written by Michael Cugley

What Your Father Told You: Rebel Slave

This is from the point of view of a slave who is less than happy with his condition.

Who Are We?

We are slaves! We are owned like animals, sold like animals, treated worse than animals! But we are just like them! Our hearts beat the same as theirs, and our spirits yearn for freedom, just as theirs do!

What is the world like?

The world is a harsh place, where people with power can do what they want to people without. Everywhere you look, you can see them abusing those below them. Even so-called ‘free’ people are at the mercy of the Nobles and the Templars.

They say the desert is full of terrors and dangers, but out there, there is something precious - something worth risking all those horrors for - a chance for freedom! A place where we can decide our own destiny!

What sort of people are there?

Free people and slaves. Why should I care about anything else? Free people decide where they work, who they work for, if they work. Free people get the benefits of their own work - they get paid, or use what they’ve made. Free people can go where they want, when they want. Free people can marry who they choose, and raise their own children, instead of having them taken.

Not like us.

What are the most valuable things in life?

In the end, there is only one thing valuable - freedom! We must never rest, striving every day, doing whatever it takes to become free! Even if we end up starving to death in the desert, or being eaten by some terrible monster, at least we would be dying free!

Where else do people live? I hear that there are places, in the desert, where escaped slaves have banded together! Whole tribes of us! So many, that even the Sorcerer-Kings could try and take them back! That is where I am going - where no-one tells anyone what to do, where we can all live free!