Slavery

Overview

As the title suggests, this is a guide aimed towards characters bound in servitude to an owner, and said owners. Slave PCs are characters with no personal rights or property, until some circumstance alters his or her situation in some way, s/he has no say in what s/he does; his or her time is spent according to the owner's commands. Slavery takes many forms on the battleground of Idalos - the most overt being that of mortals keeping mortal slaves. In such situations, a slave most often takes on one of two roles: either many are kept for common, drudge labour by their owners; or a single/few are kept for personal use by an owner.

Slaves in the former category can perform a number of jobs, depending on where they are or who they are owned by. Some, for example, might be forced to quarry stone, mine metal ores or harvest crops. If the latter, however, slaves are more likely to be considered valued and skilled. Often close to their owners, they have a range of functions, from sexual gratification to running personal errands. An unlucky few might even be used for malicious intent, by the followers of Lisirra to name one. A number of cities do not accept traditional slavery within their limits - so please ensure you check through the Lore on the city, or with a Local Prophet. If you enter such a city with a slave, you risk losing said slave with no chance of compensation.

Another form of slavery, which can occur in all cities, is debt-based. These slaves are those who have gone into debt and must work for free in order to pay off their debt. This can either be working for an individual to whom they owe their debt (including cases where an outsider clears a debt of the state), or to the city as a whole. In all examples of debt-based slavery, these people are in no way considered to be traditional slaves, and retain all rights they originally had. When the debt is considered cleared, they return to their original free state.

A more concealed form of slavery on Idalos is that of Immortals enslaving mortals. A prime example of this is Aukari, who live by the mercy of the Immortal Faldrun. Because of he nature of the war raging around the world of Idalos, it is not uncommon for mortals to be used as pawns in the individual sequences played out by the Immortals. Some act willingly - devotion to a particular Immortal, or knowledge of their cause, being a driving force. Some, however, act out of fear of the repercussions, and some act with no knowledge of how they are puppets in a higher game.

So what would cause a player to play such a constrained role willingly?

• Well first, of course, is that fact that you are still the one writing the story, so you will undoubtedly have your master send you on errands that just happen to get you into exciting predicaments.
• Secondly, while you are out, you may be meeting folks that can help you alter your circumstance over time. So perhaps you can eventually engineer your release from bondage with some good role-playing and story-telling; maybe even stashing some loot along the way in preparation.
• And thirdly, there are benefits from your position, depending on the standing of your master.
• You may enjoy a degree of immunity from those that might otherwise harass a free citizen of low standing, since they have no powerful figure behind them, placing a money value on their health.
• You are probably starting in a home much better than the usual 400 sq. ft. hut the rest of us are stuffed into, though it IS true that it is not yours.
• Also, while the rest of us have to account for every connection we make, in order to learn new things, there is no such restriction on what or whom your NPC owner may know. To some degree, and with good behaviour, it can be expected that your PC can gain from contacts made by the owner, and not by himself. This should not be overly-exploited, though, and liaising with a Local Prophet is advised.
• These dynamics, if done well, can offer the most rewards out of intense development with a single other PC.

Slave Prices

This is non-negotiable. There must be some loss for any PC wanting to own a slave, whether that slave is a PC or an NPC. There is no random enslaving of people for free on this site, even with the OOC consent of both parties. It is exceptionally unfair for some players to have to fork out the money and others to skirt around the rules. Prices in The Shoppe, please refer to that both for the Tiers at which certain slaves become available, and Wealth Point costs for those not in your Tier.

However, the Prophets do not want to place too many limitations on your roleplay, and we understand that these restrictions can hinder the enjoyment of roleplay dramatically, especially for slaves who have worked hard to gain skills and might, for whatever reason, require a new owner, or for those starting out who wish to own a slave. In cases where the value of the slave is too high, one of you please submit a request to the Prophet Support Forum..

In the request, we expect a detailed explanation of how the slave will come to be in the possession of the owner. We will then work with you to come up with an acceptable price for your slave and a timescale for you paying them off. We will work with you to come up with a story explaining how you come by a "free" slave. You will then spend the following seasons paying off this slave in lump amounts of Wealth Points, depending on how much you have.

