[Organization] The Slavers' Guild

Slavers' Guild



Type: Profession Guild

Trade: Intelligent servants and slaves

Motivation/Goal: To promote the advancement of slavery, and formalize and treat the art of indentured servitude with professionalism

Size: The Main chapter house currently has a total of 600 active members listed in its records, but about one-third of those members are on duty at any time.

Influence: Strong influence in Remia and varying levels all throughout the Remian Empire.

Public Face: As either hooligans or with grudging respect. The Guild has hidden its illegal activities thoroughly.

How to Join: Potential Members can inquire at any guild chapter house. There is no entrance fee, however it is required that the applicant become marked as a member of the Guild.

Tiers/Ranks: Because of the way that the Slavers' Guild operates, the guild does not have a formal hierarchy. The members occupying the higher ranks are constantly moving around, with ambitious members sailing off to start new chapters in other cities or areas, then leaving them in charage of lower member officers once the chapter has a good foothold. By the same token, the lower rankings shift depending on who is working on what ship at the time. The ranks are generally as follows, though gaining and losing ranks is by no means difficult. Guildmaster, Slaver Lord, Captain, Soldier.

Symbol: The guild insignia is a simply dragon holding a pair of manacles and chains. This symbol is tattooed in a similar, but almost never identical on the face of every slaver in the guild.

Motto/Slogan: "Our bonds are our word: Unbreakable."

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Meetings: The Guildmasters, Slaver Lords, and Captains meet monthly to discuss strategy and make plans. The entire order meets twice yearly to strengthen their ties with one another.

Allies: The Slavers' Guild remain associated but somehow retain an outside stance of Ares' religious hierarchy. There is no official tie, but there have been a few attempts to bring the Guild into the Church officially.

Enemies: The Rangers Conclave is their most vocal opponent, but there are many in Remia and in all of the world who dislike Slavers enough to take action against those who bond sentient beings into servitude.

Prominent Members: Hatchet Highbinder (Guildmaster), Razor Highbinder, Iris Snow (Owner), Grodon Lakkay

Full Description: While there are several splinters of the famous Slavers' Guild, the Slavers near Remia are the largest, the most organized, and the most advanced of them. The Slavers of the Eastern Empire are more widespread but smaller in scope, typically.
With the fate of the world in their hands, the guilds are accepted as a necessary evil, an essential fact of life that is responsible for providing the means of survival for most nations and settlements as well as the backbone for the economic empires, allowing trade to flourish and nations to prosper. Truth be told, however, is that there is no end in sight for the proliferation of slavery, and the powerful Guild of Slavers, lords, and those who profit from them are all too willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the continuation of the world's most ancient tradition.
Slavers are not regarded as being a wholesome and virtuous lot, but if one were prone to attribute the worst stereotypes to them it would be the Remian Slavers who fit the mold perfectly. The Remian Slavers seem to have been born as natural slavers, and the professional slaver and guild master are highly respected career paths for many others. The City of Remia as a whole contains more active slaving than any other region, but most of these guilds do not have any significant influence beyond a few city-states, and even fewer still beyond Remia's boundaries.
Despite their mostly small individual influences, the Remian guilds are among the best of the guilds when it comes to specializing in slave stock. The city of Remia is known for her skilled adventurers, fighters, gunsmiths and harem slaves. The diversity of slave stock is so extensive throughout the Empire that is among her city-states that any type of specialist can be found. No one may personally care for the Slavers, but everyone wants to do business with them.

Tactics Of The Slavers

All slavers have certain tactics. These tactics are based around quick subjugation of a target, followed by rounding up those that will bring a profit. There are minor variations according to the various slaver organizations and bands, but for the most part, slavers follow fairly predictable tactics. Slavers would rather face as little opposition as possible when attacking, and so prefer to have their opponents outnumbered at least 10-to-1, with the more, the better. When things look dire, slavers will often break up into small groups and run for it, in an “every man for himself” strategy, or attempt to surrender, hoping to ambush their opponents when they come to accept the slavers' surrender.

