Earth Queen's Temple

The Earth Queen's Temple is a construction project near the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se. It is one of the many expansions commissioned by Earth Queen Hou-Ting to renovate the palace grounds. Although the temple itself is still under construction, a fully developed military compound is located directly underneath the structure, which was used by the Dai Li to train conscripted airbenders until the regiment was liberated by Avatar Korra and her company two weeks following the Harmonic Convergence of 171 AG.

History
Sometime during her rule, Earth Queen Hou-Ting commissioned the construction of a temple as part of several extravagant expansions to the palace grounds.

Following the Harmonic Convergence of 171 AG, the Earth Queen ordered the Dai Li to apprehend all citizens of Ba Sing Se who developed the ability to airbend. They were subsequently conscripted into the Earth Queen's army as part of the first airbending regiment and detained in a secret military compound underneath the temple grounds. Two weeks after Harmonic Convergence, Kai was captured by the Dai Li and sent to the facility, where he trained to develop his combative airbending abilities alongside the other conscripts.

After demonstrating disobedience during a training session, Kai was sent by the Dai Li sergeant to isolation, where he was found by Jinora's astral projection. That night, Korra and her company broke into the compound to free the airbenders in the Earth Queen's army. Korra, Tenzin, and Bumi managed to find the majority of the prisoners and escorted them out toward the airships, where they were met with strong resistance from the Dai Li under Hou-Ting's command. Despite the Earth Queen's threat to declare war if Korra took her regiment, the Avatar escorted the conscripts to the airships while keeping the Dai Li subdued with airbending. They were met by Mako, Bolin, and Jinora who managed to free Kai and defeat the sergeant and two other Dai Li agents inside the compound. The group hastily fled the capital while under attack from the Dai Li, who fired boulders toward the airships in an attempt to ground them.

Description
The Earth Queen's Temple is large pagoda-like structure built atop an elevated platform and surrounded by a wall, which in itself involves a smaller temple to serve as an entrance gate flanked by two large watchtowers. The interior of the temple is symmetrical in nature, with numerous rooms and large pillars on either side of the building lit by luminescent green crystals.



Deep beneath the temple is an elaborate military facility used by the Dai Li to conduct covert operations. The compound consists of many rooms, some of which are designed to detain numerous prisoners. Specialized containment rooms feature large rectangular gaps in the earthen wall to serve as beds. There are also isolation chambers that are narrower in comparison to the other rooms, made specifically to detain prisoners who proved to be problematic.

As is the case with many Earth Kingdom structures, the doors of the compound are opened and closed through earthbending. A large underground arena is also located within the compound for combat training, consisting mostly of open space to accommodate numerous individuals and allow free movement.