Site-Wide Rules

• All slaves, whether NPC or PC, must have Wealth Points exchanged for their complete value. If you do not pay for the slave, Prophets reserve the right to penalise PCs of money in awards, until payment has been made.
• History shows us that slaves are property, thus they cannot own property. Idalos should be no different, therefore slaves in this world are not entitled to own any property of significant value (other than clothing or small trinkets). They may not have any Wealth Points in their ledger. OOC and IC reasoning must add up.
• All slaves/owners must follow certain rules in Idalos:
  • PCs with NPC slaves must pay for their slave.
  • PCs with PC slaves must pay for their slaves.
  • PCs with NPC Masters must have said NPCs approved by your City Prophet. If a player is active in any given season, they must write at least one 'job' thread so show their servitude in order to earn their keep.
  • PC slaves upon starting must adhere to the Slave Starter Package.
  • Unless under special circumstances, PC slaves who are captured post-creation will also lose money.
  • Any items of high value (ie other than clothes/minor trinkets) will also be lost upon slavery.
  • It is at a owner's discretion whether 'pocket-money' is granted to a slave.
  • For ease, any items bought for a slave may be listed in a slave PC's CS, but it belongs to the owner officially and the owner/Prophet reserves the right to remove said item.
  • Items purchased for a slave by an NPC owner must be agreed upon by a Prophet.
  • Any wages earned by a PC slave will be at half value, and given immediately to a PC owner (as normal, this must be discussed with a Prophet first).

  Slavery and Arcana

  As a hard rule, slaves are banned from learning any form of Arcane Art. They are not accepted into any Arcane Faction, and are thus incapable of gaining access to said knowledge. This extends to any libraries in Idalos; if they have tomes on the topics of Arcana, they will be held in a restricted section and are thus inaccessible to slaves. If a PC is enslaved post-creation and they have magic, then please contact the PSF in order to work out a story line. Other than this circumstance, no magic for slaves is a hard, non-negotiable rule.
  
  

  Inactive Slaves/Owners

  In an online RP forum, this is unfortunately a very common occurrence, and all players entering into a slavery dynamic need to be aware of this. In order to receive Prophet assistance in this matter, a PC in said dynamic is not considered to be inactive until at least one full season (here meant as Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter) have passed and there has been no contact nor explanation from the absent party. In such cases, there are a number of options available to the player. In the interests of giving you the best roleplaying experience possible, all Prophets will do their utmost to assist you. Often, these issues can be dealt with by a Local Prophet, but players are also offered the option of contacting the Prophet Support Forums.

  Slaves

  In the case of your owner going inactive for more than a season, please ensure that a Prophet knows, so that a note can be added to your Player Notes Thread, specifically relating to expenses. You will not be penalised for the fact that someone else has failed to pay for your expenses.

  Beyond that, you have a number of choices: you can either wait to see if the player will return - at which point s/he will have to edit his/her ledger to reflect your active play, though this option is not for an indefinite amount of time; you can find a new owner (PC or NPC, where a PC must be able to afford you or go through the process described above); or you can seek freedom from slavery.

  Owners

  Paying for a PC slave and then having said slave's player go inactive is inconvenient and frustrating. In such cases, please speak to your local Prophet. For you, there are two options if you are not willing to see if the slave's player returns: either you are reimbursed through roleplay with Wealth Points to represent the price of the slave, or you can receive a new slave (either NPC or PC) for the same or a lower value.

  If you have lost a slave that you have not completely paid for OOC this will be taken into account in the solution.

  Changing Hands

  This involves three players: a slave, and owner and a potential owner, and effectively the slave PC moves from the ownership of one to another. There must be consent from all three players on this matter - therefore this is not an option when a player becomes inactive. This can take two forms: either there is an exchange of Wealth Points for the slave; or the current owner, if particularly nice, might give the slave away for free.

  Credits

  Guide crafted by Whisper and Maltruism with staff collaboration.