Reconnaissance: The first thing most groups do is a quick recon of the target. This can be as simple as checking over a convoy or a group of travelers with a set of spyglasses, or as complex as coming in pretending to be travelers to watch guard patrols, examining weaponry available to guard forces, the condition of defenses, and potential pickings. Recon activities are designed to estimate the amount of resistance a group or settlement can put up against a slaver attack, as well as pinpoint any loot or flaws in the defenses.

Probing Atacks: Whilst not all slaver groups perform probing attacks, the more experienced and disciplined slaver groups will use this tactic against well-armed convoy groups or heavily-defended settlements in order to take the measure of their target. This involves sending out a few snipers and a lightly armed mounted groups to take a few shots at the settlement/convoy, in order to judge the speed and effectiveness of their counterattack capability, and also to gauge/observe the target’s response patterns. Probing attacks provide slavers a lot of information, including where their targets have a tendency to bunch up and what might be the best way to “trim the herd” and grab slaves without engaging the entire group.

Inside Job: Slavers are not military units, they won't bother trying to dig a sapper's tunnel to dig under a wall to ambush a castle. They find it too wasteful and too time consuming. A slaver must attack quickly and get everything done with. Instead, with a settlement or large, heavily armed convoy, a slaver group will send a few people to attempt to join and mingle in the settlement. Those who gain access to the target are expected to perform sabotage and place necessary explosives or traps. Once the slavers outside attack, the inside personnel are expected to attack the defenders at key locations in order to allow the slavers to quickly and easily overcome resistance.

Dropping the Bomb: Some of the larger slaver groups will use artillery and mortar systems to “soften up” certain targets. Mainly used against walls, indirect fire allows a slaver group to pound a target with a moderate degree of accuracy, killing or suppressing defenders while the wall is being breached. Some slaver groups use tricks like tanglefoot bags, thunderstones, firestones, or other explosive devices to further weaken defenders.

Diversions: Setting fire to grain storage/supply areas, burning buildings, poisoning water supplies, torturing scouts in full view of a settlement - all of these are designed to give the defenders something to think about in addition to the attacking slavers, or to weaken their will and ability to fight. Also covered in the diversion section is having a small force attack, usually with rifles and arrows so that they appear to be a larger group than they are, while the larger force sneaks up and engages at close range or from a superior position.

Overwhelming Firepower: Slavers prefer to have their victims out armed, plain and simple. They rarely hold any heavy weapons in reserve, instead choosing to open up with everything they have in order to convince their prey to quickly surrender when given the chance.

Ambush: The favorite tactic of a slaver group is to lay in wait for their victims to come to them. Through the use of scouts, who carefully watched a target group for a set period of time, the slavers will be sure of the number and have a rough estimate of the strength of that group. They prefer heavy cover, such as ruins or rocky terrain, elevation, and, preferably, the sun to their backs. Heat absorbed and released by rocks will mask their heat signatures from those who are sensitive to visual heat or sound, and the stone will give them excellent protection. Grenades and Molotov cocktails are also a favorite of slavers, as well as weakening a section of roadway or a bridge in order to trap vehicles or mounts.

For the most part, however, slavers are sloppy and uncoordinated – they rarely using interlocking fields of fire, are prone to firing bolts and arrows or their rifles in a random direction, and toss grenades or Molotov cocktails wily-nily without regard to target acquisition and identification. Friendly fire kills a few slavers on every raid (sometimes it’s used to settle old scores between slavers) but this is acceptable, as long as they get their victims.

Once the attack is over, the true horror begins, as the group checks the survivors and decides who is worth selling later and who is worth only a quick slash with a knife. Slaver groups have to work quickly, as the sounds of combat quickly draws any Guards or monsters within hearing range to the battleground, and thus only a small portion of the force is relegated to the tasks of looting and choosing slaves. The target group's vehicles/dwellings are quickly tossed (Search checks) and only obvious wealth (such as jewelry, ammunition, weapons, food, body armor, precious metal) is taken. Some slaver bands burn the buildings and vehicles they are forced to leave behind, while others booby trap them or just leave them behind untouched. Occasionally, travelers will come across what looks like a pristine town, abandoned in mid-meal, with no sign of anything having happened. Often, this is the work of slavers, who swept in under the cover of darkness and used non-lethal methods to quickly surprise and subdue the population before carting them off.

