A word to the Sheriff and Deputies

Maxondaerth said:
Hmmmmm, *sniffsniff* ah smell a legal loophole.

Mebbe if ah get mahself a slaver's license d'en ah can be protected by de law from gettin' killed, too, cause ah'm told right now d'at ain't de case bein' a Rom an' all. Is d'at really how 'tis, d'at if ah was a slaver ah'd be mo' welcome an' safe d'an ah am as an occasional visitor to yo' fair lands? Jus' curious is all.

~Raif

Raif,

The slavers license would not protect you. As a Romani, you are not considered a person according to the law, and as such, are not subject to them, nor are protected by them.

Deputy Rockfist
 
Kyrie, I'm sorry I don't care if they were guards for a slave caravan or slavers. Any man who willingly assists slavers, or does nothing deserves what comes to them. They had already made their choice.
 
Millie said:
Any man who willingly assists slavers, or does nothing deserves what comes to them. They had already made their choice.

Millie, I know you have a good heart but I don’t think you realize the full consequences of what you are saying. You are not alone, in fact I have heard this same argument made by many adventurers, even from Raif. But I too was a slave and I say that things are not that simple.

Any man who willingly assists slavers... my former owner is apparently a member of Hitch 42 - should every other member of the guild be killed on sight for their association with slavery? What about the people who trade with Hitch 42 merchants? What about a farmer who willingly shelters a traveller without knowing he is a slaver? Did that farmer make his choice? Did his family?

Everyone who "does nothing" deserves what they get? Any citizen who does not take arms up against the slave trade deserves any consequence that befalls him, including being killed or enslaved himself perhaps? What about elders or children?

I know these scenarios are not what you meant but where do you draw the line?

How can we fight against tyranny and oppression if we murder so lightly? Slavery is easy to speak out against, but it can still be complicated. What if a man were enslaved as punishment for some terrible crime and then escaped. Would you murder the men who came to recapture him? These same thoughts can apply to other things. What if an adventurer has a vendetta against thieves and decides to murder another adventurer who he suspects of stealing? Would you argue that doesn’t count as murder because the thief deserved it? What if the murdered man was innocent?

I am not saying that everyone should just stand by and allow all activity regarding slavery to continue unfettered. There are men accosting travelers and selling them off as slaves. There are slaves who are horribly mistreated. There are slaves who are killed – murdered – for minor infractions, even imagined slights. Certainly if any adventurer against slavery witnesses one of these terrible things I would expect them to intervene. However by intervene I don’t mean stab someone in the back without warning or cut their throat while they lay sleeping. If the slavers were killed in a fair fight that would be one thing…however Garmok said that these men were lied to, deceived and murdered. Regardless of what they may have done beforehand, I can not agree with such tactics.

If this many of you feel strongly enough that you would turn a blind eye to, even advocate, murder then tell me why is slavery still legal in Briarpass? If you all spoke out against the practice of slavery as passionately as you have defended and redefined murder, I am sure you could achieve abolition.

-Kyrie
 
Kyrie,
Ah acknowledge an' respect yo' well thought out an' reasoned opinion on de mattah, 'specially since you share first hand knowledge o' what it's like wearin' de chains, so ah can respect d'at you well an' truly feel dis way 'bout it, it ain' jus' hypothetical comin' from you. Lemme see if ah can match reason wit' reason, give you an' anyone else what cares to listen some furthah insite from anothah former slave.
Slavery is a crime, pure an' simple, since it is de stealin' of a person. Not dey t'ings, de whole person! You take dey lives, you take dey ambitions, dey dreams, an' dey family, an' you put a price to d'em an' den you collect dat price an' keep it fo' yo'self when you sell a slave. If ah read de laws correctly, thievery is a crime in d'ese lands, punishable by up to 1 resurrection. Well, if d'at is de highest form o' thievin', d'en it should get de biggest form o' punishment. Now, you gonna say slavery is legal, so it ain't stealin'. Well, now we get down to de right an wrong part o' things. Anyone who t'inks slavery is okay jus' cause it's legal, you could probably convince d'em dat raisin' undead ain't so bad so long as you nevah cut em loose on de people an' jus' keep em workin' in a mine o' somesuch hard labor, d'en dey would be a good thing, savin' honest folk from back breakin' dangerous work. Ah don' know anyone who don't kill necromancers on sight, so ah equate people who actively participate in de slave trade as bein' just as bad.
As to de extenuatin' circumstances yo spoke of, dey is jus' dat. Ah'm sayin', if you knowin'ly participate in de act of enslavin' a person, if you actively help a slavah to 'round folk up for slavin' purposes, den you are slavin'. De only way to stop people from doin' somet'in wrong is to provide a deterrent. Since slavery is so profitable to dem what do it, den dey need a really good, strong deterrent. Death fit dis bill nicely, since punishment should fit de crime. Dey take away part o' someone's life when dey chain dem up, so dey get part o' their life taken away via de Circle. An' speakin' as one who's experienced both, death is de kinder an' gentler o' de two by fah.

