The Long Walk [Slave Revolt/Escape]

[Sol]

Surrounded on all sides by merciless desert but promising precious water and shelter, Gadgetzan is an oasis for some and a prison for others.

You see, the Cartel is strategic in choosing where it settles. All of the lands the Cartel make holdings in are, to the layman's eye, exotic - teeming with primitive savages, daring frontiersmen and foolhardy adventurers alike. This means there's good slaving to be had. Boats are boarded in Ratchet, with cargo brought in from the Barrens and beyond the Great Sea alike. Catches are kept in quarters befitting their station as these decrepit galleons holding them creep down the eastern coast of Kalimdor. Upon disembarking out of Steamwheedle Port, the Long Walk to Gadgetzan begins.

It's simply impractical to move large groups slaves in one go. It's difficult enough in a desert to carry supplies for more than ten, let alone more than a hundred - and besides, the more of them there are, the more chance they have of successfully resisting. Bound in chains, tethered to faces they don't know, surrounded by blackjacks ready to swing, one would think that this would be a deterrent enough.

But then there's the desert. Impractical though it is, the Long Walk is usually done at the highest hour of the day. The sun of Tanaris is harsher a master than even the most callous of the Cartel's handlers. For many, the beating sun, the white sand as far as the eye can see, the grinding march through open space is the last glimpse of any sort of freedom a Cartel slave sees before being sold off. Some say it's intended to remind the slave just how harsh "freedom" can be.

But freedom is still, at the end of the day, freedom. Some would rather take their chances with it than to take no chance at all.
Escape? Improbable.
Survival? Impossible.
But it doesn't stop a foolhardy few, once in a while, from trying their hands at both. Faced with the choice between filling the pockets of goblins and filling the stomachs of vultures, some still choose to try and take a third option.

The annoying OOC stuff

Basically, this is the event that came out of this planning thread. Its premise is simple - while being transported from one Cartel settlement to another, a group of slaves (that's you) decide to try their luck against their captors (that's also you) before they can be sold off to some prospective buyers (again, you. Seeing the pattern?). In doing so, they risk life and limb against the vengeance of their former masters and the elements alike as they struggle against all odds to earn their freedom.

I'll now break down the roles that could be played.

• The slaves can be of any race, any gender and any class (preferably non-magical, however - otherwise, disarming you would do no good). They can be from any sort of background. The one thing they have in common is that they have all, at some point, been set upon in a group, captured (off-screen) by Cartel-aligned slavers and put in chains. They could be well-acquainted with the whip and irons already or they could have literally been caught the day before the event takes place, it doesn't matter. Again, this role is open to all characters. Rest assured that your character will avoid undergoing any lasting harm and/or death in this role, unless you explicitly consent for it.
  
  
• The slavers can be of any race, any gender and any class. They can be from any sort of background. The one thing they have in common is that they have all, at some point, signed up to work for the Cartel, be it as employees or independent contractors. I envision that this role will be filled by one or two slaveowners and a pack of hired mercenaries using the Cartel to facilitate business. Again, this role is open to all characters - but I'd prefer it if most of them were more concerned about getting paid than morality. (This rule applies to all but one. If possible, I'd like one or more guards to sympathise with the slaves and facilitate their escape. If you're interested in this role, we can arrange something specifically in-game.)
  
  
• The buyers can be of any race, any gender and any class. They can be from any sort of background. The one thing in common is that they have all, quite recently, decided they want to buy slaves for whatever purpose. Do you want a personal assistant? A house cleaner? A guinea pig for your experiments? Hell, a wife? One or more of the slaves in our event has caught your eye. (If you want to buy a slave to free them, talk to me - I'll see if I can work you, along with any sympathetic guards, into the event.) How this will work is any buyers will bump into the slaves and slavers on the road. Our slavers will decide that some of their wares can go unaccounted for among the Cartel - after all, there's bound to be a few deaths on the road - if they're willing to pay up.
  

Ideally, the buyers and slavers will get caught up in haggling on the road to give our slaves enough time to make their move. From this point, the event will follow a rough, scripted progression of events which prompt the slaves to choose then to act, and then it'll be fairly freeform, still DMed by me.

