Add bending research

docs/research/bending/airbending.md

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+# Airbending
+
+The art of freedom. Practitioners manipulate air currents through circular,
+sweeping motions that build momentum into gusts, cyclones, and compressed
+blasts.
+
+## Philosophy
+
+Air is the element of freedom. The practice demands internal peace and
+detachment from worldly concerns. Attachment to material wealth or earthly
+desires actively erodes ability - this is not metaphor, it is mechanical.
+The more spiritually unburdened the practitioner, the stronger the bending.
+
+The combat philosophy is "negative jing" - evasion and redirection rather
+than confrontation. Find the path of least resistance. Turn the opponent's
+force against them. An airbender's first instinct is to move, not to block.
+
+## Fighting Style
+
+Almost purely defensive. Dynamic movement over static power. Practitioners
+reposition constantly, flowing around attacks rather than meeting force with
+force. Staffs and fans can enhance precision and power.
+
+The style derives from real-world Baguazhang (Eight Trigram Palm), known
+for its circular footwork and evasive pivoting.
+
+## Core Techniques
+
+**Offensive**
+
+- Air blast: compressed jet from hands, feet, or mouth
+- Air punch/kick: rapid-fire compressed bursts from limbs
+- Air ball: spherical compressed air, can levitate objects or trap opponents
+- Air bomb: omnidirectional concussive force on landing (area attack)
+
+**Defensive**
+
+- Air shield: deflecting gust (redirects, doesn't block)
+- Air cushion: breaks falls
+- Evasive movement: the primary defense - just don't be there
+
+**Utility**
+
+- Air scooter: compressed ball for rapid ground movement
+- Gliding: sustained flight with a glider staff
+- Enhanced agility: augmented jumps and speed
+
+## Specialized Techniques
+
+### Flight
+
+True unaided flight. Requires complete release of all earthly attachments -
+not just material possessions but emotional bonds. Extraordinarily rare
+because the requirement is genuinely difficult: you must let go of everyone
+and everything that tethers you to the world. Most practitioners never
+achieve it because the philosophy that makes them good people (compassion,
+love, connection) is exactly what prevents flight.
+
+### Spiritual Projection
+
+Projecting consciousness as a visible spirit form. An advanced metaphysical
+application requiring deep spiritual discipline. The projected form can
+interact and communicate but has no physical substance.
+
+## Strengths
+
+- Excels against multiple opponents (large, sweeping area attacks)
+- Supreme mobility and evasion
+- Works everywhere - air is always available
+- No external resource dependency
+- Strong synergy with spiritual/metaphysical abilities
+
+## Weaknesses
+
+- Pacifist tradition limits lethal application (cultural, not mechanical)
+- Primarily defensive - struggles to end fights decisively
+- Worldly attachment literally weakens the practitioner
+- No natural sub-art for direct harm (contrast: bloodbending, lightning)
+- Philosophy conflicts with aggressive play styles
+
+## Origin
+
+Learned from flying bison, massive creatures whose tails generate powerful
+wind currents. The arrow markings on bison inspired the traditional master
+tattoos. Culturally, all practitioners were born with the ability due to
+their society's deep spiritual foundation - suggesting that spiritual
+environment may influence who manifests the talent.

