“A couple more questions then you can take over, OK Kukurnal?”
Kukurnal grumbled good naturedly but acquiesced and waved for him to continue, “Go ahead but they better be short.”
“Heh! It should be pretty short.”
“I don’t trust your definition of short, Joe.”
“You don’t have much to talk about, Kukurnal,” Joe rejoined with a smirk. “Anyway, this is a good question for you, Kukurnal. How many jobs can you have?”
“One. Of course.”
“Ah… no… my mistake… I meant, is there any limit on how many times you can change jobs?”
“Oh… well… uh… time, money, and luck?”
“Huh… OK… I understand the time and money, but luck?”
“Well. It’s very hard to know when or what jobs a person can take or what arcane mysteries allow individuals to have a certain job. Often, those who are seeking job changes are simply hoping to be able to gain those jobs. It’s all luck.
“In fact, the temples have been in a bit of a buzz lately because they have received quite a few successful job changes lately. Most are failures, but priests from several of the temples have claimed to have successfully changed jobs. Within the last week or two, we have had almost fifteen successful job changes! Quite incredible and the priests are now fighting to take the job change desk, hoping that luck will see them gain a job change!”
“Priest’s want to change jobs?”
“Yes. It is excellent for their growth!”
Huh… they get experience for it then? They level by changing jobs… as well as fighting monsters then? So… I bet the same is true for the other ‘jobs’ like farmer and bartender… get experience for making a Long Island Ice Tea! Ha! Joe quickly shook of his musings and continued, “So changing jobs… successfully changing jobs is rare.”
“Very.”
“Huh… I wonder why. Well… if you can’t read,” Joe trailed off, musing to himself before quickly beginning again, “So, then… next question. What about…”
“How many more questions? I want my turn,” Kukurnal interrupted.
Joe smiled in response, “I’ve got three more.”
“You said not too many!”
“It’s not that many. I’ve only asked two questions. I’ve got three more. Is five too many?” Joe asked but didn’t give any time to respond, quickly moving on to his next question and rolling over Kukurnal’s objection, “So I want to ask about age. How long do people live? What’s the average age?”
“But I… the average age? What is the average age of your people?”
“Well… average and max are two different things, but amongst the first world countries, our people can live to about eighty or ninety. Some hit a hundred or higher,” Joe spoke with some smugness, expecting surprise, but the group only nodded, accepting his statement at face value, although the siblings even seemed to show a bit of pity.
“So short lived,” Kilniara spoke with some sadness.
“Short lived?”
“Quite!” Kilniara spoke but didn’t add more.
Garnedell finally interjected, “Pure humans are always the shortest lived. One hundred seems about right. The Acokzau live close to three hundred, and the long lived can reach a thousand. Of course, if they are empowered, that changes completely, but…” Garnedell trailed off.
“Wait. So… leveling up helps you live longer?”
“It can, yes.”
“Wow…”
Kukurnal and the siblings glanced at each other, Kukurnal showing the most confusion, “Surely you have seen this already as a great empowered?”
Joe smiled and shrugged, “There are very few empowered where I’m from.”
Confusion drained from his face as Kukurnal nodded in understanding, “Ah. I see.”
“Anyway, I was a bit concerned today when we confronted the usurer. Slavery?”
The group looked at him, saying nothing, only looking on in expectation as they waited for more. It took Joe a few moments before he finally realized they had no real emotional response to it. Joe felt his emotions rise a bit, and continued with a bit more verve than before, “Slavery. What…” Joe calmed himself a bit and started again, “Explain, please.”
The four looked at one another, a bit of confusion painting their faces before looking back to Joe. Garnedell took the lead, “Well. It’s when one person is owned by another. Is… do you not know of this?”
“I know what slavery is. But why… why are there slaves? Why is there slavery at all?”
Kukurnal seemed to nod in understanding before he continued, “You have no need to fear slavery, Joe. You are so powerful and wealthy that there is little need to fear. But…” Kukurnal put his hand up and quieted Joe’s interjection as he continued, “But… if you are worried about possibly being enslaved, then slavery is used as a form of punishment, to repay failed loans, or for the desperate to find shelter. The siblings were in danger because of their debt. Others sell themselves or their children to gain wealth. Still others are those who have committed minor crimes and their punishment is slavery rather than death. Some are specially chosen for service amongst the nobility or clans, sold as slaves so that their loyalty is assured. Finally, war captives are also sold into slavery. As you can see, you need not fear slavery. You are safe fro…”
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“That’s not my point. Why is slavery accepted?”
“Why not,” Kukurnal replied with some confusion?
“How can you own a hum… uh.. a sapient?’
“Rather easily, actually. Magic or slave collars are the best.”
“No… I don’t mean … I mean why is it allowed?”
Kukurnal shrugged at this point, “I’m uncertain. You would have to ask the clans or the Ancient Ones.”
Joe blinked, his train of thought slamming into a wall that left him without a response and quite flustered and he let out the first thing that came to mind, “But, it’s not right.”
Kukurnal cocked his head a bit at this point and now found himself about as confused, “Why?”
“Well. Because it’s wrong.”
“Why is it wrong?”
Joe cursed quietly to himself and wished he’d paid a bit more attention to social studies and philosophy as he found himself floundering to find an answer but then quickly grasped his way out.
“Rights! Humans… sapients have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
“Rights? What are rights?”
“Rights are … rights. They are the rights of a person. A person has them and no one can take them away. Ever.”
“No one can take away those rights?”
“Yes.”
“That’s… absurd! I could pull out a sword take the lives of the siblings and Garnedell right now. None but you would likely be able to stop me. Of course I could take them away.”
“No… I mean… No one is supposed to take them away.”
“Oh. So you mean they are like laws?”
