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 Meat (Lambur) Life as a slave is hardly pleasant. There is the whip of the taskmaster, the threat of losing food and sleeping in the elements, the danger of being punished for disobedience. Then there is Meat's life. Meat is one of the miserable wretches who get sent out to flush out the great beasts of the Duchy. His lot in life is to be a combination of bait and a wall of flesh. Should he fail to rouse beasts to amuse his lords and ladies, then he is punished. Should one be injured, or worse...well Meat only saw that happen to other slaves and they were not heard from again. To other slaves his lot might not seem so bad, he gets fed better and has a small measure of clothing to keep him from getting sick or diseased immediately in the swamps. But he just trades in the promise of a slow death for the uncertainty of a quick one. But in his heart Meat dreams of freedom, and cradles the flame of his future. For he was not always meat and one day he will be Lambur again, holding his head high and property and slave of no man or woman. Strong [+2] The slaves that get sent out to flush out beasts come in two types, the nimble and the strong. Meat tended to the latter as a kid, and that was what got him picked for his lot in life. Most of Meat's time involves manual labour of brute strength when he's not wrestling with a dangerous beast twice his size and weight. Currently out of all the slaves in his lord's keep, Meat can boast to being the strongest...at least when he's properly fed. Hard to Notice [+2] Life as a slave teaches you to keep your head down and to avoid notice. If the taskmaster never sees you, then you won't get punished. For slaves like Meat there is not only the danger of your masters ire, but also of beasts and monsters. If you cannot tread softly and move without drawing attention, you don't move for much longer. Resilient [+2] Meat's life weeds out the weak and vulnerable. His time in the jungles, working, and sometimes eating meagre meals means that Meat has had to become tough and hardy to survive. Some might call it a will to live, others a desperate need. Meat is inclined to think it's desperate when you're eating a raw frog to make up for a lost dinner last night. Beast Lore [+2] The wilds are as much Meat's home as his pen. As such to live this long, Meat quickly learned which animals and plants were safe to eat, which were poisonous, the habits and behaviours of great beasts and monsters. Knowledge is shared amongst the slaves, but there are some things that Meat knows that others do not; a secret contingency to survive. Sapphire Scaled Slave [-2] Meat is a slave, and his body is marked indelibly as such. But even worse than this, is that his blue scales make him a memorable slave. Untrusting [-2] Life amongst slaves teaches you not to trust others. It is too easy to be betrayed, or for someone to lie and sell you out to save themselves. Meat might not always be unfriendly or betray others, but there are none that he could honestly say that he trusts. It is just too dangerous to allow himself that luxury. Starting in: Grand Duchy of Sidon Where else would a slave of the duchy be? In Meat's case, it is one of the camps belonging to the Harrowers. Those that lend their slaves to nobles for their hunts and for back breaking labour when needed, or when money is tight. Goals I want to escape and see Meat claim for himself enough safety and security to use his name. Will he rise up against the oppression that led to his slavery? Or find himself in a position to ascend to the role of master and become part of what he currently hates? HiKaizer fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Feb 6, 2017 |
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Feb 5, 2017 13:12
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Valhawk posted:OK, question and feedback time for everyone: Meat was in his late teens when he got dumped with the Harrowers, and dumping really is the truest word. His mother worked on a plantation and he was a child born from the union of two slaves. While his mother named him in hope, he was born without any and his name was taken in favour of whatever epithet the taskmaster felt like at the time. "Boy" was a nuisance, playing too much when he thought he could and sneaking around, "Nameless" was found snacking on some berries that he had found that by a miracle turned out to not be poisonous. But it was really "Idiot" that finally crossed a line. His owner sometimes took slaves he fancied to his manor for the evening, and one day he seemed to have eyes for Meat's mother. She, like her son, had blue scales as well that made her stand out from others. When Meat tried to stand up for his mother, knowing what happened to the other slaves that came back from their owner's pleasures, their master saw the fear in his mother's eyes when Meat might get punished. "So, boy. You like to fight do you? You want to challenge something bigger, better, more important than yourself?" The owner had smiled nastily. "I have just the place for troublesome slaves like yourself." Meat never saw his mother again, and that was almost ten years ago. He does not hold out much hope that his mother is still alive and well, but if there was one thing that would cause a burning fire in his heart it would be a chance to win her freedom.
