Elena realized that she had just been sold for a fortune. But if she’d learned from the other girls that, often, the more expensive a slave was sold, the more pleasant and gentle her fate and future were sure to be, here she was convinced of the opposite. She could read the vicious, sadistic insanity in the Bey’s eyes, the delight that tickled his belly and stroked his ego at the pleasure he would get from using his new acquisition for his most perverse pleasures. Oh, Elena had no doubt that he would be careful, at least relatively, not to damage her too quickly. She was a redhead and an earthling, with a rare and unique mixed-race beauty and a wild, rebellious femininity. But even Priscius, as he shook hands with his client and handed him Athena’s leash, was seized by a painful remorse that he had to stifle immediately.

The slaver took just enough time to say a few words to Elena, before letting Jharin take possession of his new acquisition:

“You’ve just saved my household, be proud of that and of the price your master paid to own you. It’s one of the greatest honors a slave can receive.”

Songs of Loss, Mélisaren

 

Slavery and High Art

An important cultural point, and all the more so as it is found in practically every society and culture on Loss, with the exception of the San’eshe, slavery on Loss is a rather vast and complex subject for us 21st-century Western humans. For Lossyans, the idea of owning a human being is not at all shocking, except for a few non-Concilian cultures. Lossyans do not consider the notion of humanity to be an inalienable birthright, but a status that is earned, deserved and therefore can be lost or taken away. On Loss, slavery is not so different from what it was on Earth, in Roman times and during part of the Middle Ages.

Slavery is fairly widespread. It’s less a labor force than a luxury and a mark of social rank, an outward sign of wealth. Slaves were employed for the most arduous jobs, but true wealth came from having domestic slaves at one’s service. Owning slaves or wishing to own slaves is perfectly normal, as is exploiting and trading in them. The High Art of enslavement is considered a noble, sacred and admirable talent.

1- Lossyans’ position on slavery

Lossyans practically all share certain values, the Virtues, which from their point of view differentiate them from animals: Honor, Courage and Wisdom. The idea that some individuals lack one of these Virtues comes as no surprise to a Lossyan, but in his eyes, it means that they are no longer human: at best, they’re a barbarian, at worst a stupid beast unworthy of consideration.

It is against these principles, these cultural correlations, that Lossyans judge who is human and who is not. But once a person has been enslaved, he no longer has Honor. They are de facto, if there was ever any doubt, animals, property. Because, quite simply, a slave has neither the right nor the means to defend his honor, or to have it defended by his family. The slave merely reflects and represents his master’s honor. He has none, unless a feat doesn’t force people to recognize it.

Without honor, a Lossyan is no longer a Lossyan. This is what frightens everyone about enslavement. Everything is taken away: property, possessions, rights, name, dignity and even humanity. Some would rather die than be enslaved. Yet no one would consider slavery to be unacceptable; in fact, for many Lossyans, it’s a good solution to the problems of poverty among the destitute and insecurity in the streets. And enslaving a barbarian or a Lost Terran is a no-brainer, since they’re poor wretches who don’t understand the virtues and benefits of the Church.

2- Slaves

There is no equivalent of the triangular trade on Loss, and with the exception of Armanth and a few other towns, there is no high concentration of slave communities in a limited area: slavery does not represent a source of income through the exploitation of large numbers of slaves in plantations or workshops.

There are, however, construction sites, mines and quarries where convicts are exploited in such harsh conditions that they hardly live for more than a few years; the majority are convicted criminals and prisoners of war. It’s rare for a slave to be sent to the mines, except as the result of an unforgivable mistake, unless he or she has fallen foul of an unscrupulous and pitiless owner.

Hardly more than 5% of a city-state’s population is enslaved. And the smaller the communities and towns, the smaller the percentage. The only two exceptions are Anqimenès and Armanth. Anqimenès has 10 to 12% slaves and Armanth just under 10%, mainly due to its Cage Market, the slave trade being one of its major sources of income. At major markets, Armanth can sometimes find itself with almost 250,000 slaves, of which around 50,000 are for sale and in transit within its walls.

[It should be noted that there were times in the Italy of ancient Rome when there were as many as 2 to 3 million slaves, i.e. a third of the population. Not even the whole of the Anqimenes Hegemony is home to that many].

