You're the Head of a Noble Family (Meereen Edition)

[James Steller]

Imagine you're the Lord/Lady of a Noble House in Meereen (assume it's as old as the others). Your spouse died of a sickness, leaving you as the sole ruler of your house. You and your spouse had three sons and three daughters before that.

Your two eldest sons are 19-year old fraternal twins. Naturally, they are constantly at odds. Each thinks they should be the heir to your house, but what worries you about them both is something much bigger than their petty competitions. They are both disgusted by the cruelties of slavery, though their methods are very different. One of them insists that laws should be made to protect slaves' rights, while the other wants the entire slave industry abolished. You personally always favoured the abolitionist in terms of his superior intellect, but you know that he is too radical for Meereen to ever tolerate him. The other twin is far more able to play the game with the nobility of Meereen, but this is partly due to his less firm moral stance concerning corruption and business. This could lead him eventually just turning a blind eye to slavery in general, while his twin will never lose his resolve.

Your 16-year old daughter is engaged to another House's heir, much to the disgust of her older brothers. Disgust because the family she'll marry into is the biggest trader of slaves in Meereen. Your daughter has never seen slavery as anything but normal and necessary for Meereen to function properly, and anyway she wants to keep living a comfortable life. However, your son heard rumours that her betrothed has a habit of keeping mistresses amongst the prettiest of his slaves. If the source is correct, then several bastards have already been whelped as a result of this habit.

Your youngest daughter, at 12, has befriended a number of the slave children which serve your family. She trusts them absolutely, despite the horrified suggestions by your eldest daughter that the slaves will take advantage of her naivety. She's encouraged by your abolitionist son, who uses her to feed his own arguments. You yourself are caught between these two sides, unsure whether to allow your daughter's befriending of slaves, discourage it, or just ignore it.

Your middle daughter drowned in a shipwreck two years ago, a fact which your youngest son, 17, is still tormented by. He's always been fascinated by boats and had arranged for a sailing adventure with his sister when they both became old enough to go unattended by their parents. The exact reason of the ship's sinking was never made clear, though you and your son both suspect it was due to a poor construction job and an inexperienced crew mostly made up of your son's friends. Your son has become a drunk, shunning your house for fear of your silent hatred towards him. His siblings have all forgiven him and all urge you to reach out and save him from his agony before it's too late.

How do you run this household?

[Floki of the Ironborn]

Well, I'm going to assume this is long before Daenerys shows up. So I'm not counting on slavery being outlawed any time soon.

In which case the abolitionist might end up getting banished for his troubles, or even executed if he becomes too radical. To save him I'll try and persuade him to go live somewhere else. He'll always be my son, and I'll finance him till he earns a living for himself, but I won't have him as my heir.

His twin is less likeable but he's made to survive in this city. He'll be able to keep our family going.

I sit my eldest daughter down and tell her what her beloved is accused of. I ask her if she'd like to be free of the engagement. If she'll accept her husband's attitude and behaviour if it means staying rich, then she can do so. It'll be exactly what she deserves if that's the way she feels about it.

My youngest son screwed up big time, but he can't ruin his life over it. I don't want to lose another child. I reach out to him and help him shape up his act and redeem himself. If he can overcome his grief and depression, I'll make sure he does. Who else will step up if I don't?

As for my youngest daughter, she can keep her friends. I personally do my best to be courteous and benevolent to the slaves living in my household, so I doubt they'll have a reason to hate me. But all the same, maybe have a chaperone hanging back to keep an eye on her wherever she goes.

[Pod The Impaler]

Imagine you're the Lord/Lady of a Noble House in Meereen (assume it's as old as the others). Your spouse died of a sickness, leaving you as the sole ruler of your house. You and your spouse had three sons and three daughters before that.

Your two eldest sons are 19-year old fraternal twins. Naturally, they are constantly at odds. Each thinks they should be the heir to your house, but what worries you about them both is something much bigger than their petty competitions. They are both disgusted by the cruelties of slavery, though their methods are very different. One of them insists that laws should be made to protect slaves' rights, while the other wants the entire slave industry abolished. You personally always favoured the abolitionist in terms of his superior intellect, but you know that he is too radical for Meereen to ever tolerate him. The other twin is far more able to play the game with the nobility of Meereen, but this is partly due to his less firm moral stance concerning corruption and business. This could lead him eventually just turning a blind eye to slavery in general, while his twin will never lose his resolve.

