Servitude and Slavery

The The Eternal Empire recognizes a number of different arrangements by which one person is granted a measure of control over another's freedom and self-determination. In most cases the arrangements are the result of a debt incurred through normal business dealings or as the result of criminal penalties, but they also be entered into voluntarily by mutual contract or involuntarily through capture under certain conditions.

Types of Servitude

Ushok (Bondsman/Bondswoman)

This sort of arrangement is typically entered into voluntarily, but may be agreed upon as an alternative to indenture resulting from a legal judgement. It's essentially a labor contract. The ushok retains all rights as a citizen, but grants his employer control over his labor in return for a fixed stipend (or payment against the debt) for the term of the contract. The employer pays the fixed rate regardless of whether or how much the ushok works (though most contracts contain limits on how much work the employer can demand), and may trade or sell the ushok's labor to other parties and the ushok cannot take on outside employment without the employer's permission.
Household servants, laborers, and other ushok whose provided unskilled or common forms of labor frequently enter this type of servitude in exchange for little more than room and board. Skilled tradesmen command higher prices, typically based on the degree of exclusivity built into the contract. A swordsmith, for example, who agrees to only make swords for his employer will earn more than one who is permitted to take on outside work provided his patron's needs have been met. If the contract requires that the swordsmith obtain his patron's permission before taking outside commissions, or forbids him from doing work for a particular individual or faction, the stipend will fall somewhere in between.
A contract may be ended before its term by mutual agreement. If only one party wants to end the contract early, they must pay the other a fair price for the other's loss of services (if the ushok wants to leave the contract) or income (if the patron wants to end the arrangement). The contract by also be ended by the judgement of a magistrate if the patron mistreats the ushok or either party fails to uphold their obligations.

Kul (Slaves of Indenture)

Indentured servitude may be entered into voluntarily by contract, but in most cases it's the result of a legal judgement . The person to whom a kul is indentured holds almost complete control over the slave, but the fact that the kul will return to being a regular citizen when the term of servitude ends means that the kul occupies a strange legal position somewhere between property and person. A kul's master can sell, trade, or give away the slave's obligation with only a few restrictions (most involving the conditions under which a kul may be relocated or sold to a non-resident) and has considerable leeway in deciding how his slaves are treated and punished, but is not allowed to kill a slave (through violence or negligence) or to maim, cripple, or otherwise permanently disfigure them. A kul also cannot be forced to engage in combat against his will.
Kul are not allowed to participate in politics or to testify in legal cases involving their master. They are allowed to own property, but the master has the right to use it as he sees fit provided he doesn't sell or destroy it. A kul who has immediate family who they fear won't survive alone may petition the master to take them on as kuls as well. This does not change the length of the servitude, but guarantees the kul's dependents won't starve. The master is not obligated to accept family members as part of an indenture obligation, but it is generally considered an honorable thing to do. If a woman gives birth while serving a term of indentured, the child is considered a kul until her obligation ends. In both of these cases, the children, wives, or other dependents are tied to the kul's obligation. If a kul's obligation is transferred to another party, the family members are included. If the kul dies before the obligation is up, any family members counted as part of the obligation must serve out the remainder of the term.
A kul's master is not responsible for the actions of a kul unless it can satisfactorily be proven that the kul acted on his master's orders. Any judgement against the kul is the kul's responsibility. In many cases, this results in a new obligation of service to the a new master once the current one ends. When this happens, the length of the new obligation is typically increased as a form of interest to compensate the wronged party for the kul's delay in making restitution.
Indenture terms are based on the debt or restitution owed and the value of the kul's labor. This amount is typically based on a a common laborer, but a kul who can satisfactorily prove that they have valuable skills (through guild membership, personal testimony, reputation, etc) will be assessed at a higher value, reducing the indenture term. A kul's value may also be decreased due to age, infirmity, or other defects.
When an Imperial Magistrate awards a judgement of indenture, the empire is obligated to offer to buy the obligation for not less than two-thirds the judgement amount. This offer is frequently accepted in cases where the defendant has harmed or personally wronged the claimant or the plaintiff simply doesn't need or want a kul. The empire's price is generally lower than the market value of the obligation, but requires considerably less work to arrange. A kul whose obligation is bought by the empire is usually sent to the Imperial Work Camps, but those with specialized skills may receive a better posting.