The young and hearty are kept, unless it appears they will be too much trouble or have too much attitude. The elderly are often killed or just left behind, and children are rounded up. People who are sick, or who appear physically weak, will also be discarded or slain, or often left tied up for monsters to feast upon, but only rarely will slavers allow those they do not take to go free. The slaves are forced to strip naked, and given a quick visual once over to check for any obvious deformities, injuries or sickness, and then are shackled in some way. This can be through a choke-chain, handcuffs, manacles, a simple rope, or chained around the waist.

The newly acquired slaves are quickly loaded into transport vehicles and secured so that they
cannot escape. A slave, once captured, can expect short meals, usually only enough to keep him alive, along with constant threats and physical abuse. Slaves who stare directly at their captors, or who get mouthy, can expect severe punishment; sometimes the slavers will even kill them for the simple crime of looking at them out of the corners of their eyes.

During the trip they are kept under close guard, fed little, and often beaten and abused as they are taken somewhere to sell. Roughly a third of all captured people are killed during transit, often from wounds or for sport. During hot weather, this percentage can rise as high as 90%, as the vehicles are poorly ventilated at best, and open-topped transports leave prisoners exposed to the sun.

This treatment lasts until the slavers arrive at their base of operations or a settlement where they may be able to sell the slaves, if the slaver gang does not keep them for their own sport. There, things get far worse. The slaves are often stripped down so that potential buyers can examine them; buyers interested in sexual slaves are often allowed to “test drive the merchandise,” while those who desire technically skilled slaves or manual laborers are given a demonstration of the slaves' abilities. Family units are broken up and spread out sometimes within a single town, other times over several towns.

Some buyers desire the slave's tongues cut out, the slaves hamstrung, or even their vocal cords sliced so that the slaves cannot “cause trouble” for their new owners. The slavers usually perform this action, often without the benefit of anesthetic, in front of the new owner, once payment is made.

If a slave goes for too long without being sold, she is often killed and left by the side of the road, or strung up on a gibbet or wall, rather than the slavers “bothering” to keep him or her alive.

Slaver Mindset

Humans are a pack animal, most comfortable in groups that are usualy led by the strongest or most vicious. Some packs pull together for the mutual good, accepting new members eagerly, but others are onlyout for themselves andare only interested in power andpleasure. Slavers run in gangs, individually cowardly but vicious in numbers; a slaver gang is often made up of the most ruthless, the most scummy, and led by the worst of the bunch. The leader inevitably rules through fear and brutality combined with a healthy dose of success. Leaders who are unsuccessful too often, or do not allow the rest of the group to engage in their desires often enough usually end up deposed through a bloody method.

Slaver gangs usually number from 3 people to nearly a hundred, roaming around in everything from scavenged wagons held together by baling wire, twine and wishes to prison transports
and armored vehicles. The size of a slaver group is usualy a good indicator of how successful
they are, as the smaller ones rarely make any large hauls or succeed in geting more for a slave than they expended in the efort to capture them and the resources to feed and protect them.

Smaller, non-Guild slaver groups are often wiped out, or the ultimate in irony, enslaved by larger groups.

Unlike the castes of poor, working, merchant, and wealthier classes that have little to no problems of propagating themselves, the continuation of the slave class is largely an issue for those who preside over them. even the poor and working classes are free enough and have plenty of opportunities to form families and bear children to replace them as they die, but slaves ordinarily do not have this opportunity, and in many cases, they are expressly forbidden and barred from doing so. Slaves are therefore acquired, or made in a variety of different ways.

Prisoners of War

Intimes of war and strife, the most common fate for soldiers taken as prisoners on the battlefield is enslavement. For economies that prosper and thrive on the labors of slaves, this is expected, and only in the most extreme of circumstances will every soldier be be killed to the last man. In fact, many soldiers who realize that defeat is inevitable will actually surrender to their victors, willingly accepting their fate as a slave for a time until they have earned their freedom from their new masters. Disarmed prisoners are often ransomed back to their nations as well after a war has ended, which serves to enrich the nation who captured them while depriving their opponent of resources even after the war. Those soldiers who are not ransomed will remain slaves within their captor country.

