Iluak

Personality
Iluak tends to come across as rather cold, pessimistic, and has a fond tendency towards dark humor. He enjoys riling people up and laughing (usually to himself) at those who are overly defensive. Despite his unlikeable demeanor, Iluak’s heart is usually in the right place. Ila feels that breaking the law, in most cases, is “rather pointless” and, more often than not, is a lot harder than following the rules. However, he tends to loathe most social conventions, unsure of why "we can't just be who we are 100% of the time". Iluak rarely tends to show much extreme emotion at all, rarely getting attached to anyone or anything.

In general, there is not much that Iluak is very passionate about, with the exception of interrogating and investigating people as well as fishing.

History
Iluak’s early childhood was pretty boring. And that would be the understatement of the year. Ila grew up near the very coast of the Earth Republic nearest to the Northern Water Tribe with his parents Ilannaq and Alasie, two veterans of the United Forces, and two siblings: an older brother Siluk and younger sister Uki. As the middle child, Iluak coasted through most of his early life, often living in his older brother’s shadow, being about equal with him at athletics but surpassing him at grades. However, unlike his sister, his grades were nothing to write home about. As both of his parents were waterbenders, Ila started learning from both of them around age 7.

Iluak never really got along with anyone outside of his sister and mother. While his father and brother often raved about how skilled he was as waterbending combat and athletics in general, even defeating his brother in a practice bout or 2, Iluak had no real desire to pursue that avenue aside from the basics, only continuing with doing various athletics to please the two of them. While never really mastering it, Iluak did learn a few tips and tricks about healing from his mother, who used to be a healer for the United Forces when she was younger. Other boys of course used to make fun of him for it, but it never really bothered Iluak, who considered their critiques “baseless and pathetic.” It occasionally led to a fight or two, which Iluak always appeared to be the “bad guy” in, even if he was the one defending himself. The only serious fight occurred when Iluak was 12 and beat the living daylight out of an older boy because, through his aptitude for observation and deduction, found out he verbally and physically abused several timid boys, and even a few girls, for no given reason and grew tired of no teacher or peer stepping in to stop him. Iluak would not rediscover his affinity for deductive reason until later, however.

Come age 15, Iluak’s callous personality began drifting a bit as he began falling for a girl in his class. Frustrated to no end at his sudden inability to “not care” and stuck focusing thinking only about her, Iluak further secluded himself from everyone aside from his family, refusing to talk about the subject. However, one day, at age 18, Iluak finally gathered the courage to attempt to talk to her. The girl was extremely hesitant at first due to the rumors of how cold and distant he was, but she eventually talked to him. The two even spent one afternoon talking together. Iluak was the happiest he could be, until she didn’t show up the school next day, reportedly found dead in her home. Iluak had no idea how to react, so he put his mind to work, wondering what could have possibly happened. Some people said a break-in, others said a house accident. As Iluak dug deeper, he began remembering some words Luava (the girl whose name he now knew) had said to him that day about her parents and the random rumors he had heard in passing. Through reasoning, as Luava’s parents spoke at her funeral, Iluak suddenly interjected, accusing them of killing her, explaining the eavesdropping he heard, what Luava had said, and how he reasoned things out. Everyone yelled and complained about him ruining such a heartbreaking moment with such disgusting rumors. However, in the end, her parents were arrested and imprisoned.

While his parent and siblings still expressed their love for him, Iluak insisted he need to leave at age 20. 2 years prior, when the town’s mayor came to thank Iluak for discovering the truth, he also told him about the opportunities for him in Republic City and its citizenship program, stating talent like his could be profoundly useful. In more recent news, Iluak found an advertisement for openings for Lan Shen, the private investigation unit. Figuring it was now or never, Ila chartered a boat and made his way for Republic City.