Mag Class 4
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF GOREAN LAW -
"…the laws of a city extend no further than its walls." (Outlaw of Gor, p.50) For the most part, once you step outside the walls of ?
your city, the city laws no longer apply and the city cannot protect you. But, many cities claim sovereignty over the lands ?
surrounding their city. They may try to enforce their will upon the surrounding terrain. That is only as effective as the strength of ?
the city.
There are also exceptions for certain locations outside a city such as a banner keep. In that establishment, the laws of the ?
governing city are in force
The theft of a Home Stone is punishable by extreme torture followed by death in boiling oil. It may be the most heinous crime that ?
exists on Gor. But, it is also considered the greatest of glories to steal an enemy's Home Stone.
A person might be slain for not standing when speaking of his own Home Stone. Home Stones are vitally important to Goreans.
It is illegal to take any maps of a city out of that city or for someone outside of the city to make their own map of the city
The nonperformance of the citizenship ceremony, within one year of reaching intellectual majority, is punishable by expulsion ?
from the city. This applies only to those individuals born within the city or born to citizens of the city. There is no stated age for ?
intellectual majority but from circumstantial evidence it appears that sixteen years old is a possibility. There might also be a ?
requirement that some other citizens,
non-blood relations, vouch for you. You may also be questioned by a committee of citizens to determine your worthiness for the ?
city. The oath of allegiance involves the touching or kissing of the Home Stone, the swearing of oaths, and maybe the sharing of ?
bread, fire and salt.
A laurel wreath and mantle of citizenship are then conferred upon the new citizen.
Retaining your citizenship is contingent upon you attending certain public ceremonies and assemblies. Citizenship is a priviliege, ?
not a right, and thus it must be earned. You are expected to owe your allegiance to the city and work at supporting that city.
Every citizen must journey, at least once, to the Sardar Mountains before they are twenty-five years old. The Initiates keep track ?
of who goes and who doesn't. Initiates teach that misfortunes hit a city if their youth avoid this obligation. Sometimes the Initiates ?
ask you to go at a certain time.
In some cities and islands, such as Teletus, your family will receive a gold tarn disk if you go when the Initiates ask you.
Anyone who refuses to practice their livelihood or strives to alter their caste without the consent of the Ubar, Administrator or ?
High Council is an outlaw and subject to impalement. All outlaws are forbidden entrance into the city and subject to impalement. ?
Panther girls and talunas are considered outlaws.
Caste may be legally changed. In a Free Companionship, the woman can take the Caste of the man. Otherwise to change caste, ?
the High Council of the city must approve the change, based on your qualifications for the new caste and the willingness of the ?
new caste to accept you.
It is a capital offense for a locksmith to make an unauthorized copy of a key.
Anyone who enters a city without permission is punishable by impalement.
Assassins, bearing the mark of the black dagger on their forehead, are permitted entrance into a city without interference.
Heralds are immune from interference by any within a city. Heralds bear a gold slash on the left temple of their helmet or ?
headgear. Ambassadors possess this same immunity.
Players, Poets, Musicians and Singers may freely enter a city.
Thievery is illegal and harshly punished. The first offense is punished by an ear notching. For a second offense, the punishment ?
depends on the sex of the offender. Males are punished by the loss of their left hand and both feet. Females are punished by ?
enslavement.
There is a method of dispute resolution called the "rite of knives." Unfortunately, there is little information on its application. It is ?
essentially a fight to the death and is used in place of a trial. The fight may be just with daggers. As it is called a "rite", it may not ?
have any true legal effect but may instead be an ancient custom.
To claim land outside of a city for your own, you must place a yellow stake of claimancy into the ground during the morning. You ?
must then wait and protect that land until sunset. At that time then, the land becomes yours and you may lay your Home Stone ?
there.
Merchant Law is the only common legal arrangement that exists between different cities. Gorean cities are fiercely independent. ?
The Sardar Fairs help to standardize Merchant Law. Merchant magistrates help administer and enforce this law.
Patents and copyrights are available in a city but their power extends only as far as the city walls.
Forgery of a city seal on products is illegal.
Each city commonly holds a Merchant's Foot and Stone in the Chamber of the Council and are available for Merchants to verify ?
their own personal measuring devices. Any Merchant found to be using a deceptive Foot or Stone will be punished.
Crests, signs and family emblems can be registered and their use legally restricted.
Face stripping a free woman, forcefully removing her veils, is a serious crime.
Weapons are not permitted within a Temple.
Shaving or slicing off metal from any coin is considered to be theft and fraud. This debases the value of the coin.
By law, the Slavers' Caste is a subcaste of the Merchants' Caste. The Slavers though like to consider themselves a separate ?
Caste.
Free Women and Free Companionship Laws
In a Free Companionship, the woman can take the Caste of the man. Otherwise to change caste, the High Council of the city must ?
approve the change, based on your qualifications for the new caste and the willingness of the new caste to accept you.
A Free Companionship lasts for a single year. If it is not renewed at the end of that time, it dissolves. Slavery and death of one of ?
the parties will serve to dissolve the Companionship early than that. A woman does not change her name in a Free ?
Companionship. The books do not say if the contract can be willingly dissolved prior to the year end if the parties so agree.
Women in the Physician's Caste cannot practice medicine until they have first bore two children. In many cities, at age fifteen, ?
women place two bracelets on their left wrist. One is removed for each child that is born.
Robes of concealment and veils may or may not be required by law for free women. In some cities, it is only custom while in others ?
it is actual law. Even where it is only custom, it is strongly recommended that all free women wear robes and veils in public.
Face stripping a free woman, forcefully removing her veils, is a serious crime.
Free women are permitted to escape from a captor as long as they have not yet been enslaved.
A free woman can sell herself into slavery. But, once completed, she cannot then revoke it.
If a free woman submits to be a slave to a specific man, and that man refuses the offer, she still shall become a slave, subject to ?
capture by the first person to collar her.
Any free woman who couches with another's slave or even prepares to do so, becomes a slave herself and becomes the slave of ?
the male slave's master. This is known as the "couching law."
A free woman who cannot pay her debts will be enslaved. Under the redemption laws, a man can pay her debts and thus will now ?
own her. If no one redeems her within a certain period, she will be sold to slavers.
Freed slaves require explicit papers of manumission or they may be enslaved again without repercussion. Slaves who have been ?
branded or had theirs ears pierced and later freed should definitely keep their papers handy at all times.
The principle of "conduct indicating suitability for the collar" deals with conduct by a free woman sufficient to warrant her ?
reduction to slavery. It is commonly applied to fraud, theft, indigency, vagrancy, prostitution, and indulgence in sensuous dance. ?
Other behavior which might trigger the principles includes attempting to spy on masters and slaves, disguising oneself as a slave, ?
garbing oneself as a slave even in the supposed secrecy of one's own compartment,
baring too much flesh, lingering about slave shelves and markets, and even exhibiting an interest in or fascination with bondage. ?
