Nick, Eirwen and Kaya, along with Rebecca, were now heading to meet someone Nick wasn’t looking forward to: the slave merchant.
On Orion, slaves were a normal part of the world, a necessary evil as seen by the people of it. Those who were branded are someone’s valuable property, and those that are upholders of the law are meant to protect that property just the same as any business or home.
The collars with the control rod were actually rarely used on this shard, with the exception of difficult or high-value slaves, such as the criminal slaves. Because each city was like an island, with the wilderness so perilous, few would try to run away–if some semblance of proper care and lifestyle was given to them.
It was for these reasons that, outside of unlawful bandits and slave merchants, sex slaves were not a common or normal thing, thankfully–and Nick shouldn’t be seeing any of those for sale today.
Nick had learned that the brands did have a minor mental compulsion. A deterrent to attacking their master or running away, and to obey them on some level. Usually, these brands could only be applied to those weaker than the one doing the branding, and it was used in tandem with treating them well enough that they did not fight the weak, yet persistent, compulsion.
Owning slaves was seen as a lawful act, as there were numerous lawful ways of attaining them. Debt and criminal slaves were common, though Conflicts could cause the conquered kingdom to become them as well. The latter was uncommon, but there were Paths, even lawful ones, that could cause this to occur.
Nick could choose this as a potential side effect of his Conflict with Shadowvale if he wanted, and Orion would allow it.
Of course, the slave merchant they were visiting was one such lawful type, and he was among one of a few within Silverbrook. Businesses could own slaves as a lesser form of employee, and Nick and the girls had seen a few during their shopping trips.
Within the Merchant’s Guild, they were ushered into a nice office, with the merchant at his desk. He was a dwarf with a thick brown beard, with a few gemstone beads in it. Dressed in a button up dark gray jacket and slacks, he looked the part of a dwarven merchant.
“Thank you for choosing us for your needs, Lord Noblefrost–I am Dale Brassbeard of Ironbond Traders. What can I help you find?”
“Nice to meet you–I’m in need of a large number of laborers.”
“Some laborers, is it? I’m surprised the priestess of Seraphara is your companion in this. Seraphara is against slavery, is she not?”
Rebecca nodded. “She is. But her compassion is not limited to those who are free.”
The dwarf pondered this for a moment, before giving a small smile. “I see. Very well. Just how many laborers were you hoping for, Lord Noblefrost?”
“That all depends. How many do you have available?”
Dale chuckled. “This branch only holds a maximum of one to two hundred slaves at any given time, the rest placed on a ship and sent to the core kingdoms.”
“I see. So how much is the going rate for most laborers? I’m likely in need of as many as you can supply.”
The dwarf pulled out an ornate notebook from a drawer in his desk, and opened it up. He began leafing through it, “As one might imagine, not every laborer is equal. A large lion or bear beastfolk can accomplish that much more work than a halfling, for example–just a simple fact. We have a few slaves that can be laborers, but it would be a waste of their…talents.”
He arrived on a page, and began fingering through the list. “Ah, let’s see. I hadn’t expected to come up with a going rate for such a large batch. One moment.”
Dale seemed to do some calculations for a minute, the party waiting for him. Nick felt a wave of nausea from a man in the next room, a terrible aura from the person’s tainted soul. By how close they were to the door, Nick felt like they were definitely listening in to the conversation.
Of course, Kaya and Eirwen noticed this, and after a quick side eye from them, they realized he was intentionally avoiding giving away he knew about the potential interloper.
Nick noticed Rebecca actually looked a little queasy as well. Perhaps, her faith core had made her a lot more sensitive to it–and that explained why the Bishop, at least before, had limited the strength of the priestesses until he was able to manage this issue.
Nick spoke in a low voice, “Something the matter, Becca?”
She looked over to the door, then back at Nick. She said quietly, “I don’t know, I feel something…odd, over there.”
Dale cleared his throat, and circled some figures–the man not noticing their back and forth. “I have these separated by grade. The low grade, common slaves total a hundred and eight. These are people with low levels and common classes, low skills and prospects. These are only fifteen gold each normally, but for the large batch, I’ll allow eleven gold each–a discount if you take them all.”
He continued, “The medium grade are those with uncommon or up to rare races and skill sets, that just don’t reach the high grade. Think of the lion beasftolk example before, or someone that might have a proficiency with a rare, but lightly valuable skill set. A gnome that can manipulate the earth, a mermaid that can create or control water. This kind of thing. There are forty-seven of these types currently, and they are a hundred gold each–but again, take them all off my hands, and I’ll be glad to give you a discount at eighty each.”
