TAVERNS OF GOR
General Free Women Slaves Players Beggars
The Belled Collar The Tavern of Spindius The Green Tarn The Jeweled Ankle Ring
The Perfumed Rope The Pleasure Silk The Silver Cage The Tavern of Two Chains
The Tavern of Sardpeon in Lydius
The Chatka & Curla in Telnus on Cos
The Tavern of Tasdron The Tavern of Cleanthes The Pirate's Chain
General
"From where she knelt she could see the low hanging tharlarion oil lamps of the main portion of the paga tavern, the men, the girls in silk who, in a moment, belled, would move among them, replenishing the paga. In the center of the tables, under a hanging lamp, there was a square area, recessed, filled with sand, in which men might fight or girls dance. Beyond the area of the sand and the many tables there was a high wall, some forty feet or so high, in which there were four levels, each containing seven small curtained alcoves, the entrances to which were circular, with a diameter of about twenty-four inches. Seven narrow ladders, each about eight inches in width, fixed into the wall, gave access to these alcoves."
"Assassins of Gor" page 8"I decided, if worse came to worst, that I could always go to a simple paga tavern where, if those of Tharna resembled those of Ko-ro-ba and Ar, one might, curled in a rug behind the low tables, unobtrusively spend the night for the price of a pot of paga, a strong, fermented drink brewed from the yellow grains of Gor's staple crop, Sa-Tarna, or Life Daughter. The expression is related to Sa-Thasna, the expression for meat, or food in general, which means Life-Mother. Paga is a corruption of Pagar-Sa-Tarna, which means Pleasure of the Life Daughter."
"Outlaw of Gor" page 74"I rose to my feet and placed two copper tarsks on the table. I went to the girl and, with the side of my foot, kicked her,"Get to the alcove," I told her. "Yes, Master," she said, and she scrambled up, hurrying with a rustle of jewelry and bells to a leather curtained alcove. There was more Gorean applause as I followed her and, turning, from the inside, drew shut the curtains of the alcove. When I had buckled them shut from the inside I turned to face the girl. She knelt in the position of the pleasure slave, back in the alcove, on the scarlet furs, in the light of the small lamp. I looked about. there were some chains in the alcove, and a coil of rope, and a whip. �If Master desires special equipment,� she said, �it will be provided by Busebius.� �There is more then enough here to tame you,� I said."
"Rogue of Gor" page 13"When one brings a girl to an alcove one may keep her there for most practical purposes for as long as one wishes. She is yours, for most practical purposes, until one chooses to reopen the curtains. After the tavern is closed an attendant will let you out and, taking charge of the girl, see that she is properly chained at her ring by the girl wall or kenneled."
"Rogue of Gor page 20"She was then conducted top the small side door, through which the attendant had emerged. Beyond it, I gathered, would lie such things as the kitchens, the offices, the cellar's and pantries, the storage rooms, the dressing rooms, the discipline chamber and the kennels."
"Rogue of Gor" page 22"The alcove, with its enclosing, curved walls, was only about four feet high and five feet wide. It was lit by one small lamp set in a niche in the wall. It was lined with red silk, and floored with love furs and cushions, the furs being better then some six to eight inches deep."
"Explorers of Gor" page 173"�Alcove.� She looked at me, agonized. She rose to her feet and, scarcely able to move, numbly, went to the alcove. She could not bring herself to enter, through the red curtains. I took her by the left arm and thrust her within, onto the furs at my feet. I then turned about and drew shut the curtains, hooking them shut. I then turned to face her. She sat, numbly, on the furs, her knees drawn up. I took the ankle ring and chain which lay at the right corner of the alcove, as you enter. The chain is about a yard long and runs to a ring bolted in the floor. There are similar chains in the floor, opposite the red curtains. In the left handed corner of the room, as you enter, of course, on its chain, is another ankle ring. At the far corners of the room, of course, the chains terminate with wrist rings. In the center of the wall, near the floor, opposite the curtains, the chain terminates with a collar. There are provisions for lengthening and shortening the chains. All these devices work from locks, answering to a common key, which hangs high on the wall, toward the back and left, as you enter. Needless to say that key cannot be reached by the prisoner if even one of the chains is fastened upon her. Near that common key, which hangs on a peg, there is a second peg. From the second peg hangs a slave whip."
"Explorers of Gor" page 174
Free Women
"�In most paga taverns,� he said, �free women are not permitted. In some they are.�"
"Kajira of Gor page 122�Women are on the whole are not permitted in paga taverns, unless, of course, they wear collars.�
"Dancer of Gor" page 197"For example, sometimes free women attempt, sometimes even disguising themselves, to spy on the doings of masters and slaves. For example, they might attempt, disguised as lads, to gain entrance to paga taverns. And often such entrance in granted them but later, to their horror, they may find themselves thrown naked to the dancing sand and forced to perform under whips. Similarly if they attempt to enter such establishments as pretended slaves they may find themselves leaving them by the back entrance, soon to become true slaves. In many cities, such actions, 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 compartments, lingering about slave shelves and markets, even exhibiting an interest in, or fascination with, bondage, can result in reduction to bondage. The theory is apparently that such actions and interests are those of a slave, and that the female who exhibits them should, accordingly, be imbonded."
"Magicians of Gor" page 50"�I have never been in one of these places before,� she said.