The principle deals with overt behavior and not thoughts. Judges must decide if such behavior is sufficient to warrant a reduction ?
to slavery. It is illegal for someone on their own to collar a free woman for this conduct without seeking legal action.
There is no law that states a man may enslave a free woman of his Home Stone because she has insulted or disrespected him.
In some cities, a free woman that kneels before a man or addresses him as Master effects legal imbondment on herself. It is ?
interpreted as a gesture of submission
A free woman may do a form of limited self-contracting where she legally becomes a slave for a specific time period, commonly ?
ranging from one night to one year. She cannot end this contract earlier than the specified time period. Once the contract takes ?
effect, she becomes a slave with no legal powers at all.
Slavery Laws
Slaves are considered property, on the same level as animals. Their owner may do anything they wish to them without ?
repercussion. An owner can even kill his own slave with impunity.
Slaves may not own anything, including a name. Even though they may use goods, they do not own them.
No Player, Musician, Poet or Singer Caste member may be enslaved within a city limits. Of course, they can still be arrested, ?
imprisoned, tortured and executed. They are simply immune from enslavement.
It is illegal for slaves to play Kaissa. It is considered an insult to free men, not only for a slave to play but even to touch the pieces.
In any legal proceedings, the testimony of slaves may be taken by torture. This is solely in the discretion of the courts.
The property of one who becomes a slave is transferred to the nearest male relative or the nearest relative if no male exists, or to ?
the city, or a guardian. Even if the slave is later freed, the property cannot ever be recovered.
If a slave owner dies, his slaves pass to his heirs or if he has no heirs, to the state.
Capture rights pertain to all property, including slaves. Active possession of a slave is regarded as crucial by the law. A slave ?
must fully serve anyone who possesses her, even a thief. If the slave runs away from the thief, she is considered to be a runaway. ?
The point of this law is to keep slaves in bondage and to make men bold.
The institution of capture is honored by all cities, provided the females captured are those of an enemy.
If a lost, stolen or runaway slave is taken by another person, the original master has only one week to regain his property before ?
legal title passes to the new master. The slave remains the property of the original master only for that one week if he does not ?
regain possession.
For a slave to runaway from her owner is a serious offense. For the first offense, the penalty is commonly a severe beating. But ?
she is only allowed that single mistake. The penalty for a second offense is usually ham stringing.
Slaves are not permitted outside the city gates unless accompanied by a free person.
It is a capital offense for a slave to wield any weapon.
It is a capital offense for a slave to claim caste.
It is illegal for a slave to wear veils.
A child, born of a slave, becomes a slave and belongs to the mother's owner.
Slaves are not allowed in temples. It is felt that they would defile it.
If a father cannot pay his debts, his daughter becomes a slave of the state. She will be put up for sale at public auction. The ?
proceeds of her sale will be used to equitably satisfy the creditors.
Earth girls do not have a Home Stone so there are no legalities that prevent their capture and enslavement.
A slave, on threat of torture and impalement, must endure whatever abuse a free person cares to inflict on him.
Any free person may discipline an insolent or errant slave, even one who is in the least bit displeasing. If the slave is killed or ?
injured, the free person need only pay compensation to the master and only if the master requests such compensation.
The crime of false yielding is a capital offense. It is easy to detect, through infallible physiological signs.
If a slave strikes a free person, the penalty is commonly death by impalement, preceded by lengthy torture.
Freed slaves require explicit papers of manumission or they may be enslaved again without repercussion. Slaves who have been ?
branded or had theirs ears pierced and later freed should definitely keep their papers handy at all times.
Female slaves must wear a visible token of their slavery within the city limits. Male slaves are exempt from this law. It is not good ?
for male slaves to understand their true numbers.
When a person is collared, it cancels their past. They begin a new life as a slave and may not be held accountable for any crimes ?
that occurred while they were free.
It is illegal to sell a slave that is not your own, without the owner's permission. The penalty varies according to the sex of the ?
seller. For a man, it is exile, and for a woman, it is enslavement.
It is illegal to offer an unbranded slave in a public sale.
By recommendation of Merchant Law, there are three standard marking places for brands, on the left thigh, right thigh, and lower ?
left abdomen.
It is illegal to sell a slave as auburn haired if she is truly not so.
It is a felony to forge or falsify pedigree papers on any slave.
A certification of a slave girl's heat may be given in certain cities. Her degree of heat will be listed on the sale documents. It is ?
done in few cities though because of the potential for fraud on the part of the buyer. A buyer might use a girl for a month and then ?
seek a refund based on the guarantee of her level of heat.
Slaves are not allowed to build anything. That right is reserved for free people only.
It is illegal for slaves to touch or handle legal documents or money.
Slaves may not teach free people. By teaching someone, they are placed in your debt and nothing can be owed to a slave.
JUSTICE
"There are two systems of courts on Gor - those of the City, under the jurisdiction of an Administrator or Ubar, and those of the ?
Initiates, under the jurisdiction of the High Initiate of the given city; the division corresponds roughly to that between civil and ?
what, for lack of a better word, might be called ecclesiastical courts. The areas of jurisdiction of these two types of courts are not ?
well defined; the Initiates claim ultimate jurisdiction in all matters, in virtue of their supposed relation to the Priest-Kings, but this ?
claim is challenged by civil jurists. There would, of course, in these days be no challenging the justice of the Initiates."
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 194
"The Cylinder of Justice was a lofty cylinder of pure white marble, the flat roof of which was some two hundred yards in diameter."
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 204
"The cylinder was white, a color Goreans often associate with impartiality. More significant, it indicated that the justice dispensed ?
therein was the justice of Initiates."
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 194
"'Do you know, Tarnsman,' he asked, 'that there is no justice without the sword?' He smiled down on me grimly. 'This is a terrible ?
truth,' he said, 'and so consider it carefully.' He paused. 'Without this,' he said, touching the blade, 'there is nothing - no justice, ?
no civilization, no society, no community, no peace. Without the sword there is nothing.'"
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 155
"Marlenus was patient. 'Before the sword,' he said, 'there is no right, no wrong, only fact - a world of what is and what is not, ?
rather than a world of what should be and what should not be. There is no justice until the sword creates it, establishes it, ?
guarantees it, and gives it substance and significance.' He lifted the weapon, wielding the heavy metal blade as though it were a ?
straw. 'First the sword - ' he said, 'then government - then law - then justice.'"
