The Bhanti consists of a group of sages who live in a village located on Bhanti Island in the southern Fire Islands. The tribe, which predates the first Avatar, Wan, has strong spiritual connections and serves as the origin of spiritual sages in the four nations. Although the tribe is isolated from the rest of the world, its members are aware of many current events with which they choose not to involve themselves.[2]
History[]
Around 9,832 BG, during the era of Raava, the Bhanti developed and settled on an island located in the Spirit Wilds, which would eventually become part of the southern portion of the Fire Islands archipelago. After some time, several members of the tribe ventured from the island and into the other nations, where they became sages,[2] most notably the Fire Sages,[3] the Earth Sages,[4] and the Northern Water Tribe sages.[5]
In the late 4th century BG, the elders of the Bhanti sent the young Fire Sage Nyahitha to aid Avatar Kuruk after he received a premonition. Nyahitha met Kuruk in the caverns beneath Ma'inka Island after the waterbender battled the dark phoenix-eel spirits. He partially repaired the damage done to Kuruk's soul from battling the dark spirits, but warned him about the toll on his lifespan. In their quest to hunt down the most vicious of the dark spirits, Kuruk and Nyahitha made use of the extensive Bhanti libraries. They deduced that another spirit had created passageways between the human and spirit worlds, but could not determine why, and could not find a more effective method to slay the spirits. The tribe remained unaware of Kuruk and Nyahitha's true actions, and the world believed that Nyahitha had encouraged Kuruk's infamous hedonism.[6]
Nyahitha distanced himself from his tribe after Kuruk's death. He was respected in the Fire Nation's High Temple and was considered next in line to be High Sage, but was passed over for Lady Huazo's uncle. He fell into obscurity and became a charlatan fortuneteller in the gambling den of North Chung-Ling. Nevertheless, Nyahitha helped Avatar Kyoshi contact her past life when she arrived in the city in 295 BG.[7]
The shaman used firebending to detect a dark energy inside Avatar Korra.
In 171 AG, sages from the island came upon Korra washed up on shore, with no recollection of who she was. Alarmed by this discovery, the tribe members rushed the young Avatar to the village temple in order to be examined by the elderly shaman. Attributing Korra's amnesia to a parasitic dark spirit feeding on the Avatar Spirit, the shaman ordered the sages to lower Korra into a pool of spirit water in an attempt to purge her body of the possession.[8]
After cleansing her body and reconnecting with her past lives, Korra awoke with most of her memories intact and proceeded to walk through the temple grounds with the shaman, who presented Korra with a flying bison from a herd that the tribe had been maintaining since the Hundred Year War. Though the elder did not know how long Korra had been away from Republic City, she warned the Avatar that there was little time to waste, as Harmonic Convergence was only weeks away.[9]
Known members[]
Appearances[]
The Legend of KorraBook Two: Spirits (神靈)
Chronicles of the AvatarThe Shadow of Kyoshi
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Trivia[]
- The tribe's hidden library is considered one of the greatest repositories of spiritual knowledge in the physical world.[6]
- In the original draft, the shaman used the waters from a subterranean volcanic hot spring instead of a pool of spirit water in order to allow Korra to recall the origin of the Avatar.[2]
