An overview of the nature of Slavery in Telene Part I

An overview of the nature of Slavery in Telene

Introduction

First of all let us consider who is free  well in a feudal, prefeudal or tribal culture such as dominate Telene it can be argued that no one is truly free and that even the greatest of status are bound by bonds of honour tradition family in such societies. This is seen as entirely normal and not considered as a problem by the greater majority indeed those that see it as a problem are seen as the problem by the mass and are limited to the occasional hermit of isolate ranger.

The  cult of the Guardian themselves seen by many as fairly extreme don't see this as a problem as these bonds are considered to be largely voluntary even benevolent and whilst there is one hell of a societal pressure to conform to them an individual can chose not to.

The two statuses which are considered an issue by the cult in order of importance are considered below.

The first is the actual slave who is property in the same ways as a horse or live stock is and the second is a broad group of individuals who have  very restricted levels of freedom but are which unlike the slave not seen as property and do have certain rights either legal or customary in their own right. The rights of a slave are defined not by any he may exercise but by legal constraints on the ways his master can  treat him.

Of the two the former is more of an anathema to the cult of the guardian and the others more a subject of moves to increase their legal or customary rights. The other distinction between these two groups is that slaves may be and often are bought and sold the unfree are almost never.

Slavery

The practice of chattel slavery is legal almost every where in Telene however its prevalence varies considerably and so does the associated practice of slave trading. As does the nature of the institution.

Sources’ of slaves 

These are many and I have attempted to make as comprehensive a list of them as I can think off below, the origin of a slave genially   influences how accepting they are of the status and weather they see themselves as free folk in captivity rather than as slaves even if the legal status they share is the same

Traded

Sold at one of the organised slave markets almost always not the original cause of enslavement, for example captives taken in raids or as prisoners of war  are often sold on as part of the spoils and a farmer who owns slaves may have to many sell on the excess in the self same way that he might excess live stock

Prisoners of war

It is the common practice for armies to treat the common soldiery of their enemies as additional loot when they become prisoners

Raided

Taken by hostile action but not in a formal war, most who become slaves of the Reanaarese pirates or various humanoids and Grell fall into this category. Differ from most other slaves in that they are generally set free if they escape and get to a place where they can prove their formally free status.

Debt

Enslaved usually by order of a court in order to pay off a debt the debtor becomes the property of the person he is in debt to

Penal

Enslaved as a punishment imposed by the courts often used to provide labour to state enterprises such as mines and as an alternative to execution

Self sale or sale by family or other relatives

Very similar to debt mentioned above except that there is no court involved and the slavesells themselves  or their adult relatives may do this in the case of a child . Often this is done to get money to pay a debt by very poor people whose freedom is their only saleable asset. The sale of children whilst especially wicked to modern eyes  it is often seen as the least worst option by those involved given the other is often every one dying by starvation.

Home grown.

If you own slaves and they have children then those children under most circumstances are also slaves and therefore the property of the owner of the parents.

Regional analysis

I will start this with those regions relevant to the company of fool’s campaign but may extend the scope further at a later date

Brandobia  

Slavery is rather rare in Brandobia with the exception of Pel Brolenon and  gets increasingly so the  further north that you go in Elador many roles which might elsewhere be filled by slaves are instead filled by various forms of the unfree.

It has become more prevalent in Mendarn since the war with Pel Brolenon and trade in slaves in organised markets is growing ever more common though these are run as mercantile exercises by the church of the Coin Lord rather than the House of Shackles which is associated with the enemy. Also, where formally the majority of slaves in Mendarn looked like the local population of Brandobian more and more of them are now the dark skinned southerners. Further the economy is experiencing something of a boom with the influx of labour and large slave staffed farms and industries on the Kalamarian model are beginning to gain in economic importance. I would be wise not to say the last to the face of the average chauvinist Mendarnese.

This is seeping into Elador to the north as the money to be made is very tempting but its being resisted by much of the even more chauvinist Eledorans who cling to the more traditional feudal social structures with their many an assorted classes of the unfree. Some more inventive Eledoran lords are attempting to adapt this to enable something similar but are banging up against the customary and sometimes legal rights of the unfree.

In Cosdol where a lot of its population are descended form refugees from the civil war that saw the break up of the kingdom of Brandobia and many of whom used this as a chance to lose their unfree status it is more or less unknown something further reinforced by the influence of Elven culture on the kingdom as elves whilst still being largely feudal in society practice neither slavery or have the unfree classes cowman to human feudal societies    

The church of the Coin lord would not discourage the wider spread of the practice given the money their co religionists are making out of it to the south.

Pel Brolenon is of course a law unto itself and deserves its own article.

Kalamaria & the Young kingdoms

The economy of the whole Kalamarian Empire is built on large slave staffed farms plantations mines and other industries. It could not function without them. Slaves are often more than just labourers they can be highly skilled craftsmen and professionals. A major noble’s house hold may contain hundreds of slaves doing all manner of serving work and even the least prosperous free Kalamarian craftsman or farmer will own one or two   

Slavery is utterly normal thought out Kalamaria and more or less no one gives it thought especially as the majority of the slaves are indistinguishable from the bulk of the lower class but free population.

As one travels north and east into the former imperial lands of the young kingdoms slavery is increasingly less common and replaced by the more normal feudal organization of classes of unfree peasants but it is every where far more common than in most feudal societies. It can however be said that the health of their economies is not so utterly dependant on it