Zu Lun shifted in his seat to a more comfortable position; trying not to scowl the assembled men before him. With the trade discussions out of the way he moved on to his final objective.

He would treat with these... 'great stone Chiefs of the island'.

'Little more than regular barbarians.' He tried not to turn his nose up in scorn. These men were smelly, rough and coarse, half the time he barely understood what they were saying despite being one of the best speakers of the native 'Bar Bar' language as the boys have taken to calling it.

They bore the scars of their land and ignorance, all were missing fingers, ears or noses- when asked about the missing appendages, most spun tall tales of losing them in valiant battle.

However, due to extensive medical examination of these barbaric people, he knew better. The true culprit of the limb or digit loss was frost bite and poor medical care.

He despised interacting with the savages as if they were on the same level, he was a civilized man, a cultured man of the fire nation. However, he had come to understand the necessity of cordial discourse with these... people, his superiors made sure of that.

These savages were very tamable, remarkably so. They were good for hard labour and with some patience could be given complex tasks. Unlike the tanned brutes of the Earth kingdom, they weren't stubborn and unappreciative of the fire nation's gifts.

In a way, he believed it to be the harshness of the land. These people were living in hovels, holes and tents for homes. For sustenance, they dug up bitter tubers and scavenged small animals. Some had even resorted to cannibalism in an attempt to meek out an existence. They marveled at sea food despite living on an island and wondered at the domestication of animals as if it was some magical art.

No matter how primitive and backwards the brutes of the Earth kingdom were, they at least could find food for themselves. Even the most backwater hill tribe in the Earth kingdom could boast in the faces of these stone island giants.

"Drink friends! To trade! To partnership!" He held his sake saucer aloft in the manner the savages seemed to prefer.

"Aye!" They shouted in unison.

Zu Lun almost lost his composure as a droplet of spit flew from one of the heavily bearded men and landed in his eye.

He barely managed to swallow his disgust and anger. It took all his self-control not to sear the flesh from the brute's bones. In an attempt to contain his rage, Zu Lun balled his fist underneath the table while utilizing his breathing technique. However, if one looked closely at his sake saucer, they would see steam rising from it.

His smokey shore native interpreter began speaking in his stead, as if picked up on his mood.

"I know some of ye want'd ta see the prince o' the fire men. And ye will one day. He's off preparin' ta meet wit with the greenlanders."

'As if you beasts are good enough to occupy prince iroh's time...' Zu Lun sneered internally as he wiped his eye with a cloth.

A savage seated near him scoffed. "Bah... damn those Greenlanders!"

Other Stone islanders seemed to approve as they added their own thoughts about the mainlanders in a wave of expletives Zu Lun had not yet added to his vocabulary.

"What they ever don' fer us but suck us dry?" A Stone chief shouted.

From what he heard, the native islanders hated and despised the mainlanders. This hatred was reciprocated. Allegedly, the mainlanders gave the stone islanders derogatory names.

It was evident they didn't care much for the island judging by the state of it. Though he did hear the mainland powers had vast lands to rule already. With their lower technological level, it would be hard to do much even if they cared.

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'Conquers in name alone.' He smiled.

These western conquers didn't or couldn't return to the island and establish order onto the savages.

'Likely savages themselves. Just ones with the ability to sail.' He reckoned.

This situation would serve to aid their efforts in securing themselves on the stone islands. Perhaps one day in the distant future, they would make contact with the motherland and begin spreading the greatness of their country to this world.

Such was the benevolence of the Fire lord and his royal line who wished to end the suffering of the whole world by bringing civilization to it. The Fire Lord wished to care for people of the other nations with tenderness and immaculate governance.

The fools of the Earth kingdom and the Water tribes were not smart enough to see this vision. Nor was the avatar and just look what happened to him.

Zu Lun leaned over to his Skagosi interpreter and whispered to him.

"Ahem! Lord Zu Lun wishes ta understan' our ways more. The fire men are findin' the custom o' stone right strange." The hall quieted down and the faces of the assembled savages took on frowns.

Zu Lun mimicked a concerned face. "Ah, didn't mean disrespect to chiefs." He lied.

The closest brute near him shook his head and spoke up. "Stone right is a old lore o' our ancestors: the first men."

Zu Lun nodded. "Stone islander hold this lore close. Even after wolves ban it."

There was a pause in the room as his words reached their ears. All their eyes were locked upon his form as if he'd grown a second head.

"Wot lord Zu Lun!?" His interpreter turned and looked at him with shock as he wasn't informed.

He morphed his face into that of bewilderment- making it seem as if he wasn't upending their whole world at the moment.

"Yes, wolves from West banish stone right lore many years past." He repeated himself; relishing their expressions.