docs/research/bending/bending-arts.md

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+# The Bending Arts
+
+Reference material for elemental manipulation systems, divorced from source
+fiction. Intended as design input for a MUD element/magic system.
+
+## The Four Elements
+
+Each element embodies a core philosophical principle:
+
+| Element | Principle | Jing (Combat Stance)        | Origin Creature |
+| ------- | --------- | --------------------------- | --------------- |
+| Air     | Freedom   | Negative (evasion)          | Flying bison    |
+| Water   | Change    | Neutral/adaptive            | Moon spirit     |
+| Earth   | Stability | Neutral (wait, then strike) | Badgermole      |
+| Fire    | Power     | Positive (aggression)       | Dragon          |
+
+## How Bending Works
+
+Bending operates through martial art motions - hands and feet channel internal
+energy (chi) outward to interact with an element. Advanced practitioners
+minimize physical movement; the most powerful can bend with thought alone.
+
+Each art derives from a real-world martial arts tradition and has a distinct
+movement vocabulary. The element responds to the practitioner's intent, emotion,
+and spiritual state as much as their physical form.
+
+## The Fifth Art: Energybending
+
+Predates the four elemental arts. Manipulates life force directly rather than
+external elements. Requires spiritual integrity - an unstable spirit risks
+corruption and destruction. Can grant, remove, or restore elemental abilities.
+
+See [energybending.md](energybending.md) for details.
+
+## Individual Art Files
+
+- [airbending.md](airbending.md) - freedom, evasion, spiritual projection
+- [waterbending.md](waterbending.md) - change, adaptation, healing and blood
+- [earthbending.md](earthbending.md) - stability, patience, metal and lava
+- [firebending.md](firebending.md) - power, generation, lightning and combustion
+- [energybending.md](energybending.md) - life force, spirit, the oldest art
+
+## Design Notes
+
+Key properties that make this system interesting for a game:
+
+- **Asymmetric balance**: each element has genuine strengths and weaknesses,
+  not just cosmetic differences. Water needs water nearby. Fire can generate
+  from nothing but loses power in eclipse. Earth needs ground contact. Air
+  excels at defense but its philosophy discourages lethal force.
+
+- **Sub-arts as progression**: each element has rare specialized techniques
+  that serve as natural advancement paths. Metalbending, bloodbending,
+  lightning, flight - these are endgame abilities earned through mastery.
+
+- **Philosophy matters mechanically**: a firebender fueled by rage hits
+  differently than one connected to life force. An airbender with worldly
+  attachments literally bends worse. The internal state affects the external
+  power.
+
+- **Environmental interaction**: water needs a source, earth needs ground,
+  fire draws from the sun. The environment is not backdrop - it's the
+  resource system.
+
+- **Counter-play**: each element has natural counters and synergies.
+  Understanding your opponent's art matters as much as mastering your own.

