Chapter 2: Out of the Frying Pan...

General Summary

After fighting their way through utter dank and darkness, and through some fanciful diplomacy, our unlikely heroes narrowly escaped their captors.

Stepping out into the blinding sunlight, the party realized a whole evening has passed since their unfortunate train ride. Rather than remain stranded in the hot and arid sands of the Halan Desert, the survivors of the harrowing train attack forge their way to the Western Waystation, just on the horizon. Although fate brought them together, they now forge their own destiny as they seek passage into the great city of Ba Sing Se.

Rewards Granted

• +5xp to all for social resolution with Captain Kong
• +5xp to all for excellent role-playing

Character(s) interacted with

Ryu, Koso, Lieutenant Song & Private Wen, Captain Kong, earthbending artisan, Caravan Merchant

Notes

Shan Jí finished tending to everyone's cuts and bruises. She meticulously combed over each of their different bumps and lesions, paying special attention to the young Ryu "and elderly Koso. Each time she used her soothing water techniques, she lost just a bit of water so that by the end, after she had addressed the five others, one of her water-skins was half empty; a combination of minor dripping and evaporation in the desert sun.   Shu Tsukuda, or "Tui" as he'd come to be known by the others, was easily the most beaten and battered among them. His scuffle with the guards in the Eastern Cove meant that Shan had to spend several minutes longer to bring relief to Tui.   "Okay," Tui broke the silence between the exhausted acquaintances, "does anyone else have questions about what the spirits happened back there?"   "Anyone know where we are? Gaun?" Nok turned to Shan and the others, but Gaun wasn't in view.   Shan looked at Nok and shook her head, "After I healed him, he said he was going to check out the ridge." She turned and pointed to the bluffs from within which they had escaped. Tui and Nok both turned their heads to look.   "I don't see him," Tui said.   "GAUN!" Nok bellowed over and over, calling to his earthbender compatriot. After a several shouts, sometimes brief hollers and sometimes stretching the name out over multiple syllables, he stopped. "I don't see him either, do you think he might have skedaddled?"   "He did say he wanted to get home," Shan answered. "There seemed to be a weight of concern in his voice." Her words gave Nok pause, and he stood still in contemplation.   "Maybe he's got a wife and kid he didn't tell us about," he speculated.   "There's a lot we don't know," Tui interjected, "but if he went home, he went that way." He pointed down the ridge.   "How do you know?" Nok asked.   "Because he said he worked for the Omashu delivery system, and Omashu is south of here," replied Tui. "We've got the Kongulan river nearby to the south, it spills out of the Eastern Lake and empties into Chameleon Bay. Gaun would need to get across that somehow, as I doubt he'd take the long route and go north to cross the Serpent's Pass on his own."   "He's right," Shan confirmed, though Nok still looked confused. "About his geography, I mean."   "I guess that makes sense," Nok shrugged. "I hope Gaun'll be okay."   Tui chuckled lightly, "Did you see the way big guy fought back there? He's an earthbender; he can take care of himself."   "Besides," Shan added, looking over to Koso and Ryu, "I'm sure we all have somewhere to be." Shan gently lay her fingertips on the back of Ryu's head, lightly tussling his hair.   Ryu, the young boy, stood tall from his low squat over the ground. He had been running his finger through the loose dirt at his feet while the others speculated as to Gaun's whereabouts.   "My parents may be worried," he said in a firm, but soft voice. "Though, they may not have realized I've been gone if it's only been a day."   "Okay," said Shan, "we know we need to get back to Ba Sing Se. Does anyone have any ideas? We can't exactly just walk there."   "We could," Tui laughed, "but it'd take at least a day."   "Well..." Nok let the word hang on his drawl, "how 'bout the train?"   "Are you kidding?" Tui chided, "you mean the one we almost died on? It's been a day since it was destroyed, you seriously think—"   "Well," the young Ryu chuckled as he interrupted Tui, "it's mostly stone, right? They've probably got earthbenders all over the place fixing everything up."   "Oh, right," Tui's expression went from confident to humbled, as if he had forgotten his own name before quickly remembering. Again he looked off into the distance. On the horizon stood a large structure, it's edifice standing out from the bluffs and the ridge. Connected to the structure, leading off into the east, were several pillars attached by a bridge of stone. Tui knew this was the Western Waystation. In a former life, he had been familiar with the station on several occasions, smuggling goods in and out of the city.   The strangers—they numbered five now with Gaun missing—made their way northwest following the ridge line. They stayed at the base of the bluffs, heading toward the waystation in the distance. Few words were exchanged between these acquaintances. A combination of shock, stress, and the desert's hot sun beaming down on them, sapped them of their of strength with each passing step. While most of the others struggled to bear the brunt of the sun's unrelenting warmth, Tui shrugged off its effects. A life at sea had left him with many souvenirs, two of which being his darkened skin and a general resilience to most of Mother Nature's endeavors.   The party carried on like this for a couple of hours, with the waystation in the distance growing larger on the horizon with each passing hour. It was not just their exhaustion which kept them quiet, but the antagonism of the very air they breathed; each mouthful of air felt like it raised their core temperature. The silence was broken only once.   "I don't know if it's a faux pas to drink someone's bending water, but..." Nok yearned in Shan's direction. He was referring to the water in her the two skins on either side of her waist. Shan looked at Nok with a brief expression of contempt; sharing her water was not something with which she struggled. It was the idea of drinking water that had been used in defense of herself and others. Still, she could see the desperation in Nok's eyes. Without saying anything, Shan freed her half-empty skin and passed it around the party, first to Koso and Ryu, then to Nok and Tui, who passed and pointed to a small leather flask in which he kept his own personal water. Even between only the three of them, her waterskin emptied quickly.   During this pause to quench their unending thirst, Shan spotted two figures coming from the waystation toward their direction, and she relayed this information to the rest of the group.   "All right everyone," Tui's calm disposition gave the impression of leadership, "let's just act natural and keep moving. Shan, can you tell if they're headed this way?"   "From the looks of it," she answered, "they're keeping a steady pace heading in our direction."   "Nothing changes," Tui said. "They may have seen our troupe and if we probably don't look suspicious. As far as they know, we're just travelers looking to get into the city, same as anyone else. Let's keep moving."   Figuratively holding their breath, and without changing their course, the five of them continued on their way to the waystation. Time and a steady pace worked to close the distance between them, and the pair of figures periodically dipped above and below the horizon as the hills brought them in-and-out of view. After about half an hour, Shan was able to get a closer look.   "I can see that they're in uniforms," she said, "adorned in greens and tans and yellows. Obviously Earth Kingdom military."   Everyone's ears perked up at the description, but no one was exactly sure why.   "Their pace hasn't picked up," Shan continued, "and they've surely seen us by now as well."   "Like I said before, act natural," Tui repeated. In less than 10 minutes, the opposing figures were in full view of the party. Although the details of their faces were obscured by the distance, their beards could be seen. These were definitely two men of the Earth Kingdom rank-and-file. Tui speculated after what they could be up to, but in Earth Kingdom territory, it could be virtually anything. This was their jurisdiction. Still, Tui felt little reason to dread the encounter; travelers on foot were a common sight in the Earth Kingdom.   Tui and the others had been following a well-beaten trail, though perhaps inadvertently, which typically saw dozens, if not hundreds of travelers per week by foot, cart and draft animal. Motorized vehicles in this part of the world were still a rare sight; these automobiles served almost exclusively as transportation vehicles, traveling north following the Kongulan River from Chameleon City and Copper Town, carrying exports to Ba Sing Se.   The path they followed was etched out along the base of the hills and bluffs separating the Halan Desert from the shores of the Eastern Lake. To the south, the desert relinquished its hold to a massive forest, which blanketed a small chain of rocky hills cutting across the plains to the south of Ba Sing Se. The forest, known as Copper Forest, shrouded a region rich in natural resources such as timber, furs, and minerals like the copper it had come to be known for.   