Intergalactic Summit

That's simple. You can see... oh wait, I forgot the surgeons had it removed. Well, you can still sort of see the scar on my back left shoulder where they branded "Race Traitor" into my skin with a hot iron.

It's not hard to understand, really. If you share a genome with one of their precious tribes then as far as they're concerned you're property of that tribe. They own you. You have to do whatever their tribal elders say. Their word for this is "Freedom."

If in "reclaiming" that property (ironic choice of word is intentional) they have to send in warships & marines to your home planet and abduct you, well that's all part of the whole "freedom" process. Where you grew up, your home, your family, your friends, your loved ones, your job, your beliefs, your Faith - all completely irrelevant & meaningless. You belong to the tribe and that's final. You can come along willingly or with a bag over your head. Ironic definition of "liberation" is also intentional.

Once inside you will experience freedom, which is defined as "whatever the tribal leadership tells you to do." You will also be required to completely renounce your old home, family, friends, loved ones, job, beliefs and Faith to make room for your new "life" in the Republic and the ideology of the Republic. What that new life entails can vary. For someone who has the sense to play along with this charade until they get a chance to steal a ship and escape back home, you may end up conscripted into their military. Those who refuse to follow along are subject to an ever increasing level of punishments until they either their will breaks - or they do. For those who chose to freely practice their Amarrian Faith, for instance, freedom means chain-gangs and work camps. For others it's branding. For the most defiant... well, like I said, vitoxin may be slowly falling out of fashion in Amarr space but that doesn't mean it doesn't lack for buyers elsewhere. Though that's generally reserved only for those still deemed valuable and, to be fair, not done in the inner regions where the press comes snooping around too often. But if you're unfit for fighting or labor they usually just shoot the person in question. That's what happened to my old physics professor, although they didn't shoot him - they just stabbed him to death instead. I suppose that's the true meaning behind their chant of "Freedom or Death."

Of course if you're an convicted serial rapist with a penchant for strangulation who was enslaved & put to work in a factory then I suppose being liberated by Matari "freedom fighters" is a wonderful thing to have happen to you. Who knows? Maybe they'll put you in command of one of those marine detachments they send to "liberate" Matari women from the horrific confines of university life. It's not just a new lease on life, it's a license to party! Woo hoo!

Frankly I'm all for setting free all of the worst-case vitoxin candidates. Violent offenders, the criminally insane, and the just plain hopeless brutes. I say by all means let them go & let the Republic deal with them instead. They'd fit in better, that's for sure. If they can't serve in Heaven then let them rule in Hell.

Race is never a concept deserving of loyalty. You have my sympathies, Captain.

So if Devonshire the puppet of Luftschrek, or is it the other way around?


The strings are so similar.

With a carving knife or something more subtle?

As if anyone expects anything better from a bloodthirsty savage?



If by "strings" you mean genetics, then yes. I'm her niece. "Luftschreck" is more of a nickname, something I put on the forged papers when I was escaping from the captivity of the Republic.

Confirming Ava's creativity in all things...though scary it may be.

(Please don't hurt me Ava).

Ahem, if I may return to the subject...

The classic propaganda image broadcast outside the Empire is, well, what you'd expect from propaganda. Gross exaggerations, half-truths and very often outright lies. Now every good myth has some basis in reality, and I would not be so dishonest as to say that there were never times in the distant past that were indeed as ugly & often cruel as the propagandists would like you to believe. But that, as with most things in this issue, was the distant past. While I cannot speak for all holders, I can speak for myself and those we deal with it.

In modern times, the image of the hapless serf being worked to death in some field or mineshaft is patently laughable. If you've been keeping up on current events, there has been a significant movement towards releasing our charges for many years now. Again, it would be dishonest to claim purely moral reasons to this - although this varies from holder to holder, of course. Ever since our alliance with the Caldari State the more enlightened amogst the Amarr have taken full advantage of this opportunity to learn new things. As expected, one of the first things we learned from them (and continue to learn every day) lays in the realm of finance. Simply put, slaves are a waste of money.

Consider it from this financial perspective: They are like children. They must be housed, fed, clothed, educated, taken to doctors when they get sick, etc. The difference is that eventually children grow up and take these burdens onto themselves. Not so with slaves, unless we chose to release them. As anyone who has raised children knows, this is quite taxing, both financially and mentally. Even those Amarrians born into wealth still have to deal with all the daily stresses of managing however many servants their estate claims in it's possession.