Kuurus tossed the silk and the chain to one side of the alcove and grinned at her.
�I now understand,� she said, �why it is that free women never enter paga taverns.�
�But you are only a slave girl,� said Kuurus.
�True,� she said forlornly, turning her head to one side.
Kuurus removed her slave livery.
The girl sat up, her eyes bright, holding her ankles with her hands.
�So this is what these places are like,� she said, looking about her.
�Do you like them?� asked Kuurus.
�Well,� she said, demurely, looking down, �they make a girl feel - rather - well -�
�Precisely,� agreed Kuurus. �I see that I shall have to bring you here often.�
"Assassin of Gor" page 22
Slaves
"�Slaves can enter taverns, can they not?� I asked. �If on an errand, or in the company of, a free person,� he said."
"Kajira of Gor" page 122
Players
"On the whole, however, the Players live extremely poorly. Further, there is a harsh competition among themselves, for positions in certain streets and on certain bridges. The most favorable locations for play are, of course , the higher bridges in the vicinity of the richer cylinders, the most expensive Paga taverns, and so on."
"Assassin of Gor" page
Beggars
"When an individual is hamstrung he is often taken to a city where he is left, that he may, if he can, earn his living by begging. Sometimes tavern keepers gather several such unfortunates together, enslave them, and keep their beggings for themselves. A slave with a tharlarion wagon puts them about the city in the morning and picks them up at night. Sometimes the tavern keepers blind or mutilate them as well, that they be more piteous, and their earnings accordingly increased."
"Hunters of Gor" page 161
The Belled Collar "I was Teela, a paga slave of the Belled Collar. That could be read, I understood, on the close-fitting steel collar I wore, a ten-hort collar. I looked out, over the bridge, to the towers and cylinders beyond, and to the sunset over the walls of Ar. I saw the tracery of the bridges against the sky, the people moving about on them. Far below, in the streets I could see carts and wagons, too, being drawn by tharlarion."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 294"I stepped outside the tavern, to drink in the pure air of Gor. We were permitted outside the tavern.
I stood beneath the sign of the Belled Collar, which swung above me, a large collar, from which hung bells."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 294"I hurried to the counter and handed Busebius, who was beaming, the paga vessel and strap. Again it had been emptied.
He dipped the vessel into a great vat of paga and returned it to me."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 298""Paga!" called another. I leaped to my feet, to hurry to him and serve him. Never, it seemed, had we been so crowded. I had not even had time to go to Busebius, behind his counter, to have the hook bracelets removed from my wrists."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 297"Some low tables inlaid with Kaissa board for customers to play He carried the table past us, which he had taken to the shop of a carver and enameler, to be inlaid with a Kaissa board. He was now returning it to the tavern."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 295"I nodded. I continued to regard the female before me. It was said she was from Earth. I lifted my page to my lips, from the low table behind which I sat, cross-legged."
"Rogue of Gor" page 11"One musician at slower times, more when the tavern is busier There was only one musician at the side of the sand. Others would join him later. Their leader was Andronicus, who played the czehar."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 293"The rules of the tavern with respect to the slave girls were simple. The customer could select any serving slave for his pleasure, providing he had paid the price of the paga; he could pick the girl of his interest, whether she had poured him the paga in question or not; to be sure, the customer usually commanded his paga from the wench who had caught his fancy, if he was planning on using her; if he was not interested in the having of a slave girl he would usually call his paga from the closest wench; each cup of paga entitled him to take one slave to the alcove; thus, theoretically, he might use several in one evening; these arrangements, however, terminated with the dawn, and the closing of the tavern; he might not, so to speak, save his cups for later. Dancers must be separately negotiated for."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 294"Standing outside the door to the Belled Collar, we stepped back, and knelt.
Bran Loort, who had once been of Tabuk�s Ford, carrying a low table, entered the tavern. He performed odd jobs about the tavern in return for his keep and a tarsk a week. We had knelt because he was free. Yet I wondered if in his heart he was free. He seemed a downcast, defeated man. He carried the table past us, which he had taken to the shop of a carver and enameler, to be inlaid with a Kaissa board. He was now returning it to the tavern. He slept in the tavern overnight. He was entitled to the use of the girls of the tavern, as it was his place of employment."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 295"An attendant approached from a side door. "I will put her in her kennel," he said. He snapped his fingers at her, "come, Girl," he said.
"Yes Master," she said. She rose quickly to her feet and ran softly to him. He took her by the arm. "She whom you seek is a slave, is she not?" she asked. "She is a legal slave," I said, "she is not a true slave."
She was then conducted to the small side door, through which the attendant had emerged. Beyond it, I gathered would lie such things as the kitchens, the offices, the cellars and pantries, the storage rooms, the dressing rooms, the discipline chamber and the kennels."
"Rogue of Gor" page 22"Busebius, our master, sometimes, before ordering us to bathe and prepare ourselves for the floor, scattered a handful of hard candies among us. They were very precious, and, on the tiles of the slave room, we fought for them."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 294"Hurry now to the baths," he said, "and thence to the room of preparation, for you must be soon upon the floor."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 295"We tore aside our silks in the room of preparation. We freshened our perfumes and adjusted our make-up. We must be soft, and perfumed and luscious. Busebius thrust his head into the room of preparation. "Earrings," he said, "jewelry!" Then he disappeared again."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 300"I reached into a chest for hunters� netting. It is a stout cording, used to net medium-sized game. Its mesh was spaced at some two horts, about two and a half inches.
