World of Roman Coyne

Author notes

Galley slave drummer

Romancoyne

on Nov. 22, 2010

Let's face it: being a galley slave sucks. But if you are going to be a galley slave, some of the jobs you will be made to do still suck less than others, and you could do a lot worse than being the drummer who indicates the tempo to the whole team. You still get to work naked in a dark, smelly hold with a collar and ankle- and leg cuffs on, rings in your tits and a number branded on your chest, but you don't get to deal with chains during the day, sit on a dirty bench or pull the oars until you can't take any more.
This girl got the drumming job by ingratiating herself with some of the superior officers during her first few weeks aboard - the only period when that was still an option. She's not proud of that, but it's not like she had much choice in the matter, so she showed some enthousiasm and made some friends in (comparatively) higher places.
She's kept the job for five years now, thanks to her sense of rhythm, dedication to the task and willingness to work the team just a little bit harder. That, she is somewhat proud of, but she won't let anyone else know, because it's only a small step back to the oars, and besides, she still has to sleep with the other slaves at night without a guard watching over her.

Double rations and the lesser amount of physical work have made her put on some weight over the years. It'll all come back again when she goes back to the oars, so just to be sure, she continues to be, er, friendly with the non-enslaved crew.

Full disclosure: this was inspired by a galley scene in the original album version of "Asterix and the Olympics" and the composition was pretty much lifted straight from it. The Asterix series has riffed on the concept of galley slavery more than once, though sadly never with nude women in the role.