Hanim (Concubines)

Hanim are slaves sold (usually by their parents) with the expectation of marriage. Hanim are similar to Kuls but their obligation cannot be transferred and they cannot be ordered to do work that would not be reasonable to expect from a spouse. If the hanim marries a member of the owner's household, the term contract of indenture ends immediately. If the term of indenture ends without a marriage, the owner is required to pay the hanim's family a sum equal to half the cost of the original contract.

Mahkum (Chattel Slaves)

Mahkum are fully the property of their owner. A slave owner may mistreat, disfigure, or kill a mahkum just as they would horse or steer. A mahkum's only way out of the arrangement are through death or the master's voluntary decision to release them.
Since mahkum status completely strips a person of all human rights, it is only permitted in very specific circumstances. Most are prisoners of war and pirates or highwayman captured during an attack on imperial citizens. If a person owes a large enough debt or restitution to merit an indenture term of over 99 years, they become a mahkum. Children born to mahkum women inherit their mother's status. Imperial nobles and those who can prove that they are Godborn may never become Mahkum.

Identification of Slaves

Kul and mahkum are required to wear a slave collar, which is a necklace or collar that can be locked around the slave's neck and includes a mark or symbol to identify the owner. The construction of slave collars varies based on the role of the slave and the tastes of the owner. Slaves deemed a flight risk are often fitted with heavy iron collars (often with rings for attaching chains) that are designed to be extremely difficult to remove without a key. Some slave owners even include mechanisms that can maim or kill a slave if the collar is removed incorrectly. Collars that are primarily meant to mark the slave's status and ownership rather than make escape more difficult tend to be less cumbersome and painful to wear. Common slaves are often fitted with simple leather collars. Trusted slaves may wear collars of cloth or even precious metals that are often quite decorative and frequently substitute symbolic lock designs for actual locking mechanisms.
In addition to their collars, slaves are often required to wear the livery of the household or institution that they serve. An old Tarsan custom forbids slaves from wearing shoes. This custom has become less common with the coming of the empire, but many slave owners still follow the tradition of marking the release of a slave with a gift of new shoes.
Mahkum may be branded or marked with a tattoo, but this is no longer common because it decreases the resale value of the slave. An old brand or marking could cause confusion about ownership and most methods to obscure them have the potential to damage, disfigure, or even kill the slave.

Slave Registration and Sale

Slave owners are required to register their slaves with the imperial record keepers in the city where the slave will be kept. When a slave is registered, the owner receives a document affixed with the city's seal that includes the terms of the indenture, a physical description of the slave, and a reference number to the imperial record of the contract. Alterations to the indenture (for example, adding a child born during the term of indenture to the obligation) must be filed with the empire in order to be enforceable. Imperial statues also require transfers of ownership to be filed with the imperial record keeper, but in practice possession of a slave's papers is generally enough to prove ownership and slaves are often traded without informing the empire. However, doing so is technically considered tax evasion and can result in criminal penalties. 
Since confirming or disproving the legality of slave papers would require travelling to the city of registration and paying for an imperial record keeper to locate the relevant records, forged slave papers (often supposedly originating from a far-away imperial record keeper) are very common.

Escaped Slaves

Since slavery contracts are administered by the empire and are often the result of judgement by Imperial Magistrate, escaped slaves are guilty of failure to comply with an imperial order. This allows the slave owner to petition the Imperial Inquisitors for assistance in recovering an escaped slave, but the assistance they provide varies according to the status of the slave owner and is limited to the inquisitors' immediate jurisdiction. A person who recovers an escaped slave is permitted to demand a fee for the slave's return. If a fair price can't be agreed upon, a magistrate will determine the proper fee based on the details of the capture (how far away the slave was recovered, whether the slave hunter sustained injuries or incurred costs in the capture and return of the slave, etc). If the slave owner refuses to pay the judgement set by the magistrate, the remainder of the slave's obligation is transferred to the person who recovered the slave.