Slavery

A group of Dwarven captives being led to the slave market.

Slavery is a set of laws that allow for legal ownership of another sentient being. The practice was started by the Merfolk when they captured Avians and sold them to the early Humans. As time has gone by slavery continued to exist in one form or another throughout all of Gurutama. Because of the many variants of slavery, it is difficult to classify the particulars of the practice without specifying a form of slavery.

Forms of Slavery

Chattel Slavery

When people think of the evils of slavery they most often think of chattel slavery. This form of slavery entails the complete ownership of another sentient being's life. Most forms of slavery have some restrictions on what owners can do to their slaves, but no such restrictions exist for chattel slavery. Chattel slaves are their owners' property and nothing else. Owners may continually send their slaves into life-threatening situations (such as working in a mine) with no compensation to the slaves and no fear of legal repercussions for the owners. In some places it is even legal for owners to kill their own slaves.

Chattel slaves are often used as manual labor in a business managed by their owner. That business may be a farm, a mine, a steel foundry or a number of other things. Typically owners view chattel slaves as expendable and attempt to get as much work out of them before they die. Naturally, chattel slaves resent this treament and slave revolts are fairly common in areas that practice chattel slavery. Consequently, the governments in areas with chattel slavery are also prepared to put down slave revolts before they spread into full-scale rebellions.

Serfdom

Serfdom is similar to chattel slavery except that serfs have limited legal rights. An owners or lords found guilty of unjust punishment of their serfs will face a punishment of their own. The punishment inflicted upon a cruel slave owner takes the form of a fine or public embarrassment (such as requiring the guilty owner to wear a specific time of clothing indicating his crime for a week). In severe cases, such as unjust murder of a serf by their owner, the victim's family will be freed. Similar laws protect serfs from attacks by people other than their owners.

Serfs taking shelter from the rain.

While the law protects serfs from some actions, it is still abundantly clear that they are below the other classes. Serfs, like other slaves, must work for their master without pay. They cannot marry without their master's consent. Courts often do not recognize cases brought by serfs, forcing them to implore their master to press their case for them. In some areas, when serfs are called to testify in court, they are tortured to ensure that their testimony is accurate (the effectiveness of this practice is highly questionable). Serfs work for their masters six days out of every week (five if the master is generous). The other days may be used for rest or for additional work that the serf is paid for. Serfs may use their pay for whatever they desire. Some save up to purchase their freedom, others provide for their families, and others spend their wages on entertainment.

House Slavery

House slaves are much better off than chattel slaves. While they can still be treated cruelly, often house slaves are treated well by their owners. Sometimes house slaves become almost like a member of their owner's family. A house slave's duties often include typical household upkeep such as cleaning, shopping, and repairing things around the house. Some house slaves are also used as scribes to write down their master's thoughts as he speaks them out loud or to read books to their owner or their owner's family.

Debt Slavery

People can collect a large amount of debt without thinking about it. The bankruptcy process does not exist in Gurutama to allow people to recover from debt. Instead, there is the practice of debt slavery, taking ownership of a person if they are unable to meet their financial obligations. Selling a child into slavery in order to make ends meet is another form of debt slavery.

Debt slavery need not be for life. Depending on the amount of debt, a person could only be enslaved for a few years before they are freed once more. Typically, children born during debt slavery are not themselves enslaved. If debt slavery is temporary then the enslaved person has legal rights similar to those of a serf. If the enslavement is for life, then many governments give the owner the right to treat their slave as a chattel slave.

Wage Slavery

A wage slave is legally free and has no obligation to serve or perform labor for his employer; however, the employer has set up the conditions of employment in a way that makes leaving extremely unfavorable. This can be done through paying abysmally low wages, such that the worker can only afford food and shelter and cannot save up to move to a new location. Another method is to pay workers in a limited currency that is only valid at stores owned by the employer. With no way efficient way of transferring their work into liquid wealth, the workers are trapped in their current state of employment.

Indentured Servitude

Indentured servitude is similar to debt slavery. The indentured servant provides free labor to his master for a period of time in exchange for a service. This often takes the form of an apprenticeship where the servant learns a trade in exchange for five to seven years of labor for their master. The service could also take the form of transportation, such as the master paying for the servant's transportation from one continent to another. Just like serfdom, there are laws that protect indentured servants but many restrictions placed upon them as well.

Sexual Slavery

A Tylanoran brothel.

Sexual slaves are forced to have sex as their primary duty to their master. While the majority of sexual slaves are young women forced into service for their master other types of sexual slaves exist, including mistresses, who only serve their master; concubines, who may be called on to please their master's guests; and brothel workers, who function as a source of income for their owner. That said, the majority of sexual slaves are female brothel workers who would most likely prefer another line of work if it were available to them.

One of the most notable sexual slaves in history was the Najaran Lady Carreen Lub'dal. She was for all intents and purposes, the wife of the Dwarven Lord Cormak. She was constantly at his side, performing all the perfunctory duties that a noble Syluki Dwarf lady would perform around the household. Cormak trusted her more than any other person in the world. This turned out to be a fatal mistake as Carreen was feeding information to the Najaran army through her servants. Her espionage assisted in destroying the Dwarven army that attacked Najar in 563 NA.

Slavery by Location

The Maw Islands

Merfolk

Bwarlor