Aldair

Aldair is an Empire located in Southern Glirelle and is by far the largest of the Kingdoms.

Women in Aldair
Aldarian women had a reputation for being independent-minded, and enjoyed more freedoms and power than most other women in Repheria. While they played no role in the military, they often received a formal education, although separate from boys and not at boarding schools. In part to attract mates, females engaged in athletic competitions, and also sang and danced competitively. As adults, they were allowed to own and manage property. Additionally, they were typically unencumbered by domestic responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning and making clothing, tasks which were handled by the Slaves.

Marriage was important to Aldairians, as the state put pressure on people to have male children who would grow up to become citizen-warriors, and replace those who died in battle. Men who delayed marriage were publicly shamed, while those who fathered multiple sons could be rewarded.

A common practice
Slavery has a long history in Aldair. Most slaves in Aldair were foreigners and, slavery was not based on race.

Slaves in Aldair might include prisoners of war, sailors captured and sold by pirates, or slaves bought outside Aldarian territory. In hard times, it was not uncommon for desperate Aldarian citizens to raise money by selling their children into slavery.

Life as a slave
All slaves and their families were the property of their owners, who could sell or rent them out at any time. Their lives were harsh. Slaves were often whipped, branded or cruelly mistreated. Their owners could also kill them for any reason, and would face no punishment.

Although Aldairian citizens accept slavery as the norm, some people argued that slaves should at least be treated fairly.

Essential labor
Slaves worked everywhere – in private households, in mines and factories, and on farms. They also worked for city governments on engineering projects such as roads, aqueducts and buildings. As a result, they merged easily into the population.

In fact, slaves looked so similar to Aldairian citizens that the Royal Court once considered a plan to make them wear special clothing so that they could be identified at a glance. The idea was rejected because the King-Emperor feared that, if slaves saw how many of them were working in Aldair, they might be tempted to join forces and rebel.

Manumission
Aldair gave the ability of slaves to be freed. Aldairian owners freed their slaves in considerable numbers: some freed them outright, while others allowed them to buy their own freedom. The prospect of possible freedom through manumission encouraged most slaves to be obedient and hard working.

Formal manumission was performed by a magistrate and gave freed men full Aldarian citizenship. The one exception was that they were not allowed to hold office. However, the law gave any children born to freedmen, after formal manumission, full rights of citizenship, including the right to hold office.

Informal manumission gave fewer rights. Slaves freed informally did not become citizens and any property or wealth they accumulated reverted to their former owners when they died.

Freedmen
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self-purchase. Aldair's rigid society attached importance to social status and even successful freedmen usually found the stigma of slavery hard to overcome – the degradation lasted well beyond the slavery itself.