Question about slaves in the world

Started by rnix, January 11, 2003, 06:14:25 PM

The two big slave houses in the known world are Winrothol and Borsail of the north and south.

Now here it says
http://www.armageddon.org/general/slavery.html#prices

You can actually purchase slaves and so on. So is it possible with permission of your clan leader and so on if you had the money would a normal everyday person be able to purchase a cook for there personal home or npc guard to block there door. Or even a guard to walk around with them like they are someone special of importance?

I realize you'd need a lot of coins, and need a lot of clearence but just a question.


Not unless the House you work for was considered the owner. This came up IC a few years ago where a merchant pc had a mul that "she" owned, not her House. Needless to say, it was taken from her because unless you own "land" per se, you cant own a slave.

Now, if things have changed, I dont know. But it was a very big IC roleplay with imms involved when that situation happened. I would ask the imms for clarification.
color=violet]If life was like a box of chocolates we would spend all day inside being poked and eaten.[/color]

I think there are commoners who own slaves. However, I think that the slaving Houses (or the templarate) might not be willing to sell a slave to just anyone.

-First, a slave is in many ways an indicator of status, and people who have status (and slaves) don't always want to share it. If you've offended nobles and templars in the past, don't expect them to sell you any slaves.
-Second, a slave reflects on their pedigree their entire lives. So, slaving Houses are not going to want to sell you a slave unless they are convinced you'll keep it in line and in a condition to reflect well on them. In other words, they have to trust you with a human life, and trust you to know how to handle slaves. I doubt the average Joe Commoner could exhibit these qualities.
-Thirdly, the cost of owning a slave is well above the actual purchase price, since you have to factor in food, shelter, protection, medical services, etc. if you want to protect your investment. So I think the seller would also factor this in, i.e. do you not only have a sizeable sum saved up to buy the slave, but do you also have a reasonable income?
-Fourthly, there's all sorts of ooc concerns, ranging from what happens if you die, to how fair it is for you to have an extra safeguard against death, etc.

Basically what it boils down to is that slaves are very valuable, and should not be in just any hands. So yes, you can do it, but I wouldn't expect it to be a very common occurence.
Quote from: tapas on December 04, 2017, 01:47:50 AM
I think we might need to change World Discussion to Armchair Zalanthan Anthropology.

In my personal opinion, I stand neither for or against normal PCs owning/using slaves. Slaves are an everyday part of society but it must be remembered that they are also a limited part of society. Only the rich and powerful would have them in great numbers which is why nobles will usually always have one whether it be virtual or not and most likely the merchant houses as well. Whether an unattached person would have them is difficult to answer.

First, there's the question of actually purchasing a slave. A slave would be well-trained and have forgone the requirement to have to learn their task, the time needed to instill loyalty, and regular pay of course. So, a slave would be fairly expensive. Whether those prices on the slaving page are correct or not is contestable (at least, I think so), different regions have different prices as well as when dealing with different traders, etc.

Second, there's the part of keeping the slave alive. When you think about it, the pay system is really kind've screwed up. There are 231 days in a month. The typical PC gets paid in the range of 300 to say... 600 coins per month? Food costs around 10-100 coins per meal on average then there's water. So when it comes to keeping someone alive, it costs upwards of 2-3 thousand coins per month to keep them alive (which I think is the greatest benefit to working for a clan). Even in mass, such food would cost around 1-5 coins per day if it were of low quality so that would run quite the price. You might consider e-mailing the clan imm about this as well as the clan leader.

Third, my personal OOC concern. Can you imagine having a tavern-full of NPCs? I remember this one situation in which there were over a half-dozen NPCs with this one character and they all walked into a tavern which was already crowded with PCs. That was rather unsettling. Which is another reason why I feel having NPCs around can be troubling but some roles require it. Though, if kept limited, an NPC with a special normal character might be fine.

Just my two 'sids.
ree as a bird and joyfully my heart
Soared up among the rigging, in and out;
Under a cloudless sky the ship rolled on
Like an angel drunk with brilliant sun.
                                       - Charles Baudelaire

Hrm, I seem to remember not a few rpt's in which merchant pc's and even independant ones, purchased slaves from auctions in the pavilion.

