Slavers' Compound
Slaver compounds are horrible places; to those imprisoned within, they are literally hell on earth. Here sentient beings are bought and sold like any other good.
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Compound Dressing
Four long leather whips hang from pegs driven into the wall. All four whips have dried blood on their tips and well-worn handles.
Two hoods without eye or mouth holes lie crumpled and discarded on the floor. Both are sweaty and obviously much used.
A chalkboard on the wall displays a complicated tally system. Clever characters divine the system relates to the various types of slaves the slavers keep in their pens.
A single smeared bloody handprint mars one wall.
The initials GH and FR are faintly chipped into a wall low down near the floor. The carving is small and probably done hurriedly.
Scattered drops of dried blood decorate the floor. The drops grow smaller and more indistinct the further away they are from the slave pens.
Minor Events
Guttural laughter precedes the arrival of two bored, drunk guards who have decided to visit the slave pens for some fun. They are distracted and the characters can easily surprise them (if they are at least moderately stealthy).
Screams echo throughout the compound. A slave is being beaten for some transgression (real or imagined). The beating goes on for some time; by the end, the slave is badly injured (and unconscious).
An unwholesome mixture of sweat, fear, urine and excrement greet the party’s nostrils. The smell becomes stronger the closer the party get to the slave pens.
Screams, punctuated by the crack of a whip, shatters the air. The screaming goes on for a few minutes before gradually fading away.
Looting a Slaver’s Body
Four links of bloodstained chain ending in a single bloody manacle fill this slaver’s pouch. (Close examination reveals hairs stuck in the dried blood on the manacle.) A snapped off key fills the manacle’s lock.
A long braid of blond hair wrapped around a slender, whittled stick of white wood protected by a scrap of red-hued silk fills this pouch. The hair looks clean and recently washed and is the slaver’s trophy harvested from a beautiful woman who fell into his clutches.
A handful of tarnished and clipped silver and copper coins from a variety of different cultures and kingdoms. All are obviously old.
This small silver locket opens to reveal a tiny painting of a severe-looking woman wearing a ball gown. The clasp for the locket’s chain is broken—perhaps it was ripped from its owner’s neck.
Slaves
Varinius (N old male human): Varinius is old and weak. He is a sage of some renown captured during a recent raid. His once fine robes are ripped and travel-stained. Now unable to stand without aid, he is perhaps only a few days from death. If rescued and nursed back to health, he is grateful and offers to serve the characters. He would, of course, require a place to work but his knowledge is prodigious.
Albina (N young female human) Protected by the other slaves, Albina is only nine-years-old. Her brother escaped from the raid that saw her taken and she doesn’t know what happened to him. Sadly, her mother and father both died protecting her and she is quite alone in the world.
Avel (CN male human fighter 1): While he might be a slave, Avel—in his mind—is quite free. Charismatic and mad as a bag of cats, Avel has decided he is the Emperor of the World and that his fellow slaves are his courtiers and servants. Occasionally, he utters decrees and becomes hysterically angry when his demands are not carried out. He also fears assassination. His fellow slaves ignore him as much as they are able—which in this confined space is difficult in the extreme.
Harek (NE male human thief 4): Harek is a thief sold into slavery to pay for his crimes. Thus far, he has managed to conceal his crimes from his fellows. If rescued his larcenous nature soon reasserts itself. At first, he contents himself with looting the bodies of any slain slavers he comes across. When this source of loot dries up, he targets the least perceptive rescuer. If confronted, he flees.
Credit
This is a short system-neutral extract from 20 Things #12: Slavers’ Compound by Creighton Broadhurst.
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