Cunningly we twisted netting about us, from our throats to our brands, high upon our thighs. We garbed ourselves as "the hunter�s catch."
We looked in the mirror. Several of us gasped. Seldom had we seen such exciting girls."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 300"It was now the eighteenth hour. The tavern was more crowded. I knelt back against the low wall, my wrists braceleted over and behind my head to Ring 6. A customer had reserved me to himself. I waited while he addressed himself to a game of Kaissa."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 296"I watched him playing Kaissa, completely absorbed in the game. I clenched my fists in the bracelets. Then I saw that he had brought about capture of Home Stone. They put away the pieces, sliding them into the drawer in the Kaissa table. They then conversed a bit, discussing, it seemed, the game. Then one man left, and he who had reserved me for himself, as though recalling me, took the rental key from his pouch and approached me."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 296"Then one man left, and he who had reserved me for himself, as though recalling me, took the rental key from his pouch and approached me.
I put my head down.
He unlocked the bracelets. I looked up at him."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 296"There was Gorean applause in the room, the striking of the right palm on the left shoulder. I rose to my feet and placed two copper tarsks on the table. I went to the girl and, with the side of my foot, kicked her. "Get to the alcove," I told her.
"Yes, Master," she said, and scrambled up, hurrying with a rustle of jewelry and bells to a leather-curtained alcove. There was more Gorean applause as I followed her and, turning, from inside, drew shut the curtains of the alcove. When I had them buckled shut from the inside, I turned to face the girl.
She knelt in the position of the pleasure slave, back in the alcove, on the scarlet furs, in the light of the small lamp. I looked about. There were some chains in the alcove and an coil of rope and a whip.
"If Master desires special equipment," she said, "it will be provided by Busebius."
"There is more than enough here to tame you," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said."
"Rogue of Gor" page 13"When one brings a girl to an alcove one may keep her there for most practical purposes as long as he wishes. She is yours, for most practical purposes, until one chooses to re-open the curtains. After the tavern is closed and attendant will let you out and, taking charge of the girl, see that she is properly chained at her ring by the girl-wall or kenneled."
"Rogue of Gor" page 20"As a paga girl I came with the purchased cup of fluid, but, of course, I, like the others, was only a lovely option; whether I served in an alcove depended entirely on the whim and appetite of the customer. Many men, naturally, came to the tavern only to meet their friends, to talk and drink. Some nights I had not been used at all. I had been, of course, completely available. As paga girls went I was popular, and my master, Busebius, was not disappointed in me. He had made, I gather, a good buy on me. More than many of the girls had I squirmed in the alcoves, sometimes chained, writhing under the touch of masters, whimpering and crying out the submission I could not help but yield. I knew there were men who came back particularly for me. I had brought business to the tavern. "
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 293/4"The door of the paga tavern flew open. The music, for a moment stopped. Helen froze in a motion. Eyes turned toward the door. My heart skipped a beat. Impressive men stood there, warriors, though not in the garb of Ar.
Their leader, without helmet, but in cloak and medallion, indicated that the music should continue.
The musicians again played, and, again, Helen danced.
The leader of the newcomers removed his gloves, slowly, and thrust them in his belt.
His eyes viewed the slave body of Helen, as a master�s eyes look upon the flesh of a property girl.
Busebius, bowing, rushed to him.
The stranger casually looked away from Helen, and she bit her lip, tears in her eyes, no longer under his scrutiny. "
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 298"Busebius conducted the visitors, his honored guests, to a private corner of the tavern from which, on the raised dais there, they might well view the room, the musicians, and the dancer.
"Do you not know them?" asked a man.
"No," said the other.
Beside me, Bina trembled.
"They are the delegation of the Salerian Confederation," said the first.
"Their leader?" asked the other.
"Thandar of Ti," said the first."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 298"There were twenty-two slaves in the tavern, not counting the dancers, of which there were five."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 293"Busebius hurried toward us. He gestured to us, and to four of the other girls. He gathered us about him. We were excited. "You six will serve," he said, indicating the men on the dais. Two of the girls cried out with pleasure, to be selected. "Go swiftly to the room of preparation," he said. "Garb yourselves as the hunter�s catch." I was startled. The guests must be important indeed. We hurried to the room of preparation. Busebius went to give orders to the men in the kitchens.
We must serve the initial wines swiftly, with the matched breads and cheeses. We tore aside our silks in the room of preparation. We freshened our perfumes and adjusted our make-up. We must be soft, and perfumed and luscious. Busebius thrust his head into the room of preparation. "Earrings," he said, "jewelry!" Then he disappeared again.
"I do not want to wear earrings," wept one girl.
"Put them on, Slave," I snapped. I did not want to be beaten for one of us who was not pleasing.
I fastened golden loops in my ears, and slung necklaces about my throat. I slipped on an armlet.
Beside me, Bina placed earrings, unprotestingly, on her ears.
"Do you, too, not weep to put on earrings?" I asked her.
"No," she said, "I am a pierced-ear girl." The earrings, I noted, jeweled droplets, were very beautiful upon her.