I see no reason owning "land" should affect anything.  In case you haven't noticed, no one really seems to own property as in physical ground in game.  It belongs to the city, and is sat upon by your buildings and whatnot.

The only reason I see that having a coded residence should affect anything, is with quitting out.  Still... it does seem an ooc consideration not worthy of keeping pc's from their slaves.

Quote from: "Eternal"The only reason I see that having a coded residence should affect anything, is with quitting out.  Still... it does seem an ooc consideration not worthy of keeping pc's from their slaves.

Well, 'quitting out' may be an ooc consideration, but icly, your slave is going to have to sleep somewhere, and I doubt clans are going to give free rooming to anyone not clanned. Sure, you can RP that they sleep at the foot of your bed in an inn, but then, back to ooc-ness, are you really going to leave them in a quit room to be killed?

On another note, I have noticed some people have a great eagerness to buy an NPC slave but disdain the idea of hiring a PC employee. I can see that each option has its advantages and disadvantages, but I'm not really sure why the NPC is so heavily favored (in my observation).
Quote from: tapas on December 04, 2017, 01:47:50 AM
I think we might need to change World Discussion to Armchair Zalanthan Anthropology.

I've known of PCs owning slaves in the past, regardless of 'land' qualifications.  There are some IC and OOC considerations that I believe need to be taken into account though:

IC - is the ownership suspicious.  For example if Joe the Merchant suddenly buys cohorts of warrior slaves from anyone who's selling the authorities are going to want to know why.

OOC - If the slave is another PC then the owner needs to be able to show they can look after the slave, keep its player happy and busy etc.

A special note should be made for Muls.  I believe the authorities (and selling houses) wont sell muls to individuals as they require a lot of guarding and looking after.  An individual owning a Mul is too likely to lead to death and destruction all around.
 Manic depressive puss-wuss

I believe that after talking to several people about the slaves issues now first of all:

Pc slaves:  Pc slaves are going to be hard for someone to maintain you'll have to work out schedules and so on which of course i'm sure some people are willing to do....

Now the issue of paying your slave I see that not being an issue, anyone in the game can make up 400 to 500 coins in a week just begging So for whoever said that in an early point that wasn't very valid-------The issue of if you clan would agree with it of course you'd have to go through your house leader (if you have one) You could rp that the slave is joining the house on the basis of a slave, wears the house collar.... or just your collar and it to be known on whatever agreements that the slave can sleep at the house or if not trusted well enough then could stay at your own personal home during that time..... There are quite a few senarios that can be said for this... I'd like to wait for imm to email me back on the issue then I"ll put what they said about it for everyone!

Npcs:: Easy to control in the context that they'll always be around when you are around.. You have to rp them and it can be a hassle(so i hear) But its just the appeal of having one that applies to some people...

_-Thank you all for replying to this post... hope to see more ideas on the matter-_

Quote from: "Eternal"Hrm, I seem to remember not a few rpt's in which merchant pc's and even independant ones, purchased slaves from auctions in the pavilion.

I see no reason owning "land" should affect anything.  In case you haven't noticed, no one really seems to own property as in physical ground in game.  

That was the reason given IC in a huge roleplay in Allanak on why this female pc didn't really own this mul. That it was HER mul and not the House's she worked for, even though she was blood to that House.

Like I said, I would write in to the imms and ask their opinion on it. It might have had to do with it being a mul and not an average slave. But the mul was indeed taken from her on those grounds.
color=violet]If life was like a box of chocolates we would spend all day inside being poked and eaten.[/color]

Quote from: "crymerci"I think there are commoners who own slaves. However, I think that the slaving Houses (or the templarate) might not be willing to sell a slave to just anyone.

-First, a slave is in many ways an indicator of status, and people who have status (and slaves) don't always want to share it. If you've offended nobles and templars in the past, don't expect them to sell you any slaves.
-Second, a slave reflects on their pedigree their entire lives. So, slaving Houses are not going to want to sell you a slave unless they are convinced you'll keep it in line and in a condition to reflect well on them. In other words, they have to trust you with a human life, and trust you to know how to handle slaves. I doubt the average Joe Commoner could exhibit these qualities.
-Thirdly, the cost of owning a slave is well above the actual purchase price, since you have to factor in food, shelter, protection, medical services, etc. if you want to protect your investment. So I think the seller would also factor this in, i.e. do you not only have a sizeable sum saved up to buy the slave, but do you also have a reasonable income?
-Fourthly, there's all sorts of ooc concerns, ranging from what happens if you die, to how fair it is for you to have an extra safeguard against death, etc.

