Bond Chaser
Bond chasers perform a legal service here in the Kirinal Concordance Zone, though many, including myself, struggle with the ethics of their work. They specialize in tracking and capturing bondservants who have violated or fled their contract of bonded service. Rumors of so-called "Bone Chasers" - those enforcing the Tax of Blood & Bone- persist, though no evidence has ever surfaced.
I don't care if it's legal, there's nothing worse than those who trade in mortal flesh. I make it my business to interfere with every slav... bond chaser I come across. My position comes with certain privileges that I usually let slide. But when it comes to that scum? I'm more than happy to indulge in my police privilege. They know better than to mess with ol' Sarge!
Bond Chasers strictly follow the Concordant Mandates, using the law as both their shield and weapon. They track down and apprehend bondservants who have fled contracts of bonded servitude. They return them to their employers, typically Magisters of Magister's Dominion or the Magocracy of Kiris
They operate along with other lawful hunters, such as beacon finders and bounty hunters, often taking contracts through clearinghouses like the Triple B Guild. While they follow the letter of the law, many citizens of the Zone view them as enforcers of the Magister's bureaucratic abuse, using red tape to oppress the powerless.
Bond Chasers are well aware of how unpopular they are. To avoid open hostility, they make sure their actions precisely follow the laws and decrees of the Concordance. But their meticulous compliance often fuels fuels resentment at the loopholes that allows their job to even exist.
The Bonded System
As a condition of their entry into the Concordance for Survival Kiris was required to abolish slavery. As a compromise, they coverted to a system of bonded servitude where workers repay debts through a contract with a set end date.
However, these bond contracts are riddled with harsh clauses that permit extensions, penalties, and changes to the terms, seemingly at the whim of the bond holder.
The majority of bondservants are Kirisian Goblins, who leave their dark homeland for the promise of a new life and eventual citizenship in the Concordance. It is true that thousands of bondservants do achieve citizenship and prosperity, others find themselves trapped by the endless machinations of the manipulative legal clauses.
The Tax of Blood & Bone
In the Magocracy of Kiris and the Magister's Dominion, the Tax of Blood & Bone ensures that every citizen's mortal remains contine to serve the Magisters even after death. This law, rooted in The Fate of Flesh, is framed as a necessary sacrifice for the good of the nation. Upon death, a citizen's body may be reanimated or repurposed to serve as labor or, more commonly, as undead soldiers on the Pit Wall.
Citizens have retain certain privileges even in death, such as exemptions for noble families or certain religious rites. Bondservants are contractually denied these rights. Their contracts explicitly state that while their souls are their own, their bodies belong their bondholders. Their remains can be used, reanimated, or repurposed at the discretion of the contract holder.
Bone Chasers
Persistent rumors tell of Bone Chasers, a dark society of Bond Chasers who specialize in retrieving the corpses of bondservants. They are said to hunt and kill bondservants, returning the bodies to Magisterial necromancers. For bond holders, reanimating a servant as an undead laborer or soldier is easier than dealing with "pesky free will" or raising goblins to be their equals.
Bone Chasing is entirely illegal under the Concordant Mandates. The Concordance forbids the deliberate killing of bondservants to claim their remains. Despite this, accusations continue to surface. There has been more than one case of escaped bondservants perishing under suspicious circumstances, only for their bodies to reappear in Magisterial service.
I felt weird liking this article, but I love Sarge. He is like NOPE. I don't doubt that Bone Chasers are a real thing. Uuuugh.
Explore Etrea | WorldEmber
They absolutely are! I have a group of them in my campaign that the players will run into!
Take a look at my Institutions of Learning challenge article.
Learn about the World of Wizard's Peak and check out my award winning article about the Ghost Boy of Kirinal!