by Philomena on May 24th, 2013, 10:53 pm
Talking to Banickle today, we wer ethinking about ways to provide interesting elements for the slave characters. So I was thinking of writing a series of articles on the treatment of slaves by each of the different families. Here's on, about the Sitai - if this seems like a horrid idea, do let me know. Otherwise, glad to hear suggestions...
The slaves of the Sitai family can be divided into two basic classes, raised for very different purposes an dunder very different conditions.
The first of these classes is what the rich upperclass of Kenash calls commonly the "Sitairites" -the famed pleasure slaves of the Sitai. Selected from the stock of the Sitai, and sometimes even purchased from the promising stock of other families, Sitairites enter an intense training regimen beginning no later than seven years old. The Sitairite education begins with etiquette and grace, as well as the acquisition of parlor skills, but it advances with the onset of puberty to mor complex and adult subjects.
Sitairites are infused from a young age with a strong sense of individual pride in their position, and are taught, as well, in the religious worship of Nikali - this is one reason they are initiated at such a young age. They are not simply slave prostitutes, though the external understanding of them as such is remarkably common. Instead, they are trained as 'companions', with great expertise not only in entertaining their masters, but also in lubricating social situations, and bringing others out of their shells, socially. This combination of propriety and social skill makes them particular favorite, for instance, of Morealis house, while their pliability and sensitivity has made them popular with the Askara.
Sitairites are raised and trained in an outbuilding of the plantation, known colloquially as The Den. The instructors there are, in general, older Sitairites of both genders. The Den itself is strictly off limits to any but the members of the House Sitai.
There four stages in the life of a Sitairite. The first of these begins with the induction ceremony. The young child is taken to the Den, where the older children go through the complex process of "Washing up", an almost ritual transformation of the physical aspects of the child's appearance. This is usually a day long affair, both because of the intensity of the activity, and because many of the activities involve teaching the child to perform the services for themselves in the future. "Washing up" culminates in "Dolling", where the child is brought before the Elders of the Den, who examine her and design her series of scents, and the palette of her makeup. The child is then taught to apply both - both male and female Sitaireites are famed for their complex makeup and scent.
From here, the children enter on the life of a "Bluey", so called for the Indigo blue smocks they wear. A Bluey's life is at once more physically difficult and emotionally simple than a true Sitairite. The Bluey's wear their makeup and scent, and are judged largely n how week they can keep this intact throughout the day. But their dress is practical, and their work largely mundane. Aside from the several hours of learning they do in the morning, most of their day consists of simple manual labor - they clean the Den, prepare food, and tend to the older Sitairites.
The Bluey's are never to leave the doors of the Den, except in cases of severe emergency. One of the first lessons a Sitairite is given, in fact, is the Tale of the Three Blueys, which retells the story of three young Blueys who chose to die rather than break this vow. In reality, the Blueys are worth too much to be discarded in the name of an ideal, and in cases of severe illness, for example, they will be taken out for treatment. But a Bluey who breaks the rule willfully finds that it still has teeth - once a decade or so, a child will try to escape the Den. They are publicly whipped and executed, no matter the age.
The one exception, if it can be called one, to this cloistered existence is the system of Lending. I this system, a Bluey can be lent for the years until they reach puberty as a personal maid. This arrangement is uncommon, and comes with the implicit promise that the borrower will purchase the Bluey later, when they are grown into their full maturity. Even so, normally a Bluey is Lent only in conjunction with a full Sitairite, who they will assist in their dressing. The Oath also comes with the promise that the Bluey will be allowed to cloister herself within the dressing chamber, and avoid company apart from the person whom they will dress.
The Blueys are intended, however, to learn to be social experts, so they must be exposed to society. As such, the Sitai institute Tenth-days, a sort of family holiday, in which favored members of the family are invited by the Patriarch of the Sitai to spend the afternoon and evening in the calling room of the Lodge, where they are entertained and served by the inhabitants. The Blueys are often given prize positions in these entertainments, so as to allow the Sitai to oversee their education and ensure they are being properly trained.