Basically what it boils down to is that slaves are very valuable, and should not be in just any hands. So yes, you can do it, but I wouldn't expect it to be a very common occurence.

Crymerci has pretty much hit the nail on the head.  Yes, there are going to be commoners that own slaves, but they're the exception to the rule and nine times out of ten they're affiliated with some powerful group.  Ordinary Joe couldn't walk up to Borsail and tell them that he would like to purchase a cook for his house because he's too lazy to sizzle up that kank flank himself.  It won't happen.  Additionally, while most PCs can make 300-500 a RL week (or much more!) you have to realize that ICly, that's not an accurate measure of the income of most commoners.  Slaves are for the wealthy and powerful and those associated with them.

Laeris
ssues are issues.  People are people.  Issues should be addressed, people should be loved. - John W. Frye

QuoteCrymerci has pretty much hit the nail on the head.  Yes, there are going to be commoners that own slaves, but they're the exception to the rule and nine times out of ten they're affiliated with some powerful group.  Ordinary Joe couldn't walk up to Borsail and tell them that he would like to purchase a cook for his house because he's too lazy to sizzle up that kank flank himself.  It won't happen.

Why wouldn't Borsail or Kasix sell a crappy slave to a commoner?  What reason would they have to turn away an offer of a thousands of sid?

Personally I would think that if someone had the coins, that a slaving house would gladly sell them what they could afford.

QuoteAdditionally, while most PCs can make 300-500 a RL week (or much more!) you have to realize that ICly, that's not an accurate measure of the income of most commoners.

IMHO its a good point, and one that needs restating often.

Just because 300 sid a month is the PC minimum wage doesn't make it the same for every one in 'Nak.  My understanding is that 300 sid a month puts you in upper middle class of 'Nakki commoners.

Back to the point at hand, I would think that selling old, feeble or flight-risk slaves to wannabee slave owners would be a positive proposition for any slaving outfit.  Especially to owners who are unprepared to do so, since there's always the off chance the slave will flee and the house can sell it again.

Quote from: "ChristopherRobertWoods"Why wouldn't Borsail or Kasix sell a crappy slave to a commoner?  What reason would they have to turn away an offer of a thousands of sid?

Personally I would think that if someone had the coins, that a slaving house would gladly sell them what they could afford.

A better question would be this.  Why would Borsail or Kasix sell a crappy slave in the first place?  It sets a dangerous precedence and an organization, be it a slaving house or a merchant house, is going to want to put out its best products.  Products that don't measure up to quality standards would most likely be recycled.

Additionally, there's the question of status.  With a few noteable exceptions, commoners are nothing.  Why would a noble house confer a slave, something that brings with it quite a bit of status, to a nobody for a few thousand sid?  What's a few thousand sid to a noble house?  I would posit that this is the prime reason most commoners are not given slaves, even if they could scrape up the money to purchase one.

Laeris
ssues are issues.  People are people.  Issues should be addressed, people should be loved. - John W. Frye

Quote from: "Laeris"
Quote from: "ChristopherRobertWoods"Why wouldn't Borsail or Kasix sell a crappy slave to a commoner?  What reason would they have to turn away an offer of a thousands of sid?

Personally I would think that if someone had the coins, that a slaving house would gladly sell them what they could afford.

A better question would be this.  Why would Borsail or Kasix sell a crappy slave in the first place?

Because no matter how successful their breeding/training programs are, there are going to be some eggs that get broken.

Why just kill a mul gladiator that can no longer fight after being maimed?

QuoteIt sets a dangerous precedence and an organization, be it a slaving house or a merchant house, is going to want to put out its best products.  Products that don't measure up to quality standards would most likely be recycled.