Participants
Right now, I'm filling out this list based on previously expressed interest. Here goes:

The Slaves
For this role, we could do with between four to eight people.

• Ul'wey (Sol)
  
• Ahrren (Kepora)
  
• Unspecified character (Rowgen)
  
• Se'madi (Aphetoros)
  
• His secret character of ultimate secrecy (Uthaniel)
  
• Parth (Avon)
  

The Slavers
For this role, we could do with between three (one owner/two guards) and six (two owners/four guards) people.

• Sangreala (Psycho)
  
• Drakh (13kira13)
  
• Skipper (Wuvvums)
  
• Daerius (IsolimTso)
  
• Unspecified character (Krent)

The Buyers
Any number of buyers are welcome to participate. We need a minimum of one to make the event work.

• Gregarous (rodentjoe)
  
• Ammasrian (Cressy)
  
• Unspecified character (Delta)
  
• Unspecified character (Cassius)
  
• Unspecified character (LostStranger)
  

If I've missed anyone, be sure to let me know. If you've got comments, critique, suggestions or you'd like to express interest in participating, post below. The date and time are both still undecided. Once we've verified enough interest, I'll stick a poll up with a few likely options.

Cheers, guys.

-Sol

[Aphetoros]

Se'madi, troll. Interested in being a slave.

[Wuvvums]

Skipper, slaver

[Cressy]

I have a buyer/slaver. Ammasrian.

[Delta]

I see you have a lopsided dynamic. Allow me to assist.

Unspecified buyer.

[Sol]

Alright! All of you so far have been added to the list. Thanks for expressing interest, I'll try not to disappoint.

Cressy, I've put you down as a Buyer, to accommodate for the lopsided dynamic Delta mentioned. If you'd rather be a Slaver, just say, mmkay? The listing is just so I can get a rough estimate of the numbers I'll be dealing with for the overall event and for each little faction within it. Jumping faction at any point before the event itself is A-okay, folks.

Having said that, I think we could do with some slaves and slaver guards at the moment! Psycho and Wuvvums vested their interest in being our slave-sellers in the original thread, but we only have one guard so far. Likewise, we could always do with a few more slaves for them to be escorting! After all, the slaves are supposed to be breaking free, and there's strength in numbers.

Also, what say those who've expressed interest to arranging some preliminary RP? Between slaves, it'd be getting to know one another, and between slavers/buyers it'd be making business arrangements, etc. Between slaves and slavers we could even stage a few captures once we get some more numbers, if that sounds cool to anyone. The whole affair might feel less contrived/slapped together if there's history between the involved characters beforehand.

[Kepora]

If I can get Ahrren (my Gnoll) in on this, I'll be stickin' with the slave role. You already see 'em in groups of mercs and even as slaves in-game already, so...we'll see how this goes! XD

[Psycho]

Just confirmin' my arrival!

[Cressy]

Sounds fine to me, Sol!

I just want to make sure, Ammasrian isn't killed as he is part of another storyline as well.

[Delta]

I'll take some preliminary RP if it's going.

Before 4pm ST is most ideal for me.

[Uthaniel]

Oh, oh, oh, can I be a slave?

With my secret character of ultimate secrecy.

[Rowgen]

Joining with Human slave... Just gotta come up with a name. Lol.

Edit; I plan to use the slave after the line, too, of course. I was anyway working on an idea, might as well start the character in an event xD

[Kira13]

Just confirmin' my arrival!

As a what, and which character?
PM me if there's any problem. :wink:

Edit: Great, there's no ":wink:".

[rodentjoe]

Hey Sol. Just posting to inform you the the buyer I had for this RP (Kazuru) had some IC moral changes and can't make it -BUT- not to fear. I still have a character (Gregarous Fidalloper) who's story I need to get start, so he's going to be filling in the buyer role.

BTW. Do you have a set date yet?

[Kepora]

I'm curious as to a date as well. I started talking to Kret as well about Ahrren and this RP; he was under the assumption that it was a guild event, and I pointed out to him that it doesn't even SAY guild anywhere in this thread. If I've misinformed him then please correct me.