Highjohn wrote: SNIP
Two things.
One: Slavery isn't a huge issue. there doesn't seem to be international trade in slaves or any large(international or national) movements against it on Safehold. There may be but RFC hasn't mentioned them. The slavery issue has been a minor plot point. An important one which impacts on many points in the story(spies in the inquisition anyone?). But minor.
Two: RFC is already working towards such a proclamation(I think we will see one in HFQ). It was mention in a conversation between Caleyb and Nynian. On the subject of the documents she sent to Charis. This isn't about slavery but given the whole basis of the war(Religious authority, not slavery like the American Civil War) that would make a much better proclamation.
I agree that there doesn't appear to be any organized slave trade on Safehold that we've heard of, but it seems fairly clear that the degree of serfdom or slavery, call it what you will, is mostly a national issue. The clergy in Harchong indoctrinate the serfs to accept that God has put them in a state of servitude during their years of "school" instead of teaching them to read and write. I suspect that the clergy in Desnair does pretty much the same thing with the slaves there. Despite the reliability of Harchong from Clyntahn's perspective, there have been numerous slave rebellions in the past, and were a reformist movement to take root there, the mother of all slave revolts could result - especially if the defeated war veterans are allowed to return home, or fight their way back.
Thus a declaration from the CoC that God never intended for his children to be enslaved by one another (as opposed to having national rulers and governments to enforce laws enabling men to live in peace in society) would appeal to the enslaved masses. The fact that Charis has outlawed serfdom or restricting people to labor on the land on which they were born, (which is done in the Temple Lands) as well as the outright slavery practiced in Desnair should serve as a beacon to the rest of the world - but the downtrodden of the mainland nations need to be
told about it. OWL can post broadsheets everywhere, but illiterate people can't read them, and I suspect it will become a capital crime to be caught reading those broadsheets to serfs or slaves.
In regards to a religious declaration, I suspect you're referring to the doctrinal change that the Grand Vicar is infallible and speaks with the voice of God, which was introduced centuries ago but was never part of the Writ. Making that public would help if people believed it, since the unpopularity of the Go4 who control the Grand Vicar may have already led to general dissatisfaction with the war - provided the general populace is allowed to find out the truth of the CoGA's defeats, which is doubtful. (Minus OWL's broadsheets of course.)
Outing the perversions of the numerous vicars who Clyntahn has under his thumb through blackmail (and terror of torture and execution at this point) would raise general outrage against the corruption of the vicarate, and if widely accepted, would also reduce support for the war effort. Unfortunately, that's a
big if. Most of the mainland population isn't likely to believe the words of heretics and excommunicates, especially when the heretics are denouncing the leadership of the CoGA. Temple Loyalists will rally to what they know rather than admit the obvious - and it's not healthy to be a reformist in the mainland realms.
It's already widely known among the soldiers of the CoGA that they have the option to surrender because the allies have repudiated the use of the Question and the Punishment of Schueler. Unfortunately, the sadists who fill the ranks of the Inquisition rather enjoy torturing prisoners - and what sort of sick mind do you have to possess to do that sort of thing to you fellow man, even if you are deluded into believing that you are saving their souls?
Putting captured allied prisoners to the Punishment has several side effects that Clyntahn obviously didn't foresee: allied forces will fight to the last man rather than surrender, which gets a lot more of
his soldiers killed, the CoC has declared open season on the Inquisition, and many of the soldiers of the CoGA and the people who survive the Inquisition's purges are sick to death of the carnage inflicted in the name of God and the archangels. Some of his troops who have witnessed these atrocities are likely questioning their faith. We haven't had much textev of it, but it's happening. Clyntahn's tactics are fanning the flames of the Reformist movement like never before.
Unfortunately, it's difficult for CoGA troops to surrender if an inquisitor is with them, so there's undoubtedly been a lot of priests from the Order of Schueler who were somehow killed by "enemy gunfire" striking them from behind! Expect
much more of that in the battles to come. The armies of the CoGA may end up killing more inquisitors than the allies ever do. Note that when DE managed to capture thousands of enemy soldiers, there were only 50 surviving inquisitors whose heads ended up on stakes near the enemy lines...
Ok, maybe that's just the number of heads that DE allowed his scout snipers to impale on stakes to destroy enemy morale. He undoubtedly
did enforce EoC policy and have all the captured inquisitors executed though.
I'm not sure if a religious declaration denouncing the infallibility of the Grand Vicar while cataloging the perversions of vicars by name will have much effect, other than chasing those vicars into hiding and destroying their moral authority. It certainly won't
hurt the allied cause, so I'm all for it!
and, Mangy Fur the Smart Alick Spacecat.