That's surprising to hear.  I can see Borsail having the means to do this, but what about Kasix, who as I understand it, sell a lot of cheap labour slaves?  (Cheap being a relative term)

If the city won't buy a slave, killing it when it could be sold for enough to pay for a years worth of wages for up to a handful of commoner employees would seem more likely to me.  

I don't picture nobles doing much at all in the way of slave trading, having commoners hired for such things.  As such I do not think a 'clearance' aisle would be out of the question.

Then there is the question of slaves who were pressed into slavery, not a part of any breeding or training program.  Commoners who couldn't pay their bills or get pushed into slavery by the templarate, or whatever other scenario.

Who sells them?  I would think the warm bodies garnered from slaving raids would qualify as 'crappy' slaves to some extent.

QuoteAdditionally, there's the question of status.  With a few noteable exceptions, commoners are nothing.  Why would a noble house confer a slave, something that brings with it quite a bit of status, to a nobody for a few thousand sid?

One instance of a slave sale would be a thousand sid, but there are tons of merchant NPCs of seemingly varying degrees of 'status' with the apparent means to buy and care for a simple labour slave.  The total number of those potential sales would be worth more than a few thousand sid, IMHO.

Furthermore the plethora of slave NPCs in Allanak, at least, indicate them performing a myriad of tasks that seem more fitting for a commoner merchant venture than a noble house.

There is an abundance of slaves in Allanak, are the majority owned by just a few?

The concept of 'status' affecting slave trade is new to me, having never encountered it in game.  

My in game experiences with slavery have all involved sales to whomever would pay the highest for the slave, status not being an issue since the price tags were large enough to naturally weed out wannabees.

QuoteWhat's a few thousand sid to a noble house?  I would posit that this is the prime reason most commoners are not given slaves, even if they could scrape up the money to purchase one.

Laeris

A few thousand sid x a few hundred commoner merchant buyers is the main reason why I think there would be something filling this demand, noble house or not.  Bazaar shop owners, shops on Commoner's way, these are the people I would think would have the means and desire to get a slave but apparently not the status.

Or do I have an inflated notion of the status required for such a deal?

I really think it depends on the class of slave.  

A mul or gladiator?  No way.  Well . . . .  They only way I can see a gladiator (mul or not) being allowed to be purchesed by a wealthy individual is if part of the contract was that the gladiator was to be kept exclusively at the arena, in which case the new owner would also have to pay maintenance fees for the upkeep.  So you own the gladiator slave, you can control it's training, diet and perks to some degree, and you get some reflected glory if your gladiator does well -- but you can never, ever take him around town or outside the city.  You are more like a sponser than an owner.  "And in this corner, fighting for Adriana's Clothing, is Kruth the Destroyer!"  

Domestic slaves?  Sure, why not?  If you are proserous trader, assassin, entertainer or whatever, why not have a drudge to do the housework and bring you your tea in the morning?  Or a nanny slave that changes the dipers and wipes the snot off your little darlings disgusting little noses, you've got better things to do! This might be an indentured servant rather than a slave, but the difference is mostly semantic.  I doubt many PCs would want to buy a slave like this anyway, since the don't DO anything codewise.  It's just an NPC that stands in your house with an ldesc that indicates it is dusting or scrubbing.  If someone breaks into your house and attacks your drudge, they are almost certainly going to kill it.  A cook NPC that can create infinte amounts of cooked food would probably be a no-go, for obvious reasons.

Guard slaves and guard pets?  I don't think so.  This is the kind of slave many people are picturing when they think about buying a slave; someone who will follow you anywhere, do what you say, and fight things for you or with you.  That way you can go "hunting" without having to find some PCs to come along and make the trip safer.  OOCly these kind of guards are abuseable, and an independant is less likely to have an imm looking over their should to make sure they use the guard realisticly.  ICly a combat slave would have to be trained for loyalty from a young age, and their treatment would have to continually reinforce their training to prevent them from going running off and becoming raiders.  If you want a guard it is probably better to hire a PC than to buy an NPC.

Just my opinion.

