New Abolitionists
The New Abolitionists are a covert revolutionary movement that had infiltrated every level of Ironworks society by the time of the late Ironworks era. From the slaves themselves to key figures in Chancellor Daily's government, members came from every creed, Strain, and nationality. The movement was dedicated to ending slavery within the Ironworks, and it was growing in strength fast enough to represent an existential threat to the entire slave-based economy.
The Sainthood of Ashes was the most consistently represented religion within the movement, though this association made life difficult for all Sainthood adherents in the Ironworks regardless of their actual involvement. The Kings' Court had taken unexpected leadership in the cause, particularly the blues and Motown devotees out of Motor City, who used the traditional twelve-bar blues as an information-passing method. Bars like the Joliet served as intelligence hubs where encoded songs carried data about slave shipments and stockyard operations. Red Kestanary birds carried covert messages between cells. Pureblood elites like Sister Aretha Vendella Gordy-Winfrey were seeking contact with the movement from within the privileged classes.
The New Abolitionists operated the underground railroad that smuggled slaves to freedom, maintained spy networks within the Ironworks bureaucracy, and worked toward the day when every slave could become a soldier for the cause. The revolution was quiet, decentralized, and growing. If it gained enough ground, the Ironworks would face a war it could not win, because the enemy was already inside the walls.
The Sainthood of Ashes was the most consistently represented religion within the movement, though this association made life difficult for all Sainthood adherents in the Ironworks regardless of their actual involvement. The Kings' Court had taken unexpected leadership in the cause, particularly the blues and Motown devotees out of Motor City, who used the traditional twelve-bar blues as an information-passing method. Bars like the Joliet served as intelligence hubs where encoded songs carried data about slave shipments and stockyard operations. Red Kestanary birds carried covert messages between cells. Pureblood elites like Sister Aretha Vendella Gordy-Winfrey were seeking contact with the movement from within the privileged classes.
The New Abolitionists operated the underground railroad that smuggled slaves to freedom, maintained spy networks within the Ironworks bureaucracy, and worked toward the day when every slave could become a soldier for the cause. The revolution was quiet, decentralized, and growing. If it gained enough ground, the Ironworks would face a war it could not win, because the enemy was already inside the walls.
History
The New Abolitionist movement emerged from the intersection of religious conviction, economic oppression, and the sheer unsustainability of the Ironworks' slave system. The Sainthood of Ashes provided the moral framework, the Kings' Court provided the communication network, and the Iron Slaves themselves provided the numbers. The movement grew quietly, recruiting from every level of society and embedding operatives in positions where they could move intelligence, shelter escapees, and prepare for the eventual reckoning. By the late Ironworks era, the movement had penetrated the government itself, and the question was no longer whether the revolution would come but when.