~Raif
 
Everyone,

I think that the best course of action would be to bring our concerns with slavery to our Regent. Master Firstborne has always had an open door to our concerns and grievances. I would be willing to present him a formal bill signed by the citizenry requesting that he abolish slavery here in Briar Pass. My only concern is that we have not heard from the other citizens of our regency. So I ask them. Goodmen and goodwomen what are your feelings on this matter?

Liddia FallingStar Mistress of Mushroom Hallow
 
Kyrie, those are extenuating circumstances and you know I spoke of the situation at hand. They knowingly, repeat, knowingly helped slavers and received just desserts. How do you think of me, friend, if you believe I would kill, or let die, a farmer and his family for unknowingly showing hospitality to a slaver? No slaver shall receive mercy from me, unless they give up the slaves they have, and make amends to those that they cannot save, and their families.

As clear as the sky on a May day, so is what laws should be in place. It is not murder, it is justice. A slaver is a thief of lives, and so justice demands a slaver's life in recompense. Slavery should be abolished, and death the sentence for such crime.
 
Padraig may saw my horns off for this... but it still needs to be said.

I agree wholeheartedly with Kyrie. The men who came into town, as I understand it, were merely trying to peacefully bring her back to their boss. They were not the ones who held her contract, they were merely couriers. They did not steal her, mistreat her as I understand it, or bring harm to anyone, and yet they were not merely attacked, but killed.

I understand the feelings that people have about slavery, and I share them I assure you. But killing men is sort of where this has to stop. Culturally speaking, slavery is awful to me. But in some cultures things are different, and though I do not agree with slavery I do not fail to see that each life is useful and important and viable.

What if those men had not resurrected? Who would have worked to feed their children? Who would have clothed them? Paid for their schooling? You must think beyond yourself if you are ever to survive as an adventurer. (And I mean 'survive' in a larger sense of the word.) You must remember that taking on the mantle of an adventurer puts you into a somewhat political situation -- you get to act within and sometimes beyond the laws given to most of a land's people, and you should do well to not ruin that sort of privledge for others by acting irrationally.

It is akin to cutting off a head to cure a headache. Slavery is a symptom of a larger problem here, one we have to take up not with the slavers -- but with the leaders we've put into place who condone it. If you want slavery ended, then you need to do just as Liddia and I have done -- speak to those who control the laws. Make hard and fast deals, make rational arguments, and tell them why it's important to you. Find others who support you, so you can speak with the voice of many rather than one. Barons, Regents -- your leaders will listen if you can speak to them reasonably. If you can put the weight of larger numbers behind you, then they will hear you all the better.

You've a new High Regent, and Renlee is still and always able to make himself available either in person or (perhaps more likely) via pigeon. Petition to him to change the laws.

Don't think that killing slavers on sight is a solution -- it is merely exacerbation to the problem.

If you feel you must do something to show your protest -- refuse slavers hospitality. Do not speak to them, do not look at them, do not help them in any way. But bringing them harm is not only illegal, but does your argument no service whatsoever, and does even less service to your reputation.
 
