Overview
Slavery has been a staple in Eoion since the founding of the kingdom. The people who were conquered as the kingdom consolidated became slaves and some of their allies, notably Faren and Metray, also kept slaves. Ulena and
Yzel did for a time, but they were freed early on after the formation of the kingdoms. Slavery was never legal in Braca. Currently, slavery is only legal in
Eoion. Yzel has not had slavery in centuries and sees the practice as barbaric.
Where Slaves Come From
In the early days of the kingdoms, slaves were taken from conquered people and brought back to the main city to be sold. These people often worked within the cities of the newly formed kingdom. Kidnapping people was done only in the outer villages, but the practice became illegal once the kingdom was fully formed. Eoin people also sometimes sold themselves into slavery in order to pay debts or because they had no other prospects. Those of Eoin descent were often put to work outside of the cities so as to not remind them of the lives they left behind and to not make free Eoins uncomfortable. This practice has diminished considerably, but still occurs on rare occasions. The sale of infants and children can still be done.
Children of slaves are considered slaves regardless of whether or not one parent was a free person.
Buying a Slave
Depending on the type, the price can vary wildly. Age and health are the most important factors in pricing a basic slave. 'Basic' is used to refer to slaves who are well rounded in menial tasks, such as those of a farmhand or someone to assist with household chores. A well muscled man between 20 and 30 years old tends to cost approximately 4 to 5 goshir. To place this in perspective, a staple bread costs 3 saqushir. This translates to a standard slave with a cost of 40,000-50,000 saqushir, enough for a poor resident to feed their family for one year given a standard family unit of 4.
Men and woman are priced at the same amount, age and health being equal. Children and the elderly are priced lower as they are not as muscled, tending to go for approximately 3 goshir or 3 goshir and 5 latrishir.
There are markets for slaves in all major cities in Eoion, with the largest in
Niuus. Prospective masters are encouraged to look and prod the slaves to their satisfaction and the final purchase is strictly governed by various laws in order to ensure both the buyer and seller are honest in their dealings.
When purchasing a slave, most buyers are interested in either the very young, who can be trained and molded into whatever the master wants, or those in their mid-20s, who have experience in basic tasks, but can still be taught more specialized skills.
Types of Slaves
While slaves can be ordered to perform any duty assigned by the master, there are specific categories that slaves often fall into and once a slave is placed in a particular job, they are rarely changed.
- Tueor: (plural wetueor): These slaves are the most expensive to purchase and are highly sought after by nobility. They are trained from birth to specialize in weaponry and later learn more advanced subjects such as mathematics, history, etiquette, dancing, and other desirable skills.
- Shvendori (plural weshvendori): Slaves owned by the state perform menial duties as public servants. Often, these slaves work as secretaries for government officials, caretakers of public buildings, and assist in state medical facilities. The Gandenye and Niuus have the largest concentration of weshvendori at just under 1 million combined.
- Kunmesin (plural wekunmensin): Artisans often use slaves to assist in their shops and businesses. Sculptors, blacksmiths, weavers, glass blowers, etc are common industries to use wekunmesin. These slaves acquire the skills of their masters and can be used to produce works of their own. Depending on the industry, there are distinct laws that dictate the percentage of the sale of a slave's original work the master can keep. Work produced by the master and slave together is entirely the property of the master. If a slave is able to purchase their freedom, it is likely they were from this category.
- Rafuu (plural werafuu): Slaves working on farming estates are considered a category unto themselves even though they may hold one of several jobs. Often, these slaves work as farm hands, shepherds, swineherds, harvesters, and many other jobs to keep the estate running smoothly.
- Nikuni (plural wenikuni): Domestic slaves vary the most in duty and education. Slaves used to simply clean the household or cook are often the least educated. However, other wenikuni might provide childcare, tutoring, run errands for the master, act as domestic secretaries, and perform more advanced duties in which an education is a significant asset to a nikuni. Those who cannot afford a tueor often purchase a nikuni instead.
