Gilla | Wyrd-Road

Gilla: person/s forced into servitude

Gilla have existed since before Kymbri became Kymbri. Like most of the world, forced servitude was simply a fact of life. It was part of the social structure and accepted whether you liked it or not.
A hundred and sixty-two years ago, the economic bottom of Kymbri's slave institution almost fell out and was on the brink of destruction. To save it, the cened created "the three choices." that repeat offenders could take: exile, prison, or gillary. Prisons became much worse after this, transforming into little bits of hell on earth. If exiled they would be sent to the harshest prison colony in the southern hemisphere. Lastly there was gillary, guaranteed two meals a day, a roof over your head and a more than even chance of winding up in a patrician household. Those in power made it seem the most preferable of the three, but the odds of obtaining your freedom again was stacked against you, making the bureaucracy surrounding it almost impossible to surmount. Even for petty crimes like pick-pocketing you might spend a quarter of your life as a gilla, and that is if you were lucky.
This had some other unintended consequences for good or ill. Nationalism extended to an owner's slaves. That owner would consider non-celts unsuitable to own. This caught on, creating a growing destain for the outsider in general. It got to the point where a trader needed to gain special permission to bring in an outsider to sell, thus creating an lucrative underground market.
A training racket rose to prominence, training(forcing) these criminal stock gilla to be docile and obey. At one point, these trainers were so many that they could be found every two blocks within Londinium. Lastly, the bureaucracy became so mountainous that patricians would turn away the poor who used to accept gillary for warmth and food, creating a general hatred from the bloodlined toward the three choice gilla.
Currently, the institution in Kymbri is dying, choked by its own bureaucracy and changing attitudes. There is talk that this time the cened might be uninterested in saving it, and in fact might introduce polocies, strangling it even further.

Types of gilla

There were many types of gilla throughout Kymbri's history. Each held popularity at different points in time, but most are now defunct, or close to being so. Here is a list of a few different types.

Bloodlined: a special note- this word was used for anyone condemned to have their children and their children's children born into slavery. this has caused the creation of extensive slave families and clans who have served patrician families for hundreds of years.
Previously free/Volunteer gilla: refers to any gilla who's previous condition was that of a free person and volunteered to be gilla out of desperation. these types require very little effort to free.
Martial gilla: bloodlined and trained from the moment they can walk to protect their owner.
Pleasure gilla: bloodlined and trained to accompany and bring joy to whoever can pay the high cost.
Castor: a type of butler. a term popular during the early days of Kymbri.
House gilla: a gilla that serves any need that the house and its guests may require.
Vilicus: a slave who served as an overseer on a farm. a term that was popular in the early days of Kymbri
Three-choice gilla: most modern gilla came from criminal stock. an arbiter gave them three choices- prison, exile, or gillary.
Declared: Someone who declares themselves gilla in front of witnesses who can attest.

Gilla Affairs
As said previously, the bureaucracy surrounding gilla was a nightmare. To sort this out, Gilla Affairs was created. They hold each file for every single legal slave in Kymbri. Their field agents are responsible for inspections and catching runaways, Because of this, they earned the nickname- catchers. Everything involving gilla came to order with files for each and every gilla, detailing everything about their lives, their history, current and previous owners, crimes, temperament, worth, education, and special skills. Recently the GA embarked on a huge campaign to take photos of every gilla in Kymbri. This highly detailed organization did little to affect the bureaucracy, or lessen exploitation. The GA have become boogiemen in the eyes of most gilla.

There are over 300 bloodlined family-clans in Kymbri alone. Half of those belong to bloodlines that are over 500 years old. Every high patrician house has at least one of these families under their roof. For those last 500 years, very few of them were sold at auction, instead, they are sold privately between the high patricians, if at all. Their owners tend to take an interest in who their bloodlined gilla are bred to and in their education. This puts the bloodlined into the upper echelons of slaves. In fact, due to their trustworthiness, they are expected to act as overseers.

