Deep-Water squinted against the furious rising sun, weathered hands shading his face. Despite the heat, a cerulean scarf was wrapped around his throat, masking a horrid ridge of scar tissue. An ebon bandana held back his steely hair, collecting sweat summoned up by the warmth. He wore a simple, tan changbao, a rusty belt, and a commoner’s dusty pants.

The man’s eyes were dark sapphire, as vast and hidden as the ocean. They shared qualities of the ocean, a den of chaos masked by a placid surface. A scraggly, rough beard disguised angular features. All in all, he would be described as an average border-worlder, but his speech and movement rung similar to someone from the Core. This was one of the qualities that caused people to like him almost immediately. Unfortunately, it was also a quality that attracted Core trash like the Dockmaster.

Beside him was a man best described as a peach-colored toad, although the way the flesh on his neck pooled over an over-tight collar was reminiscent of some form of swine. When he spoke to Deep-Water, his almost bloated eyes shone with a false idea of shrewdness. His chins would sway as well. The man was Core, no doubt about it, somehow assigned to look after the docks of this border-planet. A respectable place, compared to some of the rougher moons, but it wasn’t exactly ribbons and ponies on Haemon.

“In case of your ship being stolen, Captain Deep-Water, I will need some...funding to acquire a guard.” Interesting how a pig so desired to be greased. Deep-Water’s earlier impression of a toad began to fade, and the man looked more like a pig the more he spoke.

“Of course, Dockmaster Peaulieu.” Deep-Water enjoyed handing out bribes, especially when the cash was counterfeit. “How long do my crew and I have to return to the ship, Dockmaster?”

The corpulent gob of flesh smiled self-importantly at the use of his title. Most called him Mr. Peaulieu, or the Hogmaster (behind his back, of course; Peaulieu had much power over the dockworkers).

“I’ll ask the workers to w