Slavery in the Coast
Legal Trade
The legal slave trade has been extremely lucrative in the Coast, given the constant need for able-bodied laborers due to the naturally dangerous environment. Typically, slaves are imported through Kansujian. For many this is their final destination, but many are sent by boat along the rivers to the various other city-states. These slaves are typically the result of Territorial wars and skirmishes, as well as captured bandits and other undesirables. Since they are not legitimate residents of the Coast, even city-states with laws that typically frown upon anything beyond indentured servitude will make an exception in order to bolster the ranks of their working class.
In most cases legal slaves are treated reasonably well on the Coast. They are given accommodations, food, and in some cases a weekly stipend-- albeit one lighter than that of a freeman or indentured servant. Depending on the local laws, some slaves are even offered the opportunity to purchase their freedom for a price set by the government (low enough to be attainable, but high enough so as to ensure a healthy slave population). While their occupation is set by their owner, and they can be punished if they refuse to work, abuses of power by owners are generally not tolerated due to the coastal states' need for willing masses of cheap manual labor. Children of slaves are born freemen, and can begin the process of applying for citizenship once they reach adult age.
Illegal Trade
Illegal trade flourishes amongst less scrupulous merchants, or in city-states where law enforcement is lax, unobservant, or simply incapable of keeping their eyes on many places at once. Purchased from bandits, raiders, or criminal organizations, illegal slaves are offered none of the legal protections of legally traded slaves, unless they are mercifully sold as if they were one. A darker fate awaits those sold in the underground markets such as those rumored to exist in Kansujian: sex slave, pit fighter, assassin, and thief are just a few of many titles that illegally acquired slaves might take on during their enslavement. If an illegal slave is found or brought to the attention of the kinder governments on the Coast, they are typically immediately granted freeman status, as well as a portion of any wealth seized from their former "employer" as a form of recompense. The penalty for dealing or owning an illegal slave tends to be on the harsher side of local statutes. Though executions are rare for the general population of most city-states, for those trading in illegal slavery it is in fact a common sentence.
Indentured Servitude
A unique form of slavery, indentured servitude differs from both normal slavery and regular employment in that it typically involves an individual agreeing to work without recompense for an agreed-upon length of time for a promised reward, cancellation, service, or absolution at the end of the term. Unlike legal and illegal slaves, who are most often taken from the Territories, indentured servitude can be pressed upon a citizen of the Coast without them losing any of their legal rights. This often takes the form of a poorer or indebted citizen seeking some form of favor they cannot achieve without the assistance of a person of high esteem or wealth. The party willing to fulfill their request becomes their patron, and both parties sign a binding legal contract detailing the terms and length of the agreement. During this time, the patron generally agrees to house and care for the servant, but as previously mentioned the servant will receive no pay for the work performed while under contract. When a patron requests that a servant perform work outside of their contract, most city-states propone that the servant be compensated monetarily for that work. When the contract expires, the patron and servant usually part ways but it's not unheard of for particularly amiable contracts to result in lasting friendships or even romance. Servants who do their job especially well might even see themselves hired on as a regular worker, or else kept on retainer in case the patron has need of their services again. A common example of indentured servitude would be an aspiring scholar seeking a patron to finance their studies. A contract struck between the two might see the scholar then act as a tutor for the patron's children or overseeing the financial affairs of the patron's estate in exchange.
The Treetouched
Shunned in nearly every society except those who practice the Dreamswallowers faith, the Treetouched universally have few or no rights or freedoms in such societies. Ostracized and discriminated against for their mutations, the Treetouched are nonetheless valued as workers for the advantages their mutations might bring them. Newly discovered Treetouched are frequently placed in ghetto villages far from main population centers, employed for a fraction of the value of their labor. An example of this can be seen in Ashimachi, where the impoverished village of Tailfeather houses a colony of Treetouched workers who contribute the capital city's various cottage industries. Unlike other slaves, who are more often than not imported from outside the Coast, the Treetouched are frequently exported from the Coast using a lottery system by which armed guards will enter a Treetouched colony and seize a proscribed number of individuals for export. Clapped in irons and shipped off to the Territories, it is unlikely such slaves will ever see their homes again. The Treetouched are afforded little legal protection on the Coast, and generally none in the Territories. As such, abuse of such slaves in the Territories is common, tolerated, and in many cases even encouraged; sometimes for religious reasons.
Opinions on Slavery
While slavery is commonplace on the Coast, it is largely growing more accepted as a 'necessary evil' than fully approved of by the populace. With mundane technologies innovated by the far-away Azir on the verge of starting an industrial revolution, the need for slaves has begun to steadily decline in recent years and the people of the Coast have started to become increasingly uncomfortable with the presence and treatment of slaves. In the modern day, it's rare to see a slave market within eyeshot of public thoroughfares.