Nick nearly groaned at these numbers. That asshole, Blackthorne, made him pay the medium grade fee for a hundred percent of the slaves they recovered, when only a handful were probably at that level. Not only that, but his shitty bandit’s blood price were more costly than the common slaves. If anything, Nick probably did the man a favor.
He had suspected this, but it was still irritating. Thankfully, Jasmine was already about to recover the gold, the merchant’s report to the mayor of Shadowvale completed. She just needed to hit the caravan with Jasper and the wolves and somehow explain the theft of the goods and gold.
Nick asked, “For the medium grade slaves, are there any that have special requirements for their care? You mentioned a mermaid, I’m worried about having a place for all of them.”
“All the slaves will come with what you need to manage them as part of their price, and we only transported ones that would live in this climate and environment in the first place. Many of the criminal slaves do have collars and control rods–you will likely need up to three different rod-bearers to control all of them. Frosthaven is about a week away, yes? Regarding the mermaids, few Ordeals don’t have a lake or river near, and they should be able to make this trip and find a place to live nearby without issue. If you were more than a month away, we’d have to make additional considerations.”
“Alright, but I’d at least like to have a look at these criminal slaves first. But just so we’re clear…where is it that you source your company’s slaves?”
“The slaves you’ll be purchasing have mixed backgrounds. Only a small percentage are criminal slaves, sourced here in Silverbrook or the surrounding kingdoms. Many of our slaves arrive on our resupplies from the core kingdom ships, primarily debt slaves that took loans for their families and otherwise. Each will have a minimum of ten years of service for the price you paid.”
Kaya asked, “You don’t obtain them from anywhere else? Blackthorne’s known to have made numerous people slaves–”
Dale scowled. “Sometimes, we will take back slaves ransomed by that scum, but only those known and recorded to have been lost to his raids. We source most of our criminal slaves in the area from the warden of Silverbrook, lawfully. We would never take a bandit’s word that they obtained lawful slaves, and have never purchased them.”
That was good enough for Nick, the man’s words ringing true. However, that was something Nick would need to look further into–the warden of Silverbrook, as it was now a common thread.
Eirwen said apologetically, “Sorry for the somewhat rude…inquiry. It’s an important topic to us.”
Dale let out a breath. “No, of course I understand. There are certainly seedy establishments on this shard, that might use unscrupulous means to obtain more slaves, but I assure you our means are all above board, and Lord Silver would not allow such unlawful establishments to operate in his… fine city.”
Nick chuckled internally at the mild embellishment of his feelings about the crowded city. “Alright, sounds good. Let’s go take a look at the criminal slaves?”
“Yes, let’s do that now. Right this way.”
They were escorted deeper inside the merchant’s building with two guards following along, and they saw many of the slaves in simple dorms with bunk beds. It felt a lot like a barracks, the slaves looking well-fed and in decent spirits, chatting with one another.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
He spotted a kitchen that several of the slaves were working at, and overall, Nick was impressed with their care.
Until they entered another section and arrived at a place that looked much more like a dungeon. Metal cages held the criminal prisoners. Many of them had gags in addition to their manacles. Almost all were men, but there were a handful of women as well.
Dale noted, “It looks bad, but in a way, the prisoner’s poor treatment is a part of their total sentence which we carry out.”
Eirwen and Kaya shared a look, and Nick noticed what they were aware of. Only a handful of the thirty prisoners or so actually had what Nick considered major sins. Rebecca looked queasy, and she absolutely did not like seeing anyone treated in this way.
He had already been told by Aronde, but he asked once again, “What crimes would cause someone to become a criminal slave? In other kingdoms, they have different laws, don’t they?”
Dale shook his head, a hand running through his beard. “Not overly much among lawful kingdoms, at least not on this shard. It is almost exclusively harming another, murder, or rape. Theft and similar are all simply sent to a jail or a labor camp for their sentence, depending on the severity–though this varies from kingdom to kingdom, of course. A majority of these have come from Silverbrook itself here.”
Eirwen clarified, “From the warden of Silverbrook’s jail?”
“That’s right. Unless someone has a major request for them, they are not popular in Silverbrook due to the level of effort necessary to watch over and control them. Because unlike those with the brand, they have wild desires and often overwhelm them given enough time. Only so much essence can be invested in the brand, they get worn down.”
