Chainmen
As the name indicates, the Chainmen is a human slaver's organization, operating among evil nations both on the ground and in space. They are hated and feared in turn, but may still be found in many ports in space.
Symbol: Seven links of chain, looped into a circle. Headquarters: The Chainmen are reputed to have bases in the Grinder in Greyspace, in Garden in Realmspace, and in similar remote regions in many other spheres. There is no central headquarters.
Purpose: The Chainmen Traders are businessmen—they buy and sell other sentient beings. They specialize in providing large groups of slaves from "far-off lands" who know nothing of the local terrain and are thus unlikely to escape. If you want to "lose" a defeated enemy, you can sell him to the Chainmen. Within a month the victim will be toiling for some foreign prince who asks no questions, or be on his way to a completely different world. The Chainmen are not concerned with high-quality merchandise. They will often swoop down on unsuspecting groundlings, capture the entire population of a village, and bring these unfortunates to their clients as slaves. The Chainmen do not support the exotic trade—slaves with unusual talents and pleasure slaves—because they don't study their merchandise. Their motto is quantity, not quality. The Chainmen do not take slaves where they dock, however—the authorities would immediately stop them. They also avoid taking their cargo off ship while in unfriendly ports so that it may not be confiscated. Because they are slavers, the Chainmen refresh their atmospheres before visiting any port; they do not wish to pay expensive air taxes for their large ship populations (including the cargo).
Allies:
The Chainmen have a working agreement with the Tenth Pit. The Pit ignores Chainmen activities in return for a portion of the profits collected in Pit-controlled territories. These two organizations distrust each other because they can never be sure who's cheating who, not because of any opposition to the business at hand.
There are also rumors linking the Chainmen with the Xenos. This is partially supported by the fact that the Chainmen accept only human recruits, but this may simply be because few demihumans wish to work as slavers.
The Chainmen seem to have no restrictions against selling human slaves, and their buyers include neogi and mind flayers. Enemies:
The Company of the Chalice hates the Chainmen only slightly less than it hates the neogi.
The Pragmatic Order of Thought sees slavery as an abomination and will fight slavers wherever they are found.
The elven Imperial Fleet despises the Chain-men's practices and will resist them at every turn.
The Celestians, the other mercantile lines, and the Seekers also object, but their resistance is more philosophical than practical.
Joining:
Joining the Chainmen is easy— sometimes too easy. Recruits who are unskilled, lazy, or insubordinate are tossed into the hold with the rest of the cargo. Chainmen ships are always looking for new crew-members. The pay is fair but quick advancement is uncommon. Only those who manage to purchase their own ships can become captains. Chainmen prefer strong (but not particulary smart) crewmen. The majority are human, but there are lizard man, hurwaet, hadozee, and rastipede Chainmen along with the occasional renegade dwarf or elf. However, these nonhumans sometimes find themselves part of the cargo at the end of the journey, particularly if the captain has Xeno affiliations. Potential crewmen should consider themselves warned.
Benefits:
The Chainmen manage a distribution network for human misery. Those with slaves to sell can find a buyer through the Chainmen Traders' information brokers. The coordinated efforts of the Chainmen to break open new markets has brought them into contact with many of the powerful evil groundling societies, and these contacts can prove useful in other ways. Obligations: The Chainmen require all members to pay 30% of their profits toward maintaining the organization. This charge is enforced through a combination of social pressure and the occasional slave raid against a recalcitrant ship.
Symbol: Seven links of chain, looped into a circle. Headquarters: The Chainmen are reputed to have bases in the Grinder in Greyspace, in Garden in Realmspace, and in similar remote regions in many other spheres. There is no central headquarters.
Purpose: The Chainmen Traders are businessmen—they buy and sell other sentient beings. They specialize in providing large groups of slaves from "far-off lands" who know nothing of the local terrain and are thus unlikely to escape. If you want to "lose" a defeated enemy, you can sell him to the Chainmen. Within a month the victim will be toiling for some foreign prince who asks no questions, or be on his way to a completely different world. The Chainmen are not concerned with high-quality merchandise. They will often swoop down on unsuspecting groundlings, capture the entire population of a village, and bring these unfortunates to their clients as slaves. The Chainmen do not support the exotic trade—slaves with unusual talents and pleasure slaves—because they don't study their merchandise. Their motto is quantity, not quality. The Chainmen do not take slaves where they dock, however—the authorities would immediately stop them. They also avoid taking their cargo off ship while in unfriendly ports so that it may not be confiscated. Because they are slavers, the Chainmen refresh their atmospheres before visiting any port; they do not wish to pay expensive air taxes for their large ship populations (including the cargo).
Allies:
The Chainmen have a working agreement with the Tenth Pit. The Pit ignores Chainmen activities in return for a portion of the profits collected in Pit-controlled territories. These two organizations distrust each other because they can never be sure who's cheating who, not because of any opposition to the business at hand.
There are also rumors linking the Chainmen with the Xenos. This is partially supported by the fact that the Chainmen accept only human recruits, but this may simply be because few demihumans wish to work as slavers.
The Chainmen seem to have no restrictions against selling human slaves, and their buyers include neogi and mind flayers. Enemies:
The Company of the Chalice hates the Chainmen only slightly less than it hates the neogi.
The Pragmatic Order of Thought sees slavery as an abomination and will fight slavers wherever they are found.
The elven Imperial Fleet despises the Chain-men's practices and will resist them at every turn.
The Celestians, the other mercantile lines, and the Seekers also object, but their resistance is more philosophical than practical.
Joining:
Joining the Chainmen is easy— sometimes too easy. Recruits who are unskilled, lazy, or insubordinate are tossed into the hold with the rest of the cargo. Chainmen ships are always looking for new crew-members. The pay is fair but quick advancement is uncommon. Only those who manage to purchase their own ships can become captains. Chainmen prefer strong (but not particulary smart) crewmen. The majority are human, but there are lizard man, hurwaet, hadozee, and rastipede Chainmen along with the occasional renegade dwarf or elf. However, these nonhumans sometimes find themselves part of the cargo at the end of the journey, particularly if the captain has Xeno affiliations. Potential crewmen should consider themselves warned.
Benefits:
The Chainmen manage a distribution network for human misery. Those with slaves to sell can find a buyer through the Chainmen Traders' information brokers. The coordinated efforts of the Chainmen to break open new markets has brought them into contact with many of the powerful evil groundling societies, and these contacts can prove useful in other ways. Obligations: The Chainmen require all members to pay 30% of their profits toward maintaining the organization. This charge is enforced through a combination of social pressure and the occasional slave raid against a recalcitrant ship.
Neighboring Nations
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