I reached into a chest for hunters� netting. It is a stout cording, used to net medium-sized game. Its mesh was spaced at some two horts, about two and a half inches.
Cunningly we twisted netting about us, from our throats to our brands, high upon our thighs. We garbed ourselves as "the hunter�s catch."
We looked in the mirror. Several of us gasped. Seldom had we seen such exciting girls.
"Hurry!" said Busebius, again appearing at the entry to the room of preparation. We knew then the wines, and the matched breads and cheeses, were ready."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 300"Paga," called a man.
I hurried to him, carrying the large bronze vessel of paga, on its strap about my shoulder.
I knelt and filled his cup."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 293"Paga! Paga!" I heard. I did not even have time to slip the vessel on its strap over my shoulder. Holding its two handles with my hands, I fled back, with a jangle of slave bells, to the floor, to serve."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 298""Greetings, Teela," said the girl who now stood beside me, who had come, like myself, from the tavern. She, like I, wore slave bells on her left ankle, brief, parted yellow silk, the house collar. We stood barefoot on the bridge."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 294"Paga, Master?" asked a dark-haired, belled paga slave, in a scrap of diaphanous yellow silk.
I motioned her away. She had short, lovely legs and a sweet full bosom. The yellow silk was belted tightly about her waist by several turns of yellow binding fiber, more than enough to tie her for your pleasure in an alcove."
"Rogue of Gor" page 12"We had five dancers at the Belled Collar. I thought all were fine. The best would perform later in the evening. Four performed a day, and one would rest. I could not dance."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 293"I considered the belly and hips of the dancing girl as she thrust them toward me, undulatingly, as the music pounded in the tavern.
"Have you heard the news?" the man next to me was asking. "No," I said.
The girl was naked, save that she wore many strings of jewels and armlets. Too she wore bracelets and anklets of gold, which had been locked upon her and were belled. Her collar too, was of gold and belled. She was blond, and it was said she was from Earth. A single pearl, fastened in a setting like a droplet, on a tiny golden chain, was suspended at the center of her forehead."
"Rogue of Gor" page 10/11
The Tavern of Spindius
"At a Paga Tavern, one near the great gate, cheap and crowded, dingy and smelling, a place frequented by strangers and small Merchants, the Assassin took the girl by the arm and thrust her within. Those in the tavern looked up from the low tables. There were three musicians against one wall.
They stopped playing. The slave girls in Pleasure Silk turned and stood stock still, the Paga flasks cradled over their right forearms. Not even the bells locked to their left ankles made a sound. Not a paga bowl was lifted nor a hand moved. The men looked at the Assassin, who regarded them, one by one. Men turned white under that gaze. Some fled from the tables, lest, unknown to themselves, it be they for whom this man wore the mark of the black dagger."
"Assassin of Gor" page 7/8"The Assassin turned to the man in a black apron, a fat, grimy man, who wore a soiled tunic of white and gold, stained with sweat and spilled paga. "Collar," said the Assassin.
The man took a key from a line of hooks on the wall behind him.
"Seven," he said, throwing the Assassin the key.
The Assassin caught the key and taking the girl by the arm led her to a dark wall, in a low-ceilinged comer of the sloping room. She moved woodenly, as though numb. Her eyes seemed frightened.
There were one or two other girls there, kneeling, who drew back, with a sound of chain.
He thrust the dark-haired girl to her knees by the seventh collar and snapped it about her neck, turning the key, locking it. It gave her about a two-foot length of chain, fastened to a slave ring bolted into the stone. Then he looked down on her. Her eyes were lifted to his, frightened. The yellow of her livery seemed dark in the shadows. From where she knelt she could see the low-hanging tharlarion oil lamps of the main portion of the Paga tavern, the men, the girls in silk who, in a moment, belled, would move among them, replenishing the paga. In the under a hanging lamp, there was a square area, recessed, filled with sand, in which men might fight or girls dance. Beyond the area of the sand and the many tables there was a high wall, some twenty feet or so high, in which there were four levels, each containing seven small curtained alcoves, the entrances to which were circular, with a diameter of about twenty-four inches. Seven narrow ladders, each about eight inches in width, fixed into the wall, gave access to these alcoves."
"Assassin of Gor" page 8"She saw Kuurus go to the tables and sit cross-legged behind one, a table against the wall on her left, that there might be no tables behind him, but only the wall.
The men who had been at that table, or near it, silently rose and left the area. Kuurus had placed his spear against the wall behind him, and he had taken from his left shoulder his shield, his helmet and the sheathed short sword, which blade he had placed at his right hand on the low table.
At a gesture from the proprietor, the grimy man in the tunic of white and gold, one of the serving slaves, with a flash of her ankle bells, hurried to the Assassin and set before him a bowl, which she trembling filled from the flask held over her right forearm. Then, with a furtive glance at the girl chained at the side of the room, the serving slave hurried away.
Kuurus took the paga bowl in both hands and put his head down, looking into it. Then, somberly, he lifted it to his lips and drank.
Putting the bowl down he wiped his mouth on his forearm and looked at the Musicians. "Play," he said.
The three Musicians bent to their instruments, and, in a moment, there were again the sounds of a paga tavern, the sounds of talk, of barbaric music, of pouring paga, the clink of bowls, the rustle of bells on the ankles of slave girls."
