Nekomura's importance

So, I got to thinking... and something hit me that Im suprised no one has brought up before.

We know Nekomura pays Negav a fee to keep their version of the Isolon Eye charged.

But, Nekomura has no dimensional gate, and no trade other than with the merchants who make the trip there from Negav to tap into a new market.

I just can't see Nekomura paying Negav in actual money. I mean, look at it from the Magiocrats' point of view. What would they get from a bunch of nekos paying them (in the money they make) to keep thier Eye going? They really wouldn't get much out of it at all. Negav is rolling in the money of a dozen different worlds, anything Nekomura could give them would be borderline insignificant.

SO, this brings the question, what exactly can Nekomura offer Negav? The Magiocrats are not stupid, they are going to be getting sometihng beneficial out of the arrangement. Hell, maybe that's why they did it in the first place, to force the nekos into giving them something they want.

Given the fact that Nekomura would be tiny compared to the range their Eye covers (if we go by my idea for that), there would be room for farming. Maybe they help supply Negav with some of its food? Or livestock? Or some other such service.

Maybe they have master smiths that the Magiocrats want to make use of.

Maybe they went and built their city on top of a valuable resource (be it a plant, a crop, a mineral, etc) and the Magiocrats want a piece of it for Negav.

There's lots of options for this, really. I just don't think paying their tribute to Negav in hard currency makes any real sense.

It's probably a mixture of things. Even salvage has it's value, especially from the deeper parts of the jungle.

my opinion:

ok this is not cannon at all. But I'm just trying to consider other options.

What's under nekomura? (haha, see the joke? an UNDERscore to the word UNDER! Babhahaha!!!) Seriously now, maybe the soil of nekomura has something special, a special mineral. they mine it and give a portion to negav. and since we're talking about dealing with magiocrats, it maybe has some magical propriety. Maybe it can even be the "fuel" for the isolon fist.

thats something we can consider if theres no vauable answer to cliffy's question, which is a goddamn good question

I agree that's a good point ^^
I also had that same idea of having the ground of Nekomura being special, although I never went very far into that direction yet.

Also Nekomura would have some farming indeed as their city is pretty vertical. That would give them a lot of available space.

As much as I like Nekomura, it's really only now that it hit me that there really is no point to extort money out of what is essentially a village harvesting dirt. (Yes, I am that dense. Sad, I know.) As one of Caroline's personality traits is that she harbors a deep grudge on the Magiocrats for forcing Nekomura to pay something to keep something that allows them all to survive running, I made it sound like they have to pay money for it. And that makes no sense.

While we're on the subject of money and paying something, as Nekomura is the closest settlement to Negav, I think it would make sense that they would have a few establishments to make some living off of adventurers. I know what you're probably thinking: What would be the point if they are already self-sufficient? Well, that's true enough, but not all Nekos there are going to be farmers or be happy with living in the village only (like Caroline), plus it doesn't say anywhere that Nekomurans are unwelcome in Negav entirely. It may be bare minimums for adventurers, but as it's a very close place to Negav, some Nekos might take the opportunity of making money off of them. Maybe something small like an inn or a tavern would be enough.

Really, Cliff? Given your recent interest in the Fist's activities in the jungles nearest Negav, I figured you would have thought of this by now...

Nekos are faster and more agile than humans. The fastest and most agile of them would make some decent scouts for areas that aerial scouts can't survey, especially if Negav gives them some basic equipment.

Of course, that's a dangerous job, but hey... better than having your ENTIRE VILLAGE in danger, right? Basically, Nekomura pays in mercenary work.

A perfect explanation, no, but it's something to work off of, right?

Farming, superior scouts, possible fertile land, underground resources, they've all been named. Nekomura has more to it than meets the eye.