More noodling

[ellarien]

This is more setting, or maybe deep backstory, than plot.

The Shipwights have planets -- planets where the Behemoth ships don't go, that very few humans have ever seen. In fact, the ones on the ships aren't a much bigger fraction of their population than the humans on the ships are of theirs.

And when I realized that, I realized something I don't know. What do the Shipwights get out of the deal? They let humans use the ships and mostly dictate where they go, an arrangement that's gone on for generations; what's in it for them? Two possibilities spring to mind; either some trade goods they can't get for themselves, or some ancient debt that goes too deep for the agreement to be broken even though they've had humanity under mild sanctions for the last generation or two. It doesn't necessarily have to make complete sense in human terms, but it does have to be understandable.

Comments

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Maybe they collect loose change out of the sofa cushions when they service the ships. Or maybe they like dandruff.

[ellarien]

Now there's an image! Not necessarily the one I wanted, but definitely an image.