and the body politic is getting sicker by the minute

Logged in to a disturbing message in one of my groups. I'm not using any identifying information beyond the words, because I want to talk with the notice's sender before I do anything more...permanent.

Thralls... there seems to be an issue of jealousy occuring.

"Occurring", and okay, I agree. Issues of jealousy on an adult roleplay sim are not good and need to be addressed.

In case you've forgotten, you are property. Either property of the village or you belong to some person. You own nothing; You have no opinion; Your will is not your own; You are chattel, no better than a cow or a dog or simply a piece of meat.

Hollllld up. This is the part I have a serious problem with.

There were three acknowledged classes in nearly all Viking cultures: the nobility, the freemen (and occasional free women) and thralls, who were essentially slaves. In old Norse and Icelandic, the term was þræll which was related to an older word meaning "run" or "runner", but with overtones of "worker". Anglo-Saxon cultures, which were partially related to Norse/Viking ones, used þeow instead, which meant 'hireling" or "labourer".

Now, slaves were owned, yes. Sold at auction, sold in open markets or captured from countries sailing men reached while going Viking. But this didn't mean they lacked agency.

Not much survives from the Viking era, but enough has to get an idea of a thrall's worth. Accounts of ancient Germanic law, from the 5th to 6th century, at least, mention it was possible for thralls to raise their status. If they were particularly skilled, they were paid for their work. Once they accumulated enough, they could essentially buy their freedom and become leysingr, or free men (free women were more rare to advance from thralls, but again, it did happen--sometimes through their own skills at weaving, baking or dyeing, sometimes through marriage to a male with higher status).

Up until Christianization of the regions, the ancient Germanic legal system was based on payments for injury or death, instead of killing the person or persons who'd committed the crime. if damage was done, damage had to be repaid, depending on the type and level of damage. For instance, the basic price for injury to a freeman was 200 weregeld, half that for thralls. Though it could be raised to 200 for thralls, or even 300, if such injury resulted in death or permanent disability. Usually the weregeld was paid to the thrall's owner, but on occasion, it was paid to the thrall.

Your Master/Mistress is not responsible to you for His/Her actions, decisions or thoughts. If you create petty disputes, they will not be tolerated. You have zero, rights, opinions or personal will.

That would be "zero rights", no comma, and that is also manifestly untrue historically. As far as Second Life goes, it sounds extraordinarily dictatorial. And, might I say, closer to Gorean practice than historical Viking re-creation. In addition, there is no single form of D/s, BDSM, or ownership, either in Second Life, or beyond the grid.

Put another way, any owned slave, pet, or submissive in real life has the right of refusal. Consent is basic, necessary, at all times. Any dominant who refuses that basic right with their submissives, unless they have negotiated that to begin with, will get a very bad reputation in the BDSM community, up to and including jail time. (Yes. This has happened.)

In Second Life, to be fair, the rules are kind of all over, but as I did not come to this sim by way of Gor, and have never been a Gorean, I came in with the right of refusal fully guaranteed by the couple who invited me. And the man who's collared me has given me that same right--to refuse, with consent always necessary. This doesn't mean I never get in trouble. This doesn't mean I'm never disciplined. This does mean I retain agency in that relationship, so I retain it on this sim.

You belong to your owner. You will be punished or, if it continues or escalates.. you will be ejected from the village. No exceptions.

My status, as such, is part of why this offends me, I admit. When I originally came to this particular roleplay sim, I came in as a thrall. It's a common thing to do, and since half of the couple I intended to live with there had already established a place, and a seat on the ruling council, it made sense to be the live-in thrall to them. It provided a handy shortcut as to why I would be there. While on the rest of the grid, I am a shapeshifting lesser fae, within the village I'm playing human, from either Eire or Frisia (I hadn't fully decided). I was acquired by the couple, and I traveled with them to early Norway. Simple, effective, it made sense.

Now, granted, over the last few months, I became part of the priesthood, so to speak--my role is not as formal, I am closer kin to shaman or hearth witch, really, but I have done ceremonies for the village. This puts me at ċeorl status, basically a free woman ranked below a jarl but above a þræll.

Later still, I joined the ruling council for the village, which, because of the structure of the village, at the very least keeps me at the level of ċeorl, but might raise me to, at best, lower nobility.

Which is all well and good, and for a variety of reasons, my autonomy and agency are preserved, but this is still dehumanizing. I am manifestly uncomfortable with dehumanization.

Finally, none of the rules or regulations of this sim are negotiable. If you think it's unfair, you are cordially invited to go somewhere else to play in Second Life.

I'm trimming off the name of the person who sent this, because I do need to talk to them before I decide what I'm going to do. I do not, as such, think it is unfair; this person owns the sim, so their sim, their rules.

But there's already a list of sims I don't go to--the capture/prey sims come to mind, the snuff sims, the asylum/rape sims, the ones where I'm required to go naked and submit to any man who wants me--because I don't agree with their policies. I don't think they're unfair, either, but I don't play there because I wouldn't do what they want, flat out.

And sure, my status, simply because of my current roles on the sim, may in fact have taken me beyond þræll status. It's perfectly possible. But I started as a þræll. And AS a þræll, I am NOT a dog. I am NOT chattel. I am manifestly NOT a piece of meat, and I refuse to be treated as such.

And yes, I am offended by this. I am disturbed by this. And I think I'm a bit angered by this. This was...not the wisest move to send to the entire group, when it could have specifically been addressed to the thralls in question who were causing the issues.

But I am holding my action until I talk to two people: the man who owns my collar, and the one who owns the sim. Their answers will determine whether I remain in the village, or sail off for other shores. No one tells me I have no worth. I know my worth. I keep my worth.

And if this person thinks that by sending out a notice, it will be enough to cause my spine to bend and bring me, abased and apologetic, to their boots, they don't know me that well at all. I am not the jealous type, and I know I'm not one of the thralls specifically meant in this instance, but this will not fly with me, and it likely will not fly with others. So discussion must be had, and it may not go well.

(There is a follow-up.)