docs/research/bending/earthbending.md

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+# Earthbending
+
+The art of stability. Practitioners manipulate earth, stone, and rock through
+rooted stances and deliberate strikes, embodying patience and endurance.
+
+## Philosophy
+
+Earth is the element of stability. The practice is grounded in "neutral jing" -
+a philosophy of waiting and listening for the right moment, then striking with
+decisive force. Not passive, not aggressive: patient. Endurance and strategic
+timing over immediate action.
+
+The key insight is that strength comes from the ground up. An earthbender's
+power flows from their connection to the earth beneath them. Stance matters
+more than motion.
+
+## Fighting Style
+
+Emphasizes strength and defense. Distinct balance between offensive and
+defensive capability. Practitioners use rigid, grounded stances - feet planted,
+weight low. When they strike, it's with the full force of the earth behind them.
+
+Derives from Hung Gar kung fu, known for its deep stances, strong blocks,
+and powerful hand strikes. Some practitioners use Praying Mantis style for a
+more individualized approach.
+
+Earthbending is the most physically demanding of the four arts - it requires
+genuine physical strength to move stone, not just spiritual or technical skill.
+
+## Core Techniques
+
+**Offensive**
+
+- Stone projection: levitating and launching rock masses of varying sizes
+- Earth block: compressed rectangular stone as projectile
+- Earth column: raising pillars from the ground (attack or obstacle)
+- Rock slide: large-scale earth displacement
+- Earth gauntlet: stone encasing hands for enhanced melee strikes
+- Stone dagger: hand-held close combat weapon
+
+**Defensive**
+
+- Earth wall: raising barriers from the ground
+- Earth armor: encasing the body in stone (heavy but protective)
+- Earth shelter: dome or bunker from surrounding terrain
+- Tremor: destabilizing opponents' footing
+
+**Utility**
+
+- Earth tunnel: burrowing underground
+- Earth elevation: creating platforms, raising terrain
+- Earth etching: precision carving without physical contact
+- Earth compression: compacting rock into denser forms (advanced)
+
+## Specialized Techniques
+
+### Seismic Sense
+
+Using vibrations through the earth as sonar. Practitioners detect objects,
+people, and movement through ground contact with precision comparable to or
+exceeding vision. Works through walls, underground, in total darkness.
+
+**Capabilities**:
+
+- Environmental awareness through solid surfaces
+- Lie detection via physiological response (elevated heart rate)
+- Foundation for discovering metalbending (sensing impurities)
+
+**Limitations**:
+
+- Requires direct contact with earthen surface
+- Fails on ice, wood, water, or while airborne
+- Sand creates fuzzy, imprecise sensing
+- Cannot perceive visual details (faces, text)
+- Lie detection fails against emotionally controlled individuals
+
+### Metalbending
+
+Manipulating processed metal by targeting trace earth impurities still present
+in the alloy. Metal is "merely earth that has been purified and refined."
+
+**How it works**: seismic sense detects unpurified earth fragments within
+metal. The bender targets those fragments, and the surrounding metal structure
+moves with them.
+
+**Can bend**: standard metals, plating, cables, liquid metal (mercury),
+meteorite material.
+
+**Cannot bend**: highly refined/pure metals with minimal earth content
+(platinum is the canonical example).
+
+### Lavabending
+
+Phase-changing earth into molten rock and back. Extraordinarily rare - only
+a handful of practitioners across centuries. Requires minimal earth to
+generate usable lava quantities (three pebbles can become a projectile).
+
+**Applications**: molten projectiles (discs, shuriken), lava moats for area
+denial, melting armor, structural destruction. Combines earthbending's
+solidity with fire-like destructive potential.
+
+### Sandbending
+
+Manipulating loose earth particles. A regional specialization developed
+by desert-dwelling practitioners. The loose, shifting nature of sand
+requires a different touch than solid stone - lighter, more fluid, almost
+waterbending-like in its finesse.
+
+## Strengths
+
+- Excellent balance of offense and defense
+- Strong in any terrain with ground contact
+- Metalbending provides huge tactical advantage in built environments
+- Seismic sense gives unmatched environmental awareness
+- Most physically imposing - can reshape the battlefield itself
+- Lavabending is devastating area denial
+
+## Weaknesses
+
+- **Ground dependency**: must be in contact with earth/stone. Airborne,
+  on water, or on non-earth surfaces = powerless
+- **Mobility**: the most stationary art. Grounded stances mean less evasion
+- **Speed**: typically slower than other arts. Favors power over quickness
+- **Physical demand**: requires real strength, not just skill
+- Sand and loose earth are harder to control precisely than solid stone
+
+## Origin
+
+Learned from badgermoles - massive blind creatures that tunnel through earth
+using earthbending as their primary sense and means of locomotion. The
+connection between blindness and seismic sense is not coincidental: the
+original earthbenders never used their eyes.