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 156
"In Gorean law, Allegiances to a Home Stone, and not physical structures and locations, tend to define communities."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 474
"The praetor placed the coin on his desk, the surface of which was some seven feet high, below the low , solid wooden bar. the ?
height of the praetors desk, he on the high stool behind it, permits him to see a goodly way up and down the wharves. Also, of ?
course, one standing before the desk must look up to see the praetor, which, psychologically, tends to induce a feeling of fear for ?
the power of the law. The wooden bar before the desk`s front edge makes it impossible to see what evidence or papers the ?
praetor has at his disposal as he considers your case. Thus, you do not know for certain how much he knows. Similarly, you can ?
not tell what he writes on your papers." "Explorers of Gor" page 54
CIVIL LAWS
Rulers
"Rulers are chosen from any High Caste." "The High Castes in a given city elect an administrator and council for stated terms. In ?
times of crisis, a war chief, or Ubar, is named, who rules without check and by decree until, in his judgment, the crisis is passed." ?
"Normally the office is surrendered after the passing of the crisis. It is part of the Warrior’s Code."
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 42
Equality
"What difference does it make," said Marcus, "if, indeed, she is Talena of Ar?" "Fool!" laughed the netted captive.
"From a legal point of view," said Tolnar, "it makes no difference, of course."
"Release me!" she said. "Do you think I am a common person? Do you think you can treat one of my imporance in this fassion! I ?
shall have Seremides have you boiled in oil!"
"I am of the second Octavii," said Tolnar. "My colleague is of the Toratti."
"Then you may be scourged and beheaded, or impaled!" she wept.
"You would have us neglect our duty?" inquired Tolnar. He was Gorean, of course.
"In this case," she snapped, "you are well advised to do so."
"That is quite possibly true," said Tolnar.
"The principle here, I gather," said Marcus, "is that the Ubara is above the law."
"The law in question is a serious one," said Tolnar. "It was promulgated by Marlenus, Ubar of Ubars."
"Surely," said Venlisius to the netted woman, "you do not put yourself on a level with the great Marlenus."
"It does not matter who is greater," she said, "I am Ubara!"
"The Ubara is above the law?" asked Marcus, who had an interest in such things. "In a sense yes," said Tolnar, "the sense in ?
which she can change the law by decree."
"But she is subject to the law unless she chooses to change it?" asked Marcus. "Precicely," said Tolnar. "And that is the point ?
here."
"Whatever law it is," cried the netted woman, "I change it! I herewith change it!"
"How can you change it?" asked Tolnar.
"I am Ubara!" she said.
"You were Ubara," he said.
She cried out in misery, in frustration, in the net."
"Magicians of Gor" page 454/5
Magistrates
"The judge looked down upon the Lady Tina of Lydius. She, fastened over the rack, stripped, looked up at him, in his robes, those ?
with two borders, one of gold, the other of purple. Her eyes were wild."
"Hunters of Gor" page 51
"Two days ago, aediles had come to the camp to inspect the chains. They found none which contained illicit prisoners. No mention ?
was made of the fact that a third of the chains was absent. The next day the auspices had been taken, and, seemingly, all had gone ?
well. The chains in camp were already back at work. Preceding the time of taking the auspices, of course, and until they have been ?
taken, things are very quiet."
"Dancer of Gor" page 349
"Some may have been as innocent as those I had lured; others might have been murderers and brigands, suitably enchained for ?
the expiation of sentences, their custody having been legally transferred to Ionicus, my master, at the payment of a prisoner's fee, ?
by the writ of a praetor or, in more desperate cases, by the order of a quaestor."
"Dancer of Gor" page 332
"The fourth man was Brandon. He was from Vonda. He was a prefect in that city. His certifications on certain documents would be ?
important. The two ladies, both of Vonda, were Leta and Perimene, both friends of the Ladies Florence and Melpomene. As free ?
citizens of Vonda they could witness legal transactions. ---
"Fighting Slave of Gor" page 277
"In a moment or two, I stopped a few yards from a registration desk. There one of Ina's pursuers, I recognized him from earlier, ?
was making inquiries of one of the five camp prefects, fellows under the camp praetor. The prefects are identified by five slash ?
marks, alternately blue and yellow, the slavers' colors, on their left sleeve, the praetor himself by nine such stripes, and lesser ?
officials by three. Turning about, apparently alerted by the prefect's notice, the fellow with one hand suddenly turned the prefect's ?
desk to its side so that it stood wall-like between us, and hurried behind it."
"Vagabonds of Gor" page 453/4
"One of the two magistrates, he who was senior, Tolnar, of the second Octavii, an important gens but one independent of the ?
well-known Octavii, sometimes spoken of simply as the Octavii, or sometimes as the first Octavii, deputy commissioner in the ?
records office, much of which had been destroyed in a recent fire, was at the other portal. His colleague, Venlisius, a bright young ?
man who was now, by adoption, a scion of the Toratti, was with him. Venlisius was in the same office. He was records officer, or ?
archon of records, for the Metellan district, in which we were located. Both magistrates wore their robes, and fillets, of office."
"Magicians" page 441/2
Gorean Law and the Homestone
Colonies, departing from a city to expand, will take their own homestone and develop their own charters, constitution and laws
The typical colonizing situation among Gorean politics tends to resemble classical colonization, and not the typical colonization of ?
nation states, in which the colony, in effect, is held subject to alien domination. When a Gorean city founds a colony, usually as a ?
result of internal overpopulation or political dissension, the potential colonists, typically, even before leaving the mother city, ?
develop their own charter, constitution and laws. Most importantly, from the Gorean point of view, when the colony is founded, it ?
will have its own Home Stone. The Home Stone of Port Cos, significantly, was not the Home Stone of Cos. Ar's Station on the ?
other hand did not have its own Home Stone, but its Home Stone remained that of Ar. This is not to deny of course that the colony ?
will not normally have a close tie with the mother city. It usually will. There are not too many bonds, cultural and historical, between ?
them, for this not to be the case.
Rogue
Allegiance to a homestone, not a physical structure, defines communities
The community of those who had been Waniyanpi, of course, was not identified with a particular area of land, and certainly not with ?
a territory occupied under the conditions of a leased tenancy. It now, in the Gorean fashion, for the first time, tended to be ?
identified with a Home Stone. The community could now, if it wished, the Home Stone moving, even migrate to new lands. In ?
Gorean law allegiances to a Home Stone, and not physical structures and locations, tend to define communities.
Blood Brothers
Where a man sets his homestone, he claims that land by gorean law
'Where a man sets his Home Stone, he claims, by law, that land for himself. Good land is protected only by the swords of the ?
strongest owners in the vicinity.'
Tarnsman
A Man in his own hut rules, even over those of higher caste
Whereas I was of high caste and he of low, yet in his own hut he would be, by the laws of Gor, a prince and sovereign, for then he ?
would be in the place of his own Home Stone. Indeed, a cringing whelp of a man, who would never think of lifting his eyes from the ?
ground in the presence of a member of one of the high castes, a crushed and spiritless churl, an untrustworthy villain or coward, ?
an avaricious and obsequious peddler often becomes, in the place of his own Home Stone, a veritable lion among his fellows, ?
proud and splendid, generous and bestowing, a king be it only in his own den.
Outlaw
One who would steal the homestone faces torture and impalement
"I have been refused bread, and fire and salt," I said to Elizabeth.
