Chapter 2: Into the Forest
Over three months have past since we came to Dairen and we've made some progress. After we found the black market, we were able to join a gang of smugglers (Toph's ability to make statues out of stone helped convince them we had connections to other smugglers, so they asked us to join them). Lai (the boss of our gang) and some other smugglers provided us with a lot of information about the city and taught us the proper slang.
Firstly the Governor of Dairen, Jiating, had introduced a tax 6 months ago to "protect" the citizens of Dairen from Earth Kingdom assaults. Given that the nearest Earth Kingdom town was over 50 miles away this tax was obviously unnecessary. However this tax would be a good way for Azula to raise money for her army, so we decided to investigate how the money was spent. Unfortunately determining how any of the taxes were spent was difficult due to the widespread corruption and manipulation of almost all the records (some of the "friends" of the smugglers who worked in Government told us how corrupt it was). Though we did learn that Jiating often made large purchases, so we decided to investigate these to see what he was purchasing. Again we met with disappointment because he was just spending money on banquets, silk clothes, and furnishings for his house (none of which would benefit an army). Though we did investigate the companies that provided the food, clothes, and furnishings in case they were sham companies set up to funnel money to Azula, however they seemed legit (though they did send some products by sea it would be too difficult to check all of their sea trade to see where it was going). If Jiating was secretly sending money to Azula through sham companies he was hiding it well (though Azula would need a lot of administrators to coordinate these companies).
Secondly Poppy Tea was seen as an Earth Kingdom drink, so it was very unpopular in Colonies (meaning that there was a very small market for opium). According to the smugglers if anyone who wanted to purchase opium it was usually to sell somewhere else. It seemed that if we wanted to find opium dealers we'd have to travel further south. Our remoteness from anywhere Earth Kingdom also meant that Earth Kingdom slaves were rare as well.
Thirdly there was no point in reporting smugglers to the Fire Nation soldiers because most of them could be bribed. Some even charged the smugglers protection money (those who didn't pay would often be framed for a crime and then executed).
Fortunately we did learn some useful things. Firstly one of the "sailors", who provided us with "merchandise" told us that Azula had been holding rallies in the Yunnan provinces in the south to gain support and funding. We sent this information to Aang as soon as we could using Xiaohong. We also told Aang to send Xiaohong back to Dairen. Secondly we learned about the Fort.
One of our "clients" wanted some valuable Earth Kingdom scrolls, so he hired Lai to collect them. Our job was to go into the forest and meet with our contact who'd bring the first scroll to us. When I asked Lai why we had to go into the forest I was told that we were getting "merchandise" from the Fort. I tried to get more information from Lai but neither he, nor anyone else, knew much about the Fort; other than they specialised in Earth Kingdom "merchandise", their "contacts" were always Fire Nation soldiers who rode Mongoose Dragons, and they all smelt of incense. This all sounded very suspicious, especially since Komodo Rhinos the preferred transport among Fire Nation soldiers.
I made sure Toph accompanied us when we went to collect the scrolls because I wanted her to use her feet to determine where our "contact" came from. Though we reached our meeting point in the early afternoon it took over an hour for our contact to arrive. Like Lai said he was a Fire Nation soldier (one with the skull mask, not the type you'd find in a town) riding a Mongoose Dragon and he did smell faintly of incense. Lai traded with the soldier, we were just stood around to protect the "merchandise" from bandits and rival smugglers. The exchange was short and our "contact" got ready to leave. Trying to gather what information I could I asked him if he'd had a long day, he replied that he's been travelling since dawn. He then left, travelling a different route. Toph was unable to follow him with her feet because he had his Mongoose Dragon run across a river (I guess they're using Mongoose Dragons to make it harder to track them). However if he'd only been travelling for about half a day this meant the Fort was near Dairen.
Since Lai's "client" wanted some other scrolls, but was only willing to pay for one until he could check their quality, a second meeting was set up. Again I volunteered for it and brought Toph along. This time I sent her and Suki further along to try and find the path the Fire Nation soldier took coming here (Ty Lee was no good at sneaking and hiding since she got distracted so easily, so she remained with me and Lai). After short time after our "contact" arrived (from his voice I could tell it was a different Fire Nation soldier), traded with Lai, and left Toph and Suki rejoined us. It seemed that he took a straight route coming here (probably because he didn't want to damage the "merchandise") but took a more complex route going back to prevent anyone following him. However since we knew the direction he travelled in, that he travelled about half a day, and how far a Mongoose Dragon could travel in that time I could determine the probable location of the Fort (though it was still a large area).
That evening I proposed we get some supplies, head into the forest, and search for the Fort, since we weren't making any progress in Dairen. Toph eagerly agreed (she was getting bored with following merchants, checking government records, making "deliveries", and "protecting" smugglers) but Suki and Ty Lee were more reluctant since find the Fort in such a large area would be difficult. Eventually we decided to look for the Fort in the forest but decided that if we found it we wouldn't attack it unless we were sure we could win.
The next morning we informed Lai that one of our "suppliers" had some special "merchandise" that he though we'd be interested in, so we'd be away for a while (it was a lie but in Dairen people often used this excuse before suddenly leaving). He seemed a little disappointed (we were very reliable) but he said he understood. When we mentioned we'd be travelling through the forest he even told us about a "friend" of his who would sell us supplies at a "special discount". Later we went to this friend and got a lot of Trail Mix and some noodle soup, some tents, rope, and cooking equipment. The "friend" also told us which berries were edible and warned us that there were Skunkbears in the forest.
After we got the equipment we needed I check in at the Post Office to see if Xiaohong had returned. Since he hadn't come back (what was keeping him) I couldn't tell Aang where we were going but I did send a message to Zuko explaining what we had found and where we were going (as Zuko asked us to do I wrote this message in code and addressed it to Mai in case Azula's spies were intercepting messages for Zuko).
That night we went to bed early and woke up early the next morning. Just before we left I check at the Post Office to see if Xiaohong had returned, but he still wasn't back. Despite not having Xiaohong we left Dairen and set off into the forest.
Notes:
Lai is based on Lai Changxing, a Chinese smuggler.
Jiating is based on Li Jiating a corrupt governor of Yunnan Province. His son (Li Bo) was also corrupt.
The Yunnan Province is a province in China.
Trail mix: a mix of nuts with raisins that provides good nutrition, protein, and is easy to eat. Since it can't go bad it's popular among backpackers. Though oatmeal and powdered soups are also popular they probably don't exist in the Avatar world.