d the
goose over to his King. The monarch, in turn, sent a note to the
robbed Giant informing him that the government intended to keep the
goose to make its own currency. But even though the Giant was making
counterfeit geese, the King, in his generosity, would ship to the
Giant one out of every thirty eggs laid by the kidnappee.

The note was a polite and well-recognized lie. The Giants made the
only genuine gold-egg-laying geese on the planet because the Giants'
League alone knew the secret. And the King gave back one-thirtieth of
his loot so the Giant could accumulate enough money to buy the
materials to create another goose. Which would, possibly, be stolen
later on.

Rastignac, by his illegal rape of geese, was making money scarce.
Peasants were hanging on to their produce and waiting to sell until
prices were at their highest. The government, merchants, the league,
the guild, all saw themselves impoverished.

Furthermore, the Amphibs, taking note of the situation, were making
raids of their own and blaming them on Rastignac.

He did not care. He was intent on trying to find a way to reach
Kataproimnoin and rescue the Earthman so he could take off in the
spaceship floating in the harbor. But he knew that he would have to
take things slowly, to scout out the land and plan accordingly.

Furthermore, Mapfarity had made him promise he would do his best to
set up the Landsmen so they would be able to resist the Waterfolk when
the day for war came.

Rastignac made his biggest raid when he and his band stole one
moonless night into the capital itself to rob the big Goose House,
only an egg's throw away from the Palace and the Ministry of Ill-Will.
They put the Goose House guards to sleep with little arrows smeared
with dream-snake venom, filled their lead-leaf-lined bags with gold
eggs, and sneaked out the back door.

As they left, Rastignac saw a cloaked figure slinking from the back
door of the Ministry. Seized with intuition, he tackled the figure. It
was an Amphib-changeling. Rastignac struck the Amphib with a venomous
arrow before the Water-human could cry out or stab back.

Mapfarity grabbed up the limp Amphib and they raced for the safety of
the castle.

They questioned the Amphib, Pierre Pusipremnoos, in the castle. At
first silent, he later began talking freely when Mapfarity got a heavy
Skin from his fleshforge and put it on the fellow. It was a Skin
modeled after those worn by the Water-people, but