ENSLAVED MEN AND WOMEN

Most domestic slaves are women. Lossyans prefer females for reasons of control as well as pleasure and prestige. Moreover, High Art is rarely practiced on males. A slave is generally a domestic servant, a pet and a source of sexual distraction. They are not employed in the fields or in workshops and industries. For a Lossyan, there’s little difference between owning a cat or a dog and owning a slave; except that the latter has undeniable extra qualities, and it’s possible from time to time for him to regain his freedom.

An enslaved man is most often a convict: either a captured enemy or a criminal. Lossyans are not very kind to them, and their fate is frankly deplorable. Lossyans have great respect for their female slaves. Although they are no longer considered anything more than pets, they are often cherished and treated fairly well, even if their fate can sometimes be downright gloomy, like brothel houris. Men, on the other hand, are treated as a slave labor force whose lives have no value. They are sent to work on building sites and in mines, and their lives are generally short and miserable. The only ones who fare a little better are the gladiators, who are better regarded and somewhat respected, and who have a small chance one day of earning their freedom if they manage to stay alive and shine in the arena.

LEGAL STATUS

A slave is property, and chattel with a legal status halfway between a human and an animal. No Lossyan would deny that a slave is a human being, but in theory he has no rights. He owns nothing, although he may be offered possessions and privileges by his master. He has no more right to his name, which his owner can change at will, than to his physical integrity. The latter is perfectly entitled to use his property as he sees fit, including selling it, lending it, giving it away, subjecting it to whatever abuse and punishment he wishes, or even taking its life.

However, slaves are protected by customary conventions: it is considered dishonorable to mistreat or starve a slave, to neglect his health and well-being, or to mutilate or kill him gratuitously. A slave is a significant investment and a representation of the owner’s honor. It is not uncommon for a slave to be freed on the death of his owner, just as it is common for a slave who has accomplished a great deed to regain his freedom. Anyone who treats his slave cruelly and unjustly not only risks provoking rebellion and tragedy, but also tarnishes his honor and reputation.

While any rebellion or escape by a slave is severely punished, the owner can also be sentenced to heavy fines and even harsher penalties. A slave owner is responsible for what his slaves do: any damage caused by the slave is his responsibility.

Lossyans are rather benevolent towards their slaves and take good care of them. But this shouldn’t be taken as a given: sadists, executioners and bastards exist, as they do everywhere. There are slaves who are mistreated, and some die from the abuse they suffer, while others put an end to their days. Legally, nothing can be done against a man who mistreats a slave, except by his own family, who lodge a complaint for degradation of a family possession. More often than not, however, when an owner has a problem with his slave or wishes to get rid of him, he simply resells him. The sale and trade of slaves is notoriously regulated, either by the Church or by the guilds of the Merchants’ Guild, in terms of conditions of sale, prices and assignment contracts.

A slave can give birth, and depending on the case and the owner’s decision, the child will be enslaved at puberty or freed at birth and adopted by the family.

It should be noted that freeing a slave is not that rare. Often it’s to marry her or offer her in marriage, but also to adopt her into the family, or to reward her for a great deed.

TYPES OF SLAVES

Several types of slaves can be distinguished, depending on their use and training (see below):

Domestic slaves: these are household servants, responsible for household maintenance and chores. Depending on the size of the estate and the family’s wealth, they may be specialized, like cooks, for example. Some may be nannies or governesses for their master’s children. Their days can be long and tiring, but it’s customary to offer them one to two days of rest per lossyanne week and permission to leave the estate for the day.

Companion slaves: generally assigned to one person, but not necessarily, these are usually the best-treated slaves who keep their master company, and whose chores are fairly limited, the main one being service and a few household tasks, such as washing their owner’s laundry. They may be trained in the musical and lyrical arts, or simply be pleasant company and conversation partners, even a source of prestige through their appearance and the quality of their service. These slaves follow their owner everywhere; they often have moments of leisure when the owner is busy or doesn’t need or want their presence.

Pleasure slaves: Pleasure slaves are practically always trained by the High-Art in the Slave Gardens of the greatest masters slaver , and chosen on exacting aesthetic and intellectual criteria to be company slaves with accomplished talents, whether in the arts, dance, general culture, bathing and massage services and, of course, sexual services and games. It’s among the pleasure slaves that the most expensive slaves are to be found. The vast majority of pleasure slaves are females. Males intended for the sexual pleasure of women are rare.

