Perhaps the worse offense which can be performed against a Free Woman is that of public face stripping, i.e. when the veils of a Free Woman are removed from her by force. This is the equivalent of stripping her naked, though even the loss of her robes of concealment is not as great an insult as the loss of her veils. It is regarded as the right, duty and privilege of Gorean Free Women of the high cities to remain veiled... even when captured by the Warriors of an enemy city, the Free Woman will commonly be allowed to retain her veils at least until her final fate has been decided. The friends, bodyguards, and male relatives of a face stripped woman are quite willing to slay any offender who so degrades one of the ladies of their city... unless, of course, through her own actions she has indicated that she is, in the depths of her belly, a slave. In such a case she may expect her veils to be taken from her at once, and if she is fortunate she will be allowed to keep her life, though forevermore she will be a slave. The penalty for any slave caught impersonating a Freeperson varies from city to city, though it is typically death. Not death by execution with the sword or impaling spear... such a death is considered an honorable one, reserved for Freepersons only. When a slave is caught impersonating a Freeperson he or she is typically subjected to the lowly "garbage death," wherein the offending slave is bound hand and foot and cast amongst the city carnarii (trash pits) to be devoured by urts and other carrion feeders at their leisure. Needless to say, a public face stripping is too be avoided by a Gorean Free Woman at all costs.