"I am not a fan of slavery and I don't even think it was particularly common, but it did ever happen. And by and large, gifts are random. For example, you could have in one generation a unicorn that had harmless gifts like purification or repairing, and then their kid gets the ability to squish people with telekinesis and create portals. Which can easily be used to cause mayhem and escape. Not stable."

"Territory is just... the bits of land that a given group can enforce their laws in."

"The problem is lack of powers, not just being human. I trust that everyone here will know to respect you, regardless."

"Depending on the city-state, but in mine all masculine people born there had a vote. Voting was called for things like going to war, or to vote for big city projects and some laws. It was obligatory to go in some cases, but one could send the head of family. There was also jury duty, but that rarely was obligatory to go, so there were representatives that effectively voted on behalf of large groups of people."

"You don't have a way of stopping people from using gifts they have?

And there's... a bunch of groups with different laws? How does that work out?"

'The problem is lack of powers, not just being human' is not a super great thing to say to Aye, let alone in front of Genea, though she doesn't react with more than maybe a facial expression.

"All what people born there?

What's head of the family entail?"

"There are ways that vary per gift, but nothing that works on everything and is also simple to implement."

"I am not sure what's confusing you."

"It has been a while since I heard the exact word of the law, but I think it requires your parents to own a house within the city's limits and then have you. Which not everyone can afford. There was a phoenix sometimes."

"Head of the family is an entirely informal position, it just happened to be the oldest masculine person, or their heir."

On one hand, you could describe both Tscher and Southern Crossing similarly. On the other hand she got the impression that the local groups-with-territories may disagree with each other more? "What happens when people go from place to place? Do you get arguments between groups over where the edges of their part should be?"

Why would you even call that 'born there', she doesn't say to Genea, because this is Genea's problem to be upset about, not hers. 

Genea has indeed noticed the relevant similarity. She doesn't say anything either. Exchanges something like a telepathic look - yeah, I noticed - with Aye.

And, he said that word again. What. 

"OK, that's the second time you've said that word. The oldest what person?"

"People are expected to obey local laws. Sometimes someone is infamous enough that they are hunted across political units, and how that's resolved varies. There are definitely arguments over the edges and who gets the taxes."

"Oh, masculine? Giants don't do gender quite the same way other species do. Masculine is someone that takes the roles usually associated with men."

What

"...Why are there roles associated with men? Why are they associated with men if anyone can take them? Why is that the people who get to do things?

...what do other species do?"

"Sorry, it's just how our societies are, it's not something I support about them. There is so much I don't. Humans default into something like what giants rule, but without the flexibility of allowing people changing roles. Not all humans are like that, nor are all giants, I am just giving the general way things are. Faen have women be in the rulling and commanding roles. I am not sure about the others, if they even have anything."

How is that even a problem you end up with?? 

...Something about sex? Or children?

...well guess I wouldn't know anything about that. 

Still though.

Yeah.

"What else don't you support?" she says out loud.

"Uh, could you be more specific? I generally don't like cruel punitive sentences for the sake of inflicting harm on the perpetrator? I am not sure how I feel about indentured service. Either the voluntary kind or the punitive kind - places where they don't do punitive indentured service use other methods that can be just as bad or worse."

"Still don't think we really know enough to be more specific." 

She makes acknowledgement of his list. 

"What kinds of other methods?"

"Mainly death fast or slow. Some forms of harm and mutilation that might result in death anyway."

"...Accidentally?"

"You mean, like a thief that gets a hand cut off and dies anyway when the goal was nominally keep them alive?"

Would that kind of thing happen in Southern Crossing?

...Maybe sometimes? If - field laborers couldn't afford healing, and the landowner wouldn't. Same as if they were sick or injured. ...Probably might happen in town too? But - it'd be a bad landowner.

Maybe if someone was - a problem, but they hadn't been caught for something worse yet.

Yeah, about same here. Well, except the last part, we don't tend to care if people are caught. Or if they're problems for not us, for that matter.

Mage who didn't care. Or sadistic one, you probably don't have that one so much.

But it'd take a mage like that to cut off someone's hand to begin with and not put it back; not really great for getting anything done, that. 

No. We don't do that. 

"Is that the kind of thing that happens all the time, or would that be unusually bad for some reason?

Also - we just compared notes on where we're from - why is cutting off a hand a punishment?" 

"I am not sure how often it happens. The idea is that the person would be too scared to do it in the first place. And also that they used the hand to commit the crime, so it's somewhat symmetrical to take it. Never mind that it makes so much harder to earn money, including healing money."