Nick knew this was often the case, as the essence of Orion responded to desire, but it was a little deeper than that. Their tainted essence would grind down the brand rapidly, regardless of their personal efforts.
Most didn’t want these types of slaves as laborers, unless they had their place of work designed to utilize these kinds of people, or had people dedicated to directing them.
These slaves in the jail also had the brand, so it was several layers of control when purchased from this slave merchant.
“This is all of them? I do think I’ll take them.”
“Excellent! That’s all of them. We do have another slave, that we consider high grade. But they are definitely not meant for labor. Are you interested in a strong combat slave? It might be worth you meeting this one–I feel like you might be a good fit.”
Nick was interested. “Why’s that?”
“This one has a special circumstance, like many ex-climbers. He’s not at a hundred percent of his capability, but with your priestess there, perhaps this won’t be an issue for you, and he’ll be a bargain instead.”
An ex-climber would likely be useful in a number of ways. “Sure. I’d like to see them.”
Dale motioned for them to follow down another corridor, then rang a sort of doorbell at a final door, and they waited. Nick asked, “What is the situation with this one?”
“Ah, it’s like I said before–this is a special case. Decades ago, a kingdom in the south was conquered, and many of the former officers of their lord were captured and turned into debt slaves. Most unfortunate, but it’s how their Conflict was decided. The blood feud actually continued and caused problems with his next master, and this one was sold to us and requested to be moved away to the North, where they wouldn’t be recognized and find a safer home for their family.”
The chime returned, and they continued through the door. It no longer looked like a jail–but a simple apartment, instead. In it, a man was standing near the entrance with his family far behind him, watching from a couch.
He was a large man of a type of bear beastfolk, and Nick could see one of his arms was missing. The man had a neatly trimmed goatee, and lightly tanned skin. He and his family each wore kimono-like clothing. With his short white hair and small black ears atop his head and slight Asiatic look, Nick thought he might be a panda beastfolk.
The man in question gasped in shock as Nick’s party came walking through. “Mira? Is that…no, it can’t be.”
Kaya tilted her head, her tail flicking as she took in the large man. “You knew Mira?”
“Of course I knew Mira, Thorne was my battle brother! I knew he fell in battle, but–did she get away? You must be…her child. There are not many red panda beastfolk on this shard…”
Kaya nodded sadly. “I’m Kaya, her daughter. She did get away, but… she’s no longer with us. She died fighting a scalemaw when I just came of age.”
The bear beastfolk man sighed, a look of regret falling on his face. “I’m sorry to hear that, child of Mira–but that is a more merciful death than if she had been caught. After her Lord and husband fell, I understood why she fled. While many of us refuse to give up our honor, many of us had family to live for. You must have been but a babe back then, and she did what she had to in order to protect you. She was not an officer like me, and…it wouldn’t have gone well for her. The blood feud ran deep.”
Dale was running his hands through his beard, intrigued. “How interesting, for you to know each other somehow.” He gestured to the panda man, “This is Renzou Swiftblade, and his family.”
Nick said, “It’s good to meet you. I’m Lord Noblefrost of Frosthaven–a budding kingdom about a week west of here. You’ve been a debt slave all this time? That seems like too long of a time.”
“It’s good to meet you.” Renzou sighed. “It’s been trying times, for us. Several requirements from me and concessions by my owners has extended the overall service period, since I’ve been in limbo. But it’s just a drop in the bucket. I have protected my wife and managed to have children, then gave them a modicum of safety, happiness and comfort. I’m still a proud warrior, and I have not let my blade be filled with rust.” He motioned to a small dojo area, much like Nick’s chambers.
Nick noticed the children were likely born while he was a slave due to their age, and was likely why his service was extended or put on hold.
Dale cleared his throat. “Renzou is a Beast Warrior of the 18th level, and has his own Concept Fragment. He and his eleven years remaining of his twenty-year service debt is worth three thousand gold–but he must accept you as his master. If he does this, he will not require the rod, as he serves his master willingly.”
Nick’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Has he turned down others already?”
Renzou sneered. “Several mercenary companies have wanted me to work for them. They’re all about the gold, they have no morals or principles. The one with morals and principles I heard of…doesn’t have the money.”
Rebecca asked, “What about Lord Silver? It seems he should have been interested.”