Your 16-year old daughter is engaged to another House's heir, much to the disgust of her older brothers. Disgust because the family she'll marry into is the biggest trader of slaves in Meereen. Your daughter has never seen slavery as anything but normal and necessary for Meereen to function properly, and anyway she wants to keep living a comfortable life. However, your son heard rumours that her betrothed has a habit of keeping mistresses amongst the prettiest of his slaves. If the source is correct, then several bastards have already been whelped as a result of this habit.

Your youngest daughter, at 12, has befriended a number of the slave children which serve your family. She trusts them absolutely, despite the horrified suggestions by your eldest daughter that the slaves will take advantage of her naivety. She's encouraged by your abolitionist son, who uses her to feed his own arguments. You yourself are caught between these two sides, unsure whether to allow your daughter's befriending of slaves, discourage it, or just ignore it.

Your middle daughter drowned in a shipwreck two years ago, a fact which your youngest son, 17, is still tormented by. He's always been fascinated by boats and had arranged for a sailing adventure with his sister when they both became old enough to go unattended by their parents. The exact reason of the ship's sinking was never made clear, though you and your son both suspect it was due to a poor construction job and an inexperienced crew mostly made up of your son's friends. Your son has become a drunk, shunning your house for fear of your silent hatred towards him. His siblings have all forgiven him and all urge you to reach out and save him from his agony before it's too late.

How do you run this household?

I have to tell my abolitionist son this is Meereen, and slavery is woven completely into everything, not just here but all throughout the world as far as Tyrosh and Myr. He may hate slavery, but in fighting it alone, he will do no good here, but would bring death upon his own head and scorn and ruin on our house. He is a young man and does not yet understand. Life can be cruel for slaves, yes, but no less cruel than the great houses are to each other. Any sign of weakness and the others will strike us down. Even if our house abandoned slavery out of kindness, it would be misplaced - the idea of masters possessing slaves is as important as any of the work they do. Strike at the idea, and that is insurrection enough. The rest would rip us apart and then we would be the slaves.

I have to also tell my other twin the difference between a successful family and one that makes a big splash and does nothing. Play the game, but do not be drawn into the action so much that it consumes you. Meereen and the rest of Slaver's Bay is decaying, dying - our great houses have put ever more effort into increasing absurdities, taunting each other with displays of wasted wealth, to show how much they do not have to care. Even the toil of the slaves is squandered on this great nothingness - a thousand intricate steps to dance into a brick wall, as if that ends any differently than running straight into one. My lesson for this son is that he should not waste what we have got on frivolities; nor should he ever risk what we cannot afford to lose.

I will get some worthy ships with good navigators, and send my twins elsewhere, to lands beyond Volantis. Let them go to Braavos, Pentos, or even Westeros. There they should make trade contacts and learn the ways of commerce and industry, and war - without slaves. What is a peasant ? What is a thrall? A king? A lord ? A magister? They will go armed, of course. I will hire a small but reputable group of sellswords and sellsails to travel with them as bodyguards (so they are not picked off by slavers or pirates). A scholar will go with them as well, to chronicle their journey, and continue teaching them. Slaves shall go with them, but only as crew - let them pick able-bodied ones who are loyal. But it is not slave commerce we seek, but knowledge and contacts. If the sea does not suit them, perhaps they can go through the Dothraki sea, by land. The Dothraki will not attack trading caravans. If they can marry some like-minded Meereenese girls and father some children before they go, then great.

My eldest daughter will marry the heir of that other house. But I have a very adult talk with her about the keeping of slave girls by her future husband. Bastard children are not the issue - the children will be slaves, and the girls likely discarded as soon as they are made pregnant. One real worry is disease. Her husband is going to be selecting girls, but she must make sure he selects only previously untouched ones, and not allow them to bed with anyone else. Otherwise he is likely to catch a pox and give it to my daughter. A second real worry is jealousy - competition may drive the slave girls to turn her husband's heart away from her, and her to be cruel to them. And the third issue is that it will not be fair or equal - a man can take a slave concubine with little consequence, but if a wife starts bedding male slaves for her pleasure, she will get pregnant with a slave's child. A husband would never allow that. This is what she faces, marrying such a man; it is the price of all the wealth and prestige. If that does not daunt her, then she can proceed with the marriage as planned.

My youngest daughter will stay by my side, assisting and learning. However, she is still 12 years old and female, so that will have to be the end of her male slave friendships - girls and eunuchs only from now on. And I will remind her that she is still above them in station, even if they were freedmen. There will be tension, even with her friends, as a result of this. As well, I will start having to plan a marriage for her.

