Oblivion Mod:Order of the Dragon/Slave Guide

Book Information Slave Guide
ID	xx029C04
	10		1.0
Locations
Found in the following locations: In various locations

Slave Guide

by Kulim Tadave

A discussion on slavery and what to look for in a potential slave

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FOREWORD
(added later),

Slavery. What does this mean? Does that really something evil, like many free-thinkers would have us believe nowadays? I say no. No. Slavery is not evil. It has nothing to do with contempt or lack of understanding. Rather, it is a term for the family. For prestige. Wealth. Tradition. It is so ingrained in our culture that it forever became a part of us a long time ago. Without them, we could not exist as the people that we are. We would subject ourselves to the ideas of other people, give ourselves up and just disappear with time.

It's not like I had been told recently, that we consider slaves as things. They are not! They think, breathe, have feelings. My daughter feels great friendly affection toward her playmate. There is nothing bad that is acceptable and normal. Slaves, with time, become a part of the household, a part of the family, as well as a beloved pet. They are like us; they have only been allocated another place in this life. That's their job. Who are we to deny them the opportunity to meet it?

I thank you for your attention.

BEFORE BUYING
Before the Dunmer buys a slave, it is important to determine what benefit he serves, how much he costs and how long to keep him. The maintenance costs for a large, strong slave who works as a laborer, are extremely high since he, unlike smaller slaves with lighter loads, must take in a lot more food and fluids. And I probably do not need to mention how valuable water is in a desert.

In the following three examples, the Dunmer should choose his slave according to the these criteria when he is inclined to find the most effective possible candidates for the task assigned.

1. A slave for the hard work.
Applied to procuring a worker for construction or other hard physical activity, the Dunmer should focus only on the biggest and strongest. The cost of two slaves is higher than for one, and the minimal work force lost is made up by lashes. Note: slaves who do hard physical work have a high mortality rate!

Particularly suitable for this purpose both Nords and Orcs, where the Nord is always to be preferred, since they have a reduced need for food.

2. A slave for the housework.
Applied to procuring a servant for the house and the guests, the Dunmer should focus only on the bodily attractive. What will friends of the family say if they have the door opened by a Pahmer-face, or served soup by an Argonian? The cost of a house servant is therefore correspondingly high, because a well-fed, polite house slave with a superb attitude is evidence of wealth and brings prestige. The mortality rate of a house servant is equal to his master. Guests and friends will find affection toward a good slave; while they might be unhappy to replace him with another, or need to replace him, with death they might agree.

The elegant and exotic Khajiit are best suited for this occupation in the household. In addition to the quickly-dying Argonians, there is a race that you should avoid at all costs: the Altmer. Beautiful and elegant, but they tend to an unreasonable arrogance that above all precludes the satisfactory execution of work for their master. The Dunmer is forewarned before buying ugly Orcs! Orcs have presented themselves in the past and present as neither good house nor working slaves. For one thing, they have a limited understanding of even the simplest connections to their master's satisfaction; furthermore, they are extremely unpredictable and transfer dangerous diseases. Even with mineworkers, where the Orc admirably shows his physical advantages, great precautions are taken so that the Orcish slaves do not get hurt or even worse. After all, the loss of a slave is at the same time the loss of gold. Orcish slaves are therefore rarely offered on the market and any reasonable Dunmer who does not have the need or financial resources for adequate security is discouraged from purchasing an Orc.

3. A slave for sewing.
Applies to finding help for many hours of sewing, so the Dunmer should especially check the hands of the slaves. These should be slim and long. The slave's fate and knowledge play a particularly important role in this case. Having to teach a slave how to do his work is counterproductive to the highest degree! As in the case of point two, the mortality of a sewing slave is low.

Bosmer women are small and clever with their hands. They are worth a place in the sewing room in any case.

THE PURCHASE
Quite a few people make the mistake to look for slave in a certain condition. This is either worse or better than by slave after some time in personal service, as it is not dependent on the household, but the slave trader. The trade-talented Dunmer knows that a good physical condition indicates low physical punishment and a stable will, which proves to be disadvantageous in slavery. Therefore, it is always advisable to take the skinny slaves, for resignation is to be expected with them.

On this point, however, opinions are divided. Ankar Felothis' advice on this is to make a detour around the lean, as these may indeed have had enough time to get used to a life of slavery, but yet are still for sale and cannot be particularly sought after. In both ways you can achieve your goal, but refrain from the slave trader adding pull because he always lies.

AFTER THE PURCHASE
The Dunmer will notice the abovementioned problems, so it will not be hard for him to negotiate a fair price with the slave trader. Figuring out how much food and water a slave needs, on the other hand, is more difficult. But even here there's a good trick: The slave should take a usual daily ration and then remain hungry, until he is no longer able to work under lashes. So it is necessary to determine how long the slave gets along with how much food.

ATTITUDE
The attitude of a slave is surely the simplest matter, inasmuch as applying the Dunmer understanding of the slaves' needs. In general, a slave, no different than any living being, prefers a place to sleep and to eat. For a better attitude slaves should have the necessary facilities, as well as the hiring of security guards, so that the slave does not hurt himself or inflict damage on his surroundings. Caging or transferring the slaves to distant residential barracks, as practiced in the past for traditional reasons, may even be right. Practically, transferring slaves out of the master's residential area is bad, because the slave is a social being and needs some form of attention via command also. In this respect, one should give the slaves a dry place to sleep, such as a dungeon.

COMMUNICATION
WITH THE SLAVES
The slave needs clear, understandable statements to take up his work. Avoid eloquent elaborations or metaphors when issuing orders. Many masters make this error in the mistaken belief that the slave would otherwise not understand too many embellishments, that the slave would be confused, so that misconduct may possibly result, so that you eventually have to resort to disciplinary action. You can, however, prevent this. The imperative is important here. Also, the slave must not be called by name. A short command is completely sufficient, such as: "Go to the field and harvest the corn!" or "Get me the wine barrel from the cellar!" As a rule, more information cannot be processed by the slave. It may even come to pampering, if the slave is contacted completely incorrectly.

"Please go out to the field and support the corn plants", can thus draw a complete irrational reaction by itself, which may be designed as follows: "But Master, a sandstorm is whipping around outside." In this case, the slave has not been properly motivated in the past. A conflict between the master and the slave is inevitable. In the worst case, the slave becomes a pet that the master has no more use for. In general, such slaves then end up in the galleys after a few years, even if they have were previously better suited for other things.

Therefore, it is absolutely advisable that you take a distanced, yet social attitude to the slaves, governed by a clear expression.