Society Recognizing the Inherent Immorality of Human Enslavement within the Perfected Hierarchy
Officially known as The Society Recognizing the Inherent Immorality of Human Enslavement within the Perfected Hierarchy, and colloquially as the Abolitionists, those within the Realm working for an end to slavery are an underground organization within the Realm which seeks an end to the system of slavery that presently exists there.
The existence of the Abolitionist movement has been a long one, but it entered official scrutiny almost two hundred years ago, when copies of the 'Abolitionist Manifesto' were left behind when, under cover of chaos caused by the Ragara Widow's Uprising, several raids occurred to free slaves held on plantations and in markets. While most escaped slaves were later recaptured or killed, the incident brought much attention... little of it good.
The 'Manifesto' presented a philosophy which was a variant of Immaculate Doctrine. While the commonly accepted interpretation sees slaves as having been reincarnated into that position due to actions in past lives, and says that by owning slaves, a spiritually-superior Dragonblooded uplifts them regardless of how they are treated. The 'Manifesto' claimed that this was a false doctrine... that the key to advancing up the Hierarchy was choice: slavery did not help the slaves because they did not choose it... they were as spiritually enlightened as other humans, and enslaving them blocked their opportunity to perfect themselves by denying them the ability to choose the Immaculate path. Likewise, a Dragonblooded's behaviour towards her slaves, the choices made in their treatment, were just as relevant to their place in the Hierarchy as the choice to be overindulgent or cowardly. Mistreating slaves was a sin because it dragged an enlightened Dragonblooded soul down into the mud.
Reaction to the doctrine was swift, if not fully forceful. The Deliberative declared the Society to be an illegal organization. Neither the Mouth of Peace nor the Scarlet Empress directly declared the doctrine heresy (neither she nor the Sidereal masters of the Immaculate Order wanted to change the status quo, but they both hoped to keep the option open in case future end to slavery became a useful political ploy), but both stated that those who shared the philosophy of the Abolitionists 'bordered on treason'.
Attitudes towards Abolitionists and slave freedom
Deliberative: The Deliberative favours slavery, and is unlikely to back any abolitionist measures, though one member (Cynis Tenezar) would approve of such actions. The Deliberative does, however, support freedom for individual slaves as a reward: each Dynast may petition to free up to three slaves a year, and requests which manage to gain the needed three-Senator sponsorship are almost never voted down.
Immaculate Order: The Immaculate Order supports the current view of the Perfected Hierarchy, making slavery a proper concept and opposition to its existence a religious wrong, a position the Order itself holds it has held in perpetuity but which secular theologians . Immaculate clergy themselves rarely keep slaves, as they are seen as 'worldly goods'... this at once shows that the most enlightened Dragonblooded do not keep slaves, while at the same time affirming n religious doctrine that slaves are, indeed, nothing more than property.
Dynastic Society: Dynastic society supports slavery, for a number of reasons. The largest slaveholders, House Cynis, have their power linked directly to continued slavery. The industrial Houses, Nellens and Ragara, require the slavery system to maintain the profitability of some of their enterprises. The military Houses Tepet, Peleps, Sesus, and Cathak, use the slave industry to garner additional income (enslaving pirates is one of few profitable ventures left to the Tepet, and provides needed income to upkeep the Peleps-controlled Imperial Navy).
Houses Ledaal and V'neef are indifferent on the matter... they benefit from slavery, but might also benefit from the other Houses losing it should the cost not be too high.
Within these groups, a minute few hold 'abolitionist' beliefs. Almost all keep these as secret as possible... there is a tendency by Dynastic society to shun those who too openly border on heresy.
Realm Society: Not being allowed to own slaves, non-Dynastic society has little to say on the matter. Privately, however, two groups ten to support abolitionist ideas: patrician industrialists who have been restricted by labour shortage and low overhead of Dynastic competitors support abolition as liquification of the Realm's labour would eliminate Dynastic advantage and render the market competitive. Peasant farmers also often support abolition, if not in organized fashion, because it would both raise the price of agricultural goods and open employment opportunities for their offspring in Dynastic households.
Slave Society: Is it better to die on your feet, or to live on your knees? This is the conundrum of the slave. Most slaves in the Realm come from the barbarians and nomads of the Threshold, where life is nasty, brutish, and short. Life as a slave may not be easy, but it is longer and more secure than life where they originated, and the worst Dynastic transgressions do not compare to what would await them at the hands of most Wyld barbarian raiders. This is considered, by some slaves, as a better life: they work loyally and in return are granted escape from the wilderness, food and shelter. Other slaves, remembering their barbarian roots, see their lives as slaves to be empty: what good is living if you are not truly alive, and you can only be truly alive when you are free. Those who believe this most strongly usually die very quickly, usually by their own hand or suicidal escape attempts. A few slaves are devout Immaculates: they accept their place as being deserved due to the sins of a previous life, and strive to serve as best they can to earn their way to a higher station in the next life. Perhaps the larger group of slaves is that whose members are simply clinging to survival: they serve to get food and avoid beatings, fear escape due to the punishment receieved if caught, and hardly dare to dream of better things. They are not happy being slaves, but they are resigned to it, and have little hope of change.
Imperial Legions: While looting enemy bodies and villages provides some income and pay for troops, Legion campaigns are hugely expensive, and their costs are covered primarily by the capture and sale of slaves. The Legions are thus reliant on the industry, especially in the absence of the Scarlet Empress.
Magistrates and Black Helms: The Imperial Magistracy and Guardians of the Realm are concerned only with the letter of the law, and prosecute all criminals. It is illegal to free a slave one owns without Deliberative permission. Freeing or aiding the escape of a slave owned by another is theft, as is killing that slave. Being unExalted and owning a slave is illegal. Being a slave and trying to escape or aiding an escape is theft punishable by death. It is illegal to be a member of the Society Recognizing the Inherent Immorality of Human Enslavement within the Perfected Hierarchy, or to call yourself an abolitionist. By recommendation of the Empress, penalties for these crimes are to be harsh.