For the two soldiers walking their southerly patrol, there was no surprise or alarm in their voices when they came within speaking distance of the band of exhausted-looking travelers.   "Hot day, isn't it?" asked one of the patrolmen as he stopped. His voice was direct, but amiable, as if he was stating a fact rather than asking a question. He shifted his weight and his armor glinted in the sun as he adjusted himself to grab something. "Here," he said as he offered up a large leather flask.   Nok stepped forward and grabbed the flask, taking generous gulps from its contents before wiping his wet grin and letting out an audibly sigh of relief.   "Thanks pardner," he said to the armored man, and he turned to offer a drink to his companions.   "The name is Wen," said the man in armor who opened his stance and put his arms to his side. Before him stood a man wearing indistinguishable clothing, a young woman in what Wen assumed were the latest in Fire Nation fashion, a small boy and frail old woman, along with a man wearing a massive leaf on his head. "It doesn't look like you lot are from 'round here."   Tui spoke up before the discomfort had a chance to settle into everyone's gut.   "We're just passing through," he explained. "My family and I were just on our way to the station to catch a train into the city." That part was a lie, he thought.   "That won't be possible," Wen said in a stern, but still calm voice. Tui cleared a lump from his throat. Before he could speak, Wen continued, "the monorail is currently out of service. There was an accident yesterday which damaged a large portion of the track."   "Oh," the disappointment on Tui's voice was sincere. He hoped the earthbenders might have repaired it like Ryu mentioned. "So how can we get into Ba Sing Se?"   "The gates are fine," Wen continued, "but you'll have to travel on foot. There may be a merchant or two willing to ferry..."   Before Wen could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Koso's inconsolable wailing.   "PLEASE, HELP US!" wailed the old woman, "we were attacked on that train, locked up, beaten, alone, terrified," her voice pierced the easygoing tone Wen and Tui had set, and she continued crooning until the other man - this one with a nice helmet - spoke up.   "I am Lieutenant Song," he introduced himself. "You will explain yourselves at once," he commanded. "Begin by explaining how you knew about the attack on the monorail. Our initial reports indicated no survivors and a missing car among the wreckage."   Tui, Nok, and Shan collectively sighed. Tui spoke up to explain, as candidly as possible, how they had been on the train during an explosion, and how they woke up in darkness. He described their escape and trek through the desert up to this very conversation.   "I understand," assured Lt. Song. "You will need to accompany my our patrol back to the waystation to speak with our captain on these matters. He leads the investigation and will have questions for you." Song stepped to the side and turned about face.   "This way," directed Wen. "We'll see to it that all of you receive proper medical attention once we reach the encampment." Wen turned about and began walking to the waystation. Nok looked to Tui, who looked to Shan, who looked to back Nok. Shan nodded her head and followed Wen. Nok shrugged his broad shoulders and began to walk. Tui followed with Ryu and Koso in front him, but trailing behind in order to bring up the rear. Or at least he would have, had Lt. Song not kept his pace to deliberately stay behind Tui. Song wanted to keep his eye on all of them; as far as he was concerned, they were suspects in an ongoing criminal investigation.   The walk back to the station lasted for nearly an hour. By this point in the day, the sun had already reached its apex and was beginning its slow descent into the horizon. The survivors of the train accident had walked for nearly five hours altogether.   As they approached the station, they were greeted first by an imposing structure nearly 20 stories tall, built straight into the edifice of the bluffs. It had two staircases, one on either side leading away from the other, also made of cut stone. It was impossible to see the other side from the base of the staircase. They recognized the familiar sound of humans in small crowds.   