At the age of nine for girls, or eleven for boys, the Blueys are inducted into the next stage of their life through a ritual 'education' of sorts known as "Freshening." The actual outlines of this initiation are largely left vague to the outside world, but there is a great deal of education involved on subjects cogent to puberty. From here they enter the second stage of Sitairite life: Parlour Girls or Boys. A Parlour Girl begins a more active education in all of the arts of a Sitairite, and are taken out of the Den for specific balls and parties, to act first as observers, then later as entertainers and conversationalists in their own rite. This period is actually the one in which Sitairites are most commonly seen by the outside world, as they are available for parties at a very minimal charge as they perfect their skills.
When they turn sixteen, they begin to be examined by the Elders of the Den, to see how their skills are progressing. When they are proclaimed ready, usually sometime before nineteen, the are initiated into the full Sitairite phase of their life.
This initiation, the "Blooming" is the most famous outside the Sitai family. It begins with a ritual tattooing, in which they are given a second inking of the Sitai crest on their pelvis. It then progresses to a ritual auctioning of the Sitairite's virginity. This is not a true slave auction - the Sitairite is not purchased, during the Blooming, only a night of her time - but fair specimens have been known to fetch quite high prices. These Auctions take place on a scaffold outside the Den, in the gardens of the Sitai plantation.
From there, many Sitairites remain as servants of the Sitai themselves, sometimes being hired out for parties, sometimes serving as attendants or courtesans to their masters. These Sitairites, when they grow older, eventually enter the final stage of Elder. An Elder is retired back into the Den, to educate the next generation of Blueys and Parlor Girls/Boys.
The illusion would be that Sitairites are vexed as something more than a slave. In fact? They are in many ways less. The Sitairites are treasured, but more as objets of art, than as people - love for a Sitairite would be, amongst the Sitai, an occasion for both derision and horror by other members of the family. Nor are the Sitairites immune to the horrors of other slaves. The Sitai have been known, for instance, to celebrate a particularly important family event - the birth or ascension of an heir to the family, or a milestone birthday or anniversary, by a family party in which one of the Sitairites is 'artistically killed' - tales of artistic killings of the past, in fact, are some of the treasured lore of the family. Additionally, there are no compunctions about using a Sitairite to slake even the most unpleasant of lusts.
The only exception to this is found in the spat between the Sitai and the Dhani family of Kenash. One of the Dhani once purchased a Sitai, then turned around and sent permanently as a field labor, as a sort of private joke. This offended not any sense of humanity amongst the Sitai, but rather their sense of family pride - the act is still seen as a direct insult to the artistry ad talent involved in the farming and harvest of Sitairites. In the end, this is essentially how the Sitai see the Sitairites - as, more or less, simply another crop, the most potent drug they produce.
Contrary to the beliefs and stories of other families, however, the Sitairites are not at all common in the population of the Sitai slaves. Most of the Sitai's chattel, as with most families, do the work of the family - they work as field hands, house servants, shop servants, and personal attendants to those family members important enough to have one, but not so important as to have earned a Sitairite.
The method of control of these slaves, however, is unique to the Sitai: grey-bloom. The families research into recreational drugs in the fifth century led them to examine the Grey Poppy, a moderately common swamp flower. It had mild narcotic effects, but nothing worth trying to sell, naturally. However, when the poppies were bred and cultivated for several years, they produced a drug with a peculiar mix of effects - it was cheap to produce, maddeningly addictive, and produced none of the pleasant effects of normal narcotics.
While as a commercial product, this was a bust, the Sitai saw it for ti was - a highly effective method of control. As such, they began to lace the drug into the food supply of adult slaves, so as to bind them to the plantation. IF they were to escape, most slaves would be driven mad, killed by the effects of withdrawal, or drawn to return apologetically to their masters. punishment on the plantation follow the normal course of affairs of whippings for minor offenses, but for major ones, they have a worse punishment: The offender is locked into stocks, and then simply not given their daily dose of the drug for a varying time period based on the severity of their offense.
Greybloom is not give to the Sitairites - in fact, Sitairites are denied the pleasure of any mind altering substance, and are punished for as much as imbibing alcohol. But the rest of adult slaves will be addicts of the substance, and will suffer considerably if denied access to it for more than 24 hours.
. Sorry,w ill shut off my editor's mode 