As a topic, slavery is a sensitive one, and one we try not to delve to much into. In that same category is torture, as well as the brutal and heinous acts of unjust rulers seeking to instill their perception of law and order. But it would be inaccurate for a world as large and diverse as Tera'fir to deny that slavery, as well as other topics of a similar nature, exists. From the great Asgran empire to the ancient kingdom of Tienna'Mar, it is a common aspect of every day life.

Each nation has its own policies, but each nation has and even sanctions various forms of slavery. Some are indentured servants, working to pay off debts that they or their family owes. Others are sold into slavery for sheer profit, captured in raids or through other measures. Then there are those who are born into slavery, as were their parents before them, to serve an owner for life.

Each large city, no matter how just and honorable the nation as a whole, employs slaves at various levels. Some may have been sentenced to perform the service due to minor criminal infractions, others are simply slaves to the noble families. It is an unfortunate truth, both of our own world and the world of Tera'fir, but it is an aspect we do not seek to highlight. As for Asgra, they do allow the practice of slavery, but only if the conditions are considered humane and not place life at jeopardy. Could you compare it to ancient Rome? I think not, though seeing a noble woman walking the streets with a well dressed, if downcast, individual bearing her packages is a common site. The same goes for groups of slaves working to clean refuse from the main throughways, carefully watched over by the local militia. But only near the slave market, located in the market place in the old city, do you see the auctions, slave pens, and lines of chained men and women. The population of slaves in the city does not reach, nor does it even approach, the number of freemen.

Fizbanrt
Public Relations Director
Tera'fir World Network