Colloquialism

"A dandelion may be a rose; but a diamond is only a quartz."

This saying expresses two simultaneous truths about that domain of pirates and freebooters known as Free City.

First, that women are a rarity among the rabble of that salt-stained place. All women, of any class or station, are prized so highly that even if they be hog-faced and warty; they will still be as desired as the comeliest of perfumed and silk-garbed princesses of distant lands.

Second, that as stolen goods and gemstones proliferate the economy of Free City, the exchange rate for a diamond will be about 40% of its face value, on average.