Breaking Law: From the sand of Jangya to the coasts of Meura
No yiff in this chapter, but you know there'll be some before too long. ;) A hyena from the savanna is advised by his religious leader to seek his fortune in the lands abroad, so he seeks out his business partner in the cold mountain countries of the north. They talk business, and come to a mutual understanding.
The Hyena breathed deep, then blew out a mighty breath over the cold ocean. How beautiful this land was! True, it didn't have his homeland's deserts or savannas, but the high rising icy mountains and the crisp, dark green forests had a beauty his homeland had none of. He was glad he took the witch doctor's advice to seek his fortune here.
On the docks were many peoples, but none quite like where he was from. Where he had a tawny fur with only a few pleasant spots of brown, the people around him were all shades of black, brown, gray, white, and almost no patterns. They didn't bore him at all, though! The bears wore massive braids of woven fur on their back, each detailing their family tree. The wolves wore not only their fur, but the died fur of beasts taken in the woods. The cats wore simple cotton clothes befitting dockworkers and vagabonds, yet still looked more dashing than all the rest. The horses' manes were tied up in all manners of dress- the short cut ones with the metal ringlets were soldiers, the long maned ones were from the northlands, and the ones with perfectly straight brushed manes were the merchants. The mooses... moose? He didn't know what they called themselves, exactly. They looked like each step was a barely, though smoothly contained burst of strength, as though in a moment's notice they could destroy everything around them. It looked like everyone else thought the same- nobody dared crowd one.
He was appreciating the view when he saw the rat. He didn't take note of the rats before, because rats were universal. They lived in his homeland, in this land, and in every other land he would never see. And in every land he ever heard of, they did the most vile, cruel, disgusting work in the land.
They were exactly the kind of people he liked working with.
"Greetings, Lenard!" he shouted.
He walked toward his friend, happy to see a familiar face in so distant a land. Lenard jumped at hearing his name, then turned to see who it was who called to him in the open with such a booming voice.
"Darbae?! What the hell-" he lowered his voice- "what the hell are you doing all the way up here?"
"Ah! That! That is a long story, friend. Do you know a place we can drink and discuss this?" Darbae asked.
"Uh, yeah, sure. Hey, if this is about that knife I took, I planned on giving it back next time I went south. I just forgot to put it-"
Darbae laughed and shook his head.
"No no no, this is about business! My great grandfather made that knife; it has very dangerous and powerful medicine in it. Please, keep it! Or sell it, that would probably be healthier for you," he said.
Lenard wasn't especially religious, but he was plenty superstitious. He counted himself lucky that he already sold it to someone for a roll of tobacco.
"Sure," he said. "Let's find a place to talk business. Have you been here before?"
"I have not! I am excited to see your home, Lenard!" He looked around, then asked in a lower voice, "though I am surprised you are wearing such quiet colors. When I see you in Jangwa, you wear a red bandana, have gold earings, and certainly more weapons than any of these guards are wearing."
"Aheh, yeah... we definitely need to find a quiet place to discuss business," Lenard said. "Come with me, and we'll see what you can do for us while you're up here."
Half an hour later, Lenard and Darbae sat in the corner of a dark bar, smoking cigars and waiting on their waitress, a cheetah woman slave. Lenard insisted they wait until the meal was served before they talked business, and Darbae was a polite guest. They filled the time with banter, swapping stories from their time in Jangwa.
"I remember this one time we had these amateur merchants trying to rob us," Lenard said.
"They attacked your ship with many wizards and guns?" Darbae asked.
"No, they all got together and said they wouldn't pay us more than a copper for ten rolls of tobacco! The whole city was in on the deal. They said if we didn't give it to them at that price, they wouldn't sell us any supplies," Lenard said.
"Ah! So their shops had many large guns and wizards!" Darbae said.
"Nope! It was all bluster- they didn't have cannons, they didn't have spells, hell, they barely had proper swords," Lenard said.
"Then... how could they stop you from just taking the food you needed?" Darbae asked, puzzled.
