Zigan Village is a town located in the northwestern[1] Earth Kingdom.[nb 1] It was the main supplier of food and manpower to Governor Te's palace. By 296 BG, the settlement suffered from intense mismanagement, resulting in the town's outer districts being vacant.[2] New policies by Governor Te resulted in a restoration of its infrastructure and a regrowing population by 295 BG.[3]
History[]
By 296 BG, the price of grain and rice had risen to outrageous levels. Even though there had been good harvests, most grains were confiscated for the governor's silos, which he had not opened in five years. The governor secretly traded away the town's grain every year, persisting during bad harvests while his citizens went hungry. The town was on the verge of a man-made famine.
That year, the Flying Opera Company and the Autumn Bloom Society arrived in Zigan Village in anticipation of Mok's planned attack on Governor Te's Palace to free Xu Ping An. Lao Ge showed Kyoshi the suffering within the village in an effort to convince the Avatar to assassinate the governor.[2]
After being freed, Xu Ping An planned to raze Zigan Village to the ground as one of the first actions of the newly-restored Yellow Necks.[4] However, Kyoshi stopped the daofei from doing so when she killed Xu in a lei tai duel while in the Avatar State. Kyoshi's allies brought her back to Zigan to recover from Xu's lightning strikes where a local herbalist, Dr. Song, tended to the Avatar's wounds.[5]
The townsfolk stared at Kyoshi with fear and hostility after her recovery. Having seen the flashes of lightning and blasts of air and fire from the palace, a rumor had spread that she was a dragon in human form. Despite that, Kyoshi managed to procure a pair of thick gloves from a leatherworker to hide her scars from her duel with Xu, which the shopkeeper gave her for free as a token of gratitude for defeating the leader of the Yellow Necks.
As the Avatar's party returned to the healer's house, the group was ambushed and shot with shirshu-spit darts that rendered them paralyzed. Rangi was dragged away while Lek slowly succumbed to an allergic reaction.[6] After recovering from the paralytic, Kyoshi took Lek's corpse to Song's house, informing Wong, Kirima, and Lao Ge of what had happened. Lek was buried in a field outside Zigan's cemetery in an unmarked grave per the Si Wong tradition. Soon after this, the Avatar departed Zigan for Qinchao Village to face Jianzhu.[7]
Over one year later, Governor Te submitted a report that the town had surpassed its former peak population, and could boast a new school and a herbal clinic, both of which were free of charge to its poorest townsfolk.[3]
Layout and description[]
Zigan Village was characterized by its solidly built houses and traditional Earth Kingdom trappings. The market was located at the heart of the village, full with peddlers and costumers, while the outer districts used to be completely vacant.[2]
Palace[]
The governor's palace had a traditional siheyuan design, dating back to the Hao line of Earth Kings. It was ancient compared to the Avatar mansion in Yokoya: There were four courtyards instead of two, and instead of being walled by rooms in continous, smooth construction, it appeared as if more than a dozen houses of varying sizes and heights had been placed to end along square pattern drawn in the ground. The ancient owners, who grew in wealth over time, added more and more extensions haphazardly. The mansion was extremely extravagant in comparision to the declining village of Zigan. One of the courtyards held a large, gaudy turtle duck pond, a trend during the lifetime of Avatar Kyoshi in imitation of the Fire Nation Royal Palace.
Palaces built in the Hao period often had an iron saferoom hidden in their depths. In case of an attack, the lord of the manor would flee there and lock himself behind impenetrable metal doors. The vaults had supplies to last a month, enough for reinforcements to arrive.[2]
Notable figures[]
- Dr. Song
Notes[]
References[]
|