The legal slave trade has been extremely lucrative in the Coast, given the constant need for able-bodied laborers due to the naturally dangerous environment. Typically, slaves are imported through Kansujian. For many this is their final destination, but many are sent by boat along the rivers to the various other city-states. These slaves are typically the result of Territorial wars and skirmishes, as well as captured bandits and other undesirables. Since they are not legitimate residents of the Coast, even city-states with laws that typically frown upon anything beyond indentured servitude will make an exception in order to bolster the ranks of their working class.
In most cases legal slaves are treated reasonably well on the Coast. They are given accommodations, food, and in some cases a weekly stipend-- albeit one lighter than that of a freeman or indentured servant. Depending on the local laws, some slaves are even offered the opportunity to purchase their freedom for a price set by the government (low enough to be attainable, but high enough so as to ensure a healthy slave population). While their occupation is set by their owner, and they can be punished if they refuse to work, abuses of power by owners are generally not tolerated due to the coastal states' need for willing masses of cheap manual labor. Children of slaves are born freemen, and can begin the process of applying for citizenship once they reach adult age.
Illegal Trade
Illegal trade flourishes amongst less scrupulous merchants, or in city-states where law enforcement is lax, unobservant, or simply incapable of keeping their eyes on many places at once. Purchased from bandits, raiders, or criminal organizations, illegal slaves are offered none of the legal protections of legally traded slaves, unless they are mercifully sold as if they were one. A darker fate awaits those sold in the underground markets such as those rumored to exist in Kansujian: sex slave, pit fighter, assassin, and thief are just a few of many titles that illegally acquired slaves might take on during their enslavement. If an illegal slave is found or brought to the attention of the kinder governments on the Coast, they are typically immediately granted freeman status, as well as a portion of any wealth seized from their former "employer" as a form of recompense. The penalty for dealing or owning an illegal slave tends to be on the harsher side of local statutes. Though executions are rare for the general population of most city-states, for those trading in illegal slavery it is in fact a common sentence.
Indentured Servitude
A unique form of slavery, indentured servitude differs from both normal slavery and regular employment in that it typically involves an individual agreeing to work without recompense for an agreed-upon length of time for a promised reward, cancellation, service, or absolution at the end of the term. Unlike legal and illegal slaves, who are most often taken from the Territories, indentured servitude can be pressed upon a citizen of the Coast without them losing any of their legal rights. This often takes the form of a poorer or indebted citizen seeking some form of favor they cannot achieve without the assistance of a person of high esteem or wealth. The party willing to fulfill their request becomes their patron, and both parties sign a binding legal contract detailing the terms and length of the agreement. During this time, the patron generally agrees to house and care for the servant, but as previously mentioned the servant will receive no pay for the work performed while under contract. When a patron requests that a servant perform work outside of their contract, most city-states propone that the servant be compensated monetarily for that work. When the contract expires, the patron and servant usually part ways but it's not unheard of for particularly amiable contracts to result in lasting friendships or even romance. Servants who do their job especially well might even see themselves hired on as a regular worker, or else kept on retainer in case the patron has need of their services again. A common example of indentured servitude would be an aspiring scholar seeking a patron to finance their studies. A contract struck between the two might see the scholar then act as a tutor for the patron's children or overseeing the financial affairs of the patron's estate in exchange.
The Treetouched
Shunned in nearly every society except those who practice the Dreamswallowers faith, the Treetouched universally have few or no rights or freedoms in such societies. Ostracized and discriminated against for their mutations, the Treetouched are nonetheless valued as workers for the advantages their mutations might bring them. Newly discovered Treetouched are frequently placed in ghetto villages far from main population centers, employed for a fraction of the value of their labor. An example of this can be seen in Ashimachi, where the impoverished village of Tailfeather houses a colony of Treetouched workers who contribute the capital city's various cottage industries. Unlike other slaves, who are more often than not imported from outside the Coast, the Treetouched are frequently exported from the Coast using a lottery system by which armed guards will enter a Treetouched colony and seize a proscribed number of individuals for export. Clapped in irons and shipped off to the Territories, it is unlikely such slaves will ever see their homes again. The Treetouched are afforded little legal protection on the Coast, and generally none in the Territories. As such, abuse of such slaves in the Territories is common, tolerated, and in many cases even encouraged; sometimes for religious reasons.
Opinions on Slavery
While slavery is commonplace on the Coast, it is largely growing more accepted as a 'necessary evil' than fully approved of by the populace. With mundane technologies innovated by the far-away Azir on the verge of starting an industrial revolution, the need for slaves has begun to steadily decline in recent years and the people of the Coast have started to become increasingly uncomfortable with the presence and treatment of slaves. In the modern day, it's rare to see a slave market within eyeshot of public thoroughfares.
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