[Ashley] I'm not sure Joy is someome capable of feeling annoyance, but she doesn't forget either.
Slave ownership in Farûn and more locally in Neverwinter is a seedy business, but enjoyed legal protection. Legal slaves could fetch as much as 2000gp or more if unbroken and unmolested. They were considered in new condition in that case. Broken slaves, well tamed, were less desired as the master, especially nobility, considered them a risk to their loyalty though it was a very minor risk.
Especially beautiful slaves were almost exclusively held by nobility, it wasn't just because they could easily afford them, but because they were the premier customers and often had first rights to them in all but rare circumstances.
There were a few ways to become a legal slave: through debt, through crime punishment, by being sold by relatives or orphanages, but in that case they needed to be 10 and under, otherwise they would have a legal say, and selling yourself. Needless to say most slaves were aquired as children.
The paperwork was trivial to a noble, and the process was similarly trivial, simply put, if a noble asked for your child "to work for them" you had two options, accept the payment, usually way undercut, or face other legal and mortal challenges. The former was a given in most cases, as heartbreaking as that sounds. The poor were generally tolerated at the pleasure of the nobility.
Only large land owners, barons and nobility and royalty could afford them and of course the slave registration fees were similarly unaffordable, the state needs their cut.
The modern collar was special in that it required bonding between a master and slave, that was overseen by a magistrate and performed irreversibly by a wizard's Cypher. That information was held at the Hall of Justice under extreme security. The collar was also slim, no moving parts, comfortable, comformed to the neck and lightweight metalic, typically mythril, sometimes adornrd with jewels.
The only way to release a slave was through an equally costly process with the magistrate's oversight and the presence of the owner.
