Chapter 224: Chapter 209 – A Fish on the Hook

"People who prioritize profits above all else always tend to overreact should someone threaten that very profit of theirs. More often than not these very same overreactions would be the beginning of their downfall, if not worse." - Azar'ēl Cebrunae, Mayor and Crime Lord of Sev-Galas, circa 644 FP.

For the next few days, Aideen took her time to relax as she marveled at the sight of the grand city under the mountains. Despite their somewhat different appearances - supposedly the dwarves of Ur-Teros were distant cousins to the dwarves here that migrated after they lost a civil war millennia ago - the dwarves showed that inside, they were mostly the same sort of people she was familiar with.

 

Much like the dwarves she was familiar with at home, the dwarves in Alcidea had a strong passion for building and crafting, as well as a near-religious appreciation of good alcohol. Since Knallzog was one of the kingdoms in the northern continent that integrated the various races, there was quite a variety amongst its people.

 

All those people brought their own histories and cultures with them. These cultures then met, sometimes clashed, and eventually merged with one another as they formed the rather unique culture of the kingdom.

 

Aideen even saw a few goblins and orcs in the kingdom. The Alcidean greenskins were far more insular than the ones at her homeland, and rarely wandered outside their tribal lands in general. In many countries they were not even considered people, with only the elves, Clangeddin and Knallzog as the ones who acknowledged their sovereignty.

 

Yet sometimes the mingling of such cultures brought bad eggs as well. The current guild of healers - a practice that supposedly got started in the small kingdom of Ezram to the north then spread out - was one such example.

 

Aideen was perhaps a bit too idealistic, but as a healer herself, she always felt that it was her responsibility to aid anyone she could with her gifts. The entire idea of charging prices that bordered on extortion to save a life was entirely abhorrent to her.

 

She was not the least bit surprised when she was accosted during one of her trips into the city four days after her arrival. It had lowered her opinion on the competence of this guild of healers though.

 

That they only learned of what she did - her stunt at the village only two days away was not one people could fail to notice - and took so long before they began to act was rather disappointing. She had thought they would have accosted her within a day or two of her arrival.

 

It was a group of five that accosted her in a quiet, dimly lit alleyway. Two thuggish human men had entered the alley after she had, cutting off her path of retreat, while from the other side came a group of three.

 

The corpulent human man dressed in silks in the middle was clearly the one in charge. He was flanked by a tall, buff, and broad human woman, and a man Aideen mistook for a short human at first.

 

On a second look Aideen realized just what the man was. A beardless dwarf. The permanent removal of the beard is a mark of disgrace amongst their kind, a punishment for those who had broken the law in terrible ways yet undeserving of a death penalty.

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Many sentenced to beard removal chose to be executed instead.

 

It was done by shaving off their facial hair coupled with the application of alchemical concoctions that prohibited hair from growing ever again. On a closer look, the completely bald, hairless man was too wide for a human, with arms too long and legs too short.

 

Most such dwarves left the dwarven lands entirely, too ashamed to face their own kind. Many committed suicide, others exiled themselves and never returned. That this one stuck around and played thugs for corrupt humans meant that this was probably one of the really bad eggs of the lot.

 

All four thugs - Aideen thought that was likely what they were - menacingly brandished wooden clubs in their hands. A look clearly meant to intimidate. Too bad they had tried it on the wrong person this time.

 

"You know, young miss," said the corpulent man as he walked ahead of his thugs and twirled his long mustache absentmindedly with one hand. "When in a foreign land, it would be better to behave yourselves, lest you break some local customs. We don't always take kindly to that."

 

"Color me surprised," said Aideen defiantly as she looked the corpulent man straight in the eyes. Already she noticed how the man looked discomfited by the way she reacted. He probably hoped to see fear and compliance out of her, not defiance. "Never knew healers here were never taught by their mothers to not be complete shitholes."

 

"A cheeky one, I see. Have it your way then," said the corpulent man as he twisted his mustache almost into a knot. Aideen had no idea what to think of the man's habit. In her eyes it made him look like a two-bit villain from children's tales she'd commonly heard before. "Magda my dear, please be so kind as to teach this wench a lesson on my behalf."

 

"The rest of you boys can have your fun with her after Magda is done," added the man with obvious malice in his voice, as all three male thugs eyed Aideen in a disgusting, lustful manner that almost made her want to scrub herself clean to the bone.

 

Their malicious intent was obvious, beyond any reasonable doubt. Not that she would have let even that stop her anyway. The thuggish woman had approached her by then, the only one of the bunch who had not looked at her with obvious lust and disrespect.

In fact, Aideen thought she caught a hint of pity in the woman's eyes, as well as sorrow and helplessness. She thought the woman was probably someone forced to do things like these against her will, and noted to herself to be gentler with her.

 

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