docs/research/bending/energybending.md

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+# Energybending
+
+The oldest art. Predates the four elements. Manipulates life energy directly
+rather than external matter.
+
+## Philosophy
+
+Energybending operates on spiritual equilibrium. The core rule: "to bend
+another's energy, your own spirit must be unbendable, or you will be
+corrupted and destroyed."
+
+Success depends entirely on inner spiritual integrity and mental clarity -
+not physical skill, not martial technique, not practice. You either have the
+spiritual foundation or you don't, and if you don't, the attempt destroys you.
+
+This makes energybending fundamentally different from the four elemental arts.
+Those reward training, technique, and physical discipline. Energybending
+rewards the quality of your soul.
+
+## How It Works
+
+Unlike the elemental arts, which channel chi outward to interact with
+external matter, energybending channels chi inward and against another
+being's chi directly. The practitioner's energy meets the target's energy,
+and the stronger spirit prevails.
+
+If the practitioner's spirit is stronger: the target's energy bends to
+their will.
+
+If the target's spirit is stronger: the practitioner's energy is corrupted
+and they are destroyed.
+
+There is no middle ground and no recovery from failure.
+
+## Capabilities
+
+### Granting Bending
+
+The original use. Bestowing elemental bending abilities on non-benders.
+The ancient lion turtles used this to equip humans for survival - granting
+an element before a hunt, then withdrawing it upon return.
+
+### Removing Bending
+
+Permanently severing a person's connection to their element. The target
+loses all bending ability unless another energybender restores it. This
+is effectively a spiritual amputation.
+
+### Restoring Bending
+
+Reversing bending removal. Reconnecting the severed spiritual pathway.
+Requires the same spiritual integrity as removal.
+
+### Spirit Energy Manipulation
+
+Shaping and redirecting spiritual energy in metaphysical spaces. Advanced
+practitioners can interact with pure energy constructs and redirect
+spiritual attacks.
+
+### Astral Projection
+
+Projecting consciousness as a visible energy form. The projected self can
+interact and communicate but lacks physical substance. Represents mastery
+of the separation between spirit and body.
+
+## Requirements
+
+- Spiritual integrity that is absolute and unwavering
+- Mental clarity under extreme pressure
+- The practitioner's "true mind" and "true heart" must be tested and proven
+- No emotional turmoil, doubt, or internal conflict during the act
+
+## Dangers
+
+- Failed attempts corrupt and destroy the practitioner
+- During the act, the target's energy actively fights back
+- Even successful attempts are spiritually taxing
+- The power to grant/remove bending carries enormous moral weight
+
+## Rarity
+
+Extraordinarily rare throughout history. While theoretically accessible to
+anyone with sufficient spiritual development, the requirements are so
+demanding that practitioners are vanishingly uncommon. Most people who could
+learn it never develop the spiritual foundation necessary.
+
+## Design Notes
+
+Energybending maps naturally to an endgame/prestige system rather than a
+primary combat art. It has no martial techniques, no fighting style, no
+offensive/defensive toolkit. Its power is administrative - granting, removing,
+restoring abilities. In a game context it's more like a class ability or
+rare unlock than a combat system.
+
+The spiritual integrity requirement could gate access: a karma/alignment
+system, a reputation threshold, or a quest chain that tests character rather
+than combat skill.

