There are two major factions among Sosaria’s cattle barons - the Blood and Soil faction led by Cessine the Fair and the White Hope faction by Horvath Pignose, a wayward scion of Newhill’s clan (17.07). Cessine’s Blood and Soil faction ruthlessly favors local ranchers, while Horvath’s White Sun faction wants to open the Trunk to foreign livestock, especially the Night Cattle (see the Lands of the Night Cattle). Horvath asserts that his jerky makers can transform Night Cattle precious meat into a convenient and delicious holy sacrament that all faiths can appreciate. A covert war boils between the two factions. Butchers and plague doctors are wielded as assassins, demagogues and agitators. Human bones are turning up in the refuse piles. Imorcar the Many’s sycophants are sitting out the conflict for now, but someone may convince them to lend their spells to one side or the other.
Connections
- The local cattle barons often incorporate cages containing birds of paradise into their clothing in order to deter assassins.
- The silk merchant Weng Lo died while ballooning with a local cattle baroness (29.14.45).
Hooks
- Tell me about some other cattle barons.
- What methods to Sosaria’s plague doctors use to prevent, contain or spread illness?
- Is anyone offended by the idea of mass-marketing Night Cattle jerky?
- What would it take for Imorcar’s sycophants to pick a side? They’re a selfish, paranoid, covetous lot who rarely concern themselves with the city’s affairs.