Tag: slavery

#Lore24 – Entry #165 – Wild West Month #13 – The Red Fang Tribe

As told by Kumiko Stalks-Amongst-the-Stars, shaman of the Midnight Panther tribe of Kerra-Kerra

Shameful are the Red Fang tribe, for they bring disgrace to all Kerra-Kerra and disappointment to the Great Mother Saressh.  I do not like to speak of them, for the very words taste foul upon my lips.  Though they are the youngest of the many tribes of Kerra-Kerra, with the spread of the Peoples from Beyond the Great Walls to our lands in recent times, many younger Kerra-Kerra who know not what they do have flocked to their tribe, for they battle those who would seek to take over our lands with their Howling Steel Chariots and Laws.

The Red Fangs are violent and brutal warriors who strike without fear, but also without honor or mercy.  They raid the places claimed by those who come from beyond the Great Walls and steal their cattle and horses and food and weapons.  If the gods and spirits are merciful, they will simply slay those who oppose them.  More often than not, the Red Fangs will butcher the settlers, leaving a clear message to those who would follow, often taking trophies and eating the hearts and organs of those they slay to take their power. 

Their ways are a corruption of the True Way, and they revere the most powerful and dangerous of the Spirits.  They do not follow the beliefs of the Great Mother Saressh, and so are lost to her embrace.  They believe in the cruel, unforgiving nature of the Bitter Frontier itself, that the strong will prosper while the weak shall perish to sustain the strong.  Their totem spirit is that of the great crimson wolf, and it is like a swarm of starving wolves that they sweep in against their enemies.  They often ally with the Orc Peoples of the Frigid North and have taken to raiding the Howling Steel Chariots alongside them.

This has caused much trouble for the Kerra-Kerra, for those from Beyond the Great Walls do not take time to learn of our ways and the markings of our tribes.  Many who come to the Bitter Frontier see one Kerra-Kerra just the same as any other, and the stories of the terrors of the Red Fangs spread much further and much more clearly than those of us who seek to live peacefully as we always have.  And so it has become dangerous for us to come too close to those who come from Beyond the Great Walls without making clear our peaceful intentions, and even then, some may not recognize the Sign of Peace.  More and more of our people are slain out of fear thanks to the Red Fangs, while others are taken captive and held within prisons of stone and steel or forced to labor against their will under the Peoples from Beyond the Great Walls.

Many troubling times lie ahead for our people, and the many peoples of the Broken Cage that Still Imprisons.

#Lore24 – Entry #164 – Wild West Month #12 – Followers of the Sister Goddess Lashana

As told by Kumiko Stalks-Amongst-the-Stars, shaman of the Midnight Panther tribe of Kerra-Kerra

It is told that during the Great Uproar, when the spirits of the world were still angry after they freed themselves and us from the Devil-Wardens, that chaos was everywhere.  Our ancestors who survived this chaos say that during the early days, when the land was still not settled, there were those who sought ways to bring order to the chaos who were not of the Kerra-Kerra.  These were the followers of the Sister Goddess Lashana, so called because she is as a sister to the Great Mother Saressh.

Great Sister Lashana called her people to the far eastern shores, beyond the Great Walls that would stand through the Uproar, and it is there they would gather the survivors who were agreeable to their faith to work together to survive.  To Great Sister Lashana, there must be order, and to have order, there must be laws, and so it is that those who are most faithful to her, the Justicars, try to spread law to the lawless and hunt down those who would break it. 

We rarely see the Justicars in our lands, though as more moons pass, their numbers have grown more common.  With the coming of the Howling Steel Chariots, those who the Justicars seek have spread to our lands, and so too have the Justicars who hunt them.  The Kerra-Kerra people handle those who wrong us in our own ways, though some tribes have taken to capturing the chaos-bringers and turning them over to the Justicars.

For now, we see the Justicars and those who follow the Great Sister Lashana as allies, though in recent times, some have disagreed with the ways of our people, and some no longer recognize that our goddesses are as sisters.  Siblings do squabble at times, so perhaps it is to be that our peoples too will squabble, though we hold no special hatred for them.  In the Lands Beyond the Great Walls, their laws are supreme, and here, we live free.  Freedom is as chaos to some, and so there will always be disagreement.

#Lore24 – Entry #163 – Wild West Month #11 – The Goblin People of the Far Southern Lands Beyond the Peaks that Never Rest

As told by Kumiko Stalks-Amongst-the-Stars, shaman of the Midnight Panther tribe of Kerra-Kerra

While the Orc Peoples of the north are strong and mighty warriors, there is perhaps a greater danger which lies to the far south, beyond the Peaks that Never Rest.  Long have our people told of the Night Goblin People of the Lands Beyond the Peaks that Never Rest, for it is said they are born of the Devil-Wardens’ foul sorcery.  The lost Mountain Bear tribe of Kerra-Kerra, who once roamed the lands around the Peaks that Never Rest, are said to have been taken by these goblins, though we know not what came of them, for any who venture beyond the Peaks never return.

