Yaanari Slave Ships

*"Like the parent birds of a nest full of hatchlings, the Flesh Ships of the Yanaari raid and take fresh bodies for the always-hungry fields and mines of Yaan. They care little as to who they capture, be it human, Kithri, Alir or fellow Yaanari. As long as the ships bring new slaves, the League will not fall"*

Extract from "**Flesh Merchants**", by Alir scribe Moorutu Kirtan

The following extract has been made with information taken from a mixture of merchant accounts, reports from the Commonwealth's fleet and army during the conflict against the Yaanari League and the travel journal of Alir adventurer and explorer Moorutu Kirtan.

## Yaanari and slavery

Unlike other realms and societies like the Commonwealth, the Yaanari League does not use a majority of free workers to build and improve their realm. Instead, each of the realm's leagues maintains a high number of slaves from all races to work in their fields and mines. A highly aggressive race who believes mostly on the right of the strong to rule over the weak, the Yaanari have no second thoughts about forcing the victims of their raids and invasions as forced labor.

Like it happened in many societies of Old Earth, the Yaanari mostly consider their slaves to be little more than tools and objects, useful in many ways but still inferior compared to their reptilian masters. Those Yaanari who are too weak or foolish to defend themselves from their rivals may also end up as slave labor, working side by side with the people they enslaved during past raids. These Yaanari slaves seldom last for more than a few weeks, as slaves from other races will not miss the chance to get a little revenge on the people who took away their lives and families.

During his journey across the Yaanari league, Moorutu Kirtan was able to see first hand the relationship between slaves and masters. The Alir's "host", Baroness Izill presented to him many of the slaves who worked in her palace-home, each of whom had a different rank and functions:

*"Unlike the poor creatures who worked at the factories, the slaves in Izill's home were well-fed and cared for. As the Baroness explained to me, these kind of "service slaves" were the one's who attended her political allies and future investors when they visited her home to talk business. A baron or baroness who displays a great number of well-clothed and fed slaves to their guests will be seen as someone rich and powerful, while those who have few, starving servants will be seen as weak and easy prey for future attacks"*

## The Slave Ships

Even larger than the troop transports used by the Commonwealth's army for planetary invasions, Yaanari Slave Ships are great leviathans built to endure the many hardships to be expected during their raids. While slow, their many decks are able to house crew, raiders and the tens of thousands of slaves they may capture in their journey. Since each league is different, the design of Slave Ships can vary greatly from one craft to another. Nevertheless, all slave ships seem to have at least these things in common:

-**Slave Cargo Rooms:**A slave ship may spend a solar year or more in space before returning to Yaan with its living cargo. Because of this, the Yaanari build rows upon rows of these rooms, each one prepared to house a particular species in such a way that it will not die during its stay at the ship. To prevent slave uprisings, the ship's slave guards feed their prisoners meals containing a small dose of "Garki milk". This drug makes keeps their prisoners docile and meek, so they will not cause any trouble during raids.

Those who refuse to eat are either forced to by the guards or left to starve, as the Yaanari masters do not require slaves who cannot follow orders.

**-Raider's Armory:**They may work together during the raid, but Yaanari raider parties rarely like one-another or share their resources. Because of this, each raiding party (the numbers can range between a few hundred and several thousand) has its own private rooms to keep their weapons, ammo, and armor. This equipment is cared for only by the raider's personal slaves.

**-Attack Craft Hangar:**Speed and surprise are the main weapons of Yaanari raiders. Because of this, they need of fast landing craft which can get them in and out before the planet's defense forces can destroy them. A small fleet of these invasion ships waits at the belly of most Slave Ships, each one painted with the colors and symbols of the raiding party who uses it.

## Military use

While they are mostly used to jail that prey captured during their raids, the Yaanari also make use of their "Flesh Ships" during planet invasions. In fact, most successful planetary invasions made by the league's forces are followed by the capture and transport of thousands of new slaves to fill the space left by the invasion force. It is also not rare to see slave levies used by the Yaanari as cannon fodder during a battle against their foes.

Commonwealth's reports of the fleet's skirmishes and battles against the Yaanari fleet speak of the endurance of these vessels. Covered by powerful shields and several layers of armor, they endured several rounds of high-ordinance weaponry, even as all the fleet fired on them.

During his time with Baroness Izill, the Alir traveler, historian and xenopsychologist Moorutu Kirtan learned of the reasons why the Yaanari made sure their slave ships could endure so much damage.

*"Izill told me that, in the end, they were their greatest investment. A league without a flesh ship must find its workforce in its competitor's slave markets and thus show their weakness to the rest. While rare, Izill also knew that there were sometimes conflicts between different leagues, where one side would try to steal the other's ships and thus cripple its opponent. These sort of attacks happened mostly to slave ships with small crews or no weaponry or shields to speak of. Strong ships were the symbol of a strong league. Weak ships show a short-lived one"*

Durable as they might be, however, Yaanari slave ships cannot compare to the attack craft of a real armada.