She nodded. "Yes," she said. She looked at me, bewildered. "Hup told me yesterday it would be so."
I looked at Hup.
"But why has this been done to me?" I asked. "It seems unworthy of the hand of a Ubar."
"Have you forgotten," asked he, "the law of the Home Stone?"
I gasped.
"Better surely banishment than torture and impalement."
"I do not understand," said Elizabeth.
"In the year 10,110, more than eight years ago, a tarnsman of Ko-ro-ba purloined the Home Stone of the city."
"It was I," I told Elizabeth.
She shuddered, for she knew the penalties that might attach to such a deed.
"As Ubar," said Hup, "it would ill become Marlenus to betray the law of the Home Stone of Ar."
Assassin
"If a Ubar does not respect the law of the Home Stone, what man shall?"
Assassin
Earth girls have no homestone
"You understand further, of course," said he, "that under Gorean merchant law, which is the only law commonly acknowledged ?
binding between cities, that you stand under separate permissions of enslavement. First, were you of Ar, it would be my right, ?
could I be successful, to make of you a slave, for we share no Home Stone. Secondly, though you speak of yourself as the Lady ?
Elicia of Ar, of Six Towers, you are, in actuality, Miss Elicia Nevins of the planet Earth. You are an Earth girl and thus stand within a ?
general permission of enslavement, fair beauty quarry to any Gorean male whatsoever."
Earth girls had no Home Stones. No legalities, thus, were contravened in capturing them and making of them abject slave girls.
Slave Girl
Priest King Laws
Priest- Kings, on the,' whole, tend to ignore such beasts. They are permitted to live, as they will, where they may, on Gor, ?
following even their ancient laws and customs, providing these do not violate the Weapons Laws and Technology Restrictions. To ?
be sure, such beasts usually, once separated from the discipline of the ships, in a generation or two, lapsed into barbarism.
Savages
"Occasionally on Gor we destroy a city, selecting it by means of a random selection device. This teaches the lower orders the ?
might of Priest-Kings and encourages them to keep our laws."
"But what if the city has done no wrong?" I asked.
"So much the better," said Misk, "for the Men below the Mountains are then confused and fear us even more - but the members ?
of the Caste of Initiates, we have found, will produce an explanation of why the city was destroyed. They invent one and if it seems ?
plausible they soon believe it. For example, we allowed them to suppose that it was through some fault of yours - disrespect for ?
Priest-Kings as I recall - that your city was destroyed."
Priest Kings
"Nonsense," said Misk. "But perhaps I shall show you the Scanning Room someday. We have four hundred Priest-Kings who ?
operate the scanners, and we are accordingly well informed. For example, if there is a violation of our weapons laws we usually, ?
sooner or later, discover it and after determining the coordinates put into effect the Flame Death Mechanism."
I had once seen a man die the Flame Death, the High Initiate of Ar, on the roof of Ar’s Cylinder of Justice. I shivered involuntarily.
Priest Kings
In the laws of Priest-Kings it was up to such species, those of Kurii and men, to resolve their differences in their own way.
Marauders
I did not tell Ivar that those he knew as Kurii, or the beasts, were actually specimens of an alien race, that they, or those in their ?
ships, were locked in war with Priest-Kings for the domination of two worlds, Gor and the Earth. In these battles, unknown to most ?
men, even of Gor, from time to time, ships of the Kurii had been shattered and fallen to the surface. It was the practice of ?
Priest-Kings to destroy the wrecks of such ships but, usually, at least, they did not attempt to hunt and exterminate survivors. If ?
the marooned Kurii abided by the weapon and technology laws of Priest-Kings, they, like men, another life form, were permitted to ?
survive. The Kurii I knew were beasts of fierce, terrible instincts, who regarded humans, and other beasts, as food.
Marauders
Initiates Law
Initiates have their own laws and courts
The initiates are an almost universal, well-organized, industrious caste. They have many monasteries, holy places and temples. An ?
initiate may often travel for hundreds of pasangs, and, each night, find himself in a house of initiates. They regard themselves as ?
the highest caste, and in many cities, are so regarded generally. There is often a tension between them and the civil authorities, ?
for each regards himself as supreme in matters of policy and law for their district. The initiates have their own laws, and courts, ?
and certain of them are well versed in the laws of the initiates. Their education, generally, is of little obvious practical value, with ?
its attention to authorised exegeses of dubious, difficult texts, purporting to be revelations of Priest-Kings, the details and ?
observances of their own calendars, their interminable involved rituals and so on, but paradoxically, this sort of learning, ?
impractical though it seems, has a subtle practical aspect. It tends to bind initiates together, making them interdependent, and ?
muchly different from common men. It sets them apart, and makes them feel important and wise, and specially privileged.
Marauders
Gorean Laws & Property
All property, titles, assets and goods of one enslaved automatically transfers to nearest male relative, or to the city, or a guardian ?
if pertinent
"Unless you permit it," said Kamras sternly, "I may never have an opportunity to cross steel with this barbaric sleen."' It then ?
occurred to me, suddenly, that, following Gorean civic law, the properties and titles, assets and goods of a given individual who is ?
reduced to slavery are automatically regarded as having been transferred to the nearest male relative or nearest relative if no ?
adult male relative is avail- able or to the city or to, if pertinent, a guardian. Thus, if Aphris of Turia, by some mischance, were to ?
fall to Kamchak, and surely slavery, her considerable riches would be immediately assigned to Saphrar, merchant of Turia. ?
Moreover, to avoid legal complications and free the assets for investment and manipulation, the transfer is asymmetri- cal, in the ?
sense that the individual, even should he somehow later recover his freedom, retains no legal claim whatsoever on the ?
transferred assets.
Nomads
Gorean Law & Slander
Legally, if it is true, it is not slander
I wondered if it were true. If it were true, in Gorean law, it could be no slander.
Slave Girl
Gorean Laws & Slavery
There is a body of law that enforces the relationship of slaves to their Masters
How incredibly meaningful, how explosively and thunderingly meaningful, how devastatingly meaningful, how momentously ?
significant they were, these females of my species, presenting themselves before me in the modalities incumbent upon them, ?
modalities constituting civilized and delicious refinements of relationships instituted and determined eons ago by nature, ?
modalities which will always, in one way or another, in one nomenclature or another, be required of beautiful women by strong ?
men, modalities most simply and directly though of, and most honestly thought of, as those of slave and master. One of the glories ?
of the Gorean culture is that it has a body of law, sanctioned by tradition and mercilessly enforced, pertaining, without evasion or ?
subterfuge, to this relationship.
Mercenaries
The collar, by law, cancels the past of a slave
Once, it was true, she had served Priest-Kings, but then, so, too, had I, and that was long ago. And then we did not know, and she ?
did not know, that she was a true slave, as was revealed in a tavern in Lydius. We had thought her a free woman, pretending to be ?
slave. Then, in a tavern in Lydius, we had learned her slave. It was now out of the question that she, a slave, might serve ?
