Thread:Argali1/@comment-26210095-20160308222006/@comment-26184570-20160308231834

Maybe, that could work. I have another idea though.

After the building of the wall, and the begining of the War of the Last Alliance, the Umbarans could no longer infiltrate the Atoll's homefront, and capture Manuwaith for slavery. So, they kept their remaining Manuwaith slave population, and established Manuwaith farms. However, since these weren't in the Manuwaith natural habitat, the slave Manuwaith quickly developed thinner, grey feathers and a stockier build. So, in Umbar now, they could only capture Manuwaith of the Atoll ethnicity during wartime. So, Manuwaith of the rarer (for Umbaran's) ethnicity are more prised and far more expensive in Umbar. That is why Ariki is just as colorful, because his parents were killed and he was captured. He isn't of the slave ethnicity, he is a true Manuwaith. In fact, he's a prince. Only the really, absurdly rich in Umbar have true Manuwaith slaves. That's why Veantur's right-hand-slave is of the finest royal stock.