Kaocho

Kaocho (カオチョ) is a town in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, and is home to Kaocho Palace and The Ouroboros Labyrinth.

Story
Kaocho's motherland, Sana, located northeast of Kaocho at the east end of Angara, was previously under the iron rule of the warmongering tyrant Emperor Ko, infamous as the "Dread Emperor" for his aggressive expansionism. Ko sought the secret to eternal life, much like the late Babi, and Ko's example and original goal is what his aspiring successor, Wo, tries to live up to. On Ko's death, a civil war broke out in Sana which eventually crowned the scholarly Unan as its new emperor, bringing much-needed peace to the region. Wo later attempted to take Sana back by military force, but Unan successfully repelled Wo. Unan now governs Sana from its capital city, Tonfon

Matthew and company are granted entrance into King Wo's palace because King Wo has been expecting "new Adepts" for a while now. The adviser in his court that has told him of Matthew's arrival in advance - and is likely the one that manipulated the greedy king into attacking the other kingdoms for their Alchemy Machines - is a noticeably non-Kaochan named Chalis, a voluptuous woman with very non-humanlike horns on her head. Tyrell correctly deduces from her name that she is affiliated with Blados. Chalis presents Matthew's group as the Adepts that will help Wo fulfill his ambitions, which are to retrieve the Sol Mask from the Ouroboros and to help his army conquer Ayuthay. Wo describes the Sol Mask as the key to the power that can help him wage war to a greater degree, but decides that the campaign to take over Ayuthay is the more urgent issue for Matthew to contribute to, so he has Matthew take Wo's signed letter of approval.

The Adepts' obvious displeasure with what is happening quickly sours the mood, but Chalis invites the four to act on their intentions to try to take the Sol Mask from the Ouroboros for themselves, and has them dropped into the first room of the labyrinth below via a trap door. Chalis explains to Wo that despite their refusal to comply with Wo on the surface, she is certain they will end up proving their worth to him anyway - she predicts that they will see they can't truly enter the labyrinth yet, will then go to Ayuthay, and later return to find an entrance into the dungeon and retrieve the Sol Mask. Down in the first part of the Ouroboros, the Adepts, figuring out what Wo and Chalis are generally intending of them, decide anyway to leave and go over to Ayuthay with Wo's letter in hand.

Later on, after the Alchemy Dynamo is activated and the Grave Eclipse occurs, Kaocho is completely decimated by the shadow creatures, save for a few who hid inside the palace. Uniquely enough, shadow creatures battled in Kaocho have a higher chance of dropping Rice Rations, Kaocho Dumplings, and Plump Dumplings.

Description
Kaocho is based on Ancient China, with similar architecture and people. Kaocho is home to many Bamboo and Rice crops, which makes them Kaocho's cash crops.

The encyclopedia entry for Kaocho is as follows:
 * This powerful nation was founded by King Wo, who wages war against Passaj and Ayuthay from its rich palace.

Vendors
Kaocho's inn is located in the right half of the central plaza, just south of the item shop, and costs 8 coins per party member.

Djinn
Steel (Venus)- walk around to the right of the town, and come up next to the stairs leading into the palace, use Grip and follow the path to the Djinn. Alternatively, you can simply use Grip from the stairs themselves, provided you align yourself properly first.

Lava (Mars)- Outside the city wall near a lily pad, but a man staring at the fish is blocking the lily pad. After Amiti joins the party, the dumpling shop opens, buy a Kaocho Dumpling and give it to the man. He now lets you use the lily pad that leads to Lava!