Slavery in the Builder Church

Many years ago, a sizable proportion of Builderite communities openly practiced slavery. Our community is strong, the argument went, and so we should bring others into this community - by force if necessary. Communities following this approach to the Builder would send organised warbands of fanatical troops to conquer their neighbours and bring them into the fold. Those who surrendered and joined the conquering community could often become as valued as any other citizen; those who refused to assimilate were enslaved.

The Treaty of Ozgur-Sehir makes such actions against other Factions illegal, and even before the Treaty, the size and strength of the Nations made it far less common. Slavery persists in some Churches of the Builder, but in a much different form - those who can no longer support themselves or their dependents, or who simply wish to escape their old life and can see no other way to do so, give themselves to the Church, receiving aid and shelter in return for a period of indentured servitude, joining members of the faith who have committed a grievous sin against their fellows and been sentenced to penitential service. Approaches vary, but in some Churches, this period can be indefinite - particularly for children to the Church by parents who believe they cannot look after them.

Some resent the demands the Church makes of them when they have no other option, but for those with a strong faith in the Builder and an understanding of the arguments in favour of slavery of this kind - the sacrifice of independence and service in return for aid, the equal and opposite responsibilities of master and servant, and the sanctity of giving oneself over to be defined wholly by service to Community rather than selfish wants - it is a religious experience. These devoted slaves give their Churches unstinting labour, and those with the right training make terrifying Templars who fear pain and injury only because it hinders their service to their Preacher and their Church. The service of the most devoted ends only when they die - or, in a very few cases, when they realise their master serves themself, not their community...