Soldier slaves are best delegated to tasks that demand physical labor, and they can be found on agricultural plantations, mining camps, and construction sites. Those who show extreme promise of belligerence may also wind up in the hands of gladiatorial schools, their knowledge of weaponry and experience with killing deemed useful assets for such a slave.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to taking soldiers as slaves.

These types of slaves tend to be far more physically fit than domestic slaves, and are well-suited to harsh labor and demanding tasks. Soldiers tend to be healthy and young as well, in the prime of their early adulthood to middle age at best, and they will perform their duties well over an extended period of time. Their discipline also works against them as an advantage to their masters; soldiers tend to quickly learn their place as slaves, knowing they must fall in line under the whips and punishments that their taskmasters hold over them in order to avoid a likelier sentence of a brutal and disgraceful death.

What slavers must contend with is the fact that these slaves have been trained in the use of weapons and warfare, and they are far more likely to rise against their new masters at any opportunity that offers a chance for freedom. Manumission is frequently used as an inhibitor to this: essentially an offer of freedom after a number of years of loyal and obedient service has been completed. There are no set conditions of manumission and the offers and terms will vary from master to master, but it is something that should be considered by those who own or profit from the slave trade. Experience has proven that only when a slave is kept under the perception that his or her servitude will last until death does the slave gro more determined to seek escape. Knowing that freedom will be offered in perhaps a decade does more than one can immediately see to quelling the vengeful thirst for freedom within the heart of the captured slave.

The Unfortunate, Captured Slaves

Soldiers are not the only people who are captured and forced into bondage: brigands, pirates, and organized bands of slavers and kidnappers are the major providers of slaves during what passes as 'peace' times. Although wars tend to provide larger numbers of slaves within a shorter period, active slavers domanage to bring in a continuous supply of new slaves over extended periods of time despite the lower numbers they acquire annually when compared to war prisoners. Pirates who do not murder every sailor and marine to the last man may also sell a number of captives as slaves at the next available port that accepts them. On oared ships and large galleys that have been captured, pirates have been able to bring in dozens of prisoners at a time to be sold as slaves, giving them another means of increasing their profits. Brigands are largely concerned with looting caravans and acquiring trade goods and gold rather than flesh, although from time to time they will take small numbers of captives to be sold as slaves.



Organized bands of slavers resemble bandits and brigands to some degree, although they raid small villages and hamlets in order to acquire their prisoners. Haunting the farthest reaches of a nation's borders, slavers prey on small communities that are poorly defended and furthest from armed patrols and garrisons of troops that oppose them. Slavers tend not to steal their stock within the same nation where they acquire them, which is one of the reasons they prefer to raid along the borders of one nation or another to begin with. After raiding a village in one nation and fleeing into a friendly nation's borders, the slavers can usually expect some measure of protection from the territory they just entered. Should an army or patrol follow them, it is their intrusion that can be seen as an act of war by the country they just entered. Independent slavers may not necessarily have any agreements within a particular nation, but those who operate under the authority of a slavers' guild and the sanction of particular nation can certainly expect to be left to their own devices. A successful slaver raid usually brings in several dozen slaves per settlement, although there have been times when entire settlements have been destroyed and their remaining populations taken away in chains.

Criminals and Debtors

Althrough the number of slaves taken annually from among criminals is much smaller than those gained by slavers or as prisoners of war, many criminals receive sentences of enslavement rather than outright imprisonment. The reasoning is that the criminal can still be used as a resource to not just be exploited, but to essentially repay back their debt to society in a more economically efficient way when compared to languishing in a dungeon or prison. Criminal slaves are generally handled in the same manner as soldier slaves, but will nearly always find themselves confined to the harshest labors such as mining and the building of monuments. Those who are known to be killers and murderers will be far more likely to wind up in the training schools fo gladiators, where their sentence is to be carried out on the sands of the arenas.