Public slaves: public slaves are the property of an individual or a guild, who uses them in inns, baths or brothels. Houris, or prostitute slaves, are chained to alcoves where they receive clients, sometimes several dozen a day. The fate of other public slaves is hardly more enviable. While a slave working as a waitress in an inn is treated fairly well, bathhouse slaves are exploited like houris to maximize their owner’s income. The owner looks after their health and safety, as he would have to pay out of his own pocket and could, in the event of customer complaints or accidents, have to answer to the law or the injured parties. But the lives of these slaves are often short and dramatic.

Work slaves: indifferently male and female, but quite uncommon, work slaves are the auxiliaries of workers and bosses in workshops and factories. Their task is similar to that of apprentices and helpers. As apprentices or workers’ children usually take on this kind of role, and slaves are generally expensive, they are not widespread except in the largest industrial centers, such as Armanth’s shipyards or Cymiad’s silk factories.

SLAVERY TRADITIONS & LAWS

A few general points about the constraints and prohibitions imposed on slaves. They vary widely from region to region, so they are only given here as a general guide:

It’s not unusual to see an armed slave-boy, but it will always be viewed with suspicion. However, in the event of risk, the slaves of the households are provided with weapons to defend their lives, but above all those of their owners. Local laws often forbid slaves to lay hands on any weapon, except by express order of their master.

The two worst crimes a slave can commit are attempted rebellion and assaulting a free person. In both cases, the penalty is practically always death; but it’s possible that, depending on the seriousness of the crime and the owner’s decision, a pardon may be granted: the sentence will then be transformed into public punishment, usually by whipping. The owner may also have to pay compensation.

Running away was another crime punished with cruelty. It’s almost impossible for a slave wearing a linci to escape from the dogs tracking his scent. But in any case, woe betide the slave who is caught. He may hope to escape death or mutilation the first time, but will be severely punished. The second time, he’ll be put to death slowly and publicly, to set an example.

Theft is a crime for which a slave will not be forgiven, including the theft of a loaf of bread because he is starving. If the master is heavily reproached for neglecting his slave’s needs and health, the slave will be severely and publicly punished. In the event of a repeat offence, he is likely to have a hand amputated and be abandoned to his fate.

Every master expects his slave to obey his orders to the best of his ability. Slave disobedience is not tolerated, especially with witnesses. It’s a good way for a Lossyan to risk losing face, so he won’t hesitate to punish all the more severely if the affront has been significant. It’s unthinkable for a slave to lie, cheat or conceal anything. Slaves do not hesitate to do so, but the punishment is harsh for anyone caught. Depending on the master, this point can go very far, as they demand that their slave conceal nothing from them, including their most intimate thoughts and desires, with a complete ban on trying to veil or hide anything.

A slave’s filiation and family are not recognized: once enslaved, they no longer exist, even for a mother. Depending on the case, a slave owner has the right to take away a slave’s children, either to adopt them or to raise them as future slaves (Lossyans do not enslave children before the 14th year). Fraternal ties are no more respected than any other. Separating brothers, sisters or twins poses no more dilemma for Lossyans than if they had to separate puppies from the same litter.

Finally, respect, deference and humility are expected of all slaves. Insult or provocation, disdain or contempt by a slave for a free person is never tolerated. The aggrieved individual may well not wait to call the owner to account, and beat the curmudgeonly slave himself, who may well take another beating when his master hears of it.

3- High Art

This is the name most Lossyans use to describe slave training. For them, it’s an art, codified and almost sacred. High Art was originally conceived and perfected by the Church as a means of psychologically yoking all Loss Singers, the only alternative, according to the Dogmas of the Council, to their complete destruction.

High Art is a set of techniques and methodologies for training and conditioning human beings, designed to annihilate all real autonomy and capacity for rebellion. These techniques have been fine-tuned for a thousand years; each generation of slavers has tested, perfected and enriched them. High Art has been the subject of reference treatises, until it has become an institution. Nowadays, this talent is so powerful that very few people can withstand properly used High Art. A handful of weeks is enough to break any individual, and a mere three to four months to ensure that the conditioning has rendered him incapable of surviving without the yoke of a master, or having any inclination to regain his freedom.

