Page 99 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

like to have more than three creatures under their personal a master. Many don’t live long enough to be returned to the
enslavement at any given time, even if their Charisma scores slave quarters; they react to their freedom by trying to escape.
would allow them to keep more. With more than that, they Umber hulks, never the most thoughtful or gentle of guardians,
run an ever-greater risk of losing control over one or several respond by killing the would-be escapees. A dead neogi’s umber
and being murdered in their homes. hulk servants can be reassigned to another neogi. Barring
that, they become the property of the administrarch, at least
The Third Tier temporarily.
The third tier of slavery is the cadre of umber hulks that serve Neogi that were owned by the recently deceased become
the neogi. These are born and bred to slavery, and through free. Their obligation is complete. This has a remarkable effect
lifelong conditioning, they accept their position as part of
on leadership within the neogi tribe. The administrarch
CHAPTER 5 THE SLAVE TAKERS the natural order. Each neogi, upon reaching adulthood, is is, by definition, the largest single slaveholder in the tribe.

Leadership can change as the balance of slave ownership
presented with an umber hulk slave by the administrarch. An
changes. This is rare because of the way wealth begets more
additional umber hulk might be awarded in recognition of a
wealth. It’s not uncommon for the largest slave owner—the
great deed or great service to the tribe. In this way, individual
neogi can accumulate two, three, four, or even more umber

hulk slaves. Having more than two is considered a significant administrarch—to own the second-largest slave owner as one
of its slaves. On the passing of the administrarch, one of its
honor. slaves becomes the new administrarch in a smooth transition
of power. Being the slave of another neogi does not make a
The Fourth Tier neogi unworthy, though it does reduce the creature’s status.
The fourth tier of slave ownership is, of course, owning other
neogi. This state comes about most commonly through non- LANGUAGE
payment of debts. Neogi take debts very seriously. They loan Neogi long ago abandoned or forgot their own language,
money freely but at high rates of interest. Missing a single adopting instead the languages of their “customers.” Neogi

repayment is sufficient cause to become enslaved, and so is speak Common, even among themselves. Since they make use
damaging someone’s property to an extent that exceeds a of subterranean lairs and bases and deal with creatures such

neogi’s ability to pay. A neogi owing more than it can pay for as mind flayers and other deep-dwelling monsters, they also
any reason, in fact, leads to its enslavement. Gambling debts are master Undercommon early on. Many also speak Terran.
the leading culprits here; neogi are compulsive gamblers.
Neogi-to-neogi slavery functions differently from the other RELIGION
tiers. They do not use their mental enslavement power on one With religion, as with most things, neogi are opportunists. No
another; the rigidity of their society is enough to force compli- matter what god they consider their primary deity, they at least
ance. This type of slavery has as much kinship with feudalism pay lip service to others, if only to cover all bets. Consequently,
as with a more traditional definition of slavery. A neogi slave neogi are indifferent to specific deities, professing worship in

is more than property, but less than subject. whichever power strikes them as most convenient at the time.
More important, a neogi that becomes a slave does not lose They have even been known to profess veneration for human
its own slaves. Those slaves still belong to it, but they also deities, such as Fharlanghn or St. Cuthbert, but this is almost
belong to the neogi’s owner. If that neogi is, in turn, owned always a negotiating ploy of some kind.
by another, then all of its slaves are tallied as possessions of When not seeking advantage from some power or another,
the third neogi. In this way, neogi can amass large numbers the most commonly worshiped god among neogi is Tharizdun.
of slaves without overtaxing their ability to keep them all In the darkness and entropy of Tharizdun, the neogi see a sort
enslaved. of divine rapacity that merits their respect. Although Thariz-
The most unusual situation occurs in what the neogi term dun rarely rewards his worshipers with spells or divine favor,
“the great wheel of ownership.” Consider a situation in which neogi that follow him believe that taking wealth and property
neogi A belongs to neogi B, B belongs to C, and C belongs to D. from others and hoarding it for themselves is a metaphor for
It is conceivable that through the vagaries of misfortune, neogi consuming the world around them.
D could become the property of neogi A, creating a circular Less philosophical neogi sometimes venerate the terrible
ring of ownership with no neogi at its head as the undisputed being known as the Patient One. Neogi of this stripe tend
owner. In this case, all neogi involved become the property of to be physically gluttonous creatures that relish the act of
the administrarch, retaining individual control over only their devouring intelligent victims. Destroying a being for one’s
personally held slaves and umber hulks. The neogi seek to avoid personal sustenance is the most complete form of dominion
this situation because it strips them of hard-won wealth. one creature can exert over another. Neogi followers of the
Another important question of ownership arises when a Patient One ritually devour their less-useful slaves as an
neogi dies or becomes a great old master. What becomes of its expression of religious fervor.

slaves? Its personal, second-tier slaves are returned to the first- The cult of Vecna has a small but slowly growing follow-
tier pool. This needs to be done quickly, because their mental ing among neogi. The Maimed Lord appeals strongly to all
enslavement ends at the moment the neogi dies or becomes the worst traits in neogi psychology: their penchant for evil,
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