Slavery in Kahdisteria Tradition / Ritual in Scarterra | World Anvil

Slavery in Kahdisteria

Thedark elves of Kahdisteria rely on mass slavery to maintain their political and economic power.

History

In the The Second Age, it was relatively common for elves to keep goblins as slaves.  It is unclear whether the ancient elves kept other species as slaves but if they did, they had far fewer non-goblinoid slaves than goblinoids.   Surviving written records suggest that approximately half of the nations of the Second Age maintained some form of slavery and approximately one in five relied on the practice.  Both the modern wood elves and modern grey elves vehemently deny that their ancestors ever practiced slavery.   The modern dark elves do not bother denying this. Their ancestors the Disterian elves kept goblin slaves and they have no moral qualms of continuing the practice.  The modern Kahdisterian elves have expanded the institution of slavery to include many races.   Regardless, modern free goblins blame all elves for their ancestors' persecution and hate and fear all elves regardless of ethnicity.

Execution

Kahdisteria preaches a political ideology that states elves are the superior race on Scarterra and that all other life should serve them or get out of the way.   Some Kahdisterians will use euphemisms like "servants" or "lessers" or even "serfs" or "peasants" but most are not afraid to use the words "slave" and "master." Even if they are called something different, they are still slaves. Even serfs normally have some legal rights that slaves do not.   Because their ideology is based on elf supremacy, there is a hierarchy that the more elf-like a slave is, the better that slave is treated, at least in theory.   Half-elf slaves are generally given better food and lodging than human slaves who generally receive better food and lodging than goblin slaves.

Components and tools

Kahdisterians rely on the traditional tools of chains, whips, and spears to keep their slaves in line, but a few utilize magic.  In a lot of cases, the vague threat of magic is more effective than the actual implementation of it.

Participants

Most half-elf slaves are either taught a skilled trade or perform labor. Most human slaves predominantly work on farms and most goblin slaves are given the most menial labor available such as mining, digging latrines, and carrying loads.   The elves encourage their slaves to stratify socially.  If the half-elves, humans, and goblins all resent the other two groups, then it is less likely that a slave revolt will cross species lines.   While the vast majority of slaves the dark elves keep are half-elves, humans, or goblins, the dark elves will not hesitate to try to enslave almost anyone they can catch. Kahdisteria state religion is Greymoria worship, so by law they cannot and will not enslave creatures that are in good standing with Greymoria. Kobolds are tricky because many worship Greymoria and many despise Greymoria. It's not officially illegal in Kahdisteria to enslave kobolds, but custom means the practice is not done.   Kahdisteria signed a treaty with the Order of Delas agreeing to end the practice of enslaving gnomes. This was done purely out of pragmatism because interspecies slave revolts often had a gnome either leading them out right or pulling strings from behind the scenes.   Sometimes this backfires on the gnomes.  Gnomes are universally well-received almost everywhere they go but they are viewed as pariahs in the Colassian Confederacy because the Confederacy believes the Order of Delas betrayed them by signing a separate treaty with the dark elves and putting gnome lives above human lives.   This is somewhat hypocritical because many Confederates have very little sympathy for goblin slaves.   If dark elves end up fighting with gnomes and capture them alive, they are usually ransomed, but sometimes they are killed instead.
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Cover image: TOA0078 by National Maritime Museum of Greenwich

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