"Assassin of Gor" page 9
The Green Tarn
The Jeweled Ankle Ring "The Jeweled Ankle Ring bids seventy," I heard.
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 290
The Perfumed Rope "The Perfumed Rope bids eighty copper tarsks," I heard.
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 291
The Pleasure Silk "The Pleasure Silk bids fifty tarsks," I heard.
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 290
The Silver Cage "The Silver Cage bids eighty-five," I heard. I wept, shuddering.
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 291
The Tavern of Two Chains "Forty copper tarsks," I heard call from the floor, "from the Tavern of Two Chains."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 290
TAVERNS OF KO-RO-BA
Unknown Taverns of Ko-ro-ba "I could remember something of the night before, but not much. The Older Tarl and I had made a round of taverns in the various cylinders, and I recall toddling precariously, singing obscene camp lyrics along different narrow bridges, about a yard wide without rails, and the earth somewhere below - how far I had no idea at the time."
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 60
TAVERNS OF LARA
Unknown Tavern of Lara
"The proprietor of the tavern took the red-haired dancing girl by the arm, she crying out, and thrust her in her costume, ten slender silver chains, five before and five behind, depending from her collar from the sand. She fell at the side of the sand and crouching turned about, looking back.
"This is Jason!" called the proprietor, indicating me. "He wagers ten copper tarks he can best any man in the house." "It is true," I called stepping to the sand, pulling off the tunic. "I wager he cannot!" called a large fellow, a peasant from north of the river.
The proprietor's man, an attendant in the tavern held the coins. Bets were taken by the fellows in the tavern. Men crowded about. Among them, naked, in collars, were paga slaves with their bronze vessels on leather straps."
"Rogue of Gor" page 57"What lucky blows," cried more than one man. I looked down at the big fellow who, groggy, was sitting in the sand. I tried to appear as though incredulous that he was down, as though i could not believe that I had somehow struck him from his feet.
"Get up!" cried more than one man. By the arms he was pulled to the side. "Ten tarks," cried another peasant, "that I can best you!"
"Can you fight further, Jason?" anxiously asked the proprietor. Such brawls, supervised, were good for the business of his tavern. "I will try," I said."
"Rogue of Gor" page 58"The proprietor approached our table and I stood up, holding my goblet of paga to welcome him. "You fought well, Jason," he said. "Thank you," I said. I looked down. Kneeling at my right knee, her cheek against my knee, was the red-haired dancing girl. She looked up at me timidly, her eyes shining. As she knelt the slender chains at her collar depended to the polished floor. "you fought well, Jason," said the proprietor. "She is yours for the night. Use her for your pleasure." "My thanks, Kind Sir, " I said. I lifted the paga which I held, saluting the proprietor and too those at the table. "My thanks to you all," I said. Felicitations were exchanged. I then transferred the paga to my left hand. I then snapped my fingers and held my right hand open at my hips. Swiftly the girl rose to her feet and half crouching, put her head by my hand. I fastened the fingers of my hand deeply and firmly in her red hair. She winced and kissed at my thigh. I then, the goblet of paga in my left hand, her hair in my right, dragged her beside me, her slender chains rustling, to the nearest empty alcove."
"Rogue of Gor" page 59
TAVERNS OF LAURA
Tavern of Hesius
"I wondered what the paga slaves now in the camp would think of such wild captives. They would doubtless much fear them. The day of my departure from the camp, at dawn, later in that same day, four paga slaves, in yellow silks, brought up from Laura, chained in a longboat, would have arrived at my camp. It had been the main object of Rim�s journey to Laura to arrange for their rentals and delivery. According to Rim they were beauties. I hoped that he was right, for their master, Hesius, tavern owner in Laura, had not charged high rentals nor excessive delivery charges. We would have them for a copper tarn apiece, per day. Further, Hesius had told Rim that he would send wine with the girls, at no additional cost. I did not particularly want the wine, but I had no objection to its inclusion in our order."
"Hunters of Gor" page 108"I hoped the girls would be beautiful, for the sake of my men.
I, too, of course, would see them upon my return, and make my appraisals.
It is important for a captain to see to the satisfaction of his men.
I trusted Rim. I knew him to have a keen eye for slave beauty. If he spoke highly of the four paga slaves, they were doubtless splendid specimens of female slaves.
�Their prices are not high,� I had told Rim.
He had shrugged. �Prices are low in Laura,� he had said.
It was true."
"Hunters of Gor" page 108/9"He grinned. �Yes,� said he. �We shall, first, journey up the Laurius to Laura. We will have business with one named Hesius of Laura, who sent paga slaves and drugged wine to our camp. I shall burn the tavern. His women will find themselves in our chains. We shall bring them to Port Kar and dispose of them there in the slave markets.�
�Good,� I said.
�And Hesius himself?� he asked.
�His strong box,� I said, �must be seized. Distribute its contents to the poor of Laura.�
�And Hesius himself?� asked Rim.
�Strip him and leave him poor and penniless in Laura.� I said. �he will serve our purposed well in telling and retelling, for a coin, the story of the vengeance of those of Port Kar.�"
"Hunters of Gor" page 309/310
TAVERNS OF LYDIUS
"We continued along the docks of Lydius, satisfying our curiosity as to the port. (...)
We passed another paga tavern. I licked my lips. (...)
