she would have won). Yangchen also doubted his competency as a ruler and clan leader, preferring to negotiate with his heir, Lohi.
== Relatives ==
* Earl Lohi (cousin)
== Appearances ==
=== Chronicles of the Avatar ===
==== The Dawn of Yangchen ====
== References ==
de:Zolian
Category:A to Z
Category:Characters
Category:Firebenders
Category:Fire Nation characters
Category:Minor characters (Yangchen novels)
Category:Saowon clan
Category:Yangchen novels characters