Slave Market

The Slave Market technically houses no slaves. Officially, all who live here are "indentured servants," only servants by contract and only for specified lengths of time. Any able-bodied individual looking for steady work may come to the Indentureship Signing and Leasing Office and sign a contract, usually for 3-5 years, as an indentured servant. The standard indentureship contract guarantees all who sign it 2 warm meals per day, a bed, and 2 silver pieces per week. The Onica family, who run the indentured servant business, will then lease their servants out to other businesses, families, or anyone else who can afford them. The servants get steady work and pay, the Onicas get all profits, and both usually walk away from the deal satisfied.

There are drawbacks to being indentured, however. If someone breaks a contract or tries to leave it early, they will owe the Onicas the value of all the room and board they have been provided as well as all the coin they were projected to make. usually specified in the contract at signing. If the person can't afford to pay, and they usually can't, then they will be forced to work their debt off in Camp Ironwall, a massive labor camp just inside the eastern Scar between the Diamond District and the Temple District. If they attempt to flee, they may find themselves being chased by the Coursers, a guild of bounty hunters who are officially sanctioned to hunt and capture or kill any quarries they have within Surket by any means. They have even been known to venture far beyond Surket to claim a bounty if it is good enough.

The Slave Market itself is arranged much like a military barracks would be. There are rows and rows of dormitories for the indentured servants, as well as dozens of essential and luxury goods stores like groceries, tailors, butchers, and the like. These shops are catered toward the indentured servants and generally offer affordable goods with very little overhead, with most being owned by the Onicas as well. Servants can even order goods on credit, having a lump sum taken from their 2 silver stipend every week until they have paid in full. What isn't housing and shopping for the slaves is generally warehouse storage and specialty goods. The Slave Market is the home of Surket's luxury and exotic pet trade, and regularly brings in rare and magical beasts for the rich, eccentric, and/or scholarly.

As mentioned, the Slave Market is owned and run by the Onicas. Faya Onica, the matriarch of the family, runs the indentureship business and handles most of the family business while her son, Miguel, is slowly beginning to take over by bits and pieces. Faya represents the district as Consul to the Council of Surket.

Notable Locations

 * Indentureship Signing and Leasing Office
 * Surket Bounty and Collections Office
 * Onica Manor
 * Diamond District Elevator
 * Temple District Elevator
 * Camp Ironwall
 * The Commons

Notable Factions

 * Onica Family
 * The Coursers