Millie said:
As clear as the sky on a May day, so is what laws should be in place. It is not murder, it is justice. A slaver is a thief of lives, and so justice demands a slaver's life in recompense. Slavery should be abolished, and death the sentence for such crime.


And not to press the issue too far, but if you put a slaver akin to a thief you should note that we've never punished a thief with death in Briarpass.

They pay a fine and get a slap on a wrist.

So by your own logic Millie, you have to realize you are overreacting a little and allowing your emotions to speak, not your intelligence.

They did not kill Kyrie, they held her against her will -- yes. But in Briarpass we've held many creatures against their will. (Goblins, that poor creature with the axes that were under contention fo a while, and many others that will come to mind if you think of it for a while.) No one has had to die for it yet, and it should not start.

As I understand it she was not mistreated, and therefore we should not mistreat them.

I believe Kyrie deserves some recompense for her lost freedom. But I think it is up to her to decide, and as she seems as grieved over this whole mess as I -- I would imagine all she'd like is what we'd all like -- for it not to happen to another, for I am sure she realizes that not all slaves have it so well.

So put your heart into that, Millie, and see it happen. Help Liddia and I put an end to slavery by writing Renlee and telling him your grievances with it and why. Why you hate it so. Your story.

Hennessey believed that slavers could be rehabilitated, and taught another profession. I am also convinced of this. If Hennessey believed their lives worthwhile, I do not see how any other Mystic who knew him could not find a way to see this as well. He was the most stringently against slavery out of all of us.
 
So what happens to those who are missed treated? What about the families torn apart and removed from their homeland never to return to them again? I was used as an Oxen to carry my "Master's" things. He starved me when he thought I would make a better guard dog for his estate. He showed me off as a beast of tenacious bloodlust, and paid dearly for it in the end. Just because one slave was treated well doesn't condone it, the people who let it go on are worse for they not only condone it but make it a business and trade for income and taxes. I was removed from my warm marsh...from my home, family, and my friends to become property. This is unforgivable in any form, To never have our lives back and ruined forever is worse than death to my kind. We thrive by telling our stories and teaching our young. Without us they are lost and may never recover. My tribe maybe to far gone to be helped, and i have no way of returning. Slavers and Owners are worse than murders and theives to my kind. They demean us and drive my tribe to extinction, show me what justice makes that right by a fine and a "slap" on the wrist.

Tyrin
 
While ah don't wish to belittle de opinions or wisdom of anyone, ah do question de basis of anyone's opinion when dey say dat any punishment be too 'arsh for a slavah. Here's a bit o' perspective fo' consideration:
Spend de ages between 12 an' 16 years old chained to a bench an' oar, mentally manipulated bah biata to actually be ter'fied of havin' de bell takin' from 'round yo' neck fo' feah o' drownin' without it, so feared o' it you ah actually HAPPY to be chained to de safety of yo' bench.
Den spend ovah 5 mo' years wit' yo' fellow slaves huntin' othah slavah ships an' liberatin' dem, one wit' conditions so bad dat we foun' five CRATES full o' Cure Disease potions, an' when we asked what dey was fo', was told "Dey was cheapah dan replacin' de encrusted bench planks an' rusted iron manacles in de hold to dose de rowers once a day wit' dem".
Now, aftah all d'at, if you can still look me in de eye an' say "You should treat dem wit' mo' kindness an' leniency", mebbe ah'll rethink mah ways. Till den, ah'll politely agree to disagree.

wit' respect
~Raif
 
My logic was not overruled by my emotions. Thieves pay fines that equal the worth (usually) of that stolen. Following that rationale, a man who steals a life, for that is the mark of a slaver, should pay equal recompense.

Kyrie is not the only one dear to me to have been enslaved, and while she may choose as she will how she shall treat those who hurt her I will not stand idly by and let anyone be a possession of another being.

May I remind those who take issue with the men's deaths? The couriers were paid by that "master". They chose that life.

Tyrin, Kyrie, and all Biata know this. However I may help those of your race enslaved all that needs doing is the asking of me. Neither is your race alone in being enslaved. There are stories of others I would tell, but it is not my place nor my stories.