Lydius is one of the few cities of the north which has public baths, as in Ar and Turia, though smaller and less opulent.(...)
It was now near noon.
�Let us return to some paga tavern near the ship,� I suggested.
"Hunters of Gor" page 44/5"It was now four days following my arrival, the master of the Tesephone, in the harbor of Lydius, near the mouth of the broad, winding Laurius River.
We had taken on supplies, and my men, on shore, in the paga taverns, had rested, and had muchly pleasured themselves with the lovely recreations of the port."
"Hunters of Gor" page 64The Tavern of Sarpedon �I am hungry now,� remarked Rim.
We were just passing a paga tavern. Within it, dancing in the sand, chained, was a short-bodied, marvelous female slave.
I laughed. So, too, did Thurnock.
�The taverns nearer the ship,� I suggested, �are doubtless more crowded.�
We laughed again, and entered the tavern."
"Hunters of Gor" page 45/6We took a table, an inconspicuous one, near the rear of the paga tavern, yet one with an unimpeded view. The short-bodied girl was indeed superb. Aside from her chains, confining her wrists and ankles, she wore only her collar.
There was a flash of slave bells at my side, and a dark-haired, yellow-silked girl, a paga girl, knelt beside us, where we sat cross-legged behind the small table. �Paga, Masters?�
�For three,� said I, expansively. �And bring bread and bosk, and grapes.�
�Yes, Master.�
I felt rather jubilant. Talena would soon again be mine. I had made a good profit on Tana and Ela.
The music of the musicians was quite good. I reached to my pouch, to take from it a golden tarn and throw it to them."
"Hunters of Gor" page 46I looked to one side. There, lost to the bustle in the tavern, oblivious to the music, sat two men across a board of one hundred red and yellow squares, playing Kaissa, the game. One was a Player, a master who makes his living, though commonly poorly, from the game, playing for a cup of paga perhaps and the right to sleep in the taverns for the night. The other, sitting cross-legged with him, was the broad-shouldered, blond giant from Torvaldsland whom I had seen earlier. He wore a shaggy jacket. His hair was braided. His feet and legs were bound in skins and cords. The large, curved, double-bladed, long-handled ax lay beside him. On his large brown leather belt, confining the long shaggy jacket he wore, which would have fallen to his knees, were carved the luck signs of the north. Kaissa is popular in Torvaldsland as well as elsewhere on Gor. In halls, it is often played far into the night, by fires, by the northern giants. Sometimes disputes, which otherwise might be settled only by ax or sword, are willingly surrendered to a game of Kaissa, if only for the joy of engaging in the game. The big fellow was of Torvaldsland. The master might have been from as far away as Ar, or Tor, or Turia. But they had between them the game, its fascination and its beauty, reconciling whatever differences, in dialect, custom or way of light might divide them.
The game was beautiful."
"Hunters of Gor" page 47"The girl who served us was also beautiful. We had finished with our meal. And we were now finishing second cups of paga.
She again knelt beside us. �Do masters wish more?� she asked.
�What is your name?� asked Rim, his hand in her hair. He turned her head slightly to the side.
She looked at him, for the side of her eyes. �Tendite,� she said, �if it pleases Master.�
It was a Turian name. I had once known a girl by that name.
�Do masters wish more?� she asked.
Rim grinned.
There was, outside, the shouting of men in the street. We looked to one another.
Thurnock threw down a silver tarsk on the table.
I, too, was curious. So, too, was Rim. He regarded Tendite.
She moved to dart away. Quickly, he took her by the hair and pulled her quickly, bent over, to a low, sloping side of the room. �Key� he called to the proprietor, pointing toward the side of the room. The proprietor hurried over, in his apron, and handed Rim a key. It was number six. Rim, taking the key in his mouth, put the girl down rudely on her knees, her back to the low wall, took her hands back and over her head and snapped them into slave bracelets, dangling on a chain, passing through a heavy ring set in the wall. He then took the key, which could open the bracelets, and dropped it in his pouch. She looked up at him, in fury. It is a way of reserving, for a time, a girl for yourself.
�I shall return shortly,� he said.
She knelt there, in the darkness of the side of the room, in her yellow silk, her hands locked above and behind her head.
�Do not run away,� Rim cautioned her.
He then turned to join us and, together, we left the tavern, to see what the commotion might be outside. Many others, too, had left the tavern.
The girl had left the dancing sand. Even the musicians poured out of the tavern.
We walked along the front of the street, until we came to a side street, leading down to the wharves. It was not more than a hundred yards from the tavern."
"Hunters of Gor" page 47/8"Rim went to Tendite, whom he had left in the paga tavern.
She looked at him, in her yellow silk, kneeling in the darkness by the low wall, her hands braceleted above and behind her head.
�Thank you for waiting, my little talender,� he said.
He unfastened her, and she preceded him across the floor, between the tables. As Rim passed the proprietor, in his apron behind the paga-stained counter, he tossed him the key. The girl climbed the narrow, iron ladder to the sixth alcove. Rim followed her."
"Hunters of Gor" page 55"Thurnock then began to negotiate with the proprietor. I had had Thurnock give me some coins, which I had placed in my tunic. I did not wish to be embarrassed by not having the price of a cup of paga. The coins were from the profit taken on Tana and Ela. The proprietor slopped out from behind the counter, and Thurnock, impatiently, stamped about. In a few moments, I saw the luscious, short-bodied dancer, in pleasure silk, hurry from the kitchen and climb to the eighth alcove. In a moment, Thurnock had leaped to the ladder, following her. I saw him draw tight the curtains of the alcove behind him."