“Well, not really. They are greater than laws. All peoples have these rights.”
“Who gives them these rights?”
“The government does.”
“Government? Ah! You mean the leaders of your countries?”
“Yes. So I guess here, the clans do.”
“But the clans do not.”
“Ah… But the rights are still rights, above and beyond any clan or country.”
“Then clan and country, governments, do not give these rights. Something higher does?”
Joe stopped a bit, confused, “Ah… yes?”
“What? Who?”
“No one. It’s just truth.”
“It is truth? How has this truth been found.”
“Our people accept it as truth.”
Kukurnal nodded, “Ah. Then if it is not accepted, it is not truth for others. The clans, the people, the gods, and the temples do not agree.”
“The answer of the wealthy and the powerful. Do you believe the weak, poor, and enslaved would agree as well?”
“Many would, yes. Not all, but those who would disagree are likely to have been forced into slavery against their will for their crimes. Those who choose it likely embrace it.”
Joe floundered a bit, uncertain, as he tried to rally, “You’ve asked these people?”
Kukurnal cocked his head to the side, some confusion in him before he raised a hand and waved a waitress over.
“My dear. You are a slave for this inn, yes?”
“Yes, dear customer.”
“Do you begrudge your slavery?”
The woman’s eyes flickered, some fear in her eyes as she glanced towards the counter and inn keep. Kukurnal quickly shushed her, speaking calmly, “This is not a test, my dear. I ask only for our debate. The man here is questioning slavery and believes slaves do not desire to be so. Did you choose slavery or…”
The woman quickly shook her head, “I chose.”
“Excellent. Then, do you begrudge it?”
“No, sire.”
“Why?”
“Before I was accepted here, I had no home, food, or shelter. Here I have food, shelter and clothing for the rest of my life.”
Kukurnal opened his mouth to continue but Joe interjected, cutting off his next line of questioning, “Miss. If you could be free and have a home, shelter, food, and a job to keep yourself well fed, sheltered, and safe for the rest of your life, would you still seek slavery?”
This time, the woman seemed flustered, uncertainty once again washing across her face as she became increasingly uncomfortable, her body beginning to twist. Joe saw her discomfort and decided to make the option a reality instead of an impossible dream, “Wait. Let’s do this instead. I’ll buy you and free you from your slavery. Then you come with us and I will train you in any trade you wish. You choose. After you have achieved your trade, we will find you a home and small shop in any city you wish. I only ask that you set aside one perc… one in every hundred to repay me. You will save this and repay me whenever I may…”
Joe trailed off as he noticed the woman becoming ever more uncomfortable before she burst in to tears and ran away, panic and fear evident across her face. Kukurnal turned to him, true righteous anger flashing across his face, “I know you are not of our plane and ignorant, but I did not take you for such cruelty! What you’ve done is beyond…”
“Woah… Woah! Woah! Woah! Wait. What happened?” Joe glanced around and noticed all three, even Garnedell, looked to Joe with some revulsion and anger. “What did I do?”
Kukurnal stopped his angry rant and stared at Joe with an intensity that took him aback and Joe felt himself fall back on the defensive quickly, “I don’t even know what happened. I was just trying to help her. She was…”
Kukurnal’s look of intense anger quickly shifted to shocked acceptance as words slipped from his lips, “Truth. You speak truth.”
The look of angry disgust quickly disappeared from the other three’s faces, replaced by surprise. Kukurnal shook his head but then was quickly interrupted as a mountain of a man angrily thudded across the room, a bulldozer that parted all in front of him as he shouted towards their table.
“Who are the bastards who be disturbing me staff! Me Betsarnallia is a quiet girl and has no need for bein’ harassed by…”
Kukurnal quickly stood and interjected, his hand bringing out a necklace of some kind which brought the innkeeper up short, although his anger still churned, easily seen roiling across his face. “My dear sir, it was our foreign friend here. He is not of our plane and believed that he was truly helping the girl. I’m a priest of Mimir and he speaks truth. You may question him if you wish, but he is simply unfamiliar with our ways.”
The inn keep swiveled his body towards Joe, a turret locking onto its primary target, “Be he true, boy?!”
“Yes, sir. I apologize. I had no intention of harming her. I was only trying to help her or offer her a better life, if she wished.”
“Truth. Truth. Truth,” Kukurnal quickly interjected with each statement Joe made.
The inn keep looked at Kukurnal with some annoyance after the second statement, but then flickered his eyes, “If ye bein’ a truth finder, then I be a formidable adventurer from…”
“Truth,” Kukurnal stated, taking a step back with some fear as he realized that the inn keep was not one to bother.
The inn keep glared at the cleric before nodding then turned back to Joe, “What were ye seeking?”
“I sought to help her.”
The inn keep flickered a look to Kukurnal, and the cleric’s delayed response quickly erupted from his tightened throat, “Truth.”
“Did you seek any harm for her.”
“I would nev… No!” Joe remembered the disassembling the usurer had done and decided direct simple answer the strongest path to clear this up, electing for a single word answer.
“Truth,” Kukurnal quickly echoed.
“What did you seek?”
“To better her life.”
“Truth,” rang out again.
“As you see it.”
Joe’s eyes hardened before a sigh came to him and he nodded, “Yes. As I see it.”
“Truth.”
“You are still disturbed by this.”
“Yes. I believe I know a better way.”
“Truth.”
The inn keep stood, staring at Joe for several moments without any response before he simply grunted and turned away, “You may wish to keep a truth speaker near you to save you from your folly, foreigner.” The inn keep’s stomping footsteps were as loud as when he’d charged towards them, but now the man weaved through the crowds and tables with all the grace of a ballet dancer, weaving through everything without disturbing any.