The great barge gently rocked, sitting low in the water from the crowd above. The chatter quieted as the bell rang to start the meeting.
“First order of business! Materials!” The chief of the seafarers stood on platform, heading the meeting. “Skarok has volunteered to go into the dry to harvest the long logs needed to build the biggest boats. We will be able to replenish our stores of wood much more than driftwood will.”
A voice shouted out over the chief from the crown. “I’ve heard that the dry is full of earthmen! Don’t they murder people?”
“Our ancestral tales are centuries old, but they often warn that earthmen commit slaughter in the hundreds. They even have something called war, where they arm thousands and have them fight to the death. Skarok has accepted these risks, and understands these threats.”
Murmurs broke out through the crowd. No one objected, but everyone knew the danger.