Board Thread:Custom Lore Development/@comment-26210095-20160405195041/@comment-26210095-20160411022024

On Slavery, and a bit on social class:

The whole of society is divided in two: Free and Unfree. All slaves are unfree, but not all unfree are slaves. You will find out why in a second.

Not all slaves are equal. The absolute bottom of the Slave social pyramid are the Unclean. The unclean are the ones who handle, well, unclean things. Human excrement, and are the ones who clean the streets. They are recognizable by their black clothes, which have razors built into them to give them near constant pain, and their tattoo: they are branded with a slave tattooin the shape of a fly on their foreheads. These guys have it pretty badly, most die in their first 5 years. These people are the cripples, the infirm, and the undesirables that are captured in slave raids. So, yeah. Not nice to be one of these

Next above are the Labor-Slaves. These are the ones that work in the mines, build buildings, and work as galley-slaves. They have it pretty badly too. They are mostly procured from the strong male stock captured on slave-raids. They have a tough life, and die eventually, but the empire was built on the backbones of slaves. They are given a tattoo in the shape of a fist on their arms. Around the Same level as them are the lowest of the low on the prostitution pyramid, those that are forced to sleep with men.

Above this, they are not slaves, but still unfree. They cannot be bought and sold, but they aren't free.

Above those guys are the menial-workers.These include those that sail barges along the rivers, menial household slaves Those that carry palanquins, those that drive elephants, and other menial tasks. They aren't that bad off, and are happy with their job usually. They do get paid, but some of those proceeds go to their master. They have freedom to go around the city, have a family, and buy and sell. They are still bound to their master though, and have to obey him. Unlike slaves, where it is legal to whip them as much as you would like, it is illegal to hurt an unfree excessively. They can be prosecuted for disobedience, though. They are marked by a circular band around their neck with a large disk on it, known as a Sakrah. The designs upon the disk reflect their master, his wealth, and his job (a man who drinks out of a silver cup is Wealthy, but the man who's slave's Sakrai are made of silver truly has a fortune). Women can not be forced to sleep with men against their will.

Above them are the upper classes of the unfree. These are the intelligent unfree. These are scribes, translators, and personal slaves. They wear a thin silver chain necklace, and wear the livery of their lord. They have the same freedoms as the above. They often are quite influential, being sometimes advisors and scribes.

All male children of prostitutes, all male lower-class children born out of adultery, and some of the male children from families in the cities (although they will never take a first son) are taken in the Blood-Tax. They are raised, and at the age of 12 are given an assesment. If they are military, they will be given off to the military. If they are intellectual, they are given education. The families originally rejected this, but eventually accepted it as those that came out of it could become generals and bring pride to the family. The military ones are taken to the toughest military school in the nation, and are taught loyalty above all else. They are not only taught to fight, they are taught to be clever and cunning, and are taught many skills. They are because of that a jack-of-all-trades, able to adapt and to preform well in many situations. They are inducted into the Abrazagar, known by the nickname "Red Cloak's" after, well, their red cloaks. More about them when I go into detail about the military. The intelligent ones often become scholars, engineers, and other trades.

NOTE: Unfree can be freed, but only by their master. Unfree' children are unfree.