docs/research/bending/firebending.md

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+# Firebending
+
+The art of power. Unique among the four elements in that practitioners
+generate their element from internal energy rather than manipulating
+external sources.
+
+## Philosophy
+
+Fire is the element of power. The true understanding centers on energy and
+life force - fire as an extension of the practitioner's inner vitality, not
+a weapon of destruction. The ancient tradition saw it as "the connection
+between the fire of the soul, the fire of the dragons, and the sun."
+
+This understanding can be corrupted. When fueled by rage, hatred, and anger,
+firebending becomes powerful but spiritually hollow. The distinction matters
+mechanically: rage-fueled fire is volatile and uncontrolled, while
+life-force-fueled fire is precise and sustainable. A practitioner who
+rediscovers the true philosophy accesses deeper power than anger ever provided.
+
+## Fighting Style
+
+Aggressive, offensive-dominant. Swift, whirling kicks and punches generate
+concentrated barrages meant to overwhelm. The style emphasizes striking first
+and maintaining pressure - not giving the opponent space to breathe.
+
+Circular motion is crucial: circular arm movements enhance and power up
+flames, similar to waterbending's flow but with greater tension and force.
+
+Derives from Northern Shaolin kung fu, known for its powerful kicks,
+acrobatic movements, and aggressive forward pressure.
+
+Unlike other arts, firebending has few natural defensive techniques.
+Practitioners adapt offense for defense - fire walls, shooting down incoming
+attacks with fire jabs - but the instinct is always to attack.
+
+## Core Techniques
+
+**Offensive**
+
+- Fire jab: quick, precise strikes (the bread and butter)
+- Fireball: shaped projectiles
+- Fire stream: sustained continuous flame
+- Fire whip: flexible flame weapon
+- Fire bomb: area explosion on impact
+- Animal constructs: shaping fire into forms (doves, dragons) - shows mastery
+
+**Defensive**
+
+- Fire wall: large barrier (adapted offense)
+- Fire shield: deflecting with flame
+- Counter-jab: shooting down incoming attacks
+
+**Utility**
+
+- Fire jet: propulsion for short flight/movement
+- Fire breath: sustained output from the mouth (advanced)
+- Heat control: warming without visible flame
+- Fire dagger: close-combat flame weapon
+
+## Specialized Techniques
+
+### Lightning Generation
+
+Creating lightning by separating positive and negative energy within the body,
+then providing release and guidance as they crash back together. The energy
+channels up through the arm and out the fingertips.
+
+**Capabilities**: instant discharge, voltage regulation (stun to lethal),
+conduction through water/metal, extended streams, arc attacks at close range.
+
+**Requirements**: historically demanded emotional discipline and inner peace
+(turmoil in the mind = turmoil in the lightning). In practice, some
+emotionally unstable practitioners can still generate it, suggesting raw
+power can compensate for lack of calm.
+
+**Dangers**: high chi cost, long charge times make you vulnerable,
+prolonged generation causes burns on the arms. Getting it wrong means the
+lightning goes through you instead of out of you.
+
+### Lightning Redirection
+
+A defensive technique: absorbing incoming lightning, channeling it through
+the body (in through one arm, down through the stomach, out the other arm),
+and releasing it. The stomach/gut routing is critical - going through the
+heart is fatal.
+
+Conceptually borrowed from waterbending's redirection philosophy applied
+to firebending's element. One of the few genuinely defensive firebending
+techniques.
+
+### Combustionbending
+
+Rare technique allowing detonation at range through focused chi channeled
+through the forehead (third eye chakra). The practitioner doesn't throw fire -
+they cause explosions at a targeted point. Extremely powerful but requires
+intense concentration and has a single point of failure (disrupting the
+forehead focus point disrupts the ability entirely).
+
+### Blue Fire
+
+Exceptionally hot flames indicating mastery and enhanced power. Not a
+separate technique but a marker of extreme skill - the fire burns hotter
+because the practitioner's control and power output are superior.
+
+## Strengths
+
+- **Self-sufficient**: generates element from nothing. No external source needed
+- Fast, aggressive, excellent at pressuring opponents
+- Strong in any environment (doesn't need water, earth, or even air nearby)
+- Lightning is devastating at range
+- Enhanced by sunlight, comets, volcanic energy
+- Good at ending fights quickly through overwhelming force
+
+## Weaknesses
+
+- **Solar dependency**: power tied to the sun. Solar eclipse = total loss
+  of ability. Night = reduced power (but not eliminated)
+- **Lacks natural defense**: must adapt offense for protection
+- **Rage trap**: anger makes fire stronger short-term but weaker long-term.
+  Practitioners who rely on rage burn out or lose control
+- **Friendly fire**: fire is indiscriminate. Hard to use precisely in close
+  quarters or around allies
+- **Physical toll**: prolonged high-output bending causes burns and exhaustion
+
+## Training
+
+Firebenders have an innate instinct not to burn themselves, but control
+requires training. The talent can manifest at birth (newborns tested with
+oiled birch bark - a firebending infant's breath ignites it within seconds).
+For late bloomers, challenging and competitive environments help draw out
+the ability.
+
+## Origin
+
+Learned from dragons. The ancient tradition taught firebending as life force
+made visible - "fire became an extension of the body, rather than a mere
+tool." Historical martial styles (Dumog, Eskrima) once enriched the art
+but have been lost to time.

