Slaves
“They don’t bleed for themselves. They bleed for someone else’s will.”
DEFINITION
A Slave is a living asset, legally owned by a noble house, military unit, or sanctioned institution. Unlike slum dwellers, slaves are not even recognised as people—they have no autonomy, no names of their own, and no legal protection.
Many are branded, bound by magic, or physically altered to ensure obedience. They can’t refuse commands. They can’t express pain unless permitted. They exist solely to serve, suffer, or be sacrificed.
METHODS OF ENSLAVEMENT
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| Criminal Condemnation | Some are sentenced to slavery instead of execution. |
| Debt-Bondage | Entire families sold to repay noble debts. |
| Magical Branding | Cursed sigils or collar enchantments that override free will. |
| Breeding Programs | Selective breeding to create “perfect” bodyguards, servants, or daemon-blooded vessels. |
| Black Market Trafficking | Especially for rare talents: latent magic, daemon taint, divine bloodlines. |
SLAVE TYPES
| Type | Role | Features |
|---|---|---|
| House Slaves | Clean, cook, and serve—treated like furniture | Docile, heavily collared |
| Combat Slaves | Used as guards, duel fodder, or warbeasts | Branded and conditioned |
| Ritual Slaves | Used in magical rites, blood sacrifices, or alchemy | Often mute, hooded |
| Breeding Slaves | Bred for traits or used to create specific bloodlines | Most dehumanised |
| Daemon Hosts | Involuntary vessels for cursed spirits or magical experiments | Mentally fragmented, terrifyingly unstable |
MAGICAL ENSLAVEMENT
- Sigil Brands: Runes carved or burned into flesh; glow when triggered.
- Collars of Obedience: Restrict movement, speech, even thought. Can induce seizures or death.
- Soul Seals: Used for high-value slaves; if disobedient, they literally lose pieces of their soul.
- Voice Chains: Only respond to their master’s voice. Others are static to them.
LIFE & CONDITION
- No family, no possessions, no names (given a function-based alias like “Girl-12” or “Red-Collar”).
- Emotionally flattened over time—many stop responding unless triggered.
- Mental shattering is common: some become blank-eyed husks, others snap violently if bonds weaken.
- Death is preferable to many—but they’re rarely allowed even that without use.
CASSIRA – YOUR STORY’S EXAMPLE
- Planted maid and assassin.
- Likely a combat-bred slave with magical obedience commands.
- Capable of passing as human, but utterly owned, possibly unaware of how deep her conditioning goes.
- May not even know she has a “real” name.
- Could become a horrifying wildcard if Rein shatters her bindings—either ally or threat.
NARRATIVE POTENTIAL
Slaves are:
- Living mirrors of what the system truly is—a machine that eats souls for status.
- Terrifying tools—Rein might weaponise or liberate them. Both carry consequences.
- Tragic ghosts—many no longer know what it means to live.
- Potentially unstoppable—if freed from control, some could unleash buried power.
Rein could:
- Break a slave’s binding to gain a loyal ally or tragic monster.
- Be targeted by elite slaves sent by the empire’s secret orders.
- Discover that she herself is partially bound in ways she never realised.
- Use a freed slave’s blood memories to uncover hidden parts of the Isekai simulation.
SAYINGS ABOUT SLAVES
- “They don’t cry. They don’t scream. They just obey.”
- “To own a soul is to become a monster.”
- “A slave without a master is a god waiting to remember.”
- “Break the chain, and you break the world.”
Comments