Worldofbaalos

I had noted several bond slaves working on the plantation. Knowing such slaves were meant for the house not the fields, I remarked to my friend, the lashmaster. "A bout of sweating sickness meant we were short at harvest so those house wenches are to work in the fields and kitchens. You like the look of her? Her bond is due in a matter of weeks but the old father cannot pay so she'll be stripped and branded" I looked over the wench. A peasants daughter who might find enslavement preferable to starvation. Our Sultan was wise in letting the poorest of his citizens make money for unwanted second or third daughters. It was commonly known that no peasant could ever pay back the bond and losing another mouth to feed was a bonus The bond slave works the field alongside the stripped and branded stock

That year I travelled widely across the plantations of the Great Delta where owners grow crops for the cities. It was the end of the long day measuring the lands of one owner that I came upon a gang of field slaves picking stones from the fields so the iron of the plough didn't shatter. A slave picks stones from the fields in the falling light of the daylight suns I watched how the slaves worked the fields doing the back breaking work under the watchful eye of the field lashmaster.  I had grown to know this man who seeing me spying the work of his slaves, beckoned me over.  I cam towards him as he bellowed for one of the slaves to come forward. She was a fine piece of flesh, hardened and tanned from long days toiling in the fields.  The field slave worked towards me, her skin catching the evening rays "Down slut", he barked and she fell to her knees, her hands behind her head.  "You may relax with her first, sir. She has the stren...

My family fortune lost I had gone into trade My profession was a surveyor, travelling Baalos on behalf of my clients and to assess their purchases of land and assets. These ranged from mines to plantations to mills and the slaves employed there. It was my task to count and judge the value of the assets in the flesh so to speak. Few wealthy owners enjoyed travelling from the great cities into the interiors where their investments were. Travel was unpleasant in the heat of Baalos and there was little comfort at your journey's end. So that is how I found myself at the plantation of the Sagro family, watching the gangs of field slaves toil at the harvest. The slaves seemed healthy and little marked from the lash. The overseer told me many were bred on the plantation though new stock had had to be acquired when the sweating sickness struck a season ago. I took it upon myself to assess one or more of slaves and had the overseer bring several wenches to me. Raising my pomade to ...

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...

The Market is tall drum shaped stone bastion squatting by the harbor. On closer inspection you see it comprises a concentric wall of dark stone around the inner drum tower. This is surmounted by a huge beacon that is lit as a pharos for the galleys. The tower stands many levels high and dwarfs the warehouses and taverns closeby. It is also as deep as it is tall, its lower galleries and vaults are the Pits in which slaves are held and prepared for sale. There are chambers for shackling, branding and breaking slaves. It is said the pens can take several thousands of slaves and there is an army of overseers, appraisers and auction masters to process the flesh. And for them there is another ring of tradespeople from the leather makers who supply strands for the knotted lashes to the metal workers and meal merchants who supply fodder. And for these there is another army of slaves who work the mills, forges and furnaces. Gallo and his nephew saw little o...