Those who have fallen into a debt that cannot be paid off are also a source of new slaves, although in many cases these people are more propersly called indentured servants. The debtor essentially has her debt paid off by her current master in exchange for servitude according to the master's wishes. When the value of this debt has been repaid back to the master, often by withholding a portion of the wages that the servant earns for the master, the period of servitude will end and the debtor may go free.

The Slave-Born

When wars are infrequent and the supplies of new slaves from pirates, brigands, and slavers wane slightly due to seasonal or demographic changes, the slave masters rely upon the slave caste to propagate themselves. Women largely suffer under this form of procreation, as it nearly always involves rape. Children born from slaves may or may not be considered as such according to local laws and customs, but in the Slavers Guild it is nearly always the case. Free women who hold Authority over virile men slaves will not have their own children considered as such, but the children of enslaved women will always be considered to be slaves.

The slaveborn, as they are called, can generally be expected to serve out the majority of their lives as slaves, lthough manumission is certainly a possibility for those when they reach middle age or when women are no longer capable of bearing children. Private households that contain both men and women slaves are held to be fortunate and wealthy, since they can produce slaves not only for themselves but for the rest of the community as well. Since slaves are accompanied by an upkeep cost that can quickly drain an estate's wealth, many child slaves are sold off in available markets, or their services are leased to other estates, businesses, and citizens who may require the services of a slave. These leased slaves are quite popular across the Empire, since they generate income for their masters and have the cost of their upkeep covered by their leasing party. In the Empire, it is usually the girls and women who are sold off when they become too numerous within a household while boys and men are nearly always kept on for their added strength in labor and their potential virility.

Orphaning

At times, a community may not have enough resource to effectively support their populations. In times to drought, famine, and even plague communities may find themselves forced to cast away their children so that they will not suffer the effects of the current times. Children from plagued areas, however, are the least desirable of these for obvious reasons. When families can no longer support their own children, or when they are faced with a considerable debt to pay to another, the selling or orphaning of their children is also a means by which new slaves can be made. For those children who are abandoned in the wilderness or along well-traveled roads, those who can find them can immediately take them in as slaves if they choose, or rather accept them as free children. Once they are brought under the Guild's Authority, or the authority of an authorized owner, these slaves can find themselves under any number of fates according to their physical features and attractiveness, attitudes, and personalities, virility, or fertility.

Indentured Services as Slave Labor Relations

The availability of large amounts of cheap labor through the institution of indentured servitude and slavery is a time-honored tradition. This is not to suggest that the humanoid races are squeamish about keeping slaves. Far from it. Indeed, even some Elves kept personal “pets” as an outward sign of prestige. Slave labor in large numbers, on the other hand, is believed to be economically impractical. Discipline problems, lack of motivation, rebellions, and other difficulties are all factors which can bring down one's profit margin.

However, if individuals can be induced to willingly enter into a condition in which their services are guaranteed for a long period of time, so much the better. Human judicial systems have traditionally maintained draconian punishments for loan defaulters, union organizers, and similar dregs of society. Given a choice between indentured servitude and the alternatives prescribed by most human courts, many willingly choose the former.

As it is, each year thousands of beings volunteer their services under a condition of indenture. To be indentured is to have one's personal rights temporarily suspended - freedom of movement, assembly, choice of occupation, and the right to enter intoa contract are seen by owners and masters as major considerations. During a stipulated period (typically six months to 10 years), the master holds a person's indentured contract, which has a value attached to it. This contract can be purchased by another citizen, a business entity recognized by a local governing body, or really anyone who can cover the contract's price.

Whoever holds a person's contract can require the contracted party to work for that person in any capacity, at a preset rate of pay (usually ridiculously low). Once the equivalent number of labor hours are worked, the indentured party is released from any obligations to his or her contract holder. Most laws specifically prohibit the use of indentured labor in situations that are proven unsafe. Likewise, additional provisions define rules for proper treatment of an indentured party. Such is the system... in theory.

