Spirit slavery, the art of enslaving the soul; binding the essence; trapping the spirit. A uncommon practice within Tenaria RPG; but it is known to happen. This is no mere 'I have your soul, you are mine'. No, this is an artform, perfected over countless years by the Twisting Nether disciples. I will explain later in this article the exact purpose of the slavery, how to do it, when, where, and why. It is a ritual, binding a spirit, not a common thing to be tossed around in the middle of some seedy tavern. A art, as I said. Easily it can go wrong, and destroy the caster completely. It is somthing that takes years to master, and when then it is not done often.

1:Learning the skill.

Not many masters remain who know the Spirit Slavery ritual. Sure, many characters in Tenaria can enslave a soul, alter a mind; or even bond someone to them. We see it all the time. TRUE slavery goes beyound even the wildest mages dreams. It is a thing of beauty, perfected over eons of practice. Learning the skill requires the utmost self-discipline. Those that learn, only one in ten survive to master. Of course, one would need a master devote in the rituals used within the slavery-pact. It is best to seek out a character who knows it, not merely claim to learn it. Learn it through practice, from a master-character. That way, the questions left drifting from this article can be answered; not to mention I don't want to see my skills misused.

While learning this in character, you will also learn to grasp the fine points of it on a more personal level. YOU the player, and YOU the character will grow into the knowledge of how to complete the rituals, bend it, manipulate it, distort it.

2:The Ritual of Binding.

The ritual its self is rather complex, weaving together a matrix of energies, while distorting the spirit. It requires a sacrifice on both sides. The initial spells are common, somewhat. Rather, they are common to the darker side of the arts. A summoning circle, much like those used to house a powerful demon when summoned from its plane of existance. The circle must be totally perfect, or risk the wrath of outside magics drifting in; which will happen as the ritual its self sucks in magic, the essence of magic from everything around it. Next comes the blood sacrifice; of both the caster and the slave. Droplets of blood are to mingle together in a specially picked, and prepared goblet. Prepared with the proper spells, of course {astral projection, telepathy, command word, glyph of warding, and circle of protection: these spells are to be laid upon the goblet (sounds impossible eh? I'll explain later).}

After the blood, comes the cords. black silk, red velvet, white cotton, green hemp, and silver wool. These have a specific purpose, as each symbolize a different aspect of the slavery. Each are bound; while the caster speaks the command words, and repeats the chants using the victoms name in them. The blood is sprinkled with crushed horn of a unicorn, and nightshade leaves, crushed to a fine powder.

Thought I was going to tell you the rest, didn't you? Ha! Foolish meat puppet, you do not get to know -all- the secrets of this ritual. Learn from a character, and you will know the rest.

3:Compact of the damned.

After the ritual of binding is completed, the compact will be formed. The link between master and servant; ruler and subject. Within the sphere of the compact the caster may specify things the slave is to do, not to, not speak of, remember, what have you. Now, remember this will complicate things. If you tell the slave not to remember its parents, you damn well better believe it won't; or anything learned , heard, or spoken from them. Be careful when using it, as not to fuck up past plots, roleplay, and general fun. That is, unless you are a mean bastard like me and do not care.

The slave was no imput in this compact, save to agree unless the ritual was not completed correctly; in which case the slave may turn tables and become the master. Be careful, and do not forget any step in the ritual.

4: Death of the victom; birth of the slave.

Once the ritual, and compact are completed the victom; the person they were ceases to exist. For all due purposes, the person died and was replaced by the slave. This is not a thing easily broken, or dismissed. Your run of the mill mage can not reverse it, nor your archmages. To be reversed, the counter-ritual must be completed by a being well versed in both the Bond and the counter bond. The slave will preform the tasks appointed to it, -IF- it is possible for them to do so. A slave will not walk into a lake of lava, and return with a dropped coin. The slave will die. Do not ask for things that can not happen, for the slave can not do them. Keep in mind that this slave is bound to the caster, that does not mean it can not say what it thinks, unless otherwise specified in the Compact. So, if you want a silent slave cut its tongue out or command it to silence during the compact.