Scorrero Nets
Overview
The Scorrero Nets are located along the banks of the Scorrero in northernmost Oranseri in the Freeborn territory of Feroz. Custodianship of the Scorrero Nets grants an Imperial title; a seat on the Imperial Bourse; and a seasonal bounty of valuable ilium.
The Resource
A wise Hakima learnt by chance many years ago that the Scorrero carries ilium in its waters, washed from the land and carried towards the sea. Now nets are placed in the water at key points, primarily along the length of the Scorrero that runs through Feroz, to sieve out the precious material before it is lost to the deep waters of the Bay of Catazar.
The gangs first started appearing once the scope of the ilium catch was realised. What could have been worked by one was suddenly taken by two. The gangs formed for protection as much as to work their part of the river at first, but many have also used their numbers to enable some extremely aggressive negotiations for ever larger claims. There are many official pitches along the banks of the Scorrero close to Oranseri, but further up the river where the pickings are leaner it can seem like open warfare between the net gangs, as well as constant issues between claim jumpers, and wild-catters from Siroc who are considered worst of all.
By law, anything else the net gangs dredge out of the river is theirs to keep. While the ilium is the true bounty of the Scorrero Nets, there is also the potential for small fortunes in gold and occasional odd items of archaeological or mystical significance. It is not uncommon for the holder of the Seat to be called on to mediate a dispute between two groups of workers - especially as the Freeborn form only a slight majority of the net gangs - there are significant numbers of League entrepreneurs and Varushkan workers prepared to take the trek to the Scorrero to try and make their fortune.
Claim jumpers and wild-catters are not the only dangers of the river. All along its length the Scorrero is wide, deep, and has subtle but strong currents, ready to take the unwary. Workers must be constantly on the alert for detritus swept into and carried along by the river. The Scorrero is also prone to flooding, especially when there is a late Spring or when unexpectedly warm weather causes an unseasonable thawing of the snows in the Kahraman peaks.
One of the most dangerous tasks on the net is not actually the Ilium farmer, but that of net rigger. It is the rigger’s task to ensure the nets are clear and in good repair, and it is the riggers who suffer the majority of the accidents along the river. There is one tradition that is observed by all the net gangs, rivals or not. If a dead rigger is found in a net, they will be brought out of the river, cleaned and washed, and carried in state back to their own gang. On the way every rigger they pass will pause to honour the funereal procession, all of them singing The Rigger’s Dirge, a sad song that laments the appetite of the cruel Scorrero for the lives of men and women.