In practice, however, things are usually much different. Remia contract law provides a large nubmer of provisions all aimed at regulating the work habits of the indentured party. any violation of these statutes can result in the extension of the contract time by adding additional 'fines' which must be paid off by the indentured party before he or she can be legally freed.

Moreover, it is not uncommon for inspections of work sites employing indentured labor to be routinely conducted over a sumptuous dinner at the manager's private estate. whatever their true conditions, indentured servants are expected to work without complaint as their contract holder shall specify.

Contract holders are also legally within their rights to employ local managers (sometimes referred to as 'slave drivers') whose job is to 'enforce the letter of the law' - on other words, keep the workers in line any way they can. In this regard, as in many others, the indentured servant has no course of appeal.

Slave Branding

Since Slaves are considered to be chattel and property, nearly all of them are branded in some way so that others will not only know their status, but also who their masters are. Although hobbling a slave certainly does indicate their status, it does nothing to determine under whose Authority they fall. For this, small but noticeable tattoos are branded upon the slaves' bodies that indicate the name, city, and the authorizing magistrate in civilized regions. Usually these brands take the form of decorative bands around the wrist, normally no more than 1/4“ in width that encircle the entire wrist. Should the slave exchange masters, the most recent owner brands her own tattoos above the previous owner's further up the arm. It is fairly common to see women slaves with a series of tattoos up the length of one of their forearms indicating that they have exchanged hands often. This is not always seen as a good sign, for perhaps the slave has been sold off for belligerence or disease. Such and indicator may negatively affect the value of a slave on the markets. Men almost never have more than a few such tattoos, since they are far less likely to be sold off as they are to be retained by their current owners.

Not only are there brands of ownership, there are also recognized brands of manumission that will indicate when a master has set a slave free. Although a skilled tattoo artist could conceivably forge these brands, they always match the sigils directly inscribed upon manumission documents that have been notarized by a magistrate. This leaves each manumission brand somewhat unique according to the location that the slave was set free. Under the Reparations these brands are to be honored across the Empire, but all it takes to absolve it is another slaver to brand the slave again.

In certain places, the same means of branding herds of cattle are used on slaves. Fierce and deep insignias are burned into the flesh of the slave, often on the chest or breasts and buttocks where the wound will not inflict as much damage. Some masters inflict such brands directly onto the foreheads of their slaves making them much easier to identify. When these slaves exchange hands, a blank brand will be seared over the prior marking so that a blurring scar results, and another brand can clearly identify the new master.

Slave Rights

Although it might seem apparent that slaves have no rights at all, th is is not exactly true. Slave owners often have the power of life and death over their own slaves, but it is usually not in their best interest to kill them. Since they are considered property rather than people, slaves can theoretically be treated according to the whims of their masters, and even if they are killed it is not considered the same as murder. Damaging slaves beyond their ability to perform their duties, however, is a serious crime in nearly every culture and society since this now deprives the slave owner of fully realizing the value of the slave. Those who unduly injure or abuse a slave to the point of lsot efficiency are required to repay the slave owner for the slave, usually but not always another slave or the equivalent monetary value. Virile male slaves are a special case in that any attempts to castrate, sterilize, or otherwise interfere with their ability to reproduce may carry a death sentence in some regions. Since not everyone owns a slave or has enough money to immediately repay the slave's owner, slaves are not widely abused or mistreated by those who deal with them save for a in a few regions.

It should be noted that in Remia, damaging a slave of another - who has been denied their rights - carries with it the punishment of having their own rights denied, and allowing the slave's owner to do with that person as he sees fit under the law.

Slaves are otherwise nearly always uneducated, particularly those who work in the more laborious trades and professions. Some domestic slaves receive rudimentary educations, such as those who work as household stewards, scribes, clerks, and librarians. An educated slave may also be retained to teach the master's children as well, and these slaves will have access to whatever knowledge and resources the master can afford and provide.