He could feel the tension building in the room. No, it wasn't building... it was simmering. Not too dissimilar to a pot of turtle-duck stew.

And like turtle-duck stew if one didn't check on it, the tension boiled over as the great chiefs shouted and cursed. Zu Lun, the instigator raised his sake saucer to his face to keep his smile hidden.

He didn't pity them in the slightest. Even if they were savage men with barbaric practices, how could such a cuckold custom exist? To actually have a law which gave a lord rights to the wife of another man upon their sacred wedding night!? How the men or women allowed such a travesty to be birthed was lost not only on him but all his fellow fire nationals.

'Truly barbaric...'

It took some time to calm the rowdy brutes. With both his and his interpreter's maximum efforts to so.

"... Stone Islander friends not hold this ritual true?" The instigator asked with a confused face.

His question wasn't answered, instead a burly chief who was younger than the others slammed his fists upon the table and stood.

"We mus' ride ta kingshouse now!"

"Aye! Varamyr must know the change in the laws!" Another shouted in agreement.

Internally, Zu Lun brushed over the disrespect the filth had shown him by ignoring his question. He was too occupied with mocking them. Weren't they the ones who took pride in not following the laws and rule of the damned wolves?

Externally, he shook his head while adapting an uncertain look on his face.

"Do not think that will do good friends." He conveyed a remorseful tone.

"Lord Varamer already know this. The night watch and Stane clan tell us of this. Stane clan do not do it."

The chiefs shared looks of bewilderment and constipation at his words.

'Heh, just how many of your bearded, ugly wives did the lords of the land take over the past three centuries?'

While he couldn't express just how long this practice was outlawed due to vocabulary limitations. He could infer that each of them must've been cuckolded for nothing.

'The rightful punishment for ignorance.' His sneer almost showed on his face.

"Then! We take this ta the wolves! House Magnar mus' pay fer this! You'd help us right!?" The younger chief spoke up, causing the other chiefs to mumble and join in

'Hypocrites!' Zu Lun wished to shout in their faces. Instead, he shook his head.

'Now it's time to add more fuel...'

"Stone island friends know wolves not care for island. Wolves may even take much offering from Magnar and friends to keep Stone right."

He almost felt sorry for the chiefs as they came to realize their heavy tributes to the Magnars may have been financing the cuckold law all these years. Of course it wasn't true. The Stone islanders have never paid tribute to the mainlanders. But they didn't need to know that. The Magnar clan had been juicing their subjects for centuries and laying the blame at the feet of the absent overlords in the west.

"...and should wolves not know, Magnar may not stop. As Stone Island friends say, wolves not care for island." He wore a sad face.

"How could lord Magnar do this!" Another cried.

"Ta work wit the wolves an suck us dry just ta-!" Another slammed his wooden goblet to the floor.

Zu Lun observed the situation with fascination. These... people prided themselves on their semi-independence from their overlords. But as realization hit them, they began to see their generational long suffering was for naught.

They were under the impression that house stark was the cause of their misery and hardship. But now...

"Aye! Can't expec' much from 'lord' magnar! We all know the lobster! Last time I wos there ta speak fer the fire men the bastard had me thrown from his halls!" A grizzled and older chief spoke up. His face was red- at least what Zu Lun could see from his bushy mug. He couldn't be sure but he wondered if the man was grinding his teeth under the great tangled mess the stone islanders grew upon their faces.

After the revelation, the meeting's atmosphere was tainted and rather dreary. Zu Lun welcomed it. The brutes were in a tough situation. They led hard, short lives which would usually end violently. Clearly they needed a guiding hand, they needed to understand how their lives will improve once they were being ruled by their betters.

'They'll soon learn...' He thought before calling off the meeting. He'd achieved more than enough.

The Chiefs shuffled out of the hall, back to their warm rooms to enjoy their final day of fire nation heating and the standard lifestyle of a fire nation citizen before going back to their cold tents and caves.

His thoughts were validated later on that day, the young chief requested an audience.

'So soon?' He almost laughed.

"What is it islander friend?" He smiled after lowering his cup of spirit tree tea.

"I know ye fire men will bring war ta the Magnars of kingshouse one day. If not then they'll bring it ta ye. I only wish ta join ye when ye march."

He put on an appalled face. "No Understand. Stone Chief owe allegiance to Magnar clan, no?"

"Magnars don' deserve our allegiance. They never helped us in our times of need. Only taken our wives an' food in taxes. Kingshouse castle can burn wit 'em in it fer all I care." The man looked resolute.

'Fruits are sprouting.' He forced away the grin which was slowly forming on his face.

"Will give no pledge stone island friend, but will try."

He could practically see his promotion calling out to him on the horizon!