"Do not worry young one - the marks on your wrists will fade over time. The marks up here, those are the ones you must concern yourself with - those marks take years to fade. Never forget that you are free of your chains, lest the chains remain in your mind."

-The Paladin, Ragnar Torgeirsson

Enslaved Upbringing

Slavery is a concept that has existed perhaps as long as things that have existed which could be enslaved. It is the ultimate end product of evil philosophies, of political hegemony and hierarchy. It of course exists in many forms, which themselves vary in brutality - the kind of slavery may effect the kind of scars it leaves behind. From the despotic racialized slavery of Kelior, to the meticulous slavery of the Underdark, to the aging slave-system of Arissia, to the beyond brutal slavery of the Grung - each carries a host of mazes for the enslaved to navigate, if they are to survive captivity. Each also comes with a different life expectancy. Indeed, each also comes with a different position with regard to free-peoples: In the Grung tribes, slaves only hope of freedom is escape or death, whereas in Arissia, manumission has become so common for the average person that it is basically expected.

          Those born into slavery are born into a kind of hell. It is much akin to the lives of prisoners: one cannot choose where to live, when to sleep, what to do, who to love, or anything. That is of course in many ways not so different from many childhoods, where in children have their lives directed mostly by their parents or guardians. Slavery however is the robbery of childhood. The moment a person can hull sacks of flour or carry buckets of water, the moment someone can life a pickaxe above their head, they are a useful laborer, and not a child. The most important two aspects of slavery in how they might feed into a character later in life, are the place they were enslaved, and how they left slavery (if they ever did). Those who were freed might have a very different set of anxieties from those who escaped.

          Characters from an Enslaved Upbringing will have a token from their enslaved past. It is common for most slaves to, once having been freed, keep a hold of the chains they once wore - a constant reminder that they are now free. These Wrought Iron Slave Chains are 15ft long, and especially strong. They have 50 hit points and require a DC 25 Strength check to break. They weigh 15lbs in total.

If you choose the Enslaved Upbringing, you gain the following:

~A +1 to your Constitution score~

~Either a -1 to your Charisma score or a -1 to your Intelligence score~

~A language of your choice, one taught to you by a parent, guardian, or mentor from your upbringing~

~A Sub-Discipline in every social skill on checks dealing with other members of Enslaved Upbringing~

~A set of Wrought Iron Slave Chains~

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