The Drow Queen of Glaley [Very NSFW]

[GamesMaster]

"She's... things are different, now. We should pay her a visit, actually. Tell her what's going on."

[Jassinth]

"That's your other sister?" Jass confirms, allowing the topic change for now. Seems we've bought a day or so. Probably better to get a better feel for her before I try to point out that those who are only mean while drunk are almost always those who will spend more and more time drunk as the years pass. He frowns, ever so slightly, as he realizes he's going to have to admit to Granny Peli that those lessons on 'small town diplomacy' are paying off in ways he'd never had foreseen a season ago.

[GamesMaster]

Tsuki nods. "She was the first to be wed. She is on Tiger Island now with her babe."

[Jassinth]

"And the Tigers are..?" he prompts, glancing at Shiori.

[Shisou]

"A rival family. One I am not particularly enamored with," she says, in a dark tone. "They courted my sisters but ultimately only wed one."

[Jassinth]

Courted. That's Toukami for 'made free use of' my sisters. No, I should not... Ugh. I need to get used to this, but the idea of casting off a woman simply for being barren is... Still, I suppose it is better than what I have heard of Galey doing. Jass's head shakes a little, marveling and horrified at the idea that a family would cast a daughter out for simply kissing before marriage. Unless... No, Granny Peli would absolutely prank me in such a way but too many travelers have shared similar. She could not have gotten to them all. Right? "I see, thank you,"  he adds belatedly. "How rival? Ah, I mean, in what sort of way? Or ways?"

[GamesMaster]

"Thanks to a number of marriages over the years, they stand to gain much when we dissolve," says Tsuki. "They've been after some of our contracts for ages, trying to woo away our suppliers."

[Jassinth]

"Are the suppliers the bulk of what they stand to gain? Or perhaps I should ask first; what does your family, ah, produce? Specialize in?"

[GamesMaster]

"Our holdings specialize in growing rice, like everyone else, as well as wool and goat's milk."

[Shisou]

"Land on the shore is divided up by lord," says Shiori to explain further. "The more of the Emperor's favor you have, the more land you get, and you get to charge a... a tithe? Is that the right word? When your people sell their goods, they send some of the money to you. There are then shipping contracts on top of that that are renegotiated every year, for people shipping goods to other cities."

[Jassinth]

jassinth blinks a few times, head tilting first left, then right. "...why don't you just grow things on the shore and boat them over?" he asks blankly. The land we passed over was not optimal for farmland, no, but it was no desert or wasteland.

[Shisou]

"We do. The farmlands are all on the shore. We have primarily residences, shops, and entertainment on the islands."

[Jassinth]

Jass nods slowly, still a bit confused. "Why compete and try to steal each others' farms then? Why not just... expand out more?" If a fellow hunter is out doing you, then you don't try to steal his kills, you move to a new range. Or, if there's not a range you can reach, then you ask at the Oak to arbitrate. After all, if the other hunter is that much more skilled than his rival, he should be able to easily hunt farther away or in a more dangerous spot. 

[Shisou]

"The emperor owns all the land, he awards it to families who please him."

[Jassinth]

Jass stares a moment, then nods his head. "That at least makes sense," he allows, frowning. It's clear he doesn't exactly approve, but he understands at least. "Wait; this emperor; what kind of man is he? Can he be reasoned with? Bargained with? Is he pious?"