Impending Transactions

Habib and his caravan are already preparing to depart for Lara before tor-tu-gor rises tomorrow. The tents are being disassembled and the animals readied for the journey. Most telling, however, are the wares of Habib that have started to show up in the shoppes of the Vennan Market. Fine rugs of Tor and the red salt of Kasra are being vended at exhorbitant prices, marked up from the wholesale cost for the eager Vennan public. There are men in Venna. So it goes without saying that the goods most sought after this morning are the swarthy captives from exotic southern locations. Kohl-eyed beauties in their halters and chalwars, veils across their lips. Three or four months prior, these might have been street urts from the meanest warrens & back-alleys of Tor. Now they are the stuff of traveler's tales; perfumed with incense and belled at their ankles. The northern buyer, delighted by the dark eyes and darker hair, will not know the difference between such a girl and the daughters of a sultan or a pasha. Some of them are marketed as women of the Aretai or the Kavar or a hundred tribes vassal to those two. Merchants and Slavers such as Vesutto will sell these women a few at a time, holding back the bulk of their stock to keep the demand (and price) for southern slaves high. Aiding in this endeavor is the penchant for most Vennans to keep such slaves chained in their villas, a possessively guarded pet for their private delectation. Now and again they are seen heeling their well-to-do masters in the markets, carrying his packages. They are women, after all. And slaves. Many of them, however, I suspect are able to extend the mysteries of their origin, employing their wiles for years to obtain indulgences from willing masters behind closed doors. I cannot explain the relative scarcity of such women in the streets of Venna any other way. I know Habib vends his sluts with regularity here, perhaps once every two years. It may be, simply, that they are sold here and then vended abroad. That is another possibility.

I have given serious consideration to Habib's offer. I do not know for whom he acts as intermediary, but the man has deep pockets. I must make my decision by this evening and should I choose to accept, deliver the chattel before dawn. With the diversification of my investments and income streams, it is fiscally viable to complete the transaction, and I think I may be able to get the already generous offer increased further. A new carpet leading to my den at Samsara would be nice.