Note: This article is meant to examine the institution of slavery in the fictional world of Palladium Fantasy. Unfortunately, there are far too many real-world examples of slavery for me to draw inspiration from, be they historical or modern day, in name or in fact. It is not my intent to make light of the plight of slaves, past or present, but rather to provide a realistic framework in which games can operate. As always, you are only limited by your imaginations, but I also hope that good taste and the sensibilities of your group will play a major role in your decisions.  As it has been sold to Palladium, what follows is only an excerpt from the full article, which will appear in Rifter #38.

How Much Is That Wolfen In The Window?

The whip cracked, and Gerran blessed the cool touch of another's blood on his parched skin. The summer sun was a hammer, pounding all of the slaves into the ground. Gerran, who had been working in this quarry for an unheard of nine months, took no notice as they whipped another slave to death behind him. He simply set his shoulder to the rope and pulled, knowing that to fail to do so was to die, and that to die was to give up, and that to give up was... the thought was lost in the burn of muscles straining against rope, rock, and the world itself.

Next to Gerran, Orzek watched in indignation, his anger growing with each strike. He did not know the slave the overseers killed; he cared nothing for the goblin, save that it brought him water each day, as was its job. His ire arose out of the fact that now he would not get water until night, which was still three hours away, unless the masters sent another goblin, or let him step out of line to grab the goblin's bucket. He heard the dull smack of a whip hitting the goblin's dead flesh, and decided that he would survive until dark without water, or he would not... it was for more likely than being allowed to gain that goblin's bucket.

Slavery is nigh-ubiquitous on Palladium. Timiro thrives (and quivers) because of its massive slave population; the Byzantines happily trade slaves across the world. The Land of the South Winds makes extensive use of slaves in its fields and shops, the Eastern Territory has a thriving slave trade, and one need not even mention the Western Empire. Even the Wolfen are not above sentencing criminals to slave labor in the military. Only on Y-Oda, a few small kingdoms in the Eastern Territories and the Yin-Sloth periphery and in parts of the Northern Hinterlands is there no slavery whatsoever.

Slavery is so common that most people do not even notice the slaves which surround them, or think about the status of servants. Was the serving wench at the inn last night free or owned? Are you sure? Did you think about it? Does it matter? For most people in the Palladium world, including, perhaps, the serving wench herself, the answer is "No". To others, however, it is a very important matter. It may be a matter of basic dignity, of life and death, or of simple business.

Slavery and Alignment

Slavery occupies something of a gray area in alignment; it is not inherently evil to legally own a slave, though many good people prefer not to. Of course, a good character will not mistreat any slaves he owns. Principled characters tend to adhere to laws about what can be provided to slaves; when it is illegal to provide slaves with tools that can be turned into weapons, or with the knowledge of reading, then the slaves of a principled individual are unlikely to have those. Scrupulous characters are far more likely to ignore such laws, but they are also less likely to own slaves in the first place; their love of life and freedom means that slavery is against their ethos. Similarly, Unprincipled characters are very unlikely to own slaves, and for much the same reasons. While both Scrupulous and Unprincipled characters will own slaves, especially if it's a temporary measure to save those slaves from immediate harm, neither one will make a living of it, nor will they condition any but the most dangerous of slaves.