"I am sorry ," I said, "that Ko-ro-ba was destroyed." My father laughed. "Ko-ro-ba was not destroyed," he said. I was puzzled, for I myself had looked upon the valley of Ko-ro-ba and had seen that the city had vanished. "Here," said my father, reaching into a leather sack that he wore slung about his shoulder, "is Ko- ro_ba," and he drew forth the small, flat Home Stone of the City, in which Gorean custom invests the meaning, the significance, the reality of a city itself. "Ko-ro-ba cannot be destoyed, " said my father, "for its Home Stone has not perished." {Priest Kings of Gor, Pg 304}

My father took me by the shoulders. 'My son,' he said,' he said, 'the people of Ko-ro-ba were scattered and none could be together and no stone of that city might stand upon another stone.'
'But you are here,' I said, 'three men of Ko-ro-ba.'
'We met here,' said the Older Tarl, 'and since it seemed the world would end we decided that we would stand together one last time-in spite of the will of Priest-Kings-that we would stand together one last time as men of Ko-ro-ba.' {Priest Kings of Gor}

"Ko-ro-ba lay in the midst of green and rolling hills, some hundreds of feet above the level of the distant Tamber Gulf and that mysterious body of water beyod it, spoken of in Gorean simply as Thassa, the Sea. Ko-ro-ba was not set as high and remote as for example was Thentis in the mountains of thentis, famed for its tarn flocks, but it was not a city of the vast plains either, like the luxurious metropolis of Ar, or of the shore, like the cluttered, crowded, sensuous Port Kar on the Tamber Gulf. Whereas Ar was glorious, a city of imposting grandeur, acknowledged even by blood foes; whereas Thentis had the proud violence of the rude mountains of thentis for its setting; whereas Port Kar could boast of broad Tamber for its sister, and the gleaming, mysterious Thassa beyond, I thought my city to be truely the most beautiful, its variegated lofty cylinders rising so gently, so joyfully, among the calm, green hills. An acient poet, who incredibly enough to the Gorean mind had sung of the glories of many of the cities of Gor, had spoken of Ko-ro-ba as the Towers of the Morning, and it is sometimes spoken of by that name." {Outlaw of Gor, pg 39}

To be sure, in certain cities, as had been the case with Ko-ro-ba. Women were permitted status within the caste system and had relatively unrestricted existence. Indeed, in Ko-ro-ba, a woman might even leave her quarters without first obtaining the permission of a male relative or free companion, a freedom which was unusual on Gor. The women of Ko-ro-ba might even be found sitting unattended in the theater or at the reading of epics. {Outlaw of Gor, pg 49}

These men of Ko-ro-ba, he knew, when their city had been destroyed by Priest-Kings, had been scattered to the ends of Gor but, when permitted by Priest-Kings, they had returned to their city to rebuild it, each bearing a stone to add to its walls. It was said, in the time of troubles, that the Home Stone had not been lost, and it had not. And even Kuurus, of the Caste of Assassins, knew that a city cannot die while its Home Stone survives. Kuurus, who would think little of men on the whole, yet could not despise such men as these, these of Ko-ro-ba. {Assassins of Gor}

Kuurus, of the caste of assassins, crouched on the crest of the small hill, leaning with both hands on the shaft of his spear, looking down into the shallow valley, waiting. He would not yet be welcome. In the distance he could see the white walls, and some of the towers of the city of Ko-ro-ba, which was being rebuilt. It is an old word in Gorean, Ko-ro-ba, meaning a village market, though few considered its archaic meaning. Kuurus looked on the city. It had once been destroyed by Priest-Kings, but now it was being rebuilt. Kuurus was not much interested in such matters. His was the Caste of Assassins. He had been called to this place, In the early part of the eighth Gorean hour the distant white walls took the sun and blazed like light in the green hills. The Towers of the Morning, thought Kuurus, the Towers of the Morning.
These men of Ko-ro-ba, he knew, when their city had been destroyed by Priest-Kings, had been scattered to the ends of Gor but, when permitted by Priest-Kings, they had returned to their city to rebuild it, each bearing a stone to add to its walls. It was said, in the time of troubles, that the Home Stone had not been lost, and it had not. And even Kuurus, of the Caste of Assassins, knew that a city cannot die while its Home Stone survives. Kuurus, who would think little of men on the whole, yet could not despise such men as these, these of Ko-ro-ba. {Assassins of Gor, pg 1}




In dedication to
Master Saxus

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