"Hunters of Gor" page 55"I looked about myself.
There were the men at the tables, the girls, in slave bells, and yellow silks, serving them.
The proprietor had now returned behind his counter, and was polishing paga goblets.
I smiled.
To one side, the Player and the fellow from Torvaldsland, with the ax, were still engaged in their game. Neither had left the board to investigate the commotion which had, shortly before, taken place outside. They, perhaps, had been oblivious of it.
I was served a cup of paga, and I drank it slowly, waiting for Rim and Thurnock.
They would not hurry. Gorean men do not.
I looked down into the paga cup, and swirled the liquid slowly, and again drank."
"Hunters of Gor" page 55/6"In the next few days, in Lydius, we would lay in supplies. We would then make our way upriver to Laura.
I was content. Things were going well.
It was then I saw her.
She came through the kitchen door, in the tiny slip of diaphanous yellow silk allotted to paga slaves, bells locked on her left ankle. She was doubtless returning to the floor after her rest, to freshen her for further service. I had not seen her before. She carried a vessel of paga. She was barefoot on the tiles.
She saw me, and gasped. Her hand fled before her mouth. She turned, and ran back into the kitchen.
I smiled.
I snapped my fingers for the proprietor to come to my table. He did so.
�One of your slaves,� I said, �just stepped from the kitchen, and then returned to it.�
He looked at me.
�Send that slave to me,� I said.
�Yes, Master,� he said.
I waited.
In moments, the girl approached, carrying her vessel of paga.
She knelt before me.
�Paga,� I said.
Elizabeth Cardwell poured me paga.
We looked at one another. We did not speak."
"Hunters of Gor" page 56"�Tarl,� said the girl, now, whispering it.
�Go to the wall,� I said.
She put down her vessel of paga, and rose lightly, I saw the beauty of her body beneath the silk. She went to the wall, where Tendite had been chained. I went to the proprietor. �Key,� I said, handing him a copper tarn disk. It was number ten.
I went to the wall, and indicated that the girl should kneel before ring ten. It, like the others, had, strung through it, a short length of chain, some five inches, each end of the chain terminating in an opened slave bracelet. She put her hands above and behind her head, and I snapped her wrists into the slave bracelets.�
I sat down, cross-legged, across from her.
She smiled. �Tarl,� she whispered.
�I am Bosk,� I said."
"Hunters of Gor" page 57Her fists clenched in the slave bracelets. She was indeed that now, simply an unimportant, lowly paga slave in Lydius.
I regarded her beauty.
�What are you going to do with me?� she asked.
�I have paid the price of a cup of paga,� I told her.
I regarded her in the shadows of the small alcove, lit by the tiny lamp, its draft carried by the tiny, ventilating hole above it.
She still wore the chains I had put her in. the bit of yellow silk, crumpled, soaked with sweat, lay to one side.
�How does it feel to be a paga slave?� I asked.
She turned her head to one side.
I had exacted the full performance of the paga slave from her."
"Hunters of Gor" page 59"I noted that Tendite now, again, served in the tavern. I noticed, too, that, clad in yellow silk, belled on the left ankle, as another paga girl, the dancer, she whom Thurnock had sported with, too, carried a vessel of paga about. When she was not dancing, Sarpedon, I gathered, used her as a common paga slave, not unlike the others. It was more economical, I supposed, to do so.
"Hunters of Gor" page 62"I nodded with my head toward the dancer, now serving as a common paga slave. I did not wish my men to be cheated. �How much did she cost you?� I asked Thurnock.
�Since, when not dancing, she serves with the common slaves,� said Thurnock, �she came, like the others, for the price of a cup of paga.�"
"Hunters of Gor" page 62"We were standing near the counter of the proprietor, which is to the left of the door, as one leaves.
�All my girls,� said Sarpedon, �come with the cup. Even the dancers.� He grinned. �It is house policy,� he said proudly. He looked at us. �Did masters enjoy themselves?�
�Yes!� boomed Thurnock.
�How was Tendite?� asked the proprietor.
�Exquisite,� said Rim. �She taught me a couple of things. I must now, when I return to the ship, teach them to my own slave, Cara.�
I recalled the slender, beautiful Cara, on the Tesephone, Rim�s slave, clad in the brief slave tunic of white wool, her hair bound back with the woolen fillet.
�How was Tana,� inquired the proprietor.
�Quite good,� I told him.
�She is one of my most popular girls,� said the proprietor. �A little beauty.�"
"Hunters of Gor" page 62"I recalled how swiftly, how expeditiously, Elizabeth Cardwell had been taken by them, and humiliatingly exhibited, bound to a pole, at the river�s edge, where she had been purchased by Sarpedon, in whose tavern she now, for the pleasure of his customers, served as one of his paga slaves. I smiled. I corrected myself. There was no Elizabeth Cardwell serving in the paga tavern of Sarpedon of Lydius. There was, however, I recalled, a slave named Tana."