Women slaves who are used for breeding purposes are entitled to bear children, but whether or not they are permitted to raise their slave-born children is up to their masters. If the child is to be kept within the household to add to the number of servants then the women generally raise their own children with limited parental rights. There is always the chance that the master may later sell off the child or transfer him to another estate, sometimes permanently separating the mothers from their children's custody. Where these women are used exclusively for breeding, they have no parental righs or custody at all, and the children will never know who their true mothers or fathers are in most cases. These infants are sold off, richening their masters while providing others with children and slaves of their own. The Slavers' Guild makes it a common practice to keep slaves for the purpose of breeding, rather than resorting to capturing wild specimens to be trained.

The Slavers Guild Business Model

No Guild operation takes place without a battery of experts first planning out every move and preparing for every possible contingency. Few Guild operations are failures, resultantly. None are executed unless first approved as being cost-effective. Moreover, Guild researchers are continually looking for new and better ways to improve their operations. Here, the emphasis is on minimizing the risk each strike team member takes. By virtue of its structure, the Guild can maintain a low profile with a decentralized approach to its activities. Unlike gangs of raiders and bandits, which try to maintain rigid control over a finite area of activity (as Hatchet Highbinder says, “Like a little wolven pup tracing a line in the sand and daring you to step over it!“), the Guild uses its membership to carefully infiltrate a target zone.

The Guild slavers are not averse to sharing turf with other, non-guild operators, so long as there is little direct competition. Should local frictions become too great, however, operations in the contested area are quietly suspended and matters resolved in the only way the Guild knows how - utter annihilation by way of superior resources, manpower and firepower.

The Guild routinely employs a variety of highly trained individuals in a variety of specialized roles. These roles reflect how the Slavers carry out their operations. Unlike other non-guild slavers, the Guild takes deliberate care to divide responsibilities among as many qualified members as possible. This division of authority minimizes the impact on trade should one or more guild members be disabled, killed, or otherwise detained.

Success in one area of cooperative operations can lead to lucrative promotions and advancements. However, repeated failures can often lead to the individual receiving a refresher course on the business of slaving from a first-hand perspective! This unique approach of labor relations further serves to promote competition and a general striving for excellence among individual members.

Project Developer

Before any slaving operation can be carried out, its viability must first be assessed an a legitimate level of success assured. Each Guild slave raid is viewed as an independent project managed and controlled by one of several Guild project developers who are ultimately responsibility for the success or failure of the mission.

After reviewing reports submitted by acquisition specialists in the field, and coordinating plans with strike team leaders, the project developer issues a final “go” or “no go” order. In this regard, the Guild executive leadership defers to the project developer's judgement, even if it means calling off what might otherwise seem to be a lucrative opportunity against a defenseless community. Similarly, the Guild project developers have the final say as to which individual acquisitions can be accomplished with a minimum amount of risk or attention.


Acquisitions Specialist

No Guild raid is ever mounted in a haphazard manner. Careful consideration must first be given to location and possible threat levels from law enforcement or military contingents. Similarly, the availability of potential slaves in sufficient numbers and quality to make the raid profitable is considered. Accurate assessments of these factors is the responsibility of the acquisitions specialist. Usually working alone, the acquisitions specialist moves from area to area under an established cover, keeping eyes and ears open to the slave possibilities each world may offer. On occasion, the acquisitions specialist may be called upon to locate and assess the value of a particular individual or group of peopl as potential targets of opportunity. Based on reports generated by this individual, the fat of an entire community may be unknowningly sealed by the report of one individual.

Strike Team Leader

Strike team leaders work closely with Guild project developers. Once the go-ahead is given, the leader is responsible for the actual impelementation of a given raid. Strike team leaders select their own team members and assign responsibilities according to mission profiles.

Each strike team leader is responsible for the safe and secure capture of all predesignated acquistions. Every piece of 'damaged merchandise' means a percentage deducted from the leader's share of any profits.


Logistics Coordinator

Guild logistics coordinators are responsible for a variety of key functions within the guild. Their primary role is to outfit and equip strike teams with ordnance, weapons, and supplies. This task routinely involves providing for any number of different climates and environments, often at a moment's notice. Logistics coordinators are also directly responsible for the care and feeding of acquistions taken by strike teams until final disposition is made. Coordinators also provide for routine maintenance and are responsible for the orderly setup or removal of slaver bases within designated areas.