Property of Slaves
When slaves are given property, whether as gifts or as part of someone's will, there are a myriad of laws governing the ownership of those items. Money is given to the master and considered to be a payment of the slave's 'purchase debt'. Monetary gifts or payments must be reported to the state and copies of the records are kept at the master's home as well.
Physical gifts are given to the master as slaves cannot own property in the traditional sense. The value of the property is subtracted from the 'purchase debt'. Each item is kept by the master and can be used, but not destroyed or sold. For example, if a slave was gifted a bolt of fabric, the master could use the bolt as a blanket, but could not sell it or make further clothing from it. When the 'purchase debt' is paid, the slave can either choose to allow the master to keep the property as payment or collect further money and have the property returned to them.
A master can obtain the property outside of the purchase debt through a contract signed by the slave transferring all property rights to the master. This cannot be forced. If a master is found to have forced a slave to sign such a document, this is considered theft and the master may face criminal prosecution.
Training
The training of slaves varies widely with the type of job they are expected to perform. However, basic training in obedience is necessary to ensure that the slave obeys the master in whatever position they are placed. It is often the job of the slave trader to break the slaves before sale so they are docile. Even so, a master will often continue this training. Rewards for good service are used by most more often than harsh punishment, although masters vary in their treatment. Slaves are considered property and thus a master is able to treat them in whatever manner they wish. However, there are certain laws banning reasonless cruelty. The consequences to a master are generally seen as fines rather than incarceration and it is a subject of debate as to whether this curbs the behavior or if it should be curbed at all.
Punishing Slaves
The punishments of slaves is most often left in the hands of their master. When an individual owns a slave, that person is able to punish them as they see it. If a slave is owned by the state or a family, it is the head of household or highest ranking person of the department who hands out punishment. The most common forms of punishment include beating, whipping, isolation, food deprivation, and display. In the case of the latter, the slave to be punished is stripped and left somewhere central on the property where they are provided no food and are beaten in front of others. This is the most extreme of the 'standard' punishments and can last for several hours to days depending on the offense.
Overly harsh punishments which do not cross into illegality, are discouraged. Given the more lofty thoughts Eoins have toward slaves (see below), a harsh or unjust punishment is seen as the master disrupting the natural order of things and causing the slave to more likely relapse into bad behavior. The severe punishment can also cause a slave to be useless. Lastly, masters who are given to fits of rage are seen as unable to control their base instincts and this can translate into a reputation for emotional instability. This can adversely affect the master's ability to do business with other free people if they are believed to be unable to control themselves.
Slaves are able to petition the courts if they feel that they have been unjustly punished. However, this is difficult for the slaves to do and is generally only seen with educated slaves in large cities. Those outside of these areas tend to be unaware of that legal avenue. When a slave does go to the court, they are able to present their case and the master must appear to give their own account.
Laws regarding the treatment of slaves dictate more what is unacceptable than what is, giving the masters a great deal of leeway in dealing out punishment. Willful killing of a slave is illegal, although death during a punishment is seen as accidental and thus will not cause criminal penalties. Theft of a slave's property is also a crime, as detailed above. Mutilation is more of a legally grey area. A very serious crime must be committed by the slave to warrant such punishment. A slave can also be punished by outside contractors hired by the master or other slaves trained for such tasks. If a slave dies during these instances, the contractor or secondary slave is responsible for any criminal charges that may come about.
Runaway Slaves
Where there are slaves, there will be runaways. In order to return an errant slave, masters have several options. First, the can put up notices and offer rewards for information leading to the return of the slave. These rewards can be given to free people or other slaves as an incentive, particularly for slaves, to give locations and other information on their fellows. Contractors can also be used to locate runaways. However, they are only effective if they are able to begin work as soon as possible so that the slave has not had time to flee the immediate vicinity or town.