"Hunters of Gor" page 67"I thought of the slave girl, Tana, paga slave in the tavern of Sarpedon of Lydius. I wondered how she would relish her new duties. I wondered if Sarpedon would have beaten her, for concealing from him her skills. It was quite probable. She would look well, when not carrying paga, dancing in the sand. A slave girl is not permitted to conceal her skill as a dancer from Sarpedon, her master. Yes, she would have been beaten. Then, that night, as Sarpedon had promised, she would dance."
"Hunters of Gor" page 295
TAVERNS OF PORT KAR
"And Sandra, in her vest of jewels, and bells, taunted me in the paga tavern in Port Kar."
"Hunters of Gor" page 83/4
TAVERNS OF VICTORIA
The Tavern of Tasdron
"I had tallied my resources, prior to coming to the tavern of Tasdron, off the avenue of Lycurgus, and found them to amount to only seventy copper tarsks, including five tarsks which I had happily, and unexpectedly, received, the captain being a good fellow, for acting as an oarsman from Fina to the vicinity of Victoria."
"Rogue of Gor" page 73"Kind Sirs, no!" called out Tasdron, the tavern's proprietor.
"Rogue of Gor" page 74"I returned to the house near the fifth Ahn. I had slept some at the tavern of Cleanthes. I frequented various taverns in Victoria. There were several in the city. There were attractions, so to speak, in each. My favorite on the whole I believe, remained the tavern of Tasdron."
"Rogue of Gor" page 119"Paga!, paga for all!" called Tasdron. Paga slaves rushed to pour paga. "Music!" he called. Five musicians, who had been near the kitchen, hurried to their places. Tasdron too, clapped his hands twice and a dancing slave, portions of her body painted, ran to the sand."
"Rogue of Gor" page 76"Paga!" called the standing men. "Paga!" A blond girl, nude, with a string of pearls wound about her steel collar, ran to the table and from the bronze vessel, on its strap about her shoulder, poured paga into the goblet before the seated man. The fellow who stood by the table scarcely noticing the girl, placed a tarsk bit in her mouth, and she fled back to the counter where, under the eye of a paga attendant, she spit the coin into a copper bowl.
"Rogue of Gor" page 77"I strode across the floor of the tavern of Tasdron and entered the alcove. The blond girl knelt there, nude, against the back wall of smooth, rounded red tiles. I turned about and buckled shut the heavy curtains of the alcove and then again faced her."
"Rogue of Gor" page 97"The temporary headquarters of the forces of the Vosk League," he said to me, "will be in the private serving room of the tavern of Tasdron. You know the place."
"Of course," I said. We had met there, many times."
"Guardsman of Gor" page 273
The Tavern of Cleanthes "I returned to the house near the fifth Ahn. I had slept some at the tavern of Cleanthes. I frequented various taverns in Victoria. There were several in the city. There were attractions, so to speak, in each. My favorite on the whole I believe, remained the tavern of Tasdron."
"Rogue of Gor" page 119The Pirates Chain in Victoria Come home with me now," I said. "I have sought for you long." Returning from the wharves to the house I had not found her on the premises. There had been no sign of forced entry or struggle. Anxious, I had begun to search the public places of Victoria. Then after two Ahn or searching, I had found her here, near the wharves, unattended, in the tavern of Hibron, a miserable tavern, a low place, called the Pirate's Chain.
"I do not wish to come home with you now, " she said, lightly, a bit of ka-la-na spilling from the silver goblet she held. At a gesture from Kliomenes, who sat, cross-legged, beside her, a half-naked paga slave, whose left ankle was belled, refilled Miss Henderson's cup."
"Rogue of Gor" page 157
The Tavern of Filimbi in Schendi The Tavern of Hesius in Laura The Golden Kailiauk in Schendi The Tavern of Randolph in Kailiauk The Tavern of Russell in Kailiauk The Cage in Port Cos The Jewels of Telnus in Port Cos Artemidous' Cargo in Port Cos The Secret Basement in Port Cos The Hold in Port Cos The Scarlet Whip in Port Cos The Tavern of the Collar of the Two Chains in Port Cos The Veminium in Port Cos The Larma in Port Cos The Dina in Port Cos �There are many paga taverns in Port Cos, Master,� said the first. �Not all are named for flowers or fruits. There is the Cage, the Jewels of Telnus, Artemidorus� Cargo, the Secret Basement, the Hold,, the Scarlet Whip, the Tavern of the Collar of the Two Chains, and many others.� �I am pleased to hear it,� I said. �I take it that you are all friends.� �Yes, Master,� said the first. �The Veminium and the Larma are owned by brothers,� said the first. �They are near one another,� said the second. I was pleased to hear these things. The girls were friends, which suggested they might be from similar style and level institutions. Certainly girls from high taverns and from low taverns seldom consort with one another. And two of the places were owned by brothers and were near one another. These were connections, at least of some sort. �And what of the girls at the Larma?� I asked. �Are they expensive?� �We, like those at the Dina and Veminium, are affordable,� she said. �Our uses go much for the standard prices.� �Were the girls at the Larma all once larmas?� I asked. Renegades �Who are you?� I asked the slaves. �Roxanne, of the Dina, slave of Simonides, taverner of Port Cos,� said the first. �Korinne, of the Veninium, slave of Agathocles, taverner of Port Cos,� said the second. Yakube, of the Larma, slave of Panicrates, taverner of Port Cos,� said the third. Renegades