Shay soon learned that fences were to the Sailor's Ghetto what merchants of miscellaneous odds and ends were to the Trade Quarter. Seahurst was a major port of entry and exit for the smuggling of all types of banned, controlled, or heavily levied goods. The profit to be made in moving these goods to and from Seahurst was so great that the smuggling rings rivaled the merchant guilds in terms of wealth and power. The largest organizations only dealt "wholesale", and had no time for "retail", leaving a niche for individual entrepreneurs who preferred a personal touch to work as fences. Shay got the aliases and working addresses of a few fences who had built a reputation for fair rates and reliability over the years.<br/><br/>She also learned that there were two competing powers in the Sailor's Ghetto: the Queen of Mice and Men and the Knightly Nightly Order of Bat Sires, each commanding a large gang, who currently had an uneasy truce and understanding with regards to the division of power and profits in the districts. Besides these two, there were also numerous other organizations working in the fringes, such as the Thieves' Guild, which was rumoured to report ultimately to the Duke himself. "But that dun matter to outsiders like ye," one of the bartenders, rotund and whiskered, told her. "Jus do yer biz with the fence and stay out of politiks, and be off when yer ship leaves." The entrenched powers influenced foreign and unaligned thieves through their control over the fences - instead of chasing after every freelancer in Seahurst, they simply charged the fences who in turn passed on the costs to the thieves in their rates. They used the same strategy to enforce other rules - for example, no fence would wanted to stay in business would ever accept anything monogrammed with the Duke's symbol, which was a much more efficient approach then trying to forbid each individual thief from raiding the Ducal Estates.<br/><br/>"What a coincidence! You're staying at the Paladin's Rest too, correct?" The cheerful, almost chirpy voice came from a airy blonde. Her breasts were so large that somehow they managed to create cleavage in the high-necked chain shirt she was wearing. Shay recalled seeing someone in passing who looked similar during the previous evening's dinner... The woman wore a cheap wooden holy symbol on a string around her neck, and of course the symbol was nestled in the valley between her tits. Looking horribly out of place in the rundown tavern being run out of a converted cellar, patrons avoided her like the plague and prostitutes stared jealous daggers at her unblemished skin.<br/><br/>"First round's on me. Master bartender, the best house brew for my friend here and I, and an ale for every other guest, on me!" She passed a few gold coins across the counter. Hearing her announcement, some of the patrons, who were starting to leave for another hopefully religion-free bar, had second thoughts and decided that perhaps staying a while longer wouldn't hurt. The bartender looked torn between serving her and having her kicked out... finally deciding that gold was gold , he tucked away the coins, set two actual glasses, relatively clean ones at that too, on the counter and filled each with blue liquid from a small bottle he kept below the counter. "Cheers," the blonde raised her glass towards Shay expectantly.