Piandao skims over the transcribed letter from Blooming Lotus Iroh a third time. Copies will have been made and disseminated at some point between Iroh's sending of the report and this version making its way into his possession. Considering the usual circuitous routes reports make through the White Lotus' network, and the origin point of this missive being Caldera, the sword master estimates that the last of his fellow Grand Lotuses -- likely Pakku, isolated from the rest of the world behind the Northern Water Tribe's great wall -- will receive word in three days' time.
The contents of the report itself are fantastical, but they line up disconcertingly well with the latest rumors and decrees from the capital. Even as far removed as Shu Jing is, they have heard the rumblings of change from Caldera. What's more, Iroh's report contains many theories and notes of his research into the Fire Lord's new status as Agni's Herald, which means he had chosen to wait and watch the situation before informing the Lotus. Iroh's position as a high ranking official living within the Fire Lord's palace is as valuable as it is risky. It could be that the man had judged it best not to send out a report with limited and possibly inaccurate information. Sending the Lotus reports too regularly would be a sure way to attract unwanted attention and could lead to dire consequences for them all. Waiting to confirm what he had witnessed -- along with any other facts surrounding events that he may have initially missed -- would have been a reasonable decision. And yet...
It is difficult to tell through a single letter, but Iroh seems to be tentatively hopeful about the sudden and drastic changes in Fire Lord Ozai. Is it the hope of a clear-eyed man seeking a path to usher in peace for a war-torn world, or is it the hope of a grieving man clinging to the tattered remains of his family?
Piandao sets the report down and glances across his desk at the missive that had arrived yesterday, for all that it had been sent from Caldera more recently. Perhaps he should reconsider the sender's request and travel to the capital, after all. The offer is certainly intriguing on its own, as is the added mystery of 'other matters to discuss in person, at your desire as a master swordsmith and swordsman,' and he is the only Grand Lotus in a position to verify any part of Blooming Lotus Iroh's claims.
Beyond that, he had been the one to second Blooming Lotus Akira's proposal to induct Iroh fully into the order and he knows the man best out of the current Grand Lotuses. As a result, Iroh is in some ways his responsibility.
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Decision made, Piandao reaches for a fresh scroll to begin drafting his response to Fire Lord Ozai.
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Bumi is surprised. Even more irregular an occurrence, he is not tickled by the increasingly rare feeling of an unexpected discovery. The mad king scowls down at the unrolled parchment spilling over his desk. He has read and reread the report five times now. As intriguing as the main report is with its talk of long dormant spirit gods and reforged heralds, it is the seemingly unrelated addendum at the end meant solely for his own copy of Blooming Lotus Iroh's letter that has him perplexed.
It would not shock him if, after the genocide, the Fire Nation had taken the Air Nomad birth and trainging records to aid in their hunt of the survivors. It would not leave him filled with disbelief if some over-ambitious child of fire had been able to uncover the connections he used to have with a few different airbenders, though his friendship with Aang had undoubtedly been the strongest.
If that were all there was to it, he'd cackle and dismiss this as the century-gone nonsense that it should be. Maybe he'd find some way to tweak the nose of whoever had thought themselves so clever as to set Iroh chasing ghosts. The entire addendum is a single sentence long and, oddly enough, it contains no mention of the lost civilization, only a matching pair of names that he has not heard in almost a hundred years. And that is the detail that gets to him, because...
"How in the iron mine did they learn Appa's name?" Bumi asks the empty room as he scratches at his patchy hair.
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Jeong Jeong forces himself not to burn the letter as he crushes it in one clenched fist. Wrinkles and creases can be smoothed away when he has regained control of his flaring temper. Fire's effects tend to be more permanent.
What new game is the Fire Lord playing? Is the previous crown prince being pulled in by Ozai's machinations? Or does the Dragon of the West dance willingly to the tune of the Fire Lord? Was it a mistake to trust the man and bring him into the Order of the White Lotus? Will it be their downfall?
There are too many unanswered questions, too many unknowns he has not yet thought to question. Of one thing he is certain. It is fire's nature to consume all that is in its path.
All Fire Lords inevitably fall to the seduction of power and flame, leaving everything within their reach scorched. It is a matter of 'when,' not 'if.' And they already have two years of proof that Fire Lord Ozai follows closely in his father's footsteps, much as Azulon had followed after his father before him. This call for peace is nothing more than a sham. There is a trap somewhere. If they do not discover what it is in time, they will all be as so much kindling for the fire.