A couple days later, we receive documents from the other settlements in the island, finally giving me a more precise picture.

Algatolla lies in the northernmost tip of the island, hugging the delta of the river Dalgas. It is located in a natural harbor and surrounded by the largest expanse of flat land in the island which is suitable for extensive farming, so it is the natural capital.

Beyond Algatolla, there are four other villages, going clockwise: Tristan, Sarda, Piana and Isola.

Isola in the west is technically the closest to us, except it is on the other side of the mountain range that covers most of the island. To get there by land we need to follow the road on the east coast and pass by all the other villages on the way. Apparently, the west is so mountainous the western coast is composed of sheer cliff faces that drop vertically to the sea.

Similar to the cliffs of Dover in Earth, I guess? I want to go see them but I should focus on more important matters before I act all touristy.

Beyond that, along with Tristan and Piana, it isn’t terribly interesting. It produces lots of wheat, it has some fishermen, not much else.

Sarda in the southern tip of the island, opposite to us, is also situated in a natural port. Making it the 2nd largest settlement at around 1 thousand individuals.

Beyond that, it also has the iron mine Lugh had mentioned a couple days ago. It is, as I had thought, a very small affair, but still accounts for a large amount of our revenue. I’d rather put that iron to use in industrial production than to sell it, though.

So, it has exactly 42 workers... Snakemen slaves?

“What is this?” I inquire to the minister who was busy looking over his own papers, “The reports from the other settlements, clearly.”

“Yes, but here in the report from the mine, it says that the miners are 42 Snakemen slaves?” In my memories, I could recall people like Evie and others species that closely resembled humans, but no Snakemen. I ask Miles to fetch me a book I had seen in the palace’s study, meanwhile, Lugh answers me.

“Yes, the product of a war generations ago, the last time we were called to arms by the mainline Oisin. We launched raids upon small villages to keep them distracted from the main force. At that time we captured the ones we could as slaves along with other loot and opened the mine for them to work in, away from Manfolk, and they have lived near the mine ever since.” He calmly described the completely sordid affair as if it was nothing to be concerned about.

I could sense the disdain he felt for them in his words, “Although, some of them had been recently bought from a pirate by your father, so they weren't from the original batch.”

Just a little later, Miles appears with the book, “The Races of Dominion” and I quickly glance over the contents, there are dozens of different sentient species in the world, commonly divided into three categories, according to this book:

Manfolk, which includes humans, elves and dwarves. Species that according to this book have no discernible animal features to them.

Halfolk, which are composed of species that have discernible animal features, but are still mostly humanoid. This included the feline Lunarians, like Evie, and the sheep-like Gwynne.

And finally, Beastfolk. Other than generally being bipedal have very few to no humanoid features, this includes the Snakemen: bipedal brutes with scaly skin and long, snake-like necks over a foot long that can contort in extraordinary ways.

This ordering is also the rough hierarchy that can be found in the countries of Aedh.

Aedh… The namesake of the Kingdom of Aedhag, where our line comes from, he led a host of humans some centuries ago and conquered large swathes of land from the old Sjollander Elven Empire, which used to rule most of the known world before crumbling to various invasions at the same time. After signing a peace and taking huge swaths of territory Aedh promptly died and left his many children and generals to squabble over his conquests, which led to many successor kingdoms and decades of warfare between them. Though it is mostly stable now, these are what could be considered the human countries.

Manfolk are considered the most intelligent and civilized, though specifically in the Aedh kingdoms humans hold the most titles and privileges.

Halfolk are generally accepted as freemen and some even hold titles. It isn’t uncommon for Manfolk nobles to have affairs with Halfolk, and a few species can actually crossbreed. They are seen of generally lesser intellect but very wily and should be distrusted, half-breeds aren’t seen as much better.

Beastfolk, the lowest of the low, are considered barely better than animals, and fit only to be slaves or serfs. The book actually points out that it is illegal for Beastfolk to hold titles or own land in most of the Aedh countries.

Of course, despite my lack of knowledge of this world, the bare amount of logical thinking disproves this whole theory. The three nonsensical taxonomic groups aside, we took our slaves in a raid from a village, and surely they have their own country, since we had to declare war on them, would mere beasts be able to create complex social structures like that?

“Kavanagh, come on, I'm going to see the Snakemen” I say and before anyone can protest I rise from my chair and walk towards the door, this is something that needs to be fixed immediately. The serfs too, I had been far too complacent with the ways of this world.