The merchant replied, “It was…one of my hopes when I had him moved here, but Lord Silver’s coffers just couldn’t manage it, even if we were willing to split the payments. There are many caravans here that might prefer their own protection, but none of them have had the funds and passed his requirements.”
Nick asked Renzou, “Aside from fighting, do you have any talents? What did you do for your other lords and masters?”
“I was an officer in Lord Washino’s army, training soldiers and fighting against the other kingdoms and beastfolk tribes. My next master was a lord nearby, and things had gone well there as I became the captain of the guard, and had children. But when he was found having so many of Lord Washino’s ex-officers and refugees, our enemy threatened to attack there next.”
Damn, what was going on over there, Nick wondered? Despite being a debt slave, this guy seemed to have an okay setup, and wasn’t in poor living conditions at all. He wanted to make sure he was a decent match for his people.
“That does sound like we could use your expertise. I need to have a guard trained up soon, I can’t rely fully on Lothar’s Honorable Raiders. Are you willing to work with monsterfolk?”
Renzou looked confused. “Monsterfolk that can speak and rationalize, while remaining lawful, are rare. I don’t see a problem with most…but I also am a little confused by you putting importance on this. You have a lot of them, or something? You are a Lawful Kingdom, right?”
Nick chuckled. “We are. We’ve got quite a few, as I attract them. They will all follow the law, I just wanted to make sure there won’t be any issues.”
Dale asked, “Are you interested in purchasing monsterfolk? We didn’t bring any to this location, but there are areas where they are raised as laborers. For many, there are simply too many problems with them. If it pleases you, I can obtain them and bring more of them here for purchase.”
“I’m interested if you have tribes of them. Now, what kind of criteria are you looking for, Renzou? I have begun a lawful kingdom and I walk the Path of Kings and the Hero’s Path.”
Renzou’s eyebrows went to the top of his head. “The Path of Kings? You claimed that Ordeal to the West?”
Nick nodded. “I did. The four of us here are among those that completed it.”
Renzou focused on Kaya. “And you serve this one, daughter of Mira and Thorne?”
“I’m his wife, and I do. I’ve taken on the Beast Warrior class, just as my mother did.”
Renzou grinned. “That’s more than good enough for me! A heroic noble lord who’s strong is far better than I could have hoped. I can feel your strength, and I can tell you are not far behind me, despite your young age. You’ve got yourself a captain of your guard.”
Dale looked very pleased. “Wonderful! Lord Noblefrost and I will get things sorted, but pack your things. Once payment is received, you may give your fealty, and join Lord Noblefrost.”
Nick shook Renzou’s hand. “I look forward to you joining us, Renzou. See you soon.”
Nick and Dale talked on the way back toward the exit, discussing when the slaves would be ready for transport. They would prepare monsterfolk for the next shipment, and it seemed the kobolds, feral goblins, wolflings, and so on, were quite cheap.
Rebecca and Eirwen did negotiate the price down somewhat, but Dale hardly budged. Since the bulk rate was already decent in the first place in comparison to the other merchants in the city, the two were forced to relent.
When they arrived back to the main office, the presence in the room nearby was gone.
Knowing the person was no longer listening in to their conversation, Nick asked, “Say, what’s in this room, anyway? We already viewed all the slaves.”
Dale looked a little confused at his interest, but he replied, “Ah, that is just the apartments of the staff here, and even where I stay with my family. Easier for Ironbond Traders to ensure lodging for us, as the manager sometimes moves. I’ve been here a few years, but it’s not uncommon for them to reassign us.”
Nick wasn’t sure what to make of that–could it be his spouse on the other side? It would be weird to ask. “Huh. If you’re not around, who can I speak with?”
Dale chuckled. “I should be more or less always be around during business hours, but I do have an assistant–Jameson. He’s been instrumental in handling a lot of the deals we have with the local merchants.”
Jameson just reached the top of Nick’s list for who he was planning on giving a…secret visit. He also needed to meet with this warden of the main jail, as he likely had something to do with why there were criminal slaves in the slave merchant’s pen without sins to match.
In the end, Nick had purchased all the criminals, and obtained a strong combat slave. He would question the criminals anyway, but he felt as though he knew most of their stories already. Nick would need to line up those that would use the control rods until he freed them, and it would be a week before the slaves were ready to transition over to Nick’s custody–the return caravan should arrive shortly after.
Rebecca and her people would also meet with several of the smaller slave merchants–this was simply the largest. They had made their own efforts to gather funds, and would spend them on recovering people in need of compassion.