Jack Vance's "Potters of Firsk" (short story, free): Hero peacefully frees a tribe from oppression by its ferocious neighbors

This is standard Jack Vance - colorful communities & their customs, medieval side by side with modern. But it has a macabre thread running all through. Kept me engaged all the way.

Fact sheet.

First published: Astounding, May 1950.
Download full text as part of the scans of Astounding (British ed), June 1951.
Download MP3 of a radio dramatization by Dimension X from Internet Archive.
Rating: A.
Among the stories from Astounding/Analog issues edited by John Campbell.
Related: Stories of Jack Vance.