So how would the church come down on the question of slavery, at least in a nation where it was leagal? Any thoughts?
If the slave comes into their servitude through legal means (contracts, punishment for crimes, etc.) I think Abadar and the church as an organization would be alright with it.
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The church of Abadar would (generally) probably want to have slavery be a legally defined social status with specific rights and responsibilities, as well as defined methods of sentencing or manumission (similar to many historical systems, such as serfdom, debt bondage, etc.). In many such systems, "slaves" are allowed to own property/wealth and even work for their own advancement/freedom through legal means (i.e., "buy" themself from their owner, freehold, borough charters, etc.); in many cases "slaves" actually filled powerful positions in the social hierarchy (i.e., IIRC the eunich caste in Byzantium and the Caliphates were technically slaves, but held considerable bureaucratic influence).
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The church of Abadar would (generally) probably want to have slavery be a legally defined social status with specific rights and responsibilities, as well as defined methods of sentencing or manumission (similar to many historical systems, such as serfdom, debt bondage, etc.). In many such systems, "slaves" are allowed to own property/wealth and even work for their own advancement/freedom through legal means (i.e., "buy" themself from their owner, freehold, borough charters, etc.); in many cases "slaves" actually filled powerful positions in the social hierarchy (i.e., IIRC the eunich caste in Byzantium and the Caliphates were technically slaves, but held considerable bureaucratic influence).
+1 to this. Adabar, being LN and being all about commerce, wouldn't oppose slavery, as long as it were legal, with well defined boundaries, and contributed to the economy. That's not to say the church of Adabar wouldn't oppose a band of slavers who captured villages and put them into work camps to support some great evil nation's war machine. Those slaves are removed from the economy in a rather chaotic (if not just neutral) manner.
I forget where it was that they really detailed Abadar in the APs but the general gist of it is that so long as it is not detrimental to the civilization is is regarded as benign to necessary evil in the views of the church.
Curse of the Crimson Throne, book 2, Seven Days to the Grave.
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yep ya'all beat me to it, a good example of abadar's take would be looking at the nation of molthune a LN nation who has slavery but slaves have a far better life there than in other slaveholding nations, it is within well defined legal bounds, and a slave with knowlage of the legal system, a strong back, and enough time, can ebcome a full citizan even a member of the ruling class in molthune.
also adding to the list of interisting slave castes were the ottoman Jannisary Corps. The Sultan's elite troops and bodyguards. they were actually christian children (bought from slavers, captured in war, etc.) raised from birth as professional soldiers who did nothing but learn and fight. because they were not muslim they were no threat to the sultan (compared to famliy who often went after the throne.)The Jannisary Corps actually stood outside the ottoman caste system which had diffrent laws for diffrent faiths & castes (though they were tolerant by middle age and even rennasance standards) thus they were actually the most feared men in the Empire for their military skill and immunity to all law save punishments decreeed by their master the ottoman sultan himself.