Priest-Kings. The collar, by Gorean law, cancelled the past. When Sarpedon had locked his collar on her throat her past as a free ?
woman had vanished, her current history as a slave had begun.
Tribesmen
It is a felony to forge or falsify slave papers / pedigrees.
Some female slaves, incidentally, have a pedigreed lineage going back through several generations of slave matings, and their ?
masters hold the papers to prove this. It is a felony in Gorean law to forge or falsify such papers. Many Goreans believe that all ?
women are born for the collar, and that a woman cannot be truly fulfilled as a woman until a strong man puts it on her, until she ?
finds herself reduced to her basic femaleness at his feet.
In the case of the bred female slave, of course, she has been legally and literally, in anyone's understanding, bred to the collar, ?
and in a full commercial and economic sense, as a business speculation on the part of masters. The features most often selected ?
for by the breeders are beauty and passion. It has been found that intelligence, of a feminine sort, as opposed to the ?
pseudomasculine type of intelligence often found in women with large amounts of male hormones, is commonly linked, apparently ?
genetically, with these two hitherto mentioned properties.
Savages
By law, a slave who escapes one who has captured her, is a runaway.
Free women, captured but not yet enslaved, may escape legally
theft, or capture, if you prefer, conferred rights over me. I would belong to, and must fully serve, anyone into whose effective ?
possession I came, even if it had been by theft. the original Master, of course, has the right to recover his property, which remains ?
technically his for a period of one week. If I were to flee the thief, however, after he has consolidated his hold on me, for example, ?
kept me even for a night, I could , actually in Gorean Law, be counted as a runaway slave, from him, even though he did not ?
technically own me yet, and punished accordingly. Analogies are that it is not permitted animals to flee the tethers on their necks, ?
or flee the posts in which they find themselves penned, that money must retain its value, and buying power, regardless of who has ?
it in hand, and so on. Strictures of this sort, do not apply to free persons , such as free women. The free women is entitled to ?
attempt to flee her captor , as best she can, and without penalty, even after the first night in his bonds, if she still chooses to do ?
so. If she is enslaved, of course, then she is subject too, the same customs, and practices, and laws, as any other slave.
Dancer
A free woman couching with or preparing to couch with another's slave, becomes a slave of the other slaves owner
Any free woman who couches with another`s slave or readies for such, becomes , by law, herself a slave and the property of said ?
slaves owner.
Magicians
In some cities, a woman who submits to a man becomes a slave whether he accepts her as his or not
In many cities, a woman may submit to a specific man and, if rejceted, remain free.
In these cities, if the man accepts her as his slave, she becomes a full legal slave
She belonged to Samos, of course. It had been within the context of his capture rights that she had, as a free woman, of her own ?
free will, pronounced upon herself a formula of enslavement. Automatically then, in virtue of the context, she became his. The law ?
is clear on this. The matter is more subtle when the woman is not within a context of capture rights. Here the matter differs from ?
city to city. In some cities, a woman may not, with legal recognition, submit herself to a specific man as a slave, for in those cities ?
that is interpreted as placing at least a temporary qualification on the condition of slavery which condition, once entered into, all ?
cities agree, is absolute. In such cities, then, the woman makes herself a slave, unconditionally. It is then up to the man in ?
question whether or not he will accept her as his slave. In this matter he will do as he pleases. In any event, she is by then a slave, ?
and only that.
In other cities, and in most cities, on the other hand, a free woman may, with legal tolerance, submit herself as a slave to a specific ?
man. If he refuses her, she is then still free. If he accepts her, she is then, categorically, a slave, and he may do with her as he ?
pleases, even selling her or giving her away, or slaying her, if he wishes. Here we might note a distinction between laws and ?
codes. In the codes of the warriors, if a warrior accepts a woman as a slave, it is prescribed that, at least for a time, an amount of ?
time up to his discretion, she be spared. If she should be the least bit displeasing, of course, or should prove recalcitrant in even ?
a tiny way, she may be immediately disposed of.
It should be noted that this does not place a legal obligation on the warrior. It has to do, rather, with the proprieties of the codes. If ?
a woman not within a clear context of rights, such as capture rights, house rights, or camp rights, should pronounce herself slave, ?
‘simpliciter, then she is subject to claim. These claims may be explicit, as in branding, binding and collaring, or as in the uttering of ?
a claimancy formula, such as “I own you,” “You are mine,” or “You are my slave,” or implicit, as in, for example, permitting the ?
slave to feed from your hand or follow you.
Players
Anything may be done to a slave, for any or no reason
"What do you think should be her punishment?" asked Callimachus of me.
"If she is guilty," I said, "whatever you wish, as she is a slave." This was in full accord with Gorean law. Indeed, anything, for ?
whatever reason, or without a reason, may be done to a slave."
Guardsman
Speaking words which indicate acceptance of slavery, even if not intended to mean such, legally make one a slave
"Beware of the words you speak," said Seibar. This was true. Such words, in themselves, in the appropriate context, effected ?
enslavement. Intention, and such, is immaterial, for one might always maintain that one had not meant them, or such. The words ?
themselves, in the appropriate context, are suffcient. Whether one means them or not one becomes, in their utterance, instantly, ?
categorically and without recourse, fully and legally a slave, soemthing with which masters are then entitled to do with as they ?
please. Such words are not to be spoken lightly. They are as meaningful as the collar, as significant as the brand.
"The words I speak, I speak knowingly," she said.
"Speak clearly," he said.
"I herewith proclaim myself a slave," she said. "I am a slave."
"You are now a slave," I said to her, "even in the cities. You are property. You could be returned to a master as such in a court of ?
law. This is something which is recognized even outside of the Barrens. This is much stronger, in that sense, than being the ?
slave of Kaiila or Yellow Knives."
"I know," she said.
Seibar looked down upon her.
"I am now a legal slave," she said.
He nodded. It was true.
Blood Brothers
Man owns woman by nature; in a complex society, and in a world with property rights and laws, female slavery, as a legalized fact, ?
is to be expected; it will occur in any society in which touch is kept with the truths of nature. Gorean law, of course, is complex and ?
latitudinous on these matters. For example, many women are free, whether wisely or desirably or not, and slavery is not always ?
permanent for a slave girl. Sometimes a girl, winning love, is freed, perhaps to bear the children of a former master. But the ?
freedom of a former slave girl is always a somewhat tenuous thing. Her thigh still bears the brand. And, should her ears be ?
pierced, it is almost certain she will, sooner or later, be re-enslaved. It is hard for men to leave a woman who can be a good slave ?
girl free.
Beasts
A slave becomes a legal slave by branding, a collar, or a gesture of submission
"The sense in which you are not a slave, of course," he said, "is a trivial one. You have not yet been placed within the actual ?
institution of slavery. You are not yet a legal slave, a slave under law. You have not yet, for example, been branded, nor have you ?
been put in a collar, nor have you performed a gesture of submission."
