Freebooter's holding

"Freebooter's holding" is a term for a type of bribe, or "unofficial license", commonly paid by bandits and other people engaged in activities outwith the law, to the Skyguard or to other authorities who might object to what they are up to. These arrangements help provide a certain degree of stability in a society in which law enforcement authorities are overstretched, as it connects criminals to the "police", and helps the authorities keep an eye on things. A practice symptomatic of the fact that the law in practice tends to be more concerned with order than with justice. And should two groups of criminals come into conflict over a certain issue or piece of territory, those who pay the Skyguard (or who pay the Skyguard the most) will find themselves with an advantage, as Ikaanos' law gets unevenly applied.