Deathwatches

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

At some point, I'm going to be starting another Keptverse series, and I started wondering....what happens when a master dies? Presumably, you can will your slaves to your heirs, but until the estate is settled, would Commerce want someone in the household to make sure no one tries to run? What do people think?

ETA: To be more specific:

Lord X has been ill for several years, and has been comatose for the past few months. His breathing and heart rate suddenly become very erratic, so his Agent calls the doctor. About two hours later, the monitor flatlines. It's 3 am. What happens next?

Comments

[stewardess.livejournal.com]

I think a "field hand" slave such as Jared would remain in place, because his work is important to the overall value of the estate.

But would a body slave's job really be over when his or her master died? Isn't it likely that, over time, body slaves would acquire traditional "death duties"? A body slave may be expected to do a whole bunch of stuff: laying out the body, arranging the funeral, ordering flowers, cancelling social engagements and magazine subscriptions -- putting his or her master's affairs in order, in short.

The body slave obviously wouldn't be the executor for the estate, but could report to the executor until the estate was settled. The executor would have to notify Commerce of the situation, and would be responsible for "owning" the slave until the estate was settled.

A master could designate, upon his death, that some or all of his slaves be sold, with the proceeds going to his heirs.

The circumstances of slaves after a master died was frequently a legal nightmare in the American south. It was not unusual for heirs to sue each other over slave ownership, and sometimes the eventual settlement would require that the slaves be sold so the proceeds could be divided. A slave's status could remain in limbo for literally years. Sometimes the slave was hired out in the interim, with wages going to the estate.

Manumission complicated matters enormously, since a master would sometimes designate that a slave would be freed upon his/her death, or after 20 years of service. Unsurprisingly, heirs frequently ignored these provisions.

[stewardess.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Now I'm picturing a ritual that has been slowly modernized.

In the old days, body slaves held 48 hour vigils over the dead master, and maybe shaved their hair off in mourning. Since modern burial methods make a 48 hour vigil impossible, and body slaves without hair on their heads have a lower value, the ritual has become almost entirely symbolic. But what would it be? I can imagine the ritual in Hawaii would be vastly different from the rest of the US.

[stewardess.livejournal.com]

*coughs* I swear I am not trying to bunny you into oblivion.

The body slave's death duties would include all the awful crap no one is prepared to deal with. For instance, answering questions such as: should the body be cremated with dentures and glasses or without? It would be interesting to contrast, in the story, the heir's concerns about his massive new wealth, and the old body slave's concerns, such as figuring out what to do with his master's dentures, or sex toys.

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

What makes this even more complicated is that there is no body slave. The master's been sick for a while and didn't go out much, if at all. His former body-slave, Viggo, has been running the household, and his main concern is making sure that the new Lord Isaacs doesn't fuck anything up.

*halo*

[stewardess.livejournal.com]

So Viggo is the butler? Then he would presumably take on the role of Chief Mourner Among The Slaves.

I'm basing the scenario on the way slaves/wives were treated in the past when the head of the family died: badly. But I suppose slaves in the keptverse wouldn't be entombed with their master, or burned on his pyre, though. :p

I'm now starting to wonder about pre-Commerce days, and how and when and why government regulation was introduced.

[aecamadi.livejournal.com]

Have you read "Roots" at all? I'm remembering Chicken George "pilfering" his emancipation papers from his dead (or dead drunk?) master's lockbox and running for his life.

[stewardess.livejournal.com]

I read it quite a while ago.

I recently read a new book on Harriet Tubman. The crappy legal mess that affected her family (parents, sisters) is one reason she brought them to freedom. Her mother was legally freed twice, but was still held in bondage.

[aecamadi.livejournal.com]

I need to read a biography on her. Somehow I've missed it.

[stewardess.livejournal.com]

The one I just read is "Harriet Tubman" by Beverly Lowry.