Beyond the Void

Chapter 90, We won

of Stagnation 1447 - The Alyar High King Var'adiel expresses his desire to bring the Alyar and Humans closer together again.

An excerpt from the diary of Pia...

LORD ILANDER SOOL

Five moons and five tens since the Mark of the Other One blossomed.

Lord Ilander Sool sat in the office of his modest house. Despite the mess, everything was where it should have been. There was order in this chaotic flow. Documents and books were strewn about the room, the table and any surface that was large enough. He wondered if it was time to clean some of it up. He didn't pay too much attention to the four bloodstones and three echoes on his desk.

"Lord Sool?" Galyn Vaer's reddish form emanating from the bloodstone, asked cautiously. Ilander Sool hated this means of communication.

"Don't worry about your flesh market. We need to cause some commotion, but it will go nowhere. Not yet. You have plenty of time to reinvest into other ventures." He sighed.

"A lot of us still agree, that the slave trade is an essential part of not only the Empire's economy, but this entire continent's. It is not so simple to get rid of. There is nowhere else to put convicted criminals."

"How many of those working in the flesh market are convicted criminals, Lord Vaer?" Sool demanded. "What kind of crime did a fifteen-year-old commit? Wander two steps too far from their front door? You are right that it will take a lot more to abolish the slave trade, but this idea will only set the grounds for future generations to ponder on. It does not have to be now. It is ridiculous to demand anything instantaneously. Results are achieved with time and patience."

"There is no alternative to slavery! Without a cheap workforce, the prices of commodities will rise drastically. And what of the criminals? Where will we house them? Throw all the criminals into one facility and let them live and organise there?" The old man wheezed a grunt of contempt.

"Don't be ridiculous. Who would bring all the criminals under one roof and just let them live there? Labour camps already exist, Lord Vaer. Those work fine. What you are worried about, is the flesh trade. That is not right. The women and the few men working there should be paid, at least. And not bound to owners." Airik Roden sighed.

"Flesh markets have existed for..." Vaer began.

"Too long!" Ilander shouted. "The flesh markets do nothing to help bring crime under control. They only breed more of it. Most of the real criminals are too unruly to work in the flesh market. Instead, we get countless brigands who act as bounty hunters and kidnap people from remote villages. And from time to time those caught in the market are trained to be thieves."

"The slave trade is a fully legalised business." Vaer wheezed.

"Those laws have more holes in them than cheese." Airik argued. "As for the criminals, that is also covered with this draft."

"Don't you feel that killing people outright is too inhumane? I apologise Lord Sool, but I must agree with Lord Vaer on this one. Just a little." Lord Roden rumbled.

"Severe crimes deserve the appropriate punishment. However, that does not mean we will execute people left and right. We will introduce a broader selection of punishments and adjusting punishments for more severe and more petty cases, father." Airik explained.