Slavery

Slavery in the Dancing Spheres is rare because there are always beings listening who are willing to make a deal for power. The more abused a slave is the more likely they are to sacrifice themselves by agreeing to a Pact to free their loved ones or strike back at their oppressor. Because of this slave holding societies tend to see regular revolts, which leads to more crackdowns, which leads to more individuals or groups willing to make a Pact. Such societies don't last long unless other means are put in place.

Indenture

While slavery is rare, Indenture is commonplace. Either as a punishment or as a way to raise money quickly, individuals are sold into indenture. For fixed terms the sold individual is given a fixed income and is obligated to work for the holder of their indenture. While indentures do have clear rights and their holders of their indenture have clear responsibilities, abuses of the indenture system are not uncommon. However these rarely rise to the excesses necessary to maintain a slave society. In the rare case of truly abusive masters, Pact empowered revolts are soon to follow.

Slave Societies

Even with the risk of Pact fueled revolts there are some societies that engage in slave-taking. Most are outgrowths of war or raiding, but a few are more deliberate.

Burning Sands

Because Offsphere individuals and non-humans are not mentioned on the Cube of Law they exist in a legal limbo. As such the Faithful uniquely tolerate the limited presence of Chattel Slavery. Specifically non-human slaves are used in a limited capacity in Ibzzar'Yashen, and to a greater extent in the Fireshield Mountains where the majority of the population is enslaved.

In the Barbarian Canyons to the north a strange form of slavery exists. As life is difficult and water scarce, slavery for labor is too resource intensive. As such, those who are enslaved typically are individuals with high value in-demand skills. Their high value makes abuse by a a slave holder is far less common as such behavior risks damaging their investment.

As well there are non-human societies on Burning Sands who engage in slave-taking for labor and to sacrifice to their gods.

Korvel

Because Korvel is cut off from magic and therefore Pacts, slavery is a much more common affair. Slaves tend to be captives from inter-tribal warfare, their slavery limited to just the one generation if they are not manumitted through remarkable acts. The exception is the Ixeltapi Empire where slaves are regularly taken from the surrounding lands to be used for labor and to be sacrificed to power the Soulmages.

Menzorastar

The Crystal Elves of Menzorastar do take slaves both of the Morlocks and Myconids indigenous to the Sphere, but as they have journeyed outwards, they have started taking slaves from the fringes of other societies. As all who live under the Curse of Poison are doomed to a limited lifespan and without access to Pacts, revolts typically have not occurred in the past. However as they gather beings familiar with Spirits and become willing to make Pacts, such revolts are becoming more prevalent.

Thousand Seas

Raiding and captive-taking we once common occurrences on Thousand Seas, but they have diminished over the years as Protectorate influence has spread. Typically held for ransom, those who were not returned to their home cultures were enslaved. Such enslavement by the overall society, not an individual owner, was for a set period of time before the captive was integrated into the society as a full citizen. That time varied from culture to culture but never extended to the next generation.