docs/research/bending/waterbending.md

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+# Waterbending
+
+The art of change. Practitioners manipulate water in all its forms - liquid,
+ice, steam, and the water within living things - through fluid, continuous
+motions that mirror the element itself.
+
+## Philosophy
+
+Water is the element of change. Practitioners learn to perceive beyond
+water's apparent state - it is "feathery as falling snow, swift as a river,
+powerful as a crashing wave" simultaneously. The practice teaches adaptation:
+working with the environment, never against it.
+
+The combat philosophy blurs offense and defense into a single continuous
+flow. Every block becomes a redirect, every redirect becomes an attack.
+There is no separation between protecting yourself and striking your opponent.
+
+## Fighting Style
+
+Flowing, graceful, continuous motion. Techniques chain seamlessly - defense
+transforms into offense without pause. The practitioner moves like water
+itself, always in motion, always adapting.
+
+Derives from Tai Chi Chuan, known for its slow, flowing movements and
+principle of yielding to overcome.
+
+Regional variations exist:
+
+- **Northern/Southern style**: flowing, continuous, classical
+- **Swamp style**: more rigid and direct, powerful bursts over sustained streams
+- **Competitive style**: adapted for sport, quick exchanges
+
+## Core Techniques
+
+**Ice Manipulation**
+
+- Ice breath: freezing via exhaled vapor
+- Creeping ice: ground-level freezing rays
+- Ice blades, claws, columns, discs: shaped frozen weapons
+- Flash freeze: rapidly solidifying water around a target
+
+**Water Control**
+
+- Water whip: flexible tendril weapon
+- Water jet: propulsion for movement
+- Wave: large-scale water displacement
+- Octopus form: tentacle-like water extensions for simultaneous attack/defense
+- Water shield/dome: protective barriers
+
+**Steam/Vapor**
+
+- Fog generation: obscuring visibility
+- Steam redirection: manipulating existing vapor
+
+## Specialized Techniques
+
+### Healing
+
+Water used as a catalyst to accelerate the body's natural healing along chi
+paths. The practitioner coats their hands in glowing water and traces
+injuries. Can heal physical wounds and, with spirit water, even more severe
+damage. Cannot resurrect the dead or heal all conditions - it accelerates
+natural recovery, not miracles.
+
+### Bloodbending
+
+The darkest sub-art. Manipulating the water within a living body to control
+their movements like a puppet. Uses rigid, abrupt motions (like a puppeteer)
+rather than waterbending's usual flow.
+
+**Requirements**: Most practitioners need a full moon (massively amplifies
+waterbending power). Extremely rare individuals can bloodbend without lunar
+enhancement, and the rarest can do it without physical gestures at all -
+psychic bloodbending through mental control alone.
+
+**Capabilities**: Control victim's muscles, force movement, potentially sever
+bending abilities. Considered the highest level of waterbending and the most
+feared technique across all arts.
+
+**Cost**: Endangers the user's mental state. The act of controlling another
+person's body causes psychological damage to the practitioner. This is not
+metaphorical - practitioners who use it suffer real moral and mental
+deterioration.
+
+### Plantbending
+
+Manipulating the water within plant life. Allows control of vines, trees,
+and vegetation. A gentler extension of the same principle behind bloodbending
+applied to flora rather than fauna.
+
+## Strengths
+
+- Supreme adaptability - offense and defense are the same motion
+- Healing sub-art provides unique support capability
+- Three states of matter (liquid, ice, steam) give enormous versatility
+- Excellent at redirecting opponent's force
+- Bloodbending is arguably the most powerful single technique in any art
+
+## Weaknesses
+
+- **Resource dependent**: needs water nearby. Desert or dry environments are
+  crippling without preparation (carrying water)
+- **Lunar dependency**: power waxes and wanes with the moon. Full moon is
+  peak power. Lunar eclipse is near-total loss
+- **Spiritual vulnerability**: harm to the moon/ocean spirits (the original
+  source) directly diminishes all waterbenders
+- Less effective at raw destruction compared to fire or earth
+
+## Origin
+
+Learned from the Moon and Ocean spirits. Early practitioners observed tidal
+movements. Unique among the four arts for originating from spirits rather
+than animals. The deep spiritual connection to lunar and oceanic forces means
+waterbending is tied to celestial cycles in a way no other art is.