Phoenix Nation

The **Phoenix** **nation** (Greek: ***Φοίνιξ Έθνος*** (*Foínix Éthnos*)) is a proud nation who's ritual for reaching maturity involves entrusting elementals with a pet bird, incinerating it, and then raising it from the ashes with magic, if this task is completed successfully, a person will be considered a full-fledged Phoenix elemental.

## History

### **Foundations**

In the year 750, a rogue Fire nation group had found and burned an unaffiliated village for not choosing to side with them in the war against the Ice nation. Whoever survived were only the ones who fled the arsonists under the cover of smoke. As they fled, they ran into a Queen Phoenix, who promised that to protect them from those who wish to commit similar crimes against them and their descendants. This would come to fruition when the Fire nation attacked again. The Phoenix quickly obliterated them and suddenly took a nose-dive back to the settlers. The flames that remained of it did not destroy the village, but bestowed its inhabitants with her abilities. To thank the Queen Phoenix, those villagers started a new nation... The Phoenix Nation. 500 years later in 1250, an Elemental had summoned the Queen Phoenix to their aid in a heated battle against another group of Fire nation arsonists. She again dove back into what is now her dedicated nest in which she slumbers to save her power. Every 500 years, a portion of it is used to cast herself a physical form, which keeps the power from growing out of control.

### **Coining the National Currency**

In 1850, the Phoenicians were becoming familiar with their elemental neighbors, especially in trading. Between them, many small pieces of culture were exchanged until one day, trading came to a halt and people were less willing to trade away what they hold dearest to themselves. That is, until a popular merchant had come up with an idea: a common currency. He had proposed several currency names, until they settled on one. That being the Vesilian Talon (henceforth abbreviated as VT). It spread slowly outside of the neighbors who had been trading up until that point, but eventually it was agreed that the Vesilian Talon could be awarded and exchanged for goods and services.

### **Draconian Scuffle**

Up until 2001, the Dragon Nation was one of the few nations who continued to refuse usage of the Vesilian Talon, using the draco instead. This had aggravated merchants from most other nations, but the Phoenicians were still adamant on trading with the nation everyone else gave up on. In a small marketplace on the Dragon nation's borders, several merchants from the Dragon Nation had insisted on not using Vesilian Talons which everyone else carried. That was until a small fight broke out between a Phoenix and Dragon elemental, which erupted into a deceptively large conflict over the mediums of trade between the respective nations. It had gotten bad enough that the Queen Phoenix's slumber was almost disturbed due to the collective frustration of the Phoenix nation's merchants. Multiple other nations had to step in and defuse the situation before it turned into an all-out war between them. At least the Phoenix nation won in the end in some way, as the Vesilian Talon was finally accepted by the Dragon Nation as common currency.

### **Controversy with Anonymous Creators**

On January 23rd, 2021, a Creation user was spotted in the Phoenix Nation, whose suspicious behavior led law enforcement into a short chase. Several minutes later, Ophaniel Tenko, a representative from the Angel Nation, tried to reason with the officers, trying to convince them to call off the chase. The Creation elemental later revealed her name to be Faye Jensen, who recently immigrated from the Ice Nation because she was being sought after there as well. These events landed the Phoenix Nation in scornful gaze of the Ice Nation for "harboring illegal migrants," though the Phoenicians refute this, citing Faye's previously mentioned fear of persecution.