High Art is rarely used on males. It was first conceived in the minds of the Church’s Ordinatorii as an effective tool for enslaving the Loss Singers. Since the Church and its Dogmas are notoriously sexist, the use of High-Art on males is very recent, although it works, whatever the gender, culture or personality of the victim.

High-Art requires special qualities in terms of psychology, stubbornness, observation, adaptation, mental toughness and a certain imperviousness to pity. A slaver who knows how to handle it may well be a compassionate and warm-hearted man, but he has no right to let his pity speak in the face of the pleas and sufferings of the slaves he’s going to train.

CONDITIONING

A slave who undergoes High Art is stripped of everything that constitutes the identity and self-esteem of each individual. She is locked up naked, deprived of food, privacy, the slightest freedom of movement or speech, forced to beg and blindly obey very simple orders repeated over and over again, just to be able to drink, eat or relieve herself. With patience and cruelty, she is degraded until she can only hope to improve her lot by accepting her situation and cooperating totally with her torturer, who will continue his task until he obtains her full obedience. The whole idea is for the trainer to push his victim to the limit, to break down any hint of rebellion. Once this has been achieved, the trainer can rebuild the slave into a perfect animal devoted to service, who will no longer question his fate.

TRAINING

Once the slave has been completely broken and conditioned, she can be educated and trained. Depending on the case, this stage may be brief and rapid or, on the contrary, carried out with the same refinement and cruelty of perfection, whether in music, dance, the arts of the body, bathing, massage, sexual pleasures – in short, anything that might increase the value of the future product for sale. A perfect education of this kind can take months, even years.

Everything is codified and carefully planned, including punishments and corporal punishment, to ensure success. The most arduous part of this practice consists in destroying and reconstructing with a minimum of physical and psychological after-effects, in order to obtain a perfect slave. In this field, sexual violence is just as much to be avoided as torture and the worst kinds of abuse.

High Art requires time, resources, personnel, other trained slaves – the educators – and a suitable location. It’s a job that requires investment: the Slave Gardens employ a lot of people. That’s why High Art is reserved for training companion slaves and pleasure slaves.

In general, even the best slaver has to reckon with around 5% losses and failures. The psychological and physical pressure is intense, especially in the first few weeks, with slaves being isolated, deprived and abused to break them, and around one in twenty or more will not be able to stand it, going mad or making attempts on their own lives or those of others. From the outset of training, the slave trainer takes great care to observe his captives carefully, to detect and anticipate risks.

No one comes out of training unscathed. A person who has undergone it will remain weakened, emotional, dependent and highly sensitive to authority. Depending on the case, this will create a need and a lack so strong that the person who has experienced High Art can never truly be free. They will always instinctively seek the yoke and protection of a master. That’s why some Lossyans say it’s stupid to free such slaves. It’s not really a gift.

4- The slave trade

Throughout the northern Seas of Separation, the slave trade remains partly under the control of the Church. The Church issues licenses, trains slavers in the High Art, and validates and controls shipments and convoys of merchandise. It’s a financial manna, and the Hegemony is a major importer of slaves. It’s even one of the best customers for Armanth’s markets.

But in the south, the Merchants’ Guild conquered the sector several decades ago. It now sets prices and conditions of sale, and most slave traders prefer to train in Armanth, which boasts the most prestigious Slave Gardens in all the Seas of Separation, which is always surprising given that Armanth is the most progressive city-state in all of Loss. But the fact remains that much of the wealth of the city of the Master Merchants is due to the slave trade. After all, after loss-metal, the most coveted commodity is women, so the female slave trade is flourishing.

SUPPLY

Lossyans raid for slaves, but they’re not that common. Nor do they breed them. The main sources of supply are the sale of girls by poor families or those wishing to get rid of unwanted children, the enslavement of arrested paupers and, secondarily, captives from military campaigns and looting. The pirates of Imareth have no hesitation in launching raids during which, in addition to plundering their target’s goods, they take prisoners who are then sold everywhere. Last but not least, certain peoples, such as the Svatnaz and the San’eshe, are considered to be breeding grounds for capture.

As mentioned above, the percentage of slaves in the population is relatively low. It’s a luxury product, often intended for pleasure and prestige, which means that buyers are demanding and every effort is made to preserve the goods in good condition and get the best price for them.