AC
Treat the other man's faith gently; it is all he has to believe with."     Henry S. Haskins

On the subject of 'recycling' slaves: I don't think killing is the only possible interpretation of that. 'Recycling' might mean re-conditioning (likely a very unsavory process) or even something as simple as retraining for a different set of tasks. Or, if you have an able-bodied slave who's just got a bad attitude, put them into the breeding stock. I think killing a slave would be reserved for a last resort in most cases, because slaves have so much intrinsic value, because so much has been invested in their upkeep and training.

And as for why slaving houses won't sell substandard slaves: because, slaving houses do not want it known that they have substandard slaves that can't be brought up to par. Say you bought a 'clearance' slave at a sale, that was either incompetent or insolent or whatever. Your friend comes over and observing your slave, asks, 'where'd you get the slave?' You answer, 'oh, Borsail was having a sale.' Now, you and your friend have an idea just how badly the Borsail breeding and/or training programs can fail.
Quote from: tapas on December 04, 2017, 01:47:50 AM
I think we might need to change World Discussion to Armchair Zalanthan Anthropology.

Just because it sort of relates....


If one is thinking about a pet (esp. a dog) check out greyhounds.  The retired (or non-winning) dogs are usually put up for addoption.



As for slavery...

Well MY experences with slavery have been positive.  HOWEVER, it took a LOT of OOC work.  Id say a lot of PC subs actually tend to come across like other kinds of servents.  The ability for the slave to rome, speak, dress, eat to the point of a Player enjoyment of the char requires a lot more than simple shadowing and a few training sessions.

Bottom line, if i were a commoner looking for someone to cook for me, Id hire a buttler or street kid.
"The Highlord casts a shadow because he does not want to see skin!" -- Boog

<this space for rent>

Quote from: "crymerci"On the subject of 'recycling' slaves: I don't think killing is the only possible interpretation of that. 'Recycling' might mean re-conditioning (likely a very unsavory process) or even something as simple as retraining for a different set of tasks. Or, if you have an able-bodied slave who's just got a bad attitude, put them into the breeding stock. I think killing a slave would be reserved for a last resort in most cases, because slaves have so much intrinsic value, because so much has been invested in their upkeep and training.

I'm not sure you would want to use a hopeless case for breeding, in case those traits were in the blood and carried to the next generation.  In Allanak there are always openings for farm and mine workers, they work those slaves hard enough that they are too tired to cause trouble.  And as a last resort they can always be thrown in the Arena as one of the warm-up acts -- if you are going to kill 'em anyway you might as well make it entertaining.

AC
Treat the other man's faith gently; it is all he has to believe with."     Henry S. Haskins

Good point. :)
Quote from: tapas on December 04, 2017, 01:47:50 AM
I think we might need to change World Discussion to Armchair Zalanthan Anthropology.

Why buy an NPC slave instead of hire a PC servant? Simple: loyalty and (dare I say it) lack of stupidity. Basically, an NPC is never going to run away, steal from you, etc. unless an imm makes the NPC do it. And an NPC is never going to do stupid things like talk at the wrong time, sleep at the wrong time, etc. OK, so you'd lose a lot of flexibility in your follower actually acting intelligently when a tricky situation comes up (like you all need to retreat ... which an NPC wouldn't really do, leading to one dead NPC), but most times you'd probably choose an NPC over a PC if you had the choice. From a purely OOC point of view, of course, and assuming you don't know the player of the PC as someone trustworthy. Oh yeah, NPCs don't lag, go AFK, need toilet breaks, etc. either, heh. ;)

Why don't the slaver houses sell their shoddy slaves to commoners? Well, let's imagine what'd happen if they did. You'd get hundreds of poor grade slaves (probably quite rebellious by nature, too) being owned basically by people who didn't have adequate means to keep them under control. Congratulations, you've just contributed a few hundred people to the criminal population of the city. Besides this, I see pain and death as being big incentives for slaves to keep in line. If a slave plays up and gets threatened with being sold off to a lowly commoner and so having a better chance to escape slavery totally, instead of pain and death, I could imagine a lot of slaves starting to play up. And if you were a commoner, would you really want to part with a few hundred/thousand hard earned sid for a slave who'll probably run away by tomorrow? Who's going to catch it for you? The templars and militia would probably fine you for not keeping your slave under control, and if slavers caught the slave, they'd be selling it to the slave houses, probably not you. So, maybe the question wouldn't be so much about why don't the slave houses sell poor quality slaves, but why would anyone buy them in the first place if they're going to cause so much trouble?

