Yeh-Lu

Yeh-Lu was the explosives specialist of the Rough Rhinos, an elite Fire Nation group that worked on a freelance basis for the Fire Lord. After the Hundred Year War, he remained with the Rough Rhinos as they became a force for hire.
== History ==
=== The Hundred Year War ===
In his early life, Yeh-Lu worked as a weapons developer on the Fire Islands before an explosives accident disfigured him. From then on, he wore a helmet to hide his large facial scar. Regardless, he remained extremely devoted to his field of work and eventually became part of the Rough Rhinos, using the chance to field test his inventions in combat situations.Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Wan Shi Tong's Adventure Guide, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 127. Around 91 AG, Yeh-Lu and the Rough Rhinos destroyed Jet's village, costing the boy his parents.
At some point between 95 and 99 AG, Yeh-Lu and his comrades were hired by Fire Lord Ozai to hunt down Onomu, a former Fire Army general who had defected to the Earth Kingdom. In late 99 AG, Yeh-Lu and the other Rough Rhinos invaded another Earth Kingdom village, forcing several inhabitants to become refugees, among whom were Than and his pregnant wife, Ying.
In the spring of 100 AG, Aang, Katara, and Sokka were awoken by the arrival of the Rough Rhinos, who were attempting to capture the Avatar. The team managed to escape, but Sokka's boomerang was left behind and subsequently claimed as a spoil of war by Yeh-Lu.
The explosives specialist and the rest of the Rough Rhinos attacked Chin Village soon thereafter and claimed it in the name of Fire Lord Ozai. Aang and the Water Tribe siblings helped defend of the village. During the fight, Sokka distracted Vachir by reflecting sunlight in his magnifying glass. The archer blindly shot a burning arrow in Sokka's direction. The arrow missed the Water Tribe warrior, and instead embedded itself in the saddle bag attached to Yeh-Lu's rhino. Sokka ducked for cover as the bag, containing five sticks of dynamite, caught fire. Yeh-Lu immediately saw the danger and tried to save himself by throwing the bag on the roof of a neighboring house. However, the house collapsed under the thunderous explosion; the force of the explosion slammed Yeh-Lu and his mount against a wall. As Sokka looked up again, Yeh-Lu's helmet rolled by and a bag containing Sokka's boomerang landed next to him.
Later that spring, the Rough Rhinos, while hunting fugitives, ran into Iroh and Zuko, who were traveling through the Earth Kingdom as refugees. When the two fled on their ostrich horse after quickly disposing of four of the five Rough Rhinos, Yeh-Lu was the only one still capable to ride in pursuit. In an attempt to halt the Fire Nation fugitives, he threw a grenade in the path of the fleeing ostrich horse. The grenade exploded ahead of the animal, but Iroh and Zuko pushed through and emerged through the dust of the explosion. They rode away to safety as Yeh-Lu ceased his pursuit.
=== Work at the Earthen Fire Refinery ===
After the end of the Hundred Year War, Yeh-Lu and his fellow Rough Riders offered their services for hire to anyone, eventually coming under the employ of Loban and Lao Beifong as their personal security detail. In 102 AG, the Rough Rhinos accompanied their employers to Yu Dao, but upon returning to the Earthen Fire Refinery, they spotted Avatar Aang and his friends on the factory grounds. Upon ordered to escort them off the premises, a short fight ensued, during which Yeh-Lu, along with Junho, tried to incapacitate Katara. When Sokka urged her to follow him, Yeh-Lu chased them on his komodo rhino toward the refinery's fence. When the siblings ducked out of the way of their incoming charge at the last second, he accidentally broke down the fence. However, he recovered and resumed the attack, though ended up encased in ice, while holding a live grenade. He was openly mocked by Sokka, whom he had to plead to remove the grenade, lest it would explode in his hand. As the danger was averted and the siblings left them, he told a shivering Mongke that he should have incorporated more armor into his uniform as Yeh-Lu had advised, because unlike his superior, Yeh-Lu was feeling quite comfortable in his ice encasing due to his full-body attire.
== Personality ==
Yeh-Lu was fascinated with explosives from an early point, and this interest was not dimmed in the slightest by his terrible work accident. He even continued to research explosives and conflagrations while serving as part of the Rough Rhinos. As he was almost obsessed with this topic, Yeh-Lu could be exceedingly reckless in battle just to test his newest combustible devices. It could be said that his main drive was to "see the world burn—literally". Despite this, Yeh-Lu was fairly even-tempered and approchable outside combat.
== Appearances ==
== Trivia ==
* Yeh-Lu was inexplicably absent from the Rough Rhinos during the group's third confrontation with Team Avatar.
* Avatar Extras for "Avatar Day" erroneously referred to Yeh-Lu as Vachir, stating that Vachir is the explosives expert.
* Yeh-Lu can be seen in Jet's flashback behind Colonel Mongke.
== References ==
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ru:Ян Лу
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