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"What do you mean, you only have some untamed orcs for us?" the drow said, as she covered her eyes from the sun with a hand in annoyance. These business where lucrative, but she hated that they always had to be done in the surface, as few humans would venture in the underworld of Kazrrad, fearing an ambush of their trade partners, the drow. Wrong they wouldn't be, she recognized to herself... but coming to the surface always made she wonder, not if but when the humans slavers of Roccasone would try to do the same to them... that's why always each retinue of slavers brought not few armed guards, not only to handle the Goods, but as well in case somebody was feeling like double crossing the other

 the Roccasonian slaver grabbed one of the orcs by his hair. "They may be untamed, but they are strong ones! They would be useful miners!" Green orcs of Polforia, of one of the mountain tribes: lately, they had been becoming more and more a nuiseance to the Gate City of Roccasone, Door to the West: in the past, the orcs tribes where considered only a pest, but there had been rumours that a demon-orc was gathering and organizing them again. While the people of Roccasone felt safe in their walls, they couldn't but feel uneasy, remembering how other of the Polforian states, the attempted colonies by humans and elves in Polforia -the Outregam- had one after one fallen, being Roccasone one of the last footholds of humanity in Polforia.

"We had talked about this. We already have plenty of unskilled labor: we wanted some more refined slaves! You promised us surface elves!"

"You well know the nobles get the firsts picks, and elves are too valuable slaves: they are always among the first to be picked and sold"

"Then what else you have me to offer?" the drow said impatient.

"We captured yet more Cave Goblins". Since the Ur Dur Cave goblins arrived during the Sargonic Wars, they had quickly spread like a plague in the Dargoinan mountains and under them, in the Underworld of Kazrrad.

"I'm up my nose of Cave Goblins! No one want to see them around!! Come on, I'm here for some skilled labor. What about some spare human slaves you have?"

 "That you know too. We can't sell humans to non-humans according to our laws".

Not always Roccasone had been a slaver city: only in the last decades -since it's independence from the Sargos-Degoland Union- it had made this turn: indeed there had been slavery before of non-humans -once the initial fanaticism of the settlers that was based in killing all the non-humans -or the ones that were considered as non-acceptable non-humans, that's it- moved to a more pragmatical view of enslaving them. But since Roccasone became independent as result of the Sargonic Wars, their economy had became more and more based in ownership of slaves and slave trade.

Not only non-humans where enslaved, but humans too: but unlike non-humans, Roccasonians tried to convert them to Christianity: much of the early spirit of the Outregam was for long dead and buried along with most of the Outregam kingdoms, but they still kept that religious aspect of conversion of demon cultists and pagan humans to Christianity -by the cross or the sword, of course-.

"Come on, give me something to work with!"

"We can't sell you Christians!"

"Then sell me some pagans or demon servers your priests hadn't the chance to convert!"

"I... I think we have something like that in stock...

What about you? Had you gotten the promised ogre for the Old Theater? or the Succubus?"

"I have got a cave troll that would work just fine" the drow said. "The demoness, it's not so easy: it's not like you can lift a stone and find a demon, you know! Less one that you can bind her magic off!"

"A Cave troll would do it." the human slaver said, and giving a nudge to one of his comrades, he handed to the drow the coins. "I was wondering something. Have you get some freaks?"

"Freaks?"

"Weird Half Breeds. Monstrosities. They can sell quite well for the Old Theater. "

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The Independence of Roccasone meant at the same time the end of the stipend paid by the Kingdom of Sargos to their former duchy, stipend which they used to pay the costs of a larger army and fortifications that otherwise the Roccasonians in their own wouldn't be able to pay themselves.

Roccasone had enemies at it's borders, and they needed to pay their armies to deter them from invading: and to pay them, their armies began to engage in large raids for loot and slaves: but this further escalated the conflict with their Polforian neighbors, falling a vicious circle:

Roccasone waged war, to pay for the war.

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When I drew this, I wondered about making the slaves to be ozcuras or elves for them to be more emphatic for the viewer, but I feel it would be too easy, almost like cheating... so I did them orcs... 

...and I would say, I was quite surprised no one seemed to comment a bit more on their misfortune, or empathize with them!

Poor orcs, nobody likes them v___v

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Just to show a bit the process, for now you have the rough sketch that serves me as base!

The characters are humans of the petty kingdom of Roccasone, a borderland region of humanity that was seen as the Gate to the Five Kingdoms: however, independence affected them negatively and made their economy more and more dependent of slave trade.

The drow woman is a Dungeandar drow, well known for being slavers -and societies always needy of slaves-. While not completely an open business for some hostility between the Roccasonian and non-humans, profit is a language beyond many frontiers...

Drawing done as a birthday gift for

Drawing process:

First step: sketch made out of graphite! Graphite sketch
Second step : to fix some stuff wasn't happy too, and I begin inking the "big lines". Normally there I fix a bit composition. Only this are done, I sketch the background or would be too messy the lines to follow! Beginning to ink, trying to fix stuff
Third Step: What I call the "big lines": now I have inked all the graphite lines and added a background: this is what I do before going to the "fine lines", all these little details and textures!
As you see, here it lacks depth! Big Lines
Fourth Step: "Small lines" or "details": here I go with a finer inking pen, adding details, shadows and texturing, and as well trying to fix some mistakes or what I noticed it was lacking! (for example, the hairline of the drow was too high, or the handbag of the crossbowman, which was missing! As well to try to avoid some characters getting "lost" in the background, thickened some lines. WILL ADD SOON WITH BETTER INTERNET THIS STEP
Fifth Step: I added the graphite greys: normally THIS is the moment when I scan things!
But then is only the sixth and final step: digitally editing it -to fix among other things some pesky anatomy mistakes that have been bugging me since step 3! WILL ADD SOON WITH BETTER INTERNET THIS STEP
SIXTH AND FINAL STEP: Digitally I add some greys -so all the uploads I do look more or less similar- and I fix some problems that where bugging me. As well, here I add lights and shadows and: TADAH! Normally this is the final piece I post!

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