“Logistics and distribution used to be a field that far too many nobles and rulers dismissed as beneath them in their folly and hubris. They failed to realize that if a nation was a body, then logistics would be its blood vessels, the very thing that ensured a proper and efficient function of the whole.” - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Socioeconomy professor at the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 587 FP.

“Ugh… Did they really charge us a gold for this sorry excuse of… I think calling it a fish dish would be an insult to all the fish I’ve ever eaten…” muttered Kino under her breath, quietly, in the Lichdom’s tongue as she moved around the mushy bits of fish meat on her platter with a wooden spoon gingerly. A grimace was plastered on her face and her fox-like ears drooped almost to her eyes.

The three were presently sitting in a restaurant within the main city of the Selovi Shahdom, a small nation just north of the Oajib Sultanate and the next stop in their journey. The small nation was relatively prosperous and had the reputation of a trade hub for the south-western region of the north due to its location along many trade routes. The city itself was built around a half-dozen oases situated close together.

As for the restaurant they were in, it was one that boasted to be the only one that serves fish dishes in the city. Due to the arid climate of the southern parts of the northern territories, fish were practically not found on the dinner tables, and seafood was unheard of due to the region being landlocked and deep within the continent. The three were used to eating fish often as it was abundant and much liked in the Lichdom, however, so they went in to try the restaurant with its boast.

To say that they were sorely disappointed was an understatement.

“They used freshwater fish,” commented Aideen just as quietly as she shook her head at the disappointment on the plate before her. To call it cooking would have been a travesty to every cook she knew of, even if she accounted for differences in local palates. “And they undercooked it, and didn’t even use ones that are fresh for the cooking. I think they only sell this and people here fell for it because of the novelty. I don’t think many of the locals here know what proper fish should taste like.”

“Tohrmutgent is just as far inland,” countered Kino with a scowl on her face. The horrible food had pretty much ruined the good mood that the three had been in after they left Oajib. It was not something they’d take out on the establishment, and money wasn’t an issue for them, but being overcharged for horrible food was never a pleasant thing. “We eat good seafood on the regular there, so why can’t they have it here?”

“Well, for one, Kino, the Lichdom is one country. A single entity. People from the southern coasts can travel to the northernmost reaches of what remained of Antemeia unhindered,” replied Aideen with a nod. Kino was a good student, but sometimes she didn’t quite connect things together due to a lack of life experience. “Here, anyone delivering things from the northern coast of the continent would have to pass through at least half a dozen different states to reach where we are.”

“Which means delays, taxes, and tariffs along the way, then,” said Kino as she got one of Aideen’s implied points.

“That is one thing, yes, but it’s not all there is to it,” explained Aideen with an approving nod. “This region lacked much of the transportation infrastructure we often take for granted in Ptolodecca. For example, to travel by land, on a regular wagon from the southern coast to Thormutgent would be a weeklong journey at the least, even with undead beasts of burden.”

“In comparison, a barge traveling upriver while being pulled by those same beasts could make the journey in a day and a half, two days at most,” she continued. “It’s difficult to keep seafood fresh without the aid of magical enchantments if you transport them dead, so these barges were usually specially outfitted to contain a saltwater pool at their bottom deck which the merchants would use to transport live seafood inland. From there, any place within a couple day’s journey from the barge’s route could easily have access to fresh, live fish and prawns and clams and the like.”

“Transportation by water is more efficient and allows greater bulk to be transported at once, so I assume people don’t do this over land routes because it’s not profitable?” asked Kino as she wagered a guess of her own. “But here, due to the complete lack of such things as seafood this far inland, it becomes more of a novelty and luxury that’s worth trading in small quantities?”

“Exactly,” supplied Aideen. “And as with other ‘luxury’ food materials, people who bought it to sell to others would be loath to throw it away just because it’s no longer at their best. I guess in this case it wouldn’t be all too palatable either way, but who knows, the local nobles might have grown an acquired taste for mushy, muddy, undercooked fish for all we know.”

“Well… they can have it for all I care,” said Kino as she made a disgusted face and shoved the plate with the ‘fish’ away from her. Eilonwy and Aideen mimicked her action as none of them had any interest in the horrible, overpriced dish either. At least the restaurant still had other, actually edible fares on their menu that the three could enjoy.

Aideen, Kino, and Eilonwy quickly got the attention of a server and made more orders of things that were hopefully more palatable than the dish in front of them. Something that would clear their palates of the unpleasant taste, though the local anise-flavored alcohol was already helping a bit with washing their tongues off its remnant, lingering flavors.