Distribution Manager

Planning and executing a slave operation is but a small part of the overall picture. A successful business venture requires trained personnel capable of moving the merchandise into the proper markets before operating costs catch up with the operation. The follow-up stage is the domain of the distribution manager.

Guild distribution managers are the ones responsible for bringing buyer and seller together and closing the deals with underworld connections. The arrangements made by these individuals often seals the fate of hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of enslaved beings at one time. Without the efforts of skilled distribution managers to find the right buyer, in the right area, at the right time, the efforts of fellow guild members can quickly be negated. If distribution efforts over multiple areas become a problem, the entire organization may suffer.

Slaver Gear



Manacles and Shackles: These are the most commonly used forms of restraining devices used not only by slavers, but also by dungeon guards and local authorities to restrain prisoners. Manacles are used for the hands and arms, while shackles are used on the feet and legs. Usually the cuffs are linked together by a length of chain, although there are versions where a solid bar is used to further limit the independence of each limb. Manacles and shackles both require locks to secure that must be purchased separately, although some are fastened with locking pins that are either bent or smelted into place, requiring a blacksmith’s tools to remove. Manacles are detailed in the Player’s Handbook, and shackles follow the same guidelines.

Sinews: Sinews are made from a variety of woven and corded animal sinews into lengths of rope, and are generally more effective at holding bound victims than ordinary rope. Although sinews can be cut just as easily as ropes can, they are much more difficult to snap using brute strength alone (DC 25). A single 2’ coil can be used to effectively bind the arms or legs of a Medium or Small-sized victim, while a 5’ coil can do the same for a Large-sized victim. Creatures larger than this are best secured with chains rather than sinews or ropes.

Collars: Slave collars are fashioned similar to manacles, and must be fitted with a lock of some kind. Collars have at least one rung that a chain can be attached or looped through, but some collars may have several links. The standard collar fits a Medium-sized creature. An Escape Artist roll may not be made, since it is generally impossible to dislocate the jaw enough or manipulate parts of the skull to slip free of a well-designed collar. The price of the lock is added in separately to the collar’s cost. Collars for Small-sized creatures cost the same price, but for Large-size creatures, the cost is ten times this amount. For Huge creatures, a collar will cost 100 times the normal price. Collars for creatures of size Tiny, Diminutive, Fine, Gargantuan, and Colossal must all be specially made.

Finger Clamps and Muzzle: These specially designed devices are for the purpose of preventing a spellcaster from using her ability to cast spells. For the hands, they appear to be a set of wide brass knuckles and leather wrappings that prevent the full mobility of the fingers and wrists, while for the mouth the muzzle securely fits around the head of the wearer with a metal bit that is fitted across the mouth. These simple devices will prevent a spell caster from using any spell that requires somatic or verbal spell components. A lock must be placed on the gloves and muzzle in order for them to remain securely fastened.

Branding Irons: When slavers choose to brand a slave as such, it is with a specially prepared branding iron that they are able to do so. After the brand has been heated, the iron itself inflicts 1d4 hit points of damage, although it will never kill the victim who has been branded even if they fall below zero hit points. Due to the pain, however, the victim must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage taken) or she will fall unconscious for 1d4 rounds. Cost: 10 gp, Weight: 5 lbs.

Tattoo Kit: For slavers who wish to permanently brand their slave stock without the use of more cruel methods such as branding irons, tattoos can be used to accomplish the task. These markings are generally arcane-looking symbols or sigils of Avenger (or any other righteous God), and then as a symbol for the guild or church that the slave is currently owned by. In order to properly ink the slave with a tattoo, a specialist with the Craft (Tattoo Artist) skill must be employed. The tattoo kit itself includes a variety of needles, rubbing alcohols, ointments, and colored inks. It is suggested that needles be discarded after use in order to prevent blood-borne illnesses and infections. One tattoo kit contains enough ink and needles to mark up to 10 slaves. Cost: 20 gp, Weight: 5 lbs.