My younger son will have to dry out. I will forgive him, but he will have to learn to trust only what is assured. It is my older sons that I have to send away, but if I sent them to sea, and not him, then he will feel crushed. We will talk, and I will tell him that I can send him with his brothers to travel, if that is his wish. Or he can stay by my side, to better make sure that he and my twins do not risk their lives at the same time, and when my twins return, he may set sail himself. (The sea is always a risk - he knows this now.)

If all my sons choose to depart together, I will remarry, and bear more children with some fertile and pretty girl. The children do not need to know this, as it would influence their decisions.

[Poodle Pup From Astapor]

I assume that I have a pyramid in the city and lands in the mountains outside the city, like other great families. I will send my twin sons to my estates outside the city. They can come back when they get back to their senses.

We are Ghiscari, the oldest and proudest civilization in the world. There's no such thing as rights of slaves here, there are no abolitionists. These ideas aren't so much dangerous here, they are just funny. It's like preaching about rights of goats and rats, or calling for freedom of cows. Sure, other families know that there are no slaves in Westeros and in Braavos, but those are all barbarians, childish nations. Harpies don't worry about ideas of mice. Harpies live forever, mice come and go.

Other families would simply laugh at us, if they learned about these ideas. It would get even worse if one of these boys became the head of our family. People wouldn't respect us, they wouldn't take us seriously. No one would consider my sons dangerous here, no one would persecute them, they would all just laugh.

My sons will live in two separate countryside estates, look after the harvest, read history books, make babies with bed slaves. They won't communicate with each other. Neither of them will come back to Meereen until they've forgotten their ridiculous ideas completely. They will come back as proud Ghiscari or not at all.

I will talk to my third son, maybe he can turn it around. Ships sink. I wonder if he still loves ships, or if it would be too traumatic now. Maybe he could get away from his morose thoughts if I put him in charge of some trade ship.

Either way, I won't make a decision on who's my heir for now. Two of my sons sound insane and the third is a drunk, so hopefully I don't die soon, because my family would be in trouble. I hope that one of them overcomes his issues and proves to be worthy to inherit.

My first daughter is fine. She will marry the heir of one of the most powerful families of Meereen. It's completely normal for a noble to have some bed slaves and bastards. If my sons don't mess it up, this will be a great alliance for our family too.

My youngest daughter is fine, but I need to make sure that she spends more time with noble kids. As far as slave children, they are just pets, no different than cats and dogs, so as long as they are well trained, I don't see any problem with it. A lot of people see their pets as their best friends. The important thing is that she spends time with her peers too, otherwise she won't develop her social skills.

[Maid So Fair]

I will reach out to my estranged son and embrace him back into the family. No one is going to benefit from him becoming a drunken wastrel, least of all me and my family legacy. His sister's death was tragic, but hopefully he has learned his lessons from it and it's time he became useful again.

My twin sons are at odds, and the abolitionist tendencies could easily get one of them into a lot of trouble with other families. As the situation stands, he's not really suited to Meereen life, but he is still my son. I will therefore give him and my youngest a proposal - my youngest son loves sailing, and his elder brother would be better off in a position where he does not want to directly be involved with slave trade. I will therefore use a portion of my wealth to diversify my assets and to buy a sturdy fleet (with competent crew), and send my two sons off to take up goods in Quarth (or other nearby port) and establish a trading route to one of the Free Cities or even Westeros. This made the Sea Snake a rich man and if my sons prove competent they will fare the same. It will also protect me against price fluctuations in the slave trade.

The whoring habits of my potential son-in-law are troublesome, but not unusual among young men of Meereen. If I confirm the rumours, I will speak to my daughter about the situation to make sure she's going into the marriage with open eyes and knows exactly what precautions to take. If she hasn't served her time at the Temple of the Graces, this would be the time. If she has and is still happy to marry her betrothed, she is welcome to do so as it's a good business connection if nothing else. If she is unwilling, I will try to find her a suitable match with someone of sufficient social standing who is not die-hard slaver.

My youngest daughter has way too much time on her hands so I shall organise her time more effectively. During the week she will be sent to live at the temple of the graces, where she can learn useful skills and find more socially acceptable friends. Hopefully, being away from home for the first time will help cure her of her naivety. She's still young. When she's home for the weekends, I will get her to spend some time with my elder daughter, shadowing her as she does her errands so she can learn what's expected of a proper lady of Old Ghis. If there is a particular slave or slaves she likes spending time with, I will also allow her to free them and they will be offered a lump sum of gold and a passage to their homeland or employment in my services. If they leave, she will have hopefully learned her lesson, and if not then they are probably trustworthy.