She looked at him with horror.
"But do not fear," he said, "you will eventually find yourself in full compliance with any necessary legal pedantries. You will ?
eventually find that you are, fully and legally, under law, a slave, totally a slave, and only a slave." He smiled at her. "You may now ?
say, `Yes, Master,'" he said.
Fighting Slave
Legally a slave is an animal, an article of property.
Legally a slave has no name
Legally a slave has no caste
Legally a slave has no citizenship
"She is no longer a citizen of Ar," said Marlenus. "She is a slave."
In the eyes of Goreans, and Gorean law, the slave is an animal. She is not a person, but an animal. She has no name, saving what ?
her master might choose to call her. She is without caste. She is without citizenship. She is simply an object, to be bartered, or ?
bought or sold. She is simply an article of property, completely, nothing more.
Hunters
Name and identity are gone upon enslavement
On Gor a slave, not being legally a person, does not have a name in his own right, just as, on earth, our domestic animals, not ?
being persons before the law, do not have names. That name which he has had from birth, by which he has called himself and ?
knows himself, that name which is so much a part of his own conception of himself, of his own true and most intimate identity, is ?
suddenly gone.
Outlaw
Slaves have no rights or appeal within the law
The brand was on Gor legal, institutional status; that which it marks it makes an object; its victim has no rights, or appeal, within ?
the law.
Slave Girl
Gorean Law - Family related
Apparently, disownment be a father is upheld legally, that the person have no family at all
I lay, stunned. According to irreversible ceremonies, both of the warriors and of the city of Ar, Talena was no longer the daughter ?
of Marlenus. In her shame she had been put outside his house. She was cut off. In law, and in the eyes of Goreans, Talena was ?
now without family. No longer did she have kin. She was now, in her shame, alone, completely. She was now only slave, that and ?
nothing more.
Hunters
A high official of the city, permitting one who has been disowned to kiss the homestone, restores citizenship to that person.
“Talena,” he said. “Have you heard of her?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Marlenus was dissatisfied with her,” said the fellow. “It had to do with some business in the Northern forests. He swore her from ?
him, making her no longer his daughter. For years she has lived in obscurity, sequestered in the Central Cylinder. Now, with the ?
absence of Marlenus, and the generosity of Gnieus Lelius, she is carried once again, in the streets of Ar.”
“I gather that would not be in accord with the will of Marlenus,” I said.
“Marlenus is not here,” he said.
“Why would one think of her in the terms of a Ubara?’ I asked. “Sworn from Marlenus, she is no longer his daughter.”
“I am not a scribe of the law,” he said. “I do not know.”
“I do not think she has a Home Stone,” I said.
“Gnieus Lelius permitted her to kiss the Home Stone,” he said. “It was done in a public ceremony. She is once again a citizeness ?
of Ar.”
Mercenaries
Gorean Law & Changing Names
Names may be changed within the legal system
That in the north the lovely dina was spoken of as the "slave flower" did not escape the notice of the expatriated Turians; in time, ?
in spite of the fact that "Dina" is a lovely name, and the dina a delicate, beautiful flower, it would no longer be used in the ?
southern hemisphere, no more than in the northern, as a name for free women; those free women who bore the name commonly ?
had it changed by law, removed from the lists of their cities and replaced by something less degrading and more suitable. Dina, in ?
the north, for many years, had been used almost entirely as a slave name.
Slave Girl
Gorean Law & Capture Rights
slave must fully serve the one who possesses her, even by theft
Original Master has one week to recover the slave
Theft, or capture, if you prefer, conferred rights over me. I would belong to, and must fully serve, anyone into whose effective ?
possession I came, even if it had been by theft. The original Master, of course, has the right to recover his property, which ?
remains technically his for a period of one week. If I were to flee the thief, however, after he has consolidated his hold on me, for ?
example, kept me even for a night, I could , actually in Gorean Law, be counted as a runaway slave, from him, even though he did ?
not technically own me yet, and punished accordingly. Analogies are that it is not permitted animals to flee the tethers on their ?
necks, or flee the posts in which they find themselves penned, that money must retain its value, and buying power, regardless of ?
who has it in hand, and so on. Strictures of this sort, do not apply to free persons , such as free women. The free women is ?
entitled to attempt to flee her captor , as best she can, and without penalty, even after the first night in his bonds, if she still ?
chooses to do so. If she is enslaved, of course, then she is subject too, the same customs, and practices, and laws, as any other ?
slave.
Dancer
A free woman proclaiming herself slave when captured becomes a legal slave
She belonged to Samos, of course. It had been within the context of his capture rights that she had, as a free woman, of her own ?
free will, pronounced upon herself a formula of enslavement. Automatically then, in virtue of the context, she became his. The law ?
is clear on this. The matter is more subtle when the woman is not within a context of capture rights. Here the matter differs from ?
city to city. In some cities, a woman may not, with legal recognition, submit herself to a specific man as a slave, for in those cities ?
that is interpreted as placing at least a temporary qualification on the condition of slavery which condition, once entered into, all ?
cities agree, is absolute. In such cities, then, the woman makes herself a slave, unconditionally. It is then up to the man in ?
question whether or not he will accept her as his slave. In this matter he will do as he pleases. In any event, she is by then a slave, ?
and only that.
In other cities, and in most cities, on the other hand, a free woman may, with legal tolerance, submit herself as a slave to a specific ?
man. If he refuses her, she is then still free. If he accepts her, she is then, categorically, a slave, and he may do with her as he ?
pleases, even selling her or giving her away, or slaying her, if he wishes. Here we might note a distinction between laws and ?
codes. In the codes of the warriors, if a warrior accepts a woman as a slave, it is prescribed that, at least for a time, an amount of ?
time up to his discretion, she be spared. If she should be the least bit displeasing, of course, or should prove recalcitrant in even ?
a tiny way, she may be immediately disposed of.
It should be noted that this does not place a legal obligation on the warrior. It has to do, rather, with the proprieties of the codes. If ?
a woman not within a clear context of rights, such as capture rights, house rights, or camp rights, should pronounce herself slave, ?
‘simpliciter, then she is subject to claim. These claims may be explicit, as in branding, binding and collaring, or as in the uttering of ?
a claimancy formula, such as “I own you,” “You are mine,” or “You are my slave,” or implicit, as in, for example, permitting the ?
slave to feed from your hand or follow you.
Players
Gorean Law & Debt
When a man dies in debt, and debts are not satisfied, daughter is enslaved and sold to satisfy debts
Nela had been a slave since the age of fourteen. To my surprise she was a native of Ar. She had lived alone with her father, who ?
had gambled heavily on the races. He had died and to satisfy his debts, no others coming forth to resolve them, the daughter, as ?