There were people moving up or down the stairs, and some few individuals who seemed to take up residence on the flat surface of one stair. Others stood silent, or in conversation, and an old man simply sat where he were. To say that the stairs were massive was an understatement. Each platform had room to fit more than a dozen people, comfortably, but the Western Waystation had never reached such a capacity, even before motorized and air travel.   By the time they finished their ascent up to the station platform, they had stopped twice to let Koso catch her breath, and once to pull Nok away from his admiration of the surrounding view. A train was resting in the platform, visibly empty of passengers. A throng of people encroached on a bewildered and overwhelmed gentleman who did what he could to keep the clamoring crowd at peace.   There were several guards posted throughout the platform; two at the top of either staircase, and several walking up and down the platform itself, keeping their focus on the loud, fervent group slowly engulfing the anxious stationmaster. Lieutenant Song projected his voice over the background noise.   "Keep moving along," he commanded and pointed to a section of the platform busy with Earth Kingdom soldiers. The group proceeded to a host of small structures and tents, desks, and other workstations adjacent to a large yurt of tan and white canvas. Song stopped them before they could enter into what was clearly a command outpost.   "Wait here," he said and he disappeared for a few moments before the flap opened from within. "You may enter...slowly."   Nervously Nok and Shan entered the space, Tui following behind them. Inside they saw a surprisingly spacious confinement; the makeshift housing of a much higher quality than those seen below. There were adornments on the walls, and indiscernible furs draping the floor. An ornate desk protruded from the center of the room, helmed by a large and ornately-armored man.   His hair was finely-kept into a topknot, enclosed by a metallic golden headdress bearing the Earth Kingdom's iconic circle with a square center; his sideburns reached down his face to connect to his long and angular brown and graying beard. A deep green cloak adorned his broad shoulders and obscured the decorative pauldrons resting on shoulders, though they could make out the beak of the ostrich-horse in its design. The Earth Kingdom's army was regimented, and its officers denoted their place by taking on various symbols from the flora and fauna of the kingdom. Without looking up from his desk, the man stood nearly six-and-a-half feet tall. His gold, tan, and green armor appeared to be polished, but still teased nicks and scratches. When he finally spoke, his voice was clear and full of vigor.   "I am Captain Kong of the Earth Kingdom Army," he looked up from his desk. "My lieutenant informs me that you have fed him a story."   Tui, Nok, and Shan took turns providing details to the captain, each of them choosing to focus on one aspect of their ordeal more than the other. Shan was content to give a concise and thoroughly detailed overview of her experience, as if she were filing some sort of report; she was the first to offer Shintu's name. Tui, though he was forthright, offered little in the way of intimate details about his captors and neglected to mention or name his former companion Shui.   Nok punctuated the group's story when he referenced Dr. Peng Dao.   "I see," said the captain. He stepped away from his desk, turning his back toward the group to face a board hanging behind him. Though they couldn't read it from where they stood, Tui could see a webbed network of red threads moving across one piece of information to another. "Our investigation of the incident has been kept confidential; as such, I am inclined to believe you really were on that train; though I am afraid you are the only known survivors."   "Only...," Shan's voice was a whispered breath, "survivors."   "Yes," Kong reinforced. "The site of the wreckage represented only two of the three passenger cars on yesterday evening's outbound trip. Manifests from the boarding stations along its route provided my team with conclusive evidence that the doctor was aboard that train, though his body was not among those in the disaster site."   "Furthermore," the captain continued, "shortly before you and your group arrived, one of my scouts confirmed sight of a small, but quick ship departing from within the obscurity of the bluffs overlooking the lake. This would corroborate what you told me about this 'Shintu' and her smuggling operation."   "So what happens next?" Tui asked.   "As of right now, you are free to leave," said Kong. "My staff will see to it that you receive proper medical attention. Where you go from there is entirely up to you."   "Can we get back into the city?" asked Nok.   "Certainly," the captain bellowed. "But monorail service has been indefinitely suspended until this investigation has concluded whether the Red Lotus remain a persistent threat." He paused and let out a heavy sigh.   "The Queen's recent death at the hands of these lawless terrorists has left much of the city in turmoil. I strongly advise that you do not travel to Ba Sing Se alone. The monorail may be down, but there are vultures and opportunists among the merchant caravan below who may be willing to escort you for an extortionate price." The contempt in his tone was palpable.   As he sat back into his chair behind his desk, he merely waved and said, "you are dismissed." Lieutenant Song, who had stood in silence for the conversation, opened the door flap and gestured to Tui and the others to exit.   "Our medical staff are in that tent over there," Song said pointing to the structure. "You should visit with them before you do anything else; they'll tend to your injuries and make sure you aren't suffering from a concussion or internal bleeding."   After a short trip to the makeshift medical ward, the party ventured back down the massive stone staircase to the impromptu market at the base of the way station. Around its foundation, in a rough half-circle stretching from the base of one staircase to the other, was an amalgamation of hovels, tents, wagons, and other makeshift evidence of congested human activity. Dozens, perhaps over a hundred people, moved between the structures and draft animals trading wares and offering their services.   "We should find someone who'd be willing to ferry us back to the city," Tui suggested. "Otherwise, it'll take us all night to walk from here to the Outer Wall."   "I agree," said Nok; Shan nodded and tussled Ryu's hair.   In their search they saw a variety of vendors: a woman selling furs and linens; a performer playing music to a small crowd; a man offering quickly-spoiling produce from crates stacked onto his cart. Nok was the first to notice a young male potter sitting on a large square blanket spread over the ground. The man was surrounded by a variety of earthenware products including pots, bowls, dishes, and trays. He had two large sacks on either side of him, one of which was opened, spilling a bit of its reddish-clay contents onto the blanket next to his crossed legs.   The potter held a large clay shape in his hands and appeared to be shaping it into a shallow, but very wide bowl. The pottery itself is not what caught Nok's attention, but the method employed by the potter. His hands never touched the bowl other than to keep it steady; it's concavity formed and refined by the passage of his hands over the empty space. Nok recognized this immediately as earthbending, and stood entranced over the man at work.   "If you see something you like," the man said without looking up from his project, "you let me know and we'll talk about pricing."   "These are beautiful works," Nok said.   "Thank you! Each one of them is crafted by yours truly and are the best earthenware products in all of Ba Sing Se!"   "That's an awfully bold claim," said Tui.   "It's true," he exclaimed! "The secret is in the clay." Nok's eyes grew wide.   "Is that so?" Nok asked. "What makes the clay so special?"   The man slapped the unopened bag of clay to his side which produced a satisfying thwack. As he did this, with his other hand, he pinched and rotated his fingers along the lip of the bowl, just slightly hovering the trim without actually touching the clay. As his fingers moved along the circumference of the dish, an angular pattern followed closely behind; its repeating design spread across the lip and appeared to etch itself into the outside of the dish.   "For starters," he began, "I gather this clay muh'self from the bed of Chalang River."   "Couldn't you get it from the Kongulan?" Shan asked. "It's much closer to the city."   "Well sure, but this clay is better due to all the industrial runoff from the Chalang's upstream. Believe it or not, the waste minerals deposited into the water get sifted and mixed in with the clay."   Nok stepped forward and stuck his finger into the open bag of clay, scooping a hefty chunk from the body of earth.   "Hey now!" the potter exclaimed, "you can't just waltz on over here and stick your fingers in my business."   "I'm sorry," Nok offered, and he hurriedly pulled out a few copper coins. "How much would this get me?"   The potter laughed, "what's on your finger. Now if ya ain't gonna buy nothing, I'm going to ask you to be on your way. Your crowding my space, maybe driving off other patrons."   "It was nice to meet you," Nok said as he whipped his finger toward the ground, flicking the clay back into its bag. He turned about and looked to the others. "Any of you see a ride? I really need to get to the city."   Shan looked around, squinting and hand over her brow ridges to shade her eyes from the sun. There were a great many carts, but it was a matter of finding those who seemed ready to leave. She finally spotted a large covered wagon accompanied by two ostrich-horses and rider.   "There," she said. "That gentlemen looks like he's ready to go."   On their approach, they could see the animals were restless. The ostrich-horses were vigorously kicking up dirt and snorting - signs that these lumbering animals were antsy to move. Ostrich-horses have been in use as draft animals and mounts for millennia and were bred to love hauling and carrying. Standing in one place made them jittery, and an unattended horse was liable for mischief.   "Excuse me, sir," Shan said to man who was slouched over in the front of the wagon. He did not respond. "Pardon me, but we were wondering if you'd be willing to take us to the city." She waited for a response, but again none came.   "We're looking for a ride and we're willing to pay," Tui gently tapped the man on his shoulder, who woke from his afternoon nap in a jostle. He let out an exasperated gasp before speaking.   "Name's Shu! If you want a ride into the city, that'll be 10 gold a person."   "Ten gold?!" Tui exclaimed. "That's highway robbery!"   "Highway robbery will cost you more than that," said the old man, cackling. "That's the cost if you want to cross. Dangerous roads ahead now that the train's out. Bandits have been roving around the walls since the collapse."   Shan grumbled, "can't we cut a deal for all five of us?"   The man looked over the older woman, the young boy, and the three young adults. "All right," he said. "Five gold for the lot of you."   "Er," Nok croaked, "...we still don't have that much."   "Tell ya what," Shu said, "I've got an empty wagon as you can see here. But if I take you to the city, hows about you help me load it up with goods and supplies I can ferry on back this way for a profit?" He looked over Tui and Nok. "You boys seem like strong young lads, whattaya say?"   "Deal," Tui said. He leaned over his shoulder to Nok, "this'll be a piece of cake."   "You just let me know when you're ready to leave," Shu said.   "Right now is good," said Shan.   The party loaded up onto the covered bed of the wagon, sitting on two-by-four pieces of wood on either side. Shan and Ryu helped old lady Koso onto the back first, and then took the seats closest to the front of the wagon. The ostrich-horses trotted along for half in hour before Nok broke the awkward silence.   "What do you do when you're not palin' around with Criminals?" he said, looking directly at Tui. "I mean no judgement! We all try to get by."   "I've been hoping to get into something a little more legitimate," Tui offered. "I left the life of piracy behind for a reason."   "You were a pirate?" Ryu asked with excitement, stressing the last word so loudly that Tui leaned forward to give him a 'hush' gesture with his hands.   "Uhhh," he stammered, "more like a sailor. I'm meeting a friend here, maybe trying to do a little more honest work." He paused, took a deep breath and let out a light sigh. "What do you do with, uh, the mud?"   "All kinds of stuffs I'm in town cause I'm trying to kill the stuff in here," Nok said as he pulled something out of his pocket. In his hand were three nearly-perfectly spheres of rock. "I don't wanna hold on to these any longer than I have to; it's not super dangerous, or anything it just doesn't seem to be...well, it's some kind of black algae or fungus. Caused some of our young and elderly to cough too much and made 'em real sick. I've been trying to find some way to kill it with no luck so far."   "That a big problem where you're from?" Tui asked. The question seemed to roll off his tongue as if by reflex, rather than a showing of genuine interest. Perhaps he just needed the conversation.   "It's seasonal. The stuff seems to really bloom after the late fall season; right now in the spring its dormant which gave me the opportunity to collect these samples." To everyone's horror, Nok jostled the marble-like stone spheres in his hands clacking them together. He chuckled, "So piracy, huh?"   "I grew up in a coastal village in the Earth Kingdom as a rowdy firebender boy," Tui explained dismissively. "What else is there to know? If you don't mind, I had a question about the mud - are you an earthbender or a waterbender?"   "Me?" Nok said incredulously. "You can't see I'm an earthbender through and through?"   "How did you do that back in the cave? There's an awful lot of water in that mud."   "Well," Nok began, "the people who taught me were waterbenders. I'm from a mixed settlement on the fringes of the Earth Kingdom where a few earth citizens, like my folks, mingled with the swampbenders in the region."   "So you waterbend with dirt," Tui laughed.   Nok just shrugged his large shoulders and let out a laugh, "Guess so!"   Tui looked to the waterbender in the corner of the wagon, who had been conversing with Ryu and Koso. "Hey Shan, you said something back there about the water doing all the thinking. What did you mean by that?"   "Well it's simple really," she smiled, "water has a mind of its own."   "Uh...it does?"   "The tides, the pole. Water follows gravity, but also its own tension," Shan looked off thoughtfully.   "So water wants to do a certain thing, but you push it to do something else?"   "Something like that," Shan said softly, and she turned her attention back to Koso who had regaled Ryu and her with stories of her grandchildren.   The conversation picked up and died down periodically, until the wagon eventually came to a stop. Several hours had passed, but they had finally reached the monolithic gates of Ba Sing Se's outer wall. One by one they hopped out of the back of the wagon and stretched their legs and arms. The sun was setting, brushing strokes of orange and pink across the sky.   "You all wait here," said Shu. "I'll speak with the port authorities and be back in just a minute." Shu scurried toward the gate where a long line of people formed along one side of the wall. When he returned, he offered up a plan of his own.   "I've been informed that y'all will need to go through customs like everyone else," Shu said pointing off behind him toward the queuing people. "My mercantile clearances are only good for me, my ostrich-horses, and any goods I might be carryin'."   Tui let out an exasperated sigh. "I guess we'll see you on the other side then."   "You betcha! I'll be waiting for you to help me load up the wagon as part of our deal." Tui and Nok nodded, and started for the back of queue.   They stood around for what felt like hours, but in reality the line moved quickly and orderly. As they moved closer to the massive threshold, they saw the imposing details of the gated entrance. What was remarkable about the entrances were the fact that they were temporary. In the early morning of each day, teams of earthbenders all around the circumference of the wall performed the same arduous task of moving several tons of rock and stone to carve out a wide threshold through which people and vehicles could move in and out of the city. After sundown, the same routine happened in reverse, closing the gates and walling the entire city off. Though travel to and from the city was heavily regulated in this manner, the Earth Kingdom was careful not to impede the flow of commerce and tourism.   "Next!" a gravely voice bellowed from within the wall. A middle-aged woman with a mole on her nose peered out from the face of the wall, as if she had sprung out from the rock itself. It was not immediately apparently how she got in there, but she leaned over a flat surface as though it were a kiosk and repeated herself, "Next." She drew out the word out to three syllables, a hint of annoyance in her tone.   Tui stepped up to the counter and offered a greeting.   "State your name and business and present your passport," the woman directed.   "Shen Wu," Tui said, handing the woman his forged passport. The name was clearly a fake, and both Shan and Nok glanced at Tui when he offered it up. The forgery barely passed scrutiny; the miserly attending woman presumed it to be an older print edition from one of the embassies.   "Yes, actually," Tui explained. "It's from embassy near Senlin."   "Whatever," the woman said, bored and annoyed. "Next!"   Nok made it through this inspection with little fuss. Shan presented her passport next.   "Ji Shan, here on archeological business."   The miserable woman looked up from Shan's passport, taking notice of her for the first time. Hers eyes met Shan's, and immediately looked her up and down as she observed her muted red outfit with dull gold trimmings.   "Oh, Fire Nation huh?" asked the miserable attendee rhetorically. Both Tui and Nok looked at Shan in surprise. "You here to steal more of our artifacts? When are you going to pay reparations for the war?" She continued to chide Shan who had to aggressively tug the passport from the woman's liverspot-covered hands.   "Welcome to Ba Sing Se, the Impenetrable City," the woman recited. "Enjoy your stay," she punctuated with little enthusiasm.