All IMHO.

Swordsman

First, I have to say I have a totally different picture of the slave population than lots of people seem to have, given the previous posts.  My first point is that most slaves are not going to be quality slaves.  In Allanak, for example, a majority of the population are, if I remember correctly, slaves.  This is way too many to assume that they are all skilled, desireable slaves.  Admittedly, lots of these will belong to the templarate, and be put to hard labor tasks like obsidian mining, packing rocks around, etc.  However, some slaves organisations even like the Templarate own are going to be too stupid or irresponsible to train to a skilled level and too weak for hard manual labor.  I could easily see these types being sold off to individuals, Merchant Houses, etc.

I always thought of the slave culture as something very gritty.  Only the most exceptional of slaves serving in Houses, only the very lucky gaining skills and thus a place of comfort.  A low class brothel filled with cheap slave prostitutes?  I'd say it would fit.  An ugly person who buys a slave as a "wife"?  Of course.  Domestics for a well to do middle class commoner?  Sure, why not.  Maybe they are unskilled, old, weak, ugly or disfigured, but someone is still going to want them for something.

I guess what I am getting at is a lot of the discussion seemed to be about "skilled" (ie trained by Borsail to an actual standard) or special (has skills, manners, is a mul, etc.) slaves, when I see these as perhaps 10-15% of the total slave population, the exception, not the norm.
Evolution ends when stupidity is no longer fatal."

QuoteI'm not sure you would want to use a hopeless case for breeding, in case those traits were in the blood and carried to the next generation. In Allanak there are always openings for farm and mine workers, they work those slaves hard enough that they are too tired to cause trouble. And as a last resort they can always be thrown in the Arena as one of the warm-up acts -- if you are going to kill 'em anyway you might as well make it entertaining.

AC

I had always thought that even though the Borsail Slavers are by far the best breeders, they still know little about genetics.

for example, I can imagine that they would see through trial and error that the strongest slaves have the strongest children, or perhaps the intelligence (or lack thereof if that is what you want) might be inherited, but as for attitude, laziness, and things like that I would rather think that these traits aren't as simple as black and white. Thoughts?

Quote from: "Uberskaapie"
I had always thought that even though the Borsail Slavers are by far the best breeders, they still know little about genetics.

It depends what you mean by "little."  Do they have pictures of double-helix DNA molecules?  Probably not.  But I think there is some danger in assuming that our ancestors were stumbling around blindly until the 1950s.  

 
Mendelian Genetics is still taught, and as far as I know is still considered reliable as far as it goes, and his work was done in the mid 1800s.  If you didn't take high school biology, here's a quick primer on  mendelian genetics:  
http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/mcclean/plsc431/mendel/mendel1.htm
QuoteGenetic analysis predates Gregor Mendel, but Mendel's laws form the theoretical basis of our understanding of the genetics of inheritance.

Mendel made two innovations to the science of genetics:

1. developed pure lines
2. counted his results and kept statistical notes

Bah, science.  They think they are sooooo smart.  While Mendel was working only 150 years ago, farmers, animal breeders, and snooty empires have known about traits being passed "in the blood" for thousands of years.  This has been used to create useless little lap dogs, high-strung yet pretty race horses, and sturdy plow beasts.  Blood will tell.  Woo, genetic engineering without the dorks in white lab coats!  

AC
Treat the other man's faith gently; it is all he has to believe with."     Henry S. Haskins

I have to agree with AC totally but i've mostly got all the details from opinions and some facts mixed all in... Thank you for everyones inputs on the matters It seems to be that only nobles (in most cases) have slaves as there aides... Personally I also believe that the use of a slave wuold be a total ooc abuse having them coming out on hunting trips and over training the slaves into warriors of great skills far better then the avg warrior... But for the most part slaves when rped correctly would prove so useful... Being that if your character is so weak he/she can't carry his own objects without a deal of trouble theres somenoe there... Moving fourniture around so many more things I could possibly think up but its good that this matter has been discussed and i'm not the only one who thi nks about these things:)

_Rnix