> I understand that the empire has an edict the kill ducks on
> sight, is this always the case?
That's not *quite* what happened. The ducks were made scapegoats for Starbrow's Rebellion (which was crushed by superior Lunar strategy in 1613 ST), and for many years afterwards, Sartarites could pay their taxes for a year by handing over a Duck's head to the Lunar tax collector.
(NB: I have no idea how this squares with taxation levied at clan and tribal level, or the general Heortling lack of personal property and responsibility -- it's how it was explained in games played *before* those innovations were published).
Faced by this, lots of ducks fled into exile -- some decamped into nearby Delecti's Marsh (cf. Tales of the Reaching Moon #19 and RQ Adventures #1), others went as far afield as the Cradles Valley (cf. the RuneQuest books "River of Cradles" and "Borderlands").
Some Sartarite tribes, most notably the noble Lismelder, sheltered outlaw ducks from imperial vengeance. Others, pleading material and moral poverty, cashed in.
Although I *think* the freebie has since been repealed, that doesn't mean every ignorant Heortling barbarian you meet is aware of that.
See www.etyries.com/sartar/tribes.htm for an overview of Sartarite tribal populations and histories, plus maps of tribes' locations in 1610 and 1621 ST.
Cheers, Nick
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