From: Peter Metcalfe (metcalph@voyager.co.nz)
Date: Fri 12 Mar 1999 - 03:31:57 EET
David Dunham:
[I said "slavery is primarily a lunar institution as opposed to a
Dara Happan one". David quoted from the GRoY to show that the
Dara Happans did take slaves from among the Votanki.]
>> A source which is over a thousand years ago. The Votanki are virtually
>> absent today in civilized Peloria thus I stand by my statement.
>If a god of slavery is on the Gods Wall, then slavery is a Dara Happan
>institution.
Given that I said slavery is _primarily_ a lunar institution, the
logical inference is that Lunars own most of the slaves in the
Empire and not Dara Happans. I do qualify my statements for a
reason, y'know.
Secondly Votank's appearance on the Wall has little of nothing
to do with whether he is a slave or not. After slavery ceases
to exist, then the interpretation that Votank is a slave will
likewise become defunct.
>It may or may not have fallen into disuse, but it was
>well-established in Dara Happa in Plentonius's time.
Likewise Americans had slaves. Doesn't mean that slavery is a
institution in the USA today.
>The original source of slaves is not important, any more than
>Americans used Slavs to work their cotton fields.
For Dara Happans, the origin most certainly is important.
>I don't doubt that the Lunars have come up with new ways to justify
>slavery, and might even have reintroduced a lapsed practice. But the
>Empire is a veneer of Lunar culture over older cultures, and I suspect
>that slavery per se is not part of that veneer.
The Lunar Way is much more than a "veneer", it is an significant
minority in the Dara Happan river valley and in Rinliddi. And
what does the "veneer" have to do with whether the Lunars are the
slave-owners in the Empire?
>(I'm also remembering something about a wall falling down on the lowest
>class during an Emperor's reconstruction project, but can't find the
>reference. As I recall, they were slaves.)
Doesn't ring a bell with me.
- --Peter Metcalfe
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