Slavery

**Slavery** is an institution with a complex and violent history in Inecuria. Before the unification of the continent under the Nesarian Empire, slavery was a common fact of life in most of Inecuria, though the status and treatment of slaves varied wildly between nations. Slavery has always found its greatest enemy in the Elvetans, who despise slavery and name it one of the most accursed sins; numerous times have Elvetan states gone to war to liberate slaves - or at least used that justification as a pretext for expansion - most notably the Kingdom of Ascaria and its greater descendant, the Nesarian Empire.

The abolition of slavery was one of the first laws that King Mathados the Founder enacted after founding the Kingdom of Ascaria. This decree abolishing chattel slavery, known as the Declaration of Manumission, was carried on by the Republic of Nesaria and Nesarian Empire, and came to be vigorously and violently enforced across Inecuria as the Empire expanded to eventually rule the entire continent.

The Elvic nations, for the most part, always opposed slavery because of their religion; opposition to slavery is a major moral teaching of Elveta, though secular historians still argue why exactly the religion took on such a fervent abolitionist streak. Saveria never recognised slavery as a valid state of being, but did not actually formally outlaw the practice until its integration into the Nesarian Empire - meaning that a Saverian citizen could have legally owned slaves overseas, just not within the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Saveria. Historians continue to debate whether this loophole was ever actually exploited, as there is no explicit record of such a thing occurring.

Slavery was outlawed in Avamorica as one of the first acts of the newly independent Senate, and the Epsilucian realms which embraced Elveta also outlawed slavery, most prominently the Hapattonen dynasty which founded the modern-day Kingdom of Epsilucia. However, slavery had always had a relatively small presence within Epsilucia because of the social structure of the native kingdoms, which chiefly relied on serfs rather than slaves; most of the slaves of Epsilucia were destined to be exported elsewhere, as slaves were not often actually put to work within the country. Serfdom would not be abolished until over 1700 years later.

During Emperor Athdus III's campaigns, he demanded the immediate liberation of all the slaves in the lands he conquered, condemning all slave-owners who refused to death by beheading, as Nesarian law demanded (and still demands to this day). This infuriated the nobles of the lands he conquered, and he was eventually forced to pacify them by compensating them for the lost property using war loot and the large chunk of the Imperial treasury that had been brought along with Athdus on his march across the continent. Historians typically characterise the Nesarian Invasion of Onshi as being partly motivated by the need to acquire loot to pay off the angered Asmocarian slave-owners. Though Nesarian policy towards slavery won Athdus the ire of the nobles, it won him the undying loyalty of the slaves who had been set free by his rule. Many of them went on to join Athdus' army as auxiliary soldiers or camp followers, proving themselves as courageous warriors and diligent workers.

## Slave Trade

In civilisations that practiced slavery, the trading of slaves was a major sector of the economy, though some civilisations were more engaged in it than others. The majority of slave trading was domestic, but some areas of Inecuria saw a significant international slave trade.

As was already mentioned, most slaves in Epsilucia were exported rather than put to work in the country. Exact numbers are impossible to ascertain, but historians typically estimate that roughly two-thirds of these slaves went north-west to Roulonne/Draconica, and the other third went north to Kyogoshi, the major southern trade hub of Onshitama.

Onshi was (and still remains) the continent's most significant trade hub for all things, which historically included slaves. However, there were few slaves put to work within the actual city of Onshi itself; the inhabitants of Onshi were largely free citizens, and most of Onshitama's slave population inhabited the countryside. The general historical consensus is that the only slaves which actually worked in the city of Onshi were prostitutes serving in Kashitite brothels, with nearly all other slaves being only temporarily held there for sale at the markets. Though many of these slaves were obviously bought by Onshian masters, a large proportion of them flowed westward to the heavily slave-dependent civilisations of Kalzuranur and Chalparna.

Slaves that were traded across borders were often acquired through more dubious means than those traded domestically. The domestic slave trade almost always involved slaves born from other slaves or slaves taken in war, whereas the international slave trade saw a far greater prevalence of slaves sourced from piracy, banditry, raiding and debt. Though all countries had gangs of bandits that frequently captured free people and sold them as slaves, no countries were more prolific in this practice than Kuateoha and Eske Karaa.

Kuahi raiders, in their pursuit of plunder, would frequently take slaves and sell them off elsewhere, only rarely taking slaves for themselves - which, much like the Epsilucians, meant that their slave population was fairly low despite them being extremely prolific slavers and slave traders. Similarly, the feared Avian Corsairs plagued the seas and coasts of the entirety of northern Inecuria - and sometimes even the south - by attacking vulnerable merchant ships and port towns and taking the survivors as slaves. Most of the victims of the corsairs were either sold in Onshi or the major Kalzuranuri port of Elwaqur. The Harpies of Eske Karaa were also heavily involved in the legitimate slave business, with almost all Harpy merchants trading slaves at some point in their careers. Again, much like Epsilucia and Kuateoha, Eske Karaa had a very low slave population despite being prolific slavers and being heavily economically dependent on slavery as a nation.

