Poacher

Poaching is the act of hunting illegally, either because the animal itself is forbidden to be hunted or because some other person or body possesses rights to game in the area and has not extended those rights to the hunter. While traditional Khelish law generally recognizes hunting rights along with land deeds, and enforces prohibitions against hunting on private land (generally owned by feudal lords), the imposition of direct Exodite rule in Cymbar, Hollack, and Wordhan has put hunting rights in a strange legal limbo.
The relative impunity enjoyed by poachers has resulted in an increase in illegal hunting, despite Cymbarite nobility lobbying Fin-Allan on the matter. Fin-Allan in particular has a bustling grey market of poached meat, and illegal hunting is a common side-pursuit of those on the lower rungs of society. Criminal gangs also form around these grey markets, as places like Hare Market are neither protected nor broken up by the authorities. As a result, poachers often end up under the influence of protection rackets in the cities where they sell their game.

Legality

The law laid down by the Exodite Council doesn't recognize the idea of territorial hunting rights, and therefore has no proscribed punishment for breaking them. While Exodite courts do recognize that rights can be conferred to individuals and families by treaties between humans according to Khelish traditional law, exclusive hunting rights are frequently merely assumed by these treaties, or when they are specifically called out contain no inherent enforcement provisions, relying on local law to enforce them.
Exodus largely does not enforce hunting rights, and taking a poacher to an elven court tends to be a waste of time. As a result, the consequences for poaching in Cymbar depends entirely on who catches you and where. Near Fin-Allan, the lords have very little legal recourse as the Exodites do not care and the Rivermen do not care to police the Hare Market where most poached meat is sold. As a result, some lords resort to hiring their own security forces to deter poachers. Elsewhere in Cymbar where the lords have some of their ancestral powers as local rulers, they are able to enforce traditional Khelish law to some extent, despite not having the blessing of the Governor of Cymbar to do so.

Tools

Most poachers use simple traps or self bows, often crafted by the hunter in question. Some have hounds as well, but most poachers prefer to travel with the minimum of gear and as inconspicuously as possible since the main threat a hunter can meet while poaching is meeting agents of the lord whose lands they are on.

Type

Illicit