If a slave is found and returned, the master is encouraged to determine the cause of their desire to run and rectify it so both are able to continue in their prescribed role. This ideal is not often adhered to and slaves are punished for running. Still, punishment is often not severe as this is thought to cause slaves to attempt to run again. Instead, a master general collars or brands slaves who have run away in the past in order to make them easily identifiable. In the case that a slave has run away multiple times, then the master is allowed more severe punishment without criminal charges.
Eoin Thoughts on Master-Slave Dynamics
In Eoin culture, a master is meant to be the head of the household. Slaves act on the will of the master to carry out their duties. In order to instill loyalty, Eoins believe that rewards for good service are more desirable as it will incentivize good slaves to continue their behavior and bad slaves to aspire toward the rewards. Slaves are thought to be owned body, mind, and soul by the master. As such, a slave is an extension of the master's own soul since all souls are linked in the source of all magic, Bolu. This thought dictates that slaves be treated as fellow members of a wider whole. Their purpose is servitude within that grander scheme, but without them the scheme is shaken.
Despite these high moral strokes, slaves are more practically seen as property, like animals. They can be intelligent and some become respected by their masters, particularly those who act as tutors to noble children. These are often freed when the master becomes an adult in thanks for their service. However, this is not normal for other types of slaves. Physical punishment is common when bad behavior is detected, particularly as a deterrent to other slaves.
A famous story depicts a master who had a slave's eyes removed because they believed the slave to be lusting after their spouse. Depending on how a person feels, the master either acted cruelly and disfigured a perfectly good slave into uselessness or the master acted justly because the slave had overstepped their position and thus needed punishing to remind them and other slaves of proper behavior. The prevailing theory has changed through the centuries. At present, the former interpretation is more accepted and most will say that the slave should have been simply beaten and their duties changed to avoid contact with the spouse. In this way, the issue is solved as the slave cannot act on their lust and the master sends a clear signal to the rest of the household regarding proper actions.
Freeing Slaves
There are several methods by which slaves can be freed. When a slave is freed, they receive a
eyudzeni biiame to show their new status.
- Buying: The most common method of obtaining freedom is by the slave buying themselves from the master. This is usually seen with wekunmesin as they are able to sell their work. However, other slaves can build up money as well, particularly weshvendori.
- Will: Some masters will free some or all of their slaves upon their death. This is completely up to the master. A master may use this as incentive for their slaves to work harder and earn their freedom if their path to earning money is very limited.
- Breach of contract: If certain uses for a slave are stipulated in the sale contract and a master violates this, the slave in question is freed automatically. This is difficult to prove and rare. Slaves often do not know about this and as they cannot bring cases such as these to court themselves, unless one of the parties to the sale contract does so, the actions are never prosecuted.
- Marriage: A slave is freed upon marriage to a free person. The biiame is generally given right before the marriage necklace to symbolically show that it is two free people entering into the marriage rather than a slave and master. However, freedom is not considered official until the marriage ceremony is complete.
Famous Slaves
At present, the most famous slave is
Erasure. He was a Tueor slave purchased at 15 by Emperor
Andriy Shiroko as a gift for his nephew,
Taras. Erasure became the first person to marry into the royal family since the institution of inbreeding several centuries ago, making him the current Royal Consort.
Tsi was a kunmesin slave who was bought and sold by several artisan masters over the course of her life. From them, she learned many different skills. At the time of her last sale, she was proficient in painting, sculpting, and poetry. She used all of these to create unique, highly sought after pieces and was able to purchase her freedom. One of her sculptures,
Birth of the Source, still resides in the Statue Forest in
Niuus and she was the first slave to have their work featured there.
A pair of nikuni slaves by the names of Qinan and Ojed became highly accomplished doctors. They were paired together by their master, the overseer of a medium sized township and educated in medicine. Through their careers, they discovered several cures and treatments for various illnesses common in those who work most of their time in fields. They became unofficial
Dea for their work and are revered in the far west of the empire and by slaves across the country.
Comments