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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CanadienneBacon" data-source="post: 3842720" data-attributes="member: 11146">Have you read the series of books by David Farland, Runelords, I think it's called?  In that series, the nobility of the setting take endowments from their subjects.  Some of the more common endowments mentioned by the author in the series are: beauty, strength, metabolism (grants speed), sight, hearing, and --forgive me here, it's been a long time since I last read one of the books in this series and I forget.In the novels, giving an endowment could only be done voluntarily.  Of course, the more unscrupulous lords within the setting manipulated their subjects into granting endowments.  In any case, giving an endowment left the giver seriously crippled.  A person who gave beauty became a crone, withered on both the outside and the inside, devoid of self-esteem in addition to looks.  Giving metabolism left one a total vegetable.  Sight left one blind, etc, etc..  Some of the characters in the series took endowments of smell from dogs but doing so was alluded to being rather barbaric.  A righteous nobleman was responsible for the continued lifelong caretaking of those from whom he or she'd received endowments.  The supplicants might live together on the nobleman's castle grounds, specially protected by the best guards (because killing a king's supplicant would divest him of the endowment) and be "pampered" with whatever luxury the nobleman might afford.  The family of the endowment giver, often poor peasants, would be richly rewarded for the service of their family member and given "gifts" of gold by the nobleman.It's an interesting read.  There is a whole series of social, ethical, and political implications to the endowment system that the author explores to one degree or another in the books.</blockquote>

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