"They couldn't. That's what bluster means- big words, small action. So anyway, they say we can't buy their food because we wouldn't give them our tobacco at slave-labor cost. So we go in and we take it, and they call the guards!" Lenard said.
"Guards?" Darbae asked. "What do they have to do with this?"
"Well, we were stealing the food," Lenard said.
"I don't see why that is their business," Darbae answered. "You have to eat, and they would not sell at reasonable prices. In my land, such insult would warrant a duel to the death. Or at least first blood."
"Well, great minds think alike, I guess. The guards came down, asked us what was going on, and found out we had a lot of tobacco. Man, you should have seen their faces!" Lenard said, chuckling. "They offered us full protection while we took the food from the merchants, then they beat the idiots for selling them tobacco for a solid Denari!"
"I do not follow," Darbae said. "What is a Denari?"
Lenard reached in his pocket and pulled out a gold coin with a unicorn's head on one side and some letters on the other side.
"This," he said, "Is a Denari. It's mostly gold, with a little bit of some other metals to keep it strong. It's worth a lot. Way more than a copper- the merchants were selling it under the counter at ridiculous prices!"
"Under the counter?" Darbae asked.
"It means illegally," Lenard said, exasperated at his friend's lack of language ability.
"No, I know that. Why could they not buy it legally?" he asked.
"Why couldn't... Oh, hell! You wouldn't know!" Lenard said.
"Wouldn't know what? Hurry, tell me!" Darbae said, laughing. "I want to know why guards can't have tobacco!"
All humor left Lenard's face. He sat straight up and looked at Darbae in the eye, knowing that what he was about to say would make no sense to the savage who travelled to a world so far.
"Tobacco," he said, "is illegal."
Darbae knew the rat well enough to know he wasn't lying, but didn't understand.
"But... I supplied you with tobacco many times. The guards were buying it. The people buy it. I'm smoking a cigar right now. This is illegal?" he asked.
Lenard waved his hand at the entire bar.
"Everything you see here except the slaves are illegal," he said. "Alcohol is a sinful drink. Tobacco is a toxic drug. Hell- here comes our illegal waitress with our illegal food!"
Darbae shook his head, bewildered.
"The slave is not illegal- she is a cheetah, taken from a weaker clan and sold to you," he said. "And the food is just fish! Anyone may fish if they have a sharp stick."
"What you have to understand is that there are two kinds of illegal," he said. "The first type of illegal is whatever grosses the royal family out. Drunks are gross, so the illegalized drinking. Tobacco stains teeth, so they illegalized tobacco. The second kind of illegal is whatever they don't want poor people having. They make it so you have to have expensive licenses, and if you don't buy a new one every month, you can't have whatever it is."
"Like a pirate who lays claim to a channel?" Darbae asked.
"Exactly! Just like a pirate who lays claim to a channel. You wanna fish? You can choose: Buy a monthly license to fish in the coast waters, don't buy a license and go fish in the ice bergs, or go fishing in the coast waters and kill anyone who sees you. Same for oysters and slaves- you wanna have them? You need licenses," Lenard said. "You need money."
"I see. This is why you brought me here, isn't it?" Darbae said. "You knew I would miss my wine and cigars!"
"Well, that and another reason. I needed to let you know what Meura is like right now. I need you to understand that doing business with us means breaking the law. So if you have a problem with breaking the law, you need to let me know right now," Lenard said.
Darbae laughed, and Lenard relaxed.
"Do I have a problem with breaking the law?" Darbae asked. "I defeat warriors in battle, tie them to their wives and children, and sell them to you in bundles. Before your people showed up on Jangya's shores, we just killed them all. And not to be offensive, but your king's warriors don't frighten me as much as theirs did."
Lenard felt a cold chill go down his spine. He knew Darbae was a savage, but the thought of him slaughtering children seemed strange- he always pictured Darbae as more of a gentle giant. He wondered if the reason he was always so relaxed was because he had no sense of evil.
"So we're good to do business?" Darbae asked.
Lenard nodded, and they shook hands.
"I think you'll fit right in," Lenard said.
He just hoped Darbae didn't fit in better than himself.