Liddia, whatever assistance I may give to change these abhorrent laws, you have it. Raif, I owe you a drink, for my doubts and prejudices against gypsies. After last marketday, and these heated words here I owe you at least that.
 
Danke, never one to turn down a free drink, ya? De heated words are all ah got, seein' as how ah can't be a citizen an' got no legal voice ta petition wit' or to pressure de powers dat be, so all ah can do is try an' influence dem dat do. Ah should be back in de area in a week or so, an ah'm easy to spot if ah am.

~Raif
 
I am not belittling or downplaying the experiences of those who have been enslaved in any sense of the word, not in any way. I am not saying that everything is equal.

In fact, my point is the opposite. Not all situations are equal. Kyrie's situation is not Raif's, it is not Millie's, it is no one's but her own. Every situation has to be judged upon it's own merit.

You are taking your own prejudices into consideration. Your own experiences. And though this is perfectly fine, you have to realize that this is what you're doing. You don't know those men who died, their situations, and their reasons.

Mayhaps they too were indentured servants to the master, have you considered that? It is quite likely they were contracted to work for him for some time to pay off a debt or to feed their families.

I am not downplaying slavery. I would think anyone who knew me and my usually staunch position on the subject would understand that. (Though those who have previously questioned my personal definition of "free will" and "enslavement" to forward their own ideals and goals of course may continue to do so.)

I am merely trying to make you see that these men were not the slaver. They were just men, sent to fetch her back. I am not saying we would have or should have given her back, for she did not want to go. She should be free to make her own choices, she is an adult and quite capable of making them on her own. But what I am saying is that offering up violence as a first resort is never the way we've done things in Briarpass.

Those men did not attack. I (briefly) saw them. Though I did not know who they were nor their job, I did note them to be quiet, relatively kind-faced, and not in any way violent or to seem pressed toward that as a solution to their goals. They were merely sitting and having a drink. It would have, in my measure, been okay to respond with force if they had tried to take her against her will, to forcibly remove her. Perhaps then it would have been a good time to extend the leeway of the law so often offered to Adventurers. But they were just inquiring about her.

By responding with violence first, you have cost us part of the game. If they had attacked first, it would have been well within our rights to defend Kyrie and ourselves. But by luring them out into the woods like common thugs all you've done is cement the idea (and it is a growing idea amongst much of the populace) that that's all we as adventurers are.

I think their business reprehensible. It disgusts me that any person could keep the will and control of another. But I also remember how kind Ajit's face became when he was tending Hennessy's garden. How at peace he seemed. I remember how the realization that he was solving slavery and it's problem at it's core seemed to light Hennessy's face up, and fill him with the passion that we all loved in him.

Any of you who knew Hennessy saw that. Heard him talk of Ajit's work, and how each day was a move toward reformation.

Why did you not just try and pay these men to go away? We have, between us all, much money. Pay those men to go out and find new jobs as farmers, blacksmiths, or any other number of jobs. Then all would have been solved, and there would have been fewer slavers in the world.

I am merely saying that violence comes from a darker impulse, one that though useful in keeping one save in times of need -- is not the only solution. As Adventurers we must try and cultivate life, and make life for everyone better -- not just the "select few" we deem worthy. Every life is precious. Every single life.

...I miss Hennessy.
 
Elysia is 100% correct. Every life is a precoius gift. We reap what we sew. We must work to change our world. We can change our regency. If we work together for a goal we can change our world. Are we ready to do that?

Liddia FallingStar Mistress of Mushroom Hallow
 
Pokethulu said:
Elysia is 100% correct. Every life is a precoius gift. We reap what we sew. We must work to change our world. We can change our regency. If we work together for a goal we can change our world. Are we ready to do that?

Liddia FallingStar Mistress of Mushroom Hallow

Absolutely! Legal rights for Rom, who's with me?
 
Since when is assassination an acceptable solution to a difference in opinion? More so, when did the Law of the Land become a mere triviality to be cast aside when it is no longer convenient? That Slavery is foremost in peoples' hearts and spirits is obvious, but deeply held-values are no excuse to cast aside thought or morals.

