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Message: <blockquote data-quote="havenstone" data-source="post: 4928581" data-attributes="member: 61094">A Slave EducationOVER THE FOLLOWING days, Ontaya spends long hours educating Minister Tang and his functionaries in Northern politics and geography.  She freely volunteers anything she believes the Xaimani could learn from other sources, to cover her careful omission of more militarily useful information.  Meanwhile, her friends are learning much more about the culture and social structure of the Empire, and the limits on slaves.The first, disheartening thing they learn is slavery is irreversible – there is no provision for emancipation in Xaimani law.  Slaves are seen as having entered an inherently lower order of being, which may explain why no one of noble blood, from any nation, can ever be made a slave.  No slave may bear a sword (a weapon associated loosely with nobility), though they may carry other weapons and act as bodyguards.  No slave may practice magic or other skills associated with one of the higher Paths.  They may not own property, and have no right even to their own offspring (who will be lifelong slaves, even if one of the parents was free).  Slaves must always wear muted gray clothing that exposes the brand on their shoulders.  The penalty for hiding or attempting to magically Heal the slave brand is the same as the penalty for attempted escape: excruciation.  This elaborate punishment consists of being “flogged, pierced, stretched, stoned, and dropped from a great height.”In Xaiman (and by extension in most of the other nations in the Empire), individuals who are neither slaves nor nobles often belong to a Ranked Path, which defines one’s occupation and social status within a complex guild-like structure.  Each rank is marked by a color, from brown (the lowest, least experienced rank, analogous to apprentices in the North) to gray (the sixth and highest rank, generally held by no more than one to ten people in each Path).  This color will be displayed somewhere in the regalia of the different Paths, as a motif in their robes, headdresses, armor, and so on.  The Sword Path are the Imperial officer class, the Spear Path common soldiers, the Horizon Path sailors.  The Reflective Path are priests, the Radiant Path wizards, the Scroll Path sages and scholars, and so on.Some of the Paths have “aberrant” counterparts with an equally intricate hierarchy.  The imperial executioners of the Skull Path– the black-clad men who <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/4740612-post67.html" target="_blank">slaughtered</a> the nobility of the north – are considered an aberrant Spear Path.  The anarchic Shattered Path ascetics, whose peculiar mental powers are reportedly based on ritualistically turning their minds in on themselves until they go mad, are an aberrant Reflective Path.  The Golden Path (merchants) and the Shrouded Path (thieves), while officially opposites, are widely rumored to be the same path when all is said and done.Most rural commoners belong to Non-Ranked Paths, such as the Unrefined Path for miners or the Rice Path for farmers.  These are Paths where there is no differentiation between levels of skill, and brown is the most common color worn by anyone in a Non-Ranked Path.  It is possible for children of commoners to aspire to Ranked Path status, though in some Paths (such as the Sword or Scroll) it can be extremely difficult to find a master who is willing to accept students who are not from well-educated noble families.SHUSHILA, THE LITHE Lakshari slavemistress with graying hair, teaches Carwyn and Kyla the essential etiquette for entertaining noble guests at one of the Minister’s many feasts.  “Avoid eye contact unless you are spoken to.  Extend drinks and food to the noble guests in such a way that your hand does not and need not contact theirs – but do not shrink away if they initiate the contact.  Do not in any way express your own hunger or thirst, nor take food or drink in eyeshot of any guests.”She then asks them to demonstrate their dancing skills, and nods thoughtfully at the girls’ demonstration of Northern dancing techniques.  “You have considerable grace and skill – especially you,” pointing to Carwyn.  “We will begin, then, with a southeastern Lakshari dance that is far from simple, but is the most important for any dancer to master if you wish to increase your value and your influence with the masters of the Empire.  It is the che’saan: the dance that drives men mad.”Despite her general unhappiness, Carwyn takes to this sinuous, intensely suggestive dance like a duck to water.  She spends the evenings in their drab, crowded quarters absent-mindedly practicing the arm curls and neck movements.  Kyla is less enthusiastic, a fact noted with disapproval by Shushila.  Ontaya passes by the lessons one day and develops a protective crush on Jaori, a slender Xaimani dancing girl.  During their brief conversations, the paladin tries to get a sense of Jaori’s personality but can’t get past a shield of guarded, bland submissiveness.As Ontaya accompanies Daoran on his daily rounds, she begins to understand the essential role of trusted slaves in managing a Xaimani noble estate.  Most of the slaves who keep the estate running answer to a Slavemaster or Slavemistress, who take their orders from lesser members of the noble family.  The higher class of slaves is treated well and is largely spared the abuses and penalties that their less fortunate fellows endure.</blockquote>

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