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Feb 6, 2017 03:07
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Valhawk posted:Question: What does Meat think about the professional Hunters, tell me about a time he interacted with one. Most of what Meat does is harrying for nobles that want to play big game hunters. Of them, and their personal retainers that are hunters, he has nothing but scorn and hate. It is their indulgence that endangers him and his fellow slaves, just for some show at a trophy, and when they get hurt by their own stupidity and hubris it is always the slaves that suffer. As for real hunters, the sort that go out and hunt the beasts to keep the local townsfolk and merchants safe if pressed for an answer Meat would probably give an apathetic grunt of acceptance. Mostly he does not have the luxury to care about things but he does acknowledge that they want to get out alive and safe as well, and the few times he has worked with them they have used him sensibly and not endangered him by being deliberately stupid. Meat thinks he knows a few more things about the creatures than them, but that could just be a tiny shred of pride he allows himself to have. That said the times that Meat has worked with real hunters, have been at the commission of a merchant family or rich nobles looking to avenge the loss of a family member. Most of the time hunters work does not pay well enough to bring along slaves, after all the people most at risk from monsters and beasts are the slaves. Slaves are replaceable, and cheap. But there was a time that a caravan of expensive goods and slaves had been waylaid by a great reptile. The Kath were known for their tough hide and their foul toxins; their bites caused a rapid and painful death and they seemed to exude an aura that caused the weak to grow sick. Troublesome was their great size and strength, they could push over tall trees if they put their minds to it. It was a mother and three hatchlings that needed to be hunted and killed, and a great bounty was put on their heads. When the hunters arrived to collect their slaves from the Harrowers, they looked like real hunters. They had leather armours, proper boots for tracking in the swamps, scars and one or two had missing eyes or fingers, one had a stump instead of a hand. Hunting with the hunters was a different experience for Meat, they used traps and bait effectively. They were careful, cautious, quiet to avoid rousing more beasts than just their quarry. When they used Meat and they slaves, they gave specific instructions and were careful to avoid getting them hurt unnecessarily. He knew this was as much out of a desire to afford having to pay a penalty to the Harrowers for the loss of their property, than it was out of genuine concern, but it at least was a better lot than much of what they got. In the end they killed the Kath, two hunters and three slaves lost to keep the trade road safe. Meat ended up having to wrestle one of the hatchlings down himself while a hunter could make the kill, having a bronze blade sharp enough to actually pierce its hide. This earned him a surprised eyebrow raise from the human, but no other words of thanks or approval. Not that he expected such things, Meat was a slave, property, and that institution runs too deep in Sidon for anyone not a slave to show them real kindness. But a lack of callous disregard and a lack of torment for the sake of it was enough for Meat at the time.
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Feb 7, 2017 03:23
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Valhawk posted:Question: What is it that keeps Meat going? Also, what does he think about his fellow slaves? Like most people there is not a single answer to this. People are complicated and their motivations varied and many. For Meat there is a great deal of anger, hate and resentment that simmers under the surface. It is barely controlled and he does not dare acknowledge it. Sometimes it rises as a desire to lash out and hurt those that hurt him, or to break down the system that leads to slavery. Other times Meat just wants to get by unnoticed so he can eat his next meal (plain and disgusting as it might be), or hope for a day that a more kindly owner might buy him. That is the big wish of most slaves, to be purchased by a kindly owner who will treat them fairly. Most slaves hope for freedom, but it is an unacknowledged hope that will only bring pain if thought about. Beyond such things Meat has other goals, such as making a break for his freedom if the chance arose. By now he is sure he could survive in the Sidonese wilderness if he had to. If his mother is still alive he would like to rescue her, but he remains tragically cynical that his previous owner has since used his mother and discarded her dead body as with his other slave brides. But aside from that there is not so much for a slave to worry about. Life is hardly sweet, but it is neither so foul that Meat would wish to end it yet.
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Feb 8, 2017 02:43
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Valhawk posted:Now, I'm going to work on getting the thread up in the next few days, but in the meantime I'm going to ask one last round of questions, and ask that you post with additional detail about where exactly your character is starting. The Harrowers camp lies in a town north of the Spire in the jungles of Sidon. Our camp is on the edge of town, although not so close that we have to worry about monsters all the time. Just when the seasons are particularly bad, and the beasts particularly hungry. Karnath is not necessarily an important town, but it is a crossroads so we get a lot of traffic heading to and from Djikstera and the mountains to the north. Most of its industries are service related and agricultural, being in the densest and most exotic parts of the jungles and marshes means that there are many strange and exotic plants that grow. Actual farming suffers though as a result of the dense jungles. Every couple of years people make a fuss about clearing some of the jungle to make room for more farm land and once in a while it does actually happen. But Karnath still imports a lot of actual food. Meat's most hated noble belongs to the house of Astaron, one Lady Malvak. Physically she is capable enough although hardly imposing, but her cunning and cruelty are legendary. Whenever she hires us for hunts, slaves die. There is a way she drives them that puts them in danger, or puts those she does not like in danger. Whether it be due to blood payment for the injury of a noble in the course of the hunt, or slaves dying to beasts, she is a harbinger of death. Meat has a scar along his chest that he got thanks to lady Malvak. When she remembers that he exists, she seems almost disgusted that he has not die yet. But in truth she has little time to waste on something as inconsequential and worthless as the life of a slave. An attitude that does nothing to assuage the burning fires of hate in Meat's heat. She is second only to Guarl of House Indus, owner of the plantation and original master to Meat and his mother, in people that he would like to visit retribution upon.
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Feb 17, 2017 02:38
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JamezBfod posted:Am I the only one that isn't grimdark and bloodthirsty? Am I missing a theme here? Meat really only wants to kill two people in particular, slaves generally don't have a good lot. Besides Valhawk is also the one that keeps pushing me in this direction!
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Feb 17, 2017 07:24
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