At the heart of Slavery is control of the weak by the strong. When these boys came to town they were murdered - not because they had evil in their hearts, or blood on their minds, or vicious intentions but because they were weak. A bunch of bullies with swords killed them because they could. This was not righteous retribution, this was not justice, this was not white-clad Paladins beating back chaos tinged hordes - This was a lynching.

Slavery Free Wayside, indeed.


Master Dramthin Hartsboon
Keeper of the Tainted Grove
 
Ahhhh..... Heavy lies the crown eh adventurers of Briarpass.

It seems a complicated issue has arisen, and I am glad to see some sensible soles step forward.
After I spoke with you all last market day I had hoped that I had made more clear the important role you all fill.

You are powerful and skilled people and with that power comes the ability to enforce your will on others.
So with this power comes grave responsibility. It is thus that we the people, and the authorities of Arbor, must ask so much of you.
You must strive to be better than any of us can hope to be, and we have only one tool we can provide to help.

The Law.

When you chose to act outside and disregard, the law you chose to use your power to enslave the people of Wayside to your will.
For now you claim the authority to choose individually what is write and wrong.

Would you kill all citizens of regencies where slavery is in practice for their lack of action, destroy every inn that has knowingly allowed a legal citizen owning a legal slave to stay there. Where does your righteous crusade end?

Personally, I believe you would make the right choices, you might make a better Wayside, but at what cost.
Where does it end, what adventurers personal experiences are right, which are wrong, who decides.

My heart weighs heavy to criticize those of you who wish to see this as anything but murder, my own heart yearns for that simple answer.
But life is not simple, the stability of Wayside is not simple, the decision to take a life cannot be simple.
Should someone offer you violence, you certainly are within you're right to return it, but you must not become the bloody hand of personal justice.

I have the deepest respect and admiration for Cerria having the courage of ones convictions, to step forward in this situation, is a courage beyond the hearts of many. I also notice that it seems she is willing to accept the judgment of the law upon her, even if she may disagree, this too is courage. I shall discuss with your sheriff the magistrates thoughts on this matter as it has been discussed in detail amongst us.

However as to the idea that murdering slavers should be acceptable, this cannot be. Even if slavery was outlawed this would not change. Do all adventurers of Briarpass hold that they have the right to enforce the law and render judgment. Why then do we have tribunals, why then magistrates and sheriffs. Is Wayside to become known as the land where to ability to do a thing gives one the right. I shudder to see the day.

Huhh..
I will gladly and strongly come to the aid of any who wish to plead the case for the changing of laws, and the abolishment of legal enslavement. I cannot though come to the side of any who accept the killing of those who offer no resistance. I know how deeply your personal wounds must tear, and know that you hearts are in the right place, but in the name of law and order in Wayside I must demand that you desist from any such actions.

it shames me that I must ask so much of you all for I know your words and feelings do not come lightly. I ask only that you remember the story of the Greenblades, and consider their fate. It would not do well for Wayside to be without adventurers again.

This brings to a head many difficult matters between the civilian and adventuring population of Wayside and I hope we can reach a solution we can all live with. Should any of you wish to discuss this matter privately, I am at your service please send me a pigeon.

Also Sherrif Rockfist I need to speak with you in regards to this matter, it might be best to do so before the next market day, please send me a pigeon if you have the time.

May honor and peace guide all your hearts in these difficult times,
-Magistrate Thelonius Prufrock Jacobson
 
Ah'm willin' to go so fah as to not go actively huntin' d'ese pustules on de backside o' de lands, an' ah won't fo startin' nothin' for no cause, an' no one will be able to appreciate jus' how hard d'at is fo' one who has hunted dey kind for dis long an' sworn oath to do so fo' evah. Howevah, in de interests o' common peace an' respect fo' dem what live hear, an' in de interests o' hopin' to build on de good relations ah feel have already been started towards gettin' de Romani people back to de footin' dey deserve in dese lands, ah will do dis.
Ah jus' hope none o' dem get all uppity in de tavern any time soon an' start braggin' 'bout it. Ah jus' don' know if ah got de strenth o' will fo' sometin' like dat.

~Raif
 
Back
Top