Gorean law commonly prescribes, became state property; she was then, following the law, put up for sale at public auction; the ?
proceeds of her sale were used, again following the mandate of the law, to liquidate as equitably as possible the unsatisfied ?
claims of creditors. She had first been sold for eight silver tarsks to a keeper of one of the public kitchens in a cylinder, a former ?
creditor of her father, who had in mind making a profit on her; she worked in the kitchen for a year as a pot girl, sleeping on straw ?
and chained at night, and then, as her body more adequately developed the contours of womanhood, her master braceleted her ?
and took her to the Capacian Baths where; after some haggling, he received a price of four gold pieces and a silver tarsk; she had ?
begun in one of the vast cement pools as a copper-tarn-disk girl and had, four years later, become a silver-tarsk girl in the Pool of ?
Blue Flowers.
Assassin
Gorean Law & Stealing / Thieves
Theft, or capture, if you prefer, conferred rights over me. I would belong to, and must fully serve, anyone into whose effective ?
possession I came, even if it had been by theft. The original Master, of course, has the right to recover his property, which ?
remains technically his for a period of one week. If I were to flee the thief, however, after he has consolidated his hold on me, for ?
example, kept me even for a night, I could , actually in Gorean Law, be counted as a runaway slave, from him, even though he did ?
not technically own me yet, and punished accordingly. Analogies are that it is not permitted animals to flee the tethers on their ?
necks, or flee the posts in which they find themselves penned, that money must retain its value, and buying power, regardless of ?
who has it in hand, and so on. Strictures of this sort, do not apply to free persons , such as free women. The free women is ?
entitled to attempt to flee her captor , as best she can, and without penalty, even after the first night in his bonds, if she still ?
chooses to do so. If she is enslaved, of course, then she is subject too, the same customs, and practices, and laws, as any other ?
slave.
Dancer
Gorean Law & Companionship
By Gorean law the companionship must be annually renewed with the wines of love by both.
"That is true," I admitted. By Gorean law the companionship, to be binding, must, together, be annually renewed, pledged afresh ?
with the wines of love.
Enslavement dissolves companionship
"And," said Telima, "both of you were once enslaved, and that, in itself, dissolves the companionship. Slaves cannot stand in ?
companionship."
Captive
I looked at the board, angrily. It was true that the Companionship, not renewed, had been dissolved in the eyes of Gorean law. It ?
was further true that, had it not been so, the Companionship would have been terminated abruptly when one or the other of the ?
pledged companions fell slave.
Hunters
"I was kept in great honor in Ko-ro-ba, " she said, " respected and free, for I had been your companion even after the year of ?
companionship had gone, and it had not been renewed."
At that point, in Gorean law, the companionship had been dissolved. The companionship had not been renewed by the twentieth ?
hour, the Gorean Midnight, of its anniversary.
Marauders
Gorean Law & Free Women
In many cities it is a crime to bring silk in contact with the skin of a free woman
The girl who was serving as the small brunet's keeper withdrew from the chest, and shook out, a flimsy, tiny, diaphanous snatch of ?
yellow pleasure silk. It was the sort of garment which, commonly, would be worn only by the most lascivious of dancing slaves ?
writhing before strong, rude men in the lowest taverns on Gor. Free women had been known to faint at the sight, or touch, of such ?
cloth. In many cities it is a crime to bring such cloth into contact with the flesh of free women. It is just too exciting, and sensuous.
Guardsman
To touch a free woman can be a crime
I now saw them as unique, exciting masters, each different and incredibly individual, who might, for a word or gesture, have me; ?
how could I not regard them differently from a free woman; and, too, doubtless, they saw me in a similarly immediate and intensely ?
personal fashion, not as an object shielded, by prejudice and law, and fear and pride, from them, even to touch whom could be a ?
crime, but rather as a slave girl, vulnerable, exposed, at their mercy, unique in her exact helplessness and individuality, the same ?
in some respects as all other bond girls and yet interestingly and profoundly different, too, from all the others.
Slave Girl
When a man saves a womans life, she becomes his by law
I smiled to myself for I could always tell her, and truthfully, that having saved her life she was now mine by Gorean law, so brief ?
had been her freedom, and that it was up to me to determine the extent and nature of her clothing, and indeed, whether or not ?
she would be allowed clothing at all.
Well could I imagine her fury upon the receipt of this announcement, a fury not diminished in the least by the knowledge that the ?
words I spoke were simply and prosaically true.
Priest Kings
Merchant Law
The fairs incidentally are governed by Merchant Law and supported by booth rents and taxes levied on the items exchanged. The ?
commercial facilities of these fairs, from money changing to general banking, are the finest I know of on Gor, save those in Ar’s ?
Street of Coins, and letters of credit are accepted and loans negotiated, though often at usurious rates, with what seems reckless ?
indifference. Yet perhaps this is not so puzzling, for the Gorean cities will, within their own walls, enforce the Merchant Law when ?
pertinent, even against their own citizens. If they did not, of course, the fairs would be closed to the citizens of that city.
Priest Kings
There is a saying on Gor, "Gold has no caste." It is a saying of which the merchants are fond. Indeed, secretly among themselves, ?
I have heard, they regard themselves as the highest caste on Gor, though they would not say so for fear of rousing the ?
indignation of other castes. There would be something, of course, to be said for such a claim, for the merchants are often indeed ?
in their way, brave, shrewd, skilled men, making long journeys, venturing their goods, risking caravans, negotiating commercial ?
agreements, among themselves developing and enforcing a body of Merchant Law, the only common legal arrangements existing ?
among the Gorean cities.
Nomads
They had declared themselves slaves. The slave herself, of course, once the declaration has been made, cannot revoke it. That ?
would be impossible, for she is then only a slave. The slave can be freed only by one who owns her, only by one who is at the time ?
her master or, if it should be the case, her mistress. The legal point, I think, is interesting. Sometimes, in the fall of a city, girls who ?
have been enslaved, girls formerly of the now victorious city, will be freed. Technically, according to Merchant Law, which serves ?
as the arbiter in such intermunicipal matters, the girls become briefly the property of their rescuers, else how could they be ?
freed? Further, according to Merchant Law, the rescuer has no obligation to free the girl. In having been enslaved she has lost all ?
claim to her former Home Stone. She has become an animal. If, too, she is sufficiently desirable, it is almost certain she will not be ?
freed. As the Goreans have it, such women are too beautiful to be free. Too, as often as not, city pride enters into such matters. ?
Such girls, with other slave girls, both of various cities and with the former free women of the conquered city, now collared ?
slaves, too, will often be marched naked in chains in the loot processions of the conquering cities. It is claimed they have shamed ?
their former city by having fallen slave, and if they were good enough to be only slaves in the conquered city then surely they ?
should be no more within the walls of the victorious city. Such girls usually are marched in a special position in the loot ?
processions, behind and before banners which proclaim their shame. The people much abuse them and lash them as they pass. ?
