SUBJUGATION
The Overlord’s Canon is a thick black book with silver ink on
black pages. The robust script the faith insists on using is difficult to read at times, and the illustrations are subtle images with
multi-layered implications. Subjugation is the wordiest canon,
requiring considerable commitment for even the most earnest
reader.
The canon’s difficulty lies in part because it takes the form of
a legal document, the longest known. Each of its 12 Articles
describes why
Slavery and rulership are vital and beneficial to
the owner or ruler. The final section, Summation, pulls the 12
Articles together and describes the necessity, for the good of all
Tellene, that the
House of Shackles gains control of the world.
The time of arch-Theocracy, known as the New Order, would
bring peace, order and prosperity to all.
Hints throughout indicate that there is another, greater
authority in existence, one written by the hand of the Overlord
himself. This unnamed canon has never been seen and likely
does not exist outside of
Pel Brolenon, if it exists at all. The
purpose of this work, as well as its contents, is shrouded in
mystery.
The book’s language is flowery, its prose eloquent and
powerful, and its contents cerebral in nature. Few actions are
prohibited if they can be interpreted as supportive of the faith’s
ultimate goals. Even eating of horseflesh is not forbidden;
while the draft horse is the Overlord’s symbol, it symbolizes a
subjugated animal with which the owner may do with it as he
pleases. Clerics are expected to have a number of slaves
commensurate with their rank, although this source of rivalry is
tradition rather than direct command. Still, the tradition is
strong and a Bringer that fails to keep slaves might find himself
demoted or exiled.
While scholars claim Subjugation’s essays on rulership
provide a monarch with an excellent education, the demand for
the book is small. It costs 40 gp and is common only in large
cities. It appears elsewhere sporadically.