For some holders that is reason enough to get rid of their assets and switch to the more "equitable" model of releasing them from bondage and simply rehiring them as free workers (not that this really improves their lot in life, but autonomy does ease the financial burdens of having to support them). For others with a more moral stance, this simply adds more motivation to the mix. The end result, however, is the same: The image of thousands of souls sweating before a whip is an archaic concept, and if you can still find it anywhere it will only be at the bottom-most rungs of Amarrian holder society.

Why the bottom? And now we get to my point: Ever since our Caldari friends pointed out the financial folly of having vast hordes of slaves, we holders, in turn, have been "trimming the fat" ever since then. Which brings me to this intertwining branch known as "prestige."

The first thing one most remember when dealing with nobility anywhere is that prestige is a very important thing to them, especially to the Amarr, being that we are the most traditional. There is no longer any prestige to be gained in having vast numbers of mindless peons doing menial labor. Because there is no prestige to be found in this the appeal of it has waned with it - this is in addition to the economic reasons mentioned previously. The modern, cultured holder takes pride in the quality of their servants, not the quantity. You can see this same behavior in all cultures, mind you: The Gallente senator with half a dozen "personal assistants," the Caldari billionaire with a private butler & chauffere, and even the Minmatar warlord with his private harem & loyal thugs at his side. People in power have servants, end of story, and all of them take pride in those servants. Keeping a slave down has become a mark of shame. A holder is expected to lavish rewards upon her slaves - the best education, the best clothes, etc. When you're hosting or attending a party the quality of your servants directly reflects upon the holder. Dim-witted brutes are not desired (except by the most deviant). Well mannered, well cultured, well educated, and well kept slaves are how one holds prestige in today's nobility.

And for those still decrying their servitude, let me finish with a reminder: The highest prestige comes from a slave who has earned their release. To take one who's ancestors wallowed in the mud like pigs and, over as much time is needed, raise them up into educated, cultured, and Faithful people who are worthy of finally standing by our sides as Amarrians. That is the greatest prestige a holder can boast of: To have brought a soul from the darkness of ignorance and into the Light of God.

Yes, there are still those stubborn and falling holders who actual employ large numbers for menial labor. You may be surprised to find that they don't wield many more friends here than they do with the Minmatar themselves. Not attempting to elevate one's slaves, or worse - abusing them - can lead a noble to become ostracized at the speed of gossip (which is, last I checked, approximately twenty seven times the speed of light). And, again to be honest, very few self-respecting Amarrians will come to the aid of these... dinosaurs... when the "freedom fighters" come knocking on their doors. To not even try to lift up their souls is to deny them the chance to embrace God. What greater sin could there be amongst the Amarr?

But as to the vast majority of those servants who remain - those who are raised as Amarrians, with our ways, culture and Faith, and the ideals of our civilization from birth... how can anyone honestly say that they are not our people? Identity is not created in the blood, but rather within the heart that pumps it. The Amarr are not just one but many people who have all come to be united in Faith under the eyes of our loving God.

Katran Luftschreck, speaking of filthy junkheap stations as you do, elsewhere, would you personally not feel more content in Sarum's back-yard closer to the comfort blanket of Amarr customs (and their God) and as far away as you physically can be from your 'tormentors' instead of wallowing in the nefantar cess-pool?

Rens is only a bunny hop away, now, isn't it. Seems like an incongruent place to settle down in, does Derelik, on your Corp's part.

I would advise avoiding lengthy debates with people who have openly stated they will kill you and scatter your people to the four winds for their own amusement Lady Devonshire. They will try to setup traps of words to catch you in simply so they can say they are JUST in savagely burning your lands and slaughtering your family. I have no doubt some of them even honestly believe they are just... But that is a larger conversation that they prefer to have with auto-cannons.

It does make me glad though to see more and more holders take pride in taking utmost care of there servants and pouring due time and effort into their spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. Having recently taken a tour of the great Empire I do find this to be the norm.

Clearly, as I do, you have a close connection with your slaves. While those in my service around my administration I am able to get family like connection to, being a holder of over 500,000 on my families plantation does make knowing each one on an individual basis impossible. Still, the vast majority have proven themselves more than honorable and worthy of the Empire.

Although, Lady Devonshire, you and I both know it would be a lie to say that all holder relationships are so... well... good put simply. I actively encourage any laws for slave rights and standards of care. Slave abuse is a serious offense in my mind and should be given more attention than it is. Not only are you abusing God's gift to you but seriously setting back the goal of holdership which is to ultimately teach,.. Granted with a full-scale war on our hands, I cannot imagine that the issue could be dealt with at the time.