Worldofbaalos

Sultan's scraps was what the galley masters swore about over a flagon in a quayside bar. "Sluts who broke at the oar within a day. Or worse kept alive for longer but weakened your arm from the flogging to make them any use at all" These were what these masters thought of the slaves gifted on them for a fee from the inquisitors chamber and cells. Usually much marked by the lash and brand they were a pitiful sight hanging on the auctioneer's hook. A good galley master would check for broken bones from the rack or strappado pulley or the Horse and its weights. Most were dragged to the Pit in their dungeon fetters. This household slave had  run away from her master and stolen food. Caught by the city guards she'd been sent to the Inquisitor for questioning. She broke under the lash and the pinch of red hot iron pincers. Spared the cross because the Inquisitor's surgeon judged her strong enough for the galleys, the wench hung from the auctioneer'...

The stench of the Pits lifts when you enter the auction hall. It is a series of arenas for the display and selling off of all kinds of stock for the house, the villa, the mill, the fields or the galleys. Gallo had inspected several wenches for the oar bench and had settled on a half dozen who had the back to pull the oar for a season or even more. If he could get his coffle of galley slave flesh he would be happy to take what the Sultan's inquisitors could supply from their stock of runaways, thieves and traitors. Stock for the galleys, like that for the mill or fields, is shown to best advantage by the auctioneer. They might be hung by the wrists from the hook as most slaves are. Or more likely to be made to squat, the better to show the strength in their legs for pulling a plough or an oar. A wench destined for the galleys, the slave squats to show the strength in her thighs for when her whole body needs to take the weight of the oar cutting into the water. T...

Inspecting new flesh is an art said Gallo. A slave may be artfully presented by the slavers, hanging from a hook, their limbs oiled and torches lit to cast shadows over musculature. But Gallo knew you needed to inspect stock in the Pits  closely before bidding. This fresh slave from the Northern Lands seemed healthy. She will do for the oar bench for a few seasons Gallo and his nephew, pomades to their noses, ventured into the Pits. Slaves were displayed in chains. Some stretched from high rings. Their bodies shining from sweat triggered by the humid heat of the deep dungeons or fear of servitude. Gallo enjoyed to see the freshest of stock, new captives being broken into slaves. He enjoyed explaining to his nephew how new slaves were yoked so they couldn't feed or touch themselves. They learnt how their bodies were no longer their property but that of their masters. A new captive is locked in a slavers yoke to break their spirit and allow bidders to in...