The Ubar of Ubars was elected by a council of Haruspexes from all four tribes who took omens in the blood of bosk and the livers of verr. All mysticism aside, the "omens" usually said what the Haruspexes wished for them to say. The Ubar of Ubars would be the strongest, wisest leader with the most daring tribe of people. (And although I personally believe that fits Master Ubar, there has been no official role-play of omen-taking and Ubar-San electing. We must then assume that there is no Ubar-San at this time.)
As for slaves becoming free women -- yep, it happened! And sometimes, a free woman became a slave and was later returned to her free status because she showed herself to be a remarkable, dignified, magnificant woman worthy of the honor of Companionship and bearing children. Examples from the books, off the top of my head:
- Earth-born Elizabeth Cardwell becomes Kamchak's Vella, is gifted to Tarl Cabot, and is freed by him. She later falls slave again, once and for all.
- Rich Turian merchant Aprhis is won by Kamchak on the Plains of a Thousand Stakes. She is later freed by him to become his Ubara-San.
- Earth-born Beverly is freed by earth-born Jason once he finds his old love interest in chains on Gor. She falls slave again through her own stupidity, and he knows better than to free such a lovely piece of slave flesh when he finds her a second time.
- Panther girl Verna falls slave to Marlenus, and he frees her to once again hunt the forests.
- Sexy thief Tina falls slave when she is caught stealing, and Tarl buys her. She is later freed by Tarl and becomes the unofficial companion of a handsome young man. (One could call her his "woman" since they were very much in love, but there was no official Companionship.) They head to Port Kar, land of no Companionship, where she can join a thieves guild.
- Panther girl Grenna falls slave to Tarl Cabot. She is later freed and becomes the unofficial Companion/woman of Rim, and they head off into the forests to hunt together.
- Marlenus' daughter, Talena, fell slave and changed hands many times. Tarl Cabot later freed her -- and she totally snubbed him. At the end of the series, thus far, she had become Tarl's secret slave -- a woman who wears a collar under her Robes of Concealment. This way, he could use her status for his own good AND control her every action. Political power aside, Tarl made the decision veryt much out of revenge... *G*
So, in general, most slaves-turned-FW DO return to slavery. But if they do, it's not because they have less rights and freedoms than someone who started out a free woman, or a free woman who had never been a slave. It's because they realize that they are more fulfilled as slaves and desire to be at the feet of men. Then they usually go out of their way to put themselves in a situation where they become collar bait.
ducky, I'm proud of you. These are some AWESOME questions!