Such girls usually beg piteously to be sold to transient slavers. It is hard for them to wear their collars in their own city.
Explorers
"It is my understanding, following merchant law, and Tahari custom," I said, "that I am not a slave, for though I am a prisoner, I ?
have been neither branded nor collared, nor have I performed a gesture of submission."
Tribesmen
But her left thigh wore no brand. Her right thigh, too, as I soon noted, did not wear the slave mark, nor did her lower left abdomen. ?
These are the three standard marking places, following the recommendations of Merchant Law, for the marking of Kajirae, with ?
the left thigh being, in practice, the overwhelmingly favored brand site.
Fighting Slave
Local Law - Torvaldsland
A woman entering the bond-maid circle, whether by her own choice or not, is legally a slave
"Go to the bond-maid circle," said Ivar Forkbeard, indicating the circle he had drawn in the dirt.
The women cried out in misery. To enter the circle, if one is a female, is, by the laws of Torvaldsland, to declare oneself a ?
bond-maid. A woman, of course, need not to enter the circle of her own free will. She may, for example, be thrown within it, naked ?
and bound. Howsoever she enters the circle, voluntarily, or by force, free or secured, she emerges from it, by the laws of ?
Torvaldsland, as a bond-maid.
Marauders
Duels are used to settle many disputes, legal and personal
The stakes are surrendered by law to the winner
"Let us watch duels," said the Forkbeard. The duel is a device by which many disputes, legal and personal, are settled in ?
Torvaldsland. There are two general sorts, the formal duel and the free duel. The free duel permits all weapons; there are there ?
are no restrictions on tactics or field. At the thing, of course, adjoining squares are lined out for these duels. If the combatants ?
wished, however, they might choose another field. Such duels, commonly, are held on wave-struck skerries in Thassa. Two men ?
are left alone; later, at nightfall, a skiff returns, to pick up the survivor. The formal duel is quite complex, and I shall not describe it ?
in detail. Two men meet, but each is permitted a shield bearer; the combatants strike at one another, and the blows, hopefully, are ?
fended by each’s shield bearer; three shields are permitted to each combatant; when these are hacked to pieces or otherwise ?
rendered useless, his shield bearer retires, and he must defend himself with his own weapon alone; swords not over a given ?
length, too, are prescribed. The duel takes place, substantially, on a large, square cloak, ten feet on each side, which is pegged ?
down on the turf; outside this cloak there are two squares, each a foot from the cloak, drawn in the turf. The outer corners of the ?
second of the two drawn squares are marked with hazel wands; there is this a twelve-foot-square fighting area; no ropes are ?
stretched between the hazel wands. When the first blood touches the cloak the match may, at the agreement of the combatants, or ?
in the discretion of one of the two referees, be terminated; a price of three silver tarn disks is then paid to the victor by the loser; ?
the winner commonly then performs a sacrifice; if the winner is rich, and the match of great importance, he may slay a bosk; if he is ?
poor, or the match is not considered a great victory, his sacrifice may be less. These duels, particularly of the formal variety, are ?
sometimes used disreputably for gain by unscrupulous swordsmen. A man, incredibly enough, may be challenged risks his life ?
among the hazel wands; he may be slain; then, too, of course, the stake, the farm, the companion, the daughter, is surrendered by ?
law to the challenger. The motivation of this custom, I gather, is to enable strong, powerful men to obtain land and attractive ?
women; and to encourage those who possess such to keep themselves in fighting condition. All in all I did not much approve of ?
the custom. Commonly, of course, the formal duel is used for more reputable purposes, such as settling grievances over ?
boundaries, or permitting an opportunity where, in a case of insult, satisfaction might be obtained.
Marauders
Local Law - Port Kar
If a man is vanquished in fair combat, and is allowed to see Thassa before he dies, all his property becomes that of the winning ?
man
After the death of Surbus, the woman had been mine. I had won her from him by sword right. I had, of course, as she had ?
expected, put her in my collar, and kept her slave. To my astonishment, however, by the laws of Port Kar, the ships, properties ?
and chattels of Surbus, he having been vanquished in fair combat and permitted death of blood and sea, became mine; his men ?
stood ready to obey me; his ships became mine to command; his hall became my hall, his riches mine, his slaves mine. It was thus ?
that I had become a captain in Port Kar. Jewel of gleaming Thassa.
Marauders
Trials
Bila Huruma was then hearing cases at law, selected for his attention.
...
His first case dealt with a widow who had been defrauded by a creditor. The fellow was dragged screaming from the court. His ?
hands would be cut off, as those of a common thief. His properties were to be confiscated and divided, half to the widow and half, ?
predictably, to the state.
The next fellow was an actual thief, a mere boy, who had stolen vegetables. It turned out that he had been hungry and had actually ?
begged work in the gardens of his victim. “No one who wants to work in my ubarate,” said Bila Huruma, “will go hungry.” He then ?
directed that the boy be given work, if he wished, in his own gardens, which were considerable. I supposed that if one did not ?
wish to work, one might well expect to starve. Bila Huruma, I conjectured, was not one to be patient with laggards. Fairness is a ?
central thesis of sound governance.
Two murderers were next brought to him for sentencing. The first, a commoner, had slain a boatsman from Schendi. The second, ?
an askari, had killed another askari. The commoner was ordered to have his fingers cut off and then be put upon a tharlarion pole ?
in Lake Ushindi. That his fingers be removed was accounted mercy on the part of Bila Huruma, that he be able to cling less long to ?
the pole and his miseries be the sooner terminated. He had slain not one of the domain of Bila Huruma but one of Schendi. His ?
crime, thus, was regarded as the less heinous. The askari was ordered to be speared to death by one of his own kin. In this ?
fashion his honor would be protected and there would be no beginning of a possible blood feud between families. The askari ?
petitioned, however, to be permitted to die instead fighting the enemies of the ubarate. This petition was denied on the grounds ?
that he had, by slaying his comrade, not permitted this same privilege to him. This judgment was accepted unquestioningly by the ?
askari. “But am I not of my own kin, my Ubar?” he asked. “Yes,” had said Bila Huruma. He was taken outside. He would be given a ?
short-handled stabbing spear and would be permitted to throw himself upon it.
The next fellow had lied about his taxes. He would be hung, a hook through his tongue, in a market. His properties were to be ?
confiscated and distributed, half to be given to members of his village and half to the state. It was conjectured that, when he was ?
removed from the pole, if he were still alive, he would be more careful in his accounts.
The next to appear before Bila Huruma were two members of the nobility, a man and his companion.. He complained of her that ?
she had been unwilling to please him. By one word and a stroke of his hand between them Bila Huruma dissolved their ?
companionship. He then ordered that the man be put in the dress of a woman and beaten from the court with sticks. This was ?
done. He then ordered that the woman be stripped and a vine leash be put on her neck. She was then sentenced to a barrack of
askaris f
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