Though none living amongst our people has seen these goblins, it is said by our ancestors that they are possessed by the spirits of the Devil-Wardens, skin the color of night and with eyes that blaze with terrible fire that can see better at night than even those of our tribe.  Using the secret ways of the Devil-Wardens, they travel unseen, unheard in the dead of night, leaving nothing behind in their wake save what they cannot carry, like some terrible dark spirit collecting souls, not a body left behind, and no blood to be found.  If they take them alive, what do they do with them?  Perhaps foul sorcery of their own, perhaps as food or slaves? 

For many moons, the Goblins of the Dark have been kept away by the Peaks that Never Rest, for travel through them is dangerous because of the constant unease of the powerful earth spirits that dwell within them.  In recent times, those from Beyond the Great Walls have placed settlements nearby, and have pushed further and further to the south, going deep into the Peaks that Never Rest in spite of the dangers.  I cannot know for certain if they even are aware of the goblins that lie beyond, but I fear it is only a matter of time before they learn of them; those from Beyond the Great Walls rarely seek wisdom from our people.

#Lore24 – Entry #81 – Fantasy Month #21 – The Kerryn Animal

 

From the journal of Angeliqua “Goldeneyes” Cartacustos:

I’m beginning to sense a theme forming with Mother’s topics…

A fairly common tome found throughout the Empire and likely beyond, there are nonetheless several variations of “The Kerryn Animal” worth mentioning when discussing the text.  Written during the early years of the Empire, most modern scholars attribute authorship of the original text to arcanist, scholar, and slave-trainer Balishar Azarah Ninurta-apal-Ekur.  The original, and later “traditional” versions of the text basically serve as the basis for the Empire’s kerryn enslavement policies and practices.  Though filled with what I would consider highly questionable conclusions about the nature of kerryn anatomy and physiology, the text nonetheless has quite firmly established the idea in the minds of Imperial citizens that kerryns are dangerous if not properly bred into subservience and are naturally quite amorous and inherently sexual creatures.  Descriptions of proper methods of training kerryns for their roles as loyal servants of their “betters” consume most of the text’s pages, many of which are still performed to this day.  Later “traditional” versions of the text have been expanded with descriptions of the established standard training methods all kerryns must undertake within the Empire, focusing on subservience to Imperial citizens in all matters, proper behaviors socially and privately, proper breeding recommendations, and the “Hundred Affectations”, the ways Kerryns are trained to pose themselves so as to show their loyalty, submissiveness, and general attractiveness of body. 

Though your average citizen would hesitate to say such a thing, I have practiced some of the Hundred Affectations at Mother’s insistence and found them to be quite helpful in enhancing my flexibility and agility.  Some of these I practice regularly, in fact, for they are very similar to the dances I have likewise practiced during the development of my dervish-like sword style.

Back to the topic at hand, though.  Later versions of The Kerryn Animal would delve much more deeply into the eroticism of the Kerryn slave experience rather than the mundane and vaguely philosophical topics of the “traditional” versions.  Without giving it too much thought, I can think of no fewer than a dozen variations of the text by just as many authors throughout the centuries who have penned highly erotic tales surrounding the core teachings of the original.  In essence, these “erotic” versions of The Kerryn Animal are highly idealized and meant to not only titillate the reader, but also firmly reinforce the nature of Kerryn enslavement as a perfectly normal aspect of life within the Empire.  Some variations of these are told from the perspective of the slave owner as they train a particularly favored slave or slaves, while others are told from the perspective of the slaves themselves, focusing heavily upon descriptions of the slave training through a first-person viewpoint, most often with them learning to appreciate their masters and worship the very ground they walk upon.  It is rather obvious that some of the passages in these texts were written by slaves themselves, though no such credit was given, of course.

A handful of even more scandalous versions of The Kerryn Animal exist as well, though these are held as quite problematic within the Empire, as they portray situations that would serve to undermine the very foundations of Kerryn enslavement.  Or at least, that is what some particularly vocal and influential individuals have espoused throughout history; as it stands, these texts have yet to cause the collapse of the Empire.  These particular variations flip the roles, envisioning a world where the kerryns are still in control with the aid of their demonic allies, and have enslaved humanity and the other races and have them undergo the same methods of training.  The texts in which a kerryn slave takes on a dominant role and puts their masters through the training they have undergone as part of an erotic roleplay scenario are much less problematic and seem to be quite popular given the number of them in the archives.  Though it’s not something I tend to think about, I have little doubt that this kind of power exchange fantasy is quite common behind closed doors.  Being a mostly silent observer while I’m visiting town or when tending a human master and their kerryn slave who visit the Library, I’ve seen hints of such things from time to time, so if even I can pick up on it, then it can’t be that well-guarded a secret.