## Continental Conventions

Although there was no such thing as international law between the realms of Inecuria prior to their unification under the Nesarian Empire, there were many legal conventions shared across the continent, and any realm which defied them often found itself a pariah. One such set of conventions concerns the treatment of slaves. It is a matter of debate as to what extent these conventions were for humanitarian reasons - that is, a genuine desire to protect slaves against abuse and ensure tolerable living and working conditions - or whether they were simply a means to placate the slave population to discourage rebellion.

The most fundamental convention on slavery was the inalienable right to the bodily integrity and autonomy of a slave - that is, a master could not harm a slave without good reason, a master could not rape a slave or force a slave to have sex with another person (whether they be slave or free), and they could not under any circumstances murder their slave; if the master believed execution was warranted, they took the matter to the courts. Some states made exceptions on the latter point for slaves in the process of running away, but others insisted that the non-state-sanctioned killing of a slave in any other situation than self-defence was unlawful. Slaves were also considered to have the inalienable right to basic necessities such as shelter, food and water, and most slave systems also deemed social contact with people other than their master to be a basic necessity.

The possibility of a master actually being punished for these offences varied between places and time periods. Some systems were known for having an easily available and safe method through which slaves could report crimes and for providing protection against unlawful and spiteful reprisals from their masters, such as most of the Kalzuranuri kingdoms (particularly the kingdoms of Adwan and Akkanur, inspired by the reforms of King Belqar the Supreme), but others made it very difficult for a slave to have their master punished or provided no real protection for slaves who reported crimes.

In all of Inecuria, a master could set their slaves free at any time for any reason, *except* in the case of Draconica and the Draconic caste system; this system required a valid explanation for setting a slave free. A slave in Draconica could not be freed if they were not considered to have earnt their freedom. The most common route of earning freedom was, in the words of the law, "continuous and sustained diligence in their duties for a period of at least ten years", though exceptions were usually made for masters on their deathbeds who wished to free slaves that had not served for the ten-year period. Freedom could also be earnt by "directly intervening to save the life of their master, or their master's kin or loved ones". Slaves could also be forcibly set free from their master by the state if the master was found "guilty of extreme and abhorrent abuse to the slave", which usually meant rape or being deprived of basic necessities.

Conventions were more diverse concerning the treatment of the children of slaves. In all cases, the children of two slaves who belonged to the same master were also the slaves of that master, but the differences occur when concerning children of two slaves who belonged to two different masters, or the children of a slave and a free person. In western Inecuria and Onshitama, priority was placed upon the mother when it came to the children of two slaves belonging to different masters; the child would be the slave of whichever master owned the mother. In Kalzuranur and Chalparna, this was reinforced by a law which prevented the separation of mothers and children under 14; it was illegal to have them live separately or to sell them separately. In eastern Inecuria - that is, Asmukhar and Rulkhar - the convention was to have the two masters sort out ownership of the child between themselves, resulting in a varied outcome.

In the case of the child of a slave and a free person, Kalzuranur and Chalparna again placed priority on the mother; if the mother was free, the child would be free, but if the mother was a slave, the child would be a slave. The same standard also applied in Onshitama. In Asmukhar and Rulkhar, the same standard applied unless the child was produced through rape; a child born of rape was always free, and the mother was also set free if she was the slave in the equation. Under the Draconic system, the child of a slave was always a slave, regardless of whether one of their parents was free. If the free parent was the master of the slave, they could only set the slave free if they were willing to recognise the child and take them in as one of their own; unrecognised bastards could not be set free. Since no other Inecurian system of slavery required a reason for giving a slave freedom, obviously this was not the case elsewhere.

## Slavery in the Empire

Although the Nesarian Empire was keen to crack down on slavery and outlawed the practice entirely, this - as in the rest of the world - did not result in slavery disappearing entirely. Slavery and people trafficking remains an issue in Inecuria to this day. Imperial law and policing were effective in destroying labour slavery, since this is difficult to hide due to its scale, but sex slavery has been a constant issue the Imperial Inquisition has had to deal with. Slaves kept for their labour are very rare in Inecuria, and are mostly used in the production of illegal drugs, but sex slaves are significantly easier to hide and so are more common.

Sex slavery is relatively rare in the modern day, but the population of Inecuria is so vast that even a tiny percentage of the population means hundreds of thousands of slaves are affected by this illegal trade. Historical periods of conflict saw a significant rise in the number of sex slaves and the activity of traffickers. The Time of Troubles, War of Powder and Imperial Civil War were all noted as enabling the rise of slavers, particularly the former; the prolonged chaos of the Time of Troubles allowed the formation of a great number of bandit gangs dedicated to taking and selling slaves.

Modern slavers in Inecuria are notable for their extreme ruthlessness when it comes to keeping their identity and operations secret; whistleblowers, runaway slaves and those suspected of being spies are typically murdered in gruesome fashion. Most commentators attribute this behaviour to the equally brutal ruthlessness of the Imperial Inquisition in hunting and punishing all those involved with slavery; slavers must be so merciless and paranoid in order to try and avoid the wrath of dedicated Inquisitors who would gladly see those slavers suffer the same agonising deaths they inflicted upon their victims.