Bloodlined Primer

Martial Primer
Martial's are bloodlined gilla, but regular bloodliners cannot become martials in any official capacity. Martial's had their own bloodlines and a completely different way of doing things, the main one being the fact that they do not tell their offspring that they are slaves until a certain age.

The Education & Breaking
From the moment they are able to stand, a martial is taught to protect and kill. They are treated roughly and are given little love from their kin. The only real love shown, is between them and their (unknowing)future owner. Both are prodded to become best friends.
Martial parents break their offspring into gillary at ages 10,11, or 12, rarely 13. Before this, they have no idea that they are slaves. After they are broken they're built back up into martials and taught exactly what that means, then continue their training.

In the Year 1463ank
By the time our story takes place, martial gilla are few and far between, purely for the fact that they are no longer needed. However, their prowess is passing into legend. though very few ever get the chance to protect their owner from a real threat, they are still feared by both the free and enslaved.

Emlyn Gwen
Emlyn Gwen is a part of this group. As a result, she suffers greatly due to her circumstance of birth. A birthright that neither her, or her future mistress, Sylvia Chronister, knew about. For all they knew, Emlyn was a cousin and each other's best friend.
After Emlyn's late breaking at 15, she jumped whole-heartedly into her role. Due to a series of events, she finds her freedom, or at least she believes so
Note: The horrors of the breaking
the main character is a slave who (almost)completely loses a sense of self
during an event in her life called: the breaking. It obliterates everything they thought they were and makes them malleable before introducing them to martialdom.

Pleasure gilla Primer
Pleasure gilla in this timeline are differentiated from gilla working in brothels. In Kymbri, pleasure gilla belong to an exclusive group that very few other gilla can join, and if one could, then it might seem like a luxurious prison where the flesh is all that matters.

More than flesh
Pleasure gilla are, for the most part, born into the institution. They are given a high level of education on every possible subject, for pleasure does not come only from sex. The ultimate goal is to garner a stable of regular patrons, hopefully outside of their pleasure palace.

Family
Pleasure palaces contain a family of pleasure gilla, bonded to their owners since time out of remembrance. This is the place where they are born, grow, learn, see clients, and die. Because of this, they have strong family ties.

Pleasure Palaces
Pleasure palaces are basically two round buildings connected by two walls with a courtyard in the middle. One building is larger than the other, looking like a large five story column with vegetation on top housing the garden from which the family feeds themselves. This building is where they see their clients. It is the majestic front made to make the patron feel as if they are entering another world. The smaller building is as non-descript as possible. While shorter, it is wider, and meant to house children and older family members. The courtyard is where the pleasure gilla congregate to wash clothes, wash themselves, prepare food, perform rites and celebrate holidays. This area is off limits to outsiders, but a client can view them from the palace balconies if they so desire.
A more recent thing, meaning about 400 years ago, pleasure gilla were divided into palaces based on hair color, starting the trend of calling these places, aurum(or blonde) palaces, sable palaces, umber palaces, and rubi(or red) palaces.

Freedom
Unlike a martial, pleasure gilla can earn their freedom and earn it while they are still young if they are diligent with their patrons. When a pleasure gilla comes of age, they are designated with a forgivence and once they pay this forgivence, they are set free, but are usually offered a job that allows them to still be near their bloodkin.
From the moment they can understand words, pleasure gilla are told that they owe a debt to one ancient god, or another, indoctrinating them into a life of spiritual stress through strivence. Any and every small rebellion is dealt within the family and rarely concerns their owners. This tends to create people, even when free, who are very obedient, or submissive, though this is more of a stereotype than obsolute fact.

Thin bloodlines
The owners of pleasure gilla are fully aware of the dangers of inbreeding. To combat this, they will purchase a young boy from the markets who they call a bull. He will be raised as if he were bloodkin, learn the same lessons, and when he comes of age, be tasked with a forgivence, but when he turns 19, his main purpose is to impregnate. For each healthy child born, a large chunk of his forgivence is absolved. Another way that they refresh bloodlines is to invite suitable patricians for a special night of "games". They are required to wear masks and each must take turns with one female pleasure gilla.