While convicts are sold in batches like cattle, female slaves – and luxury males – are usually sold individually. Sales are always by auction, and bids are always made in front of the product. The largest slave market is the Armanth Cage Market, which can accommodate up to 50,000 slaves within its walls and boasts no fewer than 100 auction stands, as well as a luxurious auction hall, the Celendiaterio, where, in a festive atmosphere complete with servants and musicians, some of the most expensive girls in Loss are offered for sale.

THE SALE

The slaves are sold scantily clad, but the most expensive pleasure girls are offered to the concupiscent gaze of the buyers, adorned only with a few jewels. The seller, who may be the slave owner or an auctioneer, details the qualities and education of the slave and arranges to raise the bidding by displaying the girl for sale. It’s not uncommon for the slaves on display to balk at the exercise, and some do so deliberately, so that they have some chance of attracting the attention of one buyer rather than another, and all know that their fate depends on who becomes their new owner. Incidents are rare on the most luxurious stages, where the slaves offered for sale have accepted their fate. More common are sales of untrained captives, who are shackled to prevent accidents.

Finally, some sales take place in private: the wealthiest customers travel to the Slave Gardens to take their time choosing their future acquisition. However, the Merchants’ Guild requires that a certain number of slaves be auctioned publicly: a slave trader may very well lose his license if he fails to supply the required quota. The Guild’s requirement is motivated by the taxes it earns from these sales, and the profits it makes from renting out stalls and auctioneers.

In general, the price of a summarily educated slave varies from 200 to 1000 andris of silver, depending on her age and beauty. In the least expensive case, this represents the price of ten horses. An untrained captive is commonly worth 50 silver andris. Pleasure slaves who have passed through the High Art and have been carefully trained can be traded for around 500 andris in gold, but can sometimes fetch more than ten times that amount.

5- Loss singer slaves

There are very few Loss Singer slaves. In Armanth, a city of 1.2 millions inhabitants, there are barely sixty of them. The prestige of a man who owns a Singer slave is enormous, and her possession is one of his most precious treasures. There’s no need to talk price, of course. Everyone envies the man who owns a Loss Singer, and some owners even hide the fact. In general, however, it is the Church that owns the greatest number of Singers, as the law allows it to demand that redheads and Loss Singers be handed over to it, even if this law is rarely respected.

It should be noted that, given their great rarity, there are a few redhead slave farms, although the idea of breeding a herd of slaves is not commonplace.  One of the best-known breedings was that of Maison Tuna, a former merchant family of Armanth.

6- Languirens

The rarest and most sought-after slaves are languirens, pleasure slaves conditioned to give in to the slightest erotic solicitation and take pleasure even in pain. Languirens are all pleasure slaves who have undergone the High Art and are naturally destined for sexual games, including the roughest and most perverse.

Languori can only be learned from languiren to languiren, but it is accepted that some people are naturally born languiren. The training of a languiren – again, it’s very rare to use this training technique on a male slave – is a physical conditioning that clearly resembles a particularly perverse form of torture, painful and difficult to endure: it’s a mixture of sensory isolation, hallucinogenic drugs, and stimuli of pleasure and pain by impregnating the chosen subject with masculine odors throughout the Languori. After ten to fifteen days of conditioning, the slave will no longer be able to control her instincts and senses in the presence of a man. A languiren shudders and shivers erotically at the slightest caress, and is almost incapable of resisting desire. Her degree of dependence, docility and enslavement is beyond compare with any other slave trained even in the High Arts.

Languirens are terribly erotic, with an exacerbated, animal femininity, and they use their seduction more than any other slave could, so freed are they from the slightest moral restraint and so addicted to the need to feel and find pleasure. Some languirens can no longer satisfy this need other than through the pain or humiliation of being used as sex toys with no taboos and almost no limits. For them, it’s a necessity as compelling as hunger, but far more difficult to satisfy. In some cases, the Languori has left such scars that they can never really be satisfied. It’s common knowledge that a neglected or unsatisfied languiren can wither away or turn herself over to anyone to find a way of satisfying her needs and appeasing her constant, all-consuming hunger.

A Languori is expensive, but the scarcity and price of languirens is due to the failure rate of conditioning. Around one subject in three fails to survive, and either dies or becomes demented. It’s difficult to choose the right candidate to withstand the treatment, and more often than not, the expert judges are the languirens themselves.

A Languiren is usually auctioned for 3,000 to 4,000 gold andris, and can sell for three or four times that price, sometimes much more.