1. It comes down to a choice between life as a sellsword or making a final stand somewhere. The Fire Nation will come for him if he stays in any one place for too long. He chooses to stand and possibly die in his homeland. Mercenary work might keep him alive but he's lived his whole life as the Fire Lord's servant, renting out his loyalties would be no better.

2. Azulon sends one hundred men after him. Piandao sends ninety-nine back. Their commander, Fat, he offers honorable service as an alternative to being rewarded for his failure with execution.

3. Disowned by his parents, he has no ancestral weapons to display. All the weapons featured on his walls are cheap Fire Army mass-production models in nice casings. Good for weeding out undiscerning eyes and for disposable throw-aways if his home is ever stormed again. His own swords he sells as he makes them; they're meant to be used.