Reading ASOIAF again, why didn't the slavers steal Dany's Dragons.

[Rhaegar Jaime Tyrell]

Hi peeps,

So Daenerys meets the Astaphor slavers. She has less than I think 100 Dothraki. Two old knights and 3 young dragons.

Even before Dany's offer of Drogon, why didn't the slavers just try to kidnap or attack Dany and her people and steal the dragons.

The slavers aren't bothered about honour or theft. The dragons are a mythical super weapon. Apart a fear of the dragons, Im not see why they don't steal them. But the dragons are young, with so many slaves they could have killed a dragon, one might fly away but they would have a dragon.

Any thoughts?

[Xyseth]

Strong moral convictions.

But in reaaallly (I joke), they probably don't want a reputation for stealing from potential customers. If your whole life for generations has depended upon the unmatched reputation of your Unsullied® brand, then you're not automatically think of doing things that might ruin your reputation. Thus there are plausible cognitive barriers to even having the thought, even though the value of dragons might outweigh the damage to one's reputation.

Finally, there's there's the fact that dragons are dragons, who have traditionally only been controlled by Valaryian dragonmasters or their heirs (Targs like Dany). If the thought crosses your mind to steal a dragon, your next thought might go to how you'd control it, so you don't get roasted like Quentyn. Quite smartly, you'd conclude that you'd be better off simply killing it before it gets big. However, if someone who appears to be a dragonmaster offers you a dragon, then you might think, "Oh, so maybe I can control it, if she seems to think so."

[Bright Blue Eyes]

Slavers Bay is built upon commerce and trade. Robbing your customers drives away every other potential customer. Economic apocalypse. End of story.

That's not restricted to primarily trading nations, but applies to literally any rational nation or organization. Even gangs behave accordingly.