Baroul, one of the wealthier and more prominent merchants of the proto-proto-city of Shaikarn, supplier of salt throughout all of Tedeshan, has heard of, as most Tedeshan have, of the great Exaanos herds of four-legged beasts, and of the various meats, hides, wool, and other useful shit that comes from them. Although most Tedeshan shun such crude animals, and only have access to their yields via trade with Exaanos tribes, Baroul was a more ambitious sort. He decided that he simply must have his own animals, and that being the first Tedeshan herdmaster would undoubtedly bring him great fame and honour.

Baroul briefly considered launching a raid on an unsuspecting tribe and their herd, since raiding was apparently a common pastime of the Exaanos. But Baroul dismissed that thought as quickly as he had conceived it, since the Exaanos have a local monopoly on experienced raiders, and Baroul could hardly hope to beat the Exaanos at their own game. Instead, he decided that he must beat them at his own game: trade. Since the main trade good of note of his hometown was salt, and that salt was in high demand pretty much everywhere, Baroul figured that trading a big load of salt from a small herd of animals would be reasonable. Now, Baroul has absolutely no idea how to care for and harvest from the animals he would theoretically receive in such a trade, but that was just a mere implementation detail he could figure out later.

So Baroul commissioned a small flotilla from Shaikarn's fleet of merchant vessels, loaded them with barrels of salt, and sailed around to Exaanos lands, stopping at Tedeshan coastal villages for rest and nourishment along the way. As with most civilized cultures, hospitality is sacred among the Tedeshan, and no village would hesitate to host a small party of merchant-sailors for a night, although attempting to stay more than a single night, or two nights at most, would be considered awfully rude. At least without offering compensation, of course. After a few days or so of sailing, Baroul was upon the Exaanos coastline. Baroul soon came across a modest Exaanos tribe grazing near the coastline, and had his men beach their boats, and then walked out to meet the tribe's leaders.