I think you are coming at this from far too Western mindset. Slavery still is common in many places in Africa. For example Gadaffi got rid of slavery in Libya, but now you could get a slave or two for 100USD. Slavery is still practiced in places in the Middle East. In certain parts of China minorities and treated in much the way slaves were in the West if not worse. There are more examples, but much of the world was forced to stop slavery due to the dominance of the west and (mainly) Great Britain forced the rest of Europe to end slavery. Unless chaos seeds had a Western bias despite the Western world making up a tiny minority of the total world population I think many Chaos Seeds would be perfectly fine with slavery.
Great Britain did not force anyone else to stop slavery, they ended the transatlantic slave trade, but slavery continued in the colonies and they were still smuggled across. As for modern slaves, that has been illegal in every country since mauritania, the last slaver nation, made it illegal in 1981. It still exist because states are either unwilling or unable to stomp it out entirely. The sex trade is especially bad, even the wealthiest nations in the world struggle with it. The vast majority of the world population, certainly off the part with an internet connection, would agree that slavery is wrong. Not that any of this matters as the nonhumans are not slaves, they still have some rights and are encouraged to leave the country (basically the "go home to your own country" slogan). Which means what they really are is a despised underclass, which is common throughout most of the modern world. They are the mexicans of Yves..
Despised middle class, well whatever the business owning professionals are called in old Western Europe.
I think you are think of Hispanic illegal immigrants in you comparison. A sizable portion are not from Mexico. It's why the united states paid for a wall to be built on the southern border of Mexico. That's a bad comparison anyway because that is a population traveling to a country for a better life. Modern day slavery in Dubai with Indian immigrants having their Documents stolen, forced to work and tied to individual families would be closer but still not correct because the non humans appear to be native. Dimmi in the middle east because they are native born would probably be closest. In terms of population and opinions on slavery (not chattel slavery) while chattel slavery is what most in the west think when they think of slavery. Globally when you look at sharia for example, which is still widely supported to be the law of the land for many muslim majority countries slavery is far from condemned. Sharia law has large sections dedicated to how to properly treat your slaves and not overly abuse them. Importantly in 1990 the organization of islamic cooperation signed the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam which mirrored the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights . The main difference is the CDHRI only holds those right where they don't contradict sharia.
That elf girl who they had help with the chest seems like she might be extra knowledgeable about the making of magic wands and staves
I am really hoping to see Leandra and Killik in the caravan. It would indeed be cool if she was a crafter with a specialization or interest in wands and staves and it would make sense with her character.
I could see them getting in trouble with the mages guild. Fairly easy to buy magic from them. Also probably endangered by the night blades.
Europe had plenty of cheap labor. With no investment in that labor who would care if they lived or died? In the American colonies there was very little labor available. The European settlers and indentured servants were more likely to become sick and die with illnesses that a lot of people from Africa had immunities to. Serfs had been in Europe for a very long time. You might even consider the Roman plebeians on near equal standings with serfs. The vast numbers of European poor and the Catholic Church outlawing slavery by threat of excommunication made the change in Europe. Mama knows more about the mist village then most. There is no doubt that mama would have done some fishing when Ricthers trade party came to law. Mama had already taken a measure of Ricther and helped Ricther out by hooking him up with Randy. Remember the head of Richters trade party is a friend of Randy’s. Randy actually vouched for the man. Randy, has every reason in the world to try and help himself by helping his Lord Ricther and his friends. Randy a nonhuman himself would also be inclined to help others from the same crowd that pushed to have him evicted from his personal home of some “100” years? Do you not think Randy a true spymaster wouldn’t communicate to his closest of friends how things are going? Do you not think he would have his on list of goods that him might think is needed in the Mist Village? I’m not saying Randy has betrayed Ricther. I am only saying he would likely password if it would be a safe new home. He would tip mama off to what might be needed. I don’t think mamawould have warned Ricther about their contract like she had if she didn’t have a method of finding out how things would go. Mama will definitely bring many new and needed professionals. I could see 10 to 20% of the newest immigrants being professionals. Many of those could be duplicates of professionals Ricther already has. Even so that is still a great thing. 5-6 extra professional smiths, 4-5 professional alchemist, 3-4 professional builders, 1-2 professional shipwrights, 2-3 enchanters, 3-4 armorers, 1-2 goldsmiths, 1-2 silversmiths, 1-2 professional jewelers. hopefully she will bring a modest multitude of professional guards and soldiers as well She will certainly have mages and other professional crafters. I don’t think mama will be traveling to lightly. Mama knows more about what Richter needs them Ricther does himself. I have know doubt that she will not only bring needed professionals and laborers alike. Mama will also bring enough supplies that they will be able to make do. If I were a professional nonhuman trying to escape I would definitely bought two or more bags of holding. One bag for food and another for survival gear, weapons, and other needed equipment.
I don't think bags of holding are all that common. We have seen 4 total I think, 2 of them being Richter's. The one Beyan had was small and likely couldn't fit much more than a few books. But yes, I agree that mama likely knows what Richter needs better than he does with or without updates from Randy. Personally, I don't think Randy would have revealed much to mama about the current state of the MV. Even knowing her past relationship with Richter this could be seen as treasonous and Randy has sworn allegiance to Richter.
I agree on bags of holding being uncommon despite being practical. Their primary use is for adventurers, whereas a craftsman could get a carriage and two donkeys at a much lower cost (Richter paid two large diamonds for his which I guess is 60-80 gold per diamond, two donkeys and a carriage is likely 10-15 gold). That's cheap transportation for the crafter and enough space for whatever he can take with him. With a few enchantments on the carriage, it could be nearly as secure as the bag of holding.
Hmm is it possible Randy has sworn an oath to Mama? Its implied its to the kingdom, but could he be in Mama's service.
Yes but he swore not to betray Richter without first telling him. Now maybe Randy might not see communication with Mama as betrayal, but if I were him, I wouldn't roll the dice to see what the universe has to say about it. Breaking oaths is not to be done lightly.
He could have ceased communicating with her after swearing the oath or changed how much he told her. Don't forget, Randy considers Richter a king, but to him that means someone who sets course but also has to be managed. We saw that when Richter finally realized that they had an impending food disaster. Honestly, Randy really showed himself as the power behind the throne. He will do whatever he needs to. As Richter essentially considers him both prime minister and spy master its questionable whether anything he has done is even close to a betrayal. Mama is an ally after all.
Sorry that is my statement above not Waters. I was trying to respond to four other response at once. Seems I made a mess of it.
Not really certain, read through the whole encounter with her just in case. Were you thinking of a quote where she queries him? Something like "tell me about your self, I would know about you and your village/villagers?"
I don't doubt that it would be possible to find bags of holding for sale, but they are far from cheap. And yes Beyan's family purchased one, but it's wallet sized. Randy has one, but he is royalty. Perhaps there could be a bag or two among the caravan, but most professionals likely could not afford one much less two. And these are non-humans which means they are suffering financially right now. As for Randy and Mama's communication, I wouldn't put it past him to have sent her information before having sworn fealty, but a lot has changed since then. And even though Mama bears no ill will toward the village, Richter doesn't know that and would likely take issue with Randy reporting info to her, no matter how mundane it may appear.
The ones richter and beyan purchased were top of the line though. Weight reduction, expansion for larger items, lots of spaces etc. You get what you pay for, and I'm sure there are bargain enchanters willing to pop out a smaller bags of holding. The soul bonding would be the expensive part, but on cheaper bags that's cheaper too (cost equal to the maximum base enchantment potential of an item's quality, so no skill bonus or talent bonus involved).
