Editing Gaesati (section)

= Politics =

The Gaesati people get easily exploited when dealing with other nations. They are few in number and lack significant military or political power, but on the other hand stand out clearly from the Eskarans and other nations. Thus, it is rarely possible for them to claim directly for the injustice experienced by their members. Members of their people who deal with other nations will sooner or later have to decide what to do with this kind of treatment. Some try to prove their personal strength, some begin to hate other nations and seek indirect ways to get revenge, some simply accept their position and try to survive.

They settle their quarrels in courts arranged at their seita, in which they hear the wisest of the seita, the animal spirits, the tribes involved, and usually an extra third party who is not involved in the incident at all. The goal is to reach some kind of negotiated solution. If this does not happen, there may be inter-tribal teasing, such as breaking fishing nets, looting, or even fighting. However, large-scale bloodbaths are extremely rare.

Members of the Gaesati are generally not in a position to seek help against wrongdoing by outsiders. However, this does not mean that they do not try to make the lives of their enemies difficult. Instead of direct power, they have always had to rely on cunning to compensate for injustices. Members of the tribe usually look for small, discreet ways to bully their enemies. They sell them bad stuff, mix headaches with poisonous fungi, slice the hamstrings of their best horses, and ask for seitas to put curses on them.

This use of indirect retaliation has earned them a reputation of deceptive backstabbers among many Eskarans. Members of the Gaesati generally respond to this by saying that when a bear meets a fox, it is easy for the